WAITING FOR THE POWER TO COME BACK ON, STORY 2

I was spaying a puppy. Kelly was running anesthesia. In the flickering moments between light and dark, I thought through every aspect of anesthesia. Some of the monitoring would not work, and the fluids would stop running, but the anesthesia machine, thankfully, would continue to work.

The rest of the team ran to find flashlights. I held the hemostats and the tissues between them steady in the darkness until they returned. They turned on the two flashlights and held them at the angles the surgery lights had just been.

We finished surgery.

It was...otherwise...uneventful. Puppy woke up fine and is living happily ever after, as are all of us who were there that day.

ONE YEAR AGO

THE KURTENBACH SERIES, PART 2 - GAMBLER

TWO YEARS AGO

THE DOWNSIDE TO KEEPING YOUR PETS SAFE THAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT

WAITING FOR THE POWER TO COME BACK ON, STORY 1

The power was out. There was nothing we could do but wait. I wrote in my notebook. I comforted the dogs when they whined.

The cats didn't care. They had their sunlight.

It was quiet. We settled into the dark, the dogs and I. Maybe I needed the pause to be reminded how important writing and comforting are to my well-being. Subtly, so slowly I almost missed the transition, I shifted from waiting for the power to come back on to just being.

ONE YEAR AGO

THE KURTENBACH SERIES, PART 1 - MARCEL

TWO YEARS AGO

CAN YOUR DOG DO THAT?