PAIN! - PART 2 OF FIRST SYMPTOMS.
(2 DAYS AFTER FIRST SYMPTOMS APPEAR/DAY 3-0543HRS)
Claw lays at the foot of Jacks bed wide awake and clamping his teeth together to keep from screaming as pain courses through the large dark purple spot that was now the size of 2 touching clinched fists in waves. Claw swallows a scream as he jumps down and walks over to the dresser where Jack kept the canine aspirin Katie had given to him to help Claws pain sitting on top and he jumps on top of the dresser and takes the bottle with both paws and thinks to himself 'if I can just get one! Just one dear God! Something to take the knifes edge off!' He tries to pull off the cap so he can take some aspirin without waking up Jack. Claw in desperation pulls franticly with his teeth; forgetting it's a child proof cap and while pulling he looses his footing, causing him to fall off the dresser and land on the large dark purple spot! Claws eyes grow wide as he feels like someone just rammed a red hot metal mace against his bruise as he sits up and lets loose all of his pain in one large agony and tear filled wail! Jack sits up and instantly looks at Claw, having a pretty good idea of what's going on as he climbs out of bed and regards Claw with a look of tenderness and attempted understanding and he kneels before Claw who-with tears in his eyes-says between gasping breaths to Jack "I need more - The pain is unbearable - Just one more pill - Please." Jack reaches and gives Claw a ear scratch and says with his voice filled with heart break as he regards his pet with anguish "I'm sorry Claw but I can't, I'm giving you too much as it is." Claw hangs his head for a moment and realizes Jack is right, Claw is already receiving a dose and a half at a time! Claw jumps back on the bed and tries to lay down on his side like he has been doing for the last 2 nights and meditates to forget the pain with deep breaths causing Claw to finally dozes off to a light pain filled dreamless slumber.
(TIME SKIP/0659HRS)
Claw wakes up to pain pouring through his bruise. Claw jumps up and begins to bark and lick franticly at Jacks face even though his alarm clock is mere moments from going off and as Jack wakes up Claw is franticly begging for his dose of canine aspirin. Jack sits up right as the alarm clock goes off and begins playing Adventure bays radio station. Jack is distraught as he shuts off the alarm and walks over and picks up the bottle and takes 2 pills from the bottle and cuts one in half with his pocket knife and gives the one and a half pills to Claw, who eagerly gobbles them up and dry swallows them franticly in the prospect of SOME pain relief. Jack looks back at Claw and says "The farm can care for its self for one day. I am taking you to get this looked at before it gets any worse. It's been getting worse for the last 2 days. I am taking you around to every vet I can find until I can find one that can tell me what's going on with you." Claw looks at Jack with thanks and he says "I think I know someone better than a regular vet. Can you take me to Adventure bays lookout? I am going to let Marshall poke and probe me until he can find out what is going on." Jack nods and says "At this point I will try almost anything common sense wise to figure out what's going on with you."
(PLACE CHANGE-TIME SKIP/LOOKOUT TOWER-0731HRS)
Marshall wakes up as he realizes there is a truck engine coming up the hill and yawns as he sits up to see Jacks truck pull up to the roundabout that circled the lookout and stop and the door opens up to see Jack step out and CAREFULLY put Claw down on the ground. Jack walks over to Marshall and kneels and looks at the Dalmatian and franticly explains Claws situation, causing Marshall to turn back inside his pup house and he reemerged with his medical gear on and dragging a modest white board with several different colored markers and a magnetic eraser stuck on it in his teeth to the street and he pulls the back and sits it up like a picture frame and then walks over to Rocky and asks "Can you mark down stuff for me so I can look back on it later?" Rocky nods and agrees to help and walks over and sits beside Marshall and plucks a marker from the white board and pulls off the cap with his teeth and aims the tip at the board as Marshall begins questioning Claw and Jack. "When did the symptoms first start?" Jack looks at Claw who answers "They began as small pings of pain about 3 days ago. I just figured nothing of it, just getting used to life on a farm. They went on until that evening I was at Jakes cabin with Jack and Everest- a really nice friendship may be forming there might I add- and when we left for the evening I went back to my police cruiser because I am still learning to drive it carefully. I jumped inside and bucked up, and I had the most serous pain ping up to that time as I was buckling up. When I got back I asked Jack to look at my chest and he did. The only thing he noticed out of the ordinary was a fist sized purple spot on my chest and he dismissed that as a deep bruise. The next day the pain was far worse. I told Jack, who told me to go to Katie's pet parlor and pharmacy for some pain medicine. Katie gave me a bottle of large dog aspirin and then I came here for a checkup, as you know Marshall. Jack has been giving me a dose and a half each time because of the pain severity." Rocky was quiet as a church mouse as he was writing on the white board 'pain/bruise' Marshall decided to jump in with his own