Chapter 9
The Fury of Louise Bowers
The next morning Roy came into Rampart on his way home from work. He wanted to check on Johnny and see if there was any thing he could help with. He found Johnny asleep on the couch in Bracket's office. Good morning, Junior.
Johnny pulled his arm off his head and looked up at Roy's smiling face.
Morning, Johnny grunted as he squirmed to sit up. What time is it?
Roy checked his watch and said, 8:56 am.
Johnny threw out his hand towards Roy and asked, "Help me up, will yah?"
Roy chuckled and grabbed Johnny's flailing hand. "Take it easy Junior. No need to get going before you have both feet on the floor."
Roy steadied Johnny as he lifted his casted foot off the end of the couch and moved it to the floor. Then he helped him get to his feet and followed him out the door, down the hall and into the elevator.
When the door opened on the ICU floor, Johnny hurried over to the unit where Kirra was being cared for. As he entered the room, Keeta jumped to his feet and greeted Johnny, wagging his tail. He reached out and scratched the dog's ears, "Good boy."
Just then the nurse stepped up behind Johnny and Roy offered a quiet, "Good morning." The two men parted and let the nurse into the room.
"How is she doing?" Johnny asked.
She has really improved since her dog has been here. Every time she started to get agitated the dog would stand next to the bed and lick her hand and whine a little and she would settle right down. We have even been able to cut back on some of her medication this morning.
Johnny turned to Roy and smiled. Then he looked down to the dog and said, "Ready to go for a walk?" The dogs ears popped up and he danced in a quick circle. Johnny grabbed up his leash and the three headed out to the elevator and out of the building.
Johnny and Roy sat on a bench outside the hospital while Keeta ran around and sniffed the grass. "Its amazing the effect the dog has on his master." Roy said.
Johnny nodded his head, "I have to tell you Pally, if I hadn't seen it happen back in the tent, I wouldn't have believed it myself." Keeta ran up to the bench and slipped his muzzle under Johnny's hand to get his attention. "You ready to go back in?" Johnny asked. The dog bounded off towards the hospital entrance, stopped and looked back at Johnny, as if to say, "Aren't you coming?"
Johnny stood and propped the crouches under his arms and followed the dog. He continued talking to the animal as if he could understand every word he spoke.
Roy hung back a little watching the interaction. He realized that Johnny was getting attached to the animal. "He is going to have a broken heart when the young woman recovers and leaves with the dog." Roy told himself, as he followed along behind the two.
Back in the ICU unit, Keeta hurried on ahead. By the time Johnny and Roy had reached the room, they saw Keeta standing on his back legs checking Kirra over. Then he got down and moved over into the corner where he was out of the way and continued his visual watch over his master.
Roy shook his he head. "He's one smart dog."
Johnny agreed and the two turned and headed for the elevator. "Well Johnny, how about I take you home for breakfast. That way you can take a shower and get a change of clothes. Then I can bring you back."
"That sounds good, Roy." Johnny said with a sigh. He was feeling tired.
A break from the couch in Bracket's office and a home cooked meal sounds really good.
Roy chuckled as he reached out to push the call button on the elevator panel.
The two chatted while they waited for it to arrive. When the door opened, an older woman bolted out of the elevator, with a teenage boy following. She bumped into Johnny, knocking him off balance. Roy quickly grabbed Johnny and helped him steady himself.
"Watch it lady," Johnny grouched as he turn to watch her hurry up to the nurse's station.
"Where's Kirra where's my daughter!" The women demanded of the nurse.
"Calm down mama." The nurse called to the woman. "If you tell me your name and the name of the person you are looking for I will be able to help you."
"My name is Louise Bowers. And my daughters name is Kirra Sparks."
Johnny heard the name the woman had spoke and turned and approached the woman.
"Mrs. Bowers?" He called to the woman.
She turned and looked at the two men as they approached. "Yes. Who are you?"
Johnny stopped in front of the woman and extended a hand. "I'm John Gage."
"I was with your daughter during the storm where she received her injuries."
