Page 58 of Otter Heart
“Did she pee in it or something?”
“I don’t know.” I heard him stand once more. “I’m not really familiar with dog things. But there’s not a trail or anything through the house, so I don’t think she’s in danger of dying before we find her.”
“Why would she be bleeding though? Is anything broken?”
“Not that I can see.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
There was a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay,” Adam cooed, guiding me back through the house. “She probably just ran into something when she got scared and has a little cut. I’ll do a sweep through the neighborhood before we go out on the road, okay? There’s no thunder or lightning, so I don’t think she’s gonna run off very far.”
“You’re right,” I said with a nod, trying to see reason even though I was terrified. I held out my arm. “I’ll go with you.”
“There’s no reason for us both to get wet–”
“Adam,” I said sternly. “She’s my dog and I’m going with you.”
He tensed for a moment before he slipped his arm under mine. “Alright,” he said, holding me tight. “We’ll go together.”
“Thank you.”
Arm in arm, we went back through the condo and out the front door into the rain. The cold seeped through my clothing almost immediately. I’d forgotten to grab my umbrella. But by the time I thought of it, I was already drenched. Ignoring the cold, I kept my arm tight around Adam as he pulled me down the sidewalk.
We spent the better part of twenty minutes slowly working out way around the condo complex. Wherever there might be a place to hide, we explored it. Adam pulled me toward a hedge more than once so he could get a look underneath, figuring she might be hiding from the rain and the cold. But there was no sign of Bessie.
I was starting to lose hope as we rounded back toward my condo with no results.
“I’ll get the car and we can go look out on the road, okay?” Adam said, stopping me in front of my condo. “The rain’s letting up a little bit, so we’ll be able to find her easier. Maybe she’ll even come home by herself.”
I nodded numbly, allowing him to extract his arm from my grip. He left me there for a moment feeling as hopeless as I possibly could. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that the bloodmeantBessie was in danger. I believed him that it wasn’t enough for her to bleed out, but she never made messes in the house. She’d been trained not to from a very young age. So why was today different? What was going on with her? I mentally kicked myself for not going to the vet the day before. If I had, maybe none of this would’ve happened.
Just then, my ears perked up as I caught a whine on the wind. I turned toward the sound, hearing the familiar high-pitched whine that Bessie used when she needed me.
She was close by!
“Adam!” I yelled. “Adam! Come here!”
Running footsteps approached, splashing through the puddles. “What? What’s wrong?!”
“I hear her,” I said, fumbling until I got a hold of his shirt.I lifted my arm, pointing toward the noise. “That direction. She can’t be that far.”
“I don’t see anything,” he replied, but he took my arm anyway. “It’s just bushes and stuff, but let’s take a look.”
He led me over and I could hear him moving branches aside and looking, but clearly coming up with nothing.
“Are you sure you heard her?”
“I’m certain.”
The whine sounded again.
“There! Did you hear that?”
Adam grabbed my arm. “Yeah. I did.” He paused, pulling me over a few feet. “Wait, it’s your neighbor's backyard and… and there’s a shed with the door open!”
“Bessie?!”
“This way!”
