“Okay then,” I say, doing everything I can to keep from laughing as I walk to the door. “The doctor will be with you in a minute.”
As soon as I have the door open, Patches slips past me and takes off down the hallway. I curse under my breath as I take off after him. It’s no use. The dog has to be as old as Old Man Wilber, but he moves like a damn puppy. He ran toward the reception desk, so I’m crossing my fingers that he’s headed to Rayna.
I get to the desk and find Rayna leaning back in her chair scrolling on her phone. “Is Patches with you?”
She sits up in her seat and looks at me with wide eyes. “What do you mean, is he with me? You let the dog run loose? Dr. Robinson is going to be pissed.”
“Why am I going to be pissed?”
“Oh, Rayna’s just joking,” I answer quickly. “Mr. Crawley is in room six.”
Dr. Robinson pulls her reading glasses from the top of her head as she picks up her tablet and heads to the room. I hold my breath and cross everything as I watch her walk down the hallway toward the exam room. Where the hell could that dog disappear to? As soon as she closes the door of the exam room, I start checking every room, looking for a trace of Patches, but I see nothing. I don’t even hear anything.
As soon as I finish checking the exam room closest to room six, I hear a crash followed by scrambling coming from the supply closet. I could have sworn the door was closed when I walked by, but low and behold, Patches comes tearing out of the barely open door with a mouth full of…
“Patches?” I whisper-shout. “Patches, what the hell do you have?”
Of course, he doesn’t answer me. He shakes whatever it is, and droplets go flying before he takes off into a run, leaving a wet trail behind. I’m trying not to make a lot of noise, but as I gain on the rogue animal, he kicks into high gear and starts running circles around me. Tail wagging hard enough to shake his entire body, he sits in front of the door and watches me. It’s an IV bag.
“Oh, my god,” Rayna says slowly. Her lips are rolled, but it’s obvious she’s trying not to laugh.
I give Patches my fiercest glare as I reach out my hand and slowly approach. He gives the bag another shake, sending normal saline spraying, but he doesn’t run. As soon as I get close enough, I lunge. Patches takes off right when I make my move, and instead of getting my hands on him, my foot lands in a small puddle and I go flying.
It isn’t a graceful fall. It isn’t a little slip. No, of course not. My feet go up in the air, and next thing I know, I’m flat on my back staring up at the ceiling as my vision returns to normal.
“Are you okay?” Rayna’s footsteps get closer until I finally see her face peering down at me.
Closing my eyes, I take a cautious breath, groaning at how sore I already am. “Yeah. I’m okay. I just need a second.”
Rayna kneels beside me, placing one hand on my shoulder and taking my opposite hand to help me sit up. I take a few more slow breaths and as I nod my head and grip her hand, I hear the bells on the door jingle as someone comes in. Because of course they do.
“Joy? What happened? Are you okay?” I turn my head at the sound of Tate’s voice and scramble to sit up straight. “Hey, easy, now. Are you hurt?”
The concern etched into his features and the compassion in his voice are enough to cause my lip to quiver. I’m so embarrassed, all I want to do is disappear. As if falling flat on my ass isn’t bad enough, Tate has to be present for my humiliation.
“I’m okay. I think I just got the wind knocked out of me.”
Tate lowers himself to the floor and holds me against his chest as he runs his hands over my body. “You sure you aren’t hurt? Maybe have Dr. Robinson take a look before we leave?”
“Before we leave? How long was I out? It’s the end of the day?” My voice rises in panic with each word.
Tate’s arms tighten around me, instantly helping to calm my nerves. “Hey, you’re okay. It’s lunchtime now. That’s why I’m here. Rayna didn’t tell you I was coming to pick you up at lunch?”
I whip my head in the direction of my friend’s surprised giggle. She resembles a deer caught in headlights and slaps her hand over her mouth, muffling her laughter.
“I was going to, I swear. I just didn’t get that far.”
I glance at Tate and find him glaring at Rayna. “What do you mean you didn’t get that far? I called first thing this morning to make sure it was still okay for her to take a half day.”
“Oh, my heavens! What happened out here? Are you okay, Joy?” Dr. Robinson is clutching her chest as she rushes over to me, and I wish once more that I could either go back in time and not fall on my ass or disappear. Either one would work.
Tate helps me to my feet and directly across from me is an incredibly happy dog. Patches sits beside his owner, looking around as if he has no idea what all the commotion is about. Damn dog.
“I was chasing after this escape artist of a dog and slipped and fell. It’s not a big deal, I’m fine. He got hold of an IV bag and made a mess. I’ll get it cleaned up so no one else falls.” I try to remove myself from Tate’s grasp.
“You’ll do no such thing. You have plans this afternoon. We’ll take care of it. But why don’t you let me make sure you’re okay,” Dr. Robinson says.
Clearly, everyone except for me knew about my plans. I want to be annoyed, but I love that Tate planned something for me and even went as far as to call my job and clear some time off. Or tried to clear some time off, anyway.
