A.N: Guys I loved the way this chapter turned out and can't wait for you all to go through the journey with everyone. It is so good to be back again and getting into the swing of things. I hope you all enjoy this one, and I hope you're all doing amazing!

-W.P

Chapter 28: Light My Way

Two furry bodies, eight paws, four ears, two muzzles, and two beating hearts; a fire rescue pup and a medical nurse pup. Together they sat in silence, the only noise came from their own soft snores reverberating off of the walls. Tucked away in an 'on call ' room, hidden from the rest of the world, from their problems and responsibilities. It was at this moment that would change both of their lives forever.

2 Hours ago

"Let's roll pups!" Ryder yelled over his shoulder to the pack of young pups trailing behind him, one by one sleepily venturing out of the PAW Patroler and into the dark of the morning.

Marshall was right on the boy's heals, rushing out of the red and white bus, shivering as the cold morning air shocked his senses, spiking his already nervous and excited psyche. His body trembled in anticipation as they approached the hospital. The moment he had been waiting for, seeing Chase, his closest and most cherished friend, was rapidly approaching. All of the sleepless nights, heartache, and stress would all be worth it once they were reunited again. Well once they all were reunited, Zuma and Rubble were also present; and also excited to see their second in command. Just a little less excited about the ungodly hour that Chase decided to wake up and request their company.

Passing the sliding front doors, the team made their way into the hospital lobby, as Ryder scanned the busy floor for their four legged, furry guide.

Minutes passed without a sighting of Cody, and Ryder was growing more and more anxious, already pulling out his pup pad to contact him, when he heard the rapid tapping of claws against the slick laminate floor. Appearing from around the corner, Cody raced over to them hastily skidding to a stop at Ryders feet, his tail wagging back and forth.

"Good to see you Ryder, pups, if you'll follow me please I will take you to Chase's room. We have to hurry, I still have yet to speak with my attending." Cody said, grimacing at the last part.

Ryder nodded and motioned for his faithful pups to follow, all falling in line behind the scrubbed cattle dog as they carved a path through the hospital floor traffic.

Marshall's insides were crawling with anticipation with each step closer to Chase, but all of his nerves weren't positive, and Marshall's medical background won out in the battle against his self control. Unable to wait any longer, Marshall quickened his pace, catching up alongside Cody, hungry for answers.

"How is Chase? Are his stats good? Is he running a fever? How do his dressings look, and the scar, is it healing properly? Is he.." The dally tried but Ryder cut him off.

"Marshall it's ok, I'm sure he's fine, you're not even on duty." Ryder laughed, smiling apologetically at the unfazed nurse, who still had his attention on Marshall.

" I admire your thoroughness, his vitals are strong, no fever; dressings look good, scar healing nicely with no indication of infection, and he is lying comfily in bed."

"Is his back properly supported?" Marshall questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"With a pillow, yes." Cody laughed. "And before you ask, he has eaten this morning." Cody stated confidently, looking at the dally with challenging eyes that were overpowered by a puppy-like playfulness just beneath the surface. "Anything else?" He said smugly.

Marshall rolled his eyes and thought for a second, before looking to Cody with his own playful stare. " Have you eaten anything this morning?"

Cody's smug expression fell and a flash of panic overtook it as he began racking his brain for an answer, he must've eaten something. When nothing materialized, he huffed out a breath. "No." He grumbled looking down to the floor for a moment, before once again dawning his puppy like composure and shot a smile at Marshall. "Anything else, Mother?"

"Yes actually, are you always such a workaholic? You're getting skinny dear." Marshall returned, letting out a giggle which Cody returned.

"Did someone mention eating? I'm starving." Rubble said, causing Ryder to join in the giggle fest that was slowly infecting the group.

"We'll get something from the cafeteria after we see Chase, ok?" The boy said, smiling down to the Bulldog at his side. Without warning Ryder mistepped, lunging his other foot out to catch himself before he toppled over.

Looking down to his right side, Ryder saw the obstacle. A chocolate lab matching his steps, glued to his leg while keeping his gaze to the shiny floor, oblivious to the conversation the others were having, lost in his own world entirely. Zuma came back from his daydreaming as Ryder took a heavy step to correct his off balance body. Wide eyed, Zuma looked up to him apologetically. "Sowwy Wyder."

Ryder gave him a warm smile. "It's ok pup, nervous to see Chase?"

