Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Time, Fault and Out ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Time, Fault and Out.
 
November 2005 ShenLong
 
Chapter 14
 
Jet was taken back to Duo's practice where the sores on his pads were treated and he was put onto a drip and course of antibiotics. Catherine fussed over the dog just as much as Trowa had, much to Duo and Hilde's amusement. Jet enjoyed the attention though and despite his sorry state still wagged his tail and gave anyone who ventured near enough to scratch his ears a tongue bath.
 
Catherine personally attended to the dog for the four days he spent in the hospital's kennels, coming in early just to clean up after him, take him for a walk and generally make a fuss of him. Duo had put Jet on a carefully selected diet of meat and biscuits, designed to give the dog maximum nutrition without upsetting the neglected digestive system. They needed to be careful, the dog having been starved for so long the digestive tract would be extremely sensitive and the last thing Jet needed was to be vomiting the food he so desperately needed.
 
Small meals were given at strictly controlled times, ensuring that Jet received lots of good food in small doses. The dog eagerly ate everything that was put in front of him, causing all of those looking after him to moved by his plight. After four days, Duo released Jet into Trowa's care, Trowa picking the dog up when he collected Catherine after her evening shift.
 
Duo gave Trowa the remainder of the course of antibiotics that Jet was to take to keep him free from infection as his paws healed. The pads were clean and beginning to granulate with healthy, new tissue, Catherine having been taught how to clean and care for them while Jet was in the care of the hospital.
 
Quatre came along with Trowa and was amazed at the difference in the dog after only four days. Although he was still extremely thin, there was no doubt he was beginning to put on weight.
 
Two days after Jet had gone to the animal shelter with Trowa and Catherine, Quatre called around to see Duo.
 
"Hey, Quat. Another business call?" Duo asked as he let the blonde Inspector into the house. It was early afternoon and Duo was expecting Heero home within the hour.
 
"Sort of," replied Quatre. "I've got some news on Jet's former owner."
 
"Ah. Take a seat and fill me in."
 
Quatre sat at the kitchen table and made himself comfortable, Duo sat opposite after offering Quatre refreshment that was politely declined. Clearing his throat, Quatre began.
 
"The society passed on the information it had to the police who took over from there. From what the police have told us the owner's name is Mr Cooke. He's in his mid sixties and a widower. He got the dog to keep him company. We believe that he used to put Jet in the shed at night and during the day if he was going out anywhere, mainly to keep the dog from getting out when he wasn't home."
 
"Sounds responsible enough, but why was Jet starved?"
 
"As I've just told you, Mr Cooke lives alone and he didn't socialize with his neighbors, preferring to keep to himself. From what the police said, Mr Cook was driving to the mall or somewhere when he had a car accident."
 
"Shit!"
 
"Yeah. Although he had ID on him and the hospital checked for next of kin and so forth, they discovered he didn't have any living relatives. Consequently they didn't have anyone to notify of his hospitalized state and have simply been caring for him over these past few weeks. No one thought he might have a pet and the injuries Mr Cooke suffered have left him in a coma, so naturally he hasn't been able to let anyone know about the dog either."
 
"That's awful."
 
"The society won't be pressing any charges as this is something that was completely out of the owner's control and certainly not intentional."
 
"You know, Quatre," Duo began as he raised his eyes to meet those of the Inspector. "This is really sad. If the neighbor hadn't gone over and knocked then Jet would probably be dead now and through no fault of the dog's or his owner. It makes you think about your own life and how lucky we are. To have no one, no relations or even to know your neighbors..." Duo's eyes took on a horrified look. "Imagine if he'd had a heart attack or something. He could have been dead inside that house for weeks before anyone found him."
 
"I know," replied Quatre. "The same thoughts had passed through my mind. Unfortunately though, there isn't a great deal one can do about it other than try to get to know your neighbors. Sadly there are some people who just want to be left alone and those are the ones I think that need an eye kept on them."
 
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes. Duo felt bad for Mr Cooke, as did Quatre, at the same time he felt sad for Jet too. The dog might well have not been noticed. Unfortunately it was a fact of life, many elderly people were dying in their homes without no one knowing, simply because people were too caught up in their own lives to care about simple things like being a friendly neighbor.
 
Finally Quatre shifted. "I have to get going. I've got to go and file the paperwork. The hospital has been contacted regarding Mr Cooke's dog and they will call us if and when he comes out of the coma. Depending on the outcome of that, the society will decide on what's to happen to Jet."
 
