Ashton Daigle

It was another couple hours, well past midnight, when Rakov and Doc Ogle finally emerged, ready to share their findings with Jesse and the sheriff. Both Ogle and Rakov looked harried as they scrubbed their hands and poured themselves some coffee from the kettle, which must have been left over from earlier in the day.

“How is she?” Jesse asked urgently.

“She is well, she is resting,” Rakov said, stifling a yawn, as he lowered his large frame into one of Ogle’s chairs. “But her case is also very, very complicated. You might as well sit,” he added, motioning to Jesse.

Jesse sat, listening intently and finally asked, “Have you been able to talk to her? Has she answered?”

“Two very good questions, but with two very different answers,” Rakov said. “Yes, we were able to talk to her, we talked to her a lot. She is still not very communicative. She is still resorting to growls when she has a point she wants to make. However, she does seem to understand us when we do speak to her, and was able to comprehend and correctly respond to several one-word commands.”

“Like a dog,” Jesse said.

“Now Jesse, that’s not what Doctor Rakov meant,” Ogle interceded.

This struck Jesse as odd, because up to now, he’d barely heard Rakov addressed as a doctor. It was always just Rakov or the Russian.

“Well what do you all mean?” Jesse asked. “Cut the horse shit. Is she ever going to be normal again?”

“My friend,” Rakov said. “That remains to be seen. But we have made a list of pros and cons of her case. Please, let us review that.”

Jesse nodded.

“Well, as we have already said, she is very resilient,” Rakov said. “Her body temperature is normal and many of her wounds have already begun to heal. And, I might add, that she has no signs of infection. All of this is very, very good.”

“So what’s the bad news?” Jesse asked.

“Well first and foremost, Dr. Rakov and I do have concerns regarding rabies,” said Dr. Ogle.

“Now wait a minute Rakov,” Jesse said. “You, yourself agreed with me that we didn’t think our wolf, the wolf that drug her off, had rabies.”

“That is true, but she had numerous bites and scratches on her body,” Rakov said. “Many of the bite marks varied in size, leading us to conclude that she was bitten by several different animals. We cannot account for any of them, so we can’t rule it out either. Scientists now are close to creating a rabies vaccine, but as of now we don’t have a choice. We will have to place her under quarantine.”

“Well, I guess that would explain why she acts like a mad dog,” Jesse said.

“No, quite the contrary,” Rakov said. “Her regressed mental state, I am sure, has nothing to do with any possible neural damage that is commonly associated with rabies.”

“So what is causing that?” Jesse asked.

“I have a few theories,” Rakov said. “First off, I believe her state of mental agitation comes immediately from the trauma of being attacked by the wolf. The human brain is a very complex, and sometimes frail thing, but it is not without its own natural defenses. Quite simply, her regression is a defense mechanism that went up the moment her brain became overloaded and could not cope with the horror of being attacked and stolen by a wolf.”

“I guess I can see that,” Jesse admitted. “You’re right. The brain is tricky. I seen it before in the war.”

“Exactly,” said Rakov. “That is the exact analogy I was going to draw upon. Unless you’re a psychopath, killing mass numbers of other humans goes against what many of us believe to be right. Even the bible tells us thou shall not kill. However, once a war is on, general expect soldiers to toss those beliefs aside and become killers.”

“It causes real conflict,” Jesse said. “I know for me, personally at times, it was even harder because we weren’t fighting no army of foreigners. We were fighting other Americans. But you’re right, the brain invents ways to shield itself, protect itself.”

Rakov nodded and added, “There is another factor that I have considered that also may be playing a part in her regression. It is not separate, but goes hand in hand with what we’ve been discussing.”

“What’s that?” Jesse asked.

“There is no name for it, at least not yet, but it is a phenomenon that has been noted by several in the fields of abnormal psychology and sociology,” Rakov explained. “It is when a captive or a prisoner has been held for so long that he or she begins to first identify with and then even assume behaviors of their captors.”

