presence of his father coming outside to join him a few minutes later. “Go away, Dad,” Dingo stunned his wolf-dog father with his tail, causing Balto to step backwards to avoid the bushy two-toned tail. “I don’t feel like talking . . .” 

“Dingo,” Balto approached his husky-looking son with a hopeful tone in his voice. “She’s still alive. She’s going to be okay, Son. Doc told Marilyn and us that she made it through the operation.”

“But . . . but . . .” The almost yearling was afraid to admit what he had heard the doctor tell Marilyn’s parents, but his father nudged him, interrupting his sentence. 

“Come on now. The doctor’s allowing Saba to have visitors, and Marilyn and her parents are letting us come with them to wish her well as she recovers.” The wolf-dog pushed Dingo up to his feet and nudged him to follow him back inside. Dingo sighed, still drying tears from his eyes, and gave into following his father’s words.

I’m scared . . . I’m scared to see her now . . . The thoughts circled through Dingo’s mind as he walked to his parents and joined the three caring humans and the physician inside the operating room where his sister was waiting. What if he’s right? What if Saba really doesn’t remember me . . . or her own family? 

I pray to God that it’s not true . . . She has to remember the bond, that connection that we had . . . she’s got to . . .

I gotta have some faith in her . . . and I hope Saba isn’t gone forever . . . 

“Here, boy,” Marilyn called the younger husky to her side. “I want you here with me to see Sara.” She rubbed the pup’s shoulder and neck, reading the name engraved on Dingo’s leather collar. “Rory . . . Is that your name, boy?” She let out a soft giggle. “You’re her big brother, aren’t you?”

Dingo let out a soft bark, licking the young girl’s face and ebony bangs. Although he loathed hearing humans call him by his new name, something about this girl made him feel safe and happy to be by her side. No wonder Saba was so happy with her, Dingo thought with a very slight grin. Marilyn made a good choice by choosing my sister as her pet. Oh how I wish she had chosen me too . . . He sighed as the seven-year old placed a tiny hand on his furry burgundy shoulder and led him inside the room as Balto and Jenna followed closely behind them. 

“Now, don’t exhaust her, Marilyn,” The doctor warned her. “She’s just come to, and I don’t want her to overdo it since she’s so weak after her operation.”

“Okay, we won’t be long,” The girl nodded, understanding his instructions. “Is it okay for Balto, Jenna, and their son to come in with me? I’m sure they won’t be a bother for her.” 

The doctor hesitated for a moment, but sighed. “All right, but be sure to keep them under control. Sara’s been through a rough experience and has been very close to death. She doesn’t need anything that could possibly make her condition worse.”

After nodding once more, the small black-haired girl clicked her tongue and commanded Dingo and his family forward into the open door where their beloved friend lay. 

The room was dimly lit by a nearly-melted candle inside a lantern that stood on a wooden nightstand. A wide timber table covered with a couple of layers of white sheets were topped by another white sheet stained with splotches and tiny drips of blood underneath the slightly-moving form of the once beautiful red and white husky pup laying on her side. As Balto had described in his recollection, Saba’s face and neck was stained with dried crimson against her white markings. The blood was now in other places of her body, like her chest and legs, and a couple of claw marks left her scarred from her epic battle with the wolf on her shoulder and flanks. Her blue eyes were still alert as her lids were halfway open, slowly following the movements of the figures that entered the room, but Saba’s body was temporarily immobilized on the sheet, the top of her head covered in bandages around her ears.

“Oh, Sara . . .” Marilyn carefully stroked her hand against her shoulder and neck, tears swelling up in her eyes. She tried her hardest to stay positive, so she had a sweet hopeful smile on her face, amidst her tears. “You’re gonna be okay . . . Just rest up and get better now, okay?” Emotionally, she leaned up towards the she-husky’s head and planted a soft kiss on her nose. Saba reacted in the best way that she could: she let out a soft whine, returning the gesture with a light lick on her cheek. Marilyn let out a giggle in reply. “Oh, I love you, girl. Please get well.”  

Turning towards Saba’s brother and parents, the dark-haired girl patted them before allowing them some time alone with her. “Now, make it quick, you guys. I trust that you won’t get me in trouble by tiring her out.” She still had a grin when she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

The mutt and the purebred placed their front legs on the table top, sadly gazing at the sight of their wounded daughter in front of them. They couldn’t believe that their precious little Saba was so close to being a goner and now at almost a year old, she had gone through more terror than any other dog in town . . . and survived. Clearly, she was a very brave and even luckier dog. 

