Sasha and Salem's Stories of Adventure

It’s been a few weeks since Salem had been infected.
When it first happened, you couldn’t believe it. The night passing in a blur, finding Salem at the doorstep, worn down and bleeding. You rush him inside, rummaging through the first aid supplies. You are used to patching your partner up; it isn’t unusual for him to get a bump or a bruise, but this…
There is just so much blood.
You don’t think to call the doctor until the morning, and when you do, you find that things are much worse than you thought. The wild pets that had attacked him were infected. He’s sick, he’s weak, he’s hurt. You should have been there to help him, you should have-
The doctor tells you not to worry; he’ll be fine, in time. There isn’t a cure, but he’ll find one, maybe, eventually. You do your best to smile, and you return home.
The first few days are horrible. He doesn’t say a word; all he does is sit there. He looks so lost. The doctor had said that his intelligence had decreased, but you didn’t want to believe it. Looking at him now, you couldn’t deny it. You hadn’t let him leave the house yet, but he doesn’t seem to be getting any worse (nor better). Maybe one walk won’t hurt.
And it doesn’t.
You meet a few other yogpets and their partners along the way. The first is a Astripup, and you can sense improvement in Salem almost immediately. He talks, or tries to talk, to the other pet. He still has that lost look, but underneath it, you can see it.
He’s still in there, and you need to work to help him recover.
You continue taking the pup on more walks. It seems as if the more pups he meets, the better he gets. His condition improves greatly; he can talk, move around, even battle some of the weaker pets.
And now here he is.
The pup sitting in your lap glances up at you before redirecting his eyes back to the book the two of you are reading. He looks so healthy now, and even without a cure. Still, you want to be sure.
Once you finish the book, you take him in your arms. Placing him in his bag, the two of you set off to the doctor. Even is Salem is cured, maybe his recovery can be used to help other pets as well.