Alison Watt's Portrait of Victor

When I first heard that the palliative ward would welcome Victor I was relieved. Victor was after all that man's best (four-legged) friend. They are deeply attached and, as a Protection Islander, one of those oddly comforting aspects that make up the fabric of "home" has been, for me, seeing Mike and Victor on their daily walks. But having been greeted on these walks and at Carol and Mike's door countless times by Victor's loud and long Arooo's I was anxious that he might not "fit in" on that hushed ward. 
Yesterday I spend time with Carol at the hospital. It was very touching to see Victor's somewhat worried expression. He is clearly perplexed but somehow he seems to know what to do. He curls up quietly on Mike's bed, where every so often Mike's hand will extend to rest on his head. Victor has quickly learned that people come and go around Mike. But he greets friend and stranger quietly and when he needs to vacate the bed he curls up in his own little bed on the floor. Here's a quick sketch I made of him there yesterday.
Alison