The Story of a Lonely Wolf Chapter 20: Time to Go

"We should be ready to move him soon. Go tell Cassi and the others," Drake said as he put the finishing touches on Toboe. He was really pleased with how well Toboe was doing. He didn't think he would have made it this far and was glad he didn't do all that work for nothing. It would have been a real shame to have worked so hard for four hours and then have him die.

"Ok," Sara replied and got up and washed her hands in a bucket that was sitting not to far away. It had some towels hanging over the sides so they would stay out of the way of everything else and some other towels lying on the floor neatly spread out around the bucket with tools lying on them. They had filled the bucket with water for the surgery. It did have a little blood in it from having to wash and rewash the tools throughout the surgery, but it was better then nothing.

"Just tell them we are almost done and will be moving him over to our office very soon," Drake said as he stitched up Toboe's chest. Yes, he knew they'd be opening his chest again when they got over to the office just to be sure it had been taken care of properly. But despite the fact it had to be opened again he stitched it up just like it would be the last time it was opened. He took longer then Sara to stitching things on any animal just because he wanted it done right and wouldn't have any further problems.

"Well, why don't you let me finish stitching him up and you can tell them?" Sara asked nicely. She knew how much longer he took at stitching then she did and just wanted to get it done instead of having to wait around for him to finish. She did admire how much he cared about getting things done right, but in Toboe's case you had to get it done fast or he could die. She knew they had fixed most of the problems, but there was still blood in his lung and that blood had been in contact with the air in the room. The air wasn't clean. It was air from the city which was filled with all kinds of germs. It was not clean air from a sealed tight room like back at the office. Dirty city air getting in Toboe's chest and coming in contact with Toboe's blood could result in a nasty lung infection if they didn't hurry and get it cleaned properly.

"No, I got it," Drake replied as he worked. Luckily he had gotten more then half of it done already so the wait wouldn't be very long, but Sara still could have done a faster job.

Oh well, as long as he is almost done, Sara thought to herself and walked across the room and into the kitchen where they all waited.

"Hey," Hige said happily when he saw the door open and the short woman walk in.

"How is he?" Cassi asked as they all looked up from the table. They quit playing Go Fish after the little Tsume-Hige thing and were just talking and waiting the rest of the time.

"He's doing much better. We got the bullet out and fixed his neck. Well, fixed it well enough… we will reopen the stitching and go back in to do things properly when we get back to the office. I'm very pleased with how he is coming along. To tell you the truth, I didn't think we'd even get him open and started before he died." Sara informed them.

"So he's going to be ok?" Kiba asked he was still leaning against the fridge with his arms folded over his chest.

"He better be. We waited over four hours," Tsume replied. He was still leaning against the wall behind Hige.

"Well sorry about that. It just takes time to work on wounds that serious," Sara replied with a smile trying to cheer Tsume up a little bit.

"Who knew it would take that much time…" Hige said. It didn't seem like four hours to him. It seemed like they'd been waiting over four days not four hours.

"Well, we almost lost him a few times. It took a little while to bring him back the second time. We almost gave up, but that dog sure is a fighter. He wouldn't give up," Sara replied.

"So he's ok now then?" Cassi asked. Sara telling her Toboe died, but they brought him back worried her.

"Well for the most part. Like I said, he's well enough to be moved. We just have to wait a few more minutes for Drake to finish stitching his chest, then we will move him over there and go over his wounds again making sure we didn't miss anything and cleaning them out again just to be safe. After that is all done we will begin on his leg. We will go in and take that bullet out. And if all goes well and we retrieve that bullet and he doesn't get an infection in his lung I'd say after a few days rest at our office he'll be ok."

"There's still a few days wait after you're done with all this?" Hige asked.

"Yeah Porky, what'd you think…they finish the surgery then he'd just wake up and be fine. He has to recover you know," Tsume replied in his usual tone.

"Oh yeah. Guess I forgot," Hige said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Can we see him?" Josh asked. It was about 4:30 in the morning, but he didn't care. He was going to stay awake until he knew Toboe was ok.

"Well I don't think it could hurt. You can see him until we take him to our office. We will take him in the van and you can take Cassi's car, ok?" Sara asked.

