Chapter two: Bright Ideas
"But seriously why didn't you wake me?" Chase wondered again. "You know I'd always take a visit from Billy for anything."
"I already told you, dude,.." Chester defended, as they walked with their group through the halls of the hospital. "I seriously wanted to,.. and didn't at the same time. It was a tough choice to make,.. but.. ultimately I feel like I made the best one.. besides it's not like you don't see Billy all the time since we live here now."
"*sigh* yeah.. maybe.." Chase sighed in defeat, as the front doors of the hospital parted for them to exit.
"I'm sure Billy would visit if you asked," Snowflake suggested.
"Eh,.. you might be right." Chase shrugged.
"Ok Ryder.." Katie said, bringing their attention back to their leader. "The PAW Patroller is waiting, let's get you inside so you can get some to rest.. in your own home."
"Sounds good to me." The boy smiled, hardly seeming phased by the slight debilitation his injuries have been for him. And Chase just stared at him with a bit of an odd look that neither Katie nor Ryder seemed to notice.
Snowflake saw Jake help Ryder into the PAW Patroller, and was surprised Ryder wasn't in as much pain as she thought he would.
"You think Ryder's okay? I mean he's been resting for about a week or so, but he shouldn't be as comfortable as this. I imagine he's still healing," Snowflake commented to Marshall with some concern in her voice.
"Yeah,.." Chase mentioned, earning a bit of attention from his slightly distracted answer. "Kinda.."
"He's probably just playing it tough for us." Marshall mentioned, turning to Snowflake; every pup but Chase doing the same. "But,.. I'm sure he's fine."
"Ryder is pretty good at pretend." Rocky mentioned, the hint of humor in this lifting the mood a little.
"But,.. he also knows to slow down a bit, especially when he's hurt." Rubble added. "I'm sure that's why Chase has had a harder time than Ryder has."
And none of them would see the slight tightening of the German Shepherd's jaw.
"We should get inside. You know, to go back to The Lookout," Snowflake pointed out.
"Chase?" Marshall addressed his friend, who didn't seem to hear.
"Huh? Oh,..uh.. yeah.. coming." He said finally, diverting his gaze to Marshall for a moment, in response to his addressment, then followed after the group. Marshall gave him an odd look, before bounding into the PAW Patroller right as the doors closed them all in. And the big vehicle headed for the Lookout in the far distance across town.
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"Here we are, you guys!" Rubble called, peeking over his shoulder from gazing out the window.
"Home!" He called leaping down off the bench seats to race for the door.
"Alright! Yeah!.." The pups all cheered, at different intervals of excitement in following the bulldog's lead; while Jake and Katie helped Ryder.
"Yay!..Yippee!" Skye whooped, as others among her howled and barked.
"Sure feels great to be home with Ryder again." Rocky smiled. "Staying with Katie here has been great and all,.. but.."
"It's not the same as Ryder,.. I know." The girl mentioned lightly. "But you know,.. he'll still need to be resting so that his broken bones can heal.. his arm's not too bad,.. but his ribs are another story."
"At least we'll all be together at The Lookout," Snowflake commented.
"True that!" Chester agreed. "Let's go!" Then racing down the ramp of the PAW Patroller,.. they all entered the Lookout, with their patient in tow, helped along by Jake and Katie.
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"Hey, here's an idea.." Rocky mentioned, arching his back to look straight behind him from where he lay on his back, on a pillow inside the Lookout's lower level.
"We should do something together.." He went on. "Hang out and bond some more as a team."
"By doing what?" Chase wondered, mainly curious; as he rose to follow the other pups, led by Rocky, to the door.
"Oh,.. I don't know.." The mixed breed thought when they arrived in the yard. "Something fun for sure, but.."
He thought for a moment longer. "I don't know."
"Hmmm. Something fun…" Snowflake said, thinking about Rocky's idea. As she thought however, the husky pup came to a realization.
"Pups, it's been a long while since I've bonded with all of you. Especially with some one on one time. Maybe we can do that? I kinda miss bonding with all of you individually," Snowflake commented.
"Hm.. ok.. well..then.. let's think of some things we could do." Marshall decided, thinking carefully on this fact. "Any ideas?"
And the pups minds racked for thoughts, some eventually shaking their heads.
"Anyone?" Marshall wondered, thinking there had to be something.
Snowflake and Ned thought, trying to figure out how the pups could bond more.
