Learn To Love Again

Chapter 21

So Malcolm was behind bars. Detective Sterling said I would be called on to testify against him in court, but until then, he was locked away with no chance of getting out any time soon. I felt good knowing that.

It had been two days since the incident. I woke up in the morning feeling a lot better. The pain had subsided and Malcolm was out of the picture.

I made myself some pancakes and a large mug of instant cocoa. When I was done eating, I took my time getting ready for work, especially since I had gotten up about half an hour early.

It was still a bit early when I pulled up at the office, however, the waiting room was already full when I got there. Hilda wasn't there yet so I took up the duty of taking the names and creating an order; I wanted to get started right away so, hopefully, I wouldn't have to skip lunch or stay late.

Hilda came in when I was just finished with my first patient. She took over the paperwork, and, within a few hours, the waiting room was empty.

I took a quick lunch, and by the time I got back, the remaining patients had already been brought in and were waiting in the waiting room.

The first person to come in was a young girl who looked no older than about 16. I hadn't ever seen her before. Surprisingly, she came in alone.

"Hi," I said sweetly. "What's your name?"

"Kimona."

"Where's your pet?" I asked her.

"Actually, I just wanted to talk to you about something," she said shyly.

"Okay." I motioned for her to sit in a chair across from mine. "So what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked when she was seated.

"I have this dog," she started. "Less than a month ago, I couldn't find her for a whole day. The next day, I found her on our verandah with stitches. I have no idea what happened and I've been trying to find out since then. I checked the hospital and the vets in the area and none of them were the one that treated him. I wanted to know if you were."

I tried to remember back. I had stitched so many animals the past month, I couldn't remember a specific one.

"I'm not sure," I told her. "Would you happen to have a picture?"

"Yes." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. After tapping and swiping the screen for a while, she handed it to me. "Here she is."

I took the phone and looked at the picture. It showed the girl hugging a brown terrier under what looked like an almond tree, a big smile plastered across her face. I took a closer look at the dog. She did seem very familiar. However, I couldn't quite tell when and where I'd seen it before.

"I'm still not very sure," I told Kimona. "But I think I've seen her before."

Her face lit up. "Really? If I give you my number, will you let me know if you remember anything?"

"Of course," I said. I handed her a notepad and a pen and she wrote down her number.

"Okay, thank you." She rose from her seat.

"You're welcome."

"Have a nice day," she said on her way to the door.

"Thanks. You too."

She was almost through the door when I stopped her.

"Wait, will you send me that pic when you get the chance, please?" I asked.

"Sure. Of course."

"Okay."

She exited the room and a short while after, my other patient came in.

For the rest of the day, I couldn't keep Kimona and her dog out of my mind. I finished off with the other patients and was soon ready to close up.

Traffic was heavy when I pulled onto the road. However, when I turned onto the upward lane on the highway, there weren't as many vehicles.

I turned off the car's AC and wound down the windows, letting the night breeze envelope me. My mind drifted to what I could remember of the picture Kimona had shown me. I tried to remember all the dogs I had treated in the past month.

I involuntarily slammed on the brakes as a thought crossed my mind. When I realized what I had done, I lifted my foot from the brakes and accelerated forward. I quickly checked my mirrors. Fortunately, there wasn't any vehicle close enough being me to have been affected.

I tried to remember the events of the day Malcolm came into my office. If my memory served me correct, the dog Malcolm had brought in was also a brown terrier! My instincts told me that was more than mere coincidence.

I covered the last few yards to my house and parked in the driveway, then hurried into the house.

After quickly checking around the house, I grabbed my phone, searched for Kimona's number, and called it. She answered on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kimona. It's Doctor Saunders. I want to ask you something. Where on your dog did you find the stitches?"

"Um, it was underneath the right arm, close to the armpit. Why?"

Her words confirmed what I was already thinking.

"I just wanted to know," I told her. "I'll call you back, okay? I think I'm remembering something."

"Okay."

I hung up and a billions thoughts bombarded my mind.

So the dog that Malcolm brought in was not his? How did he come by that dog? And what happened to it?

I didn't want to believe the thought that was floating around in my mind. That Malcolm had purposefully hurt that dog just so he could bring her into my office.

I brushed the thought out of my mind. Maybe Malcolm had seen the dog hurt somewhere. Maybe he was just being a good Samaritan when he had brought it in to me. Maybe he was just being nice.

I scoffed. Yeah, right.

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A/N:

Thanks so much for reading. Let me know what you think.

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★It's Carmen. Love y'all!★