Read Online Rocky Mountain Miracle by Christine Feehan - Free Book Online Page B

Steele brothers thought she was a nutcase, the horse deserved some comfort before she went to work. When she was certain the animal understood what she was going to do, she began her inspection, her face carefully blank as she evaluated the damage. “Left hock has a three-inch laceration with bone exposed. Right hock, most wounds are superficial abrasions. We have a left front dorsal forearm laceration through the muscle down to the bone, approximatelyfive inches long. We have major splintering from the fence around the laceration, one piece fairly large.” It looked like a stake to her, but she was very matter-of-fact, aware of Jase watching her every expression. She put her hand on his shoulder. “We can deal with this if you’re willing to help out. First I need to give him painkillers and start him on antibiotics, then we’ll get to work.”
    Jase watched her preparing syringes, his eyes wide. “What are you giving him?”
    â€œFour different types of painkillers. All of them do something a little different. We don’t want him to feel anything while I work on him, but he has to stand, so we can’t exactly knock him out. He’ll be sedated though, Jase.” Maia gave the shots deftly, using her fist to strike and numb the muscle before jamming the needle in. “The last two shots are for tetanus and a good dose of penicillin.”
    Jase crooned to the horse as she administered the rest of the shots. “He’s been so good. He hardly moves, and it must hurt so bad.”
    â€œThe shots will numb everything for him,” Maia assured. “Our next step is to get the wound sites as sterile as possible. That’s imperative. We’re going to flush the site, and remove the debris and splinters, including the large one. Horses can lose a lot of blood, Jase, and still be fine.” She worked quickly as she explained, mixing a liter of saline with Betadine. Without giving Jase any time to think about it, Maia grasped the small stake with both hands and pulled the large piece of wood from the horse’s chest.
    â€œThe barn’s well lit, great in fact,” Maia said, to keep the boy focused on her and not on the blood. She filled a syringe with the mixture of saline and Betadine. “I needyou to begin flushing, Jase. You have to squirt this all over the wound sites. We’ll flush all three sites, and I’ll clean them, then suture them. This one here”—she indicated the hole where the stake had been—“we might leave open to drain.”
    Jase took the syringe from her and aimed it at the gaping wound on the horse’s foreleg and chest. The flood of saline and Betadine removed dirt, debris and even splinters. “Is this right?”
    Maia noted his hand was much steadier. “That’s exactly what I need. We want the area really, really clean.” She soaked gauze in Betadine and washed the area thoroughly, making certain to rid the wounds of all foreign objects. “What I’m doing is clipping the skin so we can suture the clean edges. I’ve flushed it again with Betadine and deadened the area with lidocaine, so really, Jase, he isn’t feeling any of this.”
    Cole watched her hands, fingers deft and sure, as she used stents to keep the skin loose as she sutured the wound. She worked with obvious skill. It took a long time to close the five-inch gash to her satisfaction.
    â€œThis is a drain. I don’t want to close off that hole in him. It’s too big and we want to encourage it to drain. We’ll have to really watch that area for infection.” Maia spoke patiently to Jase. Her voice was very calm and her hands steady. “I’m also putting a second drain in the gash as well. The stents will keep the skin loose, and I think it will heal nicely, but I’ll want you to check this area several times a day for any signs of infection.”
    Jase nodded, looking very solemn.