All I Wanna Do | Danny Amendola

Chapter 18

"Hey Danny, how are you?" Aileen greeted as she pulled the front door open. One of her dogs came around her legs and sat at my feet, looking up at me for a back rub.

"I'm good. And you are?" I asked as the black lab moved closer to my touch. "You're so soft, yes you are. You're a good boy!"

"That's Memphis," she exclaimed. "He's the newest daddy around here. His and Lilah's litter is about six weeks old."

I smiled as I stood up and made my way into the house. Memphis was practically attached to my side. "Where are Claire and Clay?" I asked looking around. My eyes suddenly locked on the puppies in their playpen.

"They're playing outside with Claire's brother, Minshew," she informed. "I can go grab them... or..." She noticed me staring at the puppies. "Do you want to see the puppies? They're at their playful stage."

"I'd love to," I replied. "I could never turn down playing with your puppies. You know that. We're the dogs good, though?"

We made our way into the room where the puppies were wrestling. There were two yellow labs and one black lab.

"That's Yeller," she said pointing to one of the yellow labs who was currently sleeping in his back. "That one is Barclay." This time she pointed to the other yellow lab who was sleeping with his head on a moose stuffed animal. "And last but not least, we have Chip. He's not taken by anyone yet." The black lab was passed out leaving against the wall of the playpen.

I looked at Aileen in confusion. "Why's he not taken?" I asked. He looked absolutely adorable. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth as he had little puppy dreams.

She let out a sigh. "The family who wanted him backed out. We found out he was deaf in his left ear at the vet last week," she told me. She shook her head. "It's a shame because he's such a loving puppy. It's not like he can't love because he can't hear in one ear."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry to hear that," I replied. I moved over to where Chip was against the fence and rubbed a knuckle against his furry ear.

He flinched, but then moved to look at me. His eyes got wide as his tail began to wag. "Hi there!" A small tap was let out of his mouth. "You wanna play?" I asked.

I stood up and leaned over to grab him from the playpen. "Hey there little guy," I greeted as I held him in my arms like a baby. "You're absolutely adorable."

His big blue eyes looked up at me as he wiggled in my arms. Chip positioned himself so he could begin licking my face. I chuckled and began to rub his belly. "Oh yeah. Puppy kisses are the best."

As he continued to paw at my shirt, my phone rang in my back pocket. I adjusted him so he was in one arm and pulled my phone out. It was only Julian, so I stuffed it back in my pocket and sat down on the floor so Chip and I could play a bit.

Julian would have to wait. He was probably seeing if I wanted to work out... Or tell him about the time we spent in Italy. After all, it had been a while since I last saw him.

Chip was extremely playful and loved pouncing onto my lap with his tiny. How could anyone not want this adorable pup? His quirky attitude was fitting and he didn't seem to be any different than any puppy I'd ever seen.

As I held him, I brought him up to look me in the eyes. I was beginning to melt even more. I placed a kiss on his furry little head and he returned it with more puppy kisses. I wanted him.

"You're perfect. I'd give you a hike if I could."

Too bad Jamie would kill me if I brought him home. He was just too precious though. As he began to show a bit more of his spunky personality by nibbling on my fingers, my phone rang again.

Julian again.

I rolled my eyes. Chip began pouncing at my phone as I began to put it away. "You see her?" I asked, showing him my lock screen. "That's Jamie. She's the most beautiful woman to ever walk this planet. And she would love you as much as I do."

His pink tongue popped out of his mouth and he began to lick my phone screen. Just as the screen went black, it came on again— showing Jamie's face. A picture from our honeymoon.

I smiled as I pulled the pup away. "Speaking of the beauty," I mumbled as I hit the answer button. "Hey babe! What's up?"

"Danny," Julian's voice came from the other side of the line.

My eyebrows scrunched together. "Julian? What the hell are you doing with Jamie's phone!?"

"Danny... It's Jamie... We had to rush her to the hospital," he said. His voice cracked at the last word.

My heart dropped as my entire body tensed. "What?! What happened!? Is she okay?" 

"We... We don't know. They won't tell me anything because I'm not family... She was just in so much pain... And oh god... The..." He was clearly crying on the other end of the line.

"What hospital?" I asked, attempting to keep myself together as the puppy crawled from my arms and began to wander.

"We are at Mass General."

"Th-Thanks. I'll be there soon." I hung up as I stood up. "Aileen, I have to go. Jamie's in the ER," I mumbled before I rushed out the door.

As I slid into the car, tears began to pull from my eyes. What was wrong? Was she going to be okay? Was there an accident? Would I lose her?

My heart pounded harder than it ever had in my entire life.

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