A Tail for Two - Chapter 3
The heartbeat was fading.
Cyd burst through the doors of the hospital, rushing as fast as he could. I followed close behind him while a nurse pushed Luke in a gurney beside me. I was still crying, but no tears were flowing. I had cried so much that I nearly ran out of tears. I couldn't take my eyes off of Luke's dying body. The only sign of life it had left was the constant gasps for air, as if his lungs couldn't even breathe anymore. Cyd and I followed as the nurse pushed him through a few doors and hallways. When we reached the Emergency Wing of the building, Cyd and I were stopped by a few doctors. They were both tall labs with long white coats. I tried my hardest to push through, but they wouldn't budge.
"Move! That's my brother! I need to be with him!" I shouted, the tears finally rolling back out. Cyd held my paw tight and towered behind my back.
"I'm sorry," one of them said, "no one is allowed back there except doctors, but I'm sure you're brother will be fine." He looked at the other doctor and then nudged at me to move back to the lobby.
"Nate, he's right. Luke's going to be okay," Cyd said, kissing the top of the beanie I was wearing. Although I didn't like it at all, I listened. I wanted to go and help Luke, but I knew he'd have a better chance of living if I stayed out of the doctor's way and just let them do the best they could do. If you felt the blood and saw the wound like I did, you wouldn't think Luke had any chance, but I didn't have a choice; I had to keep believing. I had to keep praying that he'd live; it's the only thing I could do to help. I looked down the hall behind me as I walked back to the lobby. Cyd made sure not to let go of my paw; he knew that I needed the comfort.
I took a seat on one of the scratchy waiting chairs and laid my muzzle on Cyd's shoulder, breathing deeply onto his dark brown neck. My tail poked out between my legs and rested across his lap. His left arm was wrapped around my shoulder and his right paw began to pet my tail gently. "What if they can't save him?" I asked in a very calm voice, "what if they try their hardest, but we found him too late."
"It wasn't too late Nate," he reassured, "we're lucky to have even seen him on the road like that."
"You saw him, I didn't. It's my fault this happened to begin with." I pulled my chin off of his shoulder and looked away in shame.
"Don't say that Nate; you never did anything to put your brother in harm's way." He licked the tip of my ear and I twitched it in response. I had so many thoughts rushing through my mind, but there was only one I was sure of; I had to show him the note that Luke was holding.
"Cyd, it is my fault," I admitted, lowering my head further. I reached into my pocket and wrapped my claws around the note; the piece of blood-stained paper written specifically to me. I pulled the note out of my pants and handed it to him, trying my best not to make eye contact. When the paper left my paw and entered his, my body tensed up and I turned away. I could just imagine his fangs glaring at me in disgust; repulsed by the fact that I brought this upon my brother.
"It's not your fault pup," he whispered in my ear after taking a few seconds to himself. I smiled and let out a sigh of relief; he didn't hate me. I began to pull my tail off of his lap, but he stopped me from moving any farther. His paw gripped it tightly and he pulled me in closer, using my tail as a leash. "When did I say you could move that?" he asked me with a friendly smile on his face.
I will never be able to fully explain Cyd's smile. It's so bright, so kind, so charming. It's charismatic, yet shy, and extremely welcoming. Just the sight of it always makes me laugh, even in the worst moments. Even at a time like now.
"Don't try to hide that smile cutie!" he demanded with a giggle. He could easily tell that I was holding back all forms of happiness. I wanted to laugh and smile, I really did, but I was afraid of what was going to happen to Luke. I kept telling myself that he needed my support full time and I couldn't keep my mind off of him for more than a second. If I did, maybe he wouldn't have the help he needed to survive. It may not make since to you, but it made perfect since to me. Luke needed the little help I could provide, no matter what.
"I'm not hiding anything," I said, "I'm just scared."
"I know, I know. I don't expect you not to be scared," he said to me with full eye contact, "I just know that you're a strong kid, no matter what you have to go through." I guess he was right. Even though it didn't always work, I tried my hardest to be a tough guy. Sure I had a wimpy structure, but I was emotionally strong. If there was one thing Luke needed more than my hope, it was my strength, and I was going to give it to him.
"I'm not a kid; I'm a man," I joked back to Cyd, trying to lighten the mood. He shook his head in embarrassment and I could tell in his eyes that he was ready to joke back.
"Well in that case, you're the shortest man I've ever seen." I punched his arm in a friendly way and we both began to laugh. Sure, we did have a lot going on, but we both needed to release some of our stress. It felt so good just to let go of some of my worry, but that doesn't mean I didn't have other things on my mind.
