Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“There was something wrong with Finn. He was acting really weird about half an hour after you left.” She sniffed. “Mom said he got outside earlier. She didn’t see him and backed over him after I pushed her as to why he was lying there looking pitiful.”
“Have you taken him to the vet?” I rasped.
“Mom dropped him off, told them to put him to sleep, and then left. I got here just as she was pulling away,” she explained. “I begged them not to do anything until you got here, and they listened. You need to get here, though, Dad.”
I didn’t waste time, and the woman that was watching me closely didn’t hesitate to get into the cruiser with me without asking any questions.
“What happened?” she asked after Desi hung up.
I explained everything, my stomach in knots.
We drove hand in hand in silence to the vet, and I was thankful to see that we were all alone when I pulled into the parking lot to find no cars there.
The two of us rushed inside, and a woman who was manning the front desk saw us coming and nodded, gesturing for me to follow her.
“I’m guessing you’re here for Finneus?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied, my voice sounding ravaged.
God, I should’ve never left Finn or let Desi return home for a visit.
I should’ve known that something would go wrong.
“Tell me what happened?” I begged as we were allowed back into what looked like a surgical area.
Finn looked like he was just sleeping peacefully when I came up to him, placing my hand on his still rising and falling chest.
“Daddy,” Desi said from behind me.
I turned, pulling her into my chest, and gave my attention back to the doctor.
“He’s in very bad shape, Mr. Hopkins,” the doctor admitted. “He has a severed spine. Broken front and back leg. Fractured skull. We’re assuming all of this happened when she backed over him in the driveway.”
“What was he doing outside?” I asked but knew that I wouldn’t get any answers.
“Sorry, sir,” he apologized.
He looked young.
Very young.
But he held my eyes, and explained the rest of his injuries, ultimately admitting that euthanasia was the best option.
“Are you sure?” I croaked, seconds away from losing my shit.
“I’m sure, sir,” he said. “With a smaller breed, this would be no big deal. But that much trauma, after having been hit by a car previously…he’s too big. He’d have to be in traction for a long time, and that’s if we could even get him to recover…”
He said more, but I stopped listening.
All I heard was, “he isn’t going to make it.”
I felt my stomach sink.
God.
Fucking Julia.
Fucking, fucking Julia.
I hated her guts.
“What now?” I rasped, swallowing past the bile in my throat.
The bile threatened to make its way up my throat, and the saliva pooling in my mouth made it worse as I tried and failed to swallow.
“Take as much time as you need.” He looked heartbroken for me. Poor guy. How could you live through this every single day? “When you’re ready, we’ll administer the medication. One will calm him down—though he’s already been given a sedative. And the other one will stop his heart.”
Desi started to cry in my arms, and a cold hand slipped into mine, Nastya leaning her forehead against my right shoulder blade.
“Desi, baby,” I said softly. “Are you ready?”
It was a heartless thing to do, putting the decision into a broken-hearted sixteen-year-old’s hands, but I did it anyway. I couldn’t do it myself.
“Yeah, Daddy,” she croaked.
The vet disappeared around the corner, and I ran my free hand over Finn’s head.
He turned his face to lick my hand.
God, he was always trying to make me feel better.
Every single time that I came over, he never held it against me that I was no longer there. It’s like he knew that he wasn’t with me so he could watch over my favorite person. To be with her when I couldn’t be.
“Why do you always have to break my heart, Finn,” I whispered. “First I had to leave you behind, then I have to watch you go when I just got you back.”
Desi made a keening sound, and she was out of my arms a second later.
I turned my head to see that my mama had her and gave my attention back to Finn.
“There are going to be so many couches for you to lay on in heaven. No one will tell you to get down. No one will push you off because you take up too much room,” I crooned, stroking his head. “You’re going to love it there. You’re going to be able to run and play forever. You won’t ever get tired, and it’ll always be the perfect sixty degrees. You’re going to be able to eat to your heart’s content. You will never run out of non-slobbery water. And even better, you’ll have so many friends there to keep you company.”