Watching the red ball hovering above the big dog,
Brian was dumbfounded.
He had thought that obsession was exclusive to human remains.
Unexpectedly, a simple act of kindness today had led to a surprising discovery.
The little dirty dog, which had been biting Brian's trouser leg, let go of the cloth and weakly wagged its tail at him, making pitiful whining sounds. Its dull little eyes occasionally glanced at the big dog on the ground, showing a great deal of spirituality.
The big dog must be the little dog's mother.
The little dog was trying to get Brian to save the big dog.
Brian was unsure of the breed of the dog, but it certainly was spiritual.
This made Brian realize something.
The necessary condition for obsession must be unrelated to species but instead related to spirituality.
Animals with spirituality could all potentially give rise to obsession!
Brian gently pushed the scruffy little dog away with his toe, "Let me see if your mom has any last wishes."
He ignored the little dog that was bustling in the big dog's embrace, calling out frantically, and squatted down, his palm grazing over the red ball hovering above the big dog.
The ball shattered and surged into Brian's eyes.
An obsession surfaced in his heart: to feed the children.
The obsessions of dogs are indeed simple and primitive.
Brian remembered his mothers from two lifetimes and sighed. He took off his coat, spread it on the dirty ground, then moved the little dog away and placed the body of the big dog onto the coat, wrapped it up, and then put it along with the little dog into his car.
He roamed around and finally found a vet clinic next to a large department store, paid a deposit, and asked the staff to wash the little dog and check its health.
If possible, it would be good to feed the little dog something.
Brian bought a shovel at the mall, took the big dog's body, and drove to a deserted area in the outskirts where he began digging energetically.
By the time he returned to the pet store,
The sky was already dark.
The returning Brian had a rather gloomy expression.
The reason was simple.
He hadn't received any feedback of the obsession being fulfilled.
Either the veterinarian hadn't helped feed the little dog,
Or something unexpected had occurred.
Brian could only hope it was the former reason.
"You're finally here.
I'm already past my working hours."
A bespectacled, plump, thirty-something female doctor, upon seeing Brian entering, spoke with a tone of complaint.
Brian shook the dirt off his grimy shirt, apologizing, "Sorry, Dr. Laura, I went to the outskirts to bury the little dog's mother. I found them by the roadside. They looked rather pitiful, so..."
On hearing this, the doctor's stern face softened, "Alright, it's inside, but the condition isn't good. Actually, unless you're very wealthy, I wouldn't recommend continuing its treatment."
That's what he was afraid of!
The small dog was linked to his newly acquired obsession!
Following the plump bespectacled doctor, Brian proceeded to the back of the veterinary hospital.
The area was filled with large individual iron cages, holding various cats and dogs, indicating a substantial amount of business.
But the little dog was not here.
Passing through the cages,
Brian entered a small, isolated room.
The skinny little dog was confined in a cage against the wall, lying on a pet diaper, half-closing its eyes, completely lacking its previous lively demeanor.
Above the cage was a tied-up IV bottle.
The IV line dangled down, eventually connecting to the tiny right forelimb of the little dog.
The little dog was on an IV.
But Brian hadn't received any feedback that the obsession had been fulfilled.
Apparently, an IV didn't satisfy the dog's simple obsession.
It seemed that really feeding the dog and letting it eat by itself would be necessary.
Brian observed the now cleaned little dog.
The cleaned little dog revealed its originally light yellow fur, with long drooping ears that somewhat resembled a Golden Retriever but also somewhat different.
From the side, its ribs were clearly visible.
Brian noticed that the small dog's breathing was very weak; it had wholly lost the liveliness it had when they first met!
He grew anxious, "Dr. Laura, what's going on? It was very lively earlier."
Dr. Laura shook her head, explaining,
"That was just an illusion.
This Labrador Retriever not only has severe malnutrition.
I also detected the parvovirus in it.
This is why I isolated it in this disinfection room."
"What is the parvovirus?"
Brian tugged at his tie in irritation, "Can it be treated?"
The little dog, it can barely open its eyes now.
The obsession might not be fulfilled again!
Dr. Laura adjusted her pink glasses and said regretfully, "The parvovirus is a virus with a very high mortality rate in dogs, even with treatment, the survival rate for pups is not high.
The cost is not low, yet the survival rate is less than 5%.
Since you are kind-hearted,
I will not charge you for earlier.
"Are you sure there's no way to treat it?" Brian was reluctant to give up,
"Can we feed it something?
I just can't believe that a few hours ago, it was eagerly wagging its tail at me!
And now you're telling me it's going to die!"
Dr. Laura's emotion remained stable,
"Actually, I also don't understand.
Why it still had the strength to wag its tail when it just arrived at the store."