“I’m so fucking stupid. I just left the candy out there. I’m so fucking careless.”
“Hey.” I touch her shoulder, and she lets me. She doesn’t cry, and it’s a little jarring to see her so upset without outwardly showing it. “You’re not stupid. Mistakes happen.”
“I can’t do anything right.”
“Char, we’re going to be at the vet in a few minutes. Hank will be fine.”
“He’s all I have.”
I want to slam on my brakes and tell her that isn’t true. She broke my heart, but I’m still here, and I’d do whatever she asked of me. Especially now that I know more of the story, a lot of my anger has vanished. All I want is my girl back and happy again. “He’s definitely not all you have, but I promise he’ll be okay.”
She doesn’t say anything, choosing silence for the rest of the ride.
As soon as we get to the clinic, I take the closest parking spot, and we both get out, and I take Hank into my arms. He seems worse than when we originally put him in.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” Charlotte says to Hank, stroking his ears back as she talks with the receptionist.
“Good thing I’ve been lifting, buddy. You better be good because I promised her you would be. So do me a solid, yeah?” Hank groans in my arms as the receptionist takes us back to a room. She instructs me to put Hank on the floor as the vet comes in.
“Alright, this isn’t going to be pretty. If Mom and Dad can go wait out in the lobby,” the vet says. Charlotte doesn’t correct her, just kisses Hank’s head one more time before we go and sit out in the lobby. Charlotte is silent, her knee bouncing up and down as she waits. I feel hopeless again, like I don’t know the first thing about what an Omega needs when I look at her now.
She looks sad and defeated. She’s put on a little more weight, and she wears it deliciously. I feel like a complete creep for looking at her like this when we’re at the vet’s office.
Charlotte makes a whimpering noise, and I put my hand on her back. She stills, but doesn’t tell me to stop touching her. I keep quiet, knowing that if I speak, I might ruin it, or she might push me away. I just rub her back and physically show her that I’m here and not going anywhere. It must be an hour after we’ve brought Hank in that the receptionist finally calls Charlotte to come back to the room.
I keep my hand on her back, and she doesn’t tell me to stop. Hank is sleeping on the ground, his chest rising and falling, and I let out a relieved breath.
“Hank is going to be fine. We had to give him some activated charcoal to induce vomiting to get some of the chocolate out of his system. I didn’t notice any tremors or seizures, but because of the amount of chocolate consumed, we would like to keep him overnight to monitor him.”
Charlotte nods but doesn’t speak, so I do for her.
“Okay, thank you so much.”
“MaryJane can go over the details with you up front.” I pet Hank’s head, and Charlotte gets down on her knees and strokes his fur and kisses his face. I can hear her whispering apologies to him, and it makes my heart sink. She finally stands, and we make our way up to the front desk where MaryJane hands her some forms. “You will need to sign here, here, and here, for giving us permission for emergency treatment.” Charlotte signs. “This last form is the bill. With the overnight stay, it’s going to be eight hundred and fifty dollars.”
Charlotte rubs her forehead with the back of her hand and sighs. “Do you do finance options?” she asks quietly.
“Put it on this card,” I say, sliding my Amex over to MaryJane. Charlotte looks at me with a frown on her face but says nothing. MaryJane smiles and nods, swiping my card and giving it back.
“Hank should be ready for pickup at 10 a.m.”
Charlotte nods and walks out the door. I follow her, and she gets in the passenger’s side without letting me open her door. The drive back to her house is quiet and awkward. I just want my Charlotte back. She’s not yelling at me or telling me to go fuck myself, so I’ll take what I can get.
Once I’m parked in front of her house, she turns to me. “You shouldn’t have paid for that.”
“It’s not a big deal. I wanted to.”
“Hank isn’t your responsibility.”
“No, but you are.” It slips out before I have a second to even think about what I wanted to say.
“I’m not. I thought I made that clear.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Charlotte. You can push me away, tell me you hate me, tell me that this will never work. But all we’ve done since you left was find a way to get you back.”
“Why would you want me now?” she says. It’s the first time I see tears in her eyes.
“Charlotte, what are you talking about, baby?” She shakes her head, and it looks like she’s trying to stifle her emotions again. I reach out and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “We will always want you. Please let us in, let us help you.”
