Dancing Tides by Vickie McKeehan

ec ision, Dre a s e nt him a w ide s mile a nd s a id, “Tr ust m e . Sh e’ s g oi n g to love th e m. Here , do n ’ t f o r g e t to f ill out the car d. M a ke it z in g , ok a y . K ee g a n d e s er v e s som e thing sp ec i a l.”
    O n th a t sugg e stion, he tot a l l y a g r ee d. So he took t he ti n y c ar d in his h u g e h a nd a nd s cr ibbl e d do w n his m e s s a g e , m a ki n g su r e it c a me fr om the h e a r t.
     

     
    Ke e g a n h a d st ar t e d h e r d a y t r ea ti n g the s e a lion pup sh e’ d f in a l l y lo ca t e d o n the b eac h l a st ni g ht b a r e l y a liv e , t a n g l e d in a m a ss of k e lp. T he little g u y h a d su f fe re d a si x - in c h bite w ound th a t h a d p re t t y m u c h l ef t his re a r f lipp e r in sh re ds. F r om the t ee th m ar ks she c ould s a y w ith some cer t a in t y the b ite pr ob a b l y ca me fr om a mu c h l a r g e r p re d a t o r like a s har k.
    T h a nks to B r a n Sulliv a n sho w ing up a t midn i g ht to do e m e r g e n c y su r g e r y on the b a b y a nd a h e a lt h y dose o f a n t ibioti c s, this mo r ning the pup look e d a lot mo r e a l er t.
    “ W e ll, don ’ t y ou look a ll c hipp er ,” K e e g a n c oo e d a t the s e a lion sh e’ d ni c k n a m e d D o d g e r b eca use h e’ d obvious l y d od g e d b ec omi n g sh ar k s u pp er . She st r ok e d his f ur a nd a dd e d, “Y ou look t e n tim e s b e tt e r th a n w h e n I f i r st s e t e y e s on y o u.”

Ke e g a n wa s in the p r o ce s s of doing a t e mp era t u r e a nd we i g ht c h e c k w h e n A b b y bou n ce d in b e t wee n the r o w of l a r g e indoor c a g e s. “H o w ’ s our n ewe st p a ti e nt ? ”
    “ I t ’ s a m a z ing w h a t a little T L C d o e s a lo n g w ith some decen t f ood. I sn ’ t t h a t r i g ht, D odg er ? ”
    “D o d g er ? ” A b b y sn o r t e d a t the ni c kn a m e . “ I sup p ose th a t ’ s f ittin g . H ow o l d do y ou think D odg e r is ? ”
    “Ha s to be a r ound e i g ht months sin c e s e a lions usu a l l y b r ee d no l a t e r th a n J u l y . B ut his we i g ht’s do w n a nd he lo o ks mu c h y ou n g e r th a n t h a t b eca u s e h e’ s v e r y m a l nou r ish e d a nd d e h y d ra t e d. A nd he still ac ts like he wa nts to nu r s e .”
    “ I c ould bottle f e e d him,” A b b y volunt ee r e d. “A n d b ef o r e y ou a sk I a l rea d y upd a t e d the we bsit e , post e d a ll the n e w photos w e took y e st er d a y a nd did a lo a d of to we ls.”
    “O k a y .” Ke e g a n smil e d. T h a t ’ s w h a t she lik e d m o st a bout A b b y . T h e g i r l wa s a l w a y s w illing to g o the e x t r a mile o r a tt ac k some c ho r e w ith w h a t Ke e g a n d ee m e d h e r “Ab b y - Spi r it.”
    “T h a nks f or t h e o f f e r to bottle fee d but I a l r ea d y g ot him to nibble on some cra b m ea t.” W h e n she s a w the dis a p p ointm e nt on A b b y ’ s c re s t fa ll e n f a ce , she a dd e d, “ D on ’ t look so do w n, y o u still g e t to monitor h i s f ood int a ke a nd…” She pu ffe d out a b rea th. W h a t the h e ll. “ I g u e ss it w ouldn ’ t hu r t to m a ke up a bottle a nd s e e how it go e s. I n a bout th r e e hou r s he g e ts t ra nspo r t e d outside a n y w a y .”
    “ Cool. I ’ ll g o m a k e up the f o r mul a .”
    Ke e g a n wa t c h e d h e r g o a nd shook h e r h ea d. She w ond ere d if s h e h a d e v e r b ee n th a t bubb l y a nd e a g e r . Y e a h, she h a d. A t ar ound t e n s h e’ d t ra il e d af t e r h e r g r a n d p are nts like a b a b y du c klin g . I t w a s a lso ar o und th a t a ge sh e’ d put b a ll e t on the b ac kbu r n e r f or g ood a nd d ec id e d t h e re s c ue ce nt e r h e ld h e r fu t u re.
    So w hile Co r d bou g ht h e r f lo wer s, K e e g a n dish e d out h err i n g a nd r o c k f ish to h e r war d o f hun g r y p a ti e nts. T he b r o w n p e li ca n w a s a