“A boop snoot? Did we just become best friends?” He did it again. “We did? Okay, let’s have a nap, best friend.”
Then, like she wasn’t lying on the wooden floor, she rolled onto her side, taking Zeus with her, and closed her eyes.
I crouched down beside her and carefully tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear, so it didn’t tickle her nose. “Uh, baby, why don’t I take you to the bathroom and then tuck you back into bed? You can’t sleep on the floor.”
Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot when she opened them, making the blue seem brighter than usual. “I found a puppy, Mark.”
“I see that. He can stay in here with you once you get back into bed.”
When she nodded and just closed her eyes again, I gently picked her up and took her through to the bathroom off her bedroom.
“I’m not going while you’re in here,” she muttered, leaning weakly on the sink. “What if I pee-toot?”
“I think we all do that,” I chuckled, helping her over to the toilet. “Shout me when you’re finished.”
When five minutes had passed, and I hadn’t heard her call out, I poked my head around the door and found her sitting on the toilet, her panties around her feet, fast asleep. With access to her back in his paws, Zeus came skidding across the tiles and stopped in front of her, letting out a high-pitched yap that woke her up.
“He’s my pee-pee assistance puppy,” she sighed happily, then narrowed her eyes on me. “You will not watch me pee or go to the bathroom, Mark Montgomery. There are boundaries that shall not be crossed in this marriage, and that’s one of them.”
I shot her a grin and saluted as I turned to leave, only remembering the dog when I got to the door. “Zeus.”
“Leave the puppy, he’s mine.”
On that order, I shut the door and went back to my spot next to it. Almost immediately, I heard a dramatic sigh of relief, and then she started singing the Three Best Friends song from The Hangover.
I was listening to her wash her hands while she explained to Zeus about not going near the toilet in case he drowned when my phone vibrated with a text from Jack.
Jack: Houston, we have a problem.
Me: Too many dogs?
What Jeremy hadn’t known was that three of the other puppies had already been applied for just that morning while he was working on an emergency, so Jack had only managed to adopt the other three.
Jack: I told her it would have been six at the beginning, but she didn’t consider it good news.
Me: I did warn you.
Jack: How does Layla like Zeus?
Me: She’s singing to him and talking to him about not going into the bathroom on his own in case he drowns in the toilet.
Jack: Shit, gotta hide. If I send you ‘911,' open the back door and don’t tell anyone you saw me. Ever!
Smiling, I put my phone back in my pocket just as Layla opened the door and staggered in the direction of her bed. I only just managed to catch her when her legs gave out before she got to it.
“Here you go, let me settle you back into bed.” Laying her down, I pulled the sheet up around her.
Eyes half-mast and drowsy, she smiled up at me. “Can I have the blanket, too, please?”
“Not until your fever drops a bit more, pretty girl, sorry.” I felt like the biggest ass in the world denying her when she was ill, but it was best for her to get her temperature down again.
Not that I need have worried about anything because she sighed and rolled over, then promptly fell asleep.
Hearing a whine, I noticed Zeus standing on his hind legs, trying to get to Layla. I tried to think through all the information I knew about dogs to decide if it was a good idea to let him up when she was this sick, but I was drawing a blank.
Don’t get me wrong, we’d had them when we were kids, but back then, my parents were the ones who set the rules and looked after them, so very little had stuck in my mind aside from the basics.
I’d made sure the guy had his vaccinations, I’d made sure he’d been wormed, and he’d already had a bath at the sanctuary in a flea and tick shampoo, but I’d still bought him that stuff that you put between their shoulder blades to stop them getting them, too. I’d also bought him food and water bowls, a cool mat to put them on, treats, good food with nutrition aimed at his age range, toys, a harness and a collar, and also one of those extendable leads.