A Man And His Dog

Nacho's POV

It is a huge grief when you lost someone important. Not mention having your home crowded full of strange policemen.

It's a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Normally, on a day like this, Nacho would be lying on the stairs, enjoy the sunshine, do some stretching or play catch ball with his owner, Gary.

But today, Nacho wanted to do nothing but run.

Nacho felt so bad since the moment Gary got shot. It is like a piece of him has gone with Gary. He ran as fast as he could on the grass, try to run away from the reality. No one was trying to stop him, until a nice lieutenant caught him with his big hands. Lieutenant Flynn, if he remember correctly, gave Nacho a soft hug and gently touched his spine.

"His hand is so warm," Nacho thought, "this soft touch certainly help."

That might be the only good thing that has happened to Nacho that morning. For a moment, Nacho felt he was not afraid anymore until an old man in a white hat ordered Lt. Flynn to put Nacho down…

Nacho was depressed the whole day. An officer put him in a cage and carried him away from his house. Nacho didn't understand why he was the one being locked up while that teenage couple, who live across the street was still out there. However, at that moment he actually didn't care about that at all. He didn't care about where he was being taken or who was going to look after him. He didn't care about what they were going to feed him or whether the big bulldog next to his cage was barking at him.

Nacho didn't even notice that it was getting dark outside until he saw someone familiar is walking towards him.

It is Lt. Flynn, with some paperwork in his hands.

"Hi, Nacho. Remember me? My name is Andy." Lt. Flynn introduced himself with a sunny smile on his face.

He squatted and opened Nacho's cage, and opened his arms toward Nacho. "Come out little buddy. You are with me now." Andy gave Nacho a shiny smile.

Nacho likes Andy's smile. It's warm and sweet, like today's weather, which made Nacho feel less sad and terrified. Nacho was sure he saw hope in Andy's eyes. Normally Nacho would never go with anyone he's not familiar with but Andy is different; everything about him makes Nacho feel safe, and warm. It's like they have been friends for years.

Nacho would like to shake hands with Andy, He went out of the cage, pressed his paw on Andy's right hand. Andy held Nacho up on his left arm like what he did in the morning and softly shook Nacho's paw.

"Are you alright?" Andy asked. "It looks like you could have a big meal. Let's go home."

Andy put Nacho in his car; Nacho's belongings were already on the back seat.

When they arrived at Andy's home, Andy gave Nacho a tour of his house, set up Nacho's bed, and tried to feed Nacho some doggie cookies. At the end of a long and exhausting day, Nacho was finally able to relax from all the shock and grieve. He then realized just how hungry he was. Nacho ate up all the cookies in his bowl, while Andy was sitting next to him, softly caress his back neck.

"Would you like to take a walk?" Andy asked.

"Yes!" Nacho looked at Andy and wagged his tail.

"Let's take a walk outside. You have stayed all day in that can, time to do some stretching."

Andy was right. A little physical activity outside does help to relax Nacho's tired muscles. Taking a relaxing walk with Andy outside, breathe in some fresh air and checking out his new surroundings made him feel less stressful. He felt his body was recovering, especially after he did his little number on the walkway.

"You know, this reminds me a few years ago, when I was walking Provenza's ex wife's dog with Sharon." Andy said suddenly with a wide smile on his face while he picked up of what Nacho has left on the walkway into a bag.

"Who's Provenza? And who's Sharon? And why are you smiling like an idiot when you are holding my poop?" Nacho was really confused.

"Bow wow!" Nacho tilted his head, staring at Andy.

"Hey, You've met Provenza this morning. You know, the old guy who was wearing a white hat."

"Hah.. The grumpy one! No wonder he has an 'EX' wife. Someone like him would have several ex wives ." Nacho thought. If Nacho was human, he would definitely crossing his arms and rolled his eyes at that moment.

"And Sharon is my best friend. She is smart… and she is sweet….And she's gorgeous… She is also the head of my division now but not back then…. Anyway, we were walking that dog…."

Andy kept telling his story on their way back. "When Sharon and I finally found the glove in the poop, she was so excited. That was the first time I had a walk with Sharon, although Liz and Frank were with us."

