Disclaimer: See chapter1.

Well, the next day I got another shock. I had left the MP4 on the charger the night before to see if it would charge. Taking it off its charger and connecting it to my laptop I then loaded a few songs onto it. Well, as soon as I took it off the cable connecting it to the laptop its screen switched off. Thinking that it was just to save power I had not thought to try and get it playing and had placed it into my pocket. As soon as I got outside to walk off to the coffee shop again I had taken the player out and switched it on. Only to be met with a flashing screen saying something before it went dead again. You don't have to be a sighted person to know that it was the low battery sign flashing on the screen. For a moment I got really angry. First half of the MP4's things were not there and then the player itself was acting up.

I turned back into the hotel and dumped the player in my room. My guide was not in a bad mood that day, she walked like she use to walk at home or when we were on the mainland. When I got to the shop one of the chatty ladies were there. When she saw me she had asked me to sit and talk to her for a while. I should have stayed away from her that day but I hadn't really realized that she was sick. She didn't tell me that.

That night I went to bed early and when I woke up I wondered if I had gone on some sort of rescue. My neck ached, my right arm was at an odd angle and when I moved myself to get rid of the ache in my neck I felt my arm just give out on me. Without realizing it I had used my right hand to push myself up and only remembered that something was wrong with it when I found myself hanging out of my bed with my head just inches away from the ground.

Hoping that my left hand would be able to work I had then used it to drag myself back up into my bed. With every move I was forced to make with my right hand I could feel that my right arm was beginning to get life back into it. It didn't hurt like it did when I woke up but it was still a bit useless. Turning onto my left side I felt something scratching at the back of my throat and that's when I remembered the chatty lady. She'd sounded a bit off when she had spoken to me the day before and as soon as my brain made the connection I found myself coughing away. Turning onto my back I had thought to myself "Great. Just my luck. What's next? If Virgil finds out then I'm going to have a mother hen with me at the centre or worse, two of them fighting over me."

When I had woken a few times later that night, I realised that I was going to have a bit of a problem. Virgil would notice there was something wrong, for sure when I have to call home again. It was a bit hard to hide it now. There was no way my brothers would be able to keep me in bed over a simple cough as it was also my guide dog's last nine days with me. I only hoped that it didn't get any worse throughout the day or rest of the week.

Later in the morning I had found myself almost running with my guide because she was walking as if there was going to be a huge treat at the shop. I hoped that it was not going to be just that and I had just sat myself down for my morning coffee when the guide dog centre called me. They had called me to let me know that I was going to end up in another room for a week and then I'd be moved over to my old room again. We were going to have an old lady on class with us for a week.

I didn't mind it. There was one question on my mind which I knew was going to bug me until I asked it. I ended up asking the question just to make it stop spinning around and around in my head. "What will happen the day I get to the centre? Will I be able to keep my guide with me?" I was told that my guide would be taken from me as soon as we got there but that I'd still be able to go see her while I was there and that I would have lots of time to say goodbye to her.

I didn't want to go to her in the kennels knowing that she wasn't coming out of there again to go home with me. My guide would be staying there until someone else took her home and I didn't want her to sniff at me and find that I had another dog with me. It would hurt to know that she was missing me and that she didn't understand why I didn't return for her to take her home. It wouldn't be fair to my guide and it would only hurt me more to say goodbye in that way.

When I ended the call I got up and went off to the bathroom. When I got there I wanted to cry but I ended up coughing. Not a good thing; not a good thing at all. That darn lady and her germs. When I got back to my guide she was jumping and wagging her tail as if I had gone away for a year. My guide's tail was banging against the shop window since we were sitting outside on the deck and that in turn got the attention of a little kid. I didn't know if it was a boy or girl.

The little kid came running out and before I knew it the kid was under the table playing with my guide. The kid had asked me tons of questions and at some point I ended up laughing and then coughing when the kid told me that the dog at home was pink. I couldn't help myself. A pink dog. I've seen a blue dog on a TV program once but pink? I knew that Penny would have loved that dog.

Pretty soon the little kid had to leave and in a way I was happy and a bit sad. Happy cause now I could calm down and take a decent breath but sad because the little one had made me forget everything that was drifting around in my mind. An hour or so after the kid had left I had gotten up and started my walk back to the hotel. Once in my room I had gone online and told my friend about my day and that I thought I might be changing into a frog during the night. I only hoped that I was wrong. If Virgil found out about it then I would be stuck in my room for quite some time.

Taking my dog out one last time to do her thing, I had gotten into bed hoping that tomorrow would be better and that whoever or whatever was out to get me would take a hike and leave me alone in peace.