Best Friends

       Man, why can't everyone just be quiet?  This is an emergency room after all.  The doctor is supposed to be in here soon to let me know how my friend is doing.  When I brought him in, he had lost a lot of blood, and was cut up pretty bad.  It did not look good for him, he was very pale and unresponsive.  I don't think he had any broken bones, though.  When I carried him out of the woods on my shoulders, I did not hear any grind together. He had been lying there for awhile, unconscious, before I found him at the base of the large tree.  It looked as if he had backed up against the tree, and put up a heroic fight, before the overwhelming crowd took him down and left him for dead.
     We are blessed with only a few dear, close friends in our life and he is one.  Whenever I see him he is always overjoyed and glad that I showed up.  When we do things like hunt, fish, or just sit around we very seldom speak.  It's as if we know what the other is thinking.  If we are hunting and I think that he needs to go left to flank the prey, all I have to do is motion with my hand to the left.  He, seeing this, will silently head off in that direction.  If he sees something that I don't, he will point to it, and I will know what he is telling me.  We never judge one another, and treat each other with respect.
     However, a few hours ago, things went terribly wrong.  We came across the hog tracks in the field, and they headed off into the woods.  Even though we were not armed, we decided to just follow them for a little ways.  The woods were thick and dark, the perfect habitat for wild hogs.  All that brush was thick and covered with vines, making it difficult to walk through.  For a long way we were on all fours, crawling through the undergrowth.  This is a dangerous position to be in when hunting hogs, Because of their low center of gravity, and sharp tusks.  They are strong as an ox and smart as a whip.  We came to a clearing where I could stand upright.  I decided to rest here for a while, since all that crawling had my back, knees and hands sore as all get out.  However, his one fault is impatience, so he goes on without me, knowing that I will catch up soon.  In a few moments I  heard him scream and the squeals of the wild boars.  All of a sudden it was quiet.  Eerily quiet.  Hurriedly, I scrambled and pushed my way through the thick undergrowth, scared of what I might find.  Some of the way I still had to crawl, and then there he was.  It was not a pretty sight.  I had to bind his gaping wounds with my belt and shoe laces.  I carried him on my shoulders, where I could, dragged him, where I could not.  It seemed an eternity before I could get him to the truck. I was praying the whole way for the strength to get him to someone that could save his life.
     As I am sitting here waiting for the doctor, I fondly remembered another close friend from my childhood.  Unfortunately, he did not make it.  I was praying that things would work better for this friend.  Just then the doctor walked in with a smile and relief washed over me like a nice warm bath.  "He has lost a lot of blood and is cut up pretty bad, but I stitched and stapled him pretty much all over"  He will need a long recovery period, but should make a full recovery."  Can I see him now?, I asked .  Yes he would like that very much.  When I walked in, he looked very pale and weak , lying on the bed.  With pity in my heart, I leaned over and softly said "Buck".  He opened his eyes, wagged his tail, licked my face, and gave a weak bark.  Thank you, I knew then that he will be ok.