Daisy’s Toys

Justin came over about half an hour later. He gave me a big hug and
said: “Sorry, Auggie.” We all sat down in the living room, not saying
anything. For some reason, Via and I had taken all of Daisy’s toys
from around the house and had put them in a little pile on the coffee
table. Now we just stared at the pile.
“She really is the greatest dog in the world,” said Via.
“I know,” said Justin, rubbing Via’s back.
“She just started whimpering, like all of a sudden?” I said.
Via nodded. “Like two seconds after you left the table,” she said.
“Mom was going to go after you, but Daisy just started, like,
whimpering.”
“Like how?” I said.
“Just whimpering, I don’t know,” said Via.
“Like howling?” I asked.
“Auggie, like whimpering!” she answered impatiently. “She just
started moaning, like something was really hurting her. And she was
panting like crazy. Then she just kind of plopped down, and Mom
went over and tried to pick her up, and whatever, she was obviously
hurting. She bit Mom.”
“What?” I said.
“When Mom tried to touch her stomach, Daisy bit her hand,” Via
explained.
“Daisy never bites anybody!” I answered.
“She wasn’t herself,” said Justin. “She was obviously in pain.”
“Daddy was right,” said Via. “We shouldn’t have let her get this
bad.”
“What do you mean?” I said. “He knew she was sick?”
“Auggie, Mom’s taken her to the vet like three times in the last two