Chapter 10

Ryder sat in the Lookout's infirmary. He was quiet, hearing the steady beeps of the heart monitor and small breath intakes from the oxygen tank. His eyes were glued on the pup, who laid in bed – unmoving. It had been that way for the past week. The doctor said that he was in a coma and wasn't sure when the pup would wake up. His condition has not changed since. Rocky continued to lay there, snoozing away and oblivious to the outside world. His wounds have somewhat healed, but that didn't remove him of his condition.

Ryder had been sitting there in the exact spot for what felt like ages, only leaving to the restroom and feeding his pups. Other than that, he didn't move an inch. He had felt his pup pad buzz multiple times, most likely from various calls for missions he had neglected to partake. Not only his leadership role had decreased, but so did his health. The boy hadn't seen the sun in days, he hadn't eaten for the same amount of time, and he hasn't talked to anyone since the incident. It was like Ryder blocked everyone out just so he could focus on his one pup.

The other members of the Paw Patrol were coping in their ways. No one has played outside since Rocky was first admitted into the hospital and moved to the Lookout. No one has had a proper conversation in a week. No one could forget the bloody mixed breed. The only one trying to keep everyone together was Chase. He was thrust into taking the lead once again since he knew his owner wouldn't. Not that he blamed the boy. He knew his owner could be protective of his pups so he didn't mind having to take charge, but that didn't eliminate the stress building up in him.

"Watching him won't make him recover faster," a voice remarked behind Ryder. He didn't turn, knowing who it was. The person always checked on him and the pups around this time of day.

Katie sighed a bit before sitting next to him on the couch. There was a pause. "... Why don't you come outside? The pups and I are worried about you," she pleaded with him.

Ryder didn't say anything, his eyes didn't even soften to look at her. They were hard and sharp, leaving no room for any other emotion.

"Ryder, you can't be doing this," she tiredly sighed. "I know Rocky is your pup and is a part of your family, but starving yourself and staying in this room isn't going to help him! And it's not helping you either."

The boy continued to stare at her but his muscles finally relaxed a bit as he let out a sigh. Katie smiled a bit before pressing herself against his side. She felt him stiffen for a millisecond before settling in, wrapping an arm around her body to secure her in place.

"I was going to kill her." Katie tried not to freeze but she was startled. It was the first time she heard his voice in about a week. It was soft and haunting.

"What?"

"I visited the hospital where the shooter was held at night. I was going to hurt her for hurting my pup… but I couldn't do it," he whispered. Katie felt uncomfortable yet curious.

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know. I was right there, all I could have done was simply disconnected multiple wires to cut off her breathing, but I just didn't. It felt… wrong. She hurt my pup yet I couldn't…" Ryder paused. She felt him stiffen.

"I think I have an idea," Katie suggested, looking up to meet his worried eyes. "I think it's because you wouldn't hurt anyone. You know that it isn't right, even if she hurt Rocky. You know that it wouldn't change anything even if you did hurt her. You know because you're human. Ryder, you wouldn't hurt anyone. That's why you didn't do it."

"But I did it before."

"If you are so sure that you would hurt anyone… why won't you hurt me?" Her question lingered in his mind. His brain was like an old television set, displaying only static. He wouldn't hurt her, he loves her for God's sake! He wouldn't hurt anyone because they're good people, no matter what they did… 'They're people' he realized. Ryder slowly smiled. The two felt a moment, a spark that lit up their flame. Closing their eyes, they slowly leaned into each other and pressed their lips. This kept going until they ran out of air, so they pulled away and stared at each other.

"Aw. True love!" They turned to see Skye and Rubble giggling at them, making them blush madly.

Ryder cleared his throat. "You need something, pups?"

"Nah, we just happened to be walking by," Rubble grinned with a shake of his head.

"Don't let us interrupt!" Skye exclaimed, already pushing the Bulldog out the door. "You continue with your moment, you lovebirds!"

Katie giggled, faintly hearing both pups squeal like girls as they went off to most likely brag to the other pups. "You have the most precious pups."

"Hehe, yeah, I guess you could say that," Ryder chuckled a bit. They settled into another minute of silence as Katie returned to leaning her head on his chest with his arm wrapped around her.

Chase stiffly sat on the Observatory's balcony, overlooking their little island. He always wondered why their little home was stationed outside of the town, but not like they could move it. They were the ones who moved into it in the first place. This old tower was remodeled by his owner, he made it into something new. Though he always pondered how it worked back in the day, before they settled there. Mayor Goodway, before the betrayal, had told them that it used to be an old fire tower.

He remembered when he was scrounging the area when he was an even younger pup. The Lookout was old and musty, full of wonders. When Ryder and Chase took breaks, they would explore the area to see what they would find…

- Flashback -

Chase sniffed the area he was in. It was dark, old, and dusty. He suddenly sneezed when he whiffed up a huge pile of dust. His sudden action made him stumble back into a sitting position.

