Boo to You
Sam made an explosive entry into the kitchen, dripping wet and fuming. "What happened to my truck? And why didn't you come to pick me up? I'm soaked, I'm cold... and what happened to my truck?"
"Take a breath," Andy said soothingly, handing Sam a towel and a cold beer. "There really isn't that much damage and..."
"You know how long I've had that truck? And it's never even had a scratch! Why weren't you there to pick me up?"
Just then his attention was caught by a very odd sound, a "scrabble scrabble thump scrabble scrabble thump," coming from the hall.
"What the heck is that?" Sam turned to Andy with a raised eyebrow.
"That's the reason for the tiny little dent in the truck," Andy said as she headed into the hall. She came back with a wriggling, squirming bundle of fur in her arms. "This is the trouble-maker right here," she said, setting the bundle down on the floor. It shook itself all over, then organized itself into a medium-sized dog of indeterminate colour and no recognizable breed, with a large cast on one hind leg.
"All right, who is this?" Sam growled as he squatted down to get a better look.
"I don't know his name – there's no collar or tags, and the vet couldn't find a tattoo or a microchip," Andy began.
"The vet? What vet?"
"The vet I had to take him to after I hit him when he ran out right in front of the truck when I was about a block away from the station," Andy replied. "I couldn't just keep driving – I had to catch him and see if he was injured. I guess he couldn't run away because in addition to being terrified his hind leg is broken. So I grabbed him and got him into the truck – sorry about the little bit of mud on the back seat, by the way – and drove to the nearest veterinary clinic. It was almost closing time but the guy took one look and let us come in."
"You hit the dog. With my truck." Sam recapped, still hunkered down and scratching the dog behind the ears. "Nice fella, good boy," he muttered as the dog rolled over, waving three legs and the cast in the air to let Sam rub his belly. "What did she do to you, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm really sorry," Andy replied. "I wasn't going very fast, but the street was slick from all the rain and he ran out right in front of me. There was no way I could stop in time to avoid hitting him. I was just so relieved that I hadn't killed him! I'll get the dent fixed, and I'll pay for the vet bill."
"Yeah, yeah – don't worry about that. You can clean up the mud, though," Sam added.
Andy laughed. "I hope you're not too mad," she said, "But I knew you would understand why I couldn't get you at the station. I'm sorry I didn't call to let you know but I was just so worried about this guy that I didn't even think about it."
"That's OK," Sam replied as he rumpled the dog's fur. "What did she do to you, huh? Did she knock you down the first time she met you? Yeah, she did that to me too."
"You're just never gonna let that go, are you?" Andy grumbled.
"Never gonna let YOU go," Sam replied with a dimpled grin. "What do you want to call him?"
"Boo, of course! Boo Radley – I've always loved that name for a dog."