“Hey, I’m going to start down the stairs since it’ll take me a while. Just wanted to let you know. You can keep sleeping or whatever, and no I’m not leaving you behind,” She said softly, scowling a little at Leo, “Maybe you could keep this little stinker here too, I don’t want to trip on him and break any more bones.”
Leo wagged his tail happily, still tugging at her pant leg. Jay nodded, rubbing his eyes. There were circles beneath his eyes. "Alright. Let me get my stuff ready and I'll head down." He said.
She nodded, reaching down and scooping up Leo before plopping him on the bed, “You stay with Jay, I don’t want to trip.” Delia looked over at the two of them before walking back and getting her other crutch, pulling it up under her arm and nodding, “Whenever you want you can come down, I’m just going to start so it doesn’t take as long.” She looked back at them before walking out of the apartment, thinking back at the dresses she had tried on and realizing she would probably never wear another dress again before she was killed. It was a random thought, and she pushed it out of her mind as she got to the stairs and started the shaky process of walking down.
Leo whined, watching her go. Jay picked up the puppy to keep him from running after Delia. Once Delia was out of sight, he let go of the little puppy and started packing his stuff up.
“So many flights of stairs,” She muttered, continuing down with all her supplies on her back. It was slow, but she was making progress down the stairs and towards ground level.
Jay took one last look around, and started walking down the stairs, Leo following him happily. He wished the elevators worked, because these stairs were long and winding.
Delia counted the stairs as she went down, keeping a mental tally, “114, 115, 116..” It was something to do and took her mind off of falling or making Jay have to wait even longer for her to get to the bottom.
Jay kept walking down the stairs, keeping an eye on Leo. Leo bounced and tumbled down the stairs, sniffing curiously at things, tail wagging happily.
She continued down, hearing footsteps and smiling at the realization that it was Jay. “Caught up to me,” She called, still shakily going down. Delia could hear little Leo and it made her smile, he was adorable.
Jay smiled. "Yeah." He replied as he came around a corner and spotted her. Leo kept bouncing down the stairs, his small legs meaning he couldn't just step down like a larger animal.
“You can go ahead, this’ll take me a while with my leg,” She said, chuckling a little at Leo’s bouncing steps down the stairs. Her eyes didn’t leave the steps and she took another step down, one of her crutches held tightly in her hand and the other stuck out of her bag as she help onto the railing.
Jay nodded with a soft chuckle. Leo kept going down the stairs, before slipping and tumbling down to the landing with a sharp yip. Jay's eyes widened, and he went down the stairs to the landing, picking up the puppy gently, and examining his legs, ribs, and spine gently to check for breaks. Leo lay stunned in his arms for a moment, then barked softly, wriggling happily.
Delia’s eyes widened and she froze when she say Leo fall, relaxing visibly and sighing. “You little rascal, you gave me a heart attack,” She scolded the puppy with a small smile, reaching the platform they were on. She looked over the dog as well before nodding, heading on, “Maybe we should hold onto him until we get to the ground.”
Leo wriggled again. Jay nodded. "Alright." He pulled out the sling he had used coming up, and put the puppy inside it. Leo stuck his head out happily, ears pricked.
She looked over at him and smiled, laughing at Leo’s head popping out of the sling, “He’s adorable.” Continuing down the stairs, she took her time. It was slow but getting there, still counting steps, “156, 157, 158.”
Jay grinned. "Mhm. Aren't you glad i found him and didn't accidentally shoot him?" He chuckled. Leo barked softly, tongue hanging out of his mouth happily.
“Very,” She replied with a laugh at Leo’s bark. He was going to grow up to be an amazing dog, she knew that. Her focus drifted back to not falling down the stairs and she went silent, as much as she wanted to talk with him.
Jay started walking again, going slow so that he could help her if necessary. Leo panted happily.
Delia sighed and stretched out her back as she reached the next floor down. Her eyes drifted to him and she saw he was still there, “You can go on ahead, I don’t mind, I’ll only be a little bit longer.” She started down again and went over her list of supplies in her head to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.
Jay nodded, and went down the stairs. Leo peeked back at her, panting happily as his tail wagged a bit.
“I’ll see you soon Leo,” She called out after him, smiling and making her way down the stairs faster. “If only the elevator still worked,” She grumbled, though wasn’t mad as she hobbled down and kept her weight off her leg. There was no way to tell how much longer she would have to not use her leg and she liked it less and less every day.
Leo barked softly as Jay went around the corner, the two no longer visible. Jay smiled at the puppy, scratching Leo's head gently.
Delia sighed and got back to hobbling down, a tiny smile still hiding on her face. Several hundred steps later, along with almost tripping a few times, she got down to the main floor. “I’m here Jay,” She called out, taking a small break over by the stairs and rolling her shoulders.
Jay came over. He had been over at the windows. Leo was trotting around on the floor again, and barked happily when he saw her, running over.
“See any sign of anyone?” She asked, scooping up Leo with a growing smile again and holding him close to her chest. As long as they weren’t moving at the moment, she didn’t need to get her other crutch from her pack just yet.