JOURNEY SHORT & SWEET. Brig PS Gothra (Retd)
Papa, instead of answering the vet, looked at the family members, who all conveyed their approval by nodding their heads. All had tears in their eyes. With a heavy voice, Papa said, “Go ahead, doctor. Please make sure it is not painful for him. How much time will it take?”
“With his condition, I don't think it will be more than five minutes before his breathing and heart stop completely.”
As the vet poked the syringe into Rock’s thigh, a scream went out of the elder son’s mouth. He started crying uncontrollably and said, “Papa, I always used to tease him with the threat of an injection. He was always scared of injections. But today, he is in such a state that he cannot even move to respond to the prick of the injection. In fact, I felt his pain now. I cannot see him dying.”
“Be brave; you are a grown-up boy. Besides, we had decided that all of us would be there with him when he breathed his last. Let's all put our hand on his body so that we convey to him that we all love him. He has given us so much love. It is the least we can do for him.”
Mom bent down to plant a kiss on Rock's snout, then put her cheek in front of Rock's mouth and pleaded, “Rock, ek baar paari kar de (Rock, please kiss me once).”
With great effort, Rock took out his tongue and feebly licked Mom's cheek. Right from the day Rock was brought into the house, he knew who the mother of the house was. The kiss was her exclusive privilege. He would not kiss anyone, ignoring all types of temptations. She, on her part, was also equally caring. Never would she have her food before feeding Rock.
"He loved to go out of the house with Papa, especially in the car. As a pup, he used to comfortably sit in the co-driver seat with the seat belt on. But as he grew up, he wanted to sit in the lap of the driver, so he was made to sit in the rear seat where he used to look through the rear glass, resting himself on the backrest of the seat. Sometimes, he would also take out his head from the rear window to enjoy the breeze."
Another seizure started and the younger son said, “I am to be blamed for this condition of his. I should have closed the front door properly before going out cycling. In order to catch up with me, he ignored the traffic and got run over by a car. The accident broke his skull and backbone.”
“Don't blame yourself; his journey was only this much with us. He enjoyed this part of his journey and so did we. We have given the best of medical care. I would have continued to take care of him, but frequent seizures are torture to him”, said Papa
“More than anyone else, mummy cannot see him suffer. Remember when we had planned a trip to Jammu by train? He was just three months old. As required by railway authorities, he could be transported in a cage only in a first-class coupé by booking the whole coupé. Two days before the journey, a cage was brought. As soon as Rock saw the cage, he started shivering with fear. His heart rate went up. Mummy immediately cancelled the trip, even though it cost us a lot of money", said the elder son.
"I used to hate dogs, but when I received him, I was immediately fascinated with him. He was searching for his mother and was restless. When I touched him, he started licking my hand. At night, he won't sleep. I thought he might be feeling cold, so I put him in a shoebox, but every time, he would jump out and roam around in the room and then he would come and sit on my feet. In no time, he would be fast asleep on my feet. I remained in that position for some time, but then I had to sleep too. As soon as I removed my feet, he started moaning. I immediately picked him up and put him on my chest. He slept again. The whole night he didn’t move, but I was afraid that he might urinate on me. He was a darling as a pup", said Papa.
“I also used to tease him by calling him 'fattu (meek)'. He never liked the word, even at the age of six months. Remember when I bought him a toy hen with a whistle fitted underneath? He initially got really scared and ran to hide under the bed. It was only when Papa started stamping on the toy that he got confident and came out from under the bed. Thereafter, he always carried the toy around”, said the younger son.
"Let us say good things about him when he is breathing his last. I am sure that he is listening to our conversation and understanding every bit of it”, said Mummy.
“Yes. Rock, you are my dear brother; I love you more than him”, said the elder son and pointed towards the younger son. There was a feeble wink by Rock to express his thanks.
“In fact, Rock loves me more than you. He loves to sleep in my bed. He loves to lie down next to me with his head resting on my armpit. I miss that ever since he got injured. Because in that pose, it hurts his spine. But today, it will not hurt, so Rock, you will rest on my armpit the whole night”, said the younger son with a choked throat.
There was no response.
The vet came forward to check and with a nod, he conveyed that Rock had moved on.
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