Sapphire Eyes ~ 10 Chapter Challenge

One Day After the Letter

I consider pretending to have a seizure so she can practice her real job, but I'm sure that would just confuse her. Seizure dogs recognize a seizure is coming through scent. So there's not really a way to practice that. Besides, she was never meant to support me during my seizures.

But I get down on my back in the grass to practice some more commands. She comes right up next to me without a word. I wait to see if she will push me to my side, but she doesn't. I wonder if I can teach her to do that. I'll do some research and try it later.

"Steady." I grab Nessa's harness and pull myself up into a sitting position. I grab the harness tight and switch to my knees, and she stands very still and supports me. I give her a treat. "Steady," I say again, and then I get the rest of the way up, putting a lot of weight on her as she 'helps' me up. She does great.

"Good Nessa!" I give her another treat and then say, "Up!" She rears up on hind legs and paws my chest. "And down," I say, and she gets down right away. I give her a few more treats and then say, "Inside, go!" She doesn't know what I mean right away, but when I point and say, "Inside, go," again, she goes into the house through her doggie door.

She doesn't come back outside, so I head into the house to find her sitting just inside the door, waiting for me.

I can't help but cheer. She's going to ace this screening. We have quite a few more standard commands we have to do, but she is doing so well! It's really amazing considering how long she's just been a regular dog with her service dog harness packed away in a closet. It's really a relief.

I give her a few more treats, take her harness off, and go stash it in the box under my bed where Deb won't stumble across it.

My stomach starts to growl, so I go back downstairs, and I find some leftover pizza in the fridge and nuke it. I feed Nessa, who scrambles to eat her food like she hasn't had an ounce of kibble in days. Which is funny because I just gave her a ton of treats.

I sit at the kitchen table long enough to eat, and then I go to the couch to draw some more. I'm determined to finish this drawing today. I need something to remember Nessa by, since I can't bring my phone when I split, so all those pictures of her will be long gone.

I think again about going to pack up my stuff. Honestly, I should probably do some laundry, so I'll have clean clothes when I go. But right now, I just want to draw.

Patients ~ Deb

I park my car in the driveway and turn the engine off. Take a big breath and pull my brief case into my lap. It's heavy again today, filled with all the patient files I brought home. I clench the handle like it's a life preserver and open the car door.

I hurry inside and go straight into my office. Without even taking the time to sit, I lay my brief case on my desk, open it, and start sifting through the files. Today, I brought home all the patient files for the appointments that need to be rescheduled so I can see Gabe's patient next week. I know Mary said she would try to reschedule the appointments, but she always ends up making people wait too long trying to fit them into my jam-packed schedule. It's better if I reschedule them, so I can plan to stay late to work people in.

I put the files in order starting with the most serious case, and then I start the calls, doing my best to get everyone in sometime next week. In the end, I only have to move one patient to the following week, and it's my least serious case. I breathe a sigh of relief after I hang up the phone for the last time and pencil in the appointment on my schedule. Everyone seemed thankful to hear from me personally. It puts a smile on my face, knowing I have really made a difference and gone the extra mile for my patients.