Hero of Mine

by Codi Gary

  “No, he’s too high energy, and it would be a waste. The dog is fast as hell, and I guarantee with the right training, I can have him taking down men like a hundred-pound rottie.”

  “Meanwhile, where are two of these dogs going to go?” Sparks asked.

  “Apollo and Zeus are ready for training, so I’ll graduate them from basic. The kids working with them can take over these new ones.”

  “So, does that mean you’re going to be taking Apollo and Zeus home with you?” Dean grinned evilly. “Casey misses Apollo so much. I think he’s actually convinced Violet he needs a dog, but if I tell him you’ve got Apollo at home, he might forget about it for a while and just start showing up at your place.”

  Casey was a graduate of the Alpha Dog Training Program and was Sparks’s girlfriend’s little brother. Tyler liked Casey, and the kid liked him. His sister Violet wasn’t Tyler’s biggest fan, probably because he’d slept with her best friend and never called her again. That tended to make women think he was a jerk, but he wasn’t out to hurt anyone. He just liked having fun.

  “You tell him he’s welcome anytime, just text me first in case I have . . . company.”

  Dean rolled his eyes at the innuendo. “Get the hell out of my office, player. You’ve got a date at the pediatric wing this afternoon.”

  Tyler left the office and headed back toward where Apollo and Zeus were held. Most of the trainers took turns visiting local hospitals and nursing homes. It gave the dogs excellent exposure and usually brightened the patients’ spirits.

  Tyler liked visiting the kids, but there was another patient he usually swung in to check in on. Henry Coleson was a sixty-four-year-old Marine with no family or friends to speak of. They had met by chance, and Tyler had started visiting him whenever he could. Henry’s body was riddled with cancer, and although he could be a pissy son of a bitch, he never turned Tyler away when he visited.

  Tyler passed by one of the moms being led out by a trainer and nodded at her with a smile. “Ma’am.”

  She returned his smile, and Tyler started whistling, feeling good. It didn’t matter if they were young or old, women liked Tyler, always had. Only a handful had ever shot him down or stood immune to his charms. One of them had been Dani.

  Which is good for you because not only is she a single mom, she obviously has some issues.

  It was true; she’d been angry, defensive, and rude. In other words, drama. And he definitely didn’t need any of that.

  You’re better off sticking to the lonely and uncomplicated.

  DANI STOOD IN her kitchen making coffee, her eyes burning with fatigue. The whole weekend had been a disaster. It was bad enough that she’d picked Noah up on Thursday with the bump on his forehead, but after trying and failing to get in with his pediatrician, they’d ended up at the urgent care clinic. The doctor there had assured her Noah would be fine, but she’d overheard the nurses saying that one of the other little boys in the waiting room had been dehydrated from throwing up for days. Dani had prayed hard that Noah wouldn’t get it, but sure enough, Noah had spent most of yesterday throwing up, and she had hardly been able to sleep, worried he’d start up again. She’d slept on the couch, with Bella lying across her feet snoring. She loved the fat pug, really, but her loud snores hadn’t helped Dani’s insomnia.

  The coffee dripped slowly, and Dani tapped her foot impatiently. She’d called in sick for tonight, just to be on the safe side, and her boss had been understanding. It was the first time Noah had ever experienced the stomach flu, and watching his tiny body convulse and retch had been heartbreaking.

  Finally, the pot filled up, and Dani pulled down one of the mismatched mugs from the cupboard. The rich aroma made her mouth water as she started to pour.

  The soft sound of Noah’s feet on the carpet, followed by the trampling of Shasta, their shepherd mix, made Dani put down the coffeepot reluctantly. She turned with a smile, her heart swelling as her son stumbled down the hallway, his brown curls mussed from sleep. Although he still slept in his crib, he had started to be able to climb out. Shasta padded along beside him, pushing her nose into his hand for head pats, but the little boy ignored her, surprisingly. She had brought the dog home the same time she’d found out she was pregnant with Noah, and from the moment he was born, Shasta had attached herself to him, and he adored her. He still must feel pretty crummy if even her demand for affection couldn’t make him smile.

