The Falling Kind Read Online Free PDF Page A

off. That wasn’t a subject I liked talking about – ever. Especially not on a work day when I needed to maintain my composure. “Look, it was just a weird, random night. Nothing will come of it. Unless he comes to the clinic for me to check his arm, I doubt I’ll even see him again. But it doesn’t matter, he’s not even my type at all.”
                  “Of course not, why would handsome and muscular be your type?” she teased.
                  “Good morning ladies,” Dr. Nikki said cheerfully, popping her head into the break room. “Sydney, you’re going to kill me, but the message service was quite busy last night. The Humane Society has six new ones to bring over today, and we only have room here for four. Any chance you can handle a rabbit at your place, and one tortoise? It would just be for a couple of nights. I may have a home for Dexter by Friday, but unfortunately they’re coming in faster than we have them going out.”
                  Sadly, this was eternally our problem. The clinic already got fined once for being over capacity, so I knew she couldn’t risk it again.
                  “Of course, I have an open spot for the rabbit for sure, I only have those two black spotted ones right now. As for the tortoise, that should be pretty low maintenance, right? I can probably keep him in the kitchen, high enough so Dexter can’t get to him?” I offered. Dr. Nikki was so compassionate about all of these animals that I couldn’t help but try and accommodate them for her. She kindly showed her appreciation by bringing me groceries when she dropped off food and toys for the animals, and occasionally my rent was even covered when I had a full house. She was so generous when I needed time off too, so I genuinely didn’t mind helping her out in any way I could. Plus, it gave me some company.
                  “You are a lifesaver,” she replied sincerely as she left the room.
                  “See, if you lived in an apartment with pet restrictions like me, you could have a normal dating life without pigs and tortoises running around,” Sam teased. “Maybe that would help you find time for a guy.”
                  “Your place is a dive, that’s why you’re always hanging out at mine,” I joked back. “You do have pets already, they’re called mice.”
                  “Oh stop, it’s not that bad. Besides, mice are cute,” she happily shrugged. “Hey, are we still on for that concert tomorrow night?”
                  “Of course, looking forward to it. Beach today after work?” Many of our afternoons were spent the same way, lazily laying out in the summer sun, reading magazines and talking about life.
                  “Yep, I need to work on my tan before tomorrow night,” she agreed. “Come on, we have a spay to prep for. Let’s get to work.”
                  The workday passed by pretty routinely. No major catastrophes, which was always a relief in our line of work. We unexpectedly adopted out a few rabbits and two cats to someone who owned a small farm, which would free up the ones I had in my condo. That would leave me with Dexter and the unnamed tortoise for the time being, probably the least amount of pets I ever had at one time.
                  Since Sam and I had the early shift, we got off at three in the afternoon. We loved days like that because the clinic was only a five minute walk down to the beach. Lake Tahoe had so many wonderful beaches, both on the Nevada side where we were and on the California side about twenty minutes away. But Halo Beach, the one nearest to the clinic and my apartment, was by far my favorite. There were no good parking spots near it, so it was mostly only locals versus the crowds of tourists most of the other Tahoe beaches had. 
                  Sam and I brought the tortoise back to my