And now for a chapter that's short and sweet. . .

Enjoy!

Chapter 12

He opened his forest green eyes about a quarter of the way, and groaned. 'What happened this time?' The ginger pup thought. 'And what's with that question again?' He looked around the room as thoughts and memories started to fill his mind. 'Hospital room . . . Burning, painful ribs . . .'

His eyes drifted around the room until they landed on an unfamiliar girl pup with a dark grey collar asleep in the chair next to the bed. He couldn't help notice her snow white fur, and how it created a perfect canvas for the colors of the morning sun shining through the window. After a few long moments, he realized he was staring at her. The dingo quickly looked away, and let more memories flood his mind. The more awake he became, the more he seemed to remember. 'The forest, the river, the cliff. . .'

"Alex!" He said as his eyes came open a little more.

The white pup's ears twitched, and then she slowly opened her eyes to the unfamiliar sound. She sat up and looked at the bed, then smiled. "You're awake!" Her tail started wagging rapidly. "I need to tell Ryder." Then she noticed something else. 'The doctor must have taken the breathing mask sometime during the night.'

She started to jump down, but was stopped when the dingo spoke again.

"Where's Alex, is he okay?" He asked. She glanced at the dingo's heart monitor, and noticed his heart was beating alarmingly fast.

"He's safe now. . ." she said gently to calm him down. She repeated what the doctor had told the rest of them hours earlier. As she did, she was glad to see his eyes soften and his heartbeat slow to a normal rhythm. She smiled "I'm Everest, by the way."

He smiled back, "Dundee. . . But you probably already knew that."

She blushed and said; "It's um . . ." Everest paused and stared as she finally noticed the most beautiful pair of forest green eyes she had ever seen. 'Wow. . . I just want to keep looking at them.' The husky continued staring into the dingo's eyes for a few more moments, until she remembered she was supposed to be talking. "It's um . . . Nice to finally meet you, even under these circumstances."

The ginger pup nodded, "You too." He remembered the name as soon as she said it, but he got caught up in her amazing ice blue eyes for a few moments. "You're the snow pup?" He asked, even though he said it more as a statement, than a question. When she nodded, he continued. "I've heard wonderful things about you from Ryder and the pups."

Her blush deepened. Before he could continue, both pups turned to the sound of the door opening.

"Everest," Ryder smiled. "I thought I heard your voice in here."

"Ryder," the husky smiled wide and her tail wag wildly, "Dundee's awake."

Ryder's face lit up. "Great!" he hurried over to the bed and sat on the edge. "How do you feel pup?"

"Like an elephant sat on my chest, mate." Dundee responded truthfully.

The leader laughed. "Well, the doctor said you broke several ribs. . . So I'm not surprised."

"Do you want me to go get the other pups, Ryder?" Everest asked as she jumped down from the chair.

The human shook his head. "Not yet, I want the doctor to look at him first. . . Could you go get him for me?"

She nodded, and then looked back at Dundee. "I'll be right back." She said as she left the room.

As ginger pup watched her leave, he couldn't help but smile. Without thinking he said. "What a Shelia. . ." When Dundee immediately realized what he said, he panicked slightly, and blushed again. "Did I say that out loud?"

Ryder smiled and nodded. "What a Shelia?" he raised an eyebrow.

The dingo cleared his throat, "It's an Aussie slang term. . ." He avoided the human's curious brown eyes. "It means a girl who is really, really. . . "He cleared his throat again, "hot."

Everest started down the hallway when she bumped into a familiar pup. "Sorry Skye, I was a little bit distracted."

The Cockapoo smiled, "Your fine. . . How's Dundee?" When the husky gave her a blank look, Skye motioned toward the door with her head. "You just came out of his room. . . And don't think I didn't notice you blush when I said his name." She gave her best friend a sly grin, which only made the husky blush harder.

"He woke up a few minutes ago." Everest said, changing the subject slightly. "Ryder's with him now." She stared walking down the hallway with Skye.

"Can we see him?" Skye asked.

The husky shook her head. "Not yet, Ryder wants the doctor to see Dundee first. . . To see if he's up to having company."

Skye nodded, and gave a knowing smile. "Okay, I won't ask about you and Dundee anymore." She knew not to push.

But she knew she wasn't imagining the husky blushing again at the sound of the ginger pup's name.

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