A Sad Story

My dog is such a good sweet dog. She gets a little hyper or annoying sometimes, but she takes such good care of me. When I'm sick, she seems to know and she stays by me. When I've been sad, she looks at me concerned and tries to lick it better.
Niobe is very good about staying with me when we go outside. Sometimes we let her go out by herself. She's afraid of people so we don't have to worry about that- she'll come running back before she'd ever go after anybody. Sometimes when we let her out alone, I have to encourage her to go up the stairs by herself because she'll wait for me.
When we first got her, she was potty trained and she was comfortable with us (we got her from Jeff's dad's family). But, being in a new place, it took her a long time to get comfortable with her surroundings. We would put her on a leash and take her to the backyard and then take off the leash so she could sniff around. It seemed to take her a long time to even know it was okay to go to the bathroom.
All of this combined, I often take the dog out without a leash. Especially lately, I think I should use one more for the security of anyone else that happens to be outside than for the dog's safety or to keep her under control. But, being pregnant, I've been quite lazy, especially if I'm the one to take her out in the morning. Lately I've just been watching from the bottom of the stairs because she's so good about doing her thing and coming right back and then if I need to I know to go clean up.

The other night when I got home from work I opened the door to let her out. Sometimes when she really has to go, she'll run up the stairs without hesitating. So she did this night. I was right behind her though, or so I thought. When she got to the top of the stairs, she bolted. She's done this once or twice before when she goes after a cat or a bird. She's just playing. I called her name and got to about the third step just in time to see her dash into the parking lot. A car was also coming through and hit her full on the side.
I really expected her to be dead when I got there. I called back to Jeff who I hadn't even said hi to yet hoping he'd come out. He stays much more calm than I do in stressful situations. I got to the top of the stairs and Niobe wasn't near the car. Instead she came running from the other direction, went straight down the stairs and into the apartment. I called her again to try to get her to come to me so I could see if she was alright, but thinking she was still running she must be at least somewhat okay.
The driver had stopped his car and got out. I thought I better talk to him. I felt almost as bad for him as I did the dog. He was a young guy and pretty shook up. He said he saw the cat but not the dog, he just heard her yelp and felt the car hit something. I apologized and told him she was still running so she's probably okay. He stood there for a bit and then calmed down and left just as Jeff was coming out asking what was going on.
We got Niobe to come up the stairs and go to the bathroom and watched to see if she was limping or if anything was bleeding. She had a pretty good cut on her face and her tail looked bent, but she was walking okay, just emotionally upset. We took her in and cleaned her cut and just watched her the rest of the night. We didn't know where to take her and we didn't have any money either. She went up and down the stairs a time or two more, but by the time I was going to bed, I couldn't get her up the stairs. I wasn't sure if she was hurt or just scared.
We took her to the doctor the next day (thanks to our moms for helping with the money) and she seemed to be okay. There's a possibility her tail is broken but that would have to heal on it's own anyway. She has been very good about taking pain pills and an antibiotic. The doctor said that even a bruised muscle can cause infection so the antibiotic is precautionary. Our nervous dog did surpsrisingly well with it all but it was a rough visit anyway. She seems to be doing better now, but is still very cautious and will yelp for no reason or when she moves and I worry something hurts more than just aches and pains.