  “Hey, buddy, you feeling any better?”

  Noah shook his head as he climbed up onto the couch next to Bella, who still snored loudly.

  “Do you want me to get you some crackers or something?”

  Noah didn’t answer. Dani went to grab the saltines anyway and heard the unmistakable sound of Noah throwing up. She flipped on the light as she rushed to Noah’s side. There was a large puddle of dark vomit on the floor, and Dani stared at it for a moment, puzzled. Noah hadn’t had anything to eat in over twenty-four hours except a little chicken broth last night. Why was his vomit so dark?

  And then she saw the reddish brown tinge and what looked like . . . What was that congealed junk? Dani glanced up into Noah’s pale face, saw the burnished smears in the corner of his mouth and chin, and knew.

  Blood. Her son was puking blood.

  Dani ran to grab her purse from the kitchen and her hard-soled slippers from the bedroom, panic propelling her like a whirlwind. Finally, she scooped a crying Noah up in her arms and raced out the door.

  “It’s okay, baby. Mama’s got you. We’re just going to the doctor.”

  Noah sobbed into the crook of her neck as she threw open her car door. Buckling Noah into his car seat, she kissed his cheeks and forehead before closing the door.

  When she turned the key in the ignition, there wasn’t even a click.

  “No, this cannot be happening.” She tried again, begging and pleading with her car, but still, nothing happened.

  Noah started gagging again, and Dani grabbed her phone from her purse. As she dialed her parents’ home, she turned in time to watch Noah cover the whole front of his pajamas and seat with blood.

  Ending the call, she dialed 911 instead. “Hang on, baby. We’re going to take a ride in a spaceship.”

  Chapter Four

  HENRY COLESON GLOWERED at Tyler as he held out the spoon of Jell-O to him.

  “I’m not a fucking child. So why the hell are you trying to feed me like one, dipshit?”

  “Because the nurse said you won’t eat and I should try to convince your stubborn behind to take a bite.” Tyler had limited patience for most people, but Henry was different. The battle-scarred Marine had seen a tour in Nam and Desert Storm, served his country forty-five years, and, six months after retirement, found out he had stage four prostate cancer. They’d taken his prostate but found the cancer had already spread to his liver and lungs. He’d gone through chemo and even a few experimental trials, but nothing had worked. He’d finally said enough.

  Henry took a few deep, labored breaths, the tubes in his nose fogging. “I’m trying to starve myself, you dumb fuck. Why won’t you just let me die?”

  “I get that, but here’s the thing. I’m not ready to let you bite it yet. I still need you around.”

  “For what? The only shit I was ever good at was being stupid and screwing. And you don’t got a problem with either of those things.” Henry’s laughter turned into a hoarse round of coughing that ended in a few painful wheezes.

  “Shouldn’t crack yourself up like that. Karma’s a bitch.”

  “Fuck you,” Henry said weakly.

  “See, if you can still cuss me out, I know you aren’t ready to die yet.”

  “Tyler . . . ” Henry’s voice was hoarse, and Tyler met his foggy gray eyes.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “You . . . need to get yourself a life.”

  Tyler took a piece of the roast beef off Henry’s plate and fed it to Apollo, who sat next to his chair at attention. He was a young dog, but he and his brother, Zeus, wer
e going to make wonderful therapy dogs. Tyler enjoyed bringing them by the children’s wing of the hospital and watching the kids’ faces light up. He was going to miss them when they graduated from the therapy program and became someone’s sidekicks.

  “I have a life. I have my place, my job, training the dogs. I even rescued a dog last week—”

  “I’m talking about something you can leave behind. Someone who will be there for you when you’re an angry old bastard being eaten up with cancer. Who cares if you live or die and cries at your funeral.”

  “I care, Henry. And I promise to pour a shot of whiskey on your grave when you go,” Tyler said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Are you deliberately missing the point? You’re young now, but eventually you’re going to wake up and realize you spent your whole life serving your country and you have nothing to show for it except a broken dick and a lot of bad memories.”

