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Dex was sitting against the back wall of the shed, in the narrow space between the wall and his back fence. His knees were drawn up to his chest, his arms wrapped snugly around his legs. His head rested on his knees.
At first, Kelsey thought he was naked, but he had on a pair of underwear.
Just that. At eleven o’clock at night on one of the last nights of December.
“Dex?”
Nothing. Charlie whimpered and licked Dex’s hand. Still nothing.
She crouched at his side, reaching out to brush her hand over his arm. He was icy cold.
“Dex!” She gave him a shake, and his whole body moved, as if he were frozen solid. She checked his pulse; steady and strong, but too slow.
Was this what he meant about losing time?
There was nothing in her veterinary training that would help her with this. MDs got psychology training, but vets … not so much. Animal psychology was a thing, but it was very, very different. Most helpful analogs between human and animal medical care had to do with wounds and infections.
But she had to get him out of the cold.
She shook him again, and again nothing. She tried to lift his head, but it was like he was made of marble. He was a lot bigger than her; there was no way she could carry him, or even drag him.
“DEX!” she shouted, right at his ear, as loudly as she could manage—and then jumped back a little, in case he was violent when he startled out of it. All his warnings about not being safe for her were sirens in her head, going off all at once. What had he really meant? What would happen?
Charlie whimpered again and pawed at Dex. The other dogs clustered at Charlie’s back, fully focused on their man.
Should she call for help? 911? Or her dad? No one but Dex had ever mentioned anything about this behavior, until, she supposed, tonight when Uncle Gun had called. But all he’d said was that sometimes Dex got ‘weird.’ Did that mean nobody in the club really knew about this? Would she cause trouble for him if she called for help?
Okay. She needed to think that out for a second. But right now, Dex was hypothermic, and that was something she could try to work on even out here.
She took off her coat and laid it over him, tucking it over his shoulders. Then she looked at the dogs. They were very well trained, but she wasn’t sure they’d obey her. Dogs that didn’t live with a big family didn’t like to have a lot of bosses. Also, she wasn’t sure what kinds of signs Dex used. She’d seen him use a few signs that weren’t familiar.
But she gave it a try anyway. A pack of dogs was a good source of warmth.
“Charlie, come.” He looked at her, cocked his head slightly, considered. “Come. Here,” she said, and he ootched up to Dex’s side.
“Good boy. You can help your dad, okay? Ripper, you, too.” Ripper looked at Charlie, then went to sit at Dex’s other side. He licked his dad’s head.
Like that, with patience and hope, Kelsey got all the dogs, even Lizzie, to surround Dex and lean against or on him. With her coat, it was the best she could do for now.
She herself was already cold, in jeans and a sweater. How long had he been outside in nothing but his skin?
Sitting beside the pile of dogs and man, Kelsey dug her phone from her coat pocket and opened her contacts to her dad. She needed help. Her dad would likely use this as another reason to insist Dex was wrong for her, dangerous to her, but she’d worry about that—
Charlie shifted, sitting up again. He shoved his snout under Dex’s arm. Ripper stirred as well. Something was changing.
“Dex?” Kelsey rolled to her knees and shook him again. He didn’t really react, but he moved a bit more loosely. She tried again to lift his head. He jerked it away.
Kelsey scurried back, out of his reach. From that safe distance, she watched Dex come back from wherever he’d been. He didn’t do so violently. It was more like he was stepping back into his body, but it wasn’t where he’d left it. Finally, he looked around, his scowl deep as ever, taking note of the dogs, then his surroundings, then the cold.
As he changed positions, letting his legs relax and wrapping his arms tightly around his chest, he noticed her at last.
“Kelsey?”
Battling back a sudden spate of relieved tears, she smiled. “Hey there. What’re you doing out here?”
Confusion pleated his forehead. “I … needed some air.”
That statement seemed to finally bring him all the way back. The cold really hit him then, and chills engulfed him.
