On-Call

Rob woke to a strange cellphone ringing and cracked an eye open to see Becky struggling to answer it. “Yeah, hello, Mr. Kyle. Gertie’s acting restless and her flanks are soft. Yes, that is a good sign if she were a couple of weeks later in her pregnancy, but it’s not a bad sign. Yes, yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can get the vet mobile going. You just keep Gertie as comfortable as you can, and don’t let her sense your unease. Or she’ll panic and we can’t have that.”

Becky disconnected the call and looked. “I’m sorry. We’ve only slept a few hours. I need to check in on the cow. This is probably her last calf and Mr. Kyle is counting on the money from the calf's sales to stay afloat. He’ll have to replace her before the next breeding season.”

“Well, that’s tough. Does he really need to keep his anxiety hidden from the cow?”

“You’d be surprised how responsive animals are to emotion, but no. She’s an old pro at this, it’s more for Mr. Kyle’s benefit I