CHAPTER 10
Jackie’s leg bounced incessantly as she sat in the waiting room of Inman Park Animal Hospital.
She’d texted Tanika and Bronwyn to let them know about PeeWee, but Tanika was held up at a staff meeting, and Bronwyn was talking to a distributor.
They’d both promised to meet her at the hospital as soon as they were done.
Jackie knew that pet parents got a bad rap, especially those without human children. Some people thought it was weird to be so emotionally attached to an animal. But PeeWee was more than just a dog. He was her best friend—the one male in her life that she could count on.
Well, one of three if she included Uncle Roydell and Gideon.
Uncle Roydell, who was more delightful annoyance than wayward relative, was like a second father to her.
A Vietnam veteran, it was he who had suggested she get a dog to keep her company.
His service dog, Cato, had helped him through some tough times.
So, Jackie had taken his advice. She’d gotten PeeWee as a puppy during a rough point of her life.
Her father had died, she and her mother were still at odds, mostly over the remainder of his estate, and she was lost. As soon as she saw PeeWee’s sweet puppy face, she fell in love.
Her mother had never allowed her to have a pet, so perhaps deep down, getting PeeWee had been the final “fuck you” to her mother.
He’d healed something broken in her. For that he’d earned her undying love and devotion.
“Ms. Miles?” called out a veterinary technician near the front desk. “Jackie Miles?”
Jackie rushed over. “Yes, I’m Jackie.”
“Your dog is being prepped for surgery now.”
“Oh God,” Jackie gasped. “Did the doctor figure out what’s wrong?”
The vet tech shrugged. “The scans aren’t giving us a clear view.
Could be a bile duct blockage caused by any number of issues.
Or maybe he swallowed something at daycare.
Either way, we have to operate to find the obstruction.
It’s going to be a while—at least a few hours.
” The vet tech hadn’t even tried to use an ounce of bedside manner.
In any other circumstance, Jackie would have checked them for that.
Instead, she tried tocalm her anger and not panic at the thought of PeeWee having such major surgery.
“Okay, I’ll be here,” Jackie said. She wasn’t going to move a muscle until she knew PeeWee was out of the woods.
“Also, I’ll need you to sign here to approve the estimate. For something like this, the cost will be…” The tech took a dramatic pause, then whispered, “Steep.”
Jackie snatched the pen out of the tech’s hand and signed the estimate without reading it. “Do I look like I care about the cost?” Her tone must have given the tech pause, because she grabbed her clipboard and retreated as quickly as she had appeared.
Jackie went back to her seat. She willed her tears not to fall as she thought about how much pain PeeWee had to be in.
He was such a playful, easygoing dog. Sure, he liked to chew a designer shoe or two.
Shoes could be replaced; PeeWee couldn’t.
As she closed her eyes to say a silent prayer, a scratchy voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Your pampered pooch is going to be fine, doll. I’m sure of it.”
Jackie slowly opened her eyes to see a red-haired woman seated next to her, dressed in a patchwork skirt and dusty combat boots. Had she been there the entire time? Jackie had been so out of it she hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings.
“I hope so,” sighed Jackie.
“Oh, I know so. PeeWee just swallowed a bead from a keychain. A yellow bead. He’ll be alright. Just like I know my bird Daisy is going to pull through. She had no business eating my palo santo in the first place.”
Jackie’s eyes widened. “How the hell do you know my dog’s name?
Look, if you were listening that closely to my conversation with the tech, that is probably some kind of HIPAA violation.
” Jackie knew she wasn’t making sense. She was a lawyer.
She knew she couldn’t sue a bystander for being nosy about her dog’s health.
But she really didn’t appreciate this stranger in her business.
The lady laughed roughly, sounding like she smoked five packs a day. “You talk a lot, huh? Do you ever just listen?”
“I listen when it’s something worth listening to. Right now, lady, you aren’t it.”
“Oh yeah?” the woman huffed as she folded her arms. “So, you’re a skeptic. I’m beginning to understand.”
“A skeptic?” Jackie laughed. “Listen, I don’t know if you’re running some kind of hustle in this waiting room, but I’m not the one.
Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit here in silence.
” Before Jackie could turn her back, the woman had grabbed her hand.
Jackie tried to pull away, but the woman held on tighter.
“Lady, I’m going to scream my fucking head off in this animal hospital if you don’t let me go! ”
This strange lady, while ghostly pale, looked unphased as she unfurled Jackie’s clenched fingers. Jackie felt herself surrender, her open hand palm-up in front of her.
“You like to jump to conclusions, huh?” the woman said, staring at Jackie’s hand.
“So much so that you’ve blocked your heart from receiving what you need.
You need to quiet your tongue and speak with your heart.
Everything that you think is true isn’t.
In time, love will reveal itself. But until you learn to listen and to speak your own truth, there will only be silence. ”
What? Jackie’s eyes widened as she snatched her hand away. “Lady, what the hell! You don’t just grab on people like that.” She examined her hand, looking at it over and over again.
“This is going to be a difficult test for you, I fear.” The woman picked up her ragged tote bag, draped it across her body, and sighed. “Well, I gotta go. My bird is ready.”
