Take a Chance on Me (6 page)

Take a Chance on Me

Susan Donovan

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E mma gasped when she entered the exam room, though she couldn't say which of the two creatures there alarmed her more.

Was it the tiny, shivering collection of skin and bone, skittering around the linoleum on long toenails, eyeballs bulging and urine squirting?

Or was it the six-foot-forever package of man in a power suit, pivoting his blond head, one steel-gray eye narrowed as if to take aim directly at her hormone-secreting glands?

"Good morning, gentlemen. I'm Dr. Emma Jenkins." She pulled a portable exam table from the wall and took a steadying breath before she faced them again. "I understand we're having a few problems?"

"That's correct." The man's voice was as stiff as his posture. "Potentially serious problems, I'm afraid."

Nodding, Emma looked from Mr. Dudley Do-Right to the dog—yes, she'd graduated first in her class and was almost certain the animal on the floor was a dog—and back again.

This had to be the most mismatched human-canine pair she'd ever seen—and she'd seem some doozies.

These two were Butch Cassidy and the St. Vitus' Dance Kid. Hairless and Mod. Batman and Rodent.

"I'm glad you came to see me." Emma turned to wash her hands, and felt Studly Dudley's eyes boring holes into the back of her neck. He continued to stare as she bent down for the dog, placed him on the stainless steel table, and peered into the little, frightened face.