  Tyler patted the older man’s shoulder. “I’ll get married, eventually. Don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned with Nurse Hatchet coming back and seeing that you didn’t touch your food. She looked like the type that would strap you to the bed and force-feed you.”

  “Just let me be, kid.” Tyler had never heard Henry so dejected, and for the first time, he realized that Henry meant it. He wasn’t just being a martyr to start an argument.

  He was done fighting.

  The doctors had given him six months a year ago, but he’d proved them wrong. He’d been beating the odds for a while.

  Tyler set the Jell-O on the tray and, unsure of how Henry would respond, took his friend’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Okay.”

  “Don’t you got some kids to entertain?” Henry didn’t shake him off or call him a pussy, like he would have a few weeks ago. It made the grief squeezing Tyler’s chest hurt worse.

  “I’ll get to them soon. Right now, I figured I’d talk you to sleep.”

  “What else is new? You can’t tell a decent story to save your life. You should try something with bloodshed, intrigue, adventure, forbidden love—”

  Tyler scoffed. “When have you ever told a story about forbidden love?”

  “That girl I met when I got back from Operation Desert Storm.”

  “What girl? You mean the hooker?”

  Henry’s face turned beet red. “She was not a hooker; she was an exotic dancer.”

  “Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but if they accept money and actually let you touch them, they’re no longer just a stripper.”

  Henry mumbled something under his breath, and Tyler chuckled. “Usually you deliver your insults at a roar.”

  “At least I found someone to love. Not everyone does, and some of us don’t have all the time in the world, you know.”

  It was far too true, and Tyler stared at Henry, the silence between them thick enough to cut with a knife.

  Tyler didn’t like to talk about the day he got shot, but with Henry . . . Well, he felt like the old guy could empathize. Besides, he’d heard all his battle stories. Might as well share his before Henry was gone.

  “Did I ever tell you about when I got shot?”

  Henry opened both of his eyes and sat up a bit. “No, haven’t heard that one.”

  “Wanna hear it now?”

  Henry nodded. “Sure, kid.”

  Tyler started talking, staring at the wall as he remembered. “I was patrolling with my dog, Rex. He was this big German shepherd, about ninety pounds and smart as hell. We were just walking, and then there was this slicing pain. There were bullets flying everywhere; it took me a second to even realize Rex wasn’t moving. I radioed for help and just kept holding Rex as I waited. And then when I was in the hospital, my friend brought me a plastic container full of ashes and told me they belonged to Rex. That they’d burned him and thought I’d want to take him home with me. Corny, right? But I did, even bought an engraved urn and everything. It sits up on the shelf in my room.”

  Henry’s gaze was heavy, belying his lighthearted insult. “You’re still a crap storyteller.”

  “I know.” He gave his friend a little salute as he stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  Henry didn’t respond, just stared at him for a few seconds. Finally, he returned the salute. “Thank you for making my time here not so shitty.”

  Tyler hated how much the words sounded like good-bye.

  SEVERAL HOURS LATER, Dani stood in the hallway of Mercy San Juan Hospital, outside of Noah’s room, talking to his doctor. After X-rays, blood tests, and a mountain of tears from both Noah and Dani, Dr. Barrick finally had answers.

  “We believe that Noah got a tear in his esophagus while vomiting yesterday, and it bled into his stomach. At this point, we don’t think we’ll have to repair it surgically, as these tears usually heal on their own. However, we’d like to keep him a day or so for observation.”

  Despite the doctor’s almost casual, no-big-deal tone, Dani still had a lump of panic lodged in her throat. “Is there anything I need to watch for?”

  “Other than if the vomiting continues, no. He’s being monitored by the machines and getting fluids. You might want to grab a couple of things from home to make him more comfortable, but otherwise, I assure you, he’s in good hands.”

  “Thank you.” Dani could tell that the doctor was anxious to move on, and she wanted to be back in the room with Noah. She could see her mom sitting next to his bed, giving Dani hand cues and mouthing What’s he saying? while Noah watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, his thumb in his mouth. Dani had been trying to break him of the habit, but today she would let it slide.

