“He enjoyed it,” I said. “What’s not to like by being petted by a pretty lady for thirty minutes straight?”
Theo flushed.
“Do me a favor,” I said as I reached into my bag. “Eat this. A little girl promised me it was your favorite.”
Then I pulled the pink box out of my bag and placed it on her lap. She stared at it, a wave of terror washing over her face.
When she looked back up, her hands trembling as she latched onto the box, I tried to give her my best ‘I’m going to make this okay’ smile. I hoped it worked.
Grabbing onto Monster’s leash and giving it a soft tug, he headed out with me but sat at my soft command when a doctor stepped into my path.
“I’ve never seen a breakthrough like the one you just had with her,” he said softly. “That’s the first time since she arrived that she’s ever so much as spoken to someone that’s not her brother and his daughter.”
I felt my heart pound.
“Really?” I asked, trying to keep the worry out of my voice. “She didn’t seem nervous or anything.”
At least not until the end where she looked like I’d wielded a large knife in front of her face.
“I’d like you to come back,” he said. “Just for her. I can contact the agency and get another dog for the other patients…but if you’re willing, I’d love to give her your full hour of undivided attention. Or at least your dog’s.”
He looked down at my mutant poodle and smiled.
I thought about whether I wanted to come back, and immediately said, “I can be back tomorrow. As well as the next three days or so. But I work a full-time job, and with this weather hitting us in a couple of days, I’ll be gone for a week. But once I’m back, I can resume once a day for an hour if that’s what you want.”
I was so full of shit.
I also wondered how I was going to work out to be gone for an hour in the middle of the workday every single day.
Once or twice, I could totally handle.
Once every day for the foreseeable future? My dad was definitely gonna be on my ass for that.
But…for some reason, I couldn’t just leave this woman here. I had to find out what was going on, and I couldn’t stand the hurt on her face.
“Does she eat?” I blurted out, unable to stop myself.
“No,” he admitted. “Every couple of days we’re forced to give her a dose of nutrients via a tube down to her stomach. She doesn’t like that, so she’ll appease us by eating for a while, then the whole process starts all over again. And then when her family comes in—the brother and sister that don’t always visit her every family day—she really goes into a tailspin. The last time the sister came in, Theo didn’t eat for a month.” He shook his head. “Luckily those visits are very few and far between. But, saying that, I shouldn’t be telling you this. I’m sorry. I’m just really excited to see that she’s interacting with you. With him.” He gestured to the dog. “Wow. Just wow.”
I held out my hand. “I’ll be here tomorrow. I left her one of my cupcakes, though. Hopefully she eats that. She looked like she could use it.”
The doctor nodded. “She loves cupcakes. That’s the only time I really see her eat something with happiness on her face. When her brother’s daughter gives her that cupcake every time they visit.”
I felt something in my belly flip.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, doctor.”
The doctor nodded. “Sounds good. Thank you for coming.”Chapter 4My idea of help from above is a sniper on the roof.
-Theo’s secret thoughts
Theo
“Do me a favor,” the man, Liner, said as he reached into his bag. “Eat this. A little girl promised me it was your favorite.”
Then he pulled a familiar pink box out of his bag and placed it on my lap. I stared at it as my heart started to pound.
When I looked back up, hands trembling in fear, he only smiled an ‘it’s okay’ smile and walked away.
When he didn’t look back, I was disappointed.
I shouldn’t have been, though.
Not when my daughter’s life had practically been threatened right in front of my eyes.
Why did he know about my daughter? Nobody knew about my daughter.
At least, nobody was supposed to know.
I’d spent thirty minutes straight talking to the man, and not once had I gotten a bad vibe off of him.
Sure, he was tall, muscular, built and quite a bit intimidating…but I was a pro at recognizing evil…and that man wasn’t one of them.
And as I watched him walk away, I felt like a piece of my heart had walked away with him.
Which was stupid. I’d only known him for thirty minutes.