"You could say that." Zuma returned, moving his eyes back to the floor and his reflection that followed him as they walked. It wasn't a complete lie, he was nervous to see Chase, that part was true, but he was also nervous being around all of the medical workers and patients alike, nervous being at the hospital altogether.

"It's ok Zuma, everyone gets nervous, it's normal." Rubble chipped in, full of enthusiasm.

Rolling his eyes at this, but careful not to let the others see it, Zuma gave him a half hearted smile and a nod of his head before once again putting his head down in the sand, following the nurse to their friend's room. 'It may be normal to some degree, but this level of nerves is totally abnormal.'

Stopping at one of the doorways lining the hall, Cody motioned with his paw for the others to enter. The group fully intended to do so until Ryder stopped in his tracks, causing a chain reaction, halting everyone. All of them huddled around Ryder and peered into the room, curious to see what the hold up was. A wave of shock rippled through the group as they laid eyes on the expected Shepherd lying in bed cuddling with his unexpected guest.

Rubble was the first one to break the silence, as everyone slowly entered the room."Aww they are so cute."

"I didn't see this coming." Ryder said, mostly to himself, scratching his head at the odd couple. He was certain that if any of his pups were to get together, it would be the police and aviator pups coming out to him first. He was brought out of his thoughts feeling Zuma peek around his leg, taking it all in for himself, and smiling for his happy friends to have found something as special as love in eachother.

Cody excused himself, telling no one in particular that he would be back to check up on them later in the morning. Having grown tired of dragging his paws long enough with the meeting with his attending. Leaving everyone; the group of relatively happy pups, and one confused boy, alone in the dark room. Almost everyone.

Outside of the crowded room, Marshall found himself frozen in place, his paws rooted to the floor. This was not happening, it was impossible.

So many situations in the past ran through his head when it came to confronting Everest about his feelings, how it would all play out. She would laugh at him and tell him he was far too silly, too childish, too clumsy to date. And if not that, she would uncomfortably break it to him that she wasn't ready to think about dating, still being a growing pup and all. Or his personal favorite, she would tell him as gently as she could that she thought of him as a friend. A polite way of saying ya I'm not into you, but I don't want to hurt your feelings any more than I already am. But this? This fresh hell that blindsided him not one minute ago? Even his own mind couldn't have ever dreamt up a nightmare like this. Everest in bed, wrapped up in blankets, fast asleep with...Chase.

It shook the Dally to his core, bubbling up a frenzy of emotions that rarely reached the surface of his otherwise happy, fun loving attitude. Unable to break his gaze from his crush wrapped up in the paws of his best friend, Marshall felt the defensive walls around his heart crumble like dust. Leaving his vulnerable heart unaware of the pain to come, unprepared by the shock of the situation, and unprotected as the sight cut into his soul like a razor blade.

Flinching, Marshall put a paw to his chest at the burning sting, trying like hell to stop the bleeding from reducing him into a sobbing puppy at any given moment. He didn't dare enter the room as one look from anyone, let alone the two pups cuddling lovingly on the bed, would shatter any strength or self control he had left. With one final painful look, Marshall bolted.

Faster he ran, being chased down by a few angered yells and confused looks, not that anyone would care enough to stop him and ask what was wrong, everyone around him too preoccupied with their own problems to take action regarding his own. And the team he left behind? There's nothing they could do or say to stop the pain from aching, the blood from flowing, or the tears from falling down. He was on his own, and on his own he searched for a quiet place secluded from the crashing world around him. And eventually Marshall found just the place. A vacant on call room with an inviting bed and comforting dark atmosphere to hide him away. Here is where he could grieve over the pups he lost today. Having not only lost a crush today, but a best friend too.

KnockKnockKnock

"Come in." Called a rather deep and gravelly voice. The door creaked open and a pair of paws rushed into the air conditioned office space, a particularly nice office if Cody was honest with himself. Being the chief of surgery definitely had it's perks if the office was anything to go off of.

Before his eyes was a good sized, fully carpeted room with two giant windows overlooking the sleepy forest that surrounded the hospital and commercial buildings; a view the nurse wouldn't mind getting used to seeing everyday, sipping his coffee in the wee hours of the mornings before rounds…

A throat clearing brought the pup out of his daze and back into the room.

"You're late." Came a less than warm and welcoming voice. It's owner sitting behind a cherry wood desk, an older man, white coat draped around his rather plump figure, his icy blue eyes locked onto the scrubbed pup sitting uncomfortably on the floor.

