Chapter fifty-two: Healing Pains
"Ummm. Do you think he'll need to see Katie again? He healed decently the first time, but now.. this could have cut that process in half! So now Chase has to heal from almost the same wound in half the time," Snowflake said, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"Oh no, I think he'll be fine.." Ryder said, standing up so he could press his fisted hands to his hips. "We won't need Katie's help for this one.. even if the weather was better."
"And give that limb time to rest.." Marshall added. "Then give it support when you get up and about again."
Chase just groaned and eased himself down against the blankets as flat as he could make himself, even flattening his ears back to make his distaste more evident.
"Dude, you could've avoided this." Chester told him. "If you would just relax and let us help you get better.."
"That's not what this is about, Chess." Chase snapped, and even as he stared brightly at him, the younger German Shepherd laid his head facing away from him sadly. And Chester simply dropped the subject with his softened expression.
"Either way, let's see how bad the damage is." Ryder decided, as the pup lifted his head towards his voice.
"Ugh!" Chase groaned, flattening back out again on his covers, then closing his eyes to rest.
"Marshall?" Ryder implied.
"I'm on it." The Dalmatian sighed, heading to the door. But once the sliding doors opened at the touch of a button a huge gust came in and almost knocked him over.
"Ahh!" The pups cried, shielding themselves from the wind.
"Marshall! Be careful!" Rubble called.
"Don't worry! I'll be right back!" The Dalmatian called back, then pushed his way out the door. Everyone was almost stunned when the wind abruptly died, and they stared at the door as a result. Marshall hadn't been gone more than five minutes when..
Thunk..k..k!
Every head popped up.
"Uh.. what was that?" Rubble asked nervously. And a frequent tap remained at a fairly frequent but random rate.
"Anyone else think that's.." Skye's statement was cut short by her yelling.. "Chase, where are you going?!"
Chester had taken off to try and stop his brother, but the younger German Shepherd had reached the door before he could; and the strong wind stopped him in his tracks.
"Chase!" he called.
As soon as the door closed behind him, a big gust of wind blew him against the side of the Lookout. So he took this as a method, by walking his way along the wall of the Lookout. Peering around one of the supportive columns of the building, he squinted to see.
At first he couldn't see anything.. till the topside of a struggling head caught his eye, and he immediately pushed on to get closer.
Marshall tried harder to push the branch off of him, but the branches holding him down and the strong wind blowing it toward him made it difficult. And even though he lay on his back it didn't seem to give him much more leverage or strength.
"Marshall!"
The Dalmatian was stunned to look up in hearing..
"Chase?! What're you doing here!?"
"Don't worry about that." Chase immediately told him. Then pressing his left shoulder to the branch on Marshall's left side, he lifted up and then pushed over. 'Biting his tongue' so to speak with how painful the strain was. But all the same, it allowed Marshall the clearance he needed to get off his back and grab the pup pack just inside his pup house. Standing there holding the branch up, while Marshall did his thing, kept him busy.. But only because of how painful it was to stand on his right leg and strain upwards to keep his balance against the wind pushing towards him.
"Drop it, and let's go!" Marshall called.
Easier said than done! He thought. But when he did let go he felt the end of it scratch down his leg and poke his paw, but he still turned and followed Marshall back toward the Lookout.
xxxx
When the doors finally opened again, the two pups pretty much fell inside the door and Rocky just happened to be there to press the button to close it behind them. Both pups lay there gasping from breath like they'd just run a marathon, and one of them didn't even lift their head when other shadows fell over them.
"Marshall! Chase! Are you two alright? What happened?!" Snowflake exclaimed, as she rushed over to the collapsed pups.
"*gasp* We're fine.." Marshall breathed, then looked over at Chase laying by his side. "Right?"
All they got was an exhausted groan. What the German Shepherd didn't expect, was for someone to grab him, flip him over in one abrupt motion and then stand right on him.
"Ow! Hey!" Chase yelped, glaring up at the matching brown eyes above him.
"What the heck were you thinking!?" Chester accused harshly. "You could've been hurt! I mean, more than you already are.. but still, you get my point!.."
"What's it to you?" Chase snapped, looking from Chess to his paws and back again in disgust.
Chester innocently lifted a paw as if to silence him.
"That being said.." he trailed with a bit of emphasis, while Chase lay there waiting. And when he didn't continue, his expression expectantly lightened like some kind of odd shrug.
