Elly spoke quickly and started the car, gunning the engine loudly. “I think we’re okay. Thank you again. I’ll stop by tomorrow and let you know how he’s doing. I have to go, I’m sorry.” Keith smiled and stepped back from the car. He waved to Cadbury one last time and Elly took off, headed for the vet’s.
Many hours later when Elly entered her apartment, twilight had fallen. Everything was still and dark. The vet had been exhausting. They had taken Cadbury right from her car, and she had not seen him for three more hours, as they put in an IV and ran every test imaginable. She had to sit in the waiting room, with no one really telling her what was going on, only asking her questions like “Did your dog ever drink from a well? Has your dog showed previous symptoms? Has he been eating normally?” Elly felt like a horrible dog owner. She had no idea if he had eaten normally this week. Would it have been so much work to glance at his dog bowl while she was kissing Isaac on the couch? This was her retribution for too much snogging, she was sure of it. Kim had arrived two hours in, and sat with Elly as they waited. Kim was starting to show a little, and the way she lovingly rested her hands on her belly made Elly want to weep. “Kim” she whispered. “What if I did this?”
Kim looked at her stupidly. “What?”
“What if I did this? I mean, I’ve been hanging out so much with Isaac the past couple of weeks, what if Cadbury has been sick and I didn’t even notice? I’m horrid. I’m a whore who killed her dog.”
Kim patted her hand. “You’re crazy. Stop talking. This isn’t a punishment. This is life. He’s going to be okay.” She leaned her head against Elly’s. “And I’ll be there for you. No matter what happens.”
“You are such a good friend.”
“I know,” sighed Kim. “It’s a full time job.”
The door to the back opened and Elly’s vet walked out of the back. She was a short, intense woman. Elly jumped to her feet, bracing herself for the worst.
“Cadbury is going to be just fine,” the vet said quickly. Elly felt a sudden rush of relief.
“Thank you for saying that first. You are a saint.”
The vet didn’t smile. “Your dog has a very serious case of Giardia. It’s a microscopic parasite that is found in streams and lakes. It can also be contracted from eating feces. Has your dog had access to any unclean water?”
Elly’s mind quickly flashed to last week. Isaac and her walking hand-in-hand at the park, and Cadbury bounding ahead, jumping into a duck filled pond and lapping at the water. “I have NO idea where he could have found water like that.”
“Well, try and keep him away from those things from now on. I haven’t seen a case this bad in awhile. We rehydrated him with some saline and put him on a round of medication. We are going to keep him for the next two nights for observation. I’ll walk you through the meds right now…”
Back in her apartment, after she spent hours cleaning up Cadbury’s mess, Elly laid on her smooth couch, head straight down. What a day. She murmured a prayer of thanks into the pillow that Cadbury was alive and promptly fell asleep, until her head was jerked up at a banging sound on the front door. She looked at the clock. 11:15pm.
Cautiously, she peered through the peephole. Isaac looked up at her from behind tousled hair, gorgeous as always. She smoothed her hair out and sniffed her shirt. It made her dry heave.
“Hold on!” she cried, and ran into the bedroom to throw on a wrinkled black blouse. She walked back and opened the door. Isaac pulled her into his arms. Elly buried herself into his t-shirt. The smell of him, of paper and metal and blueberries – it was overwhelming and delicious. She had a feeling her own smell was less than delicious, though perhaps overwhelming.
“I heard you had a bad night.” he murmured into her hair.
“I did,” sighed Elly, pulling back from him. “I’m sorry I’m pretty disgusting. Cadbury made very clear that he was not feeling well.”
“Can I help?” “No, I’m all done. I’m just exhausted. Come in.”
Isaac followed her through the door, wincing at the smell.
“It does smell pretty bad. Here, let me open the windows for you.” He went around opening all the windows in the apartment, and Elly was so tired that she didn’t even mind him poking around. He walked back out and sat by her on the couch, running his fingers down her cheek.
“Today totally sucked for you. And I don’t want to make light of it. But, I have something that might make you happy.” He kissed her mouth softly.
“You make me happy” she breathed.
“The feeling is mutual,” his mouth curved upwards. “Don’t distract me.” He laughed. “If Cadbury’s health permits it, I would like to take you somewhere next weekend.”
“Where?” asked Elly, as she imagined dancing with Isaac on the dimly lit streets of Paris.
“Well...” He paused. “You don’t need a plane ticket. We’ll be driving. It’s a surprise.”
Elly snuggled into his lean arms. “I like surprises.”
CHAPTER
TWELVE