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Having worked with horses for a few years now and being around them his whole life, Keith is painfully aware that injuries are a part of horsemanship. You could wrap them in several layers of bubble wrap and they would still find a protruding nail, throw a shoe or annoy that one mare they really shouldn't — it's just the nature of horses. They have a sixth sense for running into things that could injure them in some manner. That, and they're badly designed by nature in the first place: a thousand pounds on four stick legs that are mostly bone, tendons and soft tissue. All that to say, Keith has seen his fair share of injuries, including some gnarly ones where a wild animal somehow found its way into the pastures. It never gets easier, though.
It's at the tail end of a sunny, actually rather warm day for this time of the year, when he finds a gash on one of Allura's dappled grey mares when he brings her in for the night. He's been kind of expecting an injury to happen — spring always flips something in their brains that makes them behave more like feral dragons than horses. With almost fifty horses at Juniper Berry Ranch, it's practically inevitable.
Keith pulls the horse to a stop so he can inspect the cut on her stifle. It's not terribly deep, luckily, but it's long, and while he can clean it out, there's no way he can stitch it up. At least the mare doesn't seem to be limping. Keith runs a hand through his hair, sighing. He'll have to call their vet, and he just hopes Coran can come quickly.
He fishes his phone out of his pocket and sends a quick text to Allura to let her know about the situation, and calls Coran. Much to his surprise, Coran picks it up on the fifth ring — it usually takes him until at least the tenth.
"Hello, Keith!" Coran says, his tone chipper. Keith has always found him a little bit weird and eccentric, but there's no denying he's one of the best equine vets in Tennessee. They're really lucky to have him, because despite all the strangeness that comes with Coran, he's passionate, thorough and conscientious about his care. "What did you call about? The shots aren't scheduled for another two weeks."
"Hey, Coran, thanks for picking up," Keith replies, "we have a bit of a problem. Daisy managed to cut her leg up and I reckon it'll need stitches."
"I'm truly sorry, my boy," Coran starts, regret clear in his voice, "but I cannot leave this case, and it looks like it will take the rest of the evening."
Keith chews on his lower lip as he thinks about what he could do. He could call another vet who's free, but Allura is really particular about them, especially when it comes to her own horses. He doesn't really look forward to telling her that Coran couldn't come.
"That's fine, I'll—"
Coran cuts him off. "Keith, hang on just a moment." Keith hears some commotion on the other end of the line — someone else talking to Coran, to which Coran replies 'Juniper Berry Ranch'. Coran speaks into the phone again. "Actually, I can send someone to you."
Keith hesitates. "Are you sure? You know Allura."
"He's very trustworthy, he's training under me. He'll be there in half an hour." With that, Coran ends the call, leaving Keith to stare at his phone.
He looks at Daisy, who started grazing at the side of the road while Keith talked on the phone. "At least you ain't doing so badly if you can eat."
He tugs once on the lead rope to get the mare to lift her head before he starts leading her up to the barn; and thank the Heavens for Allura teaching manners to her horses, because Daisy follows him dutifully. Once at the barn, he leads Daisy to the washing bay.
"Romelle! I put Daisy in the crossties, keep an eye on her!" He hollers to the other stablehand.
Romelle pokes her head out of the feeding room. "Sure! What happened?"
"Gash on her stifle, already called Coran, he's sending someone. Should be here in thirty." He turns around to bring in the other horses still in the pastures.
Just as he leads the last two horses up to the barn, a dusty, dark blue truck rolls in — it's not familiar, none of their boarders owns one like this, and they've been coming and going for the past hour. Keith puts the horses in their stalls, stepping out of the barn just as the truck stops at the entrance. A guy about his age steps out, bundled in a warm hoodie and an olive green jacket. He's tall, maybe a little taller than Keith himself, and there's something familiar about him but Keith can't place him. The guy looks around, clearly searching for something, and walks up to Keith when he notices him.
"Hi!" He grins at Keith like they're friends who just ran into each other after years.