"Sounds very complicated," Duo said as he accompanied the Inspector to the door and outside to Quatre's car.
 
"It is and it isn't," replied Quatre. "If Mr Cooke does recover and return home he may want his dog back in which case the society will have to look at possibly returning Jet. If Mr Cooke is of sound mind and body, able to care for the dog then the society really has no choice but to return the animal. Although there would be conditions imposed to ensure that nothing like this could happen again."
 
"In some ways I'm glad I'm just a vet. I don't think I could do your job, Quatre."
 
"There are days when I have my own doubts about doing the job too," chuckled Quatre. "Thanks again, Duo. I'll let you know what happens."
 
"My pleasure to be able to help, Quat."
 
The Inspector got into his car, started it up and wound down the window. "Incidentally, Jet has his own basket and doesn't sleep on the bed."
 
"Ah, but he's inside the house. He's got his foot firmly in the door now, Quat. It might be the basket for the moment, but I'll lay bets he's in the bedroom by next week," Duo said and laughed as the blonde refused to answer, just shaking his head as he drove off.
 
Quatre waved out the window as he drove away. He'd told Duo that Jet had his own basket and that was the truth; he'd simply neglected to tell the vet that the basket was already in the bedroom.
 
***
 
Life began to settle into a routine once more over the next few weeks. The practice continued to prosper, more surgical procedures were being booked and both Duo and Hilde had a steady stream of clients during consulting hours. Hilde had proven to be a valuable asset and had commandeered her own following of clients. Duo was still as popular as ever, his gentle, caring manner finding favor with those that sought the vet's help with their animals. Duo still did the larger portion of the call outs and large animal work, although Hilde did her share from time to time as well. There were some occasions though when it needed male strength to treat a particular animal.
 
Catherine was an instant hit with the clients, treating each one with quiet respect and confidence, she soon had them eating out of her hand; even those who could be hard to get to part with their money found themselves eager to pay their bills once Catherine had applied her charms. She also had Nrobbuts behaving itself perfectly for her, something that irked Duo to no end. He still swore that the computer was alive and had simply been created to make his life hell. He'd tried twice more to work with the cursed machine, the first had resulted in the loss of all client files from F to J and took Catherine the better part of an afternoon to recover. The second attempt almost wiped the entire hard drive and took all of Catherine and Hilde's negotiation skills to get Duo to put down the humane killer and not shoot the computer.
 
Heero had worked until one in the morning to get Nrobbuts back online and working properly.
 
Now, Duo didn't go anywhere near the hated machine, he preferred to glare at it from a safe distance instead.
 
Jet recovered and put weight on at an astounding rate. Catherine brought him back to the surgery for the final check on his pads and Duo was pleased to see the difference in the dog. Jet's coat was rich and glossy, shining sleekly, a testament to the amount of shampooing and brushing that Catherine had obviously done. While he was still a little thin, Duo knew it was only a matter of time before the dog was back to the full glory of a Labrador retriever. Catherine had also done some basic training with Jet and the dog happily gave a demonstration of his new found skills. He sat, lay down, stayed, walked to heel, played dead and shook hands.
 
True to his word, Quatre had notified Duo as soon as he had more information on Mr Cooke. Sadly, the elderly man hadn't awoken from his coma, he'd passed away peacefully in his sleep a week and a half after Jet's rescue. Duo had been saddened by the news but found comfort in Heero's strong arms and soothing words. Though he hadn't known the man it was the circumstances that had Duo upset. To think that someone could simply pass from existence without anyone knowing gave him the heeby jeebies and it took Heero a lot of soft words and soothing caresses to convince Duo that the same thing wouldn't happen to either of them when they grew older.
 
Treize and Heero had attended another four shows since the disaster with Taurus. Sandrock was going well and had almost gained enough points to move him up a grade. Goose was jumping consistently, taking home his fair share of the winnings and Short Duck hadn't escaped and run riot since his escapade at the beginning of the season. Taurus had been scratched from competing, both Treize and Heero agreeing the horse would need several months of slow, basic work to get his confidence back. Zero was going well and had yet to reach his top. He was placing regularly in the top three of each event he entered and Heero was extremely pleased with the way the gray was shaping up. He figured Zero should reach his peak around the middle of the season, right around the time the selectors would be out and about.
 
