Lucas started leaving home without me a lot. When he came back, he smelled like Olivia. I wondered why he would be with our friend Olivia and not take me, his dog.
There were so many things I did not understand. I liked going to the vet, who was a nice lady, but one time we went and I fell asleep and when I woke up I was home with a stiff plastic collar around my neck. The thing was uncomfortable and ridiculous. I couldn’t lick myself anywhere.
“You’re spayed now, Bella,” Lucas told me. I flicked my tail at my name, because he did not seem to be cross with me, but he still punished me with the odd collar for several days.
Long after the collar came off, Mom and I were home alone because Lucas had done Go to Work so that he could see Olivia. Mom seemed tired and unhappy. Several times she put her hand to her face.
Then a sharp and sour scent filled the air. It was familiar: the last time it happened, Mom got sick and I was left alone in the house all night. I whined anxiously, but she didn’t look at me.
So I barked.
“Bella! No Barks!” Mom scolded loudly.
I panted, anxious and frightened. When Lucas came home I jumped up on him, whimpering. “What is it? What’s wrong with you, Bella?”
“She’s been acting strangely for the past half an hour,” Mom said, coming into the living room. “Oh, I need to lie down for a few minutes.” She collapsed on the couch.
“You okay?” Lucas asked, concerned.
“Give me a minute.”
The tang from her turned sharper and I couldn’t help myself. I barked again.
“Bella! No Barks!” Lucas told me.
I barked.
“Hey!” He swatted my rear. “No Barks, Bella! You just … Mom? Mom!”
Mom was making small peeping sounds, her hands curled up as they batted at the air. Lucas ran to where she lay on the couch. “Mom, Mom,” he whispered, his fear potent and raw. He pulled out his phone. “My mother is having a seizure,” he said into it. “Hurry.”
Then he curled up on the couch to give her comfort. I jumped up next to him and laid my head on his shoulder, trying to help. “You’ll be okay. Please be okay, Mom.”
Soon there were two women and a man in our house. They lifted Mom onto a bed and wheeled her out the door. Lucas took me to my crate and closed me in. “You’re a good dog, Bella,” he told me. “You stay.”
I did not feel like a good dog because I had been left alone. I did No Barks all night, missing Lucas. I was afraid he might never come home.
I did not understand what was happening.
*
Lucas returned while it was still dark outside, fed me and walked me and then lay down on the bed with me. We did Tiny Piece of Cheese, but he seemed distracted and didn’t laugh. I snuggled against his side, feeling some fear in him, loving being so close to my Lucas, helping him by pressing up to him. When he left that morning it was more normal, and I waited patiently for his return.
Mom, Lucas, and Olivia all came home together. I spun around in circles, so excited to see all of them.
“Thank you so much for the ride,” Mom told Olivia. “It wasn’t necessary; I felt fine to walk.”
“No, it’s okay. Lucas thinks I’m his personal Uber now anyway,” Olivia replied.
That night, after Olivia left, Lucas sat at the table and played with his phone. “It says that fifteen percent of dogs can sense seizures.”
“That’s amazing. It sure did seem like she knew what was going on,” Mom replied.
“You are one amazing dog, Bella,” he praised.
I wagged, hearing approval in the way he said my name. I was happy we were all home together, and knew that soon Lucas would do Tiny Piece of Cheese.
There was a knock at the door. I fought down my urges and did No Barks. “Hang onto Bella,” Mom said.
Lucas grabbed my collar. “We need to make sure it isn’t someone from the building, Bella,” he said softly. “Just No Barks.” I loved the feel of his hand on my fur and the way he made gentle noises and said my name.
I smelled a man on the doorstep whose scent was sometimes on the air near our house. Mom spoke to him briefly, then closed the door. Lucas released me and I went to her because she felt sad and angry.
“What is it?” Lucas asked.
“Eviction notice.”
“What?”
“I had gotten complacent. It seemed like we were going to get away with it.” Mom sat heavily in her chair.
“Bella’s been so good!” Lucas sat down, too. “She’s never barked once. How did they even find out?”
“Oh,” Mom replied, “I know how.”
Eight
The next day I did Go to Work with Lucas, which was my favorite thing to do except Tiny Piece of Cheese. I spent time seeing Ty and my other friends. Many of them now carried little treats because I was such a good dog. Steve gave me a cold and delicious bite of something tasting like milk, but much sweeter. Marty gave me bacon. Their affection for me was obvious in their pats and words and cuddles. One old man liked to kiss me on my nose but could not bend over very well so I had learned to go to his chair and put my paws on his chest and lick his face. He laughed when I did this. His name was Wylie and he called me Keeper instead of Bella.
“This one is a keeper,” he told Ty every time.
Normally when I went to visit my friends I spent most of the day with them, providing comfort, eating treats, and playing “Dr. Gann,” which was the game where I lay on the couch between two people and they covered me with a blanket and petted me gently until someone called “Okay!” It was like Stay only much more fun. This day, Lucas and Ty took me to a different part of the hospital. We stood for a while and listened to bells, and I did No Barks, and then a door slid open and we went into a small room that hummed and shook. I felt a sensation in my stomach similar to a car ride. When the door opened, the smells had changed and I knew somehow we were somewhere else. It was like a car ride without a car!
Following the two men down a slick hallway, I smelled along the walls, picking up the scent of many people and chemicals. Ty and Lucas seemed nervous and we were moving very quickly so I was unable to drink in all the odors properly. We turned a few corners and then Lucas knocked on an open door and poked in his head. “Dr. Sterling? It’s Lucas Ray. I called you this morning?”
“Come in,” a man greeted. His hands smelled strongly of chemicals as he grasped fingers with Lucas, changed his mind and grabbed Ty’s hand, then changed it again and dropped his arm. “So is this the dog?”
“This is Bella.”
I wagged. He leaned over and rubbed my head. I liked this man despite the sharp tang wafting from his palms. “You’d better shut the door, Ty.”