宠物治疗
AnExtraTenMinutes
佚名 / Anonymous
OnMondayafternoonsattwoo' clock， BeauandIwouldarriveattheSilverSpringConvalescentCenteronMilwaukee' ' dwalkthehallwaysgreetingeveryoneonourwaytothehospitalityroom， whereresidentswouldcometopetBeauandbaskintheadorationofthisbeautiful， happy， ten-year-old， ' dneverknowthiswasthesamedogthatarrivedatmydoorstepeightyearsearliersobeaten， scarredandscaredthatassoonashemadeeyecontactwithyou， he' dliedownonhisbackwithhisfeetupintheairandpeeuntilyoupettedandsoothedhimintofeelingsafe.
Onourfirstvisit， aswewalkedthroughthecanary-yellowHallwayOne， Iheardanelderlyman' sexcitedvoice， thickwithaGermanaccent， streamingoutofroom112."Ma， Ma， theGermandogishere！ TheGermandogishere！"
NosoonerdidIhearthevoicethanawrinkle-faced， six-foot-tall， white-hairedpogostickofamanwasgreetingusatthedoor， swoopinghisbig， openhandandstrongarmacrossthedoorway， invitingusin， "I' ， ， comein."
WhenBeauheardCharlie' sfriendly， enthusiasticvoice， hisentirebodywentintohiscustomarywaggingfrenzyandleanagainstyourthighposition， waitingforapetting， ， afrailbutlivelyeighty， violet-hairedEmmasatinbed， smiling， ， andBeau， leashedandalwaysobedient， wasuponthebedlyingdownbesideher， ， Max， ， accordingtoCharlie， wasthespittingimageofBeau.
Thenextdoor， room114， washometoKatherine， ， hugs， ， ， herbacktowardus， slouchedover， facingtheviewlesswindow.
， hewasatherleftside， ， ， ， ， hislongchinrestingonherlap.
IfyouknewBeau， you' ， .Whentheclockchimed2：30p.m.， Irushedtosaygood-bye， stoodupandpulledthereluctantBeauout.
IaskedoneofthenurseswhyKatherinewascatatonic."Wedon' ."
Allthewonderfulpeopleandanimalswhoblessedmylifeflashedinfrontofmyeyes， ：lonely， .
EveryMondaythereafter， BeauandImadeourroundstothehospitalityroom， stoppingtomakespecialvisitsinroom112tovisitCharlieandEmma， —CharliewavingusinandEmmapattingthebed， waitingforBeau' slicks， ， sittingdesolately， nosignoflifeexceptforhershallowbreathing.
， notcontentwithjust "being" ， meditativedog， teachingmehowto "be" andlovequietly， assuming "theposition" forthefifteenminuteswesatateachvisit.
Onourfourthvisit， IwasreadytobypassKatherine' sroom， ' sroomandtookhisfamiliarposeonherleftside， ， butsinceIhadabusinessmeetinglaterintheafternoonwithwhichIwaspreoccupied， ， Iremainedquiet， ' ， hewouldn' tbudge.
' shandwentuptothetopofBeau' ， ' scustomaryresponseofnosenuzzlingandincreasedbodywagging， hecontinuedtostandlikeastatue， nevermovingfromhisspot.
Isatbackdowninsilentshock， andforthenexttenpreciousminutes， reveledinthestreamoflifeflowingbetweenKatherine' shandandBeau' -pasttwo， markingtheendofourfifteenminutes， Katherine' shandgentlyslidbackintoherlap， andBeauturnedtowalkoutofthedoor.
