Kaydon floated in and out, in and out. He knew as soon as he found out he had cancer that he was going to see Hugo again soon. Then he got to talk to Hugo in his dreams. Hugo had made him feel better. Since that dream, he wasn’t afraid any longer. Hugo was going to be waiting for him on the other side. He’d told him he’d be right there waiting and Kaydon had held on to that reassuring thought since his chat with Hugo. So as his float outs grew longer and the float ins shorter, he knew he was going to see him soon.

And what was it that Hugo had told him? Kevin and Simon will be with him, loving and holding him close. They would be the last people he saw before closing his eyes. Kaydon was sad. Not for himself – he was going to be hanging out with Hugo again. Sad for his people. They were crying and not crying, then crying again. It had been like this for a few days. As much as he wanted to jump up on them and lick their faces to make them smile like he used to, he didn’t have the energy.

And now, he was about to close his eyes. When the nice lady showed up at the house, Kevin led her to the middle bedroom, the one where they had laid Hugo down in his bed after he crossed over. Since then, Kaydon loved sleeping in that bed, smelling Hugo in it, remembering his puzzlement over why Hugo wasn’t moving. Now he was in it too, with Simon leaning over him, stroking his ears as Kaydon gave a feeble wag of the tail. Kevin sat next to Simon as they both stroked his ears and rubbed his tummy.

He opened his eyes just long enough to see the nice lady. He could tell she was nice. He wasn’t sure why she was here, and he didn’t know her but it didn’t matter. He was with Simon and Kevin, in his bed that still smelled faintly of Hugo, and he felt ready to go, ready to see Hugo again. He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. He looked up at Simon, then at Kevin and a flood of happy memories overcame him as he closed his eyes.

In the middle of reliving a million different happy times, he felt the slightest sting.

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