Hello all! It is time for the next chapter!
It looks like this story should wrap up in about two to three more chapters, AN included. I'm excited to be finishing this project, but I'm also sad that its nearly done! :(
I am currently brainstorming my version of how Ryder met each of the pups as well, as well as a Rocky-centric story- I'm thinking about making a mini series of the pups tackling their worst nightmare or fears, since I had already done that with Zuma. Lots of ideas flowing around, just need to sort it all out! I also watched the first PAW Patrol movie, and while I still had my gripes about it, it was soooooo cute! Glad I got to sit and watch it with my son!
With that, please enjoy!
Chapter 22- Moving Forward
As usual, Chase was the first one up. He sighed heavily as he stretched- he felt like an old dog for some reason. 'Probably from all that stress, sheesh! It's been one heck of a month... can't even believe it's been that long. Ryder was really sick for three and a half weeks... that's just crazy...'
Ryder's party were still in the planning stages. Marshall wanted to be sure Ryder was at actual 100 percent before the date was set. Ryder tried to tell him he was feeling far better than before, but Marshall warned him- '90% isn't 100%!' So he was bedbound for another few days, with constant check ins from the pups.
"Oh, boy. Marshall..." Chase stretched his body again, and once he was satified, tidied up his puphouse a little. "That dally can be very, VERY scary when he's serious! But he's right... Ryder has to take it easy. We didn't even get a chance to enjoy our time off, so any rest is good rest."
After finishing his puphouse, Chase walked outside and breathed in deeply. The air was fresh and woke him up fully. He exhaled and laid down, still lost in thought.
Everyone had changed while Ryder was sick. Everyone had so much fear: scared for Ryder, for their future as the PAW Patrol... as a family. Chase had to admit, trying to keep things afloat as second in command was harder when he knew what was at stake.
"We could have lost him so easily...we should have paid more attention to him, made sure he wasn't working himself to the bone!"
Marshall definitly had taken a lot, he admitted. Having to go from being the EMT to making calls almost akin to a nurse or doctor, especially with little formal training, it had to have scared him senseless. Chase felt his chest tighening at the thought of how he screamed and acted towards him.
"It was my fault for pushing him so hard. I didn't need to do that... some leader I was..."
And then there was the argument with Rocky. Chase was glad that they had sorted things out, but he hated arguing with his younger siblings. This was his family, and yes, family argue, but for them to fight over something so stupid-!
"Ah ha. Thought I'd find you here."
Chase didn't look up at the voice but smiled as the comfort of Marshall plopped next to him. He let out a big yawn before he leaned a good chunk of weight against him. "You're up oddly early, Marshall. Couldn't sleep?" Chase asked with an amused smirk.
Marshall opened one eye and grinned. "Was it that obvious?"
"Well, yeah. You and Rubble aren't usually up until like... 10, maybe 11? Or in Rubble's case, when Ryder pours breakfast in our bowls."
The two shared a laugh before it fell silent. The light breeze of the calm morning calmed them as each pup sat lost in thoughts. Then Marshall spoke up.
"Chase, I'm so sorry."
Chase blinked; he wasn't expecting that. "Sorry? For what? If anything, I should be apologizing to you."
Marshall looked sad as he looked out at the grass. "No, I... I didn't know. About your family, that fire... now I see why you were so hesistant to be around me when Ryder first rescued me and made me our firepup. I thought you needed a friend, I was so insensitive-!"
Chase put a paw up to stop Marshall before he went down a depressing path. "Stop, Marshall. Just... just listen."
Chase sat up and smiled. "It's impossible for something to be your fault when you had NO IDEA of what happened. It's my own fault, anyways. Ryder told me to talk with you about it, at least get you to see it wasn't a personal attack against you. But I was so stubborn, I just wanted to forget about that part of my life and make a new one here, with you all."
Wiping his eyes, Marshall stammered, "S-So you... you're not... m-mad? You don't hate me?"
Chase lightly bopped his best friend's nose and giggled. "That seems like I'm mad to you, silly dally?"
Marshall almost wanted to cry- again! He wiped the last of his tears and laughed with Chase, relief washing over him. Chase sighed. "I didn't realize that was going to bother you so much, Marshall. I should have told you sooner... I'm really sorry I worried you like that."
