Charlie IV
Chapter 5
Kim had arrived very early. She needed to make sure the hospital knew about today and make arrangements for where they could and couldn't go. Some sections were off limits like an ICU Ward. People recovering from traumatic surgery didn't need a dog, no matter how well-intentioned, intruding on their lives. Besides they might not even be asleep. And where Mr. Rodgers and Charlie went to so would she. She was here to evaluate not just how well Charlie did but how well Mr. Rodgers did, too.
"You're early." She watched as Mr. Rodgers with Charlie on a leash she approved of showed up.
"I didn't want to be late. It's a long drive from where I live. You couldn't find a hospital closer to home?" Rick asked her.
"We go where we are needed and allowed, Mr. Rodgers. First off I have something for Charlie." She showed both of them the vest he was going to be wearing. Now most of the staff of the hospital knew about today, but that didn't mean all of them did or approved. There would always be skeptics no matter what happened. It was just human nature. They were right and everyone else was wrong no matter how wrong they actually were.
"I just need to get this tight enough but not too tight." Kim adjusted the straps that held it in place. "There, now he looks like a Therapy Dog. Let's go find out if he is a Therapy Dog." Kim led them inside, checked in with the front desk, and introduced Mr. Rodgers and Charlie to her. Then they headed out.
"Our first stop is a group counseling session. What the session is about isn't your concern. Charlie is here because it's a group and they're each dealing with hard events. Simply walk Charlie to each of them. If they pet him good, if they don't, don't force them to. Ready?" Kim didn't think this bunch would be any trouble. She wanted to see Charlie handle a group before a really hurting individual.
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Rick was a little taken aback. The group was all woman and they got noticed instantly. At first Rick got a couple of, "What's his name?" After that he was pretty much invisible. Charlie got all the attention and from what Rick could tell he was gobbling it all up.
Now to be fair it wasn't like they were a bunch of kids that didn't know any better. So he didn't get his tail pulled, or his ears yanked, or even get hit by anyone. All Charlie got was smiles, a couple of hugs, and petted.
Once they were done with the room they got a chorus of "Bye Charlie." And they were off to the next room which turned out to be a hallway on a different floor.
"We've been assigned this hallway," Kim said. "This hallway has women of various ages who have recently given birth. They may or may not presently have their babies with them. Simply take Charlie into the room and if she says get out, you get out. Otherwise let Charlie work his magic."
"Got it." Rick thought it sounded easy enough. He had to admit they finally reached a floor that had smells even he was smelling let alone the ones Charlie had to be smelling.
It took them both three rooms till they came across a woman that was breastfeeding her newborn baby. It was here that Charlie got introduced to something totally different. A BABY! And boy did he want to put his nose where that baby was. He didn't, however, even attempt to get up on the bed. Granted the bed was maybe a little tall for him but his nose was working overtime.
Rick answered her questions and Charlie got petted but didn't get to see the baby since she was still nursing and was interested in food and not Charlie.
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"So what's next?" They were done with this hallway.
"Chemotherapy ward. This will likely be all adults but don't count on it," Kim warned him.
"Children get cancer?" Call him naïve but this was news to Rick.
Kim nodded. "Sadly yes. It's hard on them, hard on the parents, hard on the staff. So in here Charlie is likely to get noticed by everyone, including the staff."
Now someone might think this place was full of people hooked up to machines and they'd be part right. It was just these machines were expensive to purchase let alone operate and there were only just so many trained staff to use them.
It was a mix of patients receiving chemo, one or two done with chemo and being monitored before being taken back to their rooms, or one or two waiting their turn.
Rick, Charlie, and Kim were right behind a nurse who opened a glass door that had a glass wall and they could all see a little girl inside. Maybe about 9, 10, or 11 at the most. Totally bald and Rick could feel his heart ache for her. Her mother was sitting next to her and looked broken.
"My turn?" she asked in a soft broken voice. She knew the score. Without treatment she'd die.
"Not just yet. We have a visitor first." The nurse let Rick and Charlie walk into the space. She instantly lit up and where there had been despair was suddenly happiness.
"PUPPY!" All she ever got was her mom or her dad, a nurse, and that cursed machine.
Charlie walked right up to the bed, put his head on it, and let her pet him.
"His name is Charlie," Rick told her.
Then Charlie did the unthinkable. He almost got entirely up onto the bed, placed part of his body on hers, and unexpectedly he was being hugged tightly.
"CHARLIE!" Rick started to pull since he had control using the leash. But she was hugging him and crying at the same time. So he did nothing but stand there.
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Rick, Charlie, Kim, and the nurse were leaving when they all were intercepted by the girl's mother. "Thank you so very much!" She hugged Rick followed by hugging Charlie and then hurried back to her daughter.
