A Wolf's Pack

Chase is Seen

When he finally was up, Abby walked slowly toward the hall where the rooms were. The doctor greeted us at the door just as another pair was coming out. He welcomed us in except me. This confused me because he was the same man who had seen me a while ago. Abby took Chase in and handed my leash over to him. I looked at the man with concern, he must've known this because he bent down and pet my head to calm me. He said,
"Avalanche, do you promise not to hurt anyone or damage anything?"
I nodded and barked once. He patted my chest and said,
"That a girl."
He brought me back in the room and handed my leash back over to Abby. Chase was standing on the floor, quietly awaiting his care. The doctor went straight to him. He bent down and examined Chase. He touched Chase's hurt leg, which in turn, made him scream loudly. I flattened my ears when I heard his yell of pain and tugged at the leash. The doctor, whose name was Bob, shook his head. He told Abby from where he was,
"We need to do X-rays now. I think it's broken. I tried to put his paw carefully down on the floor, just the pad, and he screamed at me."
Abby nodded,
"Okay. Do whatever you need."
Bob said,
"Hey, that's the same thing you said last time, with Avalanche."
Abby laughed,
"Yeah, did you see her when you made Chase scream? Oh, she looked pissed."
Bob laughed and took Chase back to the radiograph room where we couldn't go. He came back a few minutes later, with the X-Ray in his hand. He laid Chase's leash down on the floor and walked over to a white box and placed the picture of what I presume to be Chase's hurt leg carefully on the box. He tapped on the thing to get our attention and it worked. He cleared his throat and said,
"You're in luck. It's broken, but it ain't broken so bad that I have to amputate, though. At first, I thought I was gonna have to take the leg, but with some I.V.s for the pain, reconstructive surgery, and a cast, he should be okay. Now, the I.V.s we'll start soon. Probably during his leg surgery. The hock and femur are both broke, and I'm gonna have to go in and fix his leg up. Put a cast on his leg to ensure it will be immobilized throughout his recovery. We're gonna keep him for a few days."
Abby nodded and quietly said,
"Okay. I'll take Avalanche home."
Bob shook his head,
"Now, hold on a minute! I ain't said nothing about you leaving. Y'all can stay for as long as y'all like, but my first priority is Chase. I'm gonna go get my assistant to help hoist him up on the table so we can start a drip."
He left the room and came back five minutes later with two young women. The women tried to turn Chase over, but he's big. Bob hoisted Chase up by the stomach and carefully placed him on the table. Now I watched as the two assistants shaved his leg with an electric razor and Bob tapped on the vein. He found his target with the needle as Chase jumped back a little. Bob held the line and pushed it in a little farther, then hung the bag of pain reliever on the pole. He wrapped up Chase's leg with blue Vet Wrap and taped it all secure. Bob said,
"There, the I.V.'s in. That's a pain reliever, but it's also an anesthetic. We're gonna put him under soon, he'll be out in a few minutes. I'll come back in ten minutes to put him on the anesthesia machine."
Abby asked,
"What's that?"
Bob answered,
"It's a canine mask and tube. The tube goes down his trachea so we can keep him breathing during the procedure. The mask goes over his nose if it's needed. Also, we put an EKG to monitor his heart rate. Don't worry, he's in great hands."
Abby nodded,
"Okay, well I'm doing home. Do you mind if I say bye to Chase?"
Bob shook his head,
"Of course, go ahead."
By now, Chase was out. Abby went up to him and hugged him, kissed his head and whispered goodbye in his ear. Now it was my turn to say goodbye so I went over to him at Abby's call and pawed his ear. Then I barked,
"Bye. See you tomorrow."