Chapter 6
It was a couple of months since Marty joined the Hofstadter family. Sarah made sure that the dog is trained to do its business outside of the house. The couple made sure that their daughter was fully responsible for the dog, especially in cleaning up after him. Sarah didn't complain as she had Jason to help her out most of the time especially in training the dog. Leonard and Penny was glad to see that their daughter has learned how to be responsible, a lesson Sarah probably took with her when their first dog Buster was still alive.
It was already seven in the morning when Leonard went down into the living room, ready to go to work.
"Sarah hurry up! You don't want to be late for school!" he yelled. Sarah came running from the backyard.
"I'm coming dad! I was just saying goodbye to Marty." she said as she picked up her backpack and slung it on her shoulders. "Bye mom!" she yelled as Penny came from the kitchen.
"Have fun you two!" Penny said giving her husband a kiss.
"Bye honey!" said Leonard as he followed her daughter out of the front door. Marty suddenly ran after them and started barking and growling at Leonard.
"Marty stop that! They're just going to work!" Penny yelled as she tried to hold the dog down. The dog continued barking and whimpering as it moved around Leonard, restless and agitated. Sarah knelt down and tried to calm the dog down.
"What is it Marty? We're just going to school." said Sarah patting the dog on its back. "It's weird, this is the first time Marty did this. He usually just looks at us when we're leaving the house but now he's freaking out." she said as the dog won't stop barking and whimpering at Leonard. Leonard knelt down and patted the dog on its head.
"Hey little buddy!" he said as the dog calmed down and started licking his hand while wagging its tail. "Okay, I think he's fine now. Let's go honey, we're already late." Leonard said as he kissed Penny goodbye. Penny held the dog as Leonard and Sarah got into the car. Marty barked and wagged its tail as they drove away.
Inside the car, Sarah quickly put on her seat belt as Leonard drove down the road. She looked at her phone and saw that she is almost ten minutes to being late for school.
"Dad can you drive faster, I'm gonna be late." she said.
"Don't worry, you'll be there just in time." he said smiling at his daughter.
After driving for almost ten minutes, they reached Sarah's school as a handful of cars were ahead of them into the school driveway.
"Ugh, I'm gonna be late!" she said.
"Relax honey. It's not like you have a test or something right?" he said.
"I know but Mrs. Ramirez doesn't like late students. I don't want another infraction from her." she said as the car inched forward slowly. "Oh screw it, I'm gonna make a run for it." she said as she unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her backpack.
"Okay. Have fun at school! I love you!" Leonard said as Sarah quickly opened the door and jumped out of the car, running towards the school entrance. Leonard watched his daughter run as he swerved the car out of the beeline of cars. He drove out, merging with the traffic to go to the university for his morning class.
It was almost eleven o'clock as Leonard just finished his lecture in the classroom and his students are gathering their stuff to leave the room.
"Now remember kids, your papers are due next week and if you're having some doubts or trouble finishing it, you can come into my office every four o'clock and I'll try to help you out. Another option, and I'm just saying this if you hate yourself or has completely given up on life, is to ask for Dr. Cooper's advice!" he said as the whole classroom erupted into laughter. He was laughing when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his chest. He reached for the water bottle on his desk and loosened his tie as he drank his water. Another stinging pain came onto his chest, this time it was more intense. He leaned his hand on the edge of his desk as he tried to take a deep breath. He felt the air draining from his lungs as he saw the entire class starting to swirl into a blur.
One student from the front saw his discomfort. "Sir are you alright?" he asked. Leonard looked at him until he saw his entire world slowly fade into darkness.