"Yeah?" he pried, growing a bit irritated in waiting for him to continue.
"Good job." Chester said simply, then gently patted his shoulder and finally left him, leaving Chase to roll over and watch him go in confusion. Then realizing how tired he felt, he plopped back down on his back with a big sigh. He started to close his eyes, when other faces appeared in his field of vision.
"Need a blanket? You and Marshall must be cold and tired," Ned wondered kindly.
"Ryder, what should we do? Chase may have saved Marshall, but his shoulder still hurts. He doesn't just need to rest; he needs help healing his shoulder. We can't just leave his shoulder unattended," Snowflake commented as she looked to the boy next to the pups.
"*long groan* Can I just go to bed?" Chase moaned, rolling over to try and stand. But didn't get past laying on his right side, which put pressure on him to stay off it.
"It's ok, Chase." Ryder told him softly, kneeling down to place a hand on the pup's chest. "We'll get you patched up and then you can rest."
He heard Chase sigh and then he finally dragged himself up with quite a bit of effort, and he heavily hobbled toward the pillows again.
"But.. he woke up not too long ago," Ned said matter-of-factly.
"Ryder, I'm concerned. He needs help," Snowflake whispered to Ryder.
"He's probably just overdone it this morning.." Ryder whispered back. "Did he sleep ok last night?"
"He woke up after a nightmare last night, and he was determined to stay awake before bed, but I have no idea how much sleep he got!" Snowflake whispered in reply.
"I think we can safely assume that's part of it.." Ryder decided. "Plus he hasn't been getting up as early as he normally does.. I bet all that,.. and helping Marshall, has taken some energy out of him. Plus the injury itself slowing him down.. I'm sure a bit of a nap will do him some good and he'll be able to be awake later."
"A nap won't heal his shoulder though," Snowflake pointed out.
"At least we can all hang out away from the storm. So.. what should we do?" Ned said happily.
"Well first, we're gonna wrap this up.." Marshall began.
"Noo.. please, no!" Chase groaned heavily, begging as deeply as he could while burying his face in his paws.
"Sorry Chase." Marshall sighed. And when Ryder came to pick him up, he grabbed at the pillow under him hoping it'd stop the boy from taking him off it. But failing to do so, he just sighed; hanging his head. And when Ryder picked him up with both hands, forgetting about his sling, he took the pup by the sides just behind his forelegs from behind. But in doing so the tension created by the weight of the pup and the strain against the tension, finally broke something loose. Ryder tightened his grip with the jolt it created and Chase tensed with the sudden start. Both barely made a sound, as would be expected. And then they began to realize something had changed, the looser feeling on Ryder's arm becoming the point of most interest.
All the pups jumped, some leaning back, others lunging forward, all releasing a gasp of surprise.
"Ryder!" Marshall gasped.
"Oh no!" Rocky cried.
"Woah, dude!" Zuma exclaimed, while Rubble crouched down to cover his eyes with his paws.
"Ryder! Your sling! It broke!" Ned exclaimed in shock.
"You need us to fix it?" Snowflake asked with concern.
"You ok, Ryder?" Marshall asked, slowly approaching.
Ryder took a moment as though evaluating something. But then he hopped Chase up onto his left hip, with some mild protest from Chase, then took a moment to study his right arm.
"Actually, Marshall.. I think I'm good." the boy finally said. Then realizing he was squeezing Chase a little tightly around the upper body, he transferred his grip to position him length wise in both hands. Taking him over to the glass shield, he then turned and pressed his back to it so he could smoothly slide down to sit against it.
"Ok Marshall.." The boy said, facing Chase away from him and holding him up by the sides under his forelegs again.
"Ughh.. can't we just set the pillows up for special support?" Chase moaned, hanging his head. "Or get something to do that for us?"
"You want me to use a sheet to put your leg or shoulder in a sling? You can't do much if your shoulder is badly injured. So it's either heal your shoulder or we could wrap you up like a mummy! Either way, that shoulder is getting better!" Snowflake commented seriously.
"Ummm. Why not just use the mummy method? It would be easier," Ned commented.
"We're healing his shoulder, not turning him into a bandaged pup statue!" Snowflake snapped back.
"Don't worry, Chase, it'll be over in ooone minute.." Marshall mused. Two seconds later..
