AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Viddy, however, wouldn’t have been prepared for the massive dog, and it was best for all if I moved her out of the way, just in case.
Kosher didn’t come barreling out, however. He came out slow. Much slower than he normally did, and walked straight to Radar who was standing beside Viddy’s open car door. Both of my boys watched as I went to the car, lifted Hemi out, and took him inside to lay him on the couch.
Hemi lay there, not moving, exhausted from all that he’d done in the last four hours.
Feeling the sadness well up, I started to walk back outside but stopped once I saw Kosher and Radar leading her in. She had a hand full of fur from each dog, and was walking slowly forward. She was reading Radar and Kosher’s cues as if she’d done it a million times before.
“Your friend is here. I heard him pull up.” She choked out.
I walked up to her, pulling her into my body and hugged her tight. She was shaking, and very near to tears.
“Do you want to be there with him?” I asked into her ear, breathing her scent in with each inhale.
She felt perfect in my arms. The only thing I wished was different were the circumstances. I wish she hadn’t called because she was in a bind. Especially one such as this.
“Yes,” she breathed, looking up at me.
Not liking that she wasn’t looking at my eyes, I took her face in my hand and moved her until her eyes were connected to my own.
Eyes so close to mine. One blue and one green. Both pale. Hypnotizing.
That was how I’d gotten my road name. Trance.
Loki had given me that name one day when a woman had turned him down after seeing me.
“It’s like they’re in a trance. Once they get a look at your pretty fuckin’ eyes, they don’t want to see anything else!”He’d whined.
Loki was another member of The Dixie Wardens, and my best friend. We’d met first on the force and, shortly after, prospected for the Wardens together. Both of us had been sponsored by Sebastian, only a year after Sebastian had become a member himself.
“Trance, is it okay that I come in?” Zack asked from my front door.
I looked up to see him watching Viddy and me.
He was a short man. In his late fifties, Zack had been in practice for nearly thirty years. He’d moved here all the way from North Dakota, and I’d found him by chance when I’d needed an emergency vet for Radar when he’d swallowed a chicken bone.
It also said something about him that he didn’t just come barging into my territory. Radar and Kosher, although somewhat occupied with Hemi, were not totally ignorant to what was going on, and Zack knew that.
“Zack, come in please. Viddy, this is Zack, the horde’s vet. Zack, this is Viddy. Viddy’s dog, Hemi, is the one I called you about earlier.” I said, leading him over to the couch.
Viddy’s hand was still in mine, holding on incredibly tight as Zack cooed and cawed at Hemi.
“Oh, Hemi. You’re a strong one, aren’t you? Are you ready to go home, good ol’ boy?” Zack asked as he started to set up his things.
Zack had enquired with Hemi’s vet to be sure, and he’d concurred with Hemi’s prognosis. Hemi only had another couple of days, at most, to live and after today, he didn’t have much of an outlook, and would probably be in severe pain if precautions weren’t taken.
“Now, do you know what euthanasia is, my dear girl?” Zack asked in his grizzled, no nonsense voice.
Viddy was shaking her head before he’d even finished with the question. “No, sir. I don’t have the first clue. It’s not going to hurt, is it?” She choked.
Zack patted Viddy’s hand and led her to sit on the couch next to Hemi’s head. “No dear, it won’t hurt. Now you just sit here and talk to him, okay? He won’t feel a single thing, I promise.”
Zack spoke throughout, explaining exactly what he was doing, and why, all the while Hemi laid still, taking in the scene around him, but not putting up one ounce of fight.
“Now that I have the IV in, I’ll put the solution in. It’ll be exactly like he is going to sleep. One minute he will breathe, and the very next he will not. Do you want to say anything to him before we do it, baby girl?” Zach asked her softly.
“I promise to never use your dishes on another puppy. I will forever keep your name sacred, and I will forever remember you. When I go to work and find some of your hair on my shirt, I’ll remember that you used to roll in my clean laundry, and smile. I love you so much, and I’ll miss you like crazy, Hem.” She said quietly into Hemi’s fur.
As she spoke, I watched as Zack depressed the plunger on the large syringe in his hand, and counted down from twenty.