Louise didn't take Johnny's offered hand. Instead she glared at him. She opened her mouth to say something when they all heard a growling coming from behind. The woman spun around and glared at the dog. "What is that doing here!" She demanded.
"He's your daughter's dog," Johnny said, a little confused as to why the woman didn't know that and about the special connection the two had.
"I know that," the woman barked at him. "What is it doing in the hospital?!"
Johnny began to explain, when the woman turned and demanded. "I want that animal away from my daughter and out of this building or I'm going to start making complaints until it happens. My daughter is sick, the last thing she needs it that filthy animal in her hospital room!"
Before any one could say anything, alarms sounded in Kirra's room. The dog turned and headed back into the room with the woman and the nurse following fast behind. And Roy was right behind them knowing that Johnny couldn't move that fast with his crutches. He also knew that the nurse would need all the help she could get. He could hear Louise screaming and the nurse trying to calm her and get her out of the room while she cared for her daughter and on top of all that, Keeta had continued his growling.
When Dr. Brackett arrived, Roy was working to calm Louise. The nurse was in the room with Kirra, and Johnny and the dog and the teenage boy were nowhere to be seen. Brackett hurried into the ICU room with the nurse while Roy kept the woman out and tried to explain to her why the dog had been in the room and how it had been benefiting her daughter.
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Johnny, Keeta and the young man were standing on the landing behind the door to the stairwell. Keeta was scratching at the door trying to get back to his master while the young boy and Johnny tried to keep him away from the door.
"I'm sorry about my Mother." The boy apologized. "She never did like Keeta."
"Help me get Keeta down the stairs will ya." Johnny asked. The boy grabbed the dogs harness and both Johnny and the boy called to him and convinced him to go down the stairs. While Johnny held his crutches in one hand and the hand rail in the other, he hopped down the stairs. Once they reached the next level, they exited the stairwell and used the elevator to get to the ground floor and then out of the building.
Once they were outside, Johnny introduced himself to the boy. "Thanks for your help, I'm John Gage." He held out a hand to the boy.
"Glad to help, I'm Peter Sparks." He said as he shook hands. "I really need to get back to my Mom before she wigs out. She has to know where I am all the time."
As the boy turned to hurry off Johnny held onto his hand. The boy stopped and looked back at him. "Did you see the other man that was with me up there?"
The boy nodded quickly. "His name is Roy DeSoto. Please tell him where I am." The boy nodded his head again and Johnny let go of his hand and watched as he ran back into the building.
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About 20 minutes later, Johnny saw both Roy and Peter walking towards him.
"Are you okay?" Roy asked.
"Yeah, what happened back there?" Johnny asked as he nodded his head indicating the upper part of the hospital.
Roy sighed, "It seems the woman really doesn't like the dog and she threw a major fit. Brackett told her that he would keep the dog out of the hospital."
Johnny dropped his head for a moment. Then he turned to Peter and asked, "Does your mother know how much calmer your sister is with Keeta in the room?"
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Even if she did know, it wouldn't make any difference." Then Peter knelt and called to Keeta. The dog came over and greeted the boy by licking his hands, and was rewarded with a good rub from the boy. "Like I said before, my mom never liked Keeta. You see my Mom is a control freak and Kirra hated it. On her 18th birthday she moved in with Dad and that made my mom furious. Then when Dad got Keeta for her, she felt that was one more thing that came between her and Kirra. The fact that Keeta never liked mom hasn't helped either."
Johnny looked down at the dog. It was obvious that Keeta hated the woman. He reached out and scratched the dog's ears. "I've only know Keeta for three days, but I have learned that I can trust his judgment of people."
Peter ducked his head and looked away. Giving Johnny the impression that he had offended him. Johnny back tracked and quickly tried to apologize, "Hey, I didn't mean to indicate that your mother wasn't a good person or anything like that."
Peter turned back to Johnny and he was surprised to see a large grin on his face. "That's okay, I happen to agree with Keeta and Kirra on that matter. I'll be 18 next year and then I'm out of my mom's house as well."