Marshall didn't mind- at least they were talking about it now, and Chase was always going to be his bestest friend. He sat up and stretched before giving Chase a sudden bear hug.
"It's okay! I'm just glad we got things straightened out and you told me about it."
Chase made a small sound in agreement, but Marshall could sense something was still bothering him as he broke the hug. Giving Chase a light nudge, he sat and patiently waited. Chase was going to speak up sooner or later-
"I owe you an apology for something else, Marshall..." Marshall nodded mentally. 'Ah, yep, there it is. Although I don't see why-he didn't do anything to me!'
"Oh? For what?" he asked aloud, head cocked to the left.
"For forcing you to take on so much when Ryder got sick." Chase heaved a heavy sigh, growing more and more angry with himself.
"For getting so angry when all you were doing was what you were trained to do! I almost ricked Ryder's life and pushed you too far to do things you knew you couldn't handle!" he exclaimed, slamming his paw to the ground. "Some leader I was... I should've listened to you... and I'm sorry, Marshall."
Marshall was silent as he recalled that whole debacale. Then he quietly spoke: "I'm not angry about that, Chase. So its okay. Besides, I wasn't the only one under stress."
Chase opened his mouth to retaliate, but Marshall put his paw up to stop him. "Yes, the words did hurt. I won't lie about that. But I never doubted your ability as a leader to us. None of us did. I think we were all scared and stressed and wanted what was best for Ryder." Marshall lowered his paw and faced Chase with a smile.
"We've got lots to learn. But you did great as a leader during this whole ordeal. So don't forget that, okay?"
Chase looked like a fish as he opened and closed his mouth; words completely failed him. Anything he thought of dissappeared the moment he saw Marshall's gentle and understanding smile.
'He really isn't mad at me, and I was such a jerk! I don't get how you tolerate me like this, silly dally... but thank you. For believing in me when I couldn't.'
The two sat in another silent beat before Chase asked how Ryder was holding up. Marshall tapped his chin as he gave Chase the rundown.
"Almost well enough to enjoy his surprise. But he still needs a proper couple of days off. He is no longer bedridden, and I gave him permission to walk and stretch so long as he doesn't overdo it. No repairing or fixing or building for another week or so. And absolutely no responding to calls for help." Marshall paused, knowing Chase wouldn't be too happy about this next part:
"Annnnd he's gotta go see Miss Cynthia this week."
Chase arched his eyebrow. "That lady from the hospital? What does she want with him?"
"Yeah, her. She contacted me before Ryder dropped his... uh, truma the other day." Marshall hesistated for a moment.
"She's really concerned seeing as how there wasn't any record of Ryder or his family anywhere. She did wonder if he had one. I guess because he was a patient and he's techinically a minor, there were some results or something she wanted to talk to his parents about."
Chase waited for the rest of the story before he dropped any questions. "Keep going..."
"I told her if he did have a family, he never mentioned it to us, and we never asked about it. We're all abandoned or lost our own family so that's not something we share openly, you know? Buuuuuuuuuttt, she didn't believe me." Marshall laughed sheepishly. "She thinks at least you should know given how you reacted at the hospital."
Chase smirked. "She's not giving up until she gets that info, huh. That lady sure is nosy... yeesh, and I thought Mayor Goodway was the nosy one!"
"I mean, yeah. I asked her for the results, and she almost didn't give them to me. Thankfully she relented on that and I finally had them sent over to Ryder's pup pad so he can look them over." Marshall shook his head at the amount of work he had to do just to get that infomation, which was pretty important!
"As for that family thing, she was pretty persistant until I made up a story that I had to go help someone and ended the call. I get why she's so concerned but Ryder's been holding up on his own for almost five years. So I just told her if she really needed or wanted to know about that kind of thing, she'd have to talk to him once I gave him the go-ahead." Marshall stretched again, realizing it was getting a bit late and he was getting hungry.
"I feel like you would have said something similar like that to her if you'd taken the call. You know, with more, uh... uh, you know. Chase-ness." Marshall waved his paw, trying to get the point across. Chase stood to walk with Marshall back to the common area, eyebrow arched.
"I'm sorry, but Chase-ness? What does that even mean...?"
The two pups shared a laugh before Chase abruptly stopped. "Actually, Marshall, you can be serious and let me tell you something- you are VERY scary when you get that way!"
"Really? I am? I did? When?"
