Chapter 10

The Heart Break of Separation

After Peter left, Roy turned and looked at Johnny. He was worried about his friend. He could see that Johnny was very tired and that his ankle was hurting him a lot. "Hey, why don't I take you and Keeta home with me? That way Keeta will have the kids to keep him company and you will be able to catch up on your rest and keep that foot elevated."

Johnny shook his head, "Thanks Roy, but I want to take Keeta to the ranch. The two of us can rest there together and keep an eye on each other as well."

"Are you sure?"

Johnny nodded his head. "Yeah I'm sure. Where's your car?"

"You stay here with Keeta and I'll be right back." Roy told him as he ran off get his car.

After a quick stop at a grocery store for some milk and dog food, they drove straight to Johnny's ranch. On the ride out Roy asked, "Is Dr. Early going to let Chet go home today?"

Johnny nodded and said, "Yeah, Marco was going to pick him up this morning and take him home." Then he looked at his watch, "He's probably home already."

As Roy pulled up in front of Johnny's place, they saw that Marco and Mike had returned Johnny's Rover but his camping gear was no where to be seen.

Johnny wasn't worried about though.

Roy led the way into the house, opening the door for Johnny to enter. Then he carried the dog food and milk into the kitchen.

Johnny called to Keeta and he came into the house.

Roy found some aluminum pans and filled one with dog food and the other with water for the dog and set them on the floor. Then he walked into the living room where he found Johnny sitting on the couch. With a sigh, he ran up to Johnny's room and retrieved a couple of pillows and a blanket. Then after making sure Johnny had taken his pain medication and that he was settled, he returned home hoping that Johnny would call if he needed help.

Johnny was very tired and with the pain medication taking affect and the throbbing pain in his ankle subsiding, he quickly fell asleep.

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Johnny was awakened by a long mournful howl. He opened his eyes to find it was late and the house was dark. He lay there on the couch and listened to see if he could hear the howl again. After a few moments he heard it again. Slowly he sat up and looked around the room. He couldn't see Keeta in the room so he called for the dog. "Keeta?" There was no response. He called again.

"Keeta, come here boy." Still the dog didn't come.

Johnny pulled himself up and went in search of the dog. He found him lying by the front door. "Keeta?" The dog lifted his head and looked up at Johnny and whined. Then he looked at the door and got up and scratched at it. "You need to go out." Johnny stepped over and opened the door and the two stepped out on the porch. "Go take care of business." Johnny told the dog as he sat down on the swing that hung from the porch over head. Keeta walked out into the yard and turned and looked back at Johnny, and whined again. "I'm sorry boy. I can't take you to her now." The dog turned back and looked down the road, and took a few steps forward. Johnny quickly realized that Keeta was thinking about running off. He stood and called to the dog. Keeta darted away and Johnny yelled for him to come back as he tried to chase after the dog. He stumbled and fell forward, reaching out with his arms to break his fall and ended up twisting his right wrist. Pain shot up his leg from his injured ankle and up his arm and he rolled over onto his back and let out a cry of pain and frustration. He then sat up and looked around for the dog. He feared that it was too late and that Keeta had ran off and wouldn't be coming back on his own. He couldn't see the dog anywhere.

He called out, "Keeeetaaa, come on back, come on boy." Then he watched and listened for any sign of the dogs return. After a few more moments, he whistled and called again. Still no sign of the dog. He lay back down on the ground. There was nothing else he could do and he hurt too much to pull himself up and go back into the house. He felt the cold seeping into his body again. He knew that he could easily succumb to the cold after his recent bout with hypothermia. He knew that he needed to get up and get back into the house but he couldn't seem to find the will power he needed to move. He closed his eyes and told himself. "Come on Gage, get your butt off the grass and into the house." He was gathering his strength to move when he heard something.

He opened his eyes and turned to see Keeta standing three or four feet away.

"Hey boy, come here." Johnny called softly to the dog.

Keeta turned and looked back at the road, for a moment. Then he looked back at Johnny. He raised his head and let out a mournful howl. He took one more look at the road behind him and walked over to where Johnny lay on the ground.

"That's a good boy," Johnny said as he reached up and patted the dog.

Keeta nudged him with his muzzle and Johnny rolled onto his hands and knees.

Then with his right arm over the dog's shoulders they crawled into the house, and shut the door.

After getting more pain medication and his pillow and blanket he lay on the floor and called the dog over. Keeta came and Johnny reached up and grabbed his harness and gently pulled the dog down beside him and then wrapped his arm around the dog mumbling words of comfort as he fell back to sleep.

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Back at Rampart, Kirra was once again agitated and they had to increase her medication yet again. They had to send her mother away because she wouldn't keep her voice down and was constantly talking. Whenever she was with in ear shot of Kirra's room, her daughters pulse and blood pressure shot up and she became agitated.

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Roy drove out to check on Johnny the next morning. When he got to the ranch he let himself in, not wanting to wake Johnny if he was still sleeping.

Upon entering the living room, where he had left Johnny, he found him and the dog lying on the floor. Johnny was asleep, but the dog was watching Roy. Roy thought it best if he woke Johnny and got him some breakfast and then upstairs to his bed. He knelt down and patted the dog on the head and then called to Johnny, "Hey knuckle head," there are more comfortable places to sleep than on the hard floor.

Johnny opened his eyes and looked up at Roy and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I just stopped by to check on you. Why don't we get you back up on the couch and then I'll fix you some breakfast"

Johnny nodded his head and Roy offered him his hands and Johnny took them and tried to pull himself up. But he had forgotten about his wrist. With a cry of pain he let go of Roy's hands and pulled his right arm up against his body.

"What happen to your arm?" Roy asked, as he reached out to take the Johnny's arm to examine it.

"I fell last night and hurt my wrist. I don't think I broke it though."

"I think we should take you into Rampart and get it X-rayed." Roy told him.

Johnny looked up at Roy and said, "Couldn't we have breakfast first?"

Roy chuckled and nodded his head as he helped Johnny up and over to the couch.

Then he stepped into the kitchen and started cooking some bacon and eggs.

While they ate their breakfast, Johnny explained to Roy what had happened during the night with Keeta. "He really misses her," Johnny said. "I think the only reason he came back was because he knew I was hurt."

"He's a very smart dog." Roy acknowledged.

Johnny insisted they take his Rover to Rampart so that they could take Keeta with them. Johnny was hoping that they would be able to sneak the dog past Mrs. Brower so that he could visit Kirra again.