Bus Rides.

Two.

I woke up with a really bad headache. My head didn't have a pillow. I picked myself up and looked around the room. It was still dark, around 1-1:30. I heard Jason across the room, whispering soft words to something... or someone. I felt around for my glasses and started to walked towards his voice. It got a bit louder so I sat down and scooted closer. I didn't want to fall on him, or what I thought was him, and whatever he was talking to.

"Jas'? What're you doing up?" I noticed the faint shine of his bright smile.

"Look," he said, and turned on his phone's flashlight. It immediately hit the closed eyes of a newborn puppy wrapped in a small blue blanket. It had a yellow nipple in its mouth and was sucking as if it had been stranded on an island for some years. It's dark brown fur was still damp, the birth must've just happened. I don't know how I didn't hear Shinozaki's cry, I was knocked out.

Shinozaki is Jason's Alaskan Malamute. He found her on the side of the road, beaten half to death, with a huge gash on her stomach and her ear torn. The person who tortured her, found and arrested later, put her in dog fights. The guy was sick... dude cut off her nipples while she was conscious. Jason called an ambulance, he didn't know what to do. He called me afterwards and was hysterical. I never saw him cry or be so passionate about anything that much in the time I've known him.

The ambulance came and gave us a hard time. I remember the conversation vividly.

"Hey, kids, we're people savers, not dog savers."

"That's bullshit, man! You've got to help her. Call a dog saver, than! Do something!"

"Don't give me the crap, little boy. I've had a hard day."

"Not as hard a day as she has." Jason was shaking at that point. He was on the verge of bawling.

"Alright, I'll call the Humane Society, I guess."

He was about to attack the EMT but I calmed him down in time.

The Human Society came in time, and were just as appalled Jason and I were. They comforted him and told him he did the right thing, wrapping his shirt around the big wound and his hair tie around her ear to stop the bleeding.

Two hours and nine candy bars later, they came out and told us she was fine and asked if we knew the owner. I was gonna tell her the truth but Jason stood and told her he was the owner. When she asked for the dog's papers, he told her "she's always been around since he was little, and although he has no documented proof, everybody knows that she's his dog." He started to tear up and made the nurse take pity. A few minutes later, Zake was all patched up and ready to go.

Jason loves that dog more than he loves himself. He'd do anything for her to live safely.

He was crying tears of joy when I looked up at him. He was kissing the puppy's forehead and looked at me.

"You know, it's funny," he whispered, not trying to wake up the exhausted momma dog,"Zake looked up at me when the puppy tried to go to her belly, you know, to feed. She almost cried, but the puppy still had his eyes closed, so I rushed over to the kitchen and heated up some 2% milk, put it in my old baby bottle and shoved it into the his mouth before he could reach to her stomach. She showed like, a smile. Like that dog smile that looks creepy out of context.. but is beautiful with." His tears started to fall more rapidly. This type of thing makes me happy. Seeing him feel something. Seeing him love something. Seeing him care. He only ever shows three moods: anger, lust, or content. But pride, joy and happiness... those were rare. To see a genuine smile on his face was foreign but... it honestly warned my heart.