"Cyd, what if they come back? What if they try to kill me?" I asked, taking the conversation into a completely different direction. The anxiety began to overflow the happiness once again and the only thing I could still hold back was my panic. I buried my head into his arm for comfort, hoping that blocking my face would block all the emotions as well.
"Do you honestly think I would let anything happen to you?" Cyd asked as he attempted to pull my head up from his arm. "You're perfectly safe as long as I'm by your side." I couldn't help but believe every word he said. If he claimed that he would keep me safe, then I thought he would keep me safe, no matter what.
I pulled my body closer to his, resting my arms, legs, and head in the corresponding crevices of Cyd's figure. His entire body was made like a puzzle piece for mine; every curve seemed to fit mine perfectly so that when I rested on him, I was perfectly tranquil.
The room had been pretty silent for quite some time. Besides the occasional cough or sneeze, not a single noise was made. I could pick up the faint scent of grilled cheese cooking in the hospital cafeteria, although it was mixed with odor of the unsanitary hospital and sickly patients.
Cyd's ear began to twitch as he picked up the sound of footsteps running in our direction, I noticed it as well. The sound started off extremely quiet, but rose in volume as it approached. I lifted my head up from Cyd's shoulder and looked forward as a surgeon came roaring through the double doors of the waiting room. His scrubs were stained with a few spots of blood and his masked was turned down, revealing his scaly face. He scanned the room hastily before locking his eyes onto my body, seeing how I was the only Siberian husky in the room.
"You there," he hissed as he walked towards me, "That's your brother in the back there, right? The one with the bullet wound?" He was breathing heavily and talking quickly
"Yea," I yelled out as I stood up from my seat, "how is he? Is he going to be okay?" My eyes were wide and I was silently praying that he was coming to deliver only good news.
"We're not quite sure yet. He's been bleeding internally for quite a while and a piece of his spine was fractured from the bullet, but I didn't come out here to tell you that; I need to know if he has any allergies or immunities to any medicines, especially anesthetics." His sharp fangs were grinding together, as if he was hoping that I'd say a certain answer. Too bad I didn't know what that answer was.
"I don't think so. The only allergy I remember him having was peanut butter, but I doubt that has any relevance. Why do you need to know?" My voice quivered and my throat tightened. Sometime while the dragon was speaking Cyd managed to wrap his arms around my hips, a gesture I didn't even notice until now.
"While we were trying to find out the source of the bleeding, your brother started to mumble some things. Normally this would be a good sign in the recovery room, but he was still on the operating table. If he woke up fully while under surgery, we could only imagine the pain he'd be going through, but if I go ahead and put him under stronger anesthetics, it could stop his heart. He's extremely young and small, so I don't know if his body could handle it."
My eyes flickered back and forth, as if reading every word he said on a page in front of me. If Luke was waking up, then that means he's still here, he's still alive, but if he wakes up fully during operation, who knows what he'd be thinking or feeling. "So what do I do? What can I do to help?" I asked the doctor impatiently.
"Well, since you're the only family he's got here right now, the choice is in your hands. We could risk it by putting him under stronger drugs, or we could close him up and hope we already filled every source of the bleeding."
He was right; the choice was in my hands. Luke's entire life was all in my hands, just like the letter I found in Luke's hand said. I held the decision to give him his life or take it away; too bad I didn't know if living was under curtain A or curtain B.
"Just do whatever you think is best for Luke," Cyd said from behind me. I looked up at him, surprised that he didn't even let me make a choice. "Nate's not really in the best mindset to make a decision like that right now; just do what you think is best." The brightly colored dragon nodded his head in agreement, flipped his mask back up onto his mouth, and began to rush back to the E.R.
"I need to go outside to breathe for a second," I called out, quickly pulling myself out of Cyd's grip. As I headed towards the door, I debated whether or not I thought he was going to follow me. For confirmation, I turned my head around and gave him a small smile, a soundless sign stating that I needed to be alone. I looked back around and opened the front door of the hospital, letting the wind flow through. As the breeze from the night time air flowed onto my body, I looked up towards the moon and stars. Every ridge and crater on the moon seemed to be designed so perfectly, so flawlessly. The beauty reminded me of someone that had always been there for me, someone who I could always call whenever help; someone who loved the moon more than anyone else in the world. I pulled my phone out from my pocket and began to dial her familiar phone number, Angela's phone number.
The phone rang a few times before I heard a click and then the answering machine. "Hey, you've reached Angie. I'm not available to pick up the phone right now, as you can tell, but if you leave a message I'll howl back at you later!" The screeching beep that followed made me cringe my eyes tightly. I took a deep breath in, thought about what to say, and then began to speak.