Andy's story was about collecting a piece of evidence, which was swallowed by another dog. But all Nacho heard was "Sharon…Sharon…Sharon…Sharon…" Nacho started to think that they were not just "friends"

"Come on! Don't try to fool me. I am a dog but I am not stupid. Admit it! This Sharon woman must be your lover!" Nacho looked at Andy and thought. "Dude, you should look at yourself! When you're talking about her, if you have a tail, it would waging like an airscrew now!" Nacho thought.

That night, Nacho could not fall asleep in his bed. Maybe it was because the new environment. Maybe it was because what happened that day. Nacho went to Andy's room and cuddled up at the foot of the Andy's bed. Andy has fallen asleep already. With the reassuring sound of Andy's breathing, Nacho finally closed his eyes…

Nacho had several dreams that night. It was a busy dream; he was fighting with the teenager who shot Gary, but his girlfriend got him from behind and locked him up in a cage. Then Andy rescued him and handed him to Provenza before he went to chase the bad guys. Provenza wrapped him up with a giant white hat and told Nacho "Don't poop in my hat!..." None of it made sense.

The next morning, Nacho was woken up by an alarm. He found himself wrapped up in Andy's blanket on the bed. He looked around and it was barely dawn.

"Purr…Come on! Do you have to get up so early?" Nacho thought and twisted his sleepy body.

Andy is standing in the morning lights, holding his phone, trying to turn the alarm off. "Sorry to wake you up." Andy put down his phone and picked up his shirt. He was smiling at Nacho.

"We're having an early action today, to catch those bad guys who shot Gary." Andy told Nacho while he was getting dressed.

"Bow wow! Bow wow! Be careful! And, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Nacho barked. He was so excited to know that Andy and his colleagues were making an effort to solve this case. All this excitement has made him feel awake. He jumped off the bed and rubbed his head at Andy's leg.

"It's OK, buddy!" Andy caressed Nacho's head. "I have to leave but I will put food in your bowl." With that, Andy took his gun from the bed table, and left in a hurry.

Nacho is used to be alone at home all the time. In the old days, when Gary was still working, Nacho was always alone until he came back. At first, the waiting was boring and depressed. Gary noticed it and bought plenty of toys to keep Nacho busy and happy while he was out.

Andy brought all Nacho's toys back with him. But today, Nacho didn't feel like playing. He has something else to do. He was going to familiarize himself with his new environment.

Andy didn't get back until almost midnight. Nacho was sitting in the hallway. He knew Andy was chasing the horrible teenage couple today. At first, he was ok with waiting but when it started to get darker and darker outside and Andy was still not back home, it made Nacho very nervous.

"Why are you not back yet?" Nacho was worried and was walking in circles in the hallway.

"Come back, please! First Gary, then you. I can't lost two owners in two days!" Nacho thought… "Damn, I can't reach this switch. I don't like to wait in the darkness."

When Nacho finally heard the footsteps and smelled Andy's scent outside the front door, Nacho jumped up in the darkness.

"Bow Wow! Thank god you are back!" Nacho thought in excitement. When the door is opened and Andy turned on the lights, Nacho ran to Andy as fast as he could.

"Wow wow. What took you so long?" Nacho was so excited to see Andy back unharmed. He rubbed his head at Andy's leg, and wagged his tail.

"Sorry Nacho, I have some more things to deal with after the case." Andy held Nacho up in his arm and caress Nacho's neck. "We caught the girl and her boyfriend!" Andy pressed a soft kiss on Nacho's head.

Nacho was so happy to know that the bad guys have been caught, he started licking Andy's face in return. "Oh, oh, Nacho. I get it. You are happy. I get it." Andy said as he laughed.

"Sorry I got back so late. You must be hungry. Let me get you some food." Andy walks toward the kitchen with Nacho in his hands.

"Wow, wow. I'm not hungry at all…I found the dog food bag when I was "exploring" in the kitchen this morning, and had a really good time then. I'm really not hungry at all." Nacho was trying to tell Andy.

