*Fallon*
It's day five and I'm going completely out of my mind. It has been two days since I have been to the hospital and it eating me alive. Two motherfucking days since I have seen, or even touched Alex and it's killing me.
Fucking killing me.
Why haven't I been there you ask!?
Well...that has to do with the large white news van; with the local news station's logo on the side, that has been parked directly across the street from my fucking apartment. It showed up right after I talked to the reporter.
I don't want to confirm her suspicions.
That fucking bitch.
She is on my last damn nerve and I haven't even met her yet.
For her safety, I hope that I don't; in fear of choking a bitch.
I wish I could say that I was joking, but I'm not. It feels like my freedom has been sucked right out from under me and I don't like it.
Nope!
Not one fucking bit.
Never back a wild animal in the corner. You're almost guaranteed to get bit!
"Will you stop looking out the window already? She isn't going anywhere," Ally says. Easy for her to say. She's not the one being stalked.
"She might," I say as I peer out from behind the blinds.
Yeah, I'm desperate.
Ally sighs, "That's wishful thinking love, but reporters don't just go away. They are relentless."
She speaks the truth, but it's really hard to grasp at the moment.
"It just sucks that I can't be there, ya know?" I desperately want to be there. "I thought she was a reporter for the newspaper, not the actual news?"
"That's another thing, they lie," Ally says mater-a-factly.
Bitch!
I snap the blinds shut and pace the room. "I hope they are gone by the time I have to pick up Max."
That's right, Max gets to come home today. I'm so excited to see him.
Max had to undergo two surgeries. Two! One to repair the puncture wound to his abdomen; which didn't hit any major arteries, thank god. That would have been catastrophic; at least to Alex and myself.
As for the second one, well, unfortunately, his left front leg took one hell of a beating and the damage was beyond repair, so they had to amputate his leg; which was a decision that was solely left to me by his family.
Hardest fucking decision of my life.
"Fal, come sit. You're making me nervous."
"Sorry," I mutter and take a seat on the couch next to her. "I'm just stressed. It's one fucking thing after another and I don't know what to do." She grabs my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.
"I understand that you are going through a lot right now. And I wish that I could tell you that everything will be okay, but I can't. But what I can tell you is, that I will be there for you every goddamn step of the way."
I don't know what to say right now. I am rendered speechless; which is rare.
So what do I do? I pull her into the biggest hug ever, which she returns.
"Thank you," I whisper into her hair. "Thank you so much for being here."
She pulls back and brushes the hair out of my face. "If the table were turned, you would do the same."
Words of truth right there!
"So what time do you have to pick Max up?"
I glance at the clock on the wall and frown. "In less than an hour."
"Well, we better get going. Do you have everything?"
"Yeah," I drawl.
"Well let's get going."
***
Ally finds a place to park and we exit the car.
As we are walking through the parking lot Ally out of nowhere says, "He's new."
"Who?"
She rolls her eyes, "You need to pay attention more. The vet, he's knew."
How the fuck am I supposed to know he's new?
"Well, I'm sorry that my mind is elsewhere," I retort, swinging the door open." She knows this.
Ally doesn't say anything and follows me in. We walk right up to the receptionist, giving her my name and why I am there.
Within minutes, she is leading us back to an empty room. "The doctor will be in shortly," she tells us before closing the door.
"Lie," Ally says. "Our shortly and their shortly are in two different time zones."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"When I go to the doctors, they say, oh honey, the doctor will be in shortly, and it takes them an hour to come in. An hour Fallon! Do you know how hard it is to hold your pee while being pregnant?"
Now she knows I don't.
"It's hard," she huffs. "Really hard."
I guess I'll just have to take her word for it.
Someone knocks on the door before opening it. I swear my jaw about hit the floor when Nathan appeared. A smile instantly spread across his face when he saw me sitting there.
Oh god! Why him?
"Well hello again, Fallon."
The universe hates me. It fucking hates me.
"Nathan," I say a bit dryly and Ally shoves her elbow into my ribs.
"You know him?" She asked.
Nathan chuckles, "We met once."
"Nice. I'm Ally, Fallon's best friend."
