“Oh, Little Pet,” he whispers. “Daddy is right here. I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay.”
Arms wrap around me, and I let out a little squeak as my body is moved.
“You’re okay.” He holds me tightly against him. “I shouldn’t have left you alone in the apartment. Daddy is so sorry for that. I should have insisted on staying or calling in instead of going into the office. Next time, I won’t make that mistake.”
Daddy very carefully pulls the blanket away from my head and looks down at me, a soft smile on his face.
“Daddy is so sorry,” he whispers and kisses my nose. “You’re okay.”
Tears run down my face as I stare up at him.
“I tried,” I gently say. “I tried to be brave for you and not make you worried.”
“Oh, Little Pet. You were so brave for Daddy while you were alone in the apartment.” He pulls me into his chest.
We sit like this for a while, Daddy holding me close and whispering sweet nothings into my ear as he helps me calm down.
“How did you move the chair across the room?” Daddy asks. “It must have been so heavy.”
“It was, but I didn’t want the door to close,” I mutter.
“How about I take off the door, so you never have to worry about that again. Or I could take the top off. If you really need to get out because of danger, you can climb out,” he offers.
“Climb up those bars?” I turn my head to look at the kennel.
Does he realize how hard that would be? They are almost taller than me, with nowhere for me to put my feet to hoist myself up. And even if there were holes I could, I wouldn’t be able to with how weak I am. Even though I’ve been here for almost two weeks, my body still has not gotten used to the gravity.
“Hmmm, you’re right. I’ll think about it. Maybe we can put a number pad on the kennel door. If anything happens, the security guard can tell you the code so you can get out,” Daddy continues. “I’ll think about it and figure out what would be best.”
I lay my head on Daddy’s chest and hold onto his shirt.
“I’m so sorry I left you here all alone. I shouldn’t have. Not when it’s been so soon since the fire alarm went off,” Daddy gently says.
“It’s okay. I told you that I was fine,” I force myself to say. “Everything was okay. I was perfectly fine.”
“You were not fine. I don’t want you to lie. You were shaking like a leaf when I found you,” Daddy replies. “Why were you in the kennel? I didn’t think you would go in there alone, especially not when I’m not in the apartment.”
“I didn’t have anywhere else to lie down. The padding in there is really hard to pull out. I figured if the door was always open, I would be fine. But my mind kept playing the fire alarm over and over in my head. It wouldn’t stop.” I ramble toward the end. “But I was so brave, and I didn’t call out for help. I stayed in my cage and was a good girl. Right, Daddy? Was I a good girl?”
I sound almost hysterical at this point, I can hear it in my own voice.
“Nora, I want you to listen to Daddy very carefully.” He cups my face and makes us look into each other’s eyes.
“I promise I tried really hard to be a good girl,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “I wanted to call you back so badly, but I didn’t want you to be mad or annoyed that you had to leave work because of me. You said it was important. I didn’t want to disrupt you.”
“Nora, Little Pet.” He wipes away the tears. “In that situation, I want you to call out and get me back to the apartment as quickly as possible. While I want you to be brave, I don’t want to force you to be so brave and go through your trauma alone.”
I open and close my mouth several times, but Daddy just shakes his head.
“If something like this happens again, I want you to call out and get them to contact me as soon as possible. I don’t want you to have to suffer alone. That is not what Daddy wants,” he reiterates. “I’m so proud of you for being brave and going through that. But next time, call out. Daddy won’t be mad at you.”
“But you were working,” I mumble.
“Work comes second. Do you know what comes first?” he asks.
I shake my head.
“You. You always come first. If you are so scared and traumatized, I want you to get the guard’s attention, so he can call me. I don’t want you to have to suffer through this alone. Do you understand?”