Chapter 26

Sebastian and Zuma were sitting in the waiting room, anxious to hear what the doctor had to say about their two friends. While Chase had been the main reason to be in the hospital, the nurse that was in charge of the entire thing saw how injured Ryder was from his battle between Michael so he was automatically put to a room to be checked at, against his will. It had been three hours since and still no news was given about neither pup or boy. Since it was nearly dark and had a long day, the two impatient ones started falling asleep… well, Zuma was already knocked out but the teenager wanted to hold on a little longer. After another uneventful hour, the nurse came in. "Ryder and Chase?"

The two perked up and shot up from their seats, "how are they?"

"First off, are you two the family of the two patients," she politely asks.

"Yes," Zuma replies. The nurse was a little skeptical, so he decided to explain. "Wydew is my ownew while Chase is my bwothew."

"No parents?"

"No." She nodded and decided to not ask further but she turned to the teen. "And you?"

"I'm just a friend." She nodded. "Well for Ryder, we noticed that he has a mild concussion, two cracked ribs, multiple bruises and cuts, and found some alcohol in his bloodstream," she read off her clipboard, though she looked up when she mentioned the alcohol. The two listening were shocked.

"Wait what? Did you say alcohol?" Sebastian asked again.

"Yes but not much. He's very lucky. If he drank anymore, he could have messed up his nervous system and cause him to have seizures and be in a coma, it could have been fatal." While the nurse explained this, the labrador was trying to wrap his head around it. What happened when Ryder went to go find his suspect? What did he do to him?... Or did Ryder do it himself? The pup shook his head. He knows Ryder would never do that to himself. He knows that he's been stressed but his faithful leader would never result to that...right? The pup was conflicted. He froze when he heard the nurse.

He's very lucky… it could have been fatal. What?! "Wydew could have died?!" He exclaimed by accident.

"That could have been a possibility but he fine now honey," she reassured with a soft smile. The pup was still unsure of how to process it still, but the pup nodded which queued her to continue. "Chase, he may experience slight hyperactivity. Cocaine could be toxic towards a dog, affecting their brain and heart. Luckily, he didn't inhale that much so it can be removed but he needs to stay hospitalized for a couple days."

"Knowing Chase, he wouldn't like that at all," Zuma commented. "Can we visit them?"

"Only family can," she said, sending an apologetic look to the teen, who nodded saying it was fine. "They are in room A325 and A267. The Ryder's room in down the hall to the right while Chase would be one your left."

"Okay, thank you." With that, he left in search of the rooms. Before the nurse left, Sebastian asked one more question. "If Chase were to inhale more of the drug, what would have happened?"

Well multiple things could have happened but since he is still a pup, it could have been fatal," she explained. After a nod, she left. The teen went back to his seat and thought about what she said. 'If Ryder and/or Chase had more of those things they both could have died' he thought. 'Good thing Zuma doesn't know what might have happened to Chase. What a day.'

The pup headed toward room A325, the more 'fun' area of the hospital. It sort of looked like a retirement home but had people with different age groups, even animals. Eventually, he made it and pounced on Chase's bed and gave him friendly lick. "Chase! How you feeling buddy?"

"Pretty good, I feel better than I did before," he responded returning a lick. They hopped down the bed and headed toward the entertainment center, which is where the labrador saw earlier.

"Do you know what happened to me?" He asked.

"The nuwse said that you sniffed a dwug and you got weally hypew. It's still in youw body so you'll have to stay hewe fow a couple days," he explained. The german shepherd groaned, causing the other to giggle.

"But we have work to do! What if another call comes in? Who's going to get the job done?"

"W-Well I guess that Sebastian and I have to take cawe of it," he thought out loud. He has NEVER done a rescue without a leader before. Sure, Chase had lead before, but him? Nope. Even though there were only the two of them, the teen had no experience in rescues while the aqua pup did. Chase noticed his lack of self-confidence. "Hey, I bet you'll do great! Other than Ryder and Marshall, I could see that you're a great leader. So don't get yourself down. I remember leading my first mission was a little difficult, but once I realized that it didn't matter that I wasn't Ryder giving the orders. It was me. I was the one to lead the rescue and that's what pushed me forward. But that's me though, it could be different with you. You just have to not only trust others, but you need to trust yourself too."

"Thanks, Chase," he smiled. They walked over to the toys and started playing tug-of-war, even other pups started helping them. One of the female pups smiled at the labrador, causing him to blush madly even under his chocolate fur coat. Chase saw this and walked over to him after the game was over and everyone disbanded. "You should go talk to her."

"What?!" He exclaimed. They both sat down and stared at girl pup. She was a golden retriever with beautiful golden locks and smooth fur and had a pink bow on her ear. "I can't talk to hew."

"You don't like her?"

"N-No it's not that it's just, I'm not good with giwls," he whispered the last part. The police pup laughed at the statement and pat his back.

"It's okay Zuma. As long as you be yourself, it will be okay," he encouraged.

"What if she doesn't like me back? I'll look like an idiot," he whimpered.