"Hmm.. well,.. maybe we can think on it a couple days.." Marshall guessed. "The individual bonding, I mean,.. in the meantime what do you wanna do now?"
They all fell silent until one pup looked to his left and spotted a solution.
"Hey!" The bulldog among them called, racing toward what he saw. "How about we practice our soccer kicks?! We haven't done that in a while."
"Sure. I mean Snowflake and I usually watch the kids play with the ball and we chase it, but we'll give it a go," Ned said.
"Ok.." Rubble asserted, dropping to a ready crouch. "Here..it..comes.."
Hopping forward twice, he demonstrated his signature move, when he kicked his back paws under him to launch the ball forward for Marshall to intentionally catch with his head. So that it diverted to those among the circle, and batted it about a few times before sending it Snowflake's way.
Snowflake looked at the ball slightly confused before running and hitting it with her paws a few times, then passed it to Ned. Ned did the same movements with the ball as his sister before passing it to Zuma.
The chocolate lab saw this coming and spun around on one foreleg to kick the ball with a back paw; sending it to Rocky, who popped it up and knocked it with his head. Skye hopped on top of it and walked along with it under her, then jumped up and bounced off it so it came at Chester.
"I got it!" He called, hitting it with his chest.
"Hehehe,.. Come on, Chase." Rubble called, holding the ball with one paw.
"Your turn." He finished, knocking it the German Shepherd's way. And Chase hardly moved until the ball tapped his front paws.
"I.. don't know, guys." Chase sighed lightly, placing a paw on top of the ball flatly. "Guess I'm just not feeling it today.. maybe later.." And with that he softly rolled it forward away from him and turned to leave till he disappeared into his pup house and closed the door. And the pups exchanged odd looks.
"What was that all about?" Rubble wondered.
"That was just weird." Skye commented.
"You think he's ok?" Marshall wondered.
"I'm.. sure he's fine." Chester shrugged, hoping to sound like he believed it.
"Didn't seem like it to me. For some reason, Chase is still feeling down. What else can we do? Playing soccer didn't work for him," Snowflake replied slightly bummed.
"Hm.." Rocky mused, his gaze wandering down from one side and across to his other side.
"Oh I know!" He cried, perking up and taking off towards his truck. The pups remaining stepped closer into the circle they were in, all watching from the open spot the mix breed left in their little huddle. Diving head first into his green recycling truck, Rocky's wagging tail was all they could see, as he fished for whatever it was he was looking for.
"Got it!" Came Rocky's muffled voice. Finally the pup began to pull, and seemed to be struggling at it, until it finally came loose and he fell backwards. Thick plush covered with a shiny, slick material flopped on top of the mixed breed, and when he struggled, he only ended up as a puppy burrito within the sleeping bag.
"Uh,.. heh heh,.. got it.." the pup chuckled lightly.
"A sleeping bag? What did you have in mind Rocky?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"I think he wants us to be puppy burritos," Ned suggested jokingly.
"No..I-" Rocky grunted, trying to shift positions. "I was-.. ooff! Trying to.. -ih!.. see if we could maybe play a game with it or something, but.. Urg! A little help here guys?"
"Sure, Rocky. Hold on," Ned responded before going over to the struggling pup. Ned carefully rolled the sleeping bag, unraveling Rocky in the process. Ned also unzipped the sleep bag slightly so it wouldn't roll up again.
"Huh? You wanted to play a game with it? Like this?" Ned said, before he crawled into the sleeping bag. The young male husky was completely covered in the sleeping bag, before he turned around, stood on his hind legs, and walked towards his friends. Ned spread out his forepaws awkwardly.
"Ooooooooo! I'm the sleeping bag monster! I'm hungry, and I'm going to eat you! Ooooooooo!" Ned said from inside the sleeping bag. Ned walked towards his friends blindingly as he waved his forepaws, enjoying the fun he was having.
"Ahhh! The pups cried, while still laughing as they all scattered from the covered up pup.
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Aw, that looks like fun. Chase's mind sighed, having opened his door to peek out hoping no one would see.
Too bad I can't yet. *sigh* Oh well,.. no pain no gain, I guess.. without the gain. Then he turned to shift back into his house and close the door only about halfway.
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"Ahh!" Rocky cried, finally slowing from his retreat, now panting for breath. Looking up to his right a little, he noticed the door of the blue police-style house with its door half open far up by the Lookout.
"Hm.." He mused, about to take a step toward it.
