Steele's left knee, Mika asked what happened. Steele then explained how he had landed askew on it after being thrown off the back of one of the extremists. He had to abandon the battle as a result.
"I don't blame you," said Mika.
"Even I advised him to get clear," added Balto. "He couldn't do any good in his condition."
"You ran right past me to get back to town. Didn't you see me?" asked Steele.
"I saw you on the way down. I just didn't see how it happened," Mika replied. "And at the time, I was busy carrying a near-dead fur-ball."
"HEY!" exclaimed Balto. "Cats are fur-balls! Dogs are fuzz-balls!"
Mika just shrugged it off.
"How long do you have to keep the weight off your knee?" he then asked Steele.
"About a month and a half," Steele replied. "By then, I'm sure your elbow will have heeled."
"Yep," put in Mika.
"At least you two got off better than I did," added Balto. "Neither one of you took a bullet to the midsection."
"And neither one of you almost died from your injuries," said Boris.
A puzzled look came over the faces of most of the dogs. Because most of them had gone outside the animal hospital after being treated and released, they were unaware of what Balto had to endure while he was being operated on.
"What do you mean by 'almost died'?" asked Nikki.
"Aren't we quizzical tonight," said Mika, who by now had turned off his headset mike. He then sighed and shook his head before answering. "Alright, if you must know, Balto almost bit the dust twice while in the operating room and now Boris is making a big deal out of it."
"It is a big deal!" Boris exclaimed. Mika had to cover his ears to drown it out. He then shoved Boris aside with his right elbow.
"Wait a minute," Balto said as if he were protesting. "You all know? How long was I dead?"
"You weren't dead," Jenna replied. "One of the doctors came out and said you were having some trouble waking up from the anesthesia..."
"Was that before or after his pulse dropped due to that blood clot?" Mika interrupted.
"After!" Jenna replied in a rather harsh tone. Mika shied away. Jenna continued with, "Anyway, about two minutes later, you came out and you were okay."
"Alright, so I was okay then," said Balto. "But for two minutes, you all thought I might be dead."
Jenna and their pups, who were also in the hospital with her, all looked at each other confused. Jenna, however, was the only one who wasn't.
"What did everybody do?" Balto asked.
Mika scratched his forehead trying to remember what he did. Then it occurred to him that he woke up from his nap to hear the commotion and then went right back to sleep.
"You weren't dead, it was two minutes!" exclaimed Jenna.
"Hey, two minutes is a long time," Balto responded. "Quick, two minutes, what could have gone through your head?" His next few lines were merely a hypothetical guess of what Jenna might have been thinking. "Oh, oh, I have to plan a funeral, I have to watch Rosy and the pups all by myself. On the other hand, I can start dating again. You know what, I'm gonna need some new...ah, let's skip that. You know who's cute? Kaltag!"
"Jenna!" Stella scoffed.
Mika, hoping somebody would kill him for hearing that, tried to drown out what he had just heard by hitting himself in the head with a bottle of cranberry juice. Kaj managed to stop him, but got hit in the face when he pulled the bottle out of Mika's right hand. He didn't drop it, though, and he just put it down on the bar.
"Dad," said Saba. "Mom didn't think anything like that. None of us did."
"So, what?" said Balto. "None of you thought of anything?"
"Hey, Hammerhead, wake up!" Mika exclaimed, catching everybody's attention. "I was there and I saw your mate fall apart!" He paused to catch his breath before continuing. "I've never seen her like that before, and I swear to God, I don't ever want to see her like that again!"
The dogs were all stunned by what Mika just said. It was about thirty seconds before anyone of them spoke.
"You did?" Balto asked Jenna. By this point, she was getting choked up again.
"I can't lie to you now, baby," said Jenna. "When I heard your pulse had dropped, I got really scared. But when I heard that you weren't waking up, I was frightened half to death." She then sobbed and nuzzled him, saying, "I thought I'd lost you in there!"
"There, there, honey," said Balto as he dried her tears. "Everything is going to be okay."
"When I heard what was going on in there, I was so worried something bad might happen to you," said Jenna, who by now was feeling a little better.
