The woman laughed. “There is absolutely nothing about you I find exceptional. Or surprising. Or interesting.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, because I’m actually very surprising.”
“Really.”
“I promise.”
“Tell me one thing about you that I might be surprised by.”
“Okay.” Lucas was silent for a moment.
“See?”
“Okay, how about this: I live across the street from a cat house.”
“What?” the woman laughed.
“Told you. Full of surprises.”
“Right, well, I still can’t spend an hour in here. I’m not like you; I don’t have a job where I run around doing nothing all the time. I have a boss and she’s probably wondering where I am right now.”
“But that was the bet! I surprise you, and you watch my dog.”
“There was no bet. I don’t bet.”
“Please?”
“No. Anyway, if I get caught with a dog, we’ll both be fired.”
There was a knock on the door. These seemed like circumstances where No Barks did not apply, so I let Lucas know there was someone there. He and the woman stood staring at each other.
*
When Lucas opened the door there was a thin man standing there. His shoes smelled of dirt and grass, and he had long hair and a hairy face. I pressed forward to greet him, but was blocked by Lucas, who moved in front of me.
“Hope I’m not interrupting something,” the man said wryly.
“He wishes,” the woman replied. “It’s all he thinks about.”
Lucas laughed. “Hi, Ty. Olivia pulled me into the closet. You came just in time to save me.”
“So what’s this I hear about barking down this hallway?” The man squatted and I went to him, wagging. “Could there be a dog in the VA hospital? Surely not.” His hands were gentle and smelled of people and coffee.
Lucas raised his hands and then let them drop. “We can’t leave her home alone. She barks, and the leasing company said if they catch us with a dog they’ll evict us and send Bella to the pound. I know it’s against the rules, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“So his big plan was for me to babysit Bella in this closet,” the woman added.
“Just until my mother is finished with her appointment.”
“He panics a lot,” the woman said. “He’s two years older but I’m the mature one.”
“Well, I think I’ve got a solution to our little problem, here,” the man declared. “I’ll just take Bella to the ward with me.”
“What if Dr. Gann hears about it?” Lucas asked anxiously.
“Dr. Gann is running this whole hospital on a reduced budget and doesn’t have time to hunt down a visiting dog. Besides, I imagine we’ll be able to keep Bella under wraps for a couple of hours.”
The man took my leash and led me to some new rooms. The floor here had a firm carpet and several chairs with people sitting in them. I could smell people and chemicals and food in that carpet, but no dogs. I did not like being away from Lucas, but everyone loved me and petted me and called out my name. Many of the people were old, but not every one of them, and all were glad to see me. The chairs were soft when I put my head on them so that people could stroke my ears.
I learned that the man who took me was named Ty. He was very nice to me and fed me some chicken and some bread and some egg. One woman, Layla, had trembling hands as she smoothed down the fur on my head. “Good dog,” she murmured into my ear.
A man gave me a spoonful of gravy so delicious it made me want to wriggle on the floor. “Don’t feed her pudding, Steve,” Ty said.
The man dug for another helping. “It’s vanilla.” The gravy was in a small plastic container on a table next to his soft chair, and a lamp on that table heated the food so that a sweet odor rose into the air. I watched his hand as intently as I would focus on a Tiny Piece of Cheese. The spoon descended and I licked my lips, holding myself back until I could gently take it from him.
Ty tapped a finger on the man’s chair. “Okay, that’s the last one, Steve.”
The gravy man was Steve. “This one reminds me of a bulldog mix I had when I was a kid. You can come back any time you want, Bella.” I licked his fingers.
Ty shrugged. “Not sure about that. Dr. Gann learns about Bella being here he’s going to throw a fit.”
“Let him.” Steve’s voice was harsh, and his hand clenched my fur. I looked up at him, not sure what was happening. “He’s got no idea what we’re going through.”
Ty reached out to stroke my head. “No, listen, he’s a good man, Steve. He’s just got a lot on his plate and a lot of rules coming down on him all the time.”
Steve relaxed his grip. “Sure. Fine. Then I say, don’t tell him.”
“Huh.” Ty rubbed his chin.
“One more spoonful.” Steve turned in his chair and picked up his spoon and I focused on him without blinking.
“No. We gotta go.” Ty pulled on my leash and I reluctantly followed him, glancing mournfully back at Steve. “You’re a good dog, Bella. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Ty led me over to where a man sat in a big, wide chair by a window. His name was Mack. He had no hair on his head and his hands were soft when he ran them over my ears. His skin was very dark and his fingers smelled mostly of soap and faintly of bacon.
Mack was sad, sad in the way Mom was sometimes sad—an ache tinged with fear and despair. I remembered lying next to Mom to provide comfort when she felt like this, so I put my front paws on Mack’s chair and then climbed up to be with him.
“Whoa!” Ty laughed.
Dust rose from the cushions and I inhaled it deeply. Mack hugged me long and hard.
“How you doing, Mack? Holding it together?”
“Yeah,” Mack said. It was the only word he spoke. As he clutched me, though, I could feel the pain loosen its grip on him. I was a good dog, doing my job and providing comfort to Mack. I felt sure Lucas would approve.
Eventually Mom came into the room. She hugged several of the people.
“You need to bring Bella back here. She’s a big hit,” Ty told her.
“Well … we’ll see,” Mom said.
“I mean it, Terri. You should have seen Mack perk up.”
“Mack? Really?”
“Talk to you for a minute?” Ty asked her softly.
Mom and Ty went to a corner so they could be alone with me.
“You know why most of these guys are here every day?” Ty asked.
Mom looked at the people sitting in their chairs. “To hang out with people like themselves.”
“Sure, yeah, that’s part of it. Also, they don’t really have any other place to go. They’re not like you, they don’t have a son to take care of.”
“Take care of,” Mom replied slowly. “I’m not sure that’s how I would define it. More like the other way around.”