The dog wouldnt let the doctors near the boywouldnt let them take him to surgery.
The boy lay in the ward, pale as moonlight, his breath barely there. The doctors scrambled to prepare him for emergency surgery. Every second mattered No one knew if hed survive.
Then, just before they wheeled him away, he whispered in a threadbare voice:
*”Can I say goodbye to my dog?”*
How could they refuse? The dog was let in at once.
He bounded straight to the boy, licked his hands, then settled on his chest, gazing into his eyes for what felt like foreveras if he understood everything, as if he felt more than any human ever could.
But when the nurses stepped forward, the dog changed in an instant. He planted himself between them and the boy, growling, then barking wildly, as though guarding something sacred. The doctors froze. Something wasnt right.
Minutes later, shouts echoed down the corridor. The door flew open, and the boy gasped when he saw who stepped inside
The dog wouldnt let the doctors near the boywouldnt let them take him to surgery.
A man staggered into the wardexhausted, dust-caked, face etched with miles. His coat was splattered with mud, and in his hands, he clutched a battered rucksack.
He swayed on his feet, as if hed crossed an impossible distance without rest. It was the boys father.
Hed arrived almost by miraclethe moment he heard of his sons state, hed left everything. Work, debts, distancenone of it mattered. His heart had led him, and it wouldnt let him be late.
The dog wouldnt let the doctors near the boywouldnt let them take him to surgery.
The dog had sensed him first. Just before the man appeared, hed stilled, ears pricked, then let out a soft whine and stared down the hallway.
Hed been buying timenot out of fear, but because he knew someone vital was coming. Someone the boy had waited for his whole life.
When the father entered the ward, time itself seemed to pause. The boys eyes fluttered open, heavy but clear. And in them, there was something deeper than surpriseas if the world had finally clicked into place.
The dog wouldnt let the doctors near the boywouldnt let them take him to surgery.
Quietly, the dog stepped back. His duty was done. Hed given them that moment.
Minutes later, the doctors returnedit was time for surgery. But now, the boy didnt go alone. He knew he hadnt been forgotten. His father walked beside him.