Page 38 of Cava with My Colleague

“Dad?” Fernando calls from the living room.

“It’s me.” I toe my shoes off and leave my bag by the door.

When I enter the living room, Fernando is standing with his hands in his pocket, watching Izan. My dog is trying to decide which toy to bring me and can’t make up his mind. This is how dog toys get scattered all over my house.

Fernando looks up and greets me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “How was your trip?”

I crouch down and Izan comes to me with a firm rubber bone in his mouth. I give him some love while I fill Fernando in on my trip. I sense something is off, though, from the set of his mouth.

“Is Carmen okay?”

“Yeah,” he says, distracted. Then he bends down to crouch next to me. “Izan, lie down.”

My dog does, his tail wagging hard in anticipation of belly rubs as he rolls over.

“Dad,” Fernando says again. “Look here. Don’t touch.”

Fernando points to a spot on Izan’s belly, and I put one finger on his tummy and stretch the skin a little bit. Hm. There’s a lump protruding, just where the fur fades to bare belly.

“It hurts him when you touch it,” Fernando adds.

I graze the back of my hand over it and Izan yelps, scrambling to get up, his feet losing traction on the slick floor.

“Easy. Slow,” I murmur.

Izan pants, his tail still wagging but slightly lower than before. He looks confused, and Fernando looks at me grimly.

“I only noticed it a few hours ago. I called the vet and they said they would call back if they can get him in.”

Worry knots in my stomach. Izan is old. This isn’t our first health scare, but what used to be minor problems aren’t so minor anymore.

I ask Fernando a lot of questions—has Izan been eating, sleeping, etc.—and he patiently answers my questions and then tells me he has to go. Diana has to go to work so he’s taking care of Carmen and he’s running late already. He’s worried, though, his eyebrows pinched tight.

“Call me from the vet’s if they have questions,” he says before disappearing out my door.

I sit on the floor, stroking Izan’s head for a while. I’ve had him since he was about five months old, a puppy from the shelter with big paws and ears and the energy to keep me company when Fernando moved out. I took him on runs, and my wife cuddled with him every night.

I’m spiraling for a while until my phone pings. I doubt the vet clinic would be texting me, but I stand up to retrieve it off the counter to check and it’s a message from Jade.

Jade

Hey. I still have your charger. Can I bring it by? I’m headed to your neighborhood anyway.

Jade had forgotten her phone charger and I’d packed an extra. I check the time and text her my address.

Carlos

Can you be here within the next hour?

Jade

Yup. See you soon.

I set about unpacking my things and starting laundry, Izan at my heels. Twenty minutes later the phone rings, and I assume it’s Jade until I see the name of the vet’s office across my phone.

“Hello?”

“Buenas tardes, Carlos, how is Izan doing?”