Their conversations went on for a little while, soon shifting to the party the pups were still planning out for Ryder. As they walked to the common area to get breakfast set up, another pup, now awake and quietly thinking in his puphopuse, was curious about Ryder's mental well being. Something was gnawing at him and he wanted to talk with Ryder himself.
'I think I'd bettew go check on him befowe Chase and Mawshall get thewe. Now that I know what he told us, I need to be suwe he's weally alwight.'
Ryder was awake, having heard Chase and Marshall downstairs. He had been laying in his bed for the past hour- getting out of it was the last thing on his mind.
He finally got it off his chest. He finally told the pups the truth about his family. About Alek. He thought he should've felt better by now! But he felt worse than before.
His chest hurt. His head hurt. Not because he was getting sick, but... he really missed him. It had been almost five years, but Ryder realized just how little he truly grieved for his brother. How little he went to see his grave. How little he spoke about him to anyone else, except for the one who'd been there since the beginning- Chase.
His tombstone sat in a cemetary about a mile from what he knew now as Foggy Bottom. Going there would be so easy. Even the pups would understand- heck, they'd want to come with him, to "meet" his brother and of course, to make sure he was alright.
But something was holding him back. Fear, perhaps? Maybe some kind of ghostly anger from his brother? He wasn't even sure himself.
"...Alek..." Ryder shut his eyes and took a deep breath in, exhaled out. Grieveing was... hard.
Especially when he had years of grief to let out, somehow.
"...um, Wyder? You up?"
That little voice snapped him out of it and he sat up, plastering a quick smile and rubbing his eyes. "Hey, Zuma. Y-Yeah, I'm up." Ryder hastily wiped his cheeks as his aqua pup walked in. Zuma quickly noticed the sudden shift in Ryder's attitude, and hopped up on the bed, eyes locked on him.
"What's up, Zu-OOF!"
He was silenced by Zuma nearly tackling him, burying his head in his chest. Ryder decided to linger on his brother later and stroked Zuma's head, his face full of worry.
"Are you okay? Was it another nightmare?" Ryder questioned, voice full of concern.
"...Nu-uh."
"Hmmm... are you in any pain?" Ryder took a quick peek to see if Zuma was sporting some new surfing-related injury. "Anything wounded or broken?"
Zuma looked up and tilted his head, eyes full of tears. "I'm not hurting... but you awe, Wyder." he answered softly, knowigly. Ryder was getting scared at his tears- what on earth was going on?!
"Zuma, what-?"
"Did you fowget about my past, Wyder?" the young water pup questioned, a tear rolling down his cheek. Ryder wiped his face and shook his head no, very muich scared as to what was happening.
"No, Zuma. Of course not. But... what does that have to do with this? What happened?" Ryder wiped his cheek again and realized his face was now wet himself. "You're really scaring me. What's wrong?"
"It's you, Wyder. You'we scawing me, scawing all of us... you won't let youwself miss youw bwother!" Zuma didn't know how to explain what was bothering him, but he was determined to try.
Ryder paused as he looked into Zuma's eyes. He almost forgot how much Zuma could feel, or sense, or both.
'Oh, right... Zuma's a bit more empathetic than Marshall. He's probably feeling what I'm feeling right now. Zuma...'
"Zuma... I get it now. I-I'm sorry." he murmered quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just...I don't know how to explain it..."
Zuma smiled lightly. "I know it huwts. Believe me. But... you have a family now. You've always had Chase. Now, you have Mawshall, Wubble, Skye, Wocky... and you have me. So you don't have to suffer alone."
Ryder didn't say anything. He hugged Zuma tightly and pressed his face in his fur. 'I know, Zuma. I know I have you pups with me, but this isn't a burden you all should be carrying! Its mine! Its just... I don't know how to move forward now. I think I'm scared...'
Zuma could feel Ryder's heart beating faster against his ear. He placed a paw on his arm. "It's scawy. And it's going to huwt at fiwst. But if you don't let it go, if you keep pwetending you're okay like you've been doing... one day, you're weally going to break. And it's hawd to pick up the pieces when you get thewe."
"I know, Zuma. I know, b-but I..." Ryder drew his legs close.
"Remember that sleepower we had not too long ago?" Ryder nodded, his bottom lip trembling. Zuma closed his eyes and kept his paw on Ryder's arm as an anchor.
