As if he'd been jabbed with a cattle prod, Ryder jolted awake from his slumber, thrashing around in panic as he reoriented himself. The adrenaline pumping through his veins slowly subsided as he took huge, fearful breaths, and he slowly began to realise what had just happened.
"Ugh… It was just a dream..."
Ryder rolled onto his back and emitted a hefty sigh, wiping away the sweat that adorned his forehead. He'd suspected that he wouldn't sleep soundly after one of his pups had come so close to meeting the reaper right before his eyes. As tired as he was, Ryder's brain started to work overtime. If he couldn't sleep without a terrible dream tearing him back to reality, how would the rest of the pups be taking the events of the day? How would Rubble be taking them? Nobody had been dealing with the scenario well. Rubble may have been OK at the end of the day, but seeing a friend nearly die wasn't a sight easily forgotten. The look of terror hadn't left any of the Paw Patrol's eyes for the rest of the day.
The urge to check on Rubble grew as the seconds went on. Ryder knew that it was only a dream, but he felt like he needed the confirmation that his pup was fine. That nothing had happened to him. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore. Ryder struggled to pull himself out of bed, doing battle with his own fatigue. He took a few moments to clear the fog in his head before standing up, and slowly trudging through the resort's hallways to where Rubble and the other pups were sleeping.
Ryder tried to be as quiet as he could as he slowly opened the door to the guest room. It was entirely dark. With the curtains drawn and no sources of light, Ryder had to move slowly to avoid tripping over anything. The only thing visible through the inky blackness were the sleeping silhouettes of the five pups. Ryder stopped, realising that the beds at the side of the room were short one occupant. He glanced up to where Rubble was tucked up in bed, finding his answer in the form of a silhouette standing over the construction pup.
"X-ray screen… arf..." The silhouette spoke so softly that Ryder only barely made out what it said from the middle of the room.
"Marshall? Is that you?" Ryder whispered.
The silhouette froze and turned towards the boy as the screen extended from his back. "Huh? Ryder, sir?"
Ryder slunk towards the bed. "Is everything OK? What are you doing up?"
"Oh… bad dream. What about you?" The two spoke in their quietest voices, doing their best not to wake everyone.
"Same." Ryder replied as Marshall's screen lit up.
He didn't have to ask why Marshall was stood over Rubble's bed. The dalmatian had been tirelessly slaving away over Rubble since the moment Zuma dragged him from the icy depths of the mountain's lake. Not once had Marshall dealt with a patient in such a state as Rubble. Never had he tried to help a patient who was so close to death. Ryder was proud, but worried for his pup at the same time.
"So how is he?" Ryder went on.
"Let's find out." Marshall whispered back as he ran the screen over the sleeping bulldog.
The two felt more at ease after Marshall's impromptu examination. Rubble hadn't miracuously improved, as much as the pair prayed that he would, but his vitals were largely stable and his broken leg hadn't degraded any. Marshall sat still as Ryder rubbed his head.
"What a day, huh?" Marshall whispered.
"You can say that again..." Ryder replied.
"What a day, huh?"
Ryder held back snickering at Marshall's joke. Even at a time like this, he could still inject some humor into the situation. At least he'd managed to recover a little.
"Marshall, we're trying to be quiet, here!" Ryder hissed.
"Heh heh, sorry..." Marshall giggled under his breath.
The two turned their attention to the rest of the pups. None of them seemed to be disturbed by their activity. The five shapes remained as still as ever.
"I don't think they're sleeping too well." Marshall whispered.
"You don't think?" Ryder asked.
"Some of them were breathing heavier than usual. Think I heard some whining in there, too."
Ryder sighed. He didn't want to be proven right tonight about everyone sleeping poorly, but Marshall just confirmed it.
"Listen, Marshall… We both had bad dreams, right? Wanna talk about it? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
Marshall paused for a moment before answering. "I… guess that sounds good?"
"Come on, Marshall. Do you really think you can go back to sleep with a bad dream weighing on you? I know I can't."
"Well… can I sleep with you, then?" Marshall seemed reluctant to ask, as if he thought Ryder was going to brush him off.
"Duh!" Ryder tried to suppress the urge to speak louder, as he picked Marshall up and held him close. "You think I'm just gonna leave you here with your nightmares?"
Another pause. Marshall lay stiffly in Ryder's arms before relaxing and snuggling close to him.
"See, buddy?" Ryder whispered. "Nothing to be ashamed of." Affectionately bumping his head against Marshall's, Ryder stealthily made his exit, ensuring that none of the pups would be woken by his brief visit.