"My apologies, chief. I was escorting our patient's guests to his room."

Cody flinched at the incessant taping of fingers rattling the wooden desk, but corrected his posture before speaking.

" About earlier, I acted unprofessional...and should have carried myself more..." His words fell short in his throat as he saw the anger now flushing Dr. White's face.

" WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? Do you have any idea how lucky you are after the stunt you pulled?" Dr. White yelled, his face red as a beet and eyes wide glaring at Cody, before he sucked in a breath to quell his growing anger.

"The only reason you are still here, and not in the arms of our security detail, is because of the substantial amount of compensation the hospital board gives me for overseeing your education here at my hospital." He said before letting out a snort. "Hell, the board is the only reason you are here, the members are hard advocates of equal opportunity and innovation, and they just loved the idea of teaching and producing the first canine registered nurse in medical history. " He sneered leaning over his desk. Rubbing his temples, before slamming them on the desk. "NO MATTER how HARD I pushed AGAINST IT!"

The spotted cattle dog let his ears fall to his head. "What?" He said, wide eyed as the new information crushed his confidence in one blow. Cody noticeably shrunk down in his place on the floor.

There was blood in the water now, an open wound cut open, a struck nerve exposed and raw. Cody sat in silence as the hungry shark eyed him down, smelling the blood seeping out of the pup, pushing the chief to swim in for the kill.

"I knew something like this would happen, I tried to warn everyone what a dangerous idea this was, and now look where it has left us, where you have left us. Today, you not only became too emotionally involved in your furry patients, but also single-handedly disobeyed a direct order and assaulted your chief of surgery, endangering the lives of myself and the patient. Your actions were reckless, immature, and completely unprofessional."

The chief stood up putting his hands on his desk. looking like he was ready to pick it up and hurl it at Cody.

"And now, it will be my personal pleasure making your life hell. You may have the board's favor, but I control you, I own your hide and I will make sure you regret the day you EVER thought you could call yourself a nurse. You are nothing, you will never belong here, and you will NEVER BE one of us! YOU INSUBORDINATE, USELESS, MUTT!"

Each word cut deeper than the last, until Cody's heart was riddled in open wounds. The self confidence he had worked so hard to build up, shattered like glass leaving a gaping hole in his chest, and a frenzy of lies swarmed his mind. Cody's blood; his hope, his security, and any motivation to tell his superior how wrong he was, left his body as the hateful words continued looping inside his mind. There was no fighting it, no way of salvaging the situation. Everything that Doctor White had said, Cody at some point struggled with and shooed away with enough determination. But now his darkest insecurities were awake and hungry, the beasts that he had tried with all his might to ignore and keep locked away, had been given their freedom, a stockpile of ammunition, and one very vulnerable target.

"Now get the hell out of my office." Dr. White growled pointing to the door. His grimace deepening at the despondent pup remained in place, hopelessly losing an internal war that was tearing him from the inside out.

"GET OUT!" He brought his fists down to the wooden desk, throwing up loose papers and scattering pencils across the room.

Not daring to look at the monster in front of him, Cody fled out of the room, tail tucked between his legs. Mentally suppressing the cackles roaring within his mind at his own cowardness.

Time was of the essence, before he bled out all over the floor, in front of all of his coworkers and Chief. No, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him break. He would never recover from that, they would never let him.

His body now on autopilot as he ran to the only safe place he knew of, a dark room away from the prying eyes of everyone. He just needed a moment, a couple minutes to compose himself and it will be as if it never happened, no one had to know.

'No one has to know.' Marshall thought trying to do anything to stop the pain, to compose himself enough to make it out of the door, tell Ryder he wasn't feeling well and boom back at the lookout. He just had to fake it, hold it together until... the door to his back abruptly swung open. Without wiping his face, the Dally turned to see who the intruder was, and about jumped out of his fur. Facing him, leaning on the closed door, was Cody; his shocked muzzle stained with his own tears and a pained expression deeper within the look of horror on his face, telling Marshall that the worst had yet to come.

Cody turned on his paws and shut the door behind him, resting his paws on the door, keeping his back to Marshall.

"What are you doing in here Marshall?" He said while trying to wipe away his tears away. before he felt a paw on his shoulder. He hesitated from turning around right away, still drying his wet muzzle.