Keith crosses his arms. "Do I know you?" He doesn't have time for strangers trying to get into the farm, not when there's an injured horse and he's waiting for a vet.
"The name's Lance?" The guy - Lance - frowns at him. "You don't remember?"
"Doesn't ring a bell," Keith shakes his head. "What are you doing here?"
Lance rolls his eyes. "Coran sent me. Also, we went to Garrison Elementary together."
Something clicks in Keith's brain. A rowdy kid in the halls of the school, always surrounded by others and in the center of attention. No way.
"Oh wait, I remember you. You're that loud kid." He checks Lance out from head to toe. "Didn't think you'd become a vet."
Lance scowls at him. "Don't be an asshole when I'm here to help."
Right. Daisy. Keith huffs but doesn't say anything, just turns around and leads Lance to the crossties where Daisy paws at the ground impatiently. Lance walks up to the horse, and lets her sniff his hand before he scratches her forehead. He runs a hand over her, stopping at her left stifle where the wound is.
"Yeah, this will need stitches," Lance says as he straightens up. "Lemme grab my stuff."
Lance walks back to his car, and Keith follows him, for whatever reason. Lance ditches his coat before he pushes his sleeves up and grabs a few supplies. He pulls on a pair of rubber gloves, and talks through the procedure in a low, calming voice, though Keith isn't sure if it's to calm Daisy or himself. He starts with a local anesthetic, then cleans out the wound before starting to stitch it up, all the while keeping up a steady commentary. By the looks of it, though, his work is quick and precise.
Keith takes the time to really look at Lance while he works. He doesn't remember much of Lance — after all, it's been about two decades since he last saw the guy. There are freckles dotting his face, and his eyebrows furrow in concentration. His fingers are long and nimble, and with his hoodie's sleeves at his elbows, Keith can see the sinewy muscles of his forearm. It's a telltale sign that Lance is stronger than he looks, then again, it would be strange if he wasn't as a vet student.
After wrapping up the wound, Lance runs a hand over Daisy's back, patting her when he gets to her croup. "All done."
"Thanks."
Lance starts walking back to his car and he takes off his gloves. "She needs to be on stall rest for at least a week, otherwise she might rip the stitches."
That's going to be fun — the mare doesn't do well with being left alone in the barn, though Keith anticipated that when he saw the wound. "Anything else?"
"Bandages need to be changed every day. If she gets it off somehow, better disinfect it before you rewrap it," Lance says as he rummages around in the back of his truck. When he finishes, he finally looks up at Keith with a raised eyebrow. "I can come out and do it if you want me to."
It makes Keith irrationally bothered, somehow — does he look that incompetent that Lance offered to do it himself? "I know how to change bandages, thanks," he snaps.
"Jeez, someone's touchy," Lance says with an eyeroll.
Keith makes a face at his back, and he knows it's childish but he can't help it; Lance, even in this short time he's been present, brings out his petty part. "Anything else I need to know?"
"Call Coran if you notice something's off or she rips the stitches open." Lance gets into the driver's seat, and shoots Keith a mocking smile. "But I guess you already knew that if you know how to redo bandages."
"Oh fuck off." It rips out of Keith unbidden, and for a moment, shame blazes through him like a wildfire. Despite his dislike for the guy, he actually did a great job of patching up Daisy. "Do we owe you anything?"
Lance waves him off as he starts the engine. "We can deal with that later, she'll need a checkup and then we'll have to remove the stitches." Before he closes the door, he salutes at Keith mockingly. "Later, Cowboy."
The door closes with a loud thud, and Lance pulls out in a cloud of dust, leaving Keith to stare after him. As the car disappears in the distance, Keith realizes that his teeth ache from clenching his jaw so tightly, and forces his muscles to relax. It works, for the most part, but it also leaves him sorely aware that maybe, he let his anxiety for Daisy seep into his conversation with Lance; if one can even call a few clipped words a conversation.