It didn't take long for Ryder to make his way back to his room. As he turned on his bedside light, he finally got a clear look at Marshall's face. He may have looked calm, but one look into his blue eyes was all it took to show that all was not well with the dalmatian as Ryder helped take his Pup Pack off. Ryder sat back down in bed and arranged the pillows to allow him to sit up more comfortably. Laying Marshall down on his chest, Ryder pulled the covers up to the back of Marshall's head, letting the pup curl up on top of him as the boy hugged Marshall gently.
"So, Marshall…" Ryder began after a minute of the pair lying in silence. "Want me to start us off?"
Marshall's body stiffened. He was clearly uncomfortable about having to talk about his nightmare.
"Er… Would you mind?" Marshall asked shakily.
"Well, alright. Here goes... I guess it goes without saying that I dreamed about today's rescue. But in my dream, well… it… it didn't go so well."
"I think everybody's been dreaming about that... Even me."
"Not surprising… Anyway, you know that Rubble couldn't remember what happened today, right? Well in my dream…" Ryder's face contorted in pain. "Rubble… couldn't remember anything. He couldn't remember what happened, he didn't know where he was... And worst of all..."
Marshall braced himself. He had a feeling that he knew what Ryder was going to say, but even if what Ryder said surprised him, he knew he wouldn't like it.
"...he couldn't even remember his own name. Or any of us..."
Marshall whined and sympathetically nuzzled his owner's face.
"I still can't get the last thing he said to me before I woke up out of my head..." Ryder whispered shakily.
"...do I even wanna know?" Marshall asked, pulling back and looking at his owner with a look of fear. Ryder responded by swallowing hard and screwing his eyes shut. And after a while, finally choking out the words that haunted him so.
"...'Who are you?'"
Marshall let out a prolonged whimper and clung to Ryder in fear, nuzzling his face again. Ryder responded by hugging Marshall tightly, shaking noticably. Ryder momentarily feared the worst when he overheard how out of it Rubble was after he woke up. Fearing that he'd died mentally, but not physically. It was clear to Marshall that Ryder needed to get his nightmare off his chest as badly as Marshall did. The two lay there hugging each other in silent fear for a few minutes, trying to mend each other's frayed nerves. Eventually though, Ryder broke the long silence.
"Well, that's my dream. What about you?"
No reply. Marshall simply stayed where he was, not making a sound.
"Marshall?" Ryder let out a sigh. "Marshall, come on. I already told you. You don't have anything to be ashamed of. I told you my dream. You can tell me yours."
"It… I-it's not that... It… was… it was just so… scary..."
"And mine wasn't?" Ryder replied, looking into Marshall's eyes with a gentle expression. "If you get this off your chest, you'll feel way better." Ryder comfortingly laid a hand on Marshall's head. "I know I feel better after telling you about my dream. Seriously. I won't judge you at all." He gave the fire pup a soft smile. "Don't be shy."
Marshall stared at Ryder with a look of hesitation, slowly taking in what he just said. He knew that talking about bad dreams would help him over them, but this one frightened him deeply, serving as a huge reminder of what nearly happened that day. He didn't want to think about it, but Ryder wasn't leaving him much choice. Marshall swallowed back his fear.
"Well… OK... You probably already know what I dreamed about, right?"
Ryder gave a sympathetic look in response. "I think so. But I still want to hear it."
"Well… My dream… went the same way as things did today, but..." Ryder noticed Marshall's lip trembling. "By the time… we got Rubble to the resort..." Marshall's voice dropped off to a barely-audible volume. "It was… it was too late..."
Marshall screwed his eyes shut as he remembered his dream of futilely screaming at Rubble to wake up, giving a protracted whine.
"Oh, Marshall..." Ryder whispered, drawing his pup into another hug. Predictable though Marshall's dream may have been, it didn't make any less sense for him to have it, nor did it lose any of its impact. "You don't have to worry. WE don't have to worry. Thanks to you, Rubble's going to be fine."
It was then that Ryder noticed something. From his arms came the sound of sobbing and sniffling. With his face buried in his owner's chest, Marshall had finally begun to cry. Ryder opened his eyes and glanced down at Marshall before closing them again and tightening his hug. The only surprise to Ryder was that Marshall's tears didn't come sooner with the phenomenal amount of stress that came with one of his fellow pups being so close to death.
"R-R-Ryder… When… when Rubble… fell in the w-water back there…" Marshall sobbed, looking up at Ryder, who looked on the verge of crying himself. "...I… I… I really… thought that was the end… I w-wasn't… wasn't sure if Rubble… w-would ever wake up... E-E-E-Everest told me… what hypothermia... d-does to someone… I-I-I didn't even think... Z-Zuma was gonna… make it..."
Marshall could only cry harder as he went on. "R-R-Rubble was… b-barely breathing! I've… I've n-never seen someone's p… p-p… pulse g-g-get… get so low!"
