AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Should we take her into the vet?” Mama asked. “I’ve never seen her decline one of my biscuits before.”
“She was fine this morning,” I said. “Maybe she misses Annie too?”
“Maybe so,” Pop said. “Poor baby. She doesn’t understand what’s happening.”
“I’m going to take her home and see how she’s feeling later,” I said. “We can go see Arabella if she keeps acting this way.”
They agreed with my plan and walked us both out to the truck. Scout jumped into the passenger side as she usually did. However, she sniffed the seat, let out a pitiful whine and moved to the middle closer to me. All the way home, she rested her head in my lap.
I kepta close watch on my doggy all afternoon. When she refused a spoonful of wet food, I started to panic. She practically lived for this stuff. Had she eaten something that made her sick?
Although I felt a little like an overly concerned mother hen, I called Arabella’s office to see if I could bring Scout in for a checkup.
“What are her symptoms?” The young lady who had answered the phone didn’t sound familiar, but maybe she was arecent hire. Not that it mattered. There was something wrong with my dog.
“She’s lethargic and won’t eat,” I said.
She asked me to come in at three, the earliest opening. It was shortly after two now. “Great. I’ll be there.”
Despite my cajoling, Scout refused to leave her spot by the fireplace. I ended up having to carry all forty pounds of her to the truck. As she’d done earlier, she sniffed the seat, but instead of coming closer to me, she lay down right in Annie’s place.
By the time we got to the vet’s office, it was abundantly clear that something was truly wrong. Her tail lay still and her ears flattened against the side of her head.
I clipped her leash in place, picked her up, and carried her into the office. After we checked in, I sat down to wait. There were several other patients there, including a parrot and a fat cat who glared at me from her carrier.
Soon, the nurse asked us to follow her back to a patient room. Scout shook with fear. This was nothing new. She hated coming to the vet, even when it was for her checkup. I usually placated her with a new bone to chew on the ride home.
Arabella came in a few minutes later. My brother’s nemesis had grown into a swan. The last time I’d seen her she’d been a chubby kid with braces on her teeth and thick glasses. Now all remnants of the sweet girl I remembered from my youth had been replaced by this gorgeous brunette with creamy skin and blue eyes.
“You look great,” I said.
She gave me a toothy smile. The braces had paid off, given her straight teeth. “Thanks. Weight Watchers and contacts do wonders for a girl.” She turned her attention to Scout, who remained in my lap. “What’s going on with our girl here?”
I told her what I’d observed. “It started after my…houseguest left abruptly.”
“Was Scout attached to this houseguest?”
“She was only with me a few weeks, but they bonded.” It sounded weird to say out loud.
“I see. Well, let’s get her on the table so I can take a look.”
I set her on the examination table but stayed close in case my baby got scared.
Arabella looked in her mouth and eyes. She felt along Scout’s body with her hand, obviously looked for bumps or tumors.
“She seems perfectly healthy,” Arabella said. “And she just started this after your friend left?”
“That’s right.” I hesitated, unsure how relevant my relationship with Annie was to the state of Scout’s health. “She was a close friend. The kind who slept in my bed.”
“And Scout sleeps there too?”
“Yeah,” I admitted sheepishly. “I know I should have her in a crate.”
“Not every recommendation works for every family,” Arabella said kindly. “But she obviously grew fond of your friend.”
“They did some things together without me. Scout really took to her.”
“Have you ever heard of broken heart syndrome in dogs?”