"Woah! Are you okay there, Chase?" A voice beside him spoke up. He turned to look at Ryder. He was younger, of course, around eight-years-old. His voice was a little high pitched, his body size was short, and his spiky hair was smaller in size. He wore a t-shirt that Mayor Goodway lent him, it was blue with a little car on it. His pants were brown and his shoes had pictures of cars on them too.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Chase nodded with a smile before standing up again. Leaning closer to another large pile of dirt, he had a thoughtful expression on his face as he said, "There are a lot of dust bunnies in here."

Ryder giggled at the comment. But he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, there is."

"Where are we again?" Chase asked, looking at the boy momentarily before walking off deeper into the room.

"The basement, I think. I don't know, we did a lot of exploring today," said the boy as he looked through a couple of boxes. He shined his flashlight into it before moving onto the next when he didn't find anything interesting.

"Do you think we'll find something cool?" Chase questioned, popping out of a box he was previously searching.

"I sure hope so. I know Mayor Goodway wouldn't like us to be gone for too long. She'll flip when she finds us missing again."

Chase nonchalantly shrugged before jumping into another box. He suddenly stepped on something plastic-y, how the pup described it as. He pressed his paws into the material, wondering what it could be. "Ryder! Can you bring the flashlight over here?"

"Did you find something?" The boy asked as he made his way to the young pup. The German Shepherd nodded in return. When the boy shined his light into the box and inspected the inside with curiosity, he took out the objects and looked at them in awe, while Chase looked confused.

"What's that?" The pup asked.

"They're firefighter helmets!" Ryder exclaimed. He put one on, but only for it to slide a bit because of its huge size. He put one on his pup, who grinned. "They're a little bit big, but they look cool."

"You bet!" Chase agreed. He looked deeper into the box and found other things. "Look! There's suits too!"

"Really?" Sure enough, there were suits inside. The two young ones shared a childish look before they grabbed the clothing before putting it on. Chase had some difficulty since he was a pup, but he finally had it on. Both tactical suits were ridiculously big, but it didn't demolish their child-like wonder. Both of them giggled before running (and tripping) out of the room to play pretend. As well as to show off what they had found to Mayor Goodway.

- Flashback -

Chase smiled a bit, reminiscing the memory. They were childish despite only losing their entire family a year before. He wished his leader was like that again, so he didn't have to act like an adult all the time. But there are responsibilities to deal with, there is no time for lollygagging. Just like all the responsibilities he's dealing with at the moment. Leading the Paw Patrol, keeping Adventure Bay safe, making sure nothing goes wrong, the list goes on!

"You're just as bad as Ryder!" Chase turned to Skye walking up and sitting next to him. He didn't need to question what she meant as the pup continued. "You don't get any rest, you stay in the same spot, and you barely acknowledge the others. What's wrong, Chase?"

"Rocky is hurt and Ryder is in no charge to be leader. That's what's wrong," he sharply stated, reverting his eyes to what is in front of him. The cockapoo sighed, a steady frown settled on her face.

"There's more. What are you hiding?" Chase was taken back by such a blunt tone his friend used.

"Hiding? I'm not hiding anything!" He said, a little too quickly for Skye's liking. She raised an incredulous eyebrow. Chase only stayed in his panicked position before he defeatedly sighed. Skye inwardly smirked. "I'm worried."

"About what?"

"About a lot of things!" Chase stood up and began pacing. "Rocky is hurt and I couldn't have done anything to stop it, Ryder is not talking to anyone again, Adventure Bay still needs taking care of, I have to help file some reports from the shooting at the school, Mayor Rivera wants help doing something, the rest of the pups are all over the place-!"

Skye put a paw on his mouth, shutting him up instantly. "Chase, you need to calm down and stop. I understand that you want to take the lead, but don't push every problem on your shoulders. That's why you have the rest of us, because we are all a part of the Paw Patrol so we need to take some of the responsibility," she said sincerely. "What happened to Rocky wasn't your fault and you know that. You couldn't have done anything. It was his choice to go back in for Ryder. And Ryder is talking. Rubble and I walked into Katie and Ryder's… little chat."

She smiled at the memory.

"And Adventure Bay isn't going to go down in ruins for a couple of hours and you're reports won't run away if you take a break. Same thing with the Mayor. And as for the pups, we are all still affected about what happened to Rocky, but we're going to get through this together."

Chase chuckled humorlessly with a slight shake of his head. Skye placed her paw back on the ground, smiling amusingly at the other. "What's so funny?"

"You were always good with words," he smiled. He gave her a warm hug, surprising her a bit before giving one back.

"I try," she giggled with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"There is so much love in the air!" The two pups pulled away from each other in a haste and looked at Rubble. He was grinning madly before sprinting off singing, "Skye and Chase, sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

Chase blushed like crazy, so much that Skye could see it through his fur. The cockapoo giggled while the German Shepherd was thinking how he was going to murder the Bulldog later.

"Come on, let's head down before Rubble gives everyone the wrong idea," Skye insisted with a smile. Chase vigorously nodded before they ran down to the main floor.

TBC...