Page 126 of Hunt Me
“Hello. I’m Dr. Bel,” I say and wait as the dark-haired man begins to interpret. “I hear this big guy ate some chocolate.”
The redhead makes an irritated grunt and takes his hand away, beginning to sign at Deaf speed so I can’t quite follow, but I’ve been in classes long enough to get the gist.
“I’m Otto,” the other man speaks for him. “This is my friend Salem. He’s interpreting for me. Also, if you haven’t noticed, I’m Deafblind, so this appointment might be slower than you’re used to.”
“That’s fine,” I say. My hands feel the itch to sign, but I realize that’s pointless since he couldn’t see me anyway. “We can take as long as you need.”
Otto and Salem both relax a fraction. Otto removes his hand from Salem’s and now looks distressed as he relays what happened. ‘I didn’t realize I’d left the chocolates on the counter. My brother brought them home, and I think some of them were open. Cupcake ate a bunch of it, but I’m not sure how much.’
I drop down to a crouch and lift Cupcake’s chin up. “Can you release him from the harness?”
Salem interprets, and Otto immediately takes Cupcake out of his harness and drops it to the left of his leg.
As soon as I’m eye level, Cupcake stands up immediately, but when I say, “Come,” he does nothing.
“Oh, shit,” Salem says, then signs for Otto, “Cupcake’s trained with ASL. If you want me to?—”
I shake my head. ‘Come.’ Cupcake immediately obeys my hands, and I look over to see Salem telling Otto that I can sign. ‘Sit.’
Cupcake obeys.
Dropping to my knees, I grab my stethoscope from the exam table and listen to his heart. It’s steady, and there’s not much of a rumble in his stomach either.
“Do you know if it was milk or dark chocolate?” I ask.
Salem’s hands move, and then Otto answers, and I can read the sign perfectly. ‘Milk.’
“That’s great,” I say. Otto and Salem both frown. “Milk chocolate is a lot less dangerous than dark chocolate. What we worry about most is theobromine and caffeine.” I pause to let Salem catch up since he has to fingerspell most of that. “Milk chocolate doesn’t have a lot of that. In fact, cheap American chocolate sometimes has little to none. I’m not advocating for you to give your pup a Hershey’s or anything, but at most, he’s going to have the nasty shits and might need extra hydration.”
Otto lets out a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh. ‘You sure?’
Letting Cupcake go, I walk over and hold out my hand. “May I sign to you?”
Salem interprets, and Otto immediately lets him go. I’ve never done this before, but I think I can manage a few sentences. I place my hand under Otto’s as I crouch down so he doesn’t have to stand.
‘I’m very sure. We can keep him for the night if you want me to. If anything goes wrong, I can treat him. But I think he will be okay.’
Otto’s hands squeeze tightly under mine, and then he pulls back. ‘You’re sure?’
Salem says that aloud, then looks at me. “You must know how important Cupcake is for Otto.” He signs that into Otto’s hand after he speaks. “He’s trained for both guide and hearing.”
“I understand,” I tell him. “I wouldn’t lie to you. Not about this.”
Otto lets out a puff of air, then nods. ‘Okay.’
I straighten up and take a breath, and then suddenly, the entire room is plunged into darkness. I think. I’m pretty sure I haven’t suddenly gone blind.
“What the fuck,” Salem says aloud. I can hear his hands moving, and then Otto makes a worried noise.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight. Salem winces as I accidentally get him right in the eyes, and I turn it down to the floor.
“Shit, sorry. It’s probably just a fuse. This building is old as fuck. Can you wait here?”
Salem waves me off, and I open the door, hurrying to the lobby, but Bridgette is nowhere to be found, and considering she didn’t scream, I’m assuming she’s gone.
I can see through the windows that it’s started to rain, which is probably what’s made the power go out suddenly, but I want to check the breaker to be sure. I’m not exactly a handy guy when it comes to these things.
When shit breaks in my place, I call someone.
