followed her from room to room.
How he slept at her feet while she knitted.
How Lorraine insisted they return him to the academy even while she was dying.
“He’s meant to help people,” she had said.
Mitchell listened quietly.
Then Henry told him about their final goodbye.
The academy parking lot.
The collar.
Bear looking backward until the door closed.
“Lorraine died nine days later.”
Henry stared down at the dog.
“After that, I stopped caring about much.”
He stopped fixing the house.
Stopped gardening.
Stopped seeing people.
Even
