Her headache was back and she was starting to feel woozy. She really needed to go to sleep. All of this stress was adding to her fatigue.
Matthieu held out his hand to Big Berry who walked cautiously forward and did give his hand a few sniffs. Big B was really a hoot. Then she made a snuffly noise and backed away again toward Tank who was watching them warily from the dog crate in the corner.
Maya had learned that Tank liked his crate. He felt more secure in it. His crate was his safe space. Maya got that. She wished she had a safe space. Sometimes she hid under the covers on her bed and pretended she was in a safe space but it didn’t really work.
She never really felt truly safe.
“Hey, Tankie,” she said quietly, walking over slowly and softly to the big dog.
There was no wagging of his tail, but he didn’t flinch away.
Still, he was pretty shut down.
Big Berry made a noise and Tank looked over at her. Without Big B she wasn’t certain that she’d get Tank to do anything.
Maya put her hand out in front of the opening of the cage but Tank just continued to stare at her. Then at Matthieu who crouched next to her.
“Poor boy,” he said to the dog. “It’s all right. We’re not going to let anyone hurt you again.”
For a moment she could almost swear that Tank understood him, but then the dog moved his head to the side and she let out a disappointed sigh.
Still, at least he hadn’t been terrified at the sight of Matthieu. Big Berry made another noise.
“Come on, we’ll let Big B get him out and I’ll feed them all.” She stood and then realized her mistake.
The world around her went hazy.
And then it went dark.
12
Merde!
Matthieu caught Maya as she dropped, her eyes fluttering shut.
She’d gone extremely pale. What had happened? Was it just that she’d stood up too fast? Was it low blood sugar?
He couldn’t recall any medical issues from her background information.
Matthieu carried her to the bed, then glanced over at Tank who was shaking slightly.
Best to give him his space and he likely needed to go outside, which he might not do with a stranger in the room. Instead, he walked out and along to the next bedroom. The door was open and inside was a double bed with a lavender-colored bedspread.
Maya’s room.
On the floor at the end of the bed were two dog beds. One was pale blue and the other green. There was one of those cat trees in the corner of the room with a scratching pad and a high bed.
For Princess Priss, he was guessing.
Definitely Maya’s room. He laid her down on the bed, surprise filling him as he saw the dolphin toy sitting there. Buthe shrugged it off. He knew that plenty of adults slept with stuffies or simply had them on the bed.
He sat on the bed facing her and placed his fingers over her pulse.
It was a little slow.
Should he get Hack out here to check on her? Ink had given him his number to call if he needed him at any time. As he searched for the other man’s number in his phone, she started to stir.
Her head rolled back and forth, a low moan leaving her lips.