"Hey. You are a great pup. You're funny, smart, know a lot about water and the ocean, and a great listener. I'm sure she will," he said softly yet stern. "And if she doesn't, there are plenty more pups in the park. Now go on!" He pushed him to the pup who was watching another game of tug-of-war going on. She turned to him as he appeared beside her.

"Hello," she greeted with a smile.

"H-Hi," he stuttered, feeling the blush forming. 'Her voice is angelic' he thought. He was thankful having dark fur so it wasn't as noticeable.

"I'm Chole, what's yours?"

"Z-Zuma," he replied. "What awe you doing by youwself?"

"I'm a little tired from that earlier round so I'm taking a break. What are you doing here anyway? You look fine to me."

"I'm visiting my ownew and fwiend. What about you? You look beautifu- Uh I mean fine. You look fine," he correct. She giggled at the comment though, causing the labrador's heart to flutter.

"I'm visiting someone too. And thank you. You don't look bad yourself." He blushed even more. A few awkward seconds pass by. "So...what are you going to do later?"

"I have to go back to wowk," he replied. He saw a flash of disappointment go across her face so he quickly added to his answer. "B-But unless you want to head somewhere with me, I could postpone it."

"Really? But I wouldn't you want to miss whatever you're going to do."

"No no, it's okay. I'm suwe my pawtnew can handle it without me," he reassured. She giggled again.

"Then why not we meet at the park tomorrow, say around three?"

"S-Sure it's a date." She look offended. "Sowwy I didn't mean to call it that. If you don't want to- ugh why did I say that?"

"I'm just messing with you. It's a date. See you later Zuma," with that, she walked away but not before giving him a latte lick on the cheek. The poor labrador sat there, paralyzed. Chase walked up to him and sat down.

"Well, it looks like it went well!" He observed. He waved his paw in front of the frozen pup's face when he didn't respond. Blinking back, he held a giant grin. "Dude, I think I totally scowed a date."

"Way to go Zuma!" He cheered then howled in excitement.

"Hew name is Chole and she's so~ pwetty," he gawked. Chas chuckled at the younger pup's love-filled eyes. Zuma stood up and turned to the german shepherd. "Maybe you should twy that with Skye when we get back in Adventuwe Bay, I bet she'd love it."

"W-What? What are you talking about?" He nervously asked.

"Dude, evewyone knows youw cwush one Skye, even Wydew! And he can't even scowe a date with Katie," he deadpanned.

"Since when are you the love god?" He exasperated.

"When I joined the Paw Patwol." He grinned. "I have to go check on Wydew. In the meantime, you should plan on how to tackle youw futuwe date." With that, he left leaving the police pup dumbfounded.

Zuma went to his owner next. As he found the room, A267, he noticed how quiet it was in there. As he entered, he found the boy on a seemingly uncomfortable bed with bandages on his torso and bandages on his eyebrow and arms. By how the nurse described it, he didn't look that bad. Being so excited to see him again, he ran up to him and jumped on his bed, bombarding him with licks. "Wydew!"

"Hey Zuma," he giggled. The labrador placed his two front paws on his chest, madly wagging his tail. The boy winced by the heavy contact, making the pup freak out.

"Sowwy Wydew! I didn't mean it! Do you want me to get the nuwse? Awe you okay-?" He backed up, ears flattening, as he panicked.

"Woah there Zuma, it's okay. I'm okay," he convinced with a smile. The pup just sighed as he laid on the bed and placed his head carefully on his owner's stomach. He noticed the younger one's conflicted expression so he decided to ask while giving him an ear scratch. "What's wrong pup?"

"The nuwse told me that you dwank alcohol. She said it could have messed youw nervous system, whatevew that is, and you could h-have…" tears started traveling down his chocolate fur coat. "Y-you could have died Wydew!" He wailed. The boy sighed, the nurse had told him earlier what could have happened to both him and Chase. It brought a tear to his eye by just having the thought of leaving his pups alone. He pulled the sobbing pup closer, ignoring the pain from his ribs, and hug him.

"Shh. It's okay Zuma, it's okay now," he soothed though if the pup were paying attention better, he would have heard the tone the boy used, as if he was trying to convince himself. After his sobs became sniffles, the pup started talking.

"W-What if you wewen't okay? What would the Paw Patwol do without you? What would Chase do without you? What would I do without you?"

"I'm sorry Zuma, for making you go through that thought. And I would be absolutely heartbroken if I had to leave you pups, dead or alive. I should have been more careful while trying to apprehend that guy but it just didn't cross my mind of actually dieing and what would happen after." Zuma looked up at him, dark and thick lines traveling down his fur. The boy whipped away the tears for him. "I promise, that I would never let anything bad happen to you pups and would never leave you guys. You all are my family and I love you guys very much."

"I know you will and I love you too," he smiled and licked him once. He put his head down back on the boy's stomach as he was put down and closed his eyes, exhaustion overtaking him. Ryder softly stroked his back, his eyes starting to close as well. The last thought that left his mind is that no matter what happened, he would ALWAYS stand by his pups.

To be continued...