Free My Sunshine by Catherine Anderson

hand into a hip pocket of her jeans. “No, I was just—”
    â€œA couple of these dogs are mean. To clean their cages, you’ll have to use the loop.”
    Laura had no idea what a loop was. She glanced into the sad eyes of an Irish setter. She had never been wary of strange dogs, least of all pathetic creatures like these. As she walked up the aisle, she yearned to stop at each gate. Tomorrow, she vowed,she would come thirty minutes early so she could give each animal a little one-on-one.
    â€œI’m not late, am I?” she asked.
    â€œNo.” The blonde opened a cage. Drawing a syringe from the front pocket of her blue smock, she petted the collie within the enclosure, and then bent to grab the animal by its scruff. As she gave the injection, she said, “You’re a little early, in fact. I’m Susan Strong. I’ll be training you.”
    Laura held out her hand as the other woman straightened. “I’m pleased to meet you, Susan.”
    Instead of smiling, Susan merely tightened her mouth. At the right corner a pinpoint dimple popped up, so low that it was almost on her chin. “You like dogs?”
    â€œOh, yes, very much.”
    â€œGood thing.” She finally shook Laura’s hand and then gestured at the cages. “We have ’em in spades. They come and they go.” She gave Laura a scowling look. “Sort of like kennel keepers. Mucking around in shit and puke gets old real fast. If you don’t have the stomach for it, save me a lot of trouble and quit right now. It’s a lot of work to train someone.”
    Laura straightened her shoulders. She couldn’t honestly say she liked the smell of poop, but she did have a strong stomach. She was also convinced that she’d finally found her niche.
    â€œIf I can do the work here, I’ll never quit,” she replied.
    Susan snorted, a loud, up-both-nostrils snort that made her meaning clear. “Heard it before. And just for the record, any idiot can do the work.”
    Laura didn’t normally discuss her affliction with strangers, but in this case it seemed smart on two counts. Susan needed to know about Laura’s handicap. She also had a chip on her shoulder that needed to be knocked off.
    â€œThat’s good news. I’m an id-iot.”
    Susan gave her a sharp look.
    Laura moistened her lips. “Brain damage. I dove off into the river near the falls. Most times it’s safe, but there’d been a drought that year, and I hit my head on a rock.”
    â€œHoly Toledo.” A thoughtful look came into Susan’s eyes. “I remember that. It happened a few years back, didn’t it?”
    â€œFive,” Laura confirmed.
    Susan nodded. “For a while they thought you might die. You were in a coma, weren’t you?”
    â€œYes, for about three weeks. I woke up with aphasia, damage to the left lobe of my brain.”
    â€œBummer.”
    â€œI had to learn to talk all over again,” Laura went on. “You’ll notice that I speak slowly. I also have trouble keeping up if people talk too fast or use long words.” She gestured at the cages around them. “As for this job, I’m very lucky to get it.” She met Susan’s gaze. “If I can do the work, I won’t be quitting.”
    Susan finally smiled, and it transformed her face, making her look more like a plump angel than a Marine Corps drill sergeant. “You’ll be able to handle the work.”
    Â 
    Isaiah leaned his head to one side so the technician-cum-anesthesiologist could dab the sweat from his brow. In the middle of an abdominal surgery he had blood to the top of his surgical gloves, and Belinda, his assistant, was frantically searching for a clamp. Just then a door at the rear of the room swung open. Isaiah glanced up to see Susan Strong entering the chamber. He gave the stocky blonde a “stay put” look, then returned his attention to his