Coffee

Part Sixty-One: Results

We sat for what felt like hours.

Our hearts breaking every second that passed.

Bentley had fallen asleep on Max's lap and Max's hands tremble in his fur.

**Door Opens**

"Helen. Max." Vijay says and we stand up quickly and look at him. Bentley sits between us- awake, but still out of it.

"How is she?! Is she alright?"

"She suffered a pretty bad concussion. There is some swelling and pressure, to combat this- we must keep her head above her heart, push Intravenous Fluids slowly to level out the pressure the best we can. I am not a vet, but monitoring her and keep her blood pressure stable is a good start until you can get her to a vet." Vijay states and we walk in to see her. Vijay has her on an armchair next to the technician, who has her head on his lap to keep it up. "Does this one need checked too.

"He was choked fairly bad. He most likely has a laryngeal trauma." I state as I kneel beside the chair Sophie's on. Her right eye is dilated bigger than her left and the tip of her tail taps on the chair- too weak to fully wag. "Hi, Baby...I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"There's my girl. How's my baby girl doing?" Max quietly and sweetly asks as he gently pets her back.

"Any spinal damage?"

"No. All of her vertebrae's are online properly and there is no internal bleeding." Kapoor informs us and Bentley slowly walks over and sniffs her gently before licking her ear. "I suggest she rests in a nice quiet area."

Nodding, Max scoops her up, putting her head on his shoulder so the length of her goes down his front. I thank Vijay with a hug and we exit- heading towards Max's office. Bentley slowly follows behind us, body slumped and tail dragging on the floor. We get into the elevator and take it down to Max's office. Walking out, Iggy catches us.

"Hey! I heard what happened! Is everyone okay?"

"She has a concussion and Bentley has Laryngeal Trauma." I say sadly and he sighs heavily before focusing on me.

"You have marks on your neck."

"Yes...Akash strangled me. If it wasn't for Bentley, I probably would be dead." Iggy looks down at the golden dog and pets his head gently. Bent's tail wags ever so slight and we walk into Max's office.

"Mentally, how are you doing?" He asks and sigh.

"Good, I guess. Just concerned about my babies." I say.

"I was going to have the test administered today, but I think you proved capable with that incident." His voice is somber and he turns and leaves. Going over to Max, who's sitting with Sophie to keep her head raised, he just gently strokes her fur and whispers softly to her.

"I'm going to grab an IV so we can get her pressure regulated." I say and he looks up at me- is big blue eyes wet and worried. "Max...she's going to be okay."

"I should've been there. Instead I was getting stupid Chemo..."

"Max, no one could have known that would happen. But the dogs did what they could...."

"You could've died and I wouldn't have been around to save you. They could've died..." Beginning to blubber, he can't control himself from getting upset. I sit next to him and turn his face to look at me.

"Max, you can't think like that. You won't always be around to save us..." I realize as I say it, how it sounds.

"You're right..."