When you’re sick, cuddling with a furry friend can be so comforting.
Whether you have dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc., your pets become a part of the family and family is so important for us during a tough time.
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But if you’re ill enough to need a hospital, your animal family isn’t often allowed to visit.
Studies have shown that the presence of a dog can benefit both patients and doctors, and many hospitals have begun employing therapy dogs for this reason.
But what if you’re so sick that you’re never going home?
That’s how this story of a husband’s cleverness begins.
Reddit user Mellifluous_Username shared his story , which received hundreds of comments and upvotes.
After an invasive surgery, things weren’t looking hopeful for his wife. She couldn’t eat or drink and was completely reliant on her pain medications.
“My wife was in the hospital after a very invasive surgery, which after a few days, looked like it did not produce ideal results,” he wrote.
“The prognosis was not good. She was able to speak, but was not eating or drinking, and relied completely on her IV and hard pain pills.”
When it became clear that the end was near, she asked her husband if he could bring their dog to visit.
Rationally, it’s easy to understand why hospitals can’t just allow animals into the wards. Besides bringing in possible germs, untrained or excitable dogs could hamper care or even cause accidents to happen.
“In one rare instance of cogent speech, she convinced me to sneak our dog into her private room, so she could see her ‘one more time’” he said.
Obviously, he had to do what he could to give his wife this one last wish.
“Our dog, Bella, is about a 50 pound Australian Shepherd, and as it turns out, she fits nicely in a normal suitcase.”
This got Mellifluous_Username’s creative juices flowing, and his brainstorming brought something genius to mind.
So Mellifluous_Username hatched a plan to somehow sneak their 50lb Austrian Shepherd into her room.
It started with a suitcase.
He wrote, “I packed her in, with the lid unzipped, and placed her in the car until we arrived at the hospital. When we arrived, I ‘explained’ to her that I would open the zipper in a few minutes and that she could see her Mommy.”
Proving to be way more chill than my dogs would have been, the pooch didn’t make a peep.
“Unbelievably, she never whimpered, barked, or whined,” he wrote.
If asked about the suitcase in the halls, Mellifluous_Username simply explained that he was bringing some items his wife had requested.
Which, some might say, is mostly the truth. The hospital staff didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, replying with, “no problem.”
When they arrived, his wife was asleep, but the doggo knew exactly what to do.
“When we entered the room, my wife was asleep,” Mel wrote. “I unzipped the suitcase, and the dog immediately jumped on the bed, and gingerly laid across her chest, somehow avoiding the wires and IV.”
“She positioned herself to where she could look directly into my wife’s eyes,” he wrote.
“[She] laid completely still, until about twenty minutes later, when my wife woke up, and started moaning in pain.”
When her Mommy finally awoke, the dog licked her face and made quiet moaning noises.
It was “as if knowing that barking would definitely blow our cover,” Mellifluous_Username described.
They stayed for about an hour of hugs and cuddling, his wife smiling the whole time.
Though they were caught by a nurse, she was so touched by the scene that she promised not to tell. “We were busted by one nurse who was so touched that she promised not to tell. When my wife finally went back to sleep, I loaded the dog back in the suitcase, and she somewhat sheepishly obliged.”
Eventually, his wife needed to sleep again and Mellifluous_Username put the dog back into the suitcase and they headed home.
A few days later, his wife passed away, but of course, the doggo doesn’t understand that.
“Now, whenever I grab the suitcase, the dog thinks we are doing to see her again,” he said, which is absolutely heartbreaking!
Excuse me, I’m going to go give both my puppers some cuddles now.
h/t: Upworthy
