The moment they’d walked in the door, it was as if Buttons knew exactly what had happened. Instead of excitedly tangling himself up in their legs, he kept his distance, whimpering as he watched Andrew help Kate onto the daybed. The beagle waited for Andrew to get her pillows set, cover her with a blanket, and turn Turner Classics on low. Once she was tucked in, Buttons sat beside the bed with his head propped on the mattress, his wet nose half a foot from her back. Kate went back to sleep in seconds, but Buttons stayed right there, his canine senses zeroed in on the source of her pain.

“You want to go for a walk?”

The beagle didn’t budge.

There was no sense trying to pry him from her side, either. Kate had her guardian angel.

Carrying Kate’s things to the bedroom, Andrew saw that there was a voice mail from her brother, Ryker. There was also a text. Not wanting to pry but curious as to why the double whammy, he opened the text.

Hey sis – just checking up on you. Back from our latest adventure and have lots of funny stories. Had a weird dream about you on the plane. Just let me know you’re all right.

Knowing Kate might be out of it for the rest of the day, Andrew shot a quick text to his brother-in-law, letting him know she’d had a new lupus treatment and he’d have her call him tomorrow. Andrew placed no value in dream messages, but Ryker was new agey enough to get all worked up if someone didn’t tell him all was well.

Okay, Kate-kinda-well, which wasn’t well, but it was better than the alternative.

Falling down the forbidden-thoughts rabbit hole, he recalled the day Kate’s surgeon had told him the abdominal surgery they needed to perform only had a ten percent success rate. The infection in her digestive tract had turned gangrenous. It was basically a Hail Mary pass. Ten percent was better than the one hundred percent prognosis that she would die within a week. He’d given the doctor the go-ahead and stepped into Kate’s room. She’d been surrounded by her mother and brother. Things had been so bad, even his mother-in-law sat vigil.

“Are you crying?” Kate had said, her eyes barely open, voice so soft and weak, it was like talking to a ghost.

He hadn’t realized she was awake, much less that he had tears in his eyes.

“Nah, just cutting onions,” he’d said, bending down to kiss her forehead.

“Are we home? What’s for dinner?” she’d said, fading before he could answer.

He’d never told anyone the chances of her surviving the surgery. What was the point? Unburdening himself wouldn’t have made him feel any better; it would just upset her family.