No sooner than she spoke the words, another vet tech brought out a bird in a cage. A gorgeous white and yellow parakeet. “Mary Easton?”
The woman grabbed the faded gold cage and turned to Jackie. “I’ll see you again, doll. Sooner than you think.”
Jackie dropped her gaze, eager to escape the woman’s intense stare. What kind of madness was this? When she glanced back up, the woman and her parakeet were gone. Jackie looked around the waiting room; everyone looked unfazed, as if that wild exchange hadn’t happened.
“JACKIE?”
The sound of her name pulled Jackie out of her trance. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there when Tanika and Bronwyn showed up. She looked up into their concerned, puzzled faces.
Bronwyn sat and wrapped her arms around Jackie. “Oh Goddess! I’m so sorry I didn’t come earlier! The distributor for our new chickpea pasta was so long-winded! How is PeeWee?”
“I don’t know,” Jackie said, on the verge of tears again.
Tanika sat on her other side, grabbing her hand. “He’s going to be fine, Jackie. He’s a little fighter.”
“Did you all pass a red-haired lady in a patchwork skirt carrying a bird?” Jackie asked, still in a daze.
Bronwyn shook her head. “I didn’t see a red-haired lady.”
“With a bird?” Tanika asked. “Not that I recall, but we were focused on finding you, you know?”
Jackie nodded. “Maybe I’m delirious.”
Bronwyn rubbed her shoulders. “That is understandable. You’ve been through a lot!”
Jackie sniffed. “I just want him to be okay. I can’t lose him. I don’t want to be alone.”
“You still have us, Jackie,” Tanika smiled. “I mean, I know we can’t compare to PeeWee. We can come through with the snuggles if you need us to, but not the face licks.”
Jackie snorted. “Now you know damn well I don’t let my dog lick me in the face!”
“I know, I just said that to make you laugh,” Tanika nudged Jackie playfully.
“Thanks.” Jackie looked at her Montblanc smartwatch. “It’s been almost an hour since they took him in for surgery. I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“Let’s have faith, my darling,” Bronwyn said, patting Jackie’s hand. “We are going to be with you until he’s out. You’re not alone.”
Jackie rested her head on Tanika’s shoulder and squeezed Bronwyn’s hand. With what little belief she had in the Almighty, she prayed.
NEARLY FOUR HOURS LATER, JACKIE’S PRAYERS WERE FINALLY answered.
“Ms. Miles. I’m Dr. Kettles. PeeWee made it through with flying colors and is resting well, coming out of anesthesia. It took a lot longer than expected; there was tissue damage that needed repairing. You wouldn’t think a tiny little bead would cause such a problem, would you?”
Jackie’s eyes widened. “A bead? Was it a yellow bead?”
The vet looked at Jackie. “Yes, it was yellow. How did you know? You have a bracelet missing a bead?”
“A wild guess,” she played it off. “So can I take him home?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Miles, but that brings me to another issue entirely. PeeWee may need to stay here in the hospital for a few days. There were some concerning things discovered during surgery.”
“How concerning?” asked Jackie.
Dr. Kettles sighed. “Well, as we were operating on PeeWee, we saw a pretty sizable mass in his large intestine. It could be nothing or…”
“Cancer?” Jackie said, her voice cracking. Tanika and Bronwyn, on either side of her, squeezed her hands.
“We were able to biopsy the mass, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions until we get results from pathology.
In the meantime, PeeWee is going to have to stay at the hospital for observation.
He needs time to recover from surgery, and we may want to begin treatment right away depending on those test results.
Ms. Miles, I want to set expectations realistically—he could be with us in the hospital for a week or more. ”
“A week?” squealed Jackie. She felt her friends grab her, supporting her by the elbows so that she wouldn’t hit the floor if she passed out.
She had never been apart from PeeWee for longer than a few days.
If she had to be away from home for a time, she usually took him along.
She had even traveled internationally with PeeWee.
He had just as many stamps in his passport as she did.
“He’s in good hands with our team, Ms. Miles.
PeeWee is a strong dog in otherwise good health.
We will be in touch as we know more. You have my info in case you have any questions.
” The vet patted her shoulder gently. “You’re welcome to visit PeeWee once he’s fully awake and ready to socialize.
For now, he’s sleeping. You should go home and get some rest too.
” With that, Dr. Kettles exited the waiting room.
“C’mon Jackie, let’s get you home,” Tanika said. “We can order some takeout and chill. I’ll drive.”
“And I’ll call Kenny. Thyme can drop him by the hospital so he can get your car back to your place.”
Jackie’s eyes widened. “Please tell Kenny to put on a pair of drawers before he thinks about getting in my whip. I don’t need my leather smelling like patchouli.”
Tanika laughed so hard she snorted, grabbing Jackie’s purse and throwing away the candy wrappers that littered their seats. They’d been there for hours, entertaining themselves with sugar, weak coffee, and countless episodes of Living Single on Tanika’s iPad.
“Well, I can’t make that promise. At least not about the patchouli,” Bronwyn shrugged as she gently ushered Jackie out of the hospital.