Quite a lot has transpired today and at almost 11:00 pm, there is more to go. 

The story starts out with a normal afternoon when everyone is home. James had acquired a load of free wood from somewhere and was busy taking the screws and nails out of all of it.  The boys were playing in the front yard.  Taylor was on the porch sitting on the couch.  I was walking out to my vehicle looking for something, what I don't remember. 

I can clearly say all of this because it is all on film. Whatever a person doesn't remember, the camera never lies.  We have 2 cameras out front that record continuously 24 hours a day.  

I remember looking at the 6 year old going over to the next door neighbor who had called him over to give her a hug.  She is a sweet lady, probably around my age, nice people.  The man is a banker and ex-cop, I think he still has his cop credentials and is employed by a nearby county so he can retain his badge.  

I thought nothing of the boy going over to see the lady, they do it all the time. She had one of her dogs on a leash.  A Cane Corso, nice doggy, hasn't ever shown any aggressive behavior towards humans or even other dogs.  Never, that is, until today. These are large dogs, massive chests, lots of muscle, big heads and big jaws and teeth.  

I'm rummaging around in my vehicle when I hear this high pitched screaming.  I look up, James is jumping over vehicles, landed on his face in the dirt in his rush to get over there, Taylor was running as fast as she can (she is heavy with baby right now) and I just automatically started running over there, not really knowing what was going on. 

When I arrive a few seconds later, the lady has her hands in the dog's teeth, trying to get it to release the 6 year old, James is trying to pull the dog's jaws apart, Taylor is fighting with the dog, all to no avail.  I'm well versed in these situations, tho never with a dog grinding it's teeth into a human's flesh, I've pulled lots of dogs apart in vicious fighting situations.  

In this case, the dog was surrounded by those 3 at the front, I knew what to do to get it to release that boy.  I got to the dog's ass and hauled back and kicked that dog as hard as I could.  The dog released the boy, James dragged the boy from the dog and it was over.  Well, that part of it was over anyway.  James took the boy to the truck, James and Taylor jumped in with the boy and took off.  I was left with the 8 year old and this lady who was completely freaked out and having a serious panic attack. Her hand was covered with blood from the puncture wounds her own dog had inflicted on her.

I immediately told the 8 year old to go get a roll of paper towels, I took that damned dog to their house and forced his ass through the front door - I was ready to kill the damn thing anyway - went back, took the roll of towels and began cleaning the blood off of her hands.  

Funny how thoughts of other people's blood on you just goes right out the window in an event such as this.  I had her blood all over my fingers wiping it off of her to find where the wounds were so I could wad up some towels and apply pressure.  There was a very large puncture wound and a smaller one, they were both bleeding.  It didn't take long to get it to stop, but I couldn't console this lady.  She was terrified of what happened to that boy and begging and crying out about how she hopes he will be okay. 

I helped her get up, she was in a bad way.  I escorted her to her house where she said she would go sit down. Are you sure you don't need any more help?  I will stay with you if necessary.  I called her husband: there is a serious situation going on here, you need to come home.  She started yelling at my phone what had happened and how the boy had been bitten. She had no concern for her own health, she was overwhelmed by what had happened to that kid.

I can tell you, it was shocking.  I saw the dog viciously digging his teeth in to that boy's flesh.  The boy was screaming bloody murder, a very high pitched, intense screaming that would make your blood curl.  Even after we got that dog off of him, he was screaming like he was dying. He probably thought he WAS going to die.  She was in her house, they were gone, now to console the 8 year old. He was crying hysterically and I thought to myself, I'm going to have to take him to the hospital to show him that his brother isn't dead.  

No matter, they had left their phones and her slippers had fallen off of her feet when she was running to help save that boy's life.  Literally, I do believe that dog would have kept on going until that boy was dead.  

The hospital is less than a mile away from our house.  I decided to get her a pair of shoes, get her phone and get over to the hospital to see the boy and show the older boy that his brother was indeed, still alive and wasn't dying.  

It was a horrible sight.  His right side rib cage was covered with lacerations and puncture wounds, deep puncture wounds at that.  It was a lot to take in.  The older brother just stood there with his mouth gaped open, but he had the reassurance that his brother was still alive.  I wasn't thinking the boy was dying, but you have to understand what happened and how that would affect an 8 year old's thinking.  He was right there when it happened and even ran over to try and help, but there was nothing he could do. In fact, I wouldn't have wanted him involved, if that damned dog was willing to bite one child, what would stop it from biting another one?  

