"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I heard a commotion coming from outside the hospital. I was doing my leading rounds that morning, I was the head Veterinarian for the Hopes of Bettering animal hospital. I heard a blood haertling cry coming from just at the front desk. I made my way out, and ran towards the front of the hospital. I could tell something was going on, it was my instinct to go.
A woman, screaming out her lungs, bringing in a bloody dog. The dogs' insides were hanging out. I thought to myself, dear God, what on earth was I witnessing? I wondered what could have caused this dog to bleed so much. I was brought back into the action.
"Becky go grab one of our gurneys, we need to carry the dog back there" Becky hurriedly ran, eyes wide with shock.
I was her too. I have witnessed a lot of things in the hospital, but this was the first for me. She came back with a small gurney, the dog was bleeding out. We needed to get her in the back. We took her from the woman. Everyone carefully laid her on the gurney, all in sync.
They strapped her down. I was running in behind them. As the nurses were running an IV through the dog's arm, I was getting on my surgical gear. I went into the other room and scrubbed my arms really well. I put on my gloves, the dog only had minutes left. She was stable for the moment, I needed to get in there and fix her.
I walked back into the room. One of the nurses put my headgear on, with the light so I could see properly. I begin to work on putting the dogs insides back in. The dog was under anesthesia, according to her wait. While she was stable, and unconscious, the nurses did some blood testing. We needed to find out everything we could about this dog, before we could even get started on her surgery. There are different protocols in place, and we have to make sure we follow them.
When the nurses came back into the room. She showed me the dog's blood test result. I looked it over, multiple times to make sure I understood. I cleared the dog for urgent surgery. Everything appeared fine, except for the internal and external bleeding that was happening across the table. I quickly got to work with all the surgical tools at my disposal.
After I was done closing the dog up, I went back into our washroom. I cleaned up once more. The dog had survived, now she was going to be in recovery. The nurses were doing follow ups. I had saved her for today. That was enough. I would come back to check on her. It turns out the woman who had brought her in was just a caretaker. She was letting the dog stay with her, because she found her out on the street.
I went home that night to my empty house. Rose was calling me up, telling me she will be home soon. Rose was my girlfriend, we had been dating for over a few years now. I had the engagement ring hidden away in my boxer drore. I should probably move it, she likes to get sneaky. She might find it, and that would ruin the surprise plans I had.
I kept going over how I wanted to ask her to marry me. Every girl had a fantasy proposal idea. I would try to get something out of her, just to see if she had anything specific. I wanted it to be special, romantic and most importantly cheesy. The cheesier, the better it would be. I knew she loved that about me.
I knew I should come up with something soon. Even though Rose loves me, she is also impatient. I caught her hinting at me proposing to her. I hope that was what she was hinting at. My mind circled to the dog back at the hospital. The nurses were constantly checking up on her. I just hope she will make it.
I needed to have hope. There are some battles you win, and there are some that you lose too. This, this one I wanted to win. I could see her fighting on that surgical table. She wanted to live. I only wished to see it come true.I did my daily night time routine. After my supper, I grabbed a quick shower, and got as much sleep as I could get.
The next morning when I got up, I glanced over to my right. Rose was sound asleep in bed. I had to get ready to go to the hospital again. We didn't get pages like regular hospitals. There were multiple doctors there. Again, my thoughts went back to the dog I saved last night.
Right, when I saw them carry the dog in I knew she was special. There was something about her that I knew I had to save, besides the fact it was my job too. I connected with her even though I didn't even know her yet. I remember I was so nervous.
It was my first time doing a major surgery on my own. I was solo, it's good to be nervous, but I also had to be confident in what I was doing. I mean I was sort of an expert on just some things I couldn't deal with. I specialized in surgical practices, and of course the regular checkups.
They said that someone had found her. A woman, the woman who was screaming bloody murder in the hallway. I faintly remember her though. Who knew what the truth was. There were always rumors sparking around the hospital. The truth was she didn't have an owner. I felt bad for her.
I finally made it to the hospital, the drive wasn't that far from where I lived. I went in, checked my ID in the compartment. I made my way to my tablet that was charging. We upgraded, now I can see how my patients progressed while I wasn't here.
I made my rounds that morning, checking on the pups and cats I helped the day previously. I finally made it over to the dog I had to do emergency surgery on. She seemed peacefully asleep. I checked her out. She seemed to be doing better to me. I took my stethoscope and checked for her heart. I could see her move, and she opened her eyes up slowly.
"Well good morning to you." I said, quietly.