"I take it we passed?" Rick asked since everyone seemed happy.
Kim smiled. "With flying colors, Mr. Rodgers, with flying colors."
"You two can come back here anytime. Maybe this time next week when that little girl will be back here for another treatment," the nurse suggested with hope filling her heart.
"It's not up to me." Rick looked at Kim.
"I'll see what I can arrange." Kim couldn't commit to that. Her job was to give Charlie challenges to see if he could make it to being a Therapy Dog. Not make just one child happy.
"And I'll drive it, even if it is a long ways from home." Rick wasn't unaffected. If anything he wanted to come back. Except he needed Kim and that vest for Charlie or he might not even make it past the front door.
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"So when's your next day off from work?" Kim inquired as they walked away from the hospital after making one more stop for Charlie to see people and experience new things.
"The same time next week. Unless you mean tomorrow which is also an off day for me."
"Tomorrow." It was too soon and she knew it. Not enough time to arrange anything with any hospital staff or anywhere really. Kim looked back at the hospital and thought about that little girl and what Charlie did.
"I'll call you about next week and leave you a message. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Charlie." Kim knelt down to pet him and hug him.
"Speak," Rick told him and Charlie barked instantly getting Kim to laugh.
"You're a good boy. Till next week, Mr. Rodgers." Kim needed to get home and write up her report about these two. Charlie in particular but Mr. Rodgers as well. They were treated as a team.
"Let's go, Charlie, and since I'm hungry how does Taco Bell sound to you? They might have dog biscuits." Rick walked toward his truck.
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Rick had no choice but to take Charlie with him to his meeting with Black Pawn since he didn't have time to take him home and then come right back.
Henry's eyebrows rose. "You brought your dog?"
"I'm trying to get Charlie certified as a Therapy Dog and we had a meeting at a hospital in Anaheim with someone from ATD. We passed our first test with flying colors."
"Well so long as he doesn't leave a mess behind it should work." Henry was game. He knew what a Therapy Dog was.
Rick was introduced to everyone and sat down in the conference room.
"Mike and Tripp have read your book and we think you show promise. This is how it works. One of these two will be assigned to you. He will edit your book and send you changes to be made. We do everything else. We publicize your book, print however many are required based on sales, make it available to every state in the United States. The first publication is a set amount. We will do the cover art for the book, handle all the shipping, and answer all the questions. You just sit back and let us do our job.
"The initial cost of all our work is $1,500. Once sales reach a certain number which we will work out together, you start getting paid. Naturally the more books that sell the more money you make. Typically when we reach a certain sales number, you receive a bonus from us. When sales reach another milestone we offer you a contract to write another book and pay you another bonus. That book is treated differently. We provide you with an advance payment that could be up to a million dollars all based on how the sales went or are going with your first book.
"When each book after that reaches a sales target you will be offered another contract for another book, obtain another advance, and by then money from you is no longer required. We handle all the costs. Till then there is a cost from you of $1,500.
"Here is the breakdown of costs and payments." Henry slid across a folder full of information for him to read.
"So I need $1,500 dollars for each book you work on." That was Rick's sticking point.
"Till you reach the third book, yes. We are paying to have the book printed, shipped to every state, have the book edited, generate cover art that meets your approval no matter how many times that takes us. The $1,500 is to cover what might be an error on our part. What we're doing costs thousands of dollars. We're willing to take the risk. Your risk is just $1,500.
"If money is the issue you could take out a loan, ask family and friends, sell something. Also in your folder is our success rate for writers we take a chance on. And in there are a number of contacts you can call and ask them all the questions you wish about how it went for them. I suggest you call some or all of them.
"You might also want to have a lawyer look over the contract but that's up to you.
"I'm going to attend a different meeting and our two editors here are going to go over your book with you. They will explain just how this system works. They will find me before you leave. We are looking forward to adding you to the Black Pawn Family." Henry got up, shook Rick's hand, and petted Charlie on his way out.
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Rick eventually left with everything he needed to know. Once he paid them the $1,500 they would start editing and the cover art. They already had contracts with book sellers that would sell his book all across the country. There was even something about him making himself available at three bookstores in the LA area to sign his book and generate interest in him as a writer.
"Yes, you can bring Charlie." Henry had rolled his eyes over that question.
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The next entire week had been basically the same as any other week. Work, come home to Charlie, take him outside to do his business and play with him, and lose control of the ball to one of the boys in the park. Then he got asked to go back under her trailer to see if he liked the propane piping she had paid to have installed to replace the copper piping.
Rick had changed into clothes that he didn't care what happened to and got down on his back to look at it all. "It's yellow!" He noticed that right off.
