Goodbye

“Auggie,” said Via. “Come quick. Mom needs to talk to you.”
“I’m not apologizing!”
“This isn’t about you!” she yelled. “Not everything in the world is
about you, Auggie! Now hurry up. Daisy’s sick. Mom’s taking her to
the emergency vet. Come say goodbye.”
I pushed the pillows off my face and looked up at her. That’s when
I saw she was crying. “What do you mean ‘goodbye’?”
“Come on!” she said, holding out her hand.
I took her hand and followed her down the hall to the kitchen.
Daisy was lying down sideways on the floor with her legs straight out
in front of her. She was panting a lot, like she’d been running in the
park. Mom was kneeling beside her, stroking the top of her head.
“What happened?” I asked.
“She just started whimpering all of a sudden,” said Via, kneeling
down next to Mom.
I looked down at Mom, who was crying, too.
“I’m taking her to the animal hospital downtown,” she said. “The
taxi’s coming to pick me up.”
“The vet’ll make her better, right?” I said.
Mom looked at me. “I hope so, honey,” she said quietly. “But I
honestly don’t know.”
“Of course he will!” I said.
“Daisy’s been sick a lot lately, Auggie. And she’s old ...”
“But they can fix her,” I said, looking at Via to agree with me, but
Via wouldn’t look up at me.
Mom’s lips were trembling. “I think it might be time we say
goodbye to Daisy, Auggie. I’m sorry.”
“No!” I said.