“We will. Someone will come get you when he’s stable enough for a visitor.” The vet disappeared through the swinging doors again, leaving Emily in the stillness of the waiting room — trembling, relieved, terrified, grateful all at once. She sank slowly into her chair. Her baby was safe. Her dog was fighting for his life.
And she finally understood what she had almost misjudged: Ranger hadn’t been a danger. He had been a shield. The protector she didn’t know she needed. Emily closed her eyes, whispered a shaky prayer, and waited for the moment she could finally tell him: “You saved her. And I’ll never forget it.”