Chapter twenty-three: Patients and Patience
"So,.. is he gonna be ok?" Rayla asked, as the group accompanied her out of the Lookout.
"I think so.." Ryder shrugged. "Once we get him rested up again.. he'll be good as new in time for the competition."
"I sure hope so." The golden lab had to say. "He's already faced enough let down lately.. I can't imagine the fall out from another one."
"Yeah.." the boy sighed, lowering his gaze sadly.
"Neither can we." He finished softly. But barely a moment went by before he blinked himself out of this downcast glance and smiled at her.
"Thanks for bringing him back." He told her.
"No problem." Rayla smiled. But as she turned to leave..
"Hang on.." A voice chimed, making Rayla turn back over her shoulder, pausing where she stood.
"Did you.. drive Chase home? Like.. in his 4x4?" Daniel asked, his eyes cocking over to the neatly parked police truck to their right, parallel with the concrete border to the yard.
"Um.. affirmative,.. sir." Rayla responded, unsure of his reason for asking.
"And you've never driven any kind of vehicle before." Daniel elaborated.
"Yes, sir?" Rayla nodded, turning completely to face him.
"Wow, I'm impressed." Daniel reeled, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck.
"I mean, Chase had to give me some pointers.." the golden lab added thoughtfully. "Reluctantly to say the least, but still he gave me all I needed to figure it out."
"Sounds like you're a pretty bright young cadet." Frank commented.
"Yes, sir!" Rayla confirmed, almost sounding surprised. "I mean I always hoped I was."
"Well hope no longer, young lieutenant." Frank beamed. "Sounds like you had a good trainer. Who was your CO?"
"Aiden Rycroft, military captain; K-9 unit." Rayla answered, almost formally. "His son is my handler-in-training."
"Well then I think you're in good conscience,.. to be regarded.. as a reliable source." Frank mused.
"And a valuable asset to this team, I'm sure." He added, glancing to those among him. "Wouldn't you say, Ryder?.."
And this got the boy thinking, evident by the change of his expression.
Rayla's eyes tensed at his remarks, allowing her to catch something else.
"Sir?.." the golden lab continued, stepping toward Frank. "If I may?.."
"Granted." Mr. Prescott nodded, maintaining his stature with poised hands on his cane.
"You sound just like them.." the golden lab elaborated. "The soldiers in the unit I trained in."
"Ah,.. that's because I served a few tours of K-9 when I went overseas as well, back in the day." Frank smiled. "Seems like a lifetime ago, now, but the memories still feel as though they were made just yesterday. If you could believe it."
"Wait.. you were in the military?" Chase gasped, Frank and many among him surprised; though partially because of the pup's sudden appearance.
"Yep,.. joined as soon as I turned eighteen." Frank smiled, the glazing of his eyes playing the memories over like an old movie. "Ten years of my life believe it or not.. and yet getting married and having children somewhere in between didn't keep me busy enough from that life.. Till this broken body couldn't take it any longer." He lifted his cane off the ground briefly, as a gesture to himself, as he placed it back down again.
"Just a few months from sixty.. and I still wonder if I could've gone one last time." Mr. Prescott's eyes blinked and his clear green eyes lowered back down to the pup before him. "But then again.. I wouldn't have had the honor of welcoming this fine young traffic cop to the world either." His eyes landed on Chase now.
"We're proud of you, son." He told him earnestly.
"Yeah.. I know.." Chase shrugged lightly in more of a bashful way. "But you know,.. I wouldn't have made it this far without you guys."
"Oh!..-ha- of course we do!" Maggie scoffed pridefully.
"Maggie!" Chase quipped humorously, coming forward into the girl's arms; feeling compelled to lay a couple kisses across her cheek. Maggie laughed and it let everyone else smile warmly, finding even a little comfort in this rewarding gesture.
