Chapter 3 - The Smallest Heartbeat
Walter placed the mother dog and two moving puppies in the back of his pickup.
The bystanders, Hannah and Mike Turner, helped lift them without separating the family.
Walter kept the smallest puppy against his chest.
The tiny body remained frighteningly cold.
Hannah drove because Walter needed both hands.
They called every veterinary clinic within thirty miles.
Only one answered.
Dr. Elena Brooks told them to come immediately.
“Keep the puppy warm, not hot,” she instructed. “And don’t feed it yet.”
Walter shielded the bundle from the truck’s heater.
The mother dog stood behind the front seats, watching every movement.
Whenever the pickup hit a pothole, she pressed her nose against Walter’s shoulder.
“I’m not taking him from you,” Walter said.
The mother’s tired eyes remained fixed on the blanket.
At the clinic, Elena rushed the puppy into an examination room.
The mother dog tried to follow.
Walter knelt beside her.
“They’re helping him.”
The dog trembled but remained near him.
Two hours passed.
Elena finally emerged.
“He has a heartbeat. His temperature is rising.”
Walter released a breath.
“But he inhaled muddy water,” she continued. “The next twenty-four hours matter.”
Walter looked through the treatment-room window.
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The puppy lay inside an incubator no larger than a shoebox.
The mother dog pressed her face to the glass.
