MAIA TOOK A DEEP SLOW BREATH. “It isn’t as if I can keep her from going against her natural instincts. If you are going to watch this, please don’t turn your back on her and don’t stare directly into her eyes. I sometimes look them in the eyes, but I have some strange affinity for wild animals.” She kept her voice crooning, as if talking to the cat.
“The wound is in her shoulder which is a good thing. I’m going to give her both Rompom and Ketamine to knock her out. Jase, it’s always much harder with exotics, particularly large cats. Normally you have to dart them, and the problem is, they are very hard to dart down because there is no set dosage even if they’re the same age and height, the normal criteria for dosing an animal or even a human. It’s different with them because their adrenaline is pumping very fast. It’s rare to take a large cat down with one dart.” As she spoke she was preparing the shot.
“Maia.” Cole didn’t like her in such close proximity, yet she was moving with confidence.
“Please don’t talk. This is very hard on her. She trusts me, but not you. You have to look at the body language of a cat to know what’s going on inside of them.” She set the dose of Ketamine aside and withdrew a second syringe. “This is yohimbe, Jase. You always have it ready when you’re working with exotics. The danger is, they’ll fight the drug until they finally drop, but then, as they relax, they can go into cardiac arrest. I think she’ll be fine, she isn’t fighting it, but we have to be ready. Yohimbe reverses the Ketamine. I’m giving the injection in the muscle and it will sting, so expect a reaction and don’t move. Once she’s out, you can get close to her.”
Cole kept the gun hidden along his thigh. His heart was pounding in fear, and his mouth was dry, not for himself, or even Jase, but because the sight of Maia so close to the wild animal was terrifying.
Maia caught the head of the cat in her hands and leaned forward nose to nose, her face inches from the cat’s teeth. She seemed to exchange breath with the animal, obviously communicating in some way, but Cole’s fingers tightened around the gun. It took a tremendous effort to keep from aiming it at the animal. Maia put her hand on the cat’s heart as if matching her own heartbeat with the mountain lion.
Maia pulled back to pick up the syringe. The cat yowled as she administered it. “I know, baby,” she said softly, “it stings, doesn’t it? Just go with it and get sleepy for me.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I need to work fast, this won’t keep her under for long.”
“Can we help?” Cole asked, shoving the gun back into his holster.
“Remember how I mixed the Betadine and saline? You can do that while I give her fluid. It’s going to balloon up at the site, Jase, but the lump will dissipate as the fluid is absorbed in the cat’s body. I’m giving her a sub queue of lactated Ringer’s solution for dehydration. It’s hard to find a vein on the big cats, but they absorb liquid under the skin. I’m putting in the fluids right here in this area.”
“Do you want me to put this in a syringe like we did for the horse?” Jase asked. He crouched quite close to Maia, almost nudging her out of the way.
“Yes. Use it to flush the wound site. The wound is on the trapezoid muscle, but it looks like the bullet just sliced it rather than penetrated.” Maia turned her head toward Jase.
Cole could see they were nearly nose to nose. For some reason it put a lump in his throat. Something deep inside him shifted. Moved. Melted. He saw his young half brother, so starved for love and attention, turning to Maia. She seemed so willing to give the boy the things he needed. It came naturally to her. She imparted knowledge casually, and Jase soaked it up.
“You lavage it, and I’ll debride the area. We want it sterile, just like with Wally.”
“She’s so big,” Jase observed. “I’ve never seen a mountain lion other than in pictures before.” There was awe in Jase’s voice. Unable to help himself, just as curious as Jase, Cole crowded closer to see what they were doing.
“They’re solitary animals, Jase,” Maia explained. “The females are smaller than the males. This one probably weighs in around ninety-five pounds and most are somewhere between seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five pounds, so she’s average and healthy. A female will keep her cubs with her about year to a year and half. This one is still young, maybe two years old.”
“Can I touch her?” Jase was already reaching out, his expression lit up with excitement. Cole had never seen him as fascinated or intrigued with anything. The boy moved even closer, actually bending over Maia to peer at what she was doing. She didn’t seem to mind in the least, showing him what she was doing next.
“Sure, it’s safe. She’s out. Her eyes are open, but she’s out.” Maia squeezed ointment into the cat’s eyes to prevent them from drying out. “She can’t blink like this, so we have to do it for her.”
“I’ve heard them scream before,” Jase said. “It was like something out of a scary movie.”