[Bonus Prompt 1] - By a Hair

In the evening of this rather frustrating day, Efua and Anabel had joined the rest of the staff in the stable café. Ji-Min - a seasoned Cross Country rider who had been adopted by the stable’s owner after moving to the UK from Korea - had made them supper, consisting out of a few simple sandwiches and black tea brewed to perfection. The scent of baked goods and the fresh tea mingled with the scent of leather, hay and dust. As the evening continued, more members of the staff joined the trio for the nightly ritual of familiar bickering - a tradition that allowed everyone to unwind and share the events of the day.

“I’ve never heard of stuff like that”, added Ji-Min as she placed another plate of richly filled sandwiches on the communal table before she sat down next to Efua, “we’ve checked the teeth, the gums, even her cervical spine. Good tip, by the way, would never have thought of that.”

“I’ve seen it in humans already, was only a small stretch to assume that this could also affect horses”, replied James as he stirred in his evening tea. It was almost a little miracle to see the redhead at the evening table as he usually spent his evenings working in his medical profession.

“It could maybe be a hidden abscess, something that we are missing. When are the blood results coming in?”

“About a week from now”, was the unified answer from both Anabel and Efua.

“If I have to play detective one more day, I’ll lose my mind”, James replied as he rubbed his eyes. It was clear how exhausted he was.

“Hun. You lose your mind even if you only have to clean a stall”, Ji-Min retorted with a twinkle of humour in her eyes.

“Says the one who cried two hours to me because her acrylic nail broke”, retorted James with a bit of a dry smile.

The bantering continued, filling the café with laughter and the bickering the stable was so famous for. Even Efua, usually a picture of stoic professionalism, found herself chuckling at the display. And yet, the concern for Santa Lucia’s well-being hung over the little group like a Damokle sword. The conversation slowly died down, leaving the four in silence.

“I will be damned if I cannot find the cause for her mouth pain”, Anabel finally spoke to break the silence as she rose her teacup, “to Santa Lucia, may we uncover her mystery and grant her peace!”

The clink of the cups - probably way too expensive to endure such treatment - and the echo of Anabel’s sentiment from everyone at the table filled the little café.

In that moment they knew, they would uncover the mystery of what was plaguing Santa Lucia so much. And the answer came one week later.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Or rather, it didn’t come. The blood results that returned were all normal - no deviation at all. Santa Lucia had continued to drop more weight -  slowly but surely, the mare had stopped eating even the smallest amount of food. Anabel was distressed, almost not eating herself. Sleep was out of the question. She felt as if she had failed.

That was until James finally resurfaced at the stables again. While the redhead looked as chipper and well-dressed as always, the bags under his eyes spoke of long night shifts at the clinic. Normally nobody would want to talk to him in this state as James had quite the sharp tongue and took no prisoners if he was prodded too much - and sometimes enough prodding was asking one-off questions.

But Anabel didn’t know. Efua was at the end of her wit - and so she decided to literally prod the sleeping bear.

She could handle some hurtful words - this was about Santa Lucia after all, the mare she had promised to rehabilitate. And although James was busy taking up Tarot, a grey Loshenka mare with vibrant blue eyes, Anabel used the opportunity.

“Hey, I know you’re busy but-”

“If it’s about Santa Lucia again-”, James started but was quickly cut off.

“The blood results are here. There is nothing wrong with her.”

The redhead who had already constructed a soul-crushing retort in his head paused for a second.

“What do you mean, 'nothing is wrong with her'?”, he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“No inflammations, no deviations, nothing. Efua is not here at the moment. You’re a doctor.”

“I’m a doctor for humans, not for horses”, he hissed back.

“Still, you helped us. You worked in the ER. You found out why some people have been in pain for years that other doctors have brushed off. She stopped eating and I don’t know how long she can last like this.”

The tension in the air was almost palpable as James sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes before giving Tarot a few hearty pats on the silver neck.

“Fine. I’ll take a look at her as well.”

Santa Lucia’s stall was not far off. With practised hands, James carefully inspected the mare’s mouth - but despite the thorough examination, there was no obvious cause to be found. Santa Lucia was tossing her head as his fingers traced the little tooth gap where bits usually rested - but everything seemed normal outside of this. The pair stood in silence until the redhead narrowed his blue eyes again.

“...have you gotten an x-ray, Ana?”

“Yeah, of course! Nothing we could see there. Why?”

“I have had a case like this in my office already. Athlete, 25 years old, complained about pain in his foot. X-ray showed nothing. Ultrasound showed nothing. The pain got unbearable over time. I was the first one to suggest an MRT. We found a hairline fracture in his third metatarsal bone. It was too fine for the X-ray to pick up but caused a lot of pain. It was caused by repeated overexertion, the bone just could not handle the stress put on it. If she was ridden with an ill-fitting bit and a rider who has no idea how to handle sharper bits-”

Anabel slowly nodded along to the other’s words, furrowing her brow.

“We need an MRT. I’ll call the clinic right away. And Efua. And-”, she interrupted James while she struggled to grab the phone from her pocket.

Soon, Santa Lucia was brought into a specialised clinic that offered head MRTs for horses. After she was put under anaesthetics, the mare was slowly driven into the rhythmically humming machine. The staff watched with bated breath during the procedure and in the waiting room to see the final images.

Efua, who had come in just for this event assisted the vet of the clinic in the evaluation of the images and soon her eyes caught a faint line.

“There”, she exclaimed as she pointed at the culprit for all of the sleepless nights her stable had endured, “there is the little fu- the hairline fracture!”

“Bendito sea Dios…”, Anabel only mumbled silently as she buried her face in her hands - all of the stress that she had gone through was almost blown away and she could not help but crumble now.

“We can finally start treatment.”