Writing this one was when I realized this is a novella. Enjoy Sheppard being a big kitty.
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Sometimes The Mountain Buries You is a queer novella about the things that threaten your attempt at a much-needed quiet life. Check out the about page here.
You are out of town at one of the ranches on the backside of the hill checking on calves and pregnant ewes when Sheppard comes round town for you. He returns one morning not many days later while you're opening the clinic, with his 'sprained ankle he just wants to check isn't a compound fracture'. "And you walked six hours on it?"
"I've walked dozens of hours on it." Your sigh is identifiably aggrieved. He hops up on the examination table with the usual spring.
links and search terms from writing 'You are out of town at one of the ranches on the backside of the hill'
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.1082658/full (cw: medical description) "Case Report: Two cases of survival after complete transection of the left common carotid artery"
- "scar types"
- "bobcat size"
The number of people I've known to just keep going on a sprained ankle is greater than zero, I'll tell you that much.