It's not like he means to be an asshole, but his emotions get the best of him sometimes. He's broken out of his thoughts when he hears a commotion behind him — Romelle has started to pass out dinner and the horses act like they don't have two meals and all day access to hay or grass every single day.
With a sigh, he turns around and leads Daisy into her stall. It's then that it hits him what Lance called him as he drove off. Cowboy? What?
Two days later, when Keith goes into Daisy's stall in the morning to change her bandage, he notes with resigned sigh that during the night, she managed to rip her stitches open.
He just hopes Coran is on call. The call connects after three rings, and a drowsy, rough voice greets him instead of Coran's cheerful tone. "Hello?"
"It's Keith from Juniper Berry Ranch, can I talk to Coran?"
There's some rustling from the other end of the line. "He's off this morning, I'm on call. What's the problem?"
It's only now that Keith recognizes that the voice belongs to Lance, the guy who came to stitch up Daisy in the first place. It's just his luck that Coran is off the one morning when she needs medical attention, again. Though, maybe this time they'll start off on a better note.
"Daisy needs her stitches redone, popped them during the evening."
"I'll be there in fifteen." The call disconnects abruptly, and Keith stares at his phone. What is it with vets and just abruptly ending calls?
While he waits for Lance, he helps Romelle give the horses their breakfast. By the time they finish, half an hour has already passed and Lance still hasn't arrived. Keith has half a mind to call him again, but that's when Lance's now familiar blue truck rolls to a stop before the barn.
Keith waits for him at the entrance to the barn, his arms crossed and his feet tapping on the ground.
"You're late."
Lance glares at him with bleary eyes. "Your call woke me up, dickwad, God forbid I get breakfast on the way."
And… okay. Keith had a feeling that he did wake Lance, but Lance actually admitting it sends a wave of shame through him. So much for getting off on a better foot.
Silently, Lance gathers his supplies and looks at Keith with a raised eyebrow. Keith gets the memo and leads Lance to Daisy's stall, where the mare is cleaning out the last of her breakfast from the bucket.
"Hey, gorgeous," Lance says softly when they reach the stall. "You know you're just making it harder on yourself if you rip your stitches out, right?"
Daisy lifts her head and snorts as if she's saying 'shut up'. Lance pats her neck, and goes through the same motions as last time — anesthetic, disinfecting, stitching. At one point, Kosmo, Keith's giant Husky-Great Pyrenees mix trots up behind him and presses his head into his hand, clearly looking for attention. Keith indulges him and scratches his head while he waits for Lance to finish up.
Soon enough, Lance stands up and runs a hand over Daisy's back. "You better behave for the next few days, you're actually improving, so I don't want to see you until it's time to take out your stitches."
He pulls a treat out of one of many pockets, and offers it to Daisy. The mare, being the glutton that she is, devours it like she didn't just have breakfast. Lance pats her one last time before he steps out of the stall, and he pauses when he sees Kosmo.
"And who are you, handsome?"
Kosmo, the traitor, starts wagging his tail and walks up to Lance with a happy smile to beg for some pets. Lance gives in easily, and he scratches Kosmo behind his ear.
"You're so much nicer than your owner," Lance says, glancing at Keith from the corner of his eye.
Keith huffs. "Don't let Kosmo fool you, he just wanted pets." He hesitates a little and shifts from foot to foot. "Would you like some coffee?"
It's the least Keith can do for him, especially with the way he woke the guy up in the first place. The question seems to surprise Lance, though Keith can't really blame him.
"No, thanks, I should get going, I have to meet Coran in…" he says, checking his phone before he continues. "Ten minutes ago."
"Don't let me keep you, then."
Lance turns away, and he starts to walk back towards his car.
Keith calls after him before he disappears. "Hey Lance?" Lance just turns around as he keeps walking backwards, and raises an eyebrow.
"Thanks for coming."
Lance just smiles at him, and it's nothing like Keith has seen from him before. "See ya around, Cowboy."
Not that stupid nickname again.
But as Keith watches Lance drive away, something flutters in his chest.