Kian (Undercover Billionaire, #1)(50)

“Come here, sweet girl,” he said after Roxie pulled her from the seat.

Kian’s heart melted again when the sleepy girl willingly held out her arms to him and snuggled against his chest as she continued sucking her thumb. Her small body was languid and warm, and he ran his hands gently up and down all her limbs before he listened to the soothing sound of her heart and lungs.

“She’s perfect,” he said, not ever wanting to let her go.

“Yeah, she is,” Roxie said, her own voice soft. She shook her head, and the somewhat glazed expression on her face cleared as she held out her arms to Lily, who grumbled when she was taken away from Kian. He wanted to grumble, too. “You need to check on the deer now,” she insisted.

Kian sighed with frustration. He hadn’t wanted to give up his daughter—not when she was being so dang snuggly. But he knew Roxie was going to be a wreck until he made a completely inappropriate medical decision regarding the damn deer.

“We need a vet here,” he said. “If vets even treat wild game.” Hell, he didn’t know.

“It can’t be much different from a person to an animal,” she pointed out. “We both have organs and stuff.”

“True,” he said, unbelievably seeing her point. That wasn’t something he would have ever thought could happen. But he did know that in some small places, people have brought their animals to medical doctors when a vet wasn’t around. He had nothing to lose by trying.

Kian inched closer to the deer, which looked panicked as he neared. “Don’t you worry there. I’m a doctor and only trying to help you,” Kian said, feeling incredibly foolish for talking to the animal, which didn’t appear reassured.

It kicked its legs weakly, as if it wanted to get away but didn’t have the strength. He didn’t think the poor thing was going to make it, but he sure as hell didn’t want to tell that to Roxie, who had put her faith in him. If he messed this up, she might think he’d mess up everything.

Dammit. He was going to make sure the damn deer lived. Then, he’d have to make sure it went to a hunt-free zone, because he wasn’t putting all this hard work into an animal just to have it be dinner. Not that he minded a good venison steak, but he certainly couldn’t eat an animal he’d saved, or one that he put a face on. Crap, now he was getting all philosophical. He needed more sleep, he assured himself. Then he’d be back to normal.

As he knelt by the animal’s side, he continued to talk softly, and surprisingly enough, it began to calm. He ran his hands along its body and tried to feel for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed out of place. He didn’t know deer anatomy, but it didn’t seem to have a swollen stomach and didn’t appear to have any broken bones. The thing might just be in shock and needing the cuts sewn up and disinfected. He might actually be able to save this thing.

“Is he going to make it?” Roxie asked, standing right behind him.

“I don’t know,” he said, not wanting to raise her hopes only to dash them. “But I think I’ll call Doc Evan and get him taken in. We might be able to.”

Doc Evan was a local vet with magical hands. Kian had seen more animals saved by his hands than by any other vet. He was in high demand, and it was a good thing the guy owed Kian a favor or two, because this was going to cost him.

Kian placed the call and explained the situation to the doc, and then had to grit his teeth as the guy laughed so hard, he couldn’t speak for several moments. Kian turned away so Roxie couldn’t see his scowl as he waited for the doctor to calm down.

“Man, Kian, I am loving this. You’re out there performing CPR on a deer to impress a girl. I gotta see it in person,” Evan said between bouts of laughter.

“You’re a damn vet. Aren’t you supposed to want to save animals?” Kian pointed out.

“I don’t typically make it a habit of saving roadkill,” Evan told him after a few more chuckles.

“Well, obviously, the damn thing isn’t roadkill yet,” Kian snapped.

“Okay, okay, I’m on my way,” Evan said before hanging up.

There wasn’t much the two of them could do as they waited for Evan to show up. Kian had no idea why Roxie was so invested in this animal. Maybe it was because she’d been the one who had hit it, or maybe she just needed a miracle, but because she was invested, that meant he was, too.

“Why don’t we let Evan take the deer to his place and we can swing by the hospital and have a scan or two?” Kian asked.

Roxie rolled her eyes at him. “I’m not going to tell you again that I’m fine. I’m staying with the deer,” she said, her voice firm. Both she and Lily appeared perfectly okay, and he wouldn’t insist any of his patients undergo unnecessary tests, but Roxie wasn’t just any patient. She was special, and Lily was his daughter.

Still, he’d been watching them for thirty minutes straight, and there were zero signs of injury. He might have to let this one go. Taking a loss wasn’t easy for him to swallow.

Doc Evan showed up and cracked a few more jokes at Kian’s expense, then the two of them sedated the frightened deer before loading it in the doc’s trailer. Roxie insisted on following him back to his farm, where he had secure places for animals to recover.

Kian was at the back of the parade, not wanting her to drive the damn car, but since she insisted on not leaving it, he had no choice. He was tense the entire thirty-mile drive. He was buying her a new car and then dropping hers off a damn bridge. That thought cheered him up immensely.