Chapter Eleven – Little Hands and Super Glue
"I have gotten way too used to normal hours," Olivia grumbled to Suvi.
She had stumbled into the kitchen to make herself a much needed cup of coffee. Before her injury working well through the night was relatively normal. An hour or two of sleep would be enough to refuel her and enable her to function at a surprisingly high level. That wasn't quite the case anymore. Maybe it was because she was getting older or she simply wasn't used to the lack of sleep. Either way her long night of work had left her utterly exhausted. The sleep she'd gotten did not feel like enough by far. Hopefully the coffee would help.
Suvi lifted his head off the floor to look up at her in response, yawned, and dropped it back down. While he'd gotten a few naps in while she'd been working, he was still tired too. If it had been his choice they would still be in bed. Unfortunately that was not to be even if Olivia was feeling pretty much the same way. They had some visiting to do that day.
Coffee in hand, Olivia glanced down at her watch and groaned. They had to be out the door in a little over an hour. In that hour she had to somehow wake up, get dressed, and walk Suvi. At the rate she was going waking up might have to wait until the trip down to the hospital. Leaving Suvi in the kitchen she returned to her room to shower and change for the day.
An hour and a half later she was getting off the subway and heading toward the hospital entrance. She felt a little more awake, but there were still moments when she was fighting off yawns. Suvi was acting somewhat draggy too. Olivia seriously doubted that would last very long though. When they reached the door of the activities room they were spotted almost immediately.
"Suvi!"
The one child's voice was soon joined by a chorus of others.
"Look, it's Suvi!"
"Suvi's here!"
"Suvi!"
Suvi's ears pricked and his tail started going a mile a minute. Of all the comfort sessions they were involved in this one was his favorite. The children under long term hospital care were always eager to see him and bestow as much love and attention on him as they possibly could. Usually that love took the form of a massive circle of reaching hands that looked rather claustrophobic to Olivia. Not that the crowd of kids bothered Suvi.
"Go play," Olivia told him as she slipped off his leash.
He bounded into the room and was quickly surrounded. For the most part Olivia stood back and watched at these visits just like the other parents. The only difference was that her "child" had a furry tail. A few times she would guide a new child that was showing some hesitance over to Suvi, but today was a familiar crowd. She would be good to watch for at least the first fifteen minutes. Typically that was the amount of time it took before a few of the children started to drift away to their own activities again. Sometimes one or two of them would rope her into a tea party, craft project, or board game. She'd lost count of the number of games of Connect Four she'd lost a long time ago. Only a few of them had been purposeful losses too.
A hysterical round of giggles made her focus more closely on the group. Suvi was almost completely on his back so the kids could pet his stomach. All four paws were sticking up and his tail continued to sweep across the floor. It was wagging so fast and hard that his body was basically wiggling with it. Every now and then his tongue would flop out of the side of his mouth, making him look even more ridiculous. Olivia shook her head in amusement. Whatever made him happy. Suvi was so involved with the kids that he didn't notice the subtle warning signs Olivia's body was throwing off. The seizure caught him as much by surprise as it did her. The thud of her body hitting the floor snapped him back over onto his feet, and he near barreled through the kids who'd backed up in surprise at his sudden move. A few running steps and he skidded to a stop beside her. He stood protectively over her as she seized, his eyes watching her with deep concern.
When Olivia regained consciousness she found Suvi's nose only inches from hers. He whined softly and nearly climbed on top of her in his attempt to get closer.
"I'm okay, Su."
He didn't completely believe her and whined again. Once more he tried to press into her.
"Vesuvius," she said in exasperation.
She gently shoved his nose aside so she had room to try and sit up. Suvi was having none of it though. He scooted in and dropped his head so it was almost under her arm. With where he was she would be able to grab his vest easily, which was what he was pushing for. Olivia let him pull her up before pulling him into a hug.
"I'm okay, buddy."
She could see how upset he was, and with her arms around him she could feel it too. His body was trembling slightly. The fact that he hadn't been there right when she went down was seriously bothering him. It might be hard to get him to go back to spending time with the kids. If she could even get him to step away from her in the first place. He wasn't making any move to do that.
"Are you okay, Olivia?" one of the kids asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. He's just overreacting." That statement was only supported when Suvi nearly stepped on her thigh in an attempt to get in physical contact with her. "Suvi, sit."
He whined and still tried to press into her. When she told him to sit again her voice came like a whip crack that sent Suvi's butt immediately to the ground. Suvi hung his head sadly, and Olivia sighed. She hadn't wanted to make him feel even worse, but she had needed him to listen. Olivia gently cupped his face and stroked his ears.
"I'm fine, Suvi. I'm fine." She kissed his head. "I'm fine. Okay?"
Suvi huffed and pressed his head down onto her hands. Olivia laughed at him softly and ruffled his ears again.
"Go play."
When he didn't listen she physically spun him around and gave him a little shove from behind.
"Go."
He glanced back at her once more before obeying. This time instead of racing over to the kids he basically plodded. While he let them sit and pet him he wasn't going to be enticed into anything else. His eyes kept swiveling back over to Olivia, far more often than normal. He'd messed up once by not checking in enough. There was no way he would make the same mistake again. When everyone was saying goodbye Suvi was glued to Olivia's side. It wasn't just that he was standing beside her. Either the side of his head or body was touching her leg at all times. Even when they were walking back he refused to let any distance come between them. There were even a few times that she had to push him away from her so she didn't trip. The light push was enough to get him to give her some space though that only lasted for a few steps before he started drifting toward her again. Apparently she was going to need to convince him that she wasn't upset with him and he hadn't done anything wrong.
Her morning, or at least her early afternoon, had been focused on service work, but the rest of the day would be all about Suvi. When they got back home she grabbed Suvi's brush and headed into the living room. She didn't need to ask him to join her since she couldn't possibly keep him away. The two of them settled onto the floor together, and Olivia started brushing. Suvi had always loved it when she sat down and brushed him. Today he was enjoying resting his head in her lap more. It made it a bit awkward for Olivia to work, but he didn't mind. As ridiculous as Olivia thought he was being she didn't fight with him over keeping his head in her lap. If that would make him feel better, fine.
The rhythmic motion of running the brush over his fur was easy to get lost in. By the time she actually looked up nearly an hour had gone by. Suvi was relaxed and more than content considering his eyes were closed. When he realized she had stopped brushing him though his eyes opened and he pawed gently at her leg.
"I know you still want to be brushed, but I need to get up."
She couldn't feel her legs and considering how numb they were they had probably gone to sleep a long time ago. Maybe she shouldn't try to get up. Either way she definitely had to move no matter how painful it was going to be.
"Alright, come on."
She gave his head a minor push to get him up and off her legs. He groaned but rolled off of her. Olivia slowly stretched her legs out and winced as the pins and needles hit her. Suvi noticed the wince and bounded to his feet to support her. There wasn't much he could do to help her, but she appreciated the fact that he was trying. At least he wasn't being quite as anxious anymore. He didn't have anything to worry about after all. She couldn't expect him to warn her of every incoming seizure. His job wasn't to spend every second monitoring her either. He deserved a chance to be a dog and enjoy himself too.