  She entered the room, walked straight to the head of Noah’s hospital bed, and began brushing back his curls. He didn’t take his hazel eyes from the screen, but he did reach up with his IV-free hand to hold hers.

  “What did the doctor say?” her mom demanded.

  “That they want to keep him overnight for observation, but he should be fine.” Dani gave her mom a warning look when she opened her mouth again. She didn’t want to discuss what the doctor had said in front of Noah. “Do you mind going to my place and packing a bag for Noah and me? And feed the dogs for me?”

  “Of course I can, but I want to know—”

  “Mom, I’ll tell you a little later, okay?”

  Huffing loudly, her mom finally took the hint. “Fine, just text me. Do you want me to bring you back something to eat?”

  “No, I’ll just grab something from the cafeteria,” Dani said.

  “Well, all right then.” Her mom leaned over and kissed Noah’s hand. “Mapa will be back soon, handsome boy.”

  Noah looked up at Dani, squeezing her hand hard. Reading the panic in her son’s eyes, Dani smiled reassuringly. “I’m staying. Mapa is just going to get some things for us. Is there anything you want her to bring back?”

  “Shasta.”

  Dani laughed. “She can’t bring Shasta back, sweetheart. Anything else?”

  “Pig.”

  Pig was Noah’s favorite stuffed animal. Dani had grabbed it for five bucks at some department store with the purchase of the matching book before Noah was born. He dragged that thing around everywhere, so it was no surprise it was the second thing he picked.

  “All right, I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  Once her mom left the room, Dani let go of Noah’s hand to go around and take the chair her mom had been sitting in. Once she was settled, she reached out to put her hand over Noah’s, trying to let go of some of the fear that had been suffocating her ever since she had seen the blood. The nurses and doctors had been kind to her, even after she’d yelled at the X-ray technician for making Noah stand for another X-ray after he puked again. She had tried to keep it together so Noah wouldn’t see how scared she was, but she had never been very good at holding back her emotions.

  And feeling helpless had only made things worse.

  Suddenly, there was a knock on the open door.

  “Puppy!” Noah cried excitedly.

&n
bsp; Dani glanced toward the door and blinked several times as she recognized Tyler Best from Alpha Dog, holding the leash of a black puppy with large floppy ears.

  “Hey there, sorry to interrupt, but I have someone who wanted to meet you.” Tyler looked away from Noah and seemed to do a double take when his eyes met hers. “Oh, hi.”

  “Hello.” Clearing her throat to get rid of the squeak, she added, “How are you?”

  “Fine, just bringing Apollo by to greet the kids. He’s in training and needs the socialization.”

  Noah was trying to sit up but stopped with a painful grimace, clutching his stomach with a whimper.

  “Noah, honey, are you okay?” Dani stood up, the fear once more clawing up and squeezing her chest.

  “I didn’t mean to upset him,” Tyler said.

  “No, he’s having stomach problems, so I think it just hurts.” Dani knew it wasn’t his fault, yet there was just a thread of irritation in her voice.

  Tyler brought Apollo closer and picked the young dog up. “How about I bring this big guy to you . . . ” Tyler looked up at Dani expectantly.

  “Noah.”

  “Noah, meet Apollo. If you’re very gentle, you can stroke his ears.” Noah reached out cautiously, running his hand down the puppy’s neck. “Doesn’t he just have the softest fur?”

  Noah nodded and started to stretch closer but hesitated. As if sensing her son’s desire, Tyler put the pup on the bed next to Noah gently and said, “Stay.”

  The dog stilled, even when Noah cuddled closer, his hand drifting over Apollo’s head and down his back.

  Dani’s whole body relaxed, warming from the inside out as Apollo turned his head and ran his pink tongue over Noah’s wrist, causing her son to giggle softly. Ashamed that she’d been thinking unkindly of Tyler, she had a hard time meeting his eyes as she commented, “Wow, he’s really well behaved. There is no way my dog would be that still, especially if she was getting love.”