Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 2

tasks. TJ turned on the oxygen tank and put the large, specially-made mask over Bogo's face. He secured it with straps and set the anesthesia machine to mix the proper ratio of oxygen and gas. He quietly called out the settings to Penny who wrote them in the record.
    Susan and Lora worked together to shave and prep the area of the leg. TJ handed his surgical glove pack to Lora, who opened it and held it for him while he put them on. He brought out his tray and carefully retrieved his pack of sterile surgical instruments. He set the tray in a stable location and unwrapped the bundle. The clean tools glistened under the fluorescent lights.
    He glanced at Cory, who was watching Bogo's breathing intently, counting under his breath, while glancing periodically at his watch. He seemed much calmer as he concentrated on the most important task. It would be the lion's breathing that would be the first indicator that Bogo was either waking or crashing. Neither would be ideal. Both would require immediate action.
    TJ reminded himself to stay on task. He could not worry about Cory right now. In fact, it was probably best not to think about Cory at all for the time being. No more thoughts about anything but the animal in front of him. As soon as the leg was shaved and scrubbed, TJ began the procedure.
    "It doesn't feel too attached," He palpated the small mass. "It still moves around quite a bit on the leg." If he had to guess, he would say this was a fatty tumor, but he had learned never to guess. "I think we can remove this entirely." He heard Cory suck in a breath. He glanced over. Cory continued to watch Bogo's breathing, but his expression said he was hugely relieved.
    TJ immediately went to work making his incisions as quickly as possible. Once he had the skin laid back, it didn't take long to remove the mass. It was beginning to attach itself to the ligament, which must have been causing the lion considerable pain. But, TJ was able to cut it free and scrape the area clean. He collected the tumor into a vial for analysis and was sewing the leg up in just under twenty minutes. Not too shabby .
    For good measure, TJ drew up some intramuscular preventative shots, antibiotic, antifungal, and an antibacterial, and handed them to Susan to administer. She called out each dose to Penny as she administered it. TJ quickly stitched the area back up. He covered the incision with "New Skin" and added a hardening vet wrap that wouldn't stick to the wound, but would keep it free of contaminants, at least until Bogo decided to rip it off.
    "Try to keep it clean, old boy." He murmured to the cat, stroking his hand down the lion's mane once. "Do you need to do anything before we wake him?" TJ asked Cory.
    "I'd just like to get a quick look at his teeth."
    "Go ahead," TJ said. "Just let me turn the gas back."
    Kneeling beside the lion's head, TJ watched Cory untie the straps on his mask. He stroked the big cat's ear a couple of time. Cory quickly pulled the mask off and peeled back Bogo's lips. His big, pink tongue was hanging out the lower side of his mouth. Cory had his head very nearly inside the lion's mouth to check his back teeth. TJ had to fight the urge to jerk him back. After a minute, Cory replaced the oxygen mask over Bogo's mouth and ran his hand through Bogo's mane once more. TJ took a deep breath in relief.
    "You better come around, buddy," Cory whispered. "Pogo will never forgive me if you don't."
    Cory turned and looked at TJ. He seemed to be trying to convey something important to TJ with his eyes, but TJ wasn't sure what. Then, he nodded and pushed himself up to step away.
    Everyone had already started clearing all of the equipment out of the cage.
    "Cory, you can go ahead and take the machine out," he pointed to the mask. Cory removed it and rolled the tanks back out into the aisle as TJ drew up the reversal drug in his syringe. He offered up a silent prayer, since this would be the part that was most dangerous for an old lion's heart.
    TJ gave the shot in the muscle of Bogo's right hip. He felt bad that Bogo wasn't only going to have a sore leg; he was going to have one seriously sore ass from all these shots. "Sorry, old man," he murmured. He stood and backed out of the cage. Cory locked the door and they waited.
    It didn't take long for Bogo's breathing to change, and he began to move around a bit. Within a half hour, he was holding his head up and looking around the room with hazy eyes.
    "Thank you so much, Dr. Dylan,"