I apologize for waiting so long to update. . . Well any of my stories. I've had some industrial strength writers block lately. But I think I am past that for the moment at least. So i'm updating this one and will hopefully update Sins of Love within the next couple of days. . .

Enjoy!

Jake closed his eyes and listened intently to Sandy on the other end of his cell phone as he paced the floor in the waiting room of the hospital. "Calm down San." the man said in the softest voice he could muster at the moment. "How many guests do we have at the moment?" She gave him a number that was about three quarters of the lodge's full occupancy. He looked up at the analog clock on the wall over the nurse's station nearby, and gave a small sigh. "Most of the guests will be going to bed soon, so it will slow down a little." When she wasn't calming down, he took a deep breath, and then calmly spoke again. "Ryder's here, I'll have him send a couple of pups to help you, okay?" After a moment, having calmed down his girlfriend, he gave a small smile. "I'll let you know something as soon as hear about Drake, okay?" He stopped pacing, "I love you too, San, bye." As he ended the call, he and locked his grey-brown eyes with the teens amber ones. "I hope that's okay," he said, "Sandy's kinda freaking out being alone up there."

Ryder nodded. "Of course. . . And with everything that's been going lately, she shouldn't be alone." He turned to one of his most level headed of his pups. "Zuma," the chocolate lab gave a small yip and focused his sea green eyes on his leader. "I need you and Rubble to go to Jake's Lodge and help Sandy with whatever she needs. . . Are you okay with that?"

"Let's dive in." Zuma said with a smile.

The bulldog smiled as well, "Rubble on the double."

Ryder smiled, "good. I know Sandy will appreciate the help. . . Zuma why don't you ride with Rubble? I'm not sure how your hovercraft will do on the rough mountain roads."

Jake placed a hand on the pup's heads and gave them each a small rub. "Thanks, guys. Sandy and I really appreciate it." The two pups looked at him and smiled.

Before they got to the door, Ryder spoke. "Call in when you get there, and be careful."

Zuma nodded. "Will do Ryder . . . would keep us in the loop on how Drake is doing?"

Ryder smiled. "I will. . . Be safe pups."

Just as the main door of the waiting room closed behind Zuma and Rubble, Chase looked up to his leader and cocked his head slightly. "Ryder sir, I know you have a good reason, but I'm just curious. . . Why did you send Zuma and Rubble?"

Ryder barely hid a smile. "Chase, are you questioning my judgement?"

The shepherd's amber eyes grew wide. "No Ryder sir!" The pup shook his head vigorously. "I would never do that!"

The teen broke out into a smile as he reached down and stroked the fur behind the pup's neck. "It's okay Chase. I know you would never do that." He crouched down to look the pup in eye. "I sent Zuma because I haven't seen anything faze him, and he's always cool, calm and collected which is something Sandy needs that right now. . . I sent Rubble for a couple of reasons. I knew his rig could move over the rough road the easiest, and he's the gentlest pup I know."

Chase looked a little hurt, "but what about me?"

Ryders smile widened. "Chase, I didn't send you because you weren't right for the job. I didn't send you because you're needed here." When the pup still looked lost, the teen explained. "This whole thing has been hard on Everest, and Marshall is trying to be strong for her. . . Chase, Marshall needs you to stay here so you can be strong for him."

Chase nodded and smiled, "you got it Ryder."

"You're such a good pup." Ryder whispered to the shepherd. Then he straightened up just as Katie walked in the room from a side hallway with Marshall and Everest behind her.

The teen focused her bright blue eyes on Ryder. "Have you heard anything about Drake?"

Ryder was about to shake his head when the 'authorized personnel only' door opened and a doctor in aqua blue scrubs walked in. He walked over to them since they were the only ones in the room. "Ryder?" the doctor said in surprise.

After a moment, Ryder and Jake recognized the doctor as the same one who worked on Dundee almost a year ago. "How are you Doc?" the teen said.

The doctor gave a small smile, "I'm doing good. . ." He tuned to Jake, "How are you Jake?"

