When it's Not Right

Chapter 14

Cory stopped off at the animal shelter and dropped off Tank. Cindy had called first thing this morning that they had a new litter of puppies and wanted Tank to foster them if she hit it off with them. Considering how fast Tank had bounded to the front doors of the shelter, and the happy wiggling she did as Cindy lavished attention on her, Cory was pretty certain he was going to have an extra six puppies at the house by tomorrow. That was good, because the place had been too quiet since the latest four had adopted out a couple weeks ago.

        Cindy waved and started turning Tank inside, laughing over her shoulder that Penny was sitting prettily, waiting by the front passenger door of the jeep for Cory to open it for her. Now that Tank wasn't in the back seat to sit with, Penny got to sit in the front. Cory let her in, scrubbed her ears the way she liked once her harness was clicked into the seatbelt modification, and waved at Cindy as he closed the jeep door and went back around to the driver's side.

        He had a couple errands to run, his two-week checkup with Doc Vern, then dinner with Jay and Lou. Jay had promised to show him how to barbeque to perfection like she made look so easy, and Lou wanted proof that he'd figured out roasting vegetables properly. Tony couldn't make it over to the apartment as it was his turn for dinner shift at The Brew, but Cory had promised him leftovers as he also didn't believe that Cory had finally started learning how to cook things that were edible to the masses and not just Cory and Rick's military trained pallets.

        Penny stuck to his side through Bowler's, proudly carrying the few groceries he put into the pockets on her service dog harness and sitting still for the two small kids that asked to pet her. Jay wasn't working on the floor today, so after groceries it was a short drive over to The Brew to drop off the package Jenny and Austin had sent up for Lou and Tony – mostly brightly colored kid-made crafts if the package Cory had gotten was any indication. He was still early for the appointment with Doc Vern, so called Austin from the parking lot at the hospital to let him know the gifts were delivered to Lou and Tony and then shoot the shit for ten minutes. Jenny and Austin's oldest son, John, took up most of the call with bragging about how much he was going to learn during the coming school year now that he was older, wiser, and starting Grade 1, and Cory hung up with a smile on his face when it was time to go in for his appointment.

        The hospital didn't bug him much now, especially with Penny tucked up close enough that he brushed her with his leg on every step. Actually, a lot of things didn't bug him much with Penny around, which meant he'd likely qualify to keep a service dog forever and – with Tank fostering pups from the shelter – he'd likely even be able to rescue a puppy for his next dog and maybe take on a new foster-mom bitch so he could keep helping out with the puppies. With luck, that wouldn't be a concern for quite a few more years, he thought, scratching at Penny's ears as they waited to be called back for the appointment.

        Doc Vern was his usual, likeable self. He was a meek frame of totally unremarkable physical features that were wrapped in tidy layers of casually professional clothing, capped by a studious nature and deep curiosity that were tempered by intelligence, humor, and a deep empathy. Cory had felt comfortable around him within a few minutes of meeting him, mostly because Doc Vern had admitted in the first five minutes of the first appointment that he wasn't qualified in dealing with the traumas Cory had been through, and then promised to research whatever he needed to as things came up. He'd done a lot of research in the past couple years and was damn good at helping now. Aside from that, Cory liked him.

        As expected, the conversation wrapped around to Jay and how the relationship was going. She'd come in twice for joint sessions, mostly to see how she was dealing with dating someone who was this fucked up, and Doc Vern had been surprised at just how great she handled the ups and downs. The surprise hadn't lasted long once he got a bit of her back story, but the conversations during those sessions had been positive and Doc Vern had supported what he called a 'good pairing of two people looking for a safe relationship to relearn trust'. Since those sessions, Doc Vern would ask how the relationship was progressing and probably reviewed all of Cory's responses to look for problems. Lately, the problem that Doc Vern seemed to see was that the relationship wasn't progressing; and today that was a big focus during the hour because – per Doc Vern – people usually wanted things to change and grow, especially in typical romantic relationships. For the first time, Doc Vern brought up the possibility of kids and family; topics that Cory already knew weren't something Jay could do because of a tubal pregnancy, rupture, and following infection, but Doc Vern didn't know that about Jay and it seemed rude to disclose so Cory just said he didn't know but he'd talk to her.