"Why are you crying?" Marshall asked, trying to avoid spilling the beans on his own crisis and focus on helping someone else with theirs, that's just the pup he was, selfless, nor did he have the heart to leave the room in the state that Cody was in without at least letting him vent first. Whether it was not wanting to see him suffer, or his medical training kicking in, he felt compelled to help Cody, numb his pain at the very least.

Cody felt himself being pulled away from the door. His breath became shallow as he reluctantly turned to face his company, who upon closer inspection had also been crying.

Never one to show his emotions, not even people he was close with, doing it with a complete stranger was unthinkable. But then again, the conversation he just had with his superior turned his world upside-down, he decided to try something new, going against his instincts, and let Marshall in.

"I just..my boss..he's being bribed by the hospital board to teach me during my residency. But..he."

Cody stopped, turning away and taking in as many calming breaths as he could, as if to psyche himself up or to stop himself from breaking down, Marshall didn't know.

Without a word Marshall put a paw on his shoulder, urging him to continue, giving him a confident nod of his head.

"It's ok, you're allowed to feel emotions, you don't need to bottle everything up."

like a light switch going off, as if the floodgates had burst open, all of the emotions Cody had been trying to supress had been given permission to come out, and come out they did.

In seconds, the cool calm and collected cattle dog was drowning in a frenzy of tears, holding his paws up to his face, before grabbing ahold of the closest warm body to him. Stunned at first, but not about to reject the comfort seeking dog, Marshall returned the hug, squeezing him tightly as tears began to stain his uniform, silently relishing in the close contact of the other pup and the comfort it brought him.

"He thinks I'm..a fraud, a failure..he won't teach me.. he doesn't believe in me. Nobody does." Cody sobbed, opening the cages to his insecurities and fears for Marshall to see.

"What if he's right?..What..what if I am useless? What if..I..I'll never belong. That I'm nothing more than a liability, a hazard..a failure to delusional to see how unqualified I really am."

Marshall had heard enough, and placed both of his paws on Cody's shoulders, forcing the pup to look up at him from the pit of shame and self doubt he was digging himself.

"Stop, just stop, you listen to me, I've never seen another pup do what you're doing, not one. The fact that you have the courage to pursue your dream, your calling, should diminish any doubts you have about your place at the hospital." The dally said staring into Cody's glassy eyes before continuing.

"You know why your boss is so against you being here, why he is making it so hard for you, why he put you down like he did?"

Cody wiped his eyes and shook his head no, tilting his head in confusion when he saw Marshall's confident smile beaming at him, instilling hope into his heart, waiting with bated breath for him to answer his own question.

"Because he's threatened by you, he's afraid of what you'll become if he nurtures you and helps you grow. But if he keeps you in his control, feeding you lies and filling your heart with doubt, then you will never be able to blossom. " He stopped and his smile only grew. " Flowers can't bloom in the darkness."

Nothing else was said between them as Marshall's words resonated with the disheaveld nurse still reeling from the Rollercoaster that had been his day, and the release of the emotions that came from it. But in the midst of the sea of doubt storming inside, a beacon of hope cut through the angry waters and hateful words of the enemy. And with all of his effort, Cody latched onto it, cradling it inside, planning to nurture it until that same light all but consumed him.

Rubbing his paws on his muzzle and letting out a calming breath from his tear stained muzzle, Cody looked to the confident looking in front of him,

"Thank you Marshall, you really have the heart of a medical pup." he said lightly patting Marshall's arm. " You have no idea how much I needed that." Cody said smiling warmly at Marshall, before his face changed into a confused one, raising an eyebrow he looked at Marshall questioningly, "Why are you in here, this room is reserved for hospital staff members only."

The proud smile on Marshall's face, his confident posture, his control over his emotions, all left him in the blink of an eye. "I..uh..got lost?" He tried joking, but the stern look he got in return discouraged any further jokes or anything other than the truth from leaving his muzzle, so he remained silent. His raw emotions slowly surfacing at the haunting reminder of why he was really here.

But silent he remained, struggling to keep his emotions hidden from his acquaintances prying eyes.

"C'mon Marshall, I told you what was bothering me, now it's your turn. What, were you upset that you had to get up so early?" Cody said, but his joke fell flat as the silence of the room was deafening. Putting on his serious face, Cody approached the unreadable but unstable dog.

"Hey, what is it? What's wrong?" Cody asked, placing a paw on Marshall's shoulder. When silence met his ears again, Cody decided to try filling in the blanks,"Is it about your friends?"

