Selfless Hero

Kylie

I looked outside as I tied my hair up. The sunlight was just starting to peak over the horizon, and birdsong drifted through the cracked window. I stretched and reached for my jacket, with Lulu already dancing around my feet, anxious for her morning run.

“Go get your leash,” I told her, as I pulled on my jacket. She turned in a circle three times and then happily skipped to the back of the apartment, returning just seconds later, dragging the leash in her mouth as I tied my shoelaces. I fastened it to her collar and tossed my keys into my pocket. “All right. Let’s go.”

The early morning air was brisk, but not unpleasant. Lulu and I fell into a comfortable trot as we headed to the park. And as usual these days, my thoughts drifted to Max.

I had spent the whole night with his face floating through my dreams, particularly the last expression he’d given me before leaving the hospital the previous day. After our intoxicating yet highly inappropriate make-out session in the on-call room, where we’d almost been caught looking like a couple of hormone-driven teenagers, I’d felt the need to at least end our day on smoother terms. But after Dr. Coleman almost walked in on us, I hadn’t been able to find Max for the rest of the day. Shortly before our shift ended, I ran into Megan and told her to let him know I was looking for him. When I briefly spotted him while talking to Nurse Tyson and her intern, I thought Megan must have delivered my message. However, when I caught Max’s eye, he looked at me with an expression not far from terror before running away.

My heart had plummeted right there on the spot. It had been a struggle for me to excuse myself, hoping to go after and catch up to him. But I’d had no such luck. Not before long though, I was grateful I hadn’t caught up to him; I never wanted to be the kind of woman to chase after a man, especially if that man could be so hot-and-cold without rhyme or reason.

I tried so hard not to be offended by Max’s actions, but it felt impossible every time I thought about his dark eyes, silky hair, and the sexy five o’clock shadow he always sported. There was hardly ever a moment that went by when I didn’t quiver in delight at the memory of his strong hands and ridiculously sexy body. Even the scent of him was enough to make me want to swoon.

No matter how much I didn’t want to admit it, I was completely and irrevocably smitten.

It would have been a lot easier for me to keep my feelings in check if I honestly believed that Dr. Max Lewis was truly the jerk I had thought him to be when we first met. But now, I’d gotten a glimpse behind the mask he attempted to hide behind and consequently knew that deep down, he had a sensitive and troubled soul that I wanted nothing more than to help heal. But I already knew healing Max would take a lot more skill and caution than any bullet wound I’d treated over the years. And considering how broken Troy had left me, I couldn’t deny worrying about whether I could handle the task.

How could I help anyone heal when I still had some pretty deep wounds of my own that needed tending?

I knew that contemplating it all any further would do nothing but give me a headache, and I certainly didn’t need that when I had to work in a couple of hours. I tried to push it all from my mind so that I could simply enjoy my morning run with Lulu. I glanced down at her and smiled. She ran beside me, panting with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She glanced up at me for a moment, her goofy expression seemingly saying, “It’s okay, Mommy. You’ve got me.”

I reached down to quickly scratch her ear and laughed. “How about we pick it up a notch?” I said to her. “I’ll race you! Last one to the park is a rotten egg!”

I picked up my pace, and Lulu easily matched it, her tail steadily swishing behind her. The muscles in my legs working overtime wasn’t even enough to keep thoughts of Max at bay though. Feeling myself growing tired, I started concentrating on my breathing, taking measured breaths in and exhaling through my mouth.

We had just bypassed the halfway mark when I suddenly felt myself being tugged backwards. Confusion delaying my reaction, it took a moment for me to realize Lulu had abruptly stopped running beside me and had taken off in another direction. Still gripping her leash, I was involuntarily jerked backwards along with her. A pain shot through my arm; I had forgotten how strong Lulu could be when she wanted to.

“Lulu!” I shouted. “Stop it! LULU!”

But she was too distracted. I stumbled after her, holding on to her leash for dear life. I frantically scanned the premises, wondering what on earth had caused my normally well-mannered dog to suddenly go rogue.

A squirrel darted across the street and went up the nearest tree, attempting to get out of harm’s way. Lulu occasionally chased squirrels, but never with this much aggression. Gritting my teeth, I gripped the leash tighter and gave it a hard tug, but to no avail.

“Dammit, Lulu!” I shouted, disturbing the peaceful dawn air around us.

Finally, I saw the source of the problem—Lulu had spotted a feral cat.

It all made sense now. Most dogs disliked cats, but for Lulu, the hatred was personal. When she was just a puppy, she had been attacked by a cat once.

Shortly after I officially adopted her, I took her for a visit to my aunt’s house, unaware that her cat had just birthed kittens. I hadn’t been worried though; Lulu was just a baby and simply seemed more fascinated by the kittens than anything. My aunt had even encouraged them getting to know each other.

“That way, they’ll grow up to be friends,” she had reasoned. So I went along with it, thinking it sounded like a good idea. I watched as little Lulu approached the kittens, excitedly wagging her tail and sniffing them. In return, the cats cuddled around her, their youth and innocence preventing them from holding any prejudices toward what they thought was a new friend.

All was well until Mama Cat showed up. Her name was Kimmy, and she did not take kindly to seeing a dog fraternizing with her kittens. Feeling threatened, Kimmy leapt on Lulu before either my aunt or I could stop her. What ensued next was a loud and ugly tussle that resulted in Lulu fairing far worse than Kimmy. My poor pup suffered scratches all up and down her snout.

My aunt felt terrible about the whole ordeal and immediately accompanied me in taking Lulu to the vet. Fortunately, none of the scratches were too deep, and none were infected. They healed quickly enough, but Lulu’s pride surely hadn’t. From that point onward, she considered all cats her mortal enemy, and whenever she saw one, all Hell brok

e loose.

“Lulu, not now!” I scolded through clenched teeth. I tugged her leash again, and finally, she relented, having lost sight of the cat as it darted off into an alley.

Panting, I leaned over and rested my hands on my knees, my left-hand stinging from gripping and pulling the leash so hard. A cramp began to form in my side. Lulu glanced back at me, having come back to her senses. Slowly, with her head lowered and her tail tucked between her legs, she tipped back toward me.

“Lulu, honestly. This has to stop! How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t be so prejudiced? Just because you encountered one bad cat does not mean you have to take it out on the whole species!”

Lulu whimpered and lied down at my feet, feeling guilty.

“Unbelievable, Lu,” I muttered. I stood up, stretched, and then took a look at our surroundings, seeing that Lulu had steered us quite a bit off-course. Fortunately, our surroundings still remained fairly empty; it was still early and the morning rush hadn’t made its way outdoors yet. With the exception of one woman walking briskly down the pavement, Lulu and I were alone.