“Ms. Fowl—Emily?” a familiar voice cut through my sadness. “Are you okay, Emily?”
“Huh?” I said, looking up to find Blake Gaston standing in front of me holding a cup of coffee, a white bag with the word Patisserie on the side, and my cell phone. I looked at the offerings and then back up at him. “Where did you find that? What are you doing here?”
“I saw it on the table and grabbed it before the guys sprayed the room. I don’t know if it works. Mostly I wanted to check on you and see how Howard is doing,” he said, continuing to hold the food and drink out. “I didn’t think you’d have gotten breakfast.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking the cup and the bag from him.
“Mind if I sit down?” he asked, looking around the waiting room.
“No, please, have a seat,” I said, as I set the coffee down and opened the bag. Inside were a large chocolate éclair and two glazed donuts. I took a donut and offered the bag to him after he’d sat down next to me.
“No, I’m good,” he said, shaking his head. Thinking he was just being polite, I held the bag out until he sheepishly admitted, “Actually, I ate three of those suckers on the way over, and I’m a little full now.”
I laughed as I bit into the sugar-covered circle of fried dough and chewed thoughtfully.
“How’s Howard doing?” he asked, as he avoided my gaze.
“Good,” I said with a mouthful of donut. I picked up the coffee and drank before speaking again. “The techs are with him now, and they said the doctor will come out as soon as she’s examined him.”
“How are you doing?” he asked, looking over at me. I swallowed hard and looked away.
“Oh, I’m fine,” I said, trying to keep my tone light as the reality of the situation began to settle in. I inhaled sharply and looked down as I fought back tears. I set the coffee cup down as he spoke again.
“Seriously, how are you doing?” he asked, as he slid an arm around the back of my chair and leaned in closer. “You don’t have to fake it with me. I was there. I saw your house.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I whispered, as I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around my waist and choking back a sob. The bag of pastries fell off my lap, and a donut rolled across the floor. Blake reached out and grabbed it before kneeling down in front of me.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he reassured me, as he rested a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all going to be all right.”
“You don’t know that!” I cried. “My cat is hurt, and I just lost my home! And on Christmas!”
Blake wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me close as he rubbed my back and repeated over and over that everything was going to be okay. I remained tense and closed off as he rocked me slowly and murmured reassurances. Slowly, I relaxed into his embrace, and after a few minutes, I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder as he held me.
“Ms. Fowler?” the tech called from the door. “You can come see your boy now.”
“He’s alive?” I asked thro
ugh tears, as I lifted my face from Blake’s shoulder.
“Oh goodness, yes!” the tech laughed. “He’s a little singed in places, and he inhaled a good deal of smoke, so his voice is a little ragged, but he’s mad as hell, and I’m pretty sure he wants to see his person.”
“That’s Howard,” I said, nodding as I wiped the tears from my face and took a deep breath. Blake stood up and offered me a hand.
“I’ll just wait out here,” he said. I nodded and followed the tech to the back of the clinic, where Howard sat inside a large wall cage staring angrily at the wall and growling anytime someone walked by.
“Hey you, why are you so mad?” I asked quietly. At the sound of my voice, Howard whipped his head around and began mewing pathetically. That set off another wave of tears, as the tech unlatched the door to the cage and let me reach in and pick my scared cat up and hold him in my arms. Much like I’d done with Blake, Howard rested his head on my shoulder and mewed softly as I held him to my chest whispering, “You scared the hell out of me, fat man! Why didn’t you come when I called?”
The doctor came over and gave me the rundown on Howard’s condition, telling me that it was probably best if he stayed in the clinic overnight so that they could monitor the effects of the smoke he’d inhaled. If all of the readings were normal by tomorrow morning, I could take him home with me. I nodded and thanked her as the tech came over to administer Howard’s medications. He protested weakly as I put him back in the cage, but the tech gave him a pain shot, and soon he was asleep.
Back out in the waiting area, Blake sat thumbing through an old copy of Sports Illustrated. He gave me a questioning look, and I nodded.
“Okay, good, he’s going to be all right,” he said, as I sat down next to him. “Do you have someplace to go? Family? Friends? I’m happy to drop you off.”
“I…I…I don’t know where I’m going to go,” I said quietly, before I began crying again. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s all good,” he said, draping an arm around my shoulder. “Why don’t I take you back to my house and you can get a shower and something to eat, then we’ll figure out what to do next?”
“Are you sure?” I asked tearfully.