Sometimes after surgery a dog's hearing can be affected. The anesthesia had worn off early this morning. The nurses kept giving her some meds, so she was loopy at the moment. However, that didn't stop her from giving me a death glare.
I figured she probably just went through a trauma by the way she was acting. We have to go through training on these animals. Our job is studying their behavior, and how they react to certain things. They can't speak to us, so we have to look and determine what's bothering, and most importantly what symptoms they are showing.
She didn't seem to like humans much. I could tell by the way she was behaving towards me. The dog kept giving me dirty glances, like I was disgusted and disrupted her. I found it kind of funny, but it shouldn't fool you either. The dog might still bite me, if I upset her. I looked her right in the eyes. I could tell she was intelligent.
They say the eye is a window to the soul. I looked at her with trust in my eyes. I was hoping she would look in my eyes and feel that she could trust me. One of the training techniques I had to learn was looking a dog straight in the eyes. They can either take it as a challenge, or it could be a really good bonding exercise. I want her to see it as the bonding thing. I was checking her again, still not glancing away from her eyes. It must have worked.
The dog was relaxing now. I did my normal check. I tried to barely touch her. I didn't want to press down on her abdominal, that's where I had to go in with the surgery. I could tell she was in pain. We couldn't exceed her pain medications to make her feel any better. I knew it had to hurt.
Something seemed to be wrong with her. My first thought was the surgery didn't go as well, but I glanced back down to her chart. I gave her some propofol. That should help her, and make it at least a bit more comfortable.
We kept her there for the next couple of days examining her. I kept accompanying her, she seemed to take to me more than everyone else. Her behavior was odd for a dog, I have dealt with a lot of animals. I tried to figure out why she acted the way she did to certain things.
For starters, she was always terrified when someone had a needle, or anything big, like the papers. She would flinch around them. Not to mention the countless times she looked at the other dogs, hanging her head low. I thought she was lonely, so we tried to introduce her to some of the other animals. She would only snap at them.
I went home to Rose, with the dog still on my mind. I had to figure out what was up with her. It could get worse later on if I didn't. I only figured it out when I went back to my place. Rose and I were watching the Human Documentaries over certain areas of the brain. It was a human body documentary basically. It came to the behaviors and symptoms.
She was depressed. Her symptoms pointed to. The head hanging low, not wanting to be around the other dogs, and most importantly her lack of effort. I had finally figured out what was wrong, now I wasn't specialized in that category. I would need to make a phone call when I went to the hospital for my shift. Like I said she probably just came out of a trauma before. I guessed right. I was usually good with that sort of thing.
The next day when I went to work my shift I spoke with my assistant, Clary. They had injected her with sleep serum, or another term you might know anesthesia. It would help the female dog to sleep for the few days when we looked at her.
Of course she would wake up. They would feed her while I checked out the other patients. She had a hard time sleeping lately. I checked her abdomen area again, it seemed to be healing up nicely. Nobody has come to claim her either yet. We posted on our websites, and hung up some signs too. We needed to find her answers. I also thought, no, how could they let something happen to her to begin with.
I tried my best to make sure all the patients were under good care while I was away. I always had the nurses go over what was on the chart, and double check before I left. I may live close by, but it only takes a second to lose a life. Doing the wrong thing, and not paying attention can cause it too.
I was on my way out. I had already had the nurses on shift go over the charts, when my assistant Clary came up to me. She was filing away some charts, and we made some small conversation.
"Max, I think you should adopt her." My assistant Clary said.
"Adopt who?" I asked, burrows furrowing together.
"John Doe dog. I think she might actually enjoy having you as her owner. Half of us don't want to deal with her without you here." She said, shrugging her shoulders, while putting the last of the files away.
"Clary, I really don't think that is necessary." I replied.
"Yes, I think it would be good for you." She said to me,
"How do you know what's good for me?" I asked.
"Max, don't take this the wrong way but you need a friend." Clary said her cheeks became a bright red.
"Are you calling me friendless?" I asked. Giving her my friendly evil glare.
"No, I just mean something that can understand you on a deeper level." She said, raising her eyebrows up and down.
"That pup is not something but a female dog. I don't think she's a pup anymore." I said to her,
"I think it would be good for both of you." Clary said and smiled.
"How?" I asked. Not sure why I did ask that.
"We will be waking her up in a few hours. Might want to go grab a collar for her." Clary said her smile was somehow bigger. She gave me a wink before leaving into one of the patient's rooms. I sat there and thought. Rose would be mad, I mean really mad at me.