“I’ve definitely seen that in the war, with a good number of prisoners we kept,” Jesse said. “Something about them changes. We had one guy that was willing to actually enlist as a Confederate.”

“Yes, this is a very extreme case, but I believe it is applicable in Namid’s case,” Rakov said. “Except in her case, her captor was a wolf. Yet, she has still taken on some wolf behavior.”

“In all seriousness Rakov, how long does it take for a person to snap out of something like this?” Jesse asked.

“That is the problem we face, one of the difficulties if you will,” Rakov said. “People do not simply just snap out of it. The road back, in almost all trauma cases of this nature is almost always a long one. She will require a lot of attention, probably for an extended period of time.”

Jesse scratched his chin glumly and sighed heavily.

“Now with that said,” added Rakov. “As we’ve already noted, her powers of recuperation have been astounding; literally unprecedented, I’m sure even, if I were to consult medical journals. And she is intelligent. I can see it burning in her eyes. There is definitely a fire there and I believe she can do anything if she puts her mind to it. In all honesty, it is really the only way she ever could have survived under those conditions. I believe it to be a true case of mind over matter.”

“You mean like she willed herself not to get sick, so she didn’t,” Jesse said.

“Yes, something like that,” Rakov said.

Ogle coughed, and then spoke up.

“So Rakov are you going to tell him or should I?” Ogle asked. “About the other factor which may prod her along into normalcy faster.”

“Well, I was working up to it, but if you’d like to have the honors, please, be my guest,” Rakov said.

“What?” Jesse asked. “What is it now?”

“She’s with child Jesse,” Ogle replied. “I think congratulations are in order. Unless she picked up a boyfriend while she was drug off by the wolf, you’re going to be a daddy Jesse.

Jesse was too stunned for words. In fact, the color drained from his face, and he looked like he was going to pass out. Sheriff Russell and the kid, who had just sat quietly during the exchange, rushed to Jesse’s side and steadied him.

“Unhand me you fools,” Jesse said. “I’m all right. I’m just fine. I think I’m a bit old to be going through fatherhood again but…”

His voice trailed off.

“Nonsense Jesse,” Ogle said. “Medically speaking, women can get to old to safely go through pregnancy, but you’re never too old to be a father. Think of it as a second chance.”

Ogle knew some of Jesse’s past, about his family before the war, and he seemed sincere now.

“Thank you Doc,” Jesse said. “How far along is she?”

“We’re not quite sure,” Ogle said.

“There are some tests I can run to get a better idea,” Rakov said. “But I believe, they would be easier to run in the facility I set up in Henderson. This, also, is why I want to be very cautious with the possible threat of rabies. The building was used as a bank. The vault is still intact. It’s not much of a vault really, more like a jail cell. But we can set up a bed inside and give her creature comforts.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m thrilled about the idea of her being caged up,” Jesse said. “You’ve seen how wild she gets. What if she were to hurl herself into the bars and injure the child?”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Rakov said. “The maternal instinct is one of the strongest in all of nature. In fact, I believe this also played a factor in her survival under such harsh conditions. It wasn’t only self-preservation that drove her, but preservation of the child she’s carrying inside her too.”

“And in the meantime, we still have the wolf to deal with,” Jesse said. “The trail’s getting colder by the hour.”

“Yes,” Rakov said. “That is why we must move quickly. We will go to Henderson tonight and set things up.”

“And I can either come with you, or meet you there later tomorrow so you can return to the hunt,” Ogle said. “Between myself, John and the sheriff, we can baby sit her while you two are out on the hunt.”

“Well, good enough,” Jesse said. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

An hour later, the wagon pulled out of town headed northeast to Henderson. Once Ogle and the sheriff stepped back indoors, two riders slipped out of the shadows.

“Hold on, let them get some distance,” said Clint. “We don’t want them to know we’re back here. Besides, we know where they’re going.”