A Patient Shift

The room was still. Beneath me, the carpet fibers felt coarse and firm. For a long time, I did not move. I watched the metal legs of the bed frame, waiting for the quiet to settle. Then, slowly, my right foreleg pressed down. It yielded, then held. I shifted my weight forward. My snout touched a loose white wire coiled on the floor. It was cool against my jaw. I rested there, perfectly content to stay still.