Shinigami had accepted being lunged and would now walk, trot and canter on either rein to voice commands. Heero was happy with the colt's progress, the intelligence of the youngster showing through each time Heero did something new with him. The playful nature of the colt continued to grow as well, Heero suffering the bruises of well placed nips on his arms when Shini was able to get one in. There wasn't anything malicious or vicious about the bites, it was simply the way horses interacted with each other and naturally Shini thought of Heero as part of the 'herd' and treated him the same.
 
Scythe was beginning to show her age a little. Gray hairs had begun to come through in her coat around her muzzle and eyes but those eyes never lost their sparkle of life. She was content to spend her days grazing in the paddocks and being fussed over by Duo at night. Duo managed to take her out once a week for a ride, something the pair of them enjoyed immensely. Duo found it to be very relaxing after a stressful day in the surgery, Scythe simply enjoyed the change of scenery. Sometimes Heero would join them and the rides were even more special for Duo then. They could forget about the world around them, the stress of their jobs and daily chores and just enjoy each other's company.
 
***
 
Spring was just around the corner, the winter having been a mild one this season, something Duo appreciated. The vet wasn't overly keen on the cold and wet weather, especially in the early hours of the morning when he happened to have a call out. Heero was slowly getting used to having Duo, the human popsicle, crawl back into their bed and snuggle up to him in an attempt to thaw out. Call outs, especially night ones, were one of the few things about being a vet that Duo wasn't fond of, but it was heaven to come back to a warm bed and the strong arms of his boyfriend. The times of when he'd returned to a cold bed were a thing of the past and that's where Duo wanted them to remain.
 
Mother Nature started to awaken the sleeping vegetation, trees and plants began to put out new shoots in preparation for the warmer weather. With the onset of spring, Duo knew the practice would also be busier than ever. Spring heralded the arrival of new life in the animal world and the practice always seemed to be running flat out. With Salsbury being in the country there were still quite a few farms around, not as many as there had been in years past, but more than enough to provide the practice with a large chunk of work.
 
Heero's alarm went off and he flopped an arm out from under the covers to hit the off switch. The noise ceased after a moment and Heero yawned. Duo grunted and burrowed deeper into the mattress. The shrill ringing of the phone exploded in the room and Duo gave a moan as he surfaced and scrabbled for the receiver.
 
"Maxwell Veterinary Practice."
 
Heero began to rise, sitting up and sliding to the side of the bed and lowering his feet to the floor. He stretched and scratched his chest, half an ear on Duo's conversation.
 
"How long has she been like that for?"
 
Heero rubbed his eyes.
 
"I see. No, no, that's quite all right, Mr Townley. I'll be right out. What was the address again?"
 
Heero turned slightly as Duo was scribbling down an address. Looked like his lover wasn't going to get a lie in this morning.
 
"Thank you. I'll be there as soon as I can. Good bye, Mr Townley." Duo replaced the receiver and flopped back to the pillows with a groan, one arm covering his eyes.
 
"Call out?" asked Heero.
 
"Yeah."
 
"What's up?" Heero stood and stretched his body, muscles sliding easily under the rich skin.
 
"Me, if you keep that up," Duo snickered as he peeked out from under his arm at his nude lover.
 
Heero turned and gave the vet a smirk, noting the slight tenting of the bed clothes. "As much as a romp in the sheets sounds inviting, I'm afraid neither one of us has the time."
 
"Shame," Duo grinned as he moved his arm away from his face and then gave a wide yawn.
 
"What's the problem?" Heero walked over to the closet and began to get his clothes out ready to dress.
 
"One of Mr Townley's pigs is farrowing. She went into labor about an hour or so ago and has been straining for a while. So far though, no sign of any piglets."
 
"Any ideas on what the problem could be?" Heero pulled the sweats over his hips and reached for his worn T-shirt.
 
"I'd say there's a piglet stuck." Duo managed to drag himself from the bed. "What a lovely way to start the day, shoving my hand up a sow's birth canal."
 
Heero chuckled. "Could be worse, could be a cow."
 
"Yeah, you got that right." Duo stretched. "I guess I can always have a bacon sandwich for breakfast when I get back," Duo snickered and wandered around the bed to partake of a morning kiss.
 
"I think there's some pork sausages in the freezer," Heero said as the kiss broke.
 
"In that case, we'll have them for dinner." Duo rubbed his groin enticingly against Heero.
 
