Candice lifted up the sleeping mask that was around her eyes. She could tell it was midday from the sun that was peeking in through her window. Not being able to really get out of bed, she sighed and put her mask on her bedside table. Cotton had woken up with her movement and greeted Candice with a bark and a lick on the cheek. Candice smiled, but her eyes were still tired and she was more pale than normal.

Before she got stuck in bed due to her flu, Candice had moved all of Cotton’s supplies, food, water, toys, closer to her bed so she didn’t have to walk that far to feed the little one. Candice had expected that she would get sick with the small cough, fever, and sniffles, but she never thought it would be this bad. Cotton was a well-behaved little puppy, but Candice knew, and felt bad, that she was unable to bring Cotton to the park. The puppy loved going out and well, Candice loved it too. She missed the warmth of the sun against her face and the soft breeze that blew.

Candice sighed as she petted Cotton. She reached over to the bedside table and reached for the bucket of puppy-food that was there. Using a measuring cup, she put some food into Cotton’s food bowl which was right in front of the bedside table. With the small clanks, the little puppy jumped off of the bed and dug into her food. Candice let out a weak laugh and smiled. Her voice was hoarse, but she tried to speak. “My little one, you’re going to get fat if you don’t get enough exercise!”

As the little one was enjoying her food, Candice picked up one of the water bottles nearby and filled Cotton’s water bowl. “Ugh… I need to get out of bed!”

She flipped the blanket off of her legs and she dragged herself to the edge of the bed. Candice knew that Cotton’s ‘business’ area needed cleaning… The least she could do was that much right? Once her feet touched the ground, Candice tried to lift herself off the bed. Oddly enough, it was hard just to keep herself up, her body wanting to fall from underneath her. “Come on… You can do just this one thing!” She kept screaming to herself in her head to not give up. Eventually, she made it to the mat that she knew she needed to clean up, and stared down it. It wasn’t as bad as she thought, but it was better doing it now before her adrenalin went back down. Candice quickly picked it up and walked to her sink, picking the poop off with some paper towels and rinsed off the spots that looked like they were dirty. Once she was finished, she looked down, smiling at Cotton whom looked at her possession wagging her tail.

“You know you’re a spoiled little brat, right Cotton,” Candice said half-jokingly. The puppy continued to wag her tail and barked, like she knew that she was spoiled. Once the map was back in its place, Candice walked back to bed while Cotton jumped on her bed again. Candice sat down and crossed her legs. In an instant, Cotton knew that’s where she was supposed to go and made herself comfortable in Candice’s lap. “You need a walk now… You’re totally overdue…”

Candice knew that what she was saying was true, but she didn’t know how she was actually going to do it. She had already missed a few days of school, but it was only because her professors knew that she was ahead in her classes that they didn’t mind her missing school. They expected her to work harder later and they very much knew that she would, but Cotton wouldn’t benefit at all from not doing anything.

Picking up her phone, she flipped through the numbers that she had. Candice thought that maybe Raven would be okay with doggysitting Cotton for a few days, but she also knew that she had her own puppy to worry about. Scrolling through her contacts, Jett’s name popped up. “Hm… He was there when I first got Cotton, and she seemed to like him…”

She stared at her phone for a little while, wondering if it was a good idea. “Cotton really needs her daily walks…” Candice sighed. She knew she was desperate. She pressed the ‘call’ button and put her phone to her ear. “I really hope Jett is willing…”

As the phone was ringing, Candice just kept hoping that Jett was willing. She would make up for it… Some how…