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And hearing it now had him blubbering like a fucking baby.
"You did it," she said, blowing him a kiss. "Eli, you did it!"
"No, Mom. We did it," he murmured, drying his face with the bottom of his t-shirt. "We did it."
He'd never have gotten as far as he had without her support and sacrifice.
The video ended, but it took him five minutes to get his shit together.
He'd have never known about any of this if it hadn't been for Holly having the forethought to arrange filming her that night.
Suddenly, he started to laugh. Holly had a bad habit of keeping things from him, and while it frustrated the fuck out of him, sometimes—just sometimes—it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Like this one.
And now that he'd finally wrapped his head around it—like the baby. He wouldn't have been able to say that a few weeks ago. But now he could truly say he felt that way about his child.
Their child.
If she left for California, it would break him. He had to prove to her that he wanted her. That he wanted them both in his life.
And he had to do it now.
29
Eli took the steps to her apartment two at a time and banged on her front door, praying she was awake.
When she opened the door, his stomach turned when he saw that she'd been crying. Her eyes were red and watery, and she looked scared.
"Holly, what's wrong?" He didn't wait for an invitation as he stepped inside and grabbed her hands. "Talk to me."
"It's M-Miss. She's sick. I was just going to call an Uber to take me to the emergency vet. She started throwing up a half an hour ago, and now she's all curled up and won't move." Her lower lip began to tremble as she sliced a hand through the air. "I'm so stupid. I should have known this would happen with all the upheaval. I haven't been giving her the probiotics regularly because I've been dealing with my own crap, and now this happens. She had a bit of diarrhea yesterday. I just... I should have known."
"Hey." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Stop beating yourself up. Come on, let's get her to the emergency vet. Where's her carrier?"
"You'll take us?" She looked surprised. "Eli, you don't have to."
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm taking you. I'm not going to let down my favorite fuzzball. Let's get her checked out."
"Thank you," she said, her voice wavering.
Holly put a small towel into the carrier, then gently lowered a very lethargic looking Miss into it and closed the hatch.
"I'll bring an extra blanket, and one of my t-shirts. I like to cover the carrier. She feels more secure that way."
"Whatever helps. Are you ready?"
"Yeah." She grabbed her purse. "Let's go."
Once they were in his SUV, Holly kept the fabric carrier on her lap and talked to Miss the whole time.
"Have you seen her like this before?" he asked, pulling up to a red light.
"Yes, she gets this way when she has a flare. I feel so guilty. I know the signs. I've just been so distracted. She usually doesn't vomit as much as this though, so I'm concerned."
"We'll get her looked at, and she'll be feeling better in no time," he assured her.
Once they arrived at the vet, the staff took Miss up to a little station where they assessed her condition.
