Page 77 of Please Don't Leave Me

One single soft, deep bark.

My body betrays me, and I jolt out of the water, gasping for air and choking.

After a moment, my vision becomes less blurry, and I am fully aware of my surroundings.

The tub is overflowing into the bathroom. The shower is still on. My skin is white, and now I can tell it's from the water being too cold.

I look to my right and see Pepin sitting by the edge of the tub, just staring at me. No judgment in his eyes, just sadness. Unfazed by my coughing or the pool of overflowing water that he sits in.

I slowly reach over, turn the shower off, and pull the plug, draining the tub. I just sit there for a moment, catching my breath. I can't even think about what just happened because I truly don't know.

Eventually, once the tub is completely drained, I crawl out and grab my towel off the hook. I usher Pepin out into the hallway and grab more towels from the closet. Throwing them on the ground, I begin to mop up my mess.

Pepin sits outside the open door, monitoring me.

After I've cleaned up my mess, I walk to my bedroom and strip out of my wet clothes. I put on new underwear and an oversized shirt. Pepin and I snuggle on the couch for the rest of the evening and finish the movie.

The events that played out tonight willforever be me and Pepin's secret. The secret of how he quite literally saved my life.

He licks the tear that falls down my cheek, and I kiss him on top of his head. "I love you, Pepin." I snuggle him even closer and rest my head on his neck, whispering, "Thank you."

Chapter Twenty-Five

LOUISA

I wake up to the smell of bacon. With heavy eyelids, I step out of my bedroom and walk to the kitchen to find B cooking breakfast.

“Good morning, birthday girl!”

I yawn and stretch my arms high above my head. “Morning.”

“I have the whole day planned out for us. First, we eat this delicious breakfast. I almost burned the apartment down trying to make it, so it better be fucking delicious. Then we’re spending the morning at the spa. And then tonight we’re going out dancing.”

She turns from where she’s flipping pancakes on the stove to look at me and gives me a soft smile. “Does that all sound good?”

She still feels bad about leaving me right after I found out my test results. I was able to convince her that I was just fine and that it was not that big of a deal. But she still is trying extra hard to make my birthday special.

For her birthday earlier this year, I was able to get her backstage passes to Grumpy Old Bear, courtesy of Matt. She’s been talking about my birthday ever since and thinking of how she’s going to make my birthday just as special.

A day at the spa is exactly what I need, and somehow, she knows that, despite my best efforts to fake being okay.

“That sounds perfect.” I walk over, wrap my arms around her from behind, and rest my head on her shoulder as she continues to flip pancakes.

“You’ve been extremely affectionate since I got back yesterday. Did you miss me?” She says it in a sort of mocking way because she has no idea just how much I did.

I lift my chin off her shoulder and kiss her on the cheek. “Don’t flatter yourself too much.”

She giggles and shoves me off. “You need to give the master chef space to work. If you mess me up, we’re going to have to eat bagels from the coffee shop down the street.”

“I like bagels,” I tease her with a wink.

“Oh, you’re so lucky it’s your birthday, so I can’t say what I really want to say to you right now.”

I pour myself a cup of coffee and go snuggle with Pepin on the couch while I wait for breakfast to be ready. I slept in today, and I heard B slip Pepin out of my room this morning. I’m assuming it was to feed him and take him on a walk since we will be gone most of the day.

A few minutes later, B walks out of the kitchen with two plates full of food. I take in the delicious smell, and I’m relieved that my appetite is back. I take the plate from her and eat almost every bite until I’m about to throw up.

B droveus to the spa, and we are currently getting massages. She joked about scheduling a couples massage, and I told her to do it. Typically, I’d want a room to myself for some peace and quiet, but I’ve been alone in silence all week, and I just want to have her near, even if that means listening to her flirt with her masseuse for an hour.

---