Rocket snorted. “Nixie might have peed on you. Sorry, babe. She peed on the bed too.”
Charming, but hardly the only time a puppy lost control, right?
“Where is she?” I asked, as I rushed to the door, and started outside. Rocket was running alongside me, Nixie in his arms.
“Right fucking there, are you blind?”
He was right, there was a heavily pregnant woman standing by the other building, and a frantic man beside her.
“Fuck’s sake, we can’t just fuck around. This is it. The fucking big moment,” he was hissing at everyone around him, while his wife rolled her eyes, breathing carefully as she clutched her huge stomach. I felt a pang of envy, because I’d wanted that, and would maybe never experience it. Would this be the closest I’d get to the start of a new life?
“Let’s go,” I said, pointing to my car, as the prospect named Joey hauled the gates open, and everyone fussed over the woman, Sophie, I think Rocket said.
It was a fifteen minute drive to the hospital, but you know what? In an emergency, at this crazy hour of the morning, it’s possible in eight and a half minutes, which coincidentally was longer than the gaps between her contractions at that point. The president guy I’d met last night was flapping, and she was trying to calmhimdown. Surely it should be the other way around.
“Like a fucking comedy sketch innit,” Rocket said, grinning at me as cursing grew louder behind us.
“Need the prospects to clean the room we were in,” the President said, and Rocket shrugged at him.
“What’s your point?”
“Her fucking water broke all over the bed is my fucking point!” Huh. By the time we delivered them to the hospital, and they disappeared down the hall, Rocket was messaging on his phone, and seemed to be getting a ton of responses. Someone was chatty, but while that was going on, I was slumped in a chair, wondering if I could just go home now.
“Told them in the group chat, as per my fucking President’s demands, and the poor prospects are on the cleanup duty. Thank god I’m not one, because fuck that.”
He dropped heavily in the seat beside me, and that’s when a nurse caught sight of him.
“You can’t have a dog in here!”
He froze, trying to tuck Nixie further into his cut. “She’s uh… one of those blind dogs.”
I started giggling, and he glared at me. “Like for helping me see. I’m blind… not the dog. She’s my…”
The nurse was smiling now, shaking her head at him.
“You’re not buying this, huh?” She pointed to the exit, and glared again, until he stood up.
“I need to uh… I guess, wait in your cage, no fuck that, I’ll walk about outside.” I got up and went with him, because I needed the fresh air, and I wanted to know what his beef was with my damn car.
We strolled around, letting Nixie sniff things, and smiling proudly when she climbed over small obstacles in her path that any other dog would manage easily, but her little legs struggled with like they were mountains. It was like parenting, but she wasn’t mine, and neither was he. I think I was starting to wish he was though. If only I could be sure it wasn’t just rebound needs, and that it was actually real. I didn’t want to lead him on, or hurt him, because he’d clearly been there already, and was still hurting.
Motorcycles started filling the car park, one or more at a time, and Harley spotted us instantly, leading Caroline in our direction. My cousin was flourishing with him by her side, and pride once again welled inside me as I watched her holding on tight to his hand as he dragged her toward us.
“Any news?”
Rocket barely looked at him, clearly still holding grudges from the day before, or at least before things had taken such a dark turn. I cast my eyes around, wondering if Has-Been would show, or any of the other guys I’d seen last night.
“Come on, man. I didn’t mean to be a dick to you.”
Rocket glared at Harley. “This isn’t the time or place. Your President’s in there with his old lady. We don’t have any news, because apparently fucking dogs aren’t allowed in there.”
Caroline giggled, crouching down to hug Nixie, and lift her up. “I could stay out here with her. I don’t… it’ll be too crowded in there anyway.”
I gently tugged the lead out of Rocket’s hand and patted it. “We’ve got this, dude. Go be with your biker brothers again.”
“But babe…”
I shook my head, but the damage was done, Caroline’s eyes lighting on mine with excitement. I groaned. Great, now she would be thinking we were doing it. Pity we hadn’t, to be honest. I felt like there was a missed opportunity last night, but for some reason a good meal and a few beers knocked us both right out.