"Yes, that's fine," Cassi replied.

"Good," Sara replied as they headed back out to the living room.

"Oh my…" Cassi said as she looked at all the bloody towels and tools around her living room.

"Hi Toboe, feeling better?" Josh asked as he sat down by Toboe's head and began petting him.

"He's still sleeping," Drake replied as he put the finishing touches on his stitching.

"I know, I was just saying," Josh replied.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" Kiba asked.

"After we are done with all the work I hope. I really don't want to have to put him under anesthesia. He's very weak. I don't know if he would come out of it without any problems," Drake replied as he finished stitching and went to wash his hands.

"What do mean?" Tsume asked as he stood in the corner closest to the kitchen door, his arms where folded over his chest.

"Well you know anesthesia is the medicine we put people and animals under when they have to have surgery, right?" Drake asked.

"We aren't stupid, we knew that," Hige replied.

"Well sometimes the medicine can cause problems. Like he could have a stroke or the medicine could mess with his brain and he wouldn't remember you or anything else."

"It could erase his memory?" Hige asked.

"Yes," Sara replied, "That's why they do so many tests on people before they put them out. Especially old people, because they have a much higher risk of having a stroke."

"Do you think it would happen it him?" Kiba asked.

"Well I don't think he'd have memory loss or a stroke, but there is a possibility he could get a blood clot," Drake replied.

"Stay asleep, Toboe. It's better if you do," Josh said and put his head down so his chin was resting on Toboe's nose.

"Ok, I think we should take him over there now," Drake asked as Josh moved away from Toboe's face so that Drake could pick him up and carry him to the van.

"And you want us to follow in my car correct?" Cassi asked. She wanted to be sure she knew what to do.

"Yes," Sara replied as she began picking up the tools and the towels. Kiba and Hige started helping her so it would get done faster. "Follow us in your car and when you get there come with us through the back door. Drake will take Toboe to the operating room and I'll take you to the waiting room."

"Great…" Hige said with a sigh as he sat down on the couch just as they had finished picking up the towels and tools. "Just what we need… more waiting."

"Afraid so," Cassi said to Hige with a little smile.

"Let's go," Kiba said to them as he followed Drake down the small hallway and outside.

"Ok, we'll get our coats," Cassi replied and went to the closet to get herself and Josh their coats.

"Aww Mom, do I have to wear my coat?" Josh asked as Cassi handed him his dark blue coat.

"Yes, you do. It's cold out there," Cassi replied.

"But no one else is wearing a coat," Josh replied.

"I am," Sara said and put on her coat.

"See, some of us have sense and are wearing coats," Cassi said as they followed Drake and the disguised wolves outside into the cold streets.

"We'll meet you back there," Drake said as he put Toboe in the back of the van and sat back there with him so he wouldn't get hurt when the van was moving.

"Ok," Cassi replied as gave a small wave as Sara put the boxes of tools in the backseat then got in the front seat of the van and everyone else piled into Cassi's car.

"This is going to be a tight fit," Hige said as he, Kiba, and Josh squeezed in the back and Cassi and Tsume sat in the front. Josh sat behind the driver while Hige sat in the middle and Kiba next to him behind Tsume.

"Its better then walking," Tsume replied as he got in and closed the door.

"Why don't you sit back here where you're smashed and then see what you think," Hige replied as he tried to push Josh away a little bit.

"Hey, watch it," Josh replied as Hige pushed him into the driver side door.

"Sorry, but I'm squished," Hige said. There was a box like compartment in-between the two front seats that stretched back into the backseat area which prevented Hige from putting his feet on the floor. He was forced to pull his knees up by his face because of the lack of space.

"It's not that bad," Kiba said as Cassi started the car.

"Speak for yourself," Hige replied as he tried to make himself more comfortable. "This isn't even a seat. This thing is a two seater. I'm sitting on the seat belt things."

"Lucky it's not me," Josh replied, "I had to sit there before when my mom took some of my friends home from school. Those 'seat belt clickers' as some people like to call them kept going up my butt."

"Yeah…" Hige replied a little annoyed that he had to sit in the middle.

"Don't worry, Hige. We'll be there soon," Cassi said as she made a left turn and followed the vets' van through the cold dark streets.