Page 5 of So Insane

“Oh my God!” Faith exclaimed.

She threw her arms around Michael and held him tight, weeping uncontrollably. “It’s him? He’s alive? He’s all right?”

“It’s him,” Michael confirmed. “Vet says he’s skinny and bruised up, but otherwise none the worse for wear.”

“Oh my God!” she cried again. “Which vet?”

“Which one do you think? David just got to work and found Turk resting on the porch.”

A transient touch of discomfort slipped across Faith’s mind. She and David hadn't spoken much in the past two months. Actually, they hadn’t spoken at all after a brief visit in the hospital and an even briefer phone call when she was released. She wasn’t sure what it would be like to see her (possibly ex-) boyfriend after so long.

But that didn’t matter right now. Turk was alive. He was alive, and if he was alive, then there was still hope.

On an impulse, she kissed Michael’s cheek hard and said, “Thank you.”

He chuckled. “For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“For being here,” she said.

He froze briefly, no doubt remembering when he wasn’t there for her. The second time she had gone after West, she had called him first, and he hadn’t answered. He had arrived, of course, but too late. She had already gone after him alone.

Just answer the phone when I call.

After a moment, he pulled her tighter into his embrace. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

***

When Faith saw Turk sitting on the table in the exam room, she nearly collapsed. Turk’s fur was matted in some places and scratched bare in others. His ribs stuck out prominently, and his legs looked almost spindly compared to the powerful dog she knew, but when he lifted his head and his eyes widened with instant joy, she knew that her dog had come back to her.

He barked and malnourishment or no, he leapt off of the table and bounded to Faith with the exuberance of a puppy. She dropped to the floor and opened her arms wide, and Turk jumped into them, barking and licking her exuberantly while she wept and held him close.

“Hey, boy,” she said. “Hey. I’m so glad to see you. I missed you so much.”

She held him for a long moment, laughing and crying as he licked her face like he never expected to see her again. Probably he hadn’t.

She held him at arm's length and beamed into his expressive, earnest brown eyes. It alarmed her how easily she supported his weight. He must have lost thirty pounds at least. But the light in his eyes and the toothy grin told Faith that was all right. He was back with Faith now, and everything would be okay.

“Everything will be okay,” she repeated, liking the sound of those words, liking even more that she believed them. She pulled Turk close again and breathed deeply. She giggled and said, “You smell like a sewer, boy.”

He barked happily, and she laughed again and just held him for a moment. When Turk barked and tried to pull away from her, she released him. She saw the reason for that a moment later when Michael stooped down and picked him up. “Dang, Turk,” he said, “I need to follow your diet.”

He barked and took his turn, licking Michael half to death. Michael, not normally a fan of dog kisses, endured these with a smile on his face. Faith saw tears welling in his own eyes and giggled again.

"Christ, you need a bath," Michael said, holding him at arm's length. "You smell like something died on you. Does this mean you did our job for us and killed the big baddie?”

Faith’s smile faded slightly. She wanted desperately to hope that West could be dealt with so easily, that he could simply vanish as though he had never existed in the first place. Her longstanding desire to be the one who vanquished the Copycat Killer was no more. She just wanted him gone.

She couldn't be sad for longer than a moment, though. Turk leaped out of Michael's arms, and though he wobbled a bit when he landed, he quickly gathered himself and leaped back onto the table just before the door to the exam room opened.

Faith’s breath caught in her throat when she saw him. Her skin went hot and cold in waves, and when she swallowed, her tongue felt thick and twisted in her mouth. She had reacted the same way when she first saw him, completely overwhelmed by the sight of him. He was a hero, a prince, “a knight in shining armor.”

She brushed the memory of West’s words away like a fly and managed a smile as David approached her. “Hi, David,” she said shyly.

“Hello, Faith,” he replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence between them. Then Michael, perhaps recognizing he was the third wheel in the room, said, “I’m gonna head to Morning Glory for some coffee. You guys want anything?”

“I’ve had mine already, thanks,” David said.

---