There was silence in the small ward.
The five-year-old boy lay on a snow-white sheet, his eyes were big and tired. The doctors said to his parents that the operation was his last chance.
The nurses were preparing him for anesthesia, and suddenly the boy quietly whispered:
– Can… Archie come to me?
– Who is Archie, darling? – one of the nurses was surprised.
– My dog. I missed him very much. Please… – the boy’s lips trembled.
– You know, dear, animals are not allowed in the hospital. You are very weak as it is, understand… – she tried to explain.
The boy turned away, and tears glistened in the corners of his eyes:
– But I… I may never see him again.
These words pierced the nurse’s heart.
She exchanged glances with her colleagues and, unexpectedly for herself, agreed:
– Okay. Just for a minute.
An hour later, Archie’s parents brought him in.
As soon as the dog saw his owner, he rushed to the bed, jumped up and pressed himself against the boy.
For the first time in weeks, he smiled and hugged the dog tightly.
The doctors and nurses watched this scene with wet eyes: the friendship between man and dog was stronger than pain and fear.
But suddenly Archie became wary.
His fur stood on end, he jumped off the bed and rushed to the corner of the ward.
The surgeon who was supposed to perform the operation was standing there. The dog barked so furiously that it seemed like it was about to bite the doctor.
– Get rid of this creature! – the doctor screamed, recoiling.
The colleagues hurried to calm the dog down, but suddenly one of the doctors looked at the surgeon strangely and suddenly understood the reason for the dog’s strange behavior.
The doctor caught a smell… A sharp, sharp smell of alcohol.
“Oh, my God…” the anesthesiologist whispered, looking at the surgeon. “Are you drunk?!”
A deathly silence fell over the room. The parents turned pale, the nurses looked at each other in horror. Archie continued to growl, as if he was protecting his little owner.
A few minutes later, everything became clear: the surgeon really had come to work drunk.
He was immediately suspended and stripped of his license.
The operation was rescheduled.
The boy was entrusted to another doctor, and a few days later it was successful.
Everyone said later: Archie was not just a loyal friend – he became a guardian angel.
If not for him, the outcome could have been most tragic.