"Alright, but now.." Maggie began again, when the embrace ended and Chase hopped down again. "Time to get you back to bed, fifteen minutes of sleep. Really isn't enough to catch up on all you've been losing apparently."
"*deep sigh* ok." Chase sighed, turning to leave while glancing back over his shoulder.
"Bye Rayla." he told his friend. And it was at this time, that Boomerang strode up next to him from his right side,.. while his mother came up from his other side to nose him forward and the others just remained where they stood as the two dogs escorted the pup inside.
"And thank you again for keeping an eye on him for us." Ryder added turning back to the golden lab. "Kinda hoping you'll continue to do so whenever you're around. 'Least till we get past this, I guess."
"No problem." Rayla nodded. "Believe me, I wanna see him get better just as badly as you do. You can count on that!"
"I don't doubt it." Billy commented. "I'm sure the time you guys spent in the mansion was sure fire proof of that!"
"Heh,.. you're telling me." Rayla sighed, recalling fleeting moments of it. "I'd be blessed never to see or think about that place ever again!"
"Believe me, young one.." Frank put in tenderly. "You will."
This brought a smile back to her lips, as she then turned to leave and headed on down the long twisting driveway, knowing her ride would be waiting by the time she reached the shelter for their usual rendezvous to go home.
xxxx
"Come on, guys, this ain't a sleep study. I can fall asleep just fine.." Chase protested, as he was laid down on a fluffy pillow and covered with a thick blanket.
"You're right,.. it's not.. but if you're not sleeping there's gotta be a reason." Maggie told him.
"Key word being yet." Marshall added.
"Oof!.. What's that supposed to mean." Chase wondered, futzing with the bedding to shift upwards on his left side, but was then eased back down again.
"If we can't resolve this sleep issue, we may have to try a real sleep study to figure out what might be causing it." The Dalmatian explained.
Great, another hoop to jump through. Chase's mind thought dryly, yet he still kinda wondered if he would make it; granted it became necessary.
"Either way,.. rest." Maggie emphasized. "You'll need it when we run you ragged at the competition. Cause knowing you that'll be pretty much guaranteed."
"Provided you don't go too far." Marshall added. "After all you're still not fully recovered yet.. one bad fall and you could lose some of the progress we've made over the last few weeks."
"Ok, I got it!" Chase responded, raising his voice, but not yelling.
"I'll be careful." He mumbled afterwards.
"Good, cause we can't afford watching you go through any more pain.." Maggie reiterated firmly. "You've already had enough to last you five lifetimes."
"Most of it being long before any of this." Billy deadpanned, with the slightest smirk.
Chase's eyes slowly wandered down, then his head laid against the pillow beneath him, and finally his eyes closed. A soft breath soon followed, as he nestled in a little more with the rest he felt creeping into his tired body, which he also felt could still not suppress his busy mind, even as much as he'd wanted it to.
xxxx
"You know, son.." Frank spoke up, as he watched the sleeping pup over the concerned boy's shoulder; earning Ryder's glance. "That pup's got more eyes on him than he might think he needs.. but I think now that he needs some more wheels on the ground as well."
Ryder's eyes squinted slightly, the gears of his intellectual brain coursing a few actions through his thoughts; turning them over and over again.
"She did take the initiative in bringing him here." Frank continued. "I'd think that's a deed worth rewarding."
"You might be right." Ryder said, nodding amongst his slightly distracted state. "I'll get Rocky on it.. and.. see what we can do."
"Sounds like a good idea." Frank nodded. The boy's troubled expression wandered back over to Chase,.. roughly about ten feet away from where they stood.
"I kinda figured.." Ryder trailed off, as if losing his thought. "After all that had happened at the mansion.. the sacrifice they made to try and save him.. I thought that-.. already made them.."
"Ryder." Frank cut him off softly, his tone descending. "How can worthy heroes know they're heroes.. if no one tells them?" And this got him thinking once again.. turning over thoughts and sifting through pieces of broken ones, seeing what thoughts he could build from all these things. And even as he stared back as his pup.. he still couldn't fully work out all the trains running through his mind.
