Fight for Life
Chapter Ten
Gran heats up lasagna and a can of corn for dinner, filling the kitchen with the smell of melted cheese. Zoe begins to make a face when she sees what’s on her plate, wrinkling her nose. But she claims lasagna is her favorite food. Maggie can tell she hates it. She eats the corn one kernel at a time and mashes the lasagna into a mushy paste. Zoe says her private school in New York has the worst uniform, but they went on a field trip to Switzerland once to go skiing.
Maggie looks across the table, trying not to roll her eyes. Who ever went to Switzerland on a field trip?! Zoe continues that when she goes to the studio, she can get so many autographs. She rattles off names as though Maggie should recognize them. Everyone on the set knows her. When Maggie asks her if she ever had a pet, Zoe shakes her head and says their penthouse didn’t allow pets. They’re kind of messy.
It seems Zoe hasn’t changed much since Maggie last saw her. She’s bubbly, perky, and too dramatic, gesturing with her hands as she talks. Her clothes look like they came straight off a magazine cover, without a wrinkle out of place. That evening, Maggie overhears Gran laughing with Zoe in the room next to hers. Their voices drift faintly through the wall. This is the perfect opportunity to sneak down to the clinic to check on the puppies.
Shelby and Inky are fast asleep in their pen, curled up together and breathing softly. The puppies’ tummies are rounder than before. But Dinky is back on an I.V. drip. According to his chart, he still isn’t eating or drinking. Maggie can hear Mitzy barking somewhere down the hall.
A collie wakes up and licks Maggie’s hand with a warm, wet tongue. He gives a big yawn and blinks his eyes sleepily. He’s the puppy who had diarrhea. Maggie decides he should be called Beans. Maggie falls in love with him immediately, which makes her angry to think about the guy out there harming the helpless pups. Maggie has got to track him down.
Just then, Gran and Zoe walk in. Zoe squeals in a high-pitched voice and runs over to Beans, picking him up without supporting his bottom. Before anyone can say anything, Beans has another accident all over her fashionable skirt. Maggie bursts into laughter, unable to hold it back. Zoe shrieks, drops the dog, and runs out of the room, with Gran running after her.
A few minutes later, Gran comes back into the room to see Maggie cleaning up the mess by herself. Gran snaps that she needs to finish her homework, and it’s not nice to laugh at Zoe. Zoe has a lot to get used to. Gran is very disappointed in Maggie, her tone sharper than Maggie has heard in a while.
Maggie doesn’t get it. Gran usually doesn’t have any patience with people who turn their noses up at puppy poop. But now, she has no patience with Maggie at all, and it stings more than Maggie wants to admit.
Later that night, Maggie sits at her desk, trying to fit basketball into her report on legislature and laws. But she can’t figure it out, no matter how she rearranges her notes. When she looks at the clock, she realizes Gran has been in the clinic a long time. Maybe something is wrong. Maggie goes downstairs to see if her help is needed.