"Ouch!" Chase recoiled from a stick in his neck. "Marshall-"
"You're welcome.. it'll bring down the swelling." Marshall cut him off easily as he began to tightly wrap his shoulder.
"Woah,.. was not expecting that." Zuma remarked by what he saw.
"That was quick," Snowflake said, surprised by what Marshall just did.
"It'll wear off soon.." Marshall said, finally finishing. "Just needed something to work fast and take the edge off,.. He'll need an oral painkiller in a little bit."
"Great work, Marshall." Ryder smiled, by now Chase felt completely limp in his grasp and he slowly set him down on a pillow, where he settled instantly like a sleeping infant.
"With any luck, he'll sleep it off and in a couple hours he won't need the oral meds." Marshall said.
"What do we do in the meantime?" Skye wondered.
"I have no idea. Ryder, 'you have anything we can do? The storm kinda cut my bonding time short with Chase, so we now have spare time," Snowflake added, slightly confused.
"Well Thanksgiving is next week.." Ryder thought aloud. "And we can't be outside right now. And with Chase needing to rest, we should probably keep things quiet for a bit,.."
"I'm ok with quiet.." Skye smiled, wagging her tail intently.
"Me too, I feel like we've all been up and about and haven't had a lot of down time.." Rubble agreed, then thought of something else. "Well, other than Chase that is."
"Not actually that hard, since he did hide another injury from us.." Chester reasoned.
"I wonder what he's afraid of.." Rocky thought aloud.
"Even so.." Chester continued, looking over at Chase sound asleep, facing away from them. "I don't think we could wake him if we tried at this point."
And hearing a roughness in his heavy breathing summed this up. And Ryder simply adjusted his position slightly so he didn't look like he was suffocating himself, and draped a blanket over him to finally leave him alone.
"Why don't you pups help me find the thanksgiving decorations, and help me decorate the Lookout." Ryder suggested.
"Sure! We can decorate for Thanksgiving!" Snowflake said smiling.
"Yeah. At least we can have fun while passing the time," Ned agreed.
"Are you kidding?! It'll be great!" Rocky gushed. "And I know where all the decorations are!"
"Of course you do." Chester replied, shaking his head knowingly.
"Come on, I'll need some help bringing it up. Don't worry, Ryder.. we got this!" The mixed breed said, taking off into the elevator.
"Ok.. just let me know if you need help." The boy said, still sitting against the shield of the elevator, his hand just rested on his chest over the loosely slinged one.
"You got it!" The pup called as he and the other pups headed down in the elevator.
"You ok, Ryder?" Marshall asked, noticing the boy's discomfort.
"I'll be alright, Marshall," the young leader replied. "I just need a second."
"You know I could've just treated Chase where he was." The Dalmatian informed him.
"I know.. but you had a better view than you did before." Ryder said.
"And you still need to rest." Marshall shot back. "You're still recovering too, you know.. broken ribs are nothing to take lightly. Especially with a sprained arm to go with it."
"I know.. I'll be icing it soon.." Ryder agreed, placing a hand on the pup's shoulder. "But at least it's getting better,.. enough that I don't need this anymore.."
Then with that statement he reached up with this left hand and eased the sling down his arm, then switched his grip to the opposite edge to pull it straight off.
"And.. when Chase needs the oral pain meds.." Ryder continued, setting the sling aside. "I'll be sure to get some too. But for now.. we can both just rest.. which will do more good than anything else."
"Ok.." Marshall complied.. "Just don't sleep like that.. ok? You'll put your neck out that way."
"I know, Marshall." Ryder smiled, shifting his position to lay on his side against a nearby pillow. "Thank you." Then Marshall headed off to catch up to the other pups, leaving both his leaders behind in the silence.
xxxx
Snowflake and Ned followed the other pups down in the elevator.
"So you keep the decorations in the basement?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"Looks cold enough to house a frozen turkey too!" Ned added.
"Of course, this is where we store everything." Rocky mentioned. "Other than the stuff I stash in my truck."
"Okay," Snowflake replied casually.
"Hey, here it is!" Skye beamed happily, as they turned one corner to the left. "Right next to the Christmas stuff."
Snowflake's eyes widened with glee as she looked at the decorations.
"EEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" Snowflake exclaimed with a squeak.
"Aaaaand now you've done it. She gets super excited about-" Ned began until he was interrupted.
