My tears fell onto Buddy’s soft fur, and I could see the worry in his eyes, glistening with moisture as well.
He nudged my palm again, as if pleading for me to find some happiness.
I didn’t want Buddy to share in my sadness. After squeezing him one more time, I reluctantly returned him to his little bed.
The pain in my body persisted, even after taking painkillers, and I tossed and turned until I finally succumbed to a restless sleep.
In my dreams, I was seventeen again, reliving a nightmare. Alexander’s gambling-addicted father, fueled by anger and alcohol, lunged at him with a knife. As I watched the blade glint ominously in the dim light, fear gripped me, but my instinct to protect Alexander overwhelmed it. Without thinking, I jumped in front of him.
The knife cut my left shoulder, and Alexander went wild, unleashing his fury on his father. My injury wasn’t severe, but the normally wild and fearless boy collapsed into my arms, sobbing like a child.
“Don’t ever do something so reckless again,” he begged, his voice breaking. “I can’t lose you. Without you, life means nothing.”
At eighteen, I believed Alexander loved me deeply.
But now, at twenty-eight, he was willing to hurt me for someone else.
He used to fear for my safety, but now, when I told him I was dying, he looked at me with annoyance, as if my suffering was an inconvenience.
I jolted awake, clutching my aching chest.
The scent of Chelsea’s perfume hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. I couldn’t take it anymore; I needed fresh air.
As I stepped outside, horror seized me. There was Chelsea, kicking my loyal Buddy down the stairs from the second floor!
“Buddy!”
Panic surged through me. Even though I was barely steady on my feet, I stumbled down the stairs to the living room. I took the last few steps in a tumble, landing hard.
And there he was—my Buddy—curled up in a pool of blood, his golden fur soaked and matted. He looked up at me with a sorrowful gaze, tears glistening in his eyes, and then he lay still, unable to close them for the last time.
He’d never hurt anyone. Just sitting quietly in the hallway, he didn’t deserve this brutal fate.
“B-Buddy, wake up! Please, just wake up!”
Ignoring the blood covering him, I cradled Buddy in my arms, begging him to come back to me. But he was gone—his breath no longer there, his eyes forever closed.