He wasn’t expected to survive the night.
His severe coughing and low oxygen levels were perilous.
The nurses requested calm and serenity, but the elderly man kept repeating “Murphy… Murphy…” through dry, cracked lips.
We assumed it may be a son or war comrade. I gently inquired about Murphy.
I spotted his scarcely moving lips: “My good boy. I miss my nice boy.”
Then it clicked. His daughter was traveling in from another state and hours away when I phoned. Her voice broke when I inquired whether Murphy was a dog.
“Golden Retriever. Thirteen. We left him with my brother when Dad was hospitalized.”
Though persuaded and favored, our charge nurse pulled strings.
Murphy entered the area a few hours later, among machinery and fluorescent lights.
He was immediately noticed by the dog.
His tail wag. His attention was fixed. He ran, got into bed, and placed his head on the man’s chest.
Old Walter opened his eyes for the first time that day.
But then he replied oddly, “Murphy, did you find her?”
Daughter and I looked bewildered. She muttered, “Who’s ‘her’?”
Naturally, Murphy didn’t respond. He relaxed down after licking Walter’s hand. Walter seemed calmer.
His breathing settled, and his fingers clenched into Murphy’s fur like his sole anchor.
“He found her once,” Walter whispered. “In snow. When no one believed me.”
We thought the morphine was talking. I suspected more because his sweet, pained voice made me think so.
Walter strengthened during the following three days. Not well, but clear. Sipping soup, he could talk briefly.
Murphy clung to Walter at night and wagging his tail when he awoke.
Walter visited me on day three.
Nurse, do you have a moment? The chair was pushed up.
Do you think a dog can save a life?
I looked at Murphy. “I think I see proof.”
Walter grinned slightly. Murphy didn’t rescue me. He rescued her.”
“Your wife?” I requested.
“No. My neighbor. Lizzie. Twelve, thirteen years ago. She vanished. She was presumed to have fled. But I knew she didn’t.”
Listening closely, I leaned in.
“She was sixteen. Kind of wild. But good. He walked Murphy for me when my arthritis worsened. She called me ‘Mr. W.’ and said I resembled her grandfather.”
His voice fell.
One day, she disappeared. Police believe she departed with a boy. Her mother hardly questioned it. “I sensed something was wrong.”
Murphy raised his head after coughing.
Murphy and I searched every morning. Through the woods, near the quarry, unimportant locations. Everybody claimed I was wasting time.”
He hesitated. Murphy halted one day—frozen at the crest. Barking twice. Down I glanced. A scarf. Bramble-tangled.”
Walter wet his eyes.
She was in a ditch. Nearly unconscious. Freezing. But alive.”
It was unbelievable.
Her stepfather hurt her. She fled that night. He followed. He left her to perish outside. But Murphy found her.”
“She stayed with me after that,” he claimed.
Then the system moved her. Wrote awhile. But life went on. She moved. I aged. Sicker. Murphy looked like he was praying it was her every time we met someone new.”
“She alone called him a guardian angel.”
Another nurse heard my tale that night.
She spotted an old story, “Dog Leads Elderly Man to Missing Teen.” Walter behind a crying child on a blanket, hand on Murphy’s head, was photographed.
I kept thinking about it. Online, I told the tale anonymously. No names.
This is about Walter, Murphy, and Lizzie, who considered her golden retriever her angel.
A message came three days later.
“I was Lizzie. You may be talking about me.”
She entered Walter’s room gently with her bright-eyed five-year-old daughter. She asked, “Mr. W?” Looked up and grinned.
“You found her,” he told Murphy. “You did.”
They spoke for hours about her studies, adoptive family, and music instruction.
“I wouldn’t be here without you,” she said.
Shaking his head. “Murphy.”
Walter had a better week—eating, sitting up, and sharing tales. Everyone considered it miraculous. We recognized Murphy. And Lizzie.
She went beyond visiting.
She visited everyday. Sometimes alone. With her daughter sometimes. Later, she brought documents.
“Mr. W,” she continued, “you’ve always been my family. Let me look after you.”
Walter resisted. But she persisted.
“You found me when no one noticed. Can I repay the favor?”
Walter moved into a modest guest house on her property with hospital consent.
Murphy got sunshine, a yard, and a new best friend who put ribbons around his neck and read to him on the porch.
Walter lived another eighteen months quietly. Loved. Safe.
Murphy lay next to him for hours after he died.
Lizzie, now Elena, stood before everyone during the burial and cried:
Walter more than saved me. He trusted me. Nobody else did. Murphy found me. Twice.”
She put a stone in her garden the next day.
Murphy—Guardian Angel. Good guy forever.
Below it, in smaller letters:
Murphy was requested often. We had no idea who it was. We’ll never forget now.
