“A month?”
“Yes.”
She showed me the abnormal area.
“There has been significant trauma. Vehicle impact is one possibility. A severe fall or another force could produce injuries too. We can’t tell from the image exactly what happened.”Seek Injury Care
I stared through the doorway toward the treatment room.
“He lived like that for a month?”
“He survived like that.”
The distinction landed hard.
“Could he walk?”
“Possibly at first. Maybe poorly. Maybe he dragged himself. Pain alone may have limited his movement. The muscle wasting suggests he has not been using those hind limbs normally for some time.”
I thought of the scrapes on his ankle.
The uneven nails.
My throat tightened.
“And nobody treated him.”
Dr. Morris did not answer.
She switched to his bloodwork.
“This concerns me even more tonight.”
“What?”
“He’s profoundly malnourished. He’s dehydrated. His red blood cell count is dangerously low.”
