back to curl up on the back seat and take a nap. It was a fifty minute drive through the mountains to Norfolk, and Fox Creek Psychiatric Hospital was another twenty minutes beyond, over the ridge and on the other side.
He woke up as Michelle reached the traffic lights entering Norfolk. Norfolk was a small city, but at least three times the size of Tamarack. It had a strip mall and a tiny airfield and a hospital that handled all the major surgeries from the outlying towns, like appendectomies and amputations, and even open heart surgery, though if someone wanted neurosurgery they were generally obliged to travel to Albany or New York City.
They drove down Main Street and then turned off towards the lake, winding through the suburbs around it until they turned again to start the climb up the ridge.
The wolf climbed back into the front, and Michelle wound the window down for him a little so he could stick his head out and enjoy the feeling of the cool air blowing through his fur.
Eventually, they reached the crest of the ridge, sprinkled with patches of melting snow, and started descending the other side.
Fox Creek Psychiatric Hospital was a private hospital surrounded by high green hedges, well-tended gardens, and low stone walls. The wolf had never been there before, and he looked around curiously at the big old oak trees planted along the drive, and at the three-story white-washed building with the gray slate roof.
It didn’t look particularly like a psychiatric hospital, Ranger thought, but his only experience with the places was from watching horror movies, so he suspected that he wasn’t really an expert. There were latticed bars over all the windows, though. That would indicate the sort of place it was.
“I hate this place so much,” Michelle muttered to herself, pulling into the parking lot and turning the engine off. “I’m glad you’re with me this time. Hopefully it’ll go better. Now, remember – you’ve got to behave yourself.”
Ranger twitched his tail, once.
“Yeah, somehow I still don’t trust you.” She side-eyed him warily, then leant over and opened his door for him, albeit a little awkwardly.
He padded at her side into the lobby, where there was a neatly dressed woman with a bob haircut and a funny little red hat sitting behind a high desk.
“Ah,” the woman said. “Hello there, Miss Devereaux. Here to see your family, then?”
Michelle nodded.
“I see you’ve brought a—” the woman leant over the desk to get a better look at Ranger, and her face contorted in an odd way. “—Dog.”
“My uncle’s old dog,” Michelle said, nodding. “Ranger. He was recently diagnosed with cancer – I don’t know how much longer he has left. I thought that it would be better if Uncle Dale saw him sooner rather than later, when it might be too late. I didn’t want to be bringing in a little box of ashes for him to say goodbye to. You know how distressed he gets.”
The woman took a moment to compose herself. “Right, yes. Quite a good idea, just so long as the dog behaves himself and doesn’t bite any of the residents and he isn’t incontinent. We can’t have animals tracking filth through the facility. It is a hospital, after all.”
Michelle nodded enthusiastically some more, and the woman with the funny little red hat let her sign in.
“I have a weekly check-in with Doctor Halliday after I see Uncle Dale,” Michelle explained to Ranger, as they walked side-by-side down a long, linoleum hallway. “Uncle Dale and Yani and Clyde don’t always tell the strictest truth about incidents that happen in here. Three weeks ago, Yani attacked another resident – bit him on the face. She didn’t mention it to me at all, even though I saw her three days after she’d done it, but Doctor Halliday explained what happened in full.” She paused in the middle of the hallway to cast the wolf a lingering look. “That sort of behavior might be acceptable in a wolf pack, but it isn’t
He woke up as Michelle reached the traffic lights entering Norfolk. Norfolk was a small city, but at least three times the size of Tamarack. It had a strip mall and a tiny airfield and a hospital that handled all the major surgeries from the outlying towns, like appendectomies and amputations, and even open heart surgery, though if someone wanted neurosurgery they were generally obliged to travel to Albany or New York City.
They drove down Main Street and then turned off towards the lake, winding through the suburbs around it until they turned again to start the climb up the ridge.
The wolf climbed back into the front, and Michelle wound the window down for him a little so he could stick his head out and enjoy the feeling of the cool air blowing through his fur.
Eventually, they reached the crest of the ridge, sprinkled with patches of melting snow, and started descending the other side.
Fox Creek Psychiatric Hospital was a private hospital surrounded by high green hedges, well-tended gardens, and low stone walls. The wolf had never been there before, and he looked around curiously at the big old oak trees planted along the drive, and at the three-story white-washed building with the gray slate roof.
It didn’t look particularly like a psychiatric hospital, Ranger thought, but his only experience with the places was from watching horror movies, so he suspected that he wasn’t really an expert. There were latticed bars over all the windows, though. That would indicate the sort of place it was.
“I hate this place so much,” Michelle muttered to herself, pulling into the parking lot and turning the engine off. “I’m glad you’re with me this time. Hopefully it’ll go better. Now, remember – you’ve got to behave yourself.”
Ranger twitched his tail, once.
“Yeah, somehow I still don’t trust you.” She side-eyed him warily, then leant over and opened his door for him, albeit a little awkwardly.
He padded at her side into the lobby, where there was a neatly dressed woman with a bob haircut and a funny little red hat sitting behind a high desk.
“Ah,” the woman said. “Hello there, Miss Devereaux. Here to see your family, then?”
Michelle nodded.
“I see you’ve brought a—” the woman leant over the desk to get a better look at Ranger, and her face contorted in an odd way. “—Dog.”
“My uncle’s old dog,” Michelle said, nodding. “Ranger. He was recently diagnosed with cancer – I don’t know how much longer he has left. I thought that it would be better if Uncle Dale saw him sooner rather than later, when it might be too late. I didn’t want to be bringing in a little box of ashes for him to say goodbye to. You know how distressed he gets.”
The woman took a moment to compose herself. “Right, yes. Quite a good idea, just so long as the dog behaves himself and doesn’t bite any of the residents and he isn’t incontinent. We can’t have animals tracking filth through the facility. It is a hospital, after all.”
Michelle nodded enthusiastically some more, and the woman with the funny little red hat let her sign in.
“I have a weekly check-in with Doctor Halliday after I see Uncle Dale,” Michelle explained to Ranger, as they walked side-by-side down a long, linoleum hallway. “Uncle Dale and Yani and Clyde don’t always tell the strictest truth about incidents that happen in here. Three weeks ago, Yani attacked another resident – bit him on the face. She didn’t mention it to me at all, even though I saw her three days after she’d done it, but Doctor Halliday explained what happened in full.” She paused in the middle of the hallway to cast the wolf a lingering look. “That sort of behavior might be acceptable in a wolf pack, but it isn’t
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