"Hey Ange, its Nate. I'm sorry for ditching you tonight, I really am, but I'm kind of in a bad situation right now." My lungs started to sink and I began to choke on my tears. I couldn't think of any way to tell her what all was going on, so I decided to jump straight to the point. "Luke's been shot Angie and I don't think he's going to make it. He's starting to wake up on the operating table and their scared that more medicine would kill him. I'm with Cyd right now and he's helping out a lot, but you've always been here for me and I'm not used to you being gone when I needed you. You're like my sister and I really need to talk to you. I need to talk to someone about Luke, someone who knows him as well as I do, because if he dies..."
My voice began to fade and fade until it was nothing. I cleared my throat and tried to speak again, but I continued to emit only air. Sadness began to overtake my body, clouding both my eyes and my mind. I felt my arms begin to shake, but before I could realize exactly the cause of the unusual vibrations a voice began to speak behind me.
"If he dies I'll still be here to keep you safe." I turned around and saw Cyd sitting on the light pole behind me. He looked down at me with a worried frown and I could tell he wanted to help. Normally I would take this as a sweet gesture or an act of kindness, but the unbearable emotions altered my sense of judgment, taking his caring personality as a sign of betrayal.
"How long have you been listening?" I questioned as I quickly stood up from the ground. My tone was very sharp and angry and my eyes were staring with an evil glare.
"I came out because I was worried," he replied as his body weakened in a retreating way.
"No you didn't! You came out here to eavesdrop on me. You think I can't even take care of myself, so you have to follow me everywhere!" Even though his face looked puzzled, I was probably more confused that he was.
"Come on Nate; you know it's nothing like that." He was right; I did know it, but with Luke on my mind, Angie being mad at me, and just imagining my mother crying when she finds out what happened, I lost all my sense. I lost the ability to think.
"Just leave me alone Cyd." I pushed my way passed him and stormed back to the building, bumping his shoulder on the way in. I proceeded past all the worried families and hopeful friends in the front lobby and made my way to the only place I could truly be alone; the men's bathroom.
I sat down on the freshly mopped marble floors and closed my eyes gently. I was so tired, but so awake at the same time. I opened my eyes again and looked down at my legs; they appeared short and stubbed when next to my long, bushy tail.
"Luke, please be okay," I whispered to myself quietly. My eyes began to fill with tears and I started to whine with each passing breath. The moment I spent alone gave me time to think about the situation I was in. I had a gut feeling that I was about to lose Luke and, if I wasn't careful, I was going to lose Cyd as well. How could I say something like that to him? He was trying to be sweet and caring, but I repaid him with nothing more than anger. He vowed to protect me no matter what and all I did was reject him. The guilt flooded my mind and I sobbed harder; hard enough to eventually began to cry. The tears washed away all of my consciousness, eventually draining my energy until I drifted off to sleep.
The rotation motion was mesmerizing. So relaxing and soothing; it felt amazing. I opened my eyes and looked down towards my feet. Cyd was sitting on the floor in front of me, massaging my left foot gently. I extended my arms in both directions and felt my fur stand up as I stretched. Cyd's eyes lifted off the ground and towards my eyes, his smile grew as I relaxed my muscles again. "Good morning cutie," he said with a slight chuckle, "you never told me you snored."
"You weren't supposed to hear that," I replied, blushing in humiliation.
"Don't be embarrassed, I love it. I think it's cute." His eyes looked extremely green in this lighting, a change from their normal color; a bright blue. "The doctors haven't said anything about Luke yet. Hopefully we'll find out something soon." Cyd seemed to be worried about how I'd react to Luke's death more than the death itself.
"How long was I out?" I questioned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"Only about 30 minutes, but we better head back out into the waiting room. It might be kind of hard for the doctors to find us in here." I nodded in agreement with him and we both laughed a little. During a sad moment like this, I really needed these occasional laughs.
I follow Cyd out of the bathroom and we sat back down in the lobby together. The tedious wait for any news whatsoever made me grow tired, nearly passing out on the spot. It was nearly midnight and I was in desperate need of shut-eye. I rested my head on Cyd's furry chest and his arms wrapped me tight. My tail was laid over his neck and it tickled his nose a little every few minutes. I felt him attempt to hold in a few sneezes, trying his hardest to keep me still. Cyd's muzzle leaned closer to my ear as my breathing began to steady. I guess he thought I was fully asleep, because he opened his mouth and whispered softly into my ear; a sentence that revealed more to me than I could find out through the simplicity of exteriors.
"I...I think I love you."