"Shhhh..." Ryder whispered, fighting back the lump forming in his throat. "It was tough on all of us, you know? I don't think I've ever been… more scared myself… But you worked so hard today… You put yourself through so much…" Ryder's voice grew shaky. "And now it's all over… So you can cry all you want..."
Not waiting to be told twice, Marshall quickly buried his face back into Ryder's chest and continued sobbing. If he broke down in the middle of all of the pups during such a stressful time, he'd only end up making things even worse. Now, though, Ryder was finally giving him a chance to properly vent. To let his emotions out. And it wasn't a chance that he was about to pass up.
Marshall found himself interrupted soon after by some unexpected sounds. From in front of him, he heard tears being shed that weren't his own. Marshall looked up once more, only to be greeted by the startling sight of Ryder looking down at him. Crying.
"R-Ryder?!" Marshall exclaimed, astonished at the sight of his usually-unfazeable owner in tears.
"...B-besides..." Ryder sobbed. "You… you're not alone… I-I… I still need to vent too, you know?"
The two exchanged tearful looks for a second before tightly hugging each other, sobbing the whole while. With such a horrific event finally behind them all, and with the knowledge that their precious friend was safe and recovering after coming so close to the grave, Marshall and Ryder were finally able to excise all of the stress and fear they were carrying through the day. The pair held each other close as they shared a long, cleansing cry, weeping together into the night.
Neither of the two knew how long they held each other in tears for. Even so, they eventually stopped crying, satisfied that they were feeling better after venting their anxieties. Despite feeling thoroughly drained and red-eyed, the warm bedding combined with the tearful embrace they shared meant that Marshall and Ryder felt far more relaxed. Eventually, Marshall was the one to break the silence.
"You know, Ryder? You were right. I feel way better after all that."
"See, pal? What did I tell you?" Ryder replied, smiling down at the fire pup. "It felt good getting all of that off our chests, huh?"
"Yeah… But I wasn't expecting to see you cry, too. I don't think I've ever seen you cry before."
"Not in public, you haven't. You should've seen me earlier after we brought Rubble back."
Marshall laughed slightly. "I have a hard time believing that."
"Really! I'm not kidding! You saw me earlier, right? Once I had some time alone, I was a total mess." Ryder's face suddenly fell. "I… thought we lost him..."
"But we didn't." Marshall quickly replied, gently licking Ryder's cheek, grimacing slightly at the salty taste. "It's like you said. Rubble's fine. We all did our part and now he's safe. And when we get him proper treatment, it'll only be a matter of time before he's back up and running."
Ryder took a deep breath before the smile returned to his face. "I know… All of you pups went above and beyond today. Even when things looked their worst, you never threw in the towel..." Ryder's hug tightened. "I'm proud of you… All of you..."
As Marshall hugged back, he sniffled again. Hearing Ryder that happy with them almost made the painful day worth it. But deep down, Marshall prayed that he'd never have to deal with something like this ever again. That, he thought, was likely something else he wasn't alone in thinking.
"Ryder…" Marshall piped up. "I've just thought of something. When Rubble gets out of the vet's tomorrow, shouldn't we do something nice for him? I mean, he shouldn't have had to go through… well, any of that!"
Ryder gave a knowing smirk in reply. "Way ahead of you, Marshall. I've already got plans."
Marshall perked up. "Really?! What have you got?"
Ryder's smirk grew. "...It's a secret."
And almost as quickly, Marshall deflated, his face turning to a puff-cheeked pout, prompting Ryder to giggle. "OK, OK, I'll give you a hint. Rubble's appointment isn't until the afternoon. And I think we all need some extra rest. Don't you?"
His face changing to one of fatigue at the mention of the word "rest", Marshall wearily looked up and nodded slowly.
"And from the looks of you, I think we should get started right away." Ryder whispered.
Without breaking his hug, Ryder slowly turned Marshall onto his side. The pup didn't protest as Ryder cuddled him and slowly rubbed his belly. He simply closed his eyes and relaxed, allowing his owner to comfort him. After a harrowing day like this one, this treatment was even more effective in mentally and physically calming Marshall, and it didn't take long for him to be teetering on the edge of consciousness. Seeing that Marshall was about to fall asleep, Ryder felt inclined to join him, setting his pillows back to normal, before reaching over and turning off the light.
"Night… night… Ryder..." Marshall mumbled sleepily, as Ryder embraced him while lying down flat.
"Sweet dreams, Marshall..." Ryder whispered.
In a matter of seconds, the pair fell into a deep, long sleep. And with their pain finally behind them, the dreams they had were far better than before.
Brutal, right? Don't worry. Things get more lighthearted from here on out.