22. Wyatt

I upended the pill bottle over my palm, and a single tablet fell into my hand. My heart sank. I’d known there was only one left, but I’d tried not to think about it. Tried to forget it.

Now I was about to give it to Lily, which meant there was no pretending anymore. We’d reached the end of her antibiotic treatment.

Which meant we’d reached the end of the time Anthony had agreed to let us stay.

Tomorrow…

I closed my eyes and swallowed.

We’d survived six months without a place to live. We’d survive again. Especially since we had some new gear, and Anthony had made sure we could get more if we needed to. The streets were cruel and unforgiving, but we were better situated to face them now. Hopefully.

I wrapped Lily’s pill in one of the Pill Pockets, then tossed it to her. She took it eagerly, and I surveyed our collection of gear, which I still needed to pack. I’d have to do that carefully, making sure it was all as efficiently arranged and easily accessible as I needed it to be. After that, I’d take a good long shower since it would probably be my last decent one for a while, and I’d give Lily a bath. Another load of laundry. Clean my prosthetic and liner extra well.

And then…

Well. We were as ready as we’d ever be, and it was time to go. No way in hell was I overstaying this amazing welcome.

I steeled myself, then headed into the kitchen with Lily at my heels. Anthony was cooking, and whatever it was smelled amazing, but my stomach turned at the thought of eating. As much as I knew I should take advantage of a hot, homecooked meal while it was available to me, I wasn’t so sure I could keep anything down.

Anthony looked up from stirring something in a pan, and he smiled. “Hey. Hungry?”

No. No, I was not. But I forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah. Definitely.” I craned my neck. “What is that, anyway?”

“Nothing fancy.” He gave a quiet, self-conscious laugh as a blush spread to the tips of his ears. “Just some teriyaki chicken with pineapple. It’s a recipe one of my teammates taught me.”

“Smells great.” I leaned against the counter, trying to look way more relaxed than I was. “Can I help with anything?”

“Nah, it’s almost ready.” He glanced at me again. “I could go for some wine with it. How about you?”

“Sure, yeah.”

“Okay. Can you keep an eye on this while I go grab a bottle?”

I took over at the stove while he disappeared into the basement. The food really did smell amazing, and while I was better able to afford food than a lot of people in my situation, I wouldn’t be eating like this again any time soon. My stomach was just going to have to get over its bullshit right now, because I had every intention of enjoying this meal.

I did enjoy it. The food was flavorful and delicious. The relaxed atmosphere of just sitting here at Anthony’s kitchen island, talking about whatever while we ate, was something I’d refused to take for granted the whole time I’d been here, and I savored it now. The wine… I mean, I didn’t know much about what made a good or great wine, but I decided this one was definitely worthy of being the last wine I tasted for the foreseeable future.

It all felt a little like a last meal. Which didn’t do much to make my stomach chill out, but I managed.

After we’d finished and I’d helped him with the dishes, I couldn’t put it off anymore. I pressed my hip against the counter and loosely folded my arms. “So, um.” I cleared my throat. “Lily’s finished with her medicine.”

Anthony straightened, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t look… disappointed? “Oh. That’s… And it helped, right? The infection’s cleared up?”

“Yeah, yeah. It looks great.” I leaned down and patted Lily. “Good as new. So…” I stood again and couldn’t quite look him in the eye. “We can get out of your hair. Thanks again for putting us up, especially for this long.”

“Of course,” he whispered. “I wasn’t going to kick you out while…” He nodded toward her.

“I appreciate it.” I paused, then hazarded, “Speaking of…” I gestured at the sheets of rain sliding down the front windows. “I don’t want to push my luck, but do you mind if I stay here tonight and head out in the morning?”

Without any hesitation, he said, “Sure. Yeah. Of course.” He motioned toward the windows. “I wouldn’t expect you to take off while it’s dark and cold. Especially not in the rain.”

“Thanks,” I whispered. “I’ll, um…” I gestured down the hall. “I should go pack. We’ve, uh…” I managed a smile. “We’ve got a lot more than we started with, so I need to get it all organized.”

Anthony returned the smile, though it seemed sad and uneasy. “Do you need help with any of it?”

“No, no, I’ve got it.” I forced a laugh. “Lily and I are old pros at this.”

He stared at me. Right. Not everybody vibed with the “crack jokes about dark shit” approach to things.

I cleared my throat. “I’ll, uh…” I gestured down the hall again.

“Sure. Okay. I’ll see you in the morning, I guess?”

I nodded. “Yeah. See you in the morning.”

That gave me the out I needed, and Lily and I headed down the hall. Truth was, I didn’t want to be away from Anthony. I loved being around him.

But tomorrow, I was leaving. This would all be over. I needed to get my head around that and brace myself for everything that was waiting for me out there. As much as I wanted to spend every possible minute with Anthony before I left, that was just going to make it harder to leave.

So the sooner I pulled myself away…

I kept telling myself that. Over and over, I lectured myself about it. While I packed all the things he’d helped me acquire, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Even after I’d finished packing, doing laundry, and bathing my dog, my mind stayed on the man who’d taken me in.

When I settled in for my last night of sleep in this house, though, my thoughts shifted away from Anthony. With every passing minute, I was getting closer and closer to returning to life on the street. That old familiar fear started to ball behind my ribs. The constant need for vigilance. The worry that we wouldn’t be able to find another meal. The semi-panicked certainty that if I turned my back on our things, they’d all disappear again. I’d been scared to death of losing our meager possessions the entire time we’d been out there, and then that fear came true. I was going to lose my mind this time.

Lily jumped up on the bed and pawed at me. When I turned to her, she licked my chin.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her. I was so torn about what to do with her now. I needed her. She was the only thing that stood between me and my demons, not to mention the sheer terror of homelessness. There’d been some especially dark periods where she was literally the only thing that kept me going; if not for the need to keep her warm and fed, I’d have just given up. To say this dog had saved my life a hundred times over was no exaggeration.

But she didn’t deserve the life I was giving her. Just the thought of waking up to her shivering against me again had me choking up.

Would it be too much to ask Anthony to take us to the Doberman rescue so I could surrender her? I’d be a mess without her, but she’d be safe and cared for.

I held her a little tighter and wiped my eyes. That was what I’d do. Tomorrow morning, I’d make the call, and if he couldn’t or wouldn’t drive us, I’d use what little money I had to get us an Uber. Something. Somehow, I was taking her someplace where she’d be safe, warm, and fed.

I’d deal with whatever happened to me out there.

But Lily wasn’t spending another night on the streets.