"Hey, Rocky, you ok?" The mixed breed almost jumped, when the bulldog pup's paw touched his shoulder.
"Uh, yeah sure." The recycling pup confirmed. "It's just.." his gaze wandered back over to the blue house distraughtly.
"Just what, Rocky?" Skye wondered, stopping in front of him, as the others gathered around.
"I think Rocky is worried about Chase. He's not coming out of his pup house. I mean, I know he feels down, but it's not like he can't have fun with us. He's allowed to play with us," Snowflake commented sympathetically.
"A little yeah." The mixed breed admitted sadly.
"Then maybe we should talk with him. Or I can haunt him till he comes out," Ned suggested, still covered up in the sleeping bag.
"No. Playful jokes won't help. We need to encourage Chase to lighten up somehow," Snowflake retorted to her covered up brother.
"Agreed." Marshall decided. "Let's go see if he'll come out." And they all turned and bounded over to that police pup-house hanging half open.
Snowflake bounded with the others toward Chase's pup-house quietly. Ned blindingly followed the others, still looking like a sleeping bag monster.
Uh, how do I get outta here? Ned thought to himself as he struggled to get out of the sleeping bag. The others hardly paid the covered up pup any attention though.
The pups creeped toward the house as if sneaking upon its occupant. But when Marshall reached it, at the front of the group with Snowflake not far behind, he gently knocked on the side of the doorframe hoping it wouldn't startle him too much.
"Chase?.. You ok?" He asked softly.
"I'm ok." Came a soft, flat voice.
"Feel like coming out to talk?" The Dalmatian asked hopefully. And his feelings seemed to reach the other pup through his tone, cause they heard a shift occur inside. A golden paw soon appeared and pushed the door all the way up to be wide open.
"I guess." He said, slipping up out of the darkness of his house.
"Oh!" Chase stopped short to close his eyes with gasp, in response to the looming material that appeared amongst the pups; which they found to be Ned when he finally wriggled free from the bright green sleeping bag.
"Hoh, 'bout gave me a heart attack.." Chase breathed, sighing to calm his sudden nerves. "Uh..- what's up?" He went on lightly, glancing to them now with slightly calmer eyes.
"I'm sorry, Chase. I was playing around in the sleep bag as a monster, and got stuck in it," Ned apologized.
"It's ok." Chase shrugged lightly. "I'll live."
"Anyways, we were playing, and when we noticed you didn't join us, we wanted to check on you. Talk to you and make sure you were okay. We want you to play with us, Chase. You deserve to have fun with your friends; it's no fun being left out," Snowflake explained softly. She really wanted Chase to play and have fun instead of being sad.
"I don't know, guys.." The German Shepherd sighed lightly, shrugging again. "I'm not sure my shoulder is ready for that yet.. thanks for trying though." And then he turned into his pup house to curl up again with the door falling shut a little, leaving the pups to exchange more odd looks.
"That was weird.." Skye mentioned. "He's been resting that shoulder all week. He should be feeling better by now, right?"
"It should. Maybe Katie can take a look and see if his shoulder is better or not," Snowflake suggested.
"Yeah.. he should at least be able to play with us as long as he's careful." Marshall mentioned, recalling his basic medical knowledge. "I mean he was trying to help before, not long after it happened; when he really should've been resting. So why would he just stop trying now?"
"But even if we did have Katie take a look,.." Rocky spoke up. "Or even Marshall for that matter.. would he even believe us with how down he is?"
"He may not be a hundred percent,.. but at least he should be mostly healed." Rubble added. "Why is he so sad?"
"I don't think he's sad." Chester corrected. "Just flat. Maybe he's gotten too used to being told to rest, that he's just given up trying to fight it.. even if he doesn't have to anymore."
"You mean,.. he's depressed?" Skye wondered.
"Yeah,.. something like that." Chester confirmed, nodding. "I think we need an idea of how to cheer him up."
Then Snowflake's gears began to turn and looking at the sleeping bag laying behind the group and recalling Rocky and Ned's conversation,.. a thought struck her with an.. "Ah-ha!"
Hi everybody! Here we are for another new chapter! Yay, for once I'm updating BOTH my PP fics at roughly the same time!
You don't know HOW exciting that is for me, you guys. I have NOT been very good at keeping up with them, along with my other stories lately! ;D
But I always hope to do better and getting the time to write when I can! So here goes…
See you in the next chapter! Thx!