Guiding Emily: A Tale of Love, Loss, and Courage by Barbara Hinske

Author:Barbara Hinske [Hinske, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Casa del Northern Publishing
Published: 2020-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

“We’re going to the dentist today,” Katie said, securing my doggie seat belt. “I’m getting my teeth cleaned.” She ran her hand over my back. “You know how I brush your teeth at bedtime?”

Did I know? Was that when she put that tiny pearl of poultry-flavored paste on a brush and ran it over my teeth? I loved that. I wished she’d forget about the brush and give me more of the paste. It was delicious.

“I brush my teeth twice a day,” she said.

That explained why she couldn’t share more of the paste with me.

“But I still have to go to the dentist to have them thoroughly cleaned and make sure I don’t have any decay.”

I opened my mouth and my tongue hung out. I could tell that it was important to her and that was good enough for me.

She got behind the wheel of the car, and we were soon at our destination.

We entered a three-story concrete building with lots of windows. The lobby floor was cool marble and the space was scrupulously clean. My nose was assaulted with a myriad of acidic, sharp smells. They weren’t the warm and friendly aromas of food.

I stood rigidly next to Katie while we waited for the elevator.

“This is a medical office building, Garth.” She scratched between my ears. “Guides take their handlers to visit doctors and dentists in places like this all the time.”

My eyebrows twitched as we entered the elevator. If guides had to come to medical offices, then I’d become an expert at navigating them.

One floor up we entered a room lined with chairs where a woman sat reading a magazine and two men were looking at their phones. Another man stood in front of a window that was open to a woman seated at a desk behind it.

Katie approached the window and stopped behind him. I sat at her side. “Good boy,” she said.

“You’re all set. See you in six months, Dhruv,” the woman behind the window said, passing him a small card.

He fumbled in his pocket for his wallet, and a small bright blue bag with bold graphics tumbled to the carpet. The man called Dhruv didn’t appear to notice as he placed the card in his wallet and put it back in his pocket.

“Have a nice day,” the woman said to Dhruv.

He nodded to her and turned around, almost bumping into Katie.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“That’s okay,” Katie said, stepping to one side to let him pass us.

The woman behind the window greeted her and said, “Can you please sign in on the tablet?”

Katie tapped the screen.

I eyed the blue bag on the ground. It didn’t smell like the antiseptic aromas that had assaulted my nostrils ever since we’d walked into the building. That bag held food. There could be no doubt about it.

I remembered the trouble I’d gotten into when I’d helped clean up Alex’s homework-and-fizz mess. Surely this was a completely different situation.

I glanced at Katie. She was still poking at the screen.

I stuck my snout into the bag and, with one deft sweep of my tongue, channeled its contents into my mouth.

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