"He said it was CSST tubing. Not that I know what that is." She was shocked at the yellow as well. "He left me a brochure you can read. Does it look right?"
Rick tried to ignore the yellow color and looked at how it was installed. "Looks like brass fittings so that's good. He secured it using aluminum clamps." Rick slid out from under her trailer to see her handing down the brochure the man who did the repair had left behind.
"CSST, Poly-coated stainless steel tubing." It even showed a diagram about where the piping could be installed. From the propane tank, underground to route to various locations using the proper fittings.
"Looks good to me. Far better than that copper tubing you had. One year limited warranty. Did you get a warranty for the installation?" Rick asked her.
"One year same as the piping. You don't get a warranty for anything these days," she complained.
"I hear that!" Rick got up and handed her the brochure. "It looks really good to me. I'll have to remember this stuff for next time. Might need to do it for myself. Nice work."
"Thank you, Mr. Rodgers." She felt better knowing that he liked it.
"Happy to help. Come on, Charlie, let's go home."
"You're a good boy, Charlie." She took her chance to pet and hug him. He was a well loved dog around here. She knew people were buying Milk-Bone dog treats just for him.
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Rick and Charlie were used to walking the park several times each week. Anywhere from 3 to 6 or even more. Today was going to be different. Rick hadn't missed seeing Charlie being fed biscuits by people around here and he was concerned that Charlie was getting fat. This should fix that.
"Ready?" Rick looked at him and took off jogging. Instead of walking around it on a leash he was jogging his way around the park without a leash to see how Charlie liked it.
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Rick was bent over and trying to suck in air at the door to his trailer. He didn't know if it was hard on Charlie but it sure as hell was hard on him. Charlie was standing there panting heavily with his tongue hanging way out.
"How was that? …Speak," Rick told him and got him to bark.
Rick opened the door and let Charlie jump inside. The thirsty dog went straight for his water bowl and proceeded to attempt to drink it dry.
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Rick was resting on his sofa while petting Charlie who was sitting next to him. Then someone knocked on his door. "Mr. Rodgers?"
Rick was still recovering from their run and even Charlie was still panting. "Not again! I must have done something really bad in a previous life," he muttered to himself and heard whoever it was knock on his door again.
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Rick came home to find a very happy to see him Charlie who got petted, hugged, and kissed. Rick grabbed a poop bag and his leash and noticed a blinking light on his answering machine.
"Mr. Rodgers, this is Kim. I managed to get us back into Kaiser Permanente Anaheim and Irvine Medical Center again. Meet me there in two days at 10:00am again and we'll put Charlie to work. Call me if you can't make it." BEEP!
"We get to see that little girl that loved you again. Let's go, Charlie, we need exercise." Rick took him outside to do his business, get some exercise, and maybe get intercepted by a boy with a tennis ball.
Charlie lived a dog's life!
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She was their final stop of the day. "CHARLIE!" She remembered him really well. Charlie got up a little onto her bed. Rick took a risk. He lifted up the rest of Charlie and watched him settle down and snuggle next to her. Now she could wrap herself around him, hold him tight, and sniffle.
"She's been looking forward to today for the last week," her mother told Rick and Kim. "Sadly she might not ever see him again. Today is her last chemo treatment for maybe a month or more."
"Then we'll stay till the nurse kicks us out or Kim here does." Rick looked at Kim.
"I've got nowhere else to be." What Charlie was doing was far more important than her going home and filling out a report for today.
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Rick and Charlie only had one more visit before they would find out if Charlie passed and he could be a Therapy Dog. He was thinking maybe the same time next week but somewhere else.
Yesterday had been the hospital. Today was beach day since it had gotten a little warmer this morning than normal.
Rick loved the beach and Charlie kind of liked the beach, save for the dogs that barked at him because they wanted to rip him apart for some reason. Rick, though, was hoping for another lovely bikini clad woman that was petting and hugging Charlie, someone who said yes when he asked her out for a date.
The last time he had done this he got more than just a date. He got sex! She hadn't called him again, but she'd been fun and she actually was pretty good in bed. Her bed, that is. He had liked her kisses, her breasts, her taste, and being inside her even if it was with a condom.
He had been walking the beach for over an hour till he finally found someone to say yes to a date. He got her to memorize his number by getting her to repeat it over and over again till she had it and Charlie got a hug and kiss goodbye.
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Rick was home and greeted by Charlie as usual and played his message.
"Mr. Rodgers, this is Kim. Please meet me in two days which should be your next day off work at Angels Nursing Health Center at the address I give you at 10:00am again. This should be Charlie's final test. I will contact you the results. Call me if you can't make it." BEEP!
"One test to go, Charlie!" Rick petted him, ruffled his hair, and kissed him.