Whiskers

Impossible Possibility

(Cover fanart by @BellaDeLacy :D)

The next day had everyone quite busy. While the wolf needed the collar removed from its neck soon, they wanted to give him some time to just relax by himself, so, after putting a staff member in the adjacent room to keep an eye on the monitors, Jared and Jamie made their way to the avian holding area. 

The hawk was in the first room, a thin rope dangling from its leg that had been cut to free it from the perch it had been fastened to where they'd rescued him. His head tilted slightly as they walked in, but it did little else then observe while they set up a small surgical table. 

"Loren should be here soon. Hopefully this shifter doesn't have any issues with anesthesia like the wolf did." Jared said, getting a chuckle from his brother as he spread a worn towel over the cold metal table. 

"We're going to have to figure out a way to knock him out long enough to do his collar, though. That thing can't stay on him much longer." Jamie added, getting a nod from Jared as he finished checking the anesthesia machine. 

Knocking out a bird was a lot more tricky than a dog or cat. It could be very dangerous if they didn't get things done quickly. 

Feeling eyes on him, Jared straightened up and looked over his shoulder at the hawk. It was watching him, it's unusual rust red eyes dashed with a bit of dark green flecks. 

"I'm sure once we get that band off of your leg, you'll be free to shift again." He said, giving the bird a smile which got him a simple tilt from the bird's head in response. 

"Sorry I'm a little late, guys. Late night." Loren said, drawing smirks from both the brothers. They knew that she'd been with them working on the wolf last night and had stayed extra late for it. 

"We'll cut you some slack today. Shall we?" Jared said as he walked over to the hawk. 

It didn't seem stressed by his presence much, if at all. It wasn't panting or fidgeting, or trying to get away from him at all. "You want that nasty thing off, don't you?" He said, getting an ear-piercing screech from the bird. 

"Right. I'll take that as a yes." He said, rubbing an ear as he turned to the vet, who was loading anesthetic into a syringe. 

When she walked over to the hawk, the bird actually tilted its head back, giving her easy access to wherever she wanted to give it the necessary shot. Loren was quick, and the drug was even quicker as the bird got sleepy in less than a three minutes. 

As soon as it was safe, Jared placed a rolled-up towel between the bird's sharp talons and then picked up, putting it on the blanket on top of the surgical table. 

Jamie grabbed the bird's injured leg and held it steady while Loren began cutting away the metal, spike-studded band. After a few careful snips with the small metal clippers she'd brought, the band practically broke apart. She easily tugged it out of the bird's leg a piece at a time, being careful not to cause anymore damage to it. 

"Almost done." She whispered, more to herself than to either of them. 

Jamie reached over and grabbed the bandages and handed them to Loren when she lifted her hand for them. "Thankfully, he seems like he wants to cooperate completely, so I'm not too worried that he'd take these bandages off. These are the ones made specifically for shifters that stretch a bit, so if he shifts, he should still be okay for a bit, too." She said as she examined the wound she'd scrubbed out and added medication to. 

When she seemed pleased, she wrapped a good portion of the bandaging around it, then quickly unhooked the anesthesia machine so that it could start waking up.