He gave a wry smile. "I've been better." The smile faded. "Is Drake okay?"

The doctor small smile faded away quickly as well. "We've drained the fluid from his body cavity and we were able to repair his punctured lung. Drake also had a two inch long tear in his windpipe that we've repaired. . . He's stable enough to begin the first of three more surgeries we're going to have to perform."

Several sets eyes grew wide. "Three?" Jake asked swallowing hard.

"The first one is to reattach his stomach which was jarred loose. . . The second will be to reset his ribs." The doctor stopped for a breath, and then continued. "We also need to perform a kidney transplant because one of them is ruptured."

"Probably when he was thrown against the cabin door," Marshall said with a low growl.

The doctor looked down at the pup and nodded. "Maybe . . ." He paused for a moment to think, and then continued. "The other one is beyond repair."

Marshall spoke again, "Do you want to see if one of us is a match?"

The man nodded, "yes. But, I need to narrow it by blood type first. . . Drakes type is B+," he turned to Ryder, "Do any of your pups have B+, AB+, or O- blood."

Ryder looked up at the ceiling as he thought. "Chase. . . Rocky. . . and. . ."

"Everest," Jake added looking at the husky.

"Okay," the doctor nodded and looked at the three pups. "Come with me and we'll see if any of you are a match."

The doctor stared at the results of the tests he had gotten almost thirty minutes ago, and hoped by some miracle they would change in front of him. Or realize he wasn't seeing the test results right. But the more he looked at them, the farther his heart sank.

Neither Chase, nor Everest, or Rocky were a match for Drake, and it broke his heart.

Finally realizing the test results weren't going to change; he stood and slowly walked out of the lab. He walked down the hallway to the nearby doctor's lounge, poured himself a cup of strong coffee, and sat down at one of the old tables.

It was one of the worst parts about his job. How was he going to tell Ryder and the others that, without a kidney, Drake only had hours to live? The doctor tried to come up with several different ways to break the news, but none of them seemed right. Then again, what he had to tell them wasn't fair. It wasn't there fault none of them were a match and their friend would die because of it.

He glanced up at the clock and sighed, it was three-o-clock in the morning and he hadn't been outside the hospital in almost eight hours. "Maybe I need some fresh air. . ." He said to himself.

A few minutes later, the doctor found himself sitting on a bench outside the hospital staring into the night. The sky was deep black with the exception of the bright full moon shining almost as bright as the morning sun. As he let his eyes aimlessly roam, he thought of Ryder and the pups again. They wouldn't blame him, he knew that. He was afraid they would blame themselves for not protecting Drake better. He knew the best thing to do was to try make them see that it was the fault of the person who hurt the wolf.

"Doctor," a feminine voice said, "Are you okay?"

The man turned to see an unfamiliar pup had sat down next to him on the bench. She was an all-black Doberman with dark brown eyes that had gold flecks that shined bright in the moon light. She was one of the most beautiful pups he had ever seen. "What's your name?" It wasn't the most intelligent question he had ever asked, but it made sense.

"My name is Isis." The pups said simply. "I was lying under this bench when you sat down." She moved closer to him. "Are you okay?"

After a moment, he shook his head and proceeded to explain his problem. "I have a pup patient inside whom needs a kidney transplant. . . He has a lot of friends who wanted to donate, but only three had the right blood type. . . And none of them are a match." The doctor sniffed. "Drake, that's the pup's name, needs the kidney in the next few hours or. . ." He couldn't bring himself to finish.

She nodded solemnly. "Wow, that's hard. . . What blood type is Drake?" When he told her, she smiled. "That's my blood type. . . Test me to see if I might be a match." He was about to say something, but she stopped him by speaking again. "I know that my owner would have to sign a release form, but I don't have an owner. So it's my decision."

At that moment, he could have asked a million questions. But, that would have taken time he didn't have. "Alright," he nodded, "come inside and we'll see if you're a match."

Okay, What do you think?

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