I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out the right thing to do. I mean I never thought of getting a pet so soon, and especially with Rose. She didn't seem like having the pet type, but this dog, she needed me. Would I be depriving her of a home, because of someone else? If Rose really loved me, she would have to love me and the dog. It would be a good test run to see how she would handle having kids.
I felt like Clary knew what I was going to do. In fact, she did. Clary was right. We needed each other. The more I thought about it, the more I knew it was the right thing to do. I went to the store and bought a dark looking collar. I also needed a name for her. I looked around the store for the first letter I saw. The letter J. Huh it is crazy where life takes you.
I went back to the hospital building. I filled out the paperwork and took her home. She was now in a condition where it wasn't as critical. We had been monitoring her for days, she was good to go.
When I took her home, I laid her down on the couch. She had some bandages wrapped around her still. She was snoozing away. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed some towels. I made her a makeshift bed over in the corner. I quietly and quickly moved her over it.
I heard movement behind me. It was Rose, she looked at me and crossed her arms I shrugged my shoulders at me. She only rolled her eyes and went back to bed. I would hear about it in the morning, I knew it, it was how women worked.
The next morning I rolled over to find Rose already out of the bed. I could hear her in the kitchen, it was quiet, great. I got up and found my shoes. I made my way into the kitchen. There she was.
She glared at me while giving me a cup of coffee.
"So, are you going to tell me why we have a dog?" She asked, anger clear in her voice.
"She's going to be living here." I replied,
"Oh is she? Why didn't you include me in this conversation?" Her face raises along with her eyebrows.
"Well we always talked about family and pets. I figured why start now." I said, grabbing my coffee and drinking it.
"I meant years later Max. After we were married and had a stable house. Not when we aren't even engaged." hurt filling her voice.
I placed my cup on the table, I looked at her and grabbed her hands.
"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about her. She needed Rose, she was pitiful at the hospital. Nobody really liked her that much, she has taken a liking to me." I said with a small smile.
She huffed at me and pulled her hands away. Rose turned back to the sink.
"You get to clean up the poop and pee in the house." I only smiled at her.
"You got yourself a deal." I could see her shaking her head. She finished up and left for work.
I stayed back, I could see J stirring awake.
"Hi, I am Max. I am your owner. You probably can't understand me but this is a collar. I am a vet and I helped you." I said to her,
She looked up at me funny. I knew she just woke up from the sleeping serum we gave her. I also knew dogs couldn't really understand our words. It felt like she did though. I reached down and tied the collar around her neck. She backed away from me. I put my hands up in a defensive stance. I wanted to let her know I wouldn't harm her.
She tilted her head to the side. Looking up at me. I chuckled that most dogs don't usually show their personality to strangers.
"I'm not going to hurt you J, just let me put this on you." I said again.
I got up and laid the collar back on the table. I went towards the couch and went to put on my shoes.
"I have to go J, I will see you when I get back." I said again to J. She flopped down right on the floor.
After I had gone to work, Clary asked me about J.
"So, how was she?" She asked me.
"I think she's good. She was acting strange though." I replied.
"That's good right?" She asked me.
"I guess so." I said kinda.
My day carried on. The treatment of animals never seems to phase me. They are all extraordinarily strong, beautiful and most of all courageous. It was finally time to leave. I put the keys in the ignition and drove home. I fumbled for the keys to my apartment.
When I walked inside I saw her laying down. I went to the water bowl to see if she had eaten or drank anything all day. I went next to her food bowl. She didn't eat or drink anything. I needed to make sure she ate. She was in a bad condition when we first got her.
"You didn't eat did you?" I asked her.
I waited for a second. She was staring at me. I went over to her. I then picked her up and carried her over to the water bowl. She didn't make a move for it. I then realized something. When we get dogs from the shelter or abused homes they act like this. What if that was her trauma. I mean I could be right on the dot, or I could be completely wrong. That is just my guess. I thought to myself.
"It's ok." I said in a calming voice.
She hesitated for a moment. She was unsure by a decision. I knew that she wanted water. I could see her lingering stare at it. After a considerable moment, she took a sip. She then started drinking and making a mess. I didn't care that I would have to clean it up. I was so happy.
When she was finished she looked up at me. I could almost hear her talking to me. Thanking me in a way.
Eventually, time didn't matter between me and my new best friend. Our bond started to grow stronger every passing day. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Eventually, those months turned into a couple of years.
"You're my new friend. Matter of fact you're my only friend." I said to J.
We grew together.