"Yes, Zuma. I remember you pups were talking about it." He paused, then asked in a quieter voice, "But this doesn't have to do with Alek... it's different..."
Zuma shook his head no. "It isn't so diffewent. I did exactly what you'we doing. I kept it inside because I didn't want to buwden the othews. I didn't want to make that nightmawe seem weal. Eventually, though... I bwoke. I couldn't keep it inside anymore and I told Wocky. He made it easier to get thwough... just like Chase was with you when evewything happened."
Ryder's shoulders began trembling and his voice cracked; he was falling apart and Zuma knew it. "Z-Zuma, I'm scared to miss him now. I don't know why! I-I feel like I should have moved on, but I-I miss him! I miss my brother..." Ryder barely got out in a broken voice, unconsiously squeezing Zuma tighter.
"I know I need to grieve for him but I lost him four years ago! A-And I-I don't think I can stop crying if I let it out!"
Zuma didn't try to weasel from Ryder's grasp. Freeing a paw, he rested it on Ryder's arm and nodded in understanding. "I know it's scawy, Wyder. But you and Chase held onto this long enough. Let us help you now." he whispered. "It's okay to cwy, Wyder. I'm hewe."
That was all it took. Ryder let out a loud sob, neearly crushing Zuma in the process. Zuma did nothing but stayed in Ryder's shaking grasp, shedding tears silently along with him.
'Now I get it. Why Chase was so angwy at bwinging Wyder to the hospital. Why Wyder never told us about Alek. It wasn't something he wanted to hide. Between him and Chase, I don't think they ever weally had a chance to miss the families they lost. We got lucky... Wyder had been there for all of us. But no one was there for them... oh, Wyder...'
Ryder didn't know how long he'd been crying. He wasn't even sure if he was actually done. But when he calmed down and slowly released Zuma, he definitly felt a lot better. Not completely, but a bit relieved. Zuma lightly chuckled, having a strong feeling that Ryder was starting to feel more like himself. Of course, there was more to be done, but small steps was always a good start.
"I-I'm so sorry, Zuma. I don't know what just happened..." Ryder apologized sincerly. "I wasn't expecting all of... that...to just come out..."
Zuma waved that off. "Doesn't matter. Feeling better, Wyder?"
Ryder was still in such shock at how understanding, worried and caring the pups were, especially with all the drama he dropped on them literally 24 hours earlier. He wiped his face and took a deep breath, let it out and answered, "Honestly, it's going to take me some time. But I'm feeling better for sure. Thank you so much, Zuma. Really."
"Anytime, Wyder."
Ryder finally tossed the blanket off and threw his legs over the side of his bed. Zuma felt happy to see Ryder was getting back to himself and watched as the young boy stood up and stretched.
"Man, I feel so old! I was in that bed a while, wasn't I?" he laughed. Zuma stretched with him and jumped off the bed.
"It does always feel great when we stretch- why do you think we do it so often?" he laughed.
Ryder wondered what he should do for today. Perhaps greeting the rest of the pups was a good idea. And getting some breakfast, definitely- the pups probably already ate, Zuma being the exception. And definitely taking a walk. He still has lots to sort through but staying in bed wasn't really helping. Some fresh air would do him good- after Marshall checked him yet again, he realized as he looked through his drawers for some clothes.
"I'll leave you to change, Wyder. See you downstaiws?" Zuma asked as he turned to give his friend some privacy. Ryder gave Zuma a thumbs-up as he grabbed a blue and white tee shirt and started looking for some clean underwear. He decided he wanted to shower- he needed to, in fact. 'When was the last time I had a hot shower...?'
Zuma barked in reply and walked out, pulling the door behind him. He walked towards the elevator and paused at the button, thinking about everything.
"Everything makes sense now. Now I get it. Wyder... he's got a long way to go but... I think he's gonna be alwight. He's got all of us, and that's what matters."
The elevator stopped in front of Zuma, and he entered and descended down to the bottom floor. "I wonder if I should tell the othews what happened... hmm, nah. Wyder can tell them if he wantsto; that's not my place. But I do need to ask about that pawty... and get some food. I'm stawving!"
Chase and Marshall were still trying to figure out the party plan when Rocky and Skye joined them. As the four talked, Zuma walked past Rubble's pup house, woke him out of a food filled dream, and found the others.
