Chapter 4
Archie kept his right back leg suspended in the air, his whole body shaking.
Swallowing my anger and heartbreak, I avoided his injured limb, cupped his chest and belly carefully in both arms, and lifted him up before brushing past Kelly.
Archie buried his head tightly into my neck, a faint whimper of pain caught in his throat.
"What are you doing? I told you he's just throwing a tantrum!" Kelly scrambled to the door in her slippers, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the frame. "Daniel is going to be furious when he hears about this!"
I didn't give her a single backward glance, carrying Archie down the stairs, laying him flat across the blanket on the backseat, and hitting the gas straight toward the twenty-four-hour emergency veterinary clinic.
The night clinic was quiet, save for the faint rolling sound of IV poles.
The emergency vet took X-rays of Archie.
Twenty minutes later, the doctor clipped two films onto the light box, pointing toward a shadow near the right joint.
"A patellar luxation on the right hind leg, with extensive blunt-force contusions across the surrounding soft tissue."
The vet took off his stethoscope, looking at me with a grim expression.
"This didn't happen from slipping on the floor. It required significant external blunt force, or a heavy collision after being thrown. It's completely expected that he can't bear weight from the pain. If this had been left untreated any longer, the joint capsule likely would have suffered severe effusion and necrosis."
Staring at Archie's leg, which couldn't straighten on the examination table, I pulled out my phone and dialed Daniel.
The call was answered after just one ring.
"Nora, haven't you caused enough trouble? Kelly just called me in tears, saying you barged into her apartment, screamed at her, and snatched the dog away by force—"
"Archie's right leg is injured." I cut him off, doing everything I could to steady the tremor in my voice. "I'm at an emergency veterinary clinic downtown. The doctor says it took severe blunt force. Get over here right now, and bring Kelly with you."
The other end fell dead silent for several seconds.
"...Is it bad? How could he possibly be hurt?" Daniel's tone shifted. "How could Kelly ever hurt him?"
"Come see for yourselves." I hung up.
Half an hour later, the clinic's glass doors swung open.
Daniel strode in first, with Kelly trailing behind.
The moment Kelly walked through the door, her eyes darted from Archie on the table to the films mounted on the wall, and before I could even speak, her eyes welled with tears.
"Nora, do you really have to do this?" She grabbed Daniel's arm, her voice frantic and brimming with grievance.
"I took my meds early tonight and was getting ready to sleep, but he kept scratching the door outside, making my heart race. I got up to open the door, and he tried to jump onto my bed. My head was pounding so hard that I just raised my hand and gave him a push."
She sniffled, a flicker of indignation surfacing in her eyes.
"How was I supposed to know he was made of glass? He lost his footing and slammed into the wooden shoe cabinet. I only shoved him once, and now you drag him to the emergency room in the middle of the night, making it look like I abused a dog on purpose."
"Pushed him once?" I looked at her. "Archie is a sixty-pound Golden Retriever mix. Unless you kicked him with force or shoved him violently, how could he possibly end up with a dislocated patella?"
Kelly's face paled, and she instantly whipped her head toward Daniel. "Daniel, I already told you it was an accident! Archie wouldn't stop bothering me, and I lost control of my emotions for a second and pushed him away. It was an accident!"
Daniel stood between us, his brow knit into a deep, agonizing knot.
He looked at Archie, who was cowering in the corner of the table, too terrified to lift his head, and then at his weeping sister.
His lips parted, his eyes shifting, before finally settling on me.
"Nora, look… Kelly admitted it was an accident." His voice softened, adopting that usual placating, compromise-seeking tone. "She wasn't in a good headspace, and she slipped up. But he's at the clinic now, and once he's treated, everything will be fine."
I looked at Daniel in silence.
From the moment he stepped in until now, he hadn't shown a single ounce of genuine concern for Archie's condition. All his focus was spent on soothing Kelly's hurt feelings.
The only sound in the examination room was the low hum of medical equipment.
Without sparing another glance at Kelly shrinking behind him, I met Daniel's eyes and asked softly, "She admitted it. Now, what do you plan to do about it?"