One hand barely touching Andrew’s shoulder, she held her breath, searching for a sign that they had an intruder on their porch.

Scritch.

It was almost as if someone had picked at the wooden windowsill with the edge of their nail. Or the sound of wood settling. Or her imagination.

It could have been anything, really.

Bad feels, she thought.

She’d woken up with a case of the bad feels, and she was bound to misinterpret any strange sounds. Plus, there was that new sedative the doctor had given her as a parting gift. It could be messing with her.

It didn’t matter.

The bad feels were the bad feels. She lay silently, not daring to so much as shift her weight, eyes darting around the cottage. It was a small relief not to see a shadow peeking at her from some dark corner.

Of course the shadow’s not in here. That’s because it’s out there.

After waiting five long minutes, Kate felt she could get out of bed and check. Shadow or bear or whatever, she refused to lie there worrying, her ignorance making things worse.

She knelt beside Buttons and woke him up. He licked her face, his eyes sleepy.

“Let’s go see the bear, But-But.”

He followed her into the kitchen.

Before looking out the window, she steeled herself.

Was this really what she needed right now? Her chest was beginning to tighten, but not so much as to alarm her. But if she did peek out that window and come face-to-face with a bear, how would it feel then?

A bear is better than what you think is around when you get the bad feels. And at least there’s a whole house between you and it.

Regardless, being this tense, if she went into some kind of cardiac arrest, how was Andrew supposed to get her past the bear and into the car?

Buttons.

He could scout it out for her.

“Up you go.”

It was a struggle, lifting him onto the counter. The old dog was far heavier than he looked. Her wrists and elbows were not happy with her plan, the abused joints aching terribly.

“What’s outside?” she said, pointing at the window. Buttons sniffed her hand, his nose pressing against the screen. He simply panted, as usual, tail wagging.

I bet he wants to go outside now, you dummy.

Edging him aside, Kate inched closer to the window.

She sagged with relief when she saw nothing but the trees and their car. The porch was mercifully empty.

Feeling sorry for putting Buttons in harm’s way – though in retrospect, there was no harm in it at all – she gave him a few treats and let him come up into the bed with her and get under the covers.

“Did I dream that something was out there?” she whispered in his flaccid ear.