Page 12 of A Furry Thing Called Love
“No.”I can hear the stress in his voice.“I think I need to go to the hospital.Do you mind coming over and taking care of the dogs for me?”
“Shit.What happened?Text me your address, I’m leaving now.”
Indie and I race from the training room and across my property, to the house.
“It’s stupid.I had a dizzy spell and fell on my arm.I think it’s just sprained, but I need to get it checked out anyway.”
My phone beeps with a notification, and I assume it’s the address.Letting us into the gate, I barely have the forethought to latch it correctly so no one tries to escape.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?Just sit tight.”
“Really, there’s no rush.I’m not going anywhere, and it’s not that serious.”
“Please let me worry about you until I can see you’re fine in person, okay?”
He laughs a little.“Fine.I’ll see you soon.”
We hang up as I run into the house for my wallet, and to lock the house up.Indie tries to come with me, but I keep her in the gate.I know she can feel my distress, but I don’t know what I’m walking into.Arlo says he’s fine, but until I can reassure myself, the worry won’t leave.
“Hold the fort for me, Indie.I’ll be back later, okay?”
She whines but sits on the other side of the gate, watching me carefully.
Getting into my car, I finally look at my phone and check the address, cursing when I see it’s in Willis Cove—of fucking course.The snobby side of Gaynor Beach is as far as you can get from where I live in the hills of Conway Heights.
Taking a few deep breaths, I back out of my driveaway and try not to have a fucking panic attack while driving to my ex-fucking-boyfriend’s house for a medical emergency.Because that’s not worrisome atall.
When I finally pull up toArlo’s, I am shaking, and I realize I probably should have asked him to stay on the phone with me so I could make sure he was okay.Talk about fucking stressful.The entire drive across town, all I could do was worry that, in the time it took me to get to him, something else had happened, or that he was hurt worse than he let on.
Taking a few deep breaths, I try to get my shit under control.My neurosis is the last thing Arlo needs to be dealing with right now, on top of everything else.
Ringing the bell, I hear Millie start barking, and then Arlo’s voice can be heard.Relief washes over me and I sag on the porch as my fears are alleviated by just hearing him.When he opens the door, the puppy tries to escape, and I bend over to snag her harness as she does so.
She wiggles, but eventually realizes she’s not going to win the fight, so stops trying and I coax her back in the house.With the front door firmly shut behind me, I let her go and turn to her owner.
A quick visual check helps ease more of my fears, as I can’t see any visible injuries, but that doesn’t mean much at the moment.
“I promise, I’m fine.”He lifts his left arm.“Just a little injured.”
Taking his hand in mine, I watch as he winces and frowns.I don’t know shit about medical stuff, but the fact he called me at all is worrisome.“Let’s get you to the hospital.Is she crate trained?”
“She is, yes.But really, I just need you to keep her for a few hours while Eli and I go.I’d leave him here, but with the dizziness, I don’t want to risk it?—”
“You’re a fucking dumbass if you think I’m going to let you drive yourself to the fucking hospital when you fell on your dominant arm.”
“Jordan—”
“I’m not having this discussion with you.Get whatever you need, I’ll take her out and get her settled.”
“Jor—”
“Arlo.”Staring into his light-blue eyes that are full of pain—physical, emotional, both?—I hope he can see how much he’s not winning this argument in my own gaze.
Finally, he sighs and carefully removes his hand from mine.
I take Millie outside and coax her into going potty, though it takes far longer than I wanted—something we’ll have to work on—and then I put her in the crate.
She easily goes into the crate, and some of the worry about Arlo having to deal with puppy training on top of everything else eases, knowing that at least one thing is going right for him.That’s not even a ding at him, as I know how hard it can be sometimes.I do it for a living after all.
