Fearful Renegade

Sixteen

AJ sat in the room waiting.  He listened to the EMT bicker with Charlie about how this was a waste of their time and AJ wanted to punch him out.  Every once in a while his eyes would dart to the clock on the wall.  Ten minutes went by; twenty, thirty, and AJ found himself getting restless.  The door to the clinic opened and he was shocked and a little confused to see Becca come in.  She said nothing as she walked past everyone and down the hall.

They were coming up to the one hour mark when he heard a door down the hall open.  Standing up he listened and heard the footsteps coming down the hall.  His heart pounded against his chest and when the Peter the EMT walked out he held his breath.

“Let’s go” Siannah’s friend Peter said to his partner and without another word the two left.  AJ looked over at Charlie and then he heard more footsteps.  Slowly almost hesitantly like his body didn’t want to go, he walked over towards the hall way.

When he saw Siannah he couldn’t hold it in anymore.  “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah” She told him with a relieved smile.

“Seriously?” AJ blurted out as he started to cry.  He grabbed Siannah and pulled her against him.

“Alex I need to tell you something.” Siannah said and he pulled away from her.  He looked at her waiting to hear what she had to say.  “The bullet went into his shoulder, there’s a lot of muscle before the bone, especially on a Great Dane so it slowed the bullet down but it hit his shoulder bone.  It cracked it vertically, splitting it into two so I had to pin the two pieces back together.” She continued.  “He’s going to need a lot of therapy to get that shoulder strong enough, he may never be able to walk right again, it could lead to arthritis, I just want you to know what he’s in store for.”

AJ nodded. “Okay, can I see him now?”

“He’s still under the anesthetic.” She told him.

“I don’t care, just for a second please Sia.” He said and she gave him a light smile.

“Okay.” She nodded.

“I’m going back to the station see what they’ve put together, any leads, I will call you tomorrow Alex.” The Officer said.  “Oh Sia, I need the bullet.”

“Right here.” She said as she pulled the plastic bag from her jacket pocket.

“Thank you” Charlie said taking it and then he left.

“So why is Becca here?” AJ asked as they started walking down the hall.

“Peter was bitching at me so I got a second and called her to come assist me.” Siannah told him and she sounded just as annoyed about it as he was.

“Yeah the other one was bitching at Charlie about wasting time here.” AJ said with a small frown remembering.

When they stopped in front of the door AJ found himself holding his breath.  She opened the door and walked in, he followed.  He let his breath out and quickly breathed in again as he saw Dew lying on the table.  A long incision mark on his shoulder, the dog laid there like he was past out on AJ’s floor.

“I’m going to go write out his care list for Sasha, I’ll watch over him until she gets here, you two should go home and rest.” Becca said as AJ walked over to Dew.

“Thanks Becca” He heard Siannah say.

“No problem hun, he’s a tough dog.” She said as Siannah lightly laughed.

AJ looked down at Dew, the dog laid sleeping with a small breathing tube taped around his snout.  “I didn’t know you used those.”

“Well we usually have a cone but I don’t have anything big enough for him, I’m sure he’ll try to eat it when he wakes up.” Siannah replied as she sat down in a chair.

AJ lightly laughed.  “So he’s going to be okay?” He asked again just wanting to make sure.

“Yea” Siannah nodded.  “He’s going to have to stay here at least a week; he’ll be mostly sedated so he won’t want to walk.” She took a deep breath.  “And then it’ll be a couple of weeks of light walking, we’re going to have to figure out how to move him around.”

“Move him around?” He asked a little confused.

“The light walking means when he has to go to the washroom, we carry him outside on a leash and basically let him stand there, he’s gotta build strength back up into the shoulder, otherwise it’ll put to much pressure on the pins and they could break.”

“Jesus I’m gonna have to buy a fork lift.” AJ said with a light laugh.

“We’ll lay him on a blanket and pull him around.” Siannah replied lightly laughing herself.

He looked down at the sleeping dog and gently put his hand on the top of his head.  AJ lightly petted behind Dew’s ears like he always did and sighed.  His dog was going to be okay.  He then looked at Siannah.

