Chapter 4: Love Is The Best Rehabilitation

When Brigham awoke he was a nice warm shed and his injuries had been bandaged and taken care of. The shed had its own fireplace and two rooms that were connected. In all logic, it really was not a shed; the owners had made it bigger and basically turned it into a small house. The shed was not a large building; it was about the size of a well-made tree house. He looked around at his surroundings but it was hard to focus with his splitting headache. How did I get here? Even with his headache he could still hear the snow beating the shed and the howling wind. He knew that if he had not been brought here, he probably would have died.

 “Wha?... what happened to me? All I remember is fighting Treagan and then nothing.” Brigham, who thought he was alone, got his answer as it walked in from the other room. “You passed out tiger, right on the snow and the weather was starting to get really bad.” Brigham was surprised to see her, but when he saw her she warmed even more than the fireplace. She was standing in the opening smiling. The light from the fireplace danced around her body and sparkled in her eyes. Those eyes, they were so captivating that one could just lose themselves in them. In fact, Brigham did exactly that and just kept admiring her. She noticed that he was staring but and she looked away embarrassed. Why is he staring at me?... but he isn’t staring, I feel like he’s looking into my heart….. get a hold of yourself, don’t go falling for him!

 “You gonna speak? Or are you just going to keep drooling?” Brigham shook his head and in embarrassment cleared his throat. “Uh…. Yeah sorry, so you saved me?” “Yeah, I told you I could take care of myself.” “I guess we’re even now.” “Sure.” Her voice had a certain coldness to it and Brigham felt it. Why is she like this to me? What have I done to her to deserve this frigidness? She saw that she had been too harsh with her tone and felt bad. “Sorry, I’m Akira.” Akira…. such a beautiful name. Brigham once again gazed at her, now because of the beauty of her name. Oh geez, again? Am I really that pretty? Akira cleared her throat, and once again Brigham snapped out of it. In a flustered kind of tone he said, “I’m really sorry I just…. Well never mind. So where am I?” Akira did not actually mind his attention, but she liked giving him a hard time. She smiled as she looked at him. He’s cute when he’s embarrassed. Brigham smiled back awkwardly.

“You are in the town of Taylor, located on the north west of Alaska. It’s not a big town or city like the capital, but we like to think so.” Brigham chuckled, “Cuuuute.” Akira could tell he was joking on her, “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Nothing, ‘we like to think so, haha.’” “Whatever, you know I could just kick you out. Then we would see who’s laughing.” “Ok ok, I’m sorry. Thanks again for saving me.” “It’s fine, so where are you from?” “Well I’m from Nome.” “Nome? Wow, you’re a long way form Nome.” Brigham’s happiness faded away at the memory of leaving his home, twice. “Yeah….” Akira noticed his change in countenance, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset.” “No, its alright, I need to be able to talk about it and not bottle it up inside.” “Well, you can talk to me if you want too.” Brigham looked up at her beautiful face. Her eyes were still sparkling in the fireplace and as soon as he looked into them, all his pain vanished. All he had to do was look at her and all his troubles would disappear.

He smiled and was about to speak, but before he could, a boy came in through the door. As he opened the door a huge gust from the blizzard came into the shed and he struggled to close the door. He was a short little boy who was bundled up from head to toe. At the sight of him Brigham quickly got up and backed into the corner. Even though the pain of his injuries was still severe, the fear of the human overpowered it. Akira didn’t know what was wrong, “It’s ok, he’s my owner, he is really nice.” But Brigham did not hear her. His ears were pressed back against his head as far as they could go. He was hunched up in the corner cowering. The boy saw that Brigham was scared and slowly took off his winter cloths. “Its ok boy, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He slowly walked forward towards Brigham. Brigham was whimpering at this point; his experience with humans hadn’t been the greatest so he feared any of them. He never really hated humans, except for the miners who kidnapped him. Even then there were those who helped him, but he was constantly afraid of them.

“It’s alright” the boy said. “My names Anthony and I was the one who bandaged you and took care of you.” Brigham began to calm down but he still was scared. Akira looked at Brigham with compassion and sadness, what happened to him to make him so afraid of humans? Anthony continued to slowly get closer keeping one hand outstretched. “I sorry many people haven’t been nice to you but I promise I will.” Brigham suddenly stopped, how does he know that? Maybe he is different; he is Akira’s owner. Brigham moved out of the corner and relaxed his body. “That’s it boy.” Anthony then moved closer and started to pet Brigham. Brigham enjoyed Anthony’s petting; it made him feel comfortable and safe. He knew he could trust him now and licked Anthony’s face. Anthony laughed, “Ok boy, see, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Brigham barked and licked his face again. “Haha, alright alright, I brought some meat and water.” Anthony put the bowl down and started to put his jacket back on. I can’t stay long because if I do my father will get more suspicious.”

Brigham was confused but he was even hungrier. As Anthony left, Brigham swiftly ate the meat he had brought. “Don’t eat to fast or you’ll get a stomach ache later,” Akira said smiling. “Thanks, I’m just starving. So what did he mean when he said his father will be suspicious?” Akira knew shed have to explain sooner or later. “Well when I brought you here I didn’t know what to do, you had lost a lot of blood and weren’t looking too good. I ran and got Anthony who took you to this shed. His father is allergic to dogs so he made this shed so I could stay here and Anthony could still be with me. He usually sleeps here, except for nights like tonight. But anyway, his fathers the town doctor and Anthony took some of his supplies to treat your injuries. So his dad is a little suspicious considering the fact that he is missing some of his stuff. He doesn’t want to attract too much attention that there’s another dog, let alone a wolfdog.”

That term struck a soft spot. Ever since he was born, Brigham’s breeding made him the outcast. He always had his parents and his cousins but all the other dogs didn’t like him because he looked a lot like a wolf. The humans even treated him differently. He never understood why, his father was the hero of Nome, at least that’s what everyone called him, and he even looked like a wolf too. Akira could tell Brigham was sad. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that.” “It’s fine,” said Brigham passively. However, Akira was feeling differently. “No, it’s not!” Brigham was surprised by the force, but at the same time compassion. “It is not fine, no one deserves to be treated like you have, no matter what you look like. I can’t stand when people treat those who are different badly…. especially someone like you…” Brigham was caught off guard by her enthusiasm and compliment.Frankly, Brigham wasn’t the only one caught off guard; Akira was also surprised. They both blushed and looked at the ground.

He really is a great guy, not to bad to look at either.

She is complimenting me? I really have to pull myself together and say something.

I really need to shake out of it and say something.

 They both looked at each other and for a moment they looked past the exterior; they looked into each other’s heart. Akira was the first to speak, “Sorry for the rant.” “It’s perfectly fine, if only everyone felt the way you do.” “Yeh, well so do I.” “So…. Wanna get to know each other?” Akira gave him a shocked and offended look in jest. “I…. I didn’t mean it like that, I… uh.” Akira laughed and in a kind tone said, “I was just giving you a hard time, I know what you meant and I would be happy to get to know you more Brig. Can I call you that?” Brigham chuckled, “You can call me whatever you want.” “You probably shouldn’t say that to anyone, what if I decided to call you weirdy-beardy-chicken-speardy?” Brigham laughed, “Wow, well if you did call me that I think people would think you’re the weird one, not me. Forget me being a wolfdog, you’re the on calling people weirdy-beardy whatever’s.” They both laughed, “True, true,” she said.

 “Let’s start with your family, parents and siblings.” They both started to share the basic information about themselves. The conversation included favorite color, favorite food, favorite season and most importantly Balto, Brigham’s father. Akira was really interested in Balto