What is that thumping noise and why is it so loud?
Wait… Is that my heart?
Why can I hear my heart?
And that ringing… My ears are ringing…
It's so dark… Why can't I open my eyes…?
What is this?
"Chase…"
Who is that?
"Chase… Can you hear me?"
Chase struggled to open his eyes, cracking them open.
A bright light flooded his sensitive sight.
"Ow…," Chase moaned.
"Chase!" Ryder exhaled in relief.
"Wh-Where…," Chase croaked, trying to focus on his surroundings. He could tell he was lying on his side and something cold was on his head.
"You're in the watchtower, dude!" Zuma responded.
Chase wasn't sure what happened, but he knew he was hurt.
He tried to lift his head, "Ow…," he flinched at the seemingly crushing pressure being applied to his head.
"Easy, Chase," Ryder shifted the ice pack he was lightly holding to the pup's head.
"Do I have to go to the d-doctor…?" Chase shivered in terror at the thought.
"I don't know, buddy," Ryder gave him a comforting pat, "You're pretty banged up. Marshall is going to have a look at you, okay?"
Chase gave a whine of approval.
"Can you tell me what hurts?"
"I… My head really hurts… And my paws feel like they're on fire…"
"Anything else?" Marshall doubled checked for anything other than the obvious.
"I don't think so…"
Marshall put his stethoscope on his friend's chest, "Can you take some deep breaths, for me?"
Chase wheezed in pain.
"I'm gonna shine a light in your eyes to check your head, okay?"
Chase nodded gingerly, pulling away as soon as the light was shone in his face.
"Wh-why is it so bright…?"
Marshall frowned.
"Do you remember what happened?"
"I… Not really…," he admitted.
"We were playing frisbee!" Skye recounted.
"I threw it to you," Marshall added.
"But it was really windy, and the disc blew off the grass near our houses," Rubble continued.
"You were so busy chasing it that you didn't see where you were going and you… Lost a headbutting match with Rocky's truck," Zuma glanced over at Rocky.
"Some bottles I had set out to keep blew over while we played and broke near my house…," Rocky spoke while he looked down at his paws, "I didn't clean it up right away and that's how you hurt your paws…"
The group could tell Rocky felt bad.
"It's not your fault, Rocky," Zuma assured.
Rocky looked away from Chase.
"What's the last thing you remember, Chase?" Marshall resumed.
"I remember… Going to the lake this morning…"
Marshall looked at him concerned.
"What…?" Chase's eyes drooped.
"We went to the lake two days ago, Chase," Zuma sounded worried.
"You must have hit your head a lot harder than we thought," Ryder also sounded worried.
"Do you feel dizzy?"
"Yeah…," he closed his eyes.
"How dizzy?"
"I think I might barf…" Chase could still feel his head spinning with his eye's closed.
"Can you let me know before you do so I can get out of the way?" Marshall nudged him in a lighthearted way, "I just had a bath yesterday."
"Okay…," he tried to smile.
"The cut on your head doesn't look too bad, I doubt it needs stitches…," Marshall proceeded to bandage his head, "Your paws, though… Can I look at your paws, Chase?"
He didn't respond.
"Chase?" Marshall started licking his face.
"Huh…?"
"You need to stay awake right now, Chase! You have a pretty bad concussion!"
"But… I'm sleepy…," he yawned.
"Rocky!"
The pup jumped at hearing his name, caught off guard.
"Can you keep Chase awake for me while I have a look at his paws?"
"Wh-why me? Wh-what do you want me to do?"
"Just talk to him, Rocky. Keep him awake."
Rocky walked over to Chase and laid down beside him.
"Hi, Chase," Rocky spoke softly as Marshall turned his attention back to the task at hand.
All four of the pup's paws were hastily wrapped in gauze, blood was beginning to soak through.
"Hi… Rocky," He winced as Marshall unwrapped the bandage around his right front paw, exposing a mangled mess of lacerations and glass shards.
"Yeouch!" Skye winced sympathetically.
Rocky cringed at the site.
"I'm sorry I left those bottles out… And that I didn't clean them up right away after they broke…"
"It's not your f-fault," Chase quivered as Marshall tried to clean his wound.
"It is my fault! If I just would have thrown those stupid bottles away, you wouldn't be in this bad of shape right now!" Rocky pounded his paw on the ground.
"Recycle…?"
The other pup rolled his eyes and smiled warmly at his silly friend, "You know what I meant."
Marshall started to remove some of the shards.
"Ow…," Chase whimpered, tears welling in his eyes.
"It's okay, Chase," Rocky soothed.
Marshall pulled a large chunk of glass out.
Chase yelped in agony, "Please!" He cried, "Please, stop!"
"Sorry!" Marshall jumped back in response to the sudden outburst.
Chase nuzzled into Rocky's neck, still crying.
"I – We," Marshall stepped back, still shaken, "We need to take him to the vet!" He looked up at Ryder, "He – He needs more help than I can give him."
"Get your truck ready, Marshall," Ryder said calmly, "I'll bandage that paw back up and bring him down."
Marshall quickly ran out of the room.
"D-Don't wanna go to the doctor…," Chase sniffled.
"You have to, Chase…," Ryder scratched the pup's side caringly, "They'll get you all fixed up."
"I'm scared of the vet…," He hiccupped.
"We'll all be right there beside you, Chase," Ryder wrapped his bloody paw, "I promise we won't let anything bad happen to you."
"Yeah!" The other pups replied in unison.
"But…," he protested, to no avail.
"You're the bravest pup I know!" Skye smiled.
The others nodded in agreement.
"I'm not brave… I'm scared…"
"Just because you're scared doesn't mean you aren't brave," Rocky explained.
"Being brave means doing something you have to even if you're really scared!" Zuma smiled.
"Ready!" Marshall barked into his pup tag.
"What do you say, Chase? Ryder gently picked him up in his blue blanket, "Are you brave enough to let the PAW patrol rescue you?"
"Chase…," Zuma began.
"… Is scared," he sighed weakly, "But he's on the case, anyway…"
"Yay!" They cheered.
"See! You're going to be just fine," Rocky stood up.
"We'll have you home before the new episode of Apollo tonight!" Rubble followed the others outside.
"Ryder…," Chase looked up at him, shaking apprehensively as the two stepped into the ambulance.
"Just try to relax… That's an order."
"Yes, sir… Ryder, sir…," Chase nestled his head into the boy's chest.