I breathe softly with one hand over my mouth, afraid to disturb Max’s rest in some way. There are tubes attached to his little body, stabbing into his fur and through his flesh. It looks wrong.

But at least he's alive. At least he's not having seizures anymore. At least he's breathing regularly.

“Everything went well,” the vet says. “But we’ll have to keep him here for now. He’ll need constant monitoring.”

“So he's going to make it?” I look at Sarah in the eyes and hope for a sign of good news.

“I don't want to say he's definitely, one-hundred-percent going to fully recover. I can't really say much right now. We’ll see how he does tomorrow.”

“Oh.” My gaze falls back to Max. I study the pattern of the black, white, and brown fur on his body. I try to remember the way he looks now, as a living, breathing creature. I'm afraid I’ll never see him alive again.

“I know you're worried. But you should go home and rest now. It's been a long night. Save some of your energy for tomorrow. Okay?”

I take a deep breath. I know Sarah is right; I should go home. “Okay,” I say, “call me tomorrow as soon as you have news.”

“I will. Promise.” She smiles as she rubs my arm, then she walks out of the room to let me have some private time with Max. I lightly rub his head and let teardrops fall down my cheeks.

I gently touch Max’s head. The fur feels soft and warm, just like it always has. He must be fine. How can his fur still be so beautiful if he's not fine?

Maybe I’ll get that phone call tomorrow and it’ll be good news after all.

I wipe the tears on my chin with my hand and get a tissue from my bag to blow my nose.

“See you later, Max. Be a good boy and get well for me, okay?” I smile wryly as I pet Max’s head one last time and finally drag myself away.

On the drive home, I mentally make a to-do list for tomorrow. I need to keep myself busy. There’s no use worrying about Max. It’s not like my worry is going to help him recover.

First thing in the morning, the cops are coming. The person at the station who picked up my call said they didn't have anybody who could do it tonight because there weren't enough people on the night shift, but they’d send someone as soon as possible.

If there is some poisoned food in the backyard, then the cops will find it tomorrow. I didn't need Jacob to do it.

I want to find whoever did this, but I couldn't have abandoned Max. Finding the guy could wait, but Max didn't have any time to waste.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I made the right call. Which only makes me angrier at Jacob.

If I had waited for Jacob, Max could've died before we even reached the hospital. Now he has a fighting chance.

Yes, I definitely made the right call.

Jacob never even came to meet me at the clinic, even though I could've used some emotional support. It was only hours later that I got a text from him, asking me where I was.

That reminds me, I haven't checked if he has replied to my texts.

Jesus, I still can't believe he actually went after Steve and Caine. That idiot. Why couldn't he believe me? It’s so infuriating.

At least the fact that he could send me text messages probably means he's alive and hasn't been arrested. I was worried he’d hurt someone—by whom I mean Steve—or get himself hurt in a fight with either Caine’s men or the police.

God, I hope he didn't do anything rash. I’d be mortified if he made wild accusations and crazy threats at them, or if he told them to leave me alone because I belonged to him.

I mean, that line works really well as dirty talk, but not so much as part of normal conversation.

I check my phone when I stop at a traffic light.

Jacob: Sorry

Jacob: No can do

Jacob: I’ll wait at your home

Jacob: It's not safe for you to be alone here

Here? As in, at my home? What gives him the right to be there when I explicitly told him he's no longer welcome?

I'm so not in the mood to see Jacob. I'm exhausted and I need some rest.

Sure, I can probably ignore him and avoid a fight tonight. But what about the tense atmosphere? I'm sure I’ll be able to feel the fight even if we didn’t say a word to each other.

And what about tomorrow? Besides the myriad of tasks I’ll need to do and Max’s condition to worry about, I’ll also have to deal with Jacob? I don't think I’ll even be able to sleep when I know for sure tomorrow’s going to be shit.

If I can't go home, though, where could I go?

I guess I can stay at a hotel, but that would cost me some money. If it turns out that someone's really after me, even if he’s not related to Stan, then I’ll have to move soon. I’ll need a sizeable chunk of savings to survive, if I were to lose the income from teaching.

Besides, I’ve been frugal all my life. The thought of wasting money on a hotel room, when I already have a perfectly nice bedroom at home, offends me on a basic level.

Where can I sleep for free without having to resort to a park bench, though?

Wait. I know the perfect place. It's clean, it's free, and it has everything I need. It's perfect. Besides, I need to go there tomorrow anyway to let the oven repairman in. I'm sure Bertha won't mind.

My car grinds to a halt, a few houses down the street from mine. As I turn off the ignition, I wonder if Jacob can hear and recognize the sound of my car engine.

I try to be quiet as I open and close the car door. I try to walk slowly and quietly. It's silly, considering Jacob probably has the TV on and he doesn't have the hearing range of Superman.

I lift the welcome mat by Bertha's front door and take out the spare key. Just as I stick it into the keyhole, someone grabs me from behind, immobilizing my arms.

Initially, I think it's Jacob because, let’s face it, he has a taste for roughly restraining me. As soon as the hold tightens painfully, I realize it can't possibly be him. It's all wrong. This body is softer, a lot smaller. I start to panic.

Hands wrap over my nose and mouth. I try to scream, but it comes out muted. A few grains of something enter my nostrils as I struggle to breathe.

The hands over my face are small. A woman’s hands?

Before I can come to a conclusion, I lose control over my body and everything goes dark.