Fearful Renegade

Fifteen

When they got back from dinner things were pretty tense.  Denise made it a point to ignore Siannah and by the time AJ’s Mom left her son wasn’t talking to her either.  He was livid she treated Siannah the way she did and after he reached out to her and let her in.  And even with all this drama going on he never forgot about the package and when the next one would be, now that him and Siannah were back together. 

            Then that day came.

February 8th 2011

“Thanks Alex I’ll get the officers to step up patrols and I’ll get someone to watch the coast line.” The Detective told him as he took another ‘gift’ from AJ.

“Okay thank you” AJ replied.

He walked the officer to the front door and let him out.  Closing the door AJ locked it and turned around.  Siannah was sitting on the couch, Dew sitting on the floor in front of her, and his head on her lap as she softly rubbed his ears.

“I don’t understand, if she cares about you wouldn’t she want you to be happy?” Siannah asked as he sat down beside her.

“She’s sick, she doesn’t see it that way, in her eyes and her mind she’s the only one who can be with me.” AJ told her. “She probably thinks your brain washing me into not being with her, who knows.”

Siannah slid over next to him and slid her arms through his as she laid against his chest.  He wrapped his arm over her and laid his hand gently on her head.  How could his Mom not see how much she loved him, how much he loved her and happy he was? 

“I have an idea” AJ said as he looked down.

“What’s that?” She asked looking up at him.

“Why don’t you pour us some wine, start a bath and I’ll meet you up there after I let Dew outside for a bit.” He told her.

“That sounds like a great idea” She replied as he leaned down at kissed her.

AJ watched her for a moment as she got up and then he looked at Dew.  “Alright buddy let’s go.”

He walked over to the door and grabbed his jacket.  Opening the door he let the large dog out first and then he walked out closing the door behind him.  Wrapping the winter coat around him tighter as a crisp cold breeze blew past he shivered a little. Dew’s head and ears perked up and AJ sighed.

“Dew you better not go taking off after a rabbit, I swear if I have to chase you down again…” He said as the sound of a branch breaking distracted him. 

Suddenly he went crashing to the ground.  When he hit the snow he frantically turned to get onto his feet but stopped dead when he saw a small black tube a couple of inches from his face.  He heard a growl and then turned his head as Dew jumped on the person dressed in tight black clothing.  A bang went off as the person was slammed into the glass door by Dew.  The woman scrambled to her feet and took off as AJ scrambled to his.  He started to take off after her but then a fleeting thought passed.  Dew had been awfully quiet. 

AJ turned around and his breath was taken away.  Quickly he ran over to the Great Dane and dropped to his knees.  “Oh no Dew, buddy” AJ gasped out.  The dogs breathing was labored, his short white fur now red, and a bullet wound in his shoulder.  The dog whined when he saw AJ.

Jumping to his feet he ran to the door, pulling with a force he did not need.  “Siannah!” He screamed and then ran back to his dog.  He quickly took off his jacket and bunched it up.  Holding the fabric part to Dew’s shoulder.

AJ looked up when he heard the thunderous foot steps coming from his house.  Siannah came flying out with her medical bag and the phone.  She dropped to her knees and handed him the bag.

“Open this.” She told him as she took the coat from him.  Frantically he unclipped the snap and pulled apart the two sides.  “I can’t see anything.” He heard her say and her voice was panicky.  “Give…give me my otoscope.”

“What?” AJ replied not know what the hell it was.

“The light that Doctor uses to look into your ears.” Siannah replied sharply.  AJ looked into the bag and found what she wanted.  When he handed it to her she grabbed it in her hand upside down, she put his under her knee and pulled.  The top part snapped and all that was left was the light. 

“Get me the piece that looks like a tweezers.” She said as she looked at him.  “I think I can see the bullet.”

“Sia” AJ said worried and scared.

“Alex, just find me that piece please.” She said to him and he lightly nodded.

As he was digging through the bag he heard sirens and then squealing.  He found the ones that looked like large Tweezers and handed them too her.

“You already called the police?” He asked.

“When I heard the gun shot.” She told him.  “Then I heard you screaming.” He stopped talking when he saw her leaning down towards Dew.  “Hold his head, this is gonna hurt him a little.” She said quickly looking up at him.

AJ put both hands around his dogs head, the animal’s large, saggy sad looking eyes darted to him.  “Hang in there buddy, please.” He whispered.  Dew’s head jerked as he whined but AJ held it still. 

