Fog a Dox by Bruce Pascoe

eyes.
    â€˜Shush,’ he said, ‘this man is nearly dead.’ The nurse wasn’t going to put up with this insolence and was about to deliver Hygiene Lesson Two when she realised that not only did she have two derelict bushmen in her hospital but the fox was in there too, and preparing to bite the patient’s hand.
    â€˜Ahhhhh!’ she screamed again.
    â€˜Shush,’ said Dave, ‘it’s a dox, this is his master. This dox has just saved this man’s life. He deserves a medal for what he done, not you screamin’ ya lungs out.’
    â€˜What’s a dox?’ A small voice asked from the other side of the darkened room.
    â€˜Now look what you’ve done,’ the nurse blustered. ‘You’ve woken the leukaemia patient with all your noise.’
    â€˜I haven’t made any noise at all, madam, soshush and the little boy can get back to sleep.’
    â€˜I’m a girl,’ the voice said. ‘My name’s Maria and I want to know what a dox is.’
    Dave was trapped in a conversation, something he’d been avoiding for decades. He was also upset by the fact that he’d carried his only friend for eleven kilometres and then ridden with him over the range to the only hospital in the district and all the nurse wanted to do was scream.
    â€˜See,’ Nurse Foran snapped, ‘this little girl is very sick and you’ve burst into her room and dumped this man and his … vermin in her room.’
    â€˜Sorry, miss,’ Dave addressed Maria, ‘my mate’s had a bad accident in the bush and I’ve carried him on me back for ages and then the horses …’
    â€˜But you can’t just dump him where you like, this patient needs all the …’
    â€˜I’m not a patient. I’m Maria and I want to know what that animal is. It looks like a fox with a collar.’
    Albert moaned and at last the nurse’s professional instinct took over and she took his wrist to feel his pulse.
    â€˜Well, miss …’ Dave began.
    â€˜Maria.’
    â€˜Maria. Well, it’s not really a fox, it’s like a cross between a fox and a dog. It’s a dox.’
    â€˜Rubbish,’ Nurse Foran blurted as she examined Albert’s arm, ‘no such thing.’
    â€˜Why’s he got a ruby on his collar?’ Maria asked, noticing the dull gleam of the gemstone winking in the light from the corridor.
    â€˜Because … because he’s a really special dox and he belongs to me mate.’ Dave turned to Albert. ‘This poor fella here with the broken arm.’
    â€˜Who said it’s broken? I’ve seen worse,’ the nurse said firmly, her voice belying the gentleness with which she cut Albert’s shirt away from his arm and removed his boots.
    Ever smelt a bushman’s socks? Nurse Foran had smelt a few in her time and Albert’s weren’t the worst by any means, and so she calmed a little and began organising splints and drips, beds and bandages in a blur of efficiency. Part of her bluster came from the fact that Doctor Glock was a stickler for pristine sheets and polished floors and had a way of making Nurse Foran feel likedirt beneath his feet if he found even the slightest blemish in his hospital.
    â€˜So,’ Maria pursued her questioning, ‘how did your friend get a dox?’
    â€˜Well, Albert is a really kind man you see …’
    â€˜Albert? Albert you say?’ Nurse Foran looked closer at the patient she was covering in snow-white sheets, ‘Albert Cutts? Is this Albert Cutts?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Dave replied.
    â€˜Why didn’t you say so, you stupid man?’
    â€˜You wouldn’t stop screaming.’
    Nurse Foran ignored Dave’s pertinent comment. ‘Albert Cutts is a good man. Everyone says so.’
    â€˜And you must be Crazy Dave,’ Maria said, ‘my dad’s told me about you.’
    Dave slumped into a chair and watched as the