Two weeks after the rescue of Dr. Margo Winter
Location:
Dr. Theo Andrew’s hospital in Olathe, Kansas
4 The Sentries
Maze may be an exceptionally perceptive and highly intelligent coyote, but he still had to be walked once in a while. And even though it was 2:57 in the morning, he dutifully woke me with a slobbery lick to show me that his eyes were floating. The boy had to pee—and he meant now.
I yawned while putting on my warm boots and coat over pajamas. Maze whined impatiently at me so I didn’t even bother with my wildly curly hair. Grabbing his leash we shuffled through the hospital room door and softly closed it behind us.
He sneezed twice before sniffing and licking his nose clean. Maze wasn’t very fond of the hospital smells, but he put up with them without complaint. It was the collar and leash I was required to use that Maze barely tolerated.
“I know you hate this dumb ol’ leash, but rules are rules. Dr. Andrews was nice enough to allow you in the hospital under the pretext that you’re a guide dog, so we have to act the part.” I cooed at my best friend while scratching between his ears and neck where the collar was rubbing him the wrong way, literally.
Maze looked up at me with a sour expression on his sweet coyote face. “Don’t give me that look,” I gently scolded, “you’re the one who insists on staying with mom at the hospital. You could be sniffing out some yummy squirrels in the backyard at Dr. Andrews’ house, but no-o-o, you have to play sentry and guard mom like an overprotective mother hen.”
To be honest, we have all been very protective of our mom since rescuing her from Dr. Williams. We haven’t left her alone. Matter of fact, we’ve worked out a schedule so there are always two of us with her day and night. Tonight, Evan and I are on “Mom Watch” as we’ve come to call it, while Alik keeps an eye on things back at Dr. Andrews’ house. But Maze won’t leave any longer than it takes for him to go relieve himself outside. He may be a big ball of shedding fur, but he’s a devoted big ball of shedding fur. I found myself smiling warmly at the sweet lug as I walked us into the elevator.
After growing up on a huge ranch in Texas with the handsome, wide blue skies and stretches of land for as far as the eye could see, being in a small hospital room for hours on end was enough to make me feel very claustrophobic. Once outside, I breathed deeply and allowed myself to listen to the night sounds: The building’s sliding glass doors whooshed closed behind me, Maze’s sniffing nose and padding feet in the Midwest grass, the cold breeze rustling through autumn leaves. It was a beautiful night.
Maze whined and tugged at the leash. “Okay, buddy. I’ll take the leash off so you can stretch your legs, but don’t be gone long. Some of us want to get back to sleep, you know.” He winked his intelligent yellow eyes at me and licked my hand as I unleashed him. Off he sprinted toward the nearest row of bushes. “Wily nut-ball,” I mumbled as I watched him start to chase some poor unsuspecting rodent.
“It’s a little late for a stroll, isn’t it?” a man’s voice asked from the shadows. At the sound, I whipped around, tense and ready for battle.
“Whoa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said with a hint of a smile as he stepped into the light.
I didn’t respond, choosing instead to stay wary. He stood about ten feet away from me, probably sensing that if he came any closer I would feel even more threatened. He looked to be a little older than me, tall, dark hair, blue eyes and very muscular. He pulled his hands out from his coat pockets and held them, palms out, to his sides in a gesture to show that he meant no harm.
“I was just out here getting some fresh air after spending the entire day in there,” he gestured to the hospital. “So again, I’m sorry to have startled you. But it’s not every day a guy sees a girl talking to what looks like her pet coyote in the moonlight.”
I glanced over to where I last saw Maze. He was nowhere in sight now, but I wasn’t too worried. One whistle and he’d be at my side ready to fight.
I couldn’t decide if this guy was harmless or not. Because the events over the last few weeks were underscored by some scary stuff like being followed, shot at, attacked, tricked, hunted and maimed, I guess my knee jerk reactions were starting to lean toward paranoid.
“Right. Well, we were just stretching our legs, too,” I said in a voice intended to give off a tone of leave me alone, buddy. I turned slightly and started walking away, keeping the guy in my peripheral vision.
“Well, is he?” the guy called taking a few steps to follow me.
“Is he what?” I asked not even trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.
“A coyote,” he asked innocently.