Marshall tightened his eyelids shut, gritting his teeth together as the pain surged through his body, a growing pit of fire burned bright in his stomach.

"Is it Rocky? Are you worried because you haven't visited with him?"

"CHASE! IT'S ABOUT CHASE." Marshall barked, walking around the small room they occupied."He KNEW I liked her... I TOLD HIM!"

Cody stepped back allowing Marshall appropriate space, he couldn't comfort a fuming pup.

"He was supposed to be my best friend, and now he has his paws wrapped around MY EVEREST. He didn't even ask me. There was no -Hey Marshall is it cool if I make a move on your crush- no he just swooped in and snatched her away from me."

"He knew I wouldn't have the guts to ask her out, to tell her how I felt, He COUNTED on it, waiting until the right opportunity to win her over. I mean.. so what if he is the more attractive one..the more athletic one, the less...clumsy..one." Marshall trailed off, stopping in his tracks.

Like a knife, his own words pierced his heart. He let his eyes go wide, and then forced them closed trying to brace himself. lowering himself to the ground leaning against the wall, he cradled his head in his paws. " She picked him, she never even noticed me, never..thought of me like that.." Marshall winced as the knife dug in deeper, causing tears to slowly roll down his fluffy spotted cheeks.

Marshall's voice began to crack, but he had to get the rest out. "It's not like somebody forced her, it was her choice, and she chose him out of all of us. I'm such an idiot. I actually believed that a pup like her would ever choose to be with an immature, annoying, clumsy pup like me." Glancing up to the other pup in the room, Cody caught a glimpse of Marshall's empty, dull colored eyes, eyes that were once a magnificent ocean blue. He wanted to see those eyes again, not the ones starring holes into the floor.

Cody felt sick to his stomach watching Marshall. listening to both his cries and his bleek revelation of the source of his pain, and a dark picture was painted for him; showing how Marshall viewed himself. Cody might not have known a lot of details about Marshall, but nobody deserved to beat themselves up over something like this the way he was. And he was utterly shocked that Marshall would ever say such judgemental, critical, hurtful things about himself.

"Surely you don't really believe that." Cody said calmly, walking over and sitting down next to Marshall as he wept and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"It's true!" Marshall said burying his face in his paws, shaking from his own cries. He never noticed the paw resting on his shoulder, or when Cody leaned close to him. He did however hear him, speaking in a low soothing tone.

" There are millions of reasons why she could have chosen him, but I guarantee the reason she did goes deeper than just his appearance and coordination. We can't know why she did." Cody sighed, not wanting to say what came next.

"And you can't blame her for not picking you if she never had a reason to." This caught Marshall's attention as he looked at Cody expectantly for him to elaborate. "Did you ever give her a reason to believe that you wanted to be more than friends?"

Marshall shook his head," I was..going to tell her, but I was too afraid." He whimpered. " I'm such a coward."

Shifting so his upper body faced Marshall, Cody grabbed his arm and glared at him with determination. " You're allowed to feel angry at Chase, and hurt by the situation and even by Everest, but by no means are you allowed to take all of the pain and anger you feel out on yourself." You're an extraordinary pup Marshall, you're a fire and medical rescue dog. That takes a special kind of pup, with a special kind of heart, to do something like that. You helped me, even with all of your own pain, you just put it aside."

He was interrupted by Marshall's sudden fit of hiccups, followed by a nervous giggles in between a slowing flow of tears.

" I want you to remember this Marshall, above all else. This isn't your fault, and you didn't cause this, we live in a broken world, and sometimes bad things happen to good people, and pups."

"Then what's the point of all of this? If the world is broken and everyone in it sucks, and they themselves do suckey things that make the world suck more, why bother at all?" Marshall huffed.

"The point is finding the things and people that make all of the pain and

brokenness bearable, finding the light that makes the dark less..dark."

Marshall smiled at him as Cody's words hit home, filling his heart with not only confidence, but hope. "Thank you, for listening." He simply said, before letting out a yawn. " You know if you don't make it... as a nurse, you would make an outstanding...psychologist." He said as his eyelids began to close and his head fell to the side, resting against Cody's shoulder. The morning had been a draining rollercoaster, and Marshall's mind couldn't keep up any longer.

Cody let out a laugh before a yawn crawled up his own throat. It was only then that he realized how tired he actually was. "Just for a second. " He whispered, before leaning his head against the wall. He closed his eyes for a second too long, and was soon snoring softly.