“Same to you,” I mumble under my breath. “Same to you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alison
I have to blink to make sure I’m seeing what I’m seeing. It is. It’s Ben Schilling, and he’s in my neighborhood. Weird. I’ve never seen him here before. He’s standing in line at Mike’s Pizza, one of my favorite fast-food places in the city. My first instinct is to turn and go the other way, but after talking to him in his office today, I feel like I need to say hello at the very least.
Moving closer, I can see he’s chatting with a young woman in line.
Maybe I shouldn’t bother him. Perhaps he’s on a date. When he turns and faces forward as the line moves, I decide he’s alone. At least I hope so.
“Ben,” I say a little louder than my regular voice. Luckily, he hears me.
“Alison.” Ben smiles brightly, and a warmth hits me smack-dab in the chest.
When I get about a foot from him, I pause before speaking to make sure I’m not interrupting a date or something. I peek at the woman behind him, making sure she’s not going to be angry. She’s on her phone, oblivious to me, so I say, “I’m surprised to see you in LIC.”
I don’t hear a response because for some insane reason, Ben grabs me and pulls me into him. His arms are wrapped so tightly around me that I can’t even move my own as he drags me back about three feet. I struggle to get free as I spit, “Ben. What are you doing? Let me go.” I was right about him. He’s all nice and normal at work, but the second I see him outside of the place, he’s a lech and a creep. I’m so angry I want to punch him in the other eye. When I feel myself falling forward, I squeeze my eyes shut, anticipating the impact with the ground all while I scream, “Ben! Stop!”
I feel us hit the ground hard. Hard enough that I’m nearly jostled free from the man’s grip but not quite. I’m able to raise my knee a little bit, but not enough to jam it into his groin. Too bad. I’d like nothing more than to rack this guy.
“Mister… your dog,” says a young voice from somewhere behind me.
“Sky?” Ben releases me, practically pushing me off him.
I roll onto my back and watch him jump up in one go and run. He doesn’t go far before he stops and drops to his knees. A small group has gathered around whatever Ben’s looking at. His back is to me, but I see him hunched down, shaking.
“You were lucky.” I look up and into the eyes of an older man.
“Lucky?” I scoff because it’s laughable. I’m lucky I got grabbed on the street again? And by the same guy, no less?
“You were about to get run over by that asshole on his bike.”
I blink a few times. “A bike?”
The woman who was behind Ben steps over to me. “Yeah. Some jerk on his bike jumped the curb. He was heading right for you.”
“He was?”
“Yeah, that guy saved you.” She turns to look at Ben, then back at me. She’s sniffling. “His little dog got hit.”
“He has a dog?” I don’t wait for an answer, just roll onto my knees and push myself up. I step toward Ben as he leans forward, arms out, like he’s scooping something up. Then he’s up onto one knee. He pushes up to his feet, and that’s when I see he does, in fact, have something in his arms. “Ben?”
I guess he doesn’t hear me because he begins to move away from me, down the street. I watch as he picks up his pace. When he jumps in front of a taxi, I freeze. “Is he trying to kill himself?”
Ben runs around the car and wrenches the door open. When he slides inside, I can see him talking to the driver.
I’m not sure where she came from, but a woman steps up to me and says, “I told him about the emergency vet place over on Crescent Street.”
“Okay.” I nod. Without giving it another thought, I raise my arm and hail the first taxi I see. Jumping into the back, I say, “Veterinarian on Crescent.”
“You got a name?”
Weird question. “Alison.”
The guy laughs. “No, woman. The name of the vet’s office.”
“Oh?” Duh. “Let me check.” I grab my phone as he pulls away from the curb. Doing a quick search of veterinarians nearby, I find it. “Ingram Animal Hospital.”
“Oh, right. I know the place. I took my mom’s cat there once. Poor thing…”
I hear him talking up front, but I’m not listening. My mind is on what just happened. Ben, his arms, the bicycle….
The guy drives like a bat out of hell, but we’re in front of the animal hospital in fifteen minutes. After paying with my card, I slide out of the vehicle and make my way inside.
Chapter Seventeen
Ben
“Sky,” I whisper in her ear. I’m not sure she can even hear me. Her eyes are open, but she’s panting and whimpering so much I don’t think she even knows I’m here. “Baby girl.” A tear slides down my cheek. She’s not moving except for the panting she’s doing.
I didn’t see it happen, but one of the other people at the scene said the bike hit her on her side and she flew into the air about six feet. When she landed, she didn’t move. The thought makes me cry harder. “Sweet angel,” I whisper. “I love you so much, Sky. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” And it’s true. She is. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” I was so busy trying to keep Alison from getting hit that I totally forgot Sky was on her leash standing next to me. “How could I forget you were right in the line of fire?”
A sob hits me and I can’t—no, I won’t stop it. She means everything to me.
“We’re here, man.”
I can’t figure out how to get my wallet out because I’ve got Sky in both my arms. I’m afraid to move her too much because something is definitely making it impossible for her to move.
I make eye contact with the driver in his rearview mirror. “Hang on. Let me take her in and I’ll come back to pay you.”
“Nah, man. Just get her in there. I got you.”
“No—”
“I’ve got a dog. I get it. Now go.”
“Right.” I look at the door handle and then back up at the guy. He jumps out of his cab and opens my door enough for me to slip out. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
He smiled, then looks down at Sky. “Just get her in there.”
I jog up to the door, which opens for me automatically. Inside the door, I look left, then right and spot a reception desk. “Hey!” I say loudly. “We need help!” I’m frantic now that I’m finally here. “Please.”
A man behind the desk snaps, “Sir….” Then he gets one look at Sky and me and his tune changes. “Right back here.” He stands and points to his left. I follow him down a short hallway to a small room with an exam table. “What’s your dog’s name?” he asks as he takes something from a drawer. I watch as he unfolds a paper cover and spreads it over the table.
I clear my throat because it’s dry and I don’t think I can speak if I don’t. “Sky. Her name is Sky.”