"Can we bring both Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations up?! I mean we'll be decorating for Christmas afterwards," Snowflake asked now in a playful pose, with her front legs out and tail wagging. Surprisingly, the husky had a big grin on her face and was.. jumping.
"I don't know.." Rocky wondered a bit hesitantly. "There's a lot of it."
"A LOT?! HOW MUCH?! YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH CHRISTMAS AND TURKEY! TEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHE!" Snowflake exclaimed jubilantly as she kept jumping with joy and then hugged Rocky and Marshall.
"Ugh sis, calm down. We're here for the Thanksgiving decorations. Remember?" Ned reminded her.
"True. Sorry," Snowflake said, as she separated from the hugs.
"Ok, it's just these six big boxes, I think." Marshall said. "Let's get them unstacked and get them upstairs."
"Good idea. But how? We don't want to get hurt," Snowflake wondered.
"Oh don't worry.. We got this.." Chester grinned, and it could have made those among him nervous.. especially the two huskies. "Marshall, Rocky, Zuma?"
At this, the three pups nodded and headed over to the stack of boxes. All three of them laid down and rolled onto their backs, sticking their paws in the air right in front of the first stack of two boxes.
"Perfect!" Chester reeled. "Skye? You're up!"
"On it!" The cockapoo barked, then bounding forward, she paused briefly so she could delicately ease in between the frame of the heavy duty shelving and the boxes.
"Careful Skye." Snowflake said nervously.
"Don't worry.. I'll be ok!" echoed the aviator pup's voice. A few moments later.. "Ok, ready?"
"That's great!" Chester confirmed. "Now guys, ready?" Marshall, Rocky and Zuma lifted their paws again, and suddenly the box moved towards them a little bit.
"Ok, just a little bit farther.." Chess commentated slowly. The sliding stopped when their paws began to tip.
"Now!.." Chester then lurched up and caught the box with his front paws, using his own weight to slow the descent.
"Ih- a little help?" he grunted slightly, looking over at the two huskies.
The two huskies walked over, and using their front paws, helped to lower the box to the ground before pushing it away to make room for the other boxes to be caught.
"Oh awesome!" Chester smiled. "Hey, heads up, Husk-puppies, next one coming in hot!" Then hopping up between the gap of the second box next to the one they'd just gotten out, he helped Skye to shove it toward where the pups were waiting to receive it. Once the fire, water and recycling pups began to lower the box, they all hoped and trusted that their other two friends would be there to catch it.
Ned and Snowflake held the box with their paws and carefully lowered the second box before putting it with the first one.
"'Husk-puppies? You know huskies and puppies are similar but not a dog breed," Snowflake said confused.
"Yeah, if that was true, we would look more husky. Like rough looking, which we aren't. We're fluffy furballs." Ned added.
"Oh that's not what I meant, it's an expression.." Chester shrugged off, as he and Skye pushed in between the next box over, working it toward the pups. "You know like, 'homie' or something?" Then sending that box down off the pups with a sigh, he nodded his satisfaction.
"Ok, that's the last one,.. the rest of these three will be easier to move now I think." Chester decided, pointing down at the box beneath his paws as he said this.
"Cool," Ned and Snowflake said together as they grabbed the last box and lowered it down. They pushed them over to the other boxes.
"Ok I got this, Skye.." Chester nodded to the cockapoo, then when the pup hopped off the boxes, he turned and eased his backside down between the back of the shelving and the box. Pushing forward with a bit of a groan, he finally got the box to slide forward and Marshall appeared on his left side to push it out of the way.
"Woah,.. You got that all by yourself? Like that?!" Rubble marveled.. "I bet not even Chase could do that.. healed or not."
"Yeah well- *strain* Don't let him fool you.." Chester shook his head, pushing the second box forward for Zuma. "He's a lot tougher than you think.."
"Where have I heard that before?" Marshall sighed flatly, then Chester shoved that last box forth with a bit more strain.
"And don't you forget it." he said.
Hey you guys! What it is up guys, we are back! First post of the Wednesday schedule and guess what?...
WE FINISHED WRITING!
That's right.. The Wounds We Heal is finally fully written.. Take a guess as to how many we ended with, and stay tuned for each chapter in the next several weeks. And with that completion.. comes a new beginning. Details certainly to come!
Till then.. Thanks for reading and we'll see you next time! Thx!