“Oh, Saba . . . Saba,” Jenna licked her daughter’s muzzle, trying to remove a spot of dried blood from her fur.

The recovering pup began to stir, moaning slightly as her eyes focused on her mother’s face. “Um . . . Mama . . .?” She spoke in a light whisper, but it was loud enough for her parents to yelp with joy in their hearts. The husky then turned her gaze to Balto. “D-daddy?” 

The wolf-dog smiled at his child, giving her a loving look. “Yes, Saba. We’re here. Your mom and dad are here.”

Saba could barely smile, but from the shining and innocent look on her face, she was glad to see them, although she had very little memory of them. “I am . . . Saba?” She asked, her memory still in need of recovering what she had lost due to the damage of the bullet in her head. “Is that what I am called?” 

“Yes, dear,” Jenna reassured her, nuzzling her nose-to-nose. “This is what we dogs call you, Saba. It’s the name we gave you when you were born. Do you remember now?”

Saba nodded slightly, much to the delight of her parents. However, her brother sat waiting by the door, observing his sister’s reactions to her parents’ questions and words and seeing if the doctor’s analysis of Saba was true. Plus, he wanted time alone with her to talk . . . and see if she remembered him the way he remembered her. 

“You have a wonderful human named Marilyn,” Dingo heard his mother remind the memory-stricken husky. “but she doesn’t call you Saba; her name for you is Sara.”

“You . . . call me Saba,” the wounded she-husky attempted to memorize her different names for her thankful parents. “and my human, Marilyn, calls me . . . Sara . . .?” 

Her father nodded in acceptance. “Good job. You remember that now, okay? Once you get better, you’ll remember more than you know now.” He and his mate leaned up to her head and gently nuzzled her goodbye. “We’re going to let you get your rest, Saba. Stay strong, my girl.”

“I will try,” She responded back with a tone of quiet hope, then she let out a yawn, opening her mouth as she noticed her parents switching places with the other red and white pup. 

“Take care, Saba,” Jenna bid farewell to her daughter, allowing her son to spend some time alone with her. “Now don’t do anything that would exhaust her, Dingo,” the purebred warned her son before leaving the room with Balto. “Saba still has to recover, and,” she lowered her voice so as not to let her daughter hear. “if you ask me, she may have suffered some major memory loss due to her accident.” She gulped and shed another tear from her amber-hazel eyes. “She could barely remember us, so she may not have any memory of you.”

Dingo’s ears pricked up in the fear of his mother’s words. “No . . .” he muttered quietly, his head shaking side to side in denial. “Saba has to know who I am, Mom. She’s my sister . . . and I will make sure she will remember me!” He growled at her, causing her to run out the door in tears. 

After Jenna left the room, Dingo used one of his paws to close the door, not knowing that he had left a thin crack in the doorway. With a deep breath and a sigh, the young male walked up to the table where his sister lay slightly awake but only moments away from returning to sleep. Lifting the front of his body upon the edge of the blood-painted sheets that covered the wooden counter, he smiled at he gazed upon Saba’s face, his eyes shining with hope.

She may not seem like herself right now, he thought as he examined her head to toe. But Saba still looks like she did before . . . still the most beautiful husky on the planet. I’m sure she remembers me . . . I know deep down she does! 

“Saba?” Dingo managed to speak hesitatively. “Saba, I . . . oh, I’m so glad you’re okay!” He rubbed his nose against her cheek happily. “I-I-I was so worried you wouldn’t remember me . . .”

“Um, who are you?” Saba moved her face away from her brother’s, asking him the query in a curious manner. “I’m sorry, but you’re not anyone I know of.” 

Dingo’s face was taken aback. “Wha . . .?” He couldn’t believe it . . . no, he wasn’t going to believe it! “Saba . . . I love you!” He moved his nose closer to hers, almost to the point of kissing her. “You don’t remember me, your best friend since the beginning?”

“I . . . I have a best friend?” she asked, still confused why this strange dog was so persistent on her knowing who he was. 

“Yes . . . well, actually, you have two other brothers and two sisters who are your friends too, just like I am,” Dingo clarified for her, correcting himself in the process. “We all came from the same Mom and Dad,