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Jake's eyes open wide and he hurriedly moves to the side. But, like his aching heart, the seat on the couch where Max used to sit is now vacant. He takes a long, deep breath – more of a sigh – and squeezes his eyes shut, trying to briefly disguise his sadness by sinking into the darkness of a nap. They had been inseparable for fifteen years. Always next to each other. The beach walks with the soft waves crashing and the seagulls cawing. On those hot bright days, on those hikes on the trail where the trees canopied over them like arches, enclosing them in a lovely cold shade. They always rode together to the grocery store, even if it was merely to get something Martha had forgotten. Though he knows that in some ways he should be thankful for just having their time together – those moments forever etched in his heart – and that the sickness took Max quickly rather than dragging out the pain for weeks, maybe even months, he still feels cheated. That somehow, he is missing years that could have been. Unable to sleep, he looks around the all too empty room, letting his gaze fall upon the leash, which still hangs from the peg by the door. It seems to wait patiently, ever ready for that next big adventure. As his eyes well up, he realizes for the first time how much his grief weighs, how hard it is to even rise with such a heaviness inside. He turns to see Martha standing in the doorway, her shoulder leaning on the frame, when he hears a shuffle from behind. She says, "I thought you would be in here." She gives him a brief glance before shifting her gaze to the couch. "I, too, miss him, Jake." You'll never know how much." There’s a faraway melancholy tone to her voice, but he knows that her heart, like his, has a hole too big to fill. His head drops and he gives off another long sigh, which seems to prompt her to come over and kneel down onto the carpet beside him. She slides a hand under his chin and lifts it up, then tucks back his long, floppy ears, such that their teary eyes can meet. “I guess you do know, don’t you, Jake"