points "I took you inside for an examination and used my pup pack and all appeared normal until I noticed a fragment in the center of the bruise but it vanished before I could screen shot it for future reference." Rocky silently added 'fragment near the heart?' and beside this he put'(possible equipment malfunction?)' to which Marshall promptly disputed "I know what I saw. I saw a fragment right next to his heart." Rocky finally said "Alright, prove it big guy! If you can find it again and I see it I will give you my next weeks treats." Marshall barked out his x-ray screen and began to examine the spot again. Marshall said "AH-HA! (BARK) screen record!" Rocky stared with dropped jaw as he seen the fragment for less than a second before it disappeared yet again! Rocky said "I am a pup of my word, for the next week you get my treats." Marshall smiles and says "Keep them, I am just glad someone else saw it, I knew I wasn't crazy." The two looked at the recorded footage and Marshall was saddened to see there was no footage of the fragment. Rocky looks back at Marshall and says "It may just be possible equipment malfunction and a deep bruise after all." Marshall sighs and shakes his head in a quiet fury and then shouts in Rocky's face "You're such a doubting Thomas! Even though you saw it you still don't believe it's there!" Rocky walks off and says calmly over his shoulder "I don't know what I saw, but I think your over thinking this thing. Just like I do on some of my mechanical projects. Take a little rest and you'll see, it will come to you." Marshall walks over to Rocky and has him write down a very specific prescription and carries it back and looks at Jack and says "My advice is go to a vet and ask for this injectable pain killer that is available by prescription. My advice to you is to be VERY careful with the dosage. You get it wrong and you could kill Claw, this is not 'dose and a half' stuff. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Jack looks at the Dalmatian and says "I understand." And with that Jack and Claw turned and left for the county vet.
(PLACE CHANGE-TIME SKIP/ VET OFFICE-0958HRS)
Jack sat in his truck with the crumbled and now untangled prescription in his hand and stared angerly at the vet office door for a moment with Claw right next to him. Jack quietly mutters curses as he fiercely start the truck and jams the gear column into reverse and turns around and burns rubber out of the parking lot. Claw snarls as he recalls the words that the vet said to Jack just before ending the appointment "Your dog doesn't need something this strong, I will give him a strong prescription grade aspirin." And with that he pulled out the prescription pad and wrote down a stronger grade capsule canine aspirin that was twice as strong as the stuff Claw was taking over the counter.
(PLACE CHANGE-TIME SKIP/MCDONALDS PARKINGLOT-1011HRS)
Jack eats the last of his sausage biscuit and looks at the now wincing Claw eating as he eats another bite of his sausage biscuit. Anger surge up inside him and he says "As soon as you eat your food I am going back to that vets office and I am going to make His feet His ears!" Claw hears this and looks at Jack and says "If I may offer you some advice; I would like to just try the medicine and see if it works. There is no need for violence in this matter." Jack looks over to the bag and digs out a spare biscuit and says "If you can eat this biscuit without screaming I will do your suggestion and just try the medicine."
(TIME SKIP/1015HRS)
Claw swallows the last bite while holding a perfect poker face and not letting Jack see a bit of the pain on his face. Jack looks at Claw and says "I know you had a good poker face, but not that good.-" Jack looks at Claw and lets out a sigh and finishes his statement "-I will do as you suggest if you really want it. I will-if you want me to-go back to the vet and try to get the stronger medicine Marshall suggested for your pain." Claw looks at Jack and shakes his head no and then Jack starts the truck and starts for home. Claw looks at Jack and says "I know I am in pain, but it will do me no good to just go home and sit around and sulk. I want to work some, I will take it easy, I promise." Jack considers the request and says "Alright, but I don't want you to do anything physical. You can use things that require your tractor. I want you to finish what you started a few days ago, I want you to finish scattering manure in the unused field that I am letting rest for this year, and when you need to change to the plow you tell me AT ONCE! I will change it for you. Do you understand?" Claw nods and says "I will do as you say sir."
(PLACE CHANGE-TIME SKIP/JACKS FARM-1323HRS)
Claw finishes spreading the last of the manure from the scattering equipment and takes the manure scatter to Jacks 'boneyard' (that's an empty dirt lot where Jack keeps all his farming equipment.) and backs up to the tractor sized rototiller and calls Jack on the pup tag and tells him to change to the plow and when Jack arrives in his tractor he found Claw gasping and sweating from the pain! "Claw I want you to go inside and rest NOW! I will not taken no for an answer." And to show the point he reaches in and turns off the tractor and pulls out the keys and says "Go home now." Claw sees he has lost the argument before it even began and lets Jack carefully take him home and he lays down in defeat and takes his pain filled rest.
(END PAIN! - PART 2 OF FIRST SYMPTOMS.)