Be With Me

Chapter 66

Rafaela woke up hearing Ozzie yelping downstairs. He was probably feeling alone and abandoned, after all, he was just a puppy who had been yanked off his mother and siblings, he must have been feeling lonely. She got out of the bed, seeing it was 11 am already and went straight to the living room where she had put a blanket so the puppy could sleep on it. Ozzie ran to her the moment he saw her, and she crouched down.

"Hi sweetheart." She smiled and tapped his little head. "You must want to pee isn't it?" She grabbed the dog in her arms and took him outside.

Though the weather was a little better, the sky was still too dark, and it was raining a bit too much. The wind though, blew moderately. "Humm..." She mumbled. "Guess I'm gonna have to let you make it here on the porch, but just this time!" She said putting the dog on the floor. "Don't get used to it!" She said pointing her finger at him.

The puppy had his time to do his thing and she brought him back inside. He was staring at her wagging his tiny tail, that had been cut when he was born, and another thing hit her.

"I don't have food for you! You must be hungry!" She said almost horrified. "Stay here." She ordered, though Ozzie didn't understand her commandment yet and followed her. Rafaela swallowed a yogurt fast and went upstairs to take a shower. Ozzie ran after her all along and she giggled watching him. When showered and dressed, she grabbed him and went to her car, stopping in the nearest animal shop.

Leaving Ozzie inside the car, she ran inside the shop trying to escape the heavy drops of rain. There she bought him a bed, some dog blankets, food, pots to put food and water, some toys and then she came back to the car with an arsenal of dog's stuff. She put it all in the trunk and got inside her car. Ozzie barked at her cheerfully, she could see the puppy was happy she was back.

"Yes, I am back sweetie." She baby talked as if she was talking to a baby.

Then she drove back home. She had too much stuff to take inside the house, but having to carry Ozzie, she opted to take just the food and the pots inside since that was what was needed first, going straight to the kitchen. The house was so silent that she thought James was still sleeping. She left Ozzie eating, devouring his food and went to the car to grab the rest of the stuff. When she got everything in the kitchen, she took the dog's bed to the living room, and there she found him... sat on the floor, legs bent, arms surrounding his knees and head against them.

"James..." She whispered feeling something was not right. She put the bed on the floor and ran to him, crouching in front of him and holding his hands. She noticed how they trembled. "What's the matter?"

James raised his head and looked in her eyes. He couldn't tell what was wrong, but he was craving, and abstinence was showing and there was no alcohol in her place, he needed to go home fast. "It's nothing..." His voice trembled a bit again. At the same time, he wanted so much to tell her so he could get that out of his chest.

"I know you inside out James." She said. James looked away. One of her hands left his and she put two fingers under his chin, making him look back at her. "I know you, you're not alright. Your hands are trembling, don't tell me it's stress. Your eyes... they look sad, you have shadows under your eyes. Talk to me. What's the matter?"

"Where did you go?" He asked instead of answering her question. She looked at him almost in disbelief, but she answered.

"I went to buy food for the dog. Poor thing, he didn't have anything to eat!"

"Where is he? I didn't see him when I got out of the bed."

"I took him with me." She smiled and he smiled back. His smile was a bit far gone, not that usual wonderful grin of his.