XXXX
Shifting to his side rendered very little change,.. the clattering gears, still drumming away, seemed to keep his mind awake even though his body had long since retired to the rest it was craving when he finally lay down that night.
Yet as he remained still and quiet, like he were fully at rest, the live wire still firing in the back of his mind kept percolating. To a point which finally roused his body with protest, as he heaved a sigh when plopping onto his back; forcing him to blink his eyes open and stare at the ceiling for seemingly hours.
Finally though,.. the dip in the mattress leveled off when the reluctant weight of its occupant left to cross the room and exit through the door.
xxxx
Soft grey ears twitched a couple of times, falling silent then twitching again. Finally the small mixed breed's body stretched out with a yawn and drowsy eyes heavily blinked.
Moonlight? Rocky thought. Yet I'm awake?..
The moonlight brightened up the yard as it came out from behind the shifting clouds, showing no sign of any remote reason for his slow awakening.
Beginning to settle down again, his head nestled down upon his paws and leaned to one side for comfort.
But he'd hardly closed his eyes when a faint, yet distant buzzing alerted him awake. Searching around for only a moment, caught his eye on a soft light barely fizzing in the direction he knew to be down below, and by now his curiosity had been peaked enough to make him leave his warm sleeping spot.
Heading towards the sound, which slightly grew to confirm his guess,.. he froze due to sudden, rousing noise, which he found to be Skye yipping in her sleep when he looked behind him. And in dropping his guard with a sigh, he crept on towards the garage and snuck around the first incline to begin the sneak down the second.
The odd lighting seemed to be synced with the buzzing noise he was hearing, and he could clearly tell what it was.
Lucky for him, one of the two garage doors was cracked somehow and he took this curiosity a little further by easing it aside to gently squeeze through it.
The tall, young figure of the welder's operator stood over a large project, which he could roughly tell by size from what little light the welder created. The sparks that flickered off the joining materials faded to thin air with a subtlety, the operator didn't seem to notice.
"*yawn* Ryder?.." Rocky's voice almost made him jump, as he abruptly turned around and instinctively cut the welder's flame.
"Rocky?..-.. -what are you.. what're you doing up?" Ryder asked, as the pup stumbled over to him.
"What are you doing out here?" The pup yawned drowsily, as the boy set aside his tool and knelt down to accept him with tender arms.
"It's late.." Rocky finished all but laying down in the boy's embrace.
"Exactly why you should go back to bed." Ryder told him softly, scratching the mixed breed behind the ear.
"But what about you?" Rocky asked, sitting up to set boring eyes into him. "Looks like you're working on something important out here.." he hopped down with a brief shake, then proceeded towards the large dark shape barely lit by the small lamp on the wall nearby.
"But how important is it that you wanna work on it now?" Rocky continued.. "I mean,.. you almost never work this late."
"Let's just say.." Ryder trailed, glancing at his midnight project. "It sends a message someone needs to hear."
"That's good enough for me." Rocky decided, racing off for a moment, then returning in full mechanic gear fashioned to his own green and orange style. "What's next?" He asked.
"But Rocky,.. I.."
"Hey,.. if you're building something this important for someone special?.." Rocky interjected. "I'm your pup." Making Ryder think long and hard before releasing a sigh.
"Alright," he gave in. "Let's get started.." And soon the tools were up again, busied by the mission willingly set before them, which they would work on for as long as they could manage.
Hey you guys ANOTHER CHAPTER! Hallelujah! I gotta tell you, writing has been a feat of engineering just to sit down and DO, and pardon my terrible choice of mannerism.. but that's about as tough as it's been lately. Preparing to move is just one of those things.. among other things that always keeps me busy.
Hopefully this chapter will keep you entertained until the next one.. hoping to get new chapters for all my stories out soon.. but we'll see what happens I suppose. Thx!