Chapter 14
Carlos
I don’t like most people. I’m good at my job, social enough to be respected without seeming rude. Until a few weeks ago, I would have said that was how I liked it.
What is it about Jade?
She’s told me so much, and yet I somehow want to know more. Jade so smoothly moved the conversation away from her stage fright in Zurich that I didn’t even realize it until later. And then today in Valencia, she told me about her family and clearly it was a sore subject, but I want to know more.
I want to pry open her thoughts and swim in them. It feels like there’s more to the story—more to her—that I’m hungry for.
I’m on my way home from the train station on Saturday. The presentation in Valencia went mildly better than Zurich, and thinking over this entire week leaves me with an unsettled feeling in my stomach.
That feeling sits along with another worry.
Fernando texted me to let me know he’s waiting for me at my place.
He took care of Izan while I was away, and normally he will leave my dog at my house a few hours before I get home so he can get back to his family, but he says he needs to talk to me. It feels ominous.
When I open my door, Izan is thrilled to see me, bouncing on his front legs and making happy growling noises. He spins once and then launches himself down the hallway. He’s going to grab a toy to show me, all while leaving a trail of flatulence behind him.
“Dad?” Fernando calls from the living room.
“It’s me.” I toe my shoes off and leave my bag by the door.
When I enter the living room, Fernando is standing with his hands in his pocket, watching Izan. My dog is trying to decide which toy to bring me and can’t make up his mind. This is how dog toys get scattered all over my house.
Fernando looks up and greets me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “How was your trip?”
I crouch down and Izan comes to me with a firm rubber bone in his mouth. I give him some love while I fill Fernando in on my trip. I sense something is off, though, from the set of his mouth.
“Is Carmen okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, distracted. Then he bends down to crouch next to me. “Izan, lie down.”
My dog does, his tail wagging hard in anticipation of belly rubs as he rolls over.
“Dad,” Fernando says again. “Look here. Don’t touch.”
Fernando points to a spot on Izan’s belly, and I put one finger on his tummy and stretch the skin a little bit. Hm. There’s a lump protruding, just where the fur fades to bare belly.
“It hurts him when you touch it,” Fernando adds.
I graze the back of my hand over it and Izan yelps, scrambling to get up, his feet losing traction on the slick floor.
“Easy. Slow,” I murmur.
Izan pants, his tail still wagging but slightly lower than before. He looks confused, and Fernando looks at me grimly.
“I only noticed it a few hours ago. I called the vet and they said they would call back if they can get him in.”
Worry knots in my stomach. Izan is old. This isn’t our first health scare, but what used to be minor problems aren’t so minor anymore.
I ask Fernando a lot of questions—has Izan been eating, sleeping, etc.—and he patiently answers my questions and then tells me he has to go. Diana has to go to work so he’s taking care of Carmen and he’s running late already. He’s worried, though, his eyebrows pinched tight.
“Call me from the vet’s if they have questions,” he says before disappearing out my door.
I sit on the floor, stroking Izan’s head for a while. I’ve had him since he was about five months old, a puppy from the shelter with big paws and ears and the energy to keep me company when Fernando moved out. I took him on runs, and my wife cuddled with him every night.
I’m spiraling for a while until my phone pings. I doubt the vet clinic would be texting me, but I stand up to retrieve it off the counter to check and it’s a message from Jade.
Jade
Hey. I still have your charger. Can I bring it by? I’m headed to your neighborhood anyway.
Jade had forgotten her phone charger and I’d packed an extra. I check the time and text her my address.
Carlos
Can you be here within the next hour?
Jade
Yup. See you soon.
I set about unpacking my things and starting laundry, Izan at my heels. Twenty minutes later the phone rings, and I assume it’s Jade until I see the name of the vet’s office across my phone.
“Hello?”
“Buenas tardes, Carlos, how is Izan doing?”
“The same I think. He’s—”
The door buzzer goes off. That’s Jade.
I buzz her up, all while updating the vet’s office on Izan’s condition. I leave my front door open a crack. Izan is too busy following me—and too slow—to make an escape.
“We want to try to fit Izan in, but I can’t guarantee anything. Can you come in as soon as possible to our Retiro location?” the woman on my phone asks. “I think we’re more likely to get you in there.”
“Hello?” Jade calls from the door. “Carlos?”
“Come in,” I shout. I’m writing down the clinic’s address and instructions from the woman when Jade steps into my living room. Izan notices her and huffs his way over for a sniff. Jade squats down to pet him. “Okay,” I tell the woman. “Thank you. See you soon.”
I hang up and turn around just in time to see Izan flopped over on his back, Jade crouched down next to him, giving him a vigorous belly rub.
“Careful! He’s—”
I’m too late. Jade’s hands pass over the tender spot and Izan yelps and then snaps at her. Jade lets out her own yelp of surprise and then crashes to the floor on her ass.
“Are you all right?” I crouch down next to both of them. Izan whines, his tail between his legs, pacing and whimpering in confusion.
Jade sits on my floor for a moment, blinking. Something moves across her face—I’ve learned to recognize it now, that particular flicker that means she’s composed a sentence and then censored herself around me. Her mouth opens, closes.
Whatever it was, she swallows it.
Then her brows pull down in concern and she coos at my dog. “Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Her voice has gone high-pitched. Izan paces just out of her reach, whining again.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “He’s got a lump.” I swallow my own lump in my throat. “It’s hurting him. I was just on the call with the vet. Did he bite you?”
“Oh no. No, he didn’t get me. It was close though.” Her voice switches back to the high-pitched one. “You’re okay, buddy.” She holds the back of her hand out to Izan.
We both watch him sniff and lick her, and then his tail comes out into a full wag. Jade’s smile blooms. “See? Everyone’s okay.”
I shift to sit across from Jade, my back against the kitchen cabinets. We both give Izan some much deserved affection.
Finally, though, I check my watch and sigh. “We need to get going. I want to get there early.”
Jade’s gaze shifts from my dog to me. “Is anyone going with you?”
I gesture at Izan and she smiles.
“I meant human company,” she revises.
I know why she’s asking. What if I have to make a decision? What if I have to leave the vet’s alone today?
“No,” I say.
“Would you like some?”