“Fuck” Siannah snapped.

“What?” AJ replied as he looked from her to Dew and back again.

“I can’t get it, I need to get him to the clinic I can’t do this here.” She said as she reached over and grabbed her bag.  It was then he noticed her hands, they were red and it wasn’t from being out in the cold.

“Siannah?” Someone shouted and AJ looked.

“Where’s the ambulance?” She asked as an officer AJ had seen before knelt down beside him.

“The call said someone was shot?”  The man said to her.

“And someone is, now where is that ambulance? I need to take him to my clinic.” She said and her tone was a little loud.

“Sia” The cop said in slight protest.

“Come on Charlie he’s a Great Fucking Dane how else am I suppose to get him there.” She snapped.  

AJ watched as the man gave into Siannah’s demands and grabbed his radio.  “What’s the ETA on that ambulance?”  The radio slightly squealed and then a woman’s voice came on. 

“2 minutes Charlie.” The woman replied.

“Sia” AJ said as she grabbed a bottle from her bag.  Her eyes darted to him.  “Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know” She replied as she looked back down.  AJ watched as she twisted the cap off grabbed a cloth from her bag and poured the liquid onto the cloth.  It splashed everywhere but she didn’t seem to care as she placed the cloth over the wound in Dew’s shoulder.  The dog whined as it lied there panting.

“I know, I’m sorry Dewwie.” He heard Siannah whisper.

AJ looked up when he heard something loud coming down the road.  He sighed a little when he saw the ambulance.  The men jumped out and pulled a stretcher from the back.  He was kind of impressed how they were able to get it through the snow. 

“We need to get him to the animal clinic.” The man Siannah called Charlie told the ambulance driver.  “It’s the only thing big enough.”

“Just put him on like a human.” Siannah said and the men looked down at her.  “I’ll go with you, just please Peter we need to hurry.”

“Okay” The man Siannah called Peter replied with a nod as he walked over with the long back board. 

AJ watched as they placed it beside him and on the count of three Siannah, AJ, the officer and the EMT rolled Dew so the board could be slipped under.  They lifted the dog up and put him on the stretcher.

“Mr. Mclean, I’m going to need a statement on what happened.” Charlie said too him.

“I need to go with him.” AJ told him.

“And you can go as soon as I get a statement.” Charlie said.

“Alex its okay I’ll be with him, I’ll see you at the clinic.” Siannah told him as she wiped her hands on a towel an EMT had given her.  He pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes.

When he let her go she ran over to the ambulance and jumped in.  He watched as the vehicle took off down the street sirens blaring.  As he looked back to his backyard, he was shocked to see more officers walking around; he hadn’t seen them arrive amongst all the commotion.

“Alright Alex what happened?” Charlie asked.

Taking a deep breath AJ started to tell the Officer what had gone down and for the first time replayed everything in his head.  The calm night, the chilly breeze, Dew’s reaction to something in the woods and he realized then the dog must have heard her.  When he had finished talking another officer came over to Charlie.

“Found a small pistol over by the back doors Sir.” The man said .

“Alright, bag it; I’ll make sure Siannah saves the bullet.” Charlie said and then he looked at AJ.

“Can I go to the clinic now?” He asked.

“Sure” Charlie replied.  “I’ll take you over there.”

“Thanks” AJ replied because he wasn’t sure if he could drive right now.  His whole buddy was a fuzzy numb and he had a hard time just putting together a sentence. 

It may seem silly to some but Dew was his dog, Dew was his best friend, and he didn’t want to lose him.  That Dog was there for him during a time when no one was and as he sat there staring out the police car window he realized.  It wasn’t Siannah that got him to open back up, it was Dew.

When the car stopped he looked up and saw they were waiting to turn into the clinic.  The loan car drove pass and then the Officer turned into the plaza parking lot.  Charlie parked next to the ambulance as AJ unbuckled his seat belt.  He opened the door and quickly got out of the car.  With a hurried pace he made his way to the buildings door and walked inside.

“She took him in the back; Matt’s back there assisting her.” The one EMT too Charlie as they walked in.

“Did you want to go back there?” Charlie asked AJ.

“No, no I don’t want to bother her.” He said and then he walked over to one of the waiting chairs and sat down.

“You’ve taken a lot of things from me but you are not going to take him.” AJ thought as he rested his chin on his hands.  He sighed as he closed his eyes and waited for Siannah to come out.