Friends in Strange Places

It was a matter of minutes before Balto led the humans to the place he'd left Kiska with Kemo. Russell Lupus quickly slowed the sled and secured the team nearby. He slowly drew near to the stricken wolf. Kiska stepped protectively in front of Kemo, fur raised and teeth bared. She glanced at Balto and after a moment's hesitation, allowed Rus to approach.

The researcher made a mental note of this behavior before crouching beside the white wolf. "He's lost a lot of blood, but he's still alive. Rifle shot. Must have nicked a vein."

James nodded and noted the entry and exit wounds. "That's bad. I wonder where that happened."

"Judging from the howling and shots we heard from inside the cave, I'll give you one guess." Rus shook his head sadly. "I can take care of sprains, cuts, and broken bones, but this is way out of my league." He looked at Ramsey and noticed that the man was probing the wound. "What are you doing?"

"Remember when I told you about wanting to be a vet? Well, I've kept up with my studies somewhat. This wound is a clean pass through. I'm going to need a needle and thread and your field knife. And you said you still have one of those tranquilizer darts? Let's take him back to that cave. When we get there, here's what I need you to do..."

"What are they doing?" Kiska asked apprehensively as she watched one human build a fire and the other jab something into Kemo before starting to sharpen a knife.

"Trust them, Kiksa. Like I said, they're here to help him.

She glanced at Rus as he placed the knife in a metal pan of water that he was boiling over a low fire. After a few minutes, James walked over and drew the knife out of the water and approached Kemo. "Balto!"

"Trust them," Balto repeated.

Kemo gave a low moan as the human began to make an incision. Kiska leapt to her feet. "They're killing him!"

Balto stood and moved to block her attack vector. "No, they aren't. It's how they're trying to heal him. You have to have."

Kiska made no reply, though her eyes promised swift revenge if anything happened to Kemo. She winced slightly as Ramsey used the knife to widen the wound in Kemo's side. Balto watched a bit apprehensively, fearing not only for his brother's life, but the humans' as well.

"Do you think they can do it?" Tricksy whispered into his hear.

"For their sakes, I hope so."

Two hours later, James Ramsey breathed a sigh of relief as he tied the last knot in the threat and cut off the extra with the knife. Tossing the knife into the kettle of water, he turned to Rus. "I've patched him up as best as I know how. He was already pretty far gone when I started. Now it's up to him."

"We should go on and set up camp," Rus suggested.

James shook his head. "I don't think that's such a great idea. We don't know how he'll react when he comes out of your anesthetic. It'd be better if we weren't around to startle him.