“I just want to examine him.”

Daniel trembled again. Suddenly he looked so small in his oversized jacket and drooping pants, scuffed and muddy where they met old dirty sneakers. Was he even eighteen?

“Now then, Daniel,” Mrs. Brooks cut in briskly, “I’m just gonna get you a nice cup of sweet tea.”

“I don’t drink tea, ma’am.”

“No arguments. You need it. You sit your backside down right here and let Dr. Cooper do her business of taking care of your dog.”

“I—” His wide eyes swept the room as if sizing it up for threats, then he sank into the chair in the face of Mrs. Brooks’s no-nonsense maternal demand. Then Daniel handed off Jasper to Cooper.

She cradled the dog in her arms, soothing it, which seemed a miracle to Felicity because something was definitely not right with that animal.

“Can you tell me what happened to him?” Cooper asked as she studied the dog.

Daniel swallowed. “Nothing?” His voice was pitched weirdly high. “He just got sick?”

The kid should not play poker.

“Well, it’s not nothing, is it?” Cooper said kindly. “Jasper’s foaming. So come on, what happened? Did he get bitten by something? Eat something weird?”

Daniel trembled even more. “You won’t report me? Even if I say that something bad happened?”

“I know you love Jasper, but we’ve gotta look out for him, don’t we? He’s our priority, and he’s not well. So you need to tell me all of it.”

“I—” Daniel sagged. “Yeah.” Then he started to cry and buried his face in his hands. His small shoulders lifted up and down. He looked like a child about to lose his whole world.

“Tell me,” Cooper said even more gently.

“Jasper found some weed. Ate the whole pouch before I could stop him. It wasn’t a small pouch, either.” His eyes went wide with fear. “Please, please don’t tell the cops.”

Weed? The idiot had dosed his dog on marijuana? Felicity inhaled sharply. Some people didn’t deserve animals. That’s all there was to it.

“I see.” There was no judgment in Cooper’s face or voice. “Okay, let’s figure out how Jasper’s doing. Has he been peeing a lot?”

The young man whispered, “Yeah. Lots.”

“What about tremors? Hyperexcitability?” She regarded the dog’s muzzle. “I can see excessive salivation.”

He nodded hard. “Yeah.”

Mrs. Brooks bustled up holding a huge mug of milky tea. “Here you go. Get that into you.” She slid it across the table in front of Daniel. As his mouth opened, probably to argue again, Mrs. Brooks’s tone became firm. “None of that, now. You need some sugar in you after all that stress. Don’t need you fainting into a heap on our floor. I’ll find you a granola bar, too. Or maybe some of my homemade cobbler? I brought some in today, and it’s too good not to share, I can tell you. Wait here.”

Daniel looked out of his depth, and the puff went out of him. His eyes signaled defeat. “Yes, ma’am. Don’t much like tea, though,” he muttered.

“It’s not about what you like; it’s about keeping your strength up.” Mrs. Brooks bustled away again. “You got to live to fight another day, young man. If not for you, then for Jasper.”

“I guess. Yeah.” He looked at Cooper, and his voice cracked when he asked, “How is he? Is he gonna live?”

“Jasper needs an IV and some medication. We need to dilute the toxin in his body and protect his kidneys. After that, he’ll be fine. But I’ll need to keep him here for a few hours, and—”

Daniel shook his head. “No!” He looked panicked all over again. “I can’t! If I leave him, you’ll give him to the cops, and they’ll say I’m not fit to have him. I need him!” Tears filled his eyes again. “Jasper’s all I got after Dad kicked me out.” He drew in a ragged breath, and his voice came out like a growl. “Said a faggot and his faggot dog belong together.”

“Hey.” Cooper’s voice was reassuring. “No one’s talking about you giving him up. And no one here’s about to call the police.” Her gaze slid to Felicity. “Right?”

Felicity pursed her lips. “No one’s calling the police.” Even though the kid was an idiot. She kept that blunt but accurate assessment to herself.

“O-okay.” Daniel exhaled, his brown eyes still full of fear. “Okay. Just make him better.”

“Absolutely,” Cooper said with a smile. “You stay right there and let Mrs. Brooks fuss over you and get you fueled up again”—she waved in the direction of the older woman heading their way with a huge plate of food—“and I’ll start Jasper on his treatment.”

* * *

An hour later, Daniel was a lot calmer and had been stuffed full of assorted foods, including Mrs. Brooks’s homemade peach cobbler. It looked sinfully good, not that Felicity would dare try it, not with her family’s genetics, despite multiple offers and the suspicious glares that met her refusal. Mrs. Brooks was a hard woman to turn down, as Daniel had discovered, too.

The young man was now on the other side of the office, sitting beside Jasper in the clinic room as the dog slumbered through his treatment, an IV doing its work.

Felicity waited for Cooper at the table in the main office area as the vet finished cleaning up.

“Let’s hear it,” Cooper said when she finally joined her.

“Hear what?”

“You’re making a face. You’re judging Daniel, I think. Why?”

They were out of earshot of everyone, but Felicity darted a look around to check to be sure. “His dog got into his marijuana stash,” she said, incredulity edging her voice. “I can see he loves Jasper, but maybe that’s not enough. Surely the dog would be better off with someone else?”

“I see.” Cooper’s eyes hardened. “So we should take dogs off everyone when the dog gets into something it shouldn’t against the owner’s wishes.”

“It was weed,” Felicity hissed. “Mind-altering drugs! Not like Jasper chewed up a shoe.”

“And you think this has never happened to anyone with a roof over their heads?” Cooper leaned in. “Before I joined Living Ruff, I was a vet in a high-end practice. Some very well-heeled Manhattan clients came in with dogs and cats suffering from far worse than weed. A lot of expensive drugs wind up inside people’s pets. So why should Daniel lose Jasper when no one else loses their dog over accidents? Animals get into things. That’s how they are. They’re curious and don’t know any better.”

“He’s so small, though.” Felicity glanced back over at the sleeping terrier. “Weed aside, it’s unsafe for Jasper being out in the elements. He needs so much better care.”

“The same could be said for Daniel.”

Well, that was sadly true. They were both too thin and small. When they trembled, it was hard not to have your heart go out to them. “Will they be okay?”

“I hope so. I think Mrs. B wants to adopt Daniel,” Cooper joked. “If he comes around again, she’ll make sure he’s well-fed. She’ll make sure he knows that before he leaves. And I know she’ll be looking up some LGBT homeless services to see if they can help him with options.”

That was something, she supposed.

Mrs. Brooks suddenly loomed over them. “Are you free for a pickup, Dr. Cooper? Those crates are ours if we want.”

“Now?” Cooper glanced at Daniel and Jasper through the clinic door.

“I can mind those two. And my vet-tech credentials aren’t just painted on,” Mrs. Brooks said. “Go before they change their mind.” She shooed Cooper. “I’ll call you if there’s a change here.”