DEAN HOLDER:
“I’d need to speak to the chief but I am definitely recommending a different route for them if it continues. Nobody wants someone performing surgery on them that just.. isn’t cut out for it. I mean, would you?” Dean was all about giving people chances, but not when they continually showed a lack of care. “Well, let’s just say a Holder family event is never without town gossip, that’s for sure. My dad was a total fake, my mom was overly happy I was there.. so was Bea but uh.. I had Maia there with me which was good. It got me through.” He didn’t know why he went, other than for his mom; but if anything, being there made him even more acutely aware how much he no longer belonged in that world. “Hey, they say no news is good news. So we’ll stick with that. —Really?” Dean’s eyes lit up at mention of Coco, a major dog lover himself. “I wish I had time for one. Dogs don’t do your head in as much as people do.”
“Oh, absolutely not. I want my doctors to know what they’re doing.” Leo had only survived because of surgeons who were good, and even they hadn’t managed to completely heal the tremor in his hand. It was an obstacle he could live with, but he didn’t want to picture how things would have turned out if he didn’t have good surgeons. “Sounds absolutely awful. I’m happy you made it out alive,” he agreed with a crooked smile, shaking his head a little. Leonard could hardly picture that sort of event, or that sort of family for the matter. His own upbringing had been different, and his relationship with his family as well. But every family was complicated, he could also tell a tale of that. “Really,” he laughed, unable to contain his own love for the dog. She made his life a little more bearable most days. “I mean, it’s true what they say: Dogs are much better than people. Better friends and roommates too. If you ever need a cuddle after work, you know where to find us.”