Swatting his boyfriend's ass, Heero laughed. "If you're a good boy I'll eat your sausage tonight as well." To add emphasis to his teasing words, Heero reached down and gave Duo's half hard cock a light squeeze.
 
Duo groaned and thrust into Heero's hand. "I'll hold you to that," he said softly.
 
Heero gave his lover another squeeze then let go of the hardening flesh. "I'd better get a move on, the nags are waiting for their breakfast and you have Miss Piggy to deal with."
 
Duo snorted. "Miss Piggy? Heero, I don't know where you got your sense of humor from, but I'd be demanding a refund."
 
Heero didn't have a reply to that one.
 
***
 
Duo looked down at the row of pink piglets and a smile crossed his features. Picking up the towel, he dried his arms off and rolled down his sleeves.
 
"That's a grand sight," stated Mr Townley as he watched the piglets all fighting for the best teat.
 
"It's something I'll never tire of," replied Duo. "The miracle of birth is certainly a lovely thing to behold."
 
"You got that right. Thank you, young man, for coming out and seeing to the pig."
 
"You're welcome, Mr Townley. I'm just happy it all turned out okay."
 
When Duo had arrived the sow was still straining hard, but nothing had appeared. He'd lubricated his hand and fingers, slipping gently inside the sow's vagina and moving carefully along the passage until he'd found the reason for the delay. It was as he'd expected. There was one, large piglet stuck in the cervix. With the aid of a soft rope slipped over the bottom jaw of the piglet and a generous amount of lubrication applied to the cervix, Duo had managed to gently pull the piglet free, assisted by the sow's pushing. Duo suspected the piglet was a boar, his suspicions confirmed once the wriggling, pink bundle was delivered. With the obstruction out of the way, the sow continued to strain, popping out another piglet roughly every ten minutes until there were fifteen in total. A quick, internal exploration revealed no more piglets and Duo began to clean himself up.
 
"Would you care to have a bite of breakfast with me and the missus, Doctor Maxwell?"
 
Duo glanced at his watch. "I'm afraid I can't, Mr Townley. I have to get back to the practice, morning consultations start in an hour and we have quite a few appointments booked. Thanks for the invite though." Duo picked up his bag and turned to leave the piggery.
 
Mr Townley saw Duo to his car, thanking the vet once again and then waving as the car disappeared down the drive. With a broad smile, he returned to the sty and gazed at the sow and her family until his wife came out and dragged him inside for his breakfast.
 
***
 
Heero closed his fingers on the reins, checking the speed of Taurus' trot. The horse responded, shortening his stride but maintaining his impulsion. Turning his head, Heero looked for the grid then rode Taurus in a wide arc to bring him in straight. The grid was simply a line of cavaletties, each a foot high and set four feet apart. Still keeping the impulsion, Heero brought Taurus around and faced the line of poles. The horse eyed the row but didn't break his gait.
 
Careful to keep a light contact and legs steady on the horse's sides, Heero rode Taurus directly at the center of the cavaletties. The horse pricked up his ears but remained calm, his trot staying at the same speed as he approached the line. Heero raised his weight slightly out of the saddle and applied gentle pressure with his legs, allowing his hands to slip slightly forwards as Taurus began to traverse the grid. The horse lowered his head and neck, the muscles of his back softened and rounded as his legs raised to trot cleanly over the grid of foot high cavaletties.
 
As they reached the end so Heero sat back down in the saddle and ran a soothing hand along the neck of the animal. "Good boy," he encouraged and prepared to bring Taurus around for a second try.
 
Standing by the fence, Treize watched the schooling progressing. He was pleased to see the horse responding so well, although the real test would come once they put some decent sized fences in front of the horse. So far though Taurus had been as good as gold, listening to Heero and doing everything he was asked without the fight of previous times. Maybe there was hope for the chestnut yet.
 
Heero took Taurus through the cavaletti grid four more times before bringing the horse to a walk and giving him rein to stretch out his head and neck. He patted the horse and praised him with soft words. If things continued to progress along these lines they should be able to increase the height of the jumps a little and start to take Taurus over them at a canter. If all continued to go well then the next step was to put the fences up to a more jumpable height and hope that Taurus would continue to respond to his rider and not get over excited or panic.
 
Turning, Heero rode towards the fence and Treize.
 
