Manny stayed beside it, voice low and steady, calming the animal enough for the doctors to work. As he watched them lift the girl onto a warmed stretcher, something inside him, something long dormant, tightened with fierce protectiveness. This child and her loyal dog had cracked open a part of him he thought had died years ago.
The medical team moved with swift precision, diagnosing deep hypothermia, dehydration, and bruises in different stages of healing, and severe emotional shock. One of the doctors murmured that she must not have been properly cared for in a long time. Manny felt the words settle like ice along his spine.