We stayed a little while, but we left.  The kid is in pain, that is to be expected. Traumatized? Yes, of course he is.  Fearful of dogs now? Yes, that would be a given as well. 

It was maybe an hour later, I had left with the 8 year old, we went to Taco Bell for something to eat and then home.  Taylor had come home for some other stuff.  She was trying to get into her truck.  She could barely move.  She was in extreme pain. I asked her if she needed help?  No, I can manage, while attempting to even get into her truck.  This was serious enough that the hospital checked her out when she got back there.

And then? I get the text that SHE is now going to Longview Regional by ambulance.  I've been in communication with her since I left the hospital. 

James then texted me telling me he's bringing the boy home.  Ok.  He wants to go to McDonald's. I'm fine with that.  He showed me his bandages but some of the wounds were visible above them.  The bandages in his back were already soaked with puss coming out. They didn't put in stitches because of the puncture wounds and apparently better to leave them open.  Well, because of bite wounds, more specifically.

So, James left and I took them to McDonald's. We came home from that and I started getting texts and dm's from all kinds of people. I had posted on Facebook about the boy.  Some of the people areTaylor's close friends, so I told them what was going on.  It was about that time that both Taylor and James texted me again: they are going to induce. Her blood pressure shot way up with this incident where her boy was being viciously attacked by a dog and they couldn't get it to come back down. They decided it was best to induce labor because of it.

They were going to induce anyway on Monday, so 3 days, no big deal, at least not in my mind and Taylor has been wanting that baby out.  

This event occurred shortly after 4:00 pm and it is now 11:12.  It has been non stop activity since this thing began.  I texted the husband of the lady and just said I hope she is ok, no one is holding anything against her, but Taylor has been moved to Longview. He replied it is a horrible situation all around, she is still crying over the boy.  I don't know what else to say.  She didn't do this on purpose, she had no way of knowing that dog was going to attack that boy.  

James just left again. They didn't know when she was taken to Longview via ambulance that they were going to induce, she is lacking any supplies and especially the breast pump stuff that is needed for getting the milk to feed the baby.  So he drove clear back home for a list of things Taylor had given her. I decided to let the boys stay up until he got home so he could tuck them in and give some reassuring words to the injured boy.  

So. The boys are in bed, James should probably be back at the hospital by now and I'm just sitting here taking all of this in.  

You don't wake up in the morning and say to yourself, self? Today, the 6 year old is going to be mauled by a dog and it's going to cause the mom to have to go to the hospital to get induced into labor.  

I've watched that video several times.  What's amazing is how your mind thinks it went on forever and in reality, it was less than a minute, actually I think less than 30 seconds from the time the dog started biting and the time we got the dog off of the boy.  I said this to Taylor and she agreed, it seemed like an eternity but it was actually a very short period of time.

James was a hero to his son.  He was standing there in the driveway, his truck backed in with my trailer filled with this wood he was working on.  He was looking over at his boy with the lady and her dog for a second and then back to what he was doing. The boy starts screaming and he looks up, starts yelling and running at the same time.  Jumps over the hitch on the back of the truck, over the tailgate but trips and falls flat on his face, his legs pumping him right back up, you could tell extreme adrenaline rush.  

He couldn't get that dog's teeth off of that boy. The lady had her fingers IN the dogs mouth with her hand being chewed on. Taylor was doing what she could to try and get the dog distracted. I'm not patting myself on the back for kicking the dog and getting it to release, I just know what to do. The dog has to be distracted and that was accomplished by kicking the s*** out of him.  James immediately had the boy in his arms after the dog let go.  

I'm tired. It's been a long day. I want to try to stay up for the baby's delivery, but why? I can just leave my ringer on and if they contact me when he comes out, I can rejoice with them. The new parents are over there waiting on the boy as well.  Remember, she is a surrogate her, she is "manufacturing" the baby, it's theirs to take home with them.  Yes, there seems to be little reason to stay awake for something I am not present with. I am a very light sleeper, that dinger on my phone going off will wake me up instantly. 

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Got lost in thought. Almost midnight, think I will hang it up for the evening.  It's always this strange feeling when the other adults are gone.  I feel the need to get out a pistol, make sure it's fully loaded and ready to rock and roll. Especially with kids home under my watch. Leave my bedroom door open, the dog is good at one thing: alerting to anything out of the ordinary.  You could not break into this house without him letting me know about it before anything happened.