"Nice to meet you," he says before turning to the paperwork in his hand. "So you're here for...Max?" He asked.
"Yes," I confirm. "He's my... boyfriend's dog. There was a bit of an—"
"I know what happened, Fallon," Nathan cuts me off. "It's all over the news."
Oh, I mouth. Silly me.
"How is he?"
"Doing wonderful. He's really a great dog," Nathan says.
Yes, he is. Best damn dog that I know.
"That he is," I say proudly.
Nathan hands me his discharge papers with a list of instructions and goes over them with me; proper care of his wounds, how to administer his medicine, and so on.
Doesn't seem so bad.
"I'll go get him now," Nathan says before exiting the room.
I can't help the excitement that is coursing through my body at the moment. I hope he remembers me. It's been a while since I've actually seen him.
The door opens and in walks Max. Immediately his tail starts wagging and he starts making this god-awful whining noise that sounds like a whistle. He tugged at the leash in Nathan's hand, freeing himself so that he could get to me.
"Hey boy," I coo, ruffling up his hair carefully. "I missed you."
When Max was finally calm, I took in the state of his injuries. All the happiness that I was feeling was now gone and replaced with anger.
Humans are cruel.
"It looks a lot worse than what it is," Nathan says and I nod. "It's going to take some time, but he will be back to normal before you know it."
Normal?
"He's missing his fucking leg, what's normal about that?" I didn't mean for it to come out as harsh as it did, but it did.
Nathan holds his hands up, "I didn't mean any harm."
"Fal, calm down. He's only trying to help," Ally says. Her hand rubbed circles on my back.
I close my eyes and suck in a deep. Ally is right and I shouldn't take my frustrations out on him. After all, he did save Max.
"I'm sorry," I apologize, "I'm just—" I shake my head and let my chin fall to my chest. There's no excuse for my actions.
He lifts my chin with his finger, directing my gaze to his. "Hey," he says softly. "It's alright. You're stressed and I get it."
I might just be overthinking things at the moment, but, for some reason, I feel as if he is taking advantage of my vulnerability here, and I don't like it.
"Umm...I-I think we should go," I say, pulling my chin from his grasp and standing. Thank you for taking care of Max. I greatly appreciate it."
"No problem," he says flatly.
After taking care of the bill, we walk casually back to Ally's car. As soon as I opened the door, Max jumped right in, taking his spot in the back.
I'm glad to see him getting around so easily.
"What the fuck was that?" Ally spat as I closed the door. I know what she is thinking and it's not what it looks like.
"It's not what you think," I say, and give her a quick rundown of the first time we met. When I was finished, Ally said, "I don't like him. He's creepy."
I have to agree.
When I first met him, I didn't get that creepy vibe from him at all. Piggish maybe, but not creepy.
But now...well, let's just say that I don't want to be left alone with him. That's for sure.
As soon as we exited the car and walked up to my door, we were ambushed by a slew of reporters; each one of them holding a microphone in their hand and a cameraman right behind them, screaming questions about the attack, our relationship, and of course Max.
Poor Max. He doesn't have a clue as to what is going on. He pushes himself between me and the door to get away.
Ally helps me dig through my purse for my keys and finds them almost, instantly.
"Move," a familiar male voice booms through the crowd and everyone goes quiet. A smile spreads across my face as Ray pushes his way towards us as quickly as possible.
Ally pushes the key into the door, unlocks it, and swings it open. The door slams off the wall.
Oh, I hope that didn't leave a mark.
Ray pushes me through the door and slams it shut. "What a fucking circus," he says, panting slightly.
"Tell me about it," Ally says. "My heart is still in my throat."
"Mine too," I agree and look at Ray. "What are you doing here anyway?"
He snorts, "A thank you would be nice."
"Thanks," I chuckle and pull him into a hug. He did distract them long enough for Ally to get the door open.
He pulls back and smiles down at me. "I brought chocolate and wine."
"But I can't drink," Ally pouts and we laugh.
"No, but you can eat," Ray says, holding up a bag full of already-cooked food from his restaurant. Ally snatched it from his hands and ran to the kitchen.
Looks like it's going to be a long night!