Chapter 1

1

My wife, Sarah, was eight months pregnant and walking our dog when some idiot ran a red light and totaled her. Her water broke right there on the sidewalk.

First thing I did was call an ambulance.

The paramedics showed up, ready to load Sarah onto a stretcher, and I stopped them cold.

"Whoa, hold up. You guys got the wrong idea. I called for the dog. Gotta get him to the vet, like, now. Every second counts."

The paramedics just stood there, mouths open. So did everyone else gawking at the scene.

Sarah, lying on the ground in agony, started crying. "You're telling me a dog is more important than me and our baby?"

Without even thinking, I said, "Yep."

...

"Sir, I understand you're distraught, but this is an emergency service for humans," the paramedic said, trying to stay professional.

I was losing it, seeing Buster lying there, whimpering. "Human lives matter, sure, but so do dog lives!

"Buster's been with me for eight years, he's family. If you don't save him, I swear, you'll regret it."

The crowd started muttering.

"What a piece of work! His wife's going into labor, and he's worried about the mutt?" one guy said.

"I love my dogs, but there's no way I'd ditch my wife and kid. This guy's got serious issues."

"That poor woman. Stuck with this jerk."

I ignored them all. Carefully, I lifted Buster onto the stretcher.

"What are you waiting for? I'm the one who called you, and I already paid. Get Buster to the animal hospital, stat!"

The paramedics hesitated, glancing at Sarah, who was as white as a ghost and leaking amniotic fluid like a faucet. They started to say something, trying to reason with me.

But Sarah just clutched her stomach and said, weakly, "Just take Buster. I'll call another ambulance."

"My husband would be devastated if anything happened to him."

She gave me this look, full of love and barely-contained pain. The crowd was all heart-eyes for her, disgusted by me.

I didn't care. I just yelled at the paramedics, "You heard her! Now step on it! Every second counts for my boy Buster."