(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
"What was your most recent plan?" Everest asked, flipping towards the back of the book.
"Funny you should ask" Marshall replied as he flipped to the right page. "I wrote this down after the inspiration for it occured just in case such an opportunity was to present itself again.
Exhaustion Induced - 75
The rescues didn't appear to be stopping. It started Friday night with a birthday party gone sideways at the beach and the rescues around town hadn't stopped until early Saturday morning. Mere hours later, it seemed like every amateur hiker, skier, snowboarder, and outdoor person or pup descended on Jake's mountain and promptly ran into trouble. By 9 am, Everest and Jake were overwhelmed with more rescues than they could keep up with which prompted the whole team to respond.
They setup a base camp in the Paw Patroller outside Jake's and Everest's cabin for Marshall to treat everyone while the rest of the team set about collecting patients for him. It started out fun, like a scavenger hunt for people and pups while seeing who could get into the most ridiculous, but not actually dangerous, situation. There was the snowboarder who managed to get stuck in the chair lift upside down, the camper who accidentally tied his own foot in a rope and suspended himself upside down from a tree instead of his bear proof food bag, and the skier who packed a parachute and jumped off a ski jump, only to land and get tangled in the parachute like a ghost.
But as the day wore on, the situations became more dangerous. Things like a hiker walking a trail backwards and turned into a cuddle-me human for a black bear taking a nap, a pup practicing tightrope walking over a canyon who slipped and almost fell, and broken bones galore. Rescues started requiring more and more pups.
Night didn't seem to stop the rescues either. The slopes were lit by the chair lift and people kept managing to get hurt. The most ridiculous one was when ten skiers tried to race down hill and instead got tangled with each other into a massive ball. It had taken hours and all the pups to untangle them. Marshall dutifully checked each of them and one by one found them to be ok.
The lights on the ski slope shut off at 10 pm but magically, people still were getting hurt at a record pace. Sprained ankles from falling down stairs, tweaked backs from rough activities, food poisoning from eating something they shouldn't have, and people still on the slopes in the dark.
One of those was a snowboarder who had a headlamp attached to his helmet. The dude had been riding his snowboard since the sun set and his light finally gave out around 11pm, right in the middle of a run. To his credit, the guy tried his best to stick to the clear area near the lift but he still managed to hit a tree. Everest was dispatched to rescue him.
Without delay or fuss, Everest was soon on her way back. "Marshall, I have an injured snowboarder for you!" Everest called as she helped the dude into the Paw Patroller. She guided the injured man around the pups who had crashed on the floor. It was all the pups with the exception of her and Marshall. Even Ryder was dozing off to the side.
"Bring him back, I'm ready" Marshall said, pulling aside the curtain that separated his triage and treatment area from the rest of the vehicle. "Where does it hurt?" Marshall asked as Everest helped the snowboarder to sit on the exam table.
"My left ankle and lower leg dude" the snowboarder replied.
"Ruff, X-ray!" Marshall barked out his portable scanner and got to work. "Well, you have a small hairline fracture in your Tibia, that is the larger of the two bones in your lower leg, and you definitely sprained your ankle."
"Bummer dude," the snowboarder replied, "do I get a sweet cast though?"
Marshall and Everest looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Probably a good idea to put you in one" Marshall said as Everest giggled. If this guy was riding a snowboard in the dark, a cast was definitely a good thing even if it wasn't strictly needed.
Marshall had Everest help him put the cast on the snowboarder. Before long they were done.
"Thanks pups," the snowboarder said as he inspected his cast. "Do you mind being the first ones to sign it?"
"Sure" Marshall and Everest laughed together. They both left paw prints in their colors, red and teal, side by side on the cast.
"Ok dude, let's get you back to the lodge to rest" Jake said as he guided the snowboarder out.
"I guess this means you'll be heading back out to bring me more injuried people?" Marshall joked as the door closed behind Jake and the snowboarder.
"Actually, that was the last one" Everest admitted, "everyone else is crashed out on the other side of the curtain."
"Thank you for bringing me the last injured person for the day" Marshall said with a smile, "now that we are done, how about you hop up and I'll check your blood pressure, heart rate and tonsils simultaneously?"
"Funny you bring that night up" Everest said with a smirk.
"Why is that?" Marshall asked curiously.
"Let's just say great minds think alike…" Everest said with a mischievous glint in her eyes…
"Now that we are done with patients, why don't you just give me a full fit for duty exam, starting with my lips!" Everest said as she hopped up on the exam table and laid down on her back, looking expectantly at Marshall.
It took Marshall a moment to get over the shock but he very quickly hopped up with Everest. Marshall hooked up the blood pressure cuff and pulse oximeter to Everest and proceeded to ignore them in favor of his paws on exam. "You have…no idea…how long…I've wanted…to do this…to you" Marshall said between kisses as he and Everest kissed frantically.
"You have…no idea…how long…I've waited…for this" Everest replied breathlessly. Everest's heart rate rose noticably on the monitor.
"Marshall! Everest!" Ryder called as he walked into the triage area with a not-so-chipper Chase and a sleepy Skye beside him.
Marshall and Everest pulled back from each other in started surprise as Ryder's eyes started to register the scene before him. "What are you two doing?" Ryder asked suspiciously.
"Uh, fit for duty exam" Marshall said as he hopped off Everest and padded up to Ryder. "I had to make sure Everest was ready in case there is another rescue."
"Ah, and is she?" Ryder asked, slightly concerned.
"Ice or Snow I'm Ruff-Ruff Ready to Go!" Everest barked happily as she jumped down and padded up next to Marshall, giving him a sly wink.
"I have no idea how the two of you are so hyper when every other pup is asleep or barely awake" Ryder said, gesturing to the two dazed pups beside him who looked like they didn't know what to make of anything that they had just seen or heard. "But I'm glad you are fit and hyper because we have another lost hiker" Ryder continued as he began the rescue briefing. "They were last reported over here," Ryder pointed to a spot on the map. "Skye, search from the air; Chase, use your drone to search the nooks and crannies; Everest, scout the trails and camp sites in the area; Marshall, no change, be ready to respond in case they are injured."
"This puppy's gotta Fly!" Skye sounded off, still slightly sleepy.
"Super Spy Chase is on the case!" Chase sounded off, only slightly less sleepily than Skye.
"Ice or snow I'm ready to go!" Everest sounded off, fully bright eyed and bushy tailed.
"I'm ready for a Ruff-Ruff Rescue!" Marshall sounded off, matching Everest's intensity.
"Alright, Paw Patrol is on a roll!" Ryder said as he ran outside to his vehicle. Skye and Chase were right behind him.
"To be continued later" Everest whispered in Marshall's ear.
"Good thing you are perfectly fit for duty" Marshall whispered back. A giggle escaped Everest as she and Marshall shared a quick kiss before the husky dashed out after the others.
"You're right, we do think a lot alike" Marshall laughed. "Too bad I wasn't faster on the verbal draw that night, we could have been together months ago."
"And saved ourselves months of heartache and stress" Everest added with a nod. "On the bright side, now is the perfect later to continue…" Everest giggled as her muzzle connected with Marshall's for a real kiss.
(A/N: I hope you enjoyed this plan, I've got some more bouncing around in my head but I can't wait to see what wild and wacky things you, my readers, dream up!)