I walked in the front door of my condo from a 12-hour shift at the rehabilitation clinic where I’m a physical therapist. I kicked off my shoes and tossed my purse onto the living room couch as I headed to the kitchen to make myself dinner when I spotted my dog, a 2-year-old black and white King Charles Spaniel, huddled in the corner, hardly moving. I realized now that she hadn’t greeted me at the door as she usually did with her chew toy in her mouth, wanting me to play with her.

“Lexi?” I moved closer and noticed the sad look in her eyes. I picked her up and cradled her against my chest as I moved toward the phone in the living room. I sat down on the couch with her in my lap. “Awww… baby are you sick?” I asked as I flipped through the phone book to find the number to the emergency vet. I called and told my tale and was offered a 6:30 emergency appointment. It was 6:00 now and would only take about ten minutes to get there so I just held Lexi in my arms and tried my best to comfort her. Her breathing and heart-rate were too fast and I decided to go ahead and take her. Nothing wrong with being fifteen minutes early, right?

Once at the vet’s office, I filled out the necessary paperwork and waited to be called back. While waiting, I noticed a woman at the front desk. I couldn’t tell if she was a veterinarian or a vet technician but she was beautiful. Kind of on the short side, about 5’4’’ or so, with mid-length dark blonde hair and delicate facial features… She sure was cute.

I, on the other had, am tall, 5’8’’ to be precise, with long golden blonde hair, and a somewhat tomboyish style. I was still staring at her when another, less attractive girl picked up a file and called out: “Kendra and Lexi?” That was us. I followed the girl to exam room 4 and she took the basic vital statistics. “Temperature is a little high and she’s lost about half a pound since we’ve last seen her. She’s only 4 and a quarter pounds now.” That didn’t sound promising. “Dr. Jenkins will be with you shortly.” I thanked her and she left.

I was really worried now. I had gotten Lexi when I had received my PhD in physical therapy and moved to Atlanta to work at a prestigious rehabilitation clinic. She was my baby.

I was still daydreaming when the door opened and the woman I had admired from behind the desk walked in. “Hi. I’m Dr. Jenkins. This must be Lexi,” she said as she picked Lexi up and cuddled her. “Adorable little thing. What seems to be the problem?” I told her about her lethargic behavior and rapid breathing and heart rate. “Has she been eating normally?” the Dr. asked as she used the stethoscope to listen to Lexi’s lungs.

“I haven’t noticed a difference. She was fine when I left for work this morning,” I explained.

“Well, I don’t hear anything unusual in her lungs but I’m going to take a few x-rays just to be on the safe side.” She took her back and a few minutes later came back with Lexi in her arms. “She’s a wiggler. Wouldn’t stay still for me to get a decent x-ray. Finally had to call a nurse back to hold her for me. That’s definitely a good sign.” She handed Lexi to me and turned towards the door. “I’ll just be