Andy exclaimed as he stepped into the kitchen. "Oh my god! What…? Oh my god!" He was freaked out.

Andy held Nacho up to his face. "How did you find this bag?! I thought I hid it so well!" He asked with his eyes wide open.

"Bow wow. Just sniffing dude. I'm a dog ! ╮(╯▽╰)╭" Nacho always felt proud of his nose.

"And you pour it ALL OUT?" Andy asked.

"Bow wow. What can I say? I don't have big hands and long fingers like you" Nacho gave Andy a dog smile, and stared at Andy with his puppy eyes.

It looked like Andy was a little bit shocked about what he saw in the kitchen, so Nacho decided to cheer him up a little. He stared at Andy innocently with his puppy eyes for about 3 seconds,leaned forward, and gave Andy a sweet lick on his cheek.

Nacho's lick worked very well, HE thought. Andy put Nacho down and sat down on the floor next to Nacho. He softly he touched Nacho's head, "Oh my dear boy… you little naughty boy!"

Nacho climbed onto Andy's lap while he's sitting there and cleaning up Nacho's mess. "It is my fault that you were hungry. "Andy said.

"Purr…" Nacho responded. "No I'm not hungry at all." Nacho thought and gave Andy an adorable dog smile.

"I was with Sharon, you know…" Andy said.

"What!? You made me wait and worry all these hours just because you were on a date? You are such a dog!" Nacho thought. "What can I say? I have seen the picture you hide under your pillow. The red hair beauty with green eyes. Is that her, Andy? I totally understand why you put her before me" Nacho yawned. "Man.." as he purred.

Andy kept talking while Nacho was lying quietly on his lap, listening his story. "In the past five months, I was trying very hard to support her in every way.

I know the whole Stroh thing has already pushed her to the edge. Stroh is the serial killer who threatened to harm her adopted son, Rusty. And there is also the Julio's suspension which gave her a lot of pressure. Although she always told me she is OK, I know she is not."

"Oh, poor Sharon… You should hold her in your arms and let her know how much you care about her." Nacho tried to say, looking at Andy but he knew Andy could not hear what was saying.

"and she never really there when I took her to the movies; and she never drink when we were out for dinner…Normally she would order a glass of white wine. She also made Cooper send a team to protect Rusty and asked me to keep it as a secret & not tell anyone."

"If she doesn't open up, you should try harder!" Nacho barked to Andy.

"She is stressed but would not admit it, which made me worry more about her. Every time I see her staring at Stroh's picture through the glass wall of her office, I wished I could rush in and give her a tight hug." Andy said.

"What?! You have been in love with her for so long, and all you have done is just standing there and look at her? And after months of "dating", you don't have the courage to give her a hug? " Nacho stared at Andy madly. "Dude, this is really not how it works! You met her, you love her, you go and get her. In my experience, if she likes you, that's perfect! If she doesn't…er…at least she won't bite you ~~ It's so simple! Just do it!" Nacho thought with fire in his eyes, but Andy never seemed noticed. He stood up, and carried Nacho back to his bedroom.

"Today, I finally got the courage to ask what she needs me to do. You know, I can't see her suffering like this." Andy changed his clothes and jumped on the bed. Nacho jumped up to the bed too.

"She finally accepted to let me be there for her." Andy smiled. "She said she will not shoulder everything all by herself again. She will talk about her problems with me therefore we could deal with them together."

Andy smiled and his face blushed. "And she gave me the key of her condo for emergency."

"Bow wow!" Nacho barked with excitement. "Way to go, dude!"

Nacho put his front leg under Andy's pillow, and "hand" Sharon's picture to Andy.

"How did you know this is her?" Andy was really surprised.

"Hahaha," Nacho gave a dog laugh. "You should see the look on your face!"

"Oh my god, you are the smartest dog in the universe, aren't you?" Andy said as he caressed Nacho's belly. This is Nacho's favorite game… He rolled on the bed, happily. "Hahaha…hahaha… Time to say good night, Andy!"

"Good night, Nacho!" Andy touched Nacho's head.

"And, good night! Sharon3" He pressed a soft kiss on the picture.