Dog Whisperer by Nicholas Edwards Read Free Book Online Page A

that would be anything more than a temporary fix.”
    Emily wasn’t completely sure what all of that meant—other than the fact that it sounded really
bad. “He’s, um, he’s really thin,” she said, mostly because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
    Dr. Kasanofsky nodded. “I think he must have been out there on his own for quite some time, because he’s very weak and malnourished. That would make it much harder for him to fight off any infections, and I also may be hearing the beginning of some pneumonia setting in. He’s, well—it’s really not a good prognosis.” He sighed. “I’m sorry that I don’t have better news.”
    It was very, very quiet in the room for a minute, and Emily had to blink hard, over and over, to keep from crying.
    â€œDo you think we should—” Emily’s father stopped in mid-sentence. “I mean, it sounds as though we may have a very difficult decision to make.”
    Dr. Kasanofsky let out his breath, and looked sadder than ever. “Yes,” he said unhappily. “I’m afraid you do.”
    Emily stared at her father accusingly when she realized that he was talking about putting the dog to sleep . “We can’t do that, Dad!” she said. “It would be—we have to save him. Why do you just want to give up?”

    â€œIt’s not giving up,” her father said. “But, he’s terribly sick, and it doesn’t sound as though we should put him through any more of this.”
    To her, that sounded a whole lot like giving up. Besides, he wasn’t sick, he was injured , which was different. And he could get well. She was sure he could get better, if they would just give him time to do it.
    Her mother put her arm around her. “I know it’s very hard, Emily, but we have to think about what’s best for him, no matter how sad it will make us .”
    Why did her parents always have to be so reasonable ? Emily wanted to yell at her—at all of them—but she just ducked underneath her mother’s arm and focused down at the floor, instead. She shouldn’t have come into the room with them, if they weren’t even going to let her be part of the decision. Her parents always said that they wanted to hear her opinion, but sometimes it seemed like they only meant it if she agreed with them.
    Her father came over to try and give her a hug, and she shook her head, stepping out of the way. At this particular moment, she didn’t want either of them to be nice to her. In fact, she pretty much just wanted to be left alone.
    There was a folding chair in the corner, near
the small refrigerator where the vets stored medication—and sometimes sodas—and she went over and sat down in it. The chair was angled so that she was facing away from all of them—which was totally fine with her.
    Nobody said anything for a moment.
    Her mother was the first one to break the silence. “Dr. K., is treating him any further the right thing to do?”
    Dr. Kasanofsky sighed. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I’d like to give him every possible chance, but it may not be—” He sighed again. “This is a very difficult situation. His injuries are so severe that I’m not sure he can recover, and there’s a good chance that he’ll be permanently impaired if he does. And that’s if we get lucky, and there are no other complications. At best, he would have a very long recuperation, and he might not ever be able to walk comfortably.”
    All of that was probably true, but then, why had the dog seemed so alive ? So happy to be rescued? “But, he worked so hard,” Emily said quietly, still sitting in the folding chair. “All by himself. You know, to make sure that someone would find him. That means he wants us to try and save him.”
    Dr. Kasanofsky nodded. “Yes, I think you’re
probably right, Emily.