The dog looks at me and tilts its head, showing a pair of yellow teeth and a scarlet tongue. I smiled and grabbed its leash from the hook. I walk awkwardly through the grounds of the hospital, making sure that my mask is on. I’m greeted by kids crowding around the silky smooth texture of his fur. A kid looked at me and smiled my reflection in his head. He pets him softly, whispering how good he was in his ear. He sat up and mouthed a quick thank you, and left. The freshly brushed fur going thousands of different directions. I looked at his fur and my smile faded. Why does it have to be like this? I whispered as my thoughts got caught by a kid in a chair being rushed down the hall, the same kid as earlier. My shorts vibrated in my pocket, I reached in and flipped the phone open.
“Did you do it?” He asked.
“Yes” I responded sadly.
“You didn’t!” He said in shock.
“Yes I did, and I’m not proud of it.” I said looking at the retriever.
“Ya whatever so you have the needle the mixture?” He asked
“Well ya but what’s the mixture for?”It” I asked questionably.
“I think it makes the dog stop barking for a while so it looks like he got what they got.” He answered.
“Oh ok I got-to-go.” I said quickly as I saw the same nurse pass by into room seven.
“Ok remember, get in get out and book it.” He said quickly. I shut my phone and started walking towards room seven. The kids’ chest was popping up and down in a painful rhythm. As I walked in I wrapped the dogs leash around the chair. The nurses and family exited the room, leaving me and the kid. I looked down at his strained eyes, revealing pain and misery. A tear rolled down my cheek as he grabbed my wrist and made the hair on the back of my neck stiffen. I grabbed my backpack and took out a needle and the vaccine and grabbed his wrist. He tried to back away, but he was too weak. I took a heavy sigh and plugged it into his arm. He started to cry, but then started to grow dizzy. I grabbed a cup of water and dumped the dense brown mixture into it. I swirled it around a few times before holding it to the kids’ lips. He nodded ever so slightly, and sipped it to the core of the cup. I glanced at his monitor; too see that his heart rate was going normal. The hospital was flipping out, a new illness that had just touched the kids. I grabbed my dog’s leash and went to the bathroom. With the door shut, I grabbed a paper towel and poured some water on it. I brushed it against the fur of the dog, removing all the poison from its fur. After I was sure I had it all out, I looked at the dog one more time. I opened the bathroom door and looked outside. I was now a prisoner of the illness, and the hospital would never know how to counter act it. I sat down on a bench and set the dog free. Free from the illness, free from life, free from burdens.