Page 36 of Daddy's Pursuit
“I second that,” Jack said. “But just in case you’re still nervous, I brought along a friend to make you feel more comfortable.” He whistled and a large, hulking beast stood behind the couch, revealing itself, before it lumbered over to them.
Out of habit, Iris had been nervous at first. She’d been chased by more than one dog when out and about. It was a danger of walking most places.
There was clearly no reason to worry now, though.
The dog was massive but one look at it told her he was the friendliest creature on the earth.
“Who is this?” she asked with a giggle.
She began rubbing between the Golden Retriever’s ears. His head was so big she couldn’t cover it with her entire palm.
“Meet Benson. He’s my buddy,” Jack said.
Iris giggled again. Squatting down, she wrapped her arms around the sturdy dog’s neck and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug, and she felt a little slobber drip onto her shoulder. This just made her laugh even more.
“The doctor won’t mind Benson coming with us?” she wondered.
“Nah. Doc Sellecca loves Benson. He’ll be happy to see him. Now come on, honey. We need to get going if we’re going to make that appointment.”
Iris hugged the dog one more time and then obeyed.
But she sure wasn’t happy about doing so.
The outside of the clinic looked like any other family practice Iris had seen.
She assumed the main entrance and waiting room were much the same. But they didn’t go in that way. Instead, they parked in the alley out back, knocked on a metal door, and were greeted by a smiling woman of about forty-five or so.
Wearing pink scrubs, comfortable looking sneakers, and her dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, she looked like a nurse.
That was confirmed when she said, “Hey, Jack. And this must be Little Iris. So good to meet you, honey. I’m Pam. Dr. Sellecca’s head nurse. Come on in.”
Iris wondered if all the people who worked at the practice knew of the doctor’s unusual back room.
They probably did, she quickly decided. It would be hard to keep something like that a secret from people who spent five days a week there.
“And there is Mr. Benson!” The nurse knelt down, hugged and petted the dog for a moment, and then led the way inside.
“The exam room is right here, cutie. Just hop up on that table, make yourself as comfortable as you can, and I’m going to check your vitals.”
The room was brightly colored, with smiling, cartoonish animals in little shirts, dresses, and diapers painted on the wall. Some of them were holding balloons. Others were chasing butterflies.
There was a cabinet with adult-sized diapers stacked neatly on the shelves, along with plastic pants and a few other Little items.
Besides all that, there was the typical medical equipment found in most exam rooms.
The happy animals and bright colors were nice, but they didn’t go very far toward reining in Iris’s fear.
It must have been obvious, because Nurse Pam said, “Would you feel better if you could pet Benson?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Okay. Why don’t you sit right here then.” She pointed to a chair next to the chair Jack had sat down in.
The thin white paper atop the exam table rustled loudly as Iris hopped off and went to the other chair. As if he knew exactly what was going on, Benson positioned himself right beside her. Her fears subsided a bit as she ran her fingers through his golden fur.
“Okay, let me put this around your arm.”
“What is that?” Iris asked a little too loudly.