“Thank you” AJ said and she looked at him.  “Thank you for saving him.  He means so much to me and I thought I was going to lose him tonight.”  He started to break down again and then he felt Siannah’s arms wrap around him.  She held him until he got himself under control again.

“We’ll go back to my place okay? It’s closer to the clinic.” She told him and he nodded.  “I’m just going to go into the staff room and shower.”

“Can I wait here?” He asked.

Siannah softly smiled.  “Sure”

He brought the chair over and sat down by Dew.  He looked at his paw which had an IV tube going into it and it was wrapped and tapped much like a human’s would be.  A small sigh escaped from his lips as he frowned.

“I’m sorry Dew, sorry you got caught up in all of this too.” He told him.  “And I promise when you get home I will barbeque you up the best sirloin you’ve ever had, even if it’s minus fifteen outside.”  AJ continued to talk to him as he sat there just in case his lovable companion could here his voice. 

After a while AJ looked down at his watch and realized Siannah had been in there for a while.  With a kiss on Dew’s head AJ stood up.  “I’ll see ya later bud” He said and then walked out of the recovery room.

He wasn’t exactly sure where the Staff room was, he had only been back this far a couple of times.  Walking down one hall he looked at each of the name plaques on the door and got lucky when he saw the one labeled Staff Room.  Knocking on the door gently he waited her to say something.  When she didn’t he opened the door slowly and peaked his head inside. 

The room was a pretty decent size, a couch, table, chairs, a TV, Soda Machine, Microwave, and a fridge.  Near the left back side of the room he saw a door at read Lockers.  Walking into the lounge he headed to the door and listened again.  He didn’t hear water running so he slowly opened the door.  When he did he could hear the muffle cries of Siannah and he frowned as he gently closed the door.  When he walked around the lockers he saw her sitting on the bench, her hair wet, and she was wearing hospital scrubs. 

“Sia?” AJ said as she looked up at him.  She looked back down as she wiped her eyes.  Her breathing was labored like it usually was after a good cry.   He sat down in front of her and placed his hands gently on her knees.

“I-I heard the shot and I grabbed the bedroom phone, I heard you scream and I thought…” She stopped and started crying again.  AJ said nothing as dropped to his knees from the bench and wrapped her in his arms.  After a moment she pulled away.  “And then I saw Dew lying there so I grabbed my bag…and I thought I could get it out right there but it was too deep and…”

“Sia you did a fucking spectacular job.  That dog is still alive because of you.” He told her as he took her hands. 

“I still don’t know what happened.” She told him. 

AJ stood up and sat beside her, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against him.  He then told her what happened.  Going outside, the reaction Dew had and what he thought it was, and then what happened afterwards. He told her about getting tackled, the gun, Dew attacking and then the gun going off.

“I was about to chase her down because she was right there but then I realized about Dew, I ran to him and saw him lying there, that’s when I yelled for you.” AJ told her as she sat and listened.  “Let’s get you home okay?”

“Okay” She nodded.

At that moment it was about her.  Dew was fine and resting and now he just wanted to make sure she was ok.  This amazing woman who stayed calm, focused and strong through out the night, she is the reason Dew was still alive and he was going to let her know how thankful he was.

“Hey” Becca said from the desk as they walked past.  They both stopped and looked at her.  “Take my car”

“It’s only a few blocks.” Siannah said.

“Si, your in scrubs and neither of you have a winter jacket.  Take my car” She replied as she reached into her purse. “When Sasha gets here I’ll walk over and pick it up. I have an extra set.”

“Thanks Becca” Siannah said as she took the keys and hugged her friend.

“Go home and get some rest.” She said as she looked and Siannah and then she looked at AJ. “Both of you”

They both got into Becca’s car and headed out of the plaza parking lot.  It wasn’t long till they reached Siannah’s house and she parked the car in front where AJ usually parks.  He climbed out of the passenger side and shut the door.  Following her up to the door he waited for her to unlock it and then followed her inside.

“So…” Siannah said as she turned to look at him. “…you still up for that bath and wine?” She asked as she slipped her arms around his back.

“Hell yes” AJ sighed as she lightly smiled.