Watching carefully, nothing escaped Treize's eye. He could see the horse was much more relaxed and listening to his rider. He smiled at Heero as the rider brought the chestnut to a halt beside him. "Nicely ridden," Treize commented. "I think there may be hope for him yet."
 
"It's going to take a lot more work, but I'm confident he'll be a different horse once he starts jumping courses again."
 
"I'd say we keep him on the cavaletties for another few sessions, widening them out to canter strides. If he's still going calmly then I'll set up a grid of jumps about two foot high and we'll see how he handles that."
 
"I agree," replied Heero as he dismounted and loosened the girth. "In one way it's probably a good thing he had that shake up."
 
"One hell of a way to get him to listen to his rider though. Personally I prefer much less spectacular ways," chuckled Treize as he patted the chestnut.
 
"He's not the sort of horse to do things by halves," laughed Heero.
 
"You got that right." Treize's cell phone began to ring and he fished in his pocket for the device. "Kushrenada."
 
Heero turned away and began to run up his stirrups and undo the drop noseband, giving Taurus the okay to relax. He didn't intentionally listen in on Treize's conversation, but it was a bit hard not to overhear when the man was standing right next to you.
 
"When did they arrive?"
 
Heero busied himself checking the horse over.
 
"I see. Tomorrow will be fine, I look forward to it."
 
Heero began to remove the front jumping boots.
 
"Oh, if it's okay I'd like to bring my current student with me, I think he'd find them interesting too."
 
Heero's ears pricked up a little and he straightened, jumping boots in one hand.
 
"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks." Treize pushed the button to disconnect the call and slipped the cell back into his pocket. With a thoughtful look on his face, Treize turned to Heero. "Care to come with me tomorrow and have a look at a couple of new horses?"
 
"New horses?" Heero began to lead Taurus towards the stable block, Treize walking beside him.
 
"Yes. Most of the horses in the stables come from the Peacecraft stud," Treize began and gave Heero a brief rundown on the arrangement he had with Relena regarding the horses, showjumping and Treize's way of living from his sport. "She's just come back from Europe where she's bought some new stock. A stallion and two mares. They arrived a few weeks ago and have been in quarantine. The quarantine period is up and the horses arrived at the stud two days ago. I did tell Relena I wanted to see them once she had them home and that was her on the phone to tell me they have arrived and we're invited over tomorrow to see them for ourselves."
 
"Sounds interesting. What's the breeding?" Heero asked as he began to remove Taurus' saddle, the stable boy appearing to take over. Heero handed the chestnut over and followed Treize into the tack room where they helped themselves to a soda from the small 'fridge.
 
Treize related to Heero all that Relena had told him about the new acquisitions, their breeding, what they had done and Relena's hopes for them in the stud's breeding program.
 
Heero had to admit, it all sounded great in theory and he was curious to see the Peacecraft stud for himself now that he'd learnt a little about it and the bloodlines that came out of the stud.
 
"I'm really keen to have a look at this stallion, Peacemillion. If he's anything like his father he should be a good sire. I'm also itching to have a ride on him. If he's any good I'm hoping to persuade Relena to let me take him out to a few shows." Treize reclined back in a chair as he spoke.
 
"I've heard quite a bit about Millionaire and he's supposed to have thrown some good stock," stated Heero as he leaned against the table. "You think she will let you take the stallion out and jump him?"
 
"I'd like to try him out first, see what his potential is like and if it's good then it would make sense to get him out to a few shows, grade him up and then put him back to stud. People will have a chance to see what he's like and he could make Relena a tidy profit on the side if she stands him at public stud to a few select mares."
 
Even Heero could see the logic in that. It would have cost Relena a small fortune to not only purchase the horses, but to have them imported and quarantined as well. If she could recoup some of that money by standing the stallion at stud then all the better. But as Treize said, the stud fee and horse's value would be greatly increased if he was to be taken out around the shows and proved his worth in competition.
 
"We will go over there tomorrow, mid morning, and take a look."
 
"Thanks. I'll look forward to it."
 
"Good." Treize tossed his empty can into the trash. "I'm going to put Epyon through his paces and then take Goose out for a bush ride. Sandrock could do with a bit of a break from the jumping so why don't you take him out for a bush ride now?"
 
"Will do." Heero tossed his own empty soda can into the trash and went to fetch the bay, his mind going over the visit to the Peacecraft stud the following day.
 
~ * ~
 
tbc...