"Lewis! I feel so dizzy... I think I'm losing too much blood."
Her eyes fluttered shut, and she collapsed into Lewis's arms.
Lewis glanced at me, then down at the woman draped against his chest.
He chose her. Scooped Yolanda up and strode out without a backward glance.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Lewis?!" Althea screamed after him.
Her hands were shaking as she dialed 911.
By the time the paramedics loaded me onto the stretcher, my vision was swimming. Then everything went black.
...
I woke to the sharp sting of antiseptic.
My hand flew to my stomach before I even opened my eyes.
A nurse's voice came from beside the bed. "Don't worry. The babies are fine. Tough little ones."
The breath I'd been holding rushed out of me. "Thank you," I whispered, my voice raw.
Then something occurred to me. "Is Dr. Pruitt here? At this hospital?"
"Dr. Pruitt?" The nurse smiled. "Frederick Pruitt?"
I nodded.
"He took time off. Word is his girlfriend's pregnant, and he went home to get things ready for the wedding." She let out a wistful sigh. "Years and years, nobody even knew he had a girlfriend. Then out of nowhere we hear she's pregnant and he's planning a wedding. Broke a lot of hearts around here, let me tell you."
I smiled and rested my hand against my belly.
"Make sure you take it easy after discharge," the nurse said, her tone turning serious. "Rest. No more accidents." She gave me a firm look, then turned and walked out.
I pushed the covers aside and got out of bed to handle the paperwork.
It had been days since I'd seen Mochi.
I decided to go pick him up. The divorce would be finalized soon anyway.
But when I got to the pet groomer's, they told me he'd already been collected.
"About half an hour ago. Your husband came for him. You two brought the dog in together before, so when he showed up, I handed him over. Didn't think twice about it."
I thanked them and walked out. My expression had gone cold.
Still, I opened my messages and typed:
Is Mochi with you? I'm coming to get him.
The reply came instantly:
Come over. I'm at our house.
Mochi's bed, his food, his toys were all still at the house.
I could grab everything in one trip.
I hailed a cab and headed straight there.
The front door of the villa stood wide open.
But the moment I stepped inside, I froze.
Mochi's bed was destroyed. Torn apart.
Scraps of blood-matted fur and splintered bone lay scattered across the floor. The blood had pooled and half-dried, catching the morning light in a sickening shade of red.
A small brown head had rolled to one side. His eyes were still open, staring up at the gray sky. Seeing nothing.
I stood there. I couldn't move. I couldn't think.
Time stopped. The only thing that existed was the thick, coppery reek of blood forcing its way into my lungs.
Then a piece of brown fur sailed through the air like a discarded rag, landing at my feet.
A sweet, girlish voice drifted out from inside.
"Stupid mutt. Skinning it was harder than I thought."
Yolanda stepped out, her hands slick with blood. She waved them in front of me, casual, almost playful.
My eyes flooded red.
"You killed Mochi?"
"Yep." She didn't even flinch. There was a note of pride in her voice. "He bit me. What did he expect? Besides, Lewis said I could. He knows I'm studying veterinary medicine, and my dissection skills need work. So he let me practice on it."
Practice.
The word drove into my chest like a poisoned needle.
I snatched a wooden stick off the ground and swung it at her, my vision blurred with rage. "Yolanda! I'll kill you!"
The stick never reached her. A large hand caught it mid-swing.
"Letitia. Are you done?"
Lewis's voice was cold as ice.
I looked at him. The hand gripping the stick trembled.
"Lewis, you let her kill Mochi? Are you even human? Do you have a heart at all? How could you do that to him?"
Lewis swept his gaze over the wreckage on the floor. Something flickered in his eyes—a flash of pain, gone almost instantly, buried beneath that familiar cold mask.
"It was just a dog."
Just a dog.
A dog.
My hand shot out, pointing at the remains scattered across the floor, my voice trembling. "She was with us for fourteen years! Fourteen years, Lewis! And you call her just a dog?"
A sharp sting lanced through Lewis's chest.
His jaw tightened. "I'll buy you another one. Identical."
I laughed. The sound that came out of me was hollow, broken, and my eyes were burning red.
"Don't bother. Even if it looked exactly the same... it wouldn't be her."
I turned around. Slowly, I crouched down and began piecing Mochi's scattered body back together, fragment by fragment.
When my fingertips touched that tiny head, the tears fell without warning.
I slipped off my coat and wrapped her up with all the care I had left, cradling the bundle against my chest.
"Come on, Mochi. Mama's taking you home. We're never coming back."
Lewis watched my retreating figure until it disappeared. His heart clenched, one stab after another, beyond his control.