"What do you mean 'might happen'?" Mika abruptly cut-in. "He's standing here! He's fine! Let's celebrate with some screwdrivers!"
Everyone look at Mika puzzled. Even his band mates had "what the hell?" kind of looks on their faces.
"Tools?" asked Keith. "You want us to celebrate with tools?"
"I meant a drink, Keith," Mika retorted.
Mika then stepped behind the bar. He grabbed a glass, a bottle of orange juice, and ice cube tray, and then pulled his fifth of Drunken Czar Vodka out of an inside pocket on his jacket.
"Your typical screwdriver consists of vodka and orange juice," said Mika, "and is served on the rocks."
"Oh, boy," said Dingo. "Don't get that too close to a fire!"
Mika then started fixing one for himself. Afterward he added, "Hey Kaj. Remember how Ari says when his boss at the shipyards in Helsinki gets angry, his voice sounds like a foghorn?"
"Yeah, I remember that," Kaj answered back.
At that point, Mika took a sip from the glass and said, "Ahhh. It's like liquid earplugs!"
"Oh, sure," scoffed Ryan. "Keep the good drink for yourself and leave the rest of us with the crappy, plain ones!"
"Ah, quit your bellyaching and take it like a drummer!" Mika retorted. "I'd give one to the rest of you, but you're all underage."
The legal drinking age, had national Prohibition not been in effect, was 18 at the time. But with Alaska being a territory at the time, and because of its remote location, enforcing such a law would be virtually impossible.
"Any one else want a drink?" Mika asked.
"OJ for me, hold the booze, Finn," replied Balto.
Other dogs lined up to get drinks of their own. Mika got called back to discuss the new songs with his band mates, leaving the dogs to themselves. Eventually, those who usually worked there helped dish out drinks as well as eats for anyone who was hungry.
"Okay, great session," said Mika.
"Yeah, I think it went well," added Colin.
"It certainly did," put in Kaj. "I think the new songs are gonna sound great."
"Alright," continued Mika. "Our first order of business tomorrow is to set a new date for the show that was originally set for tomorrow night. We're going to have to go around and work something out."
Mika then put his second ice bag on his elbow and taped it up so it would stay there. He then took another sip of his drink.
"Are you sure you can have that after going bazerk earlier because of it?" asked Keith.
"At the time, I was distraught over David's death, okay?!" said Mika.
"Oh. I get it," Keith answered. He immediately understood what Mika meant.
"Alright, enough of this death and destruction talk," said Kaj as he turned on a radio located nearby. "It's depressing!"
"Yeah," added Mika. "Say, Ryan, how's the repair coming?"
"Done," Ryan replied. "Listen, guys. I want to go over 'Don't Look Back' again. I'm still not sure on some of my parts."
"Okay," Mika said, acknowledging Ryan's request. "Let's get it right."
Mika decided he would try to put in his guitar lines for this run through. Despite some pain in his left elbow, he managed to tough it out through the whole song. Mika's pose at the last note saw him put his right fist in the air in triumph. He then switched to the "You Rock!" hand signal, which he also did with is right hand. That hand was down by his right side.
"Oh, that was brilliant!" Keith exclaimed. "I think that one went better than the first one!"
"Me too," added Kaj. "That was awesome"!
"Definitely," put in Mika. He then turned to where he was facing the dogs, grabbed his drink, and said, "Thank you, God bless you, good night!"
Lapp Attack then retreated out through a back door.
"That's it?" asked Attu. "Man, I was hoping to hear more of them."
"I'm sure we will at their next show," Balto replied. "Whenever that may be."
They just kicked back and relaxed for the remainder of the evening, just like the other dogs.
Later that night, after they and all the other dogs had gone home, Balto and
Jenna could be found at home relaxing on the living room rug in front of the fireplace. It had been quite a dramatic day for both of them in so many ways. They just passed the time with mere idle talk about what had transpired that day, most of which was Jenna asking Balto what was like being in the middle of that battle.
"I still don't understand why you went up there to help Mika, especially since you knew what you were up against," said Jenna.
"Someone had to help him," Balto responded.
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