"Hey, look who woke up finally!" Rocky joked, nudging Rubble. "I was trying to get you up for almost 20 minutes! I kinda just gave up after that- I was getting hungry!"
Rubble sat down and tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, really? You did? But Zuma just woke me up from the best dream!"
"Let me guess... you were dreaming of that ginormous burger that tasted like dog treats, and kept growing so you never ran out of it?" Chase said. Everyone paused and looked between the two. Rubble laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, well... there's, uh, a bit of story to that one..." he laughed. The others couldn't help but laugh along with him.
"What's so funny, pups?" called a voice from behind. All heads turned to see Ryder standing there, smiling as he slung his towel over his shoulders. His hair, still dripping wet from his shower, made him look like a wet porcupine. He was wearing his favorite blue and white tee, some comfortable blue shorts and slip ons.
Despite his crying earlier, the pups could see he looked comfortable and relaxed. He looked like their leader... he looked like Ryder.
"Uhhh, did I miss something? What- OOF!"
Suddenly he was barrled by all six pups, knocking him to the ground as he licked his cheeks and snuggled in his arms. Ryder laughed and hugged them all as much as he could. "Hey! Hey! Pups, I missed you all too!" he exclaimed happily. He really did miss them and felt terrible he worried them so much. But it was nice to have them here and not think on everything else at the moment.
"Ryder! How are you feeling?" Marshall, oddly enough, was the first to pull from the pile up and was already getting into medical mode, checking Ryder over to make sure he was really healed up. Ryder nodded to Marshall.
"Don't worry, Marshall. This time, I really do feel better. I just could not stay in bed anymore. I needed to get some air." Ryder looked at Chase next, who was fixing to ask if he had his PupPad with him, and held his hand up.
"And before you ask, Chase- no. My pad is still upstairs and its off. I don't think I can handle the people of Adventure Bay right now."
Chase smiled in approval. "That's good to hear, Ryder. We'll deal with that later."
Once everyone was detangled from the pile up, Ryder sat down and crossed his legs. The pups sat in a circle around him.
"So, pups, I've had some time to think about everything we, uh... well, talked about the other day." Ryder crossed his arms and sighed. How was he to put this...?
"Um... Alek's grave isn't too far from Foggy Bottom. I haven't... visited him since he passed and they held his funeral. And now that we're all here, I-"
"Yes, we're coming with you, Ryder." All six pups said in unison before he could struggle the rest of the words out. Ryder blinked- he had NOT expected to hear that.
"Wait, are you all sure? It's a graveyard, sp it's not the cheeriest place and-"
"Ryder, wouldn't it be easier if you at least had us by your side?" Chase asked. "Besides, it would at least be nice for the pups to... sort of meet Alek. Trust me, I think this is for the best."
Ryder had to admit, Chase had a point. He nodded. "... well, okay. We can all go to see Alek together. Thank you, pups."
Marshall was figeting with his paws as he realized he needed to update Ryder on another matter that he and Chase talked about. Slowly raising his paw, he sheepishly spoke.
"Um, R-Ryder...? There's something else we, uh... we need to talk to you about."
As soon as Chase saw the hesistant way Marshall spoke, he slapped his forehead. While they had talked about the whole thing with Cynthia, Chase didn't think Ryder needed to actually know about that! 'Marshall, did you really have to say something?!'
"What's wrong, Marshall?"
Marshall explained what had happened with the phone call with Cynthia. Ryder was quiet as he took all the information in. He sighed; he didn't like telling people about his past as it was, especially her. And while the pups did the right thing in taking him to the doctor- despite Chase not wanting to and himself hating doctors and hospitals- he almost wished everyone heeded Chase's demands and not say anything.
But if they hadn't done that... Ryder knew he would have died at some point. And the pups would be left alone all over again, and with much more to have to move forward from. He couldn't be mad about that; he was honestly just proud of them for everything, and glad that nightmare was finally over and behind them.
"Well Marshall... I'm definitly not upset with you. With any of you." Ryder started, his arms opened. Chase and Marshall were the first to run into them, relief very obvious. The other pups all came closer.
"I had a feeling I was pretty bad off so you did the right thing getting me help. And I know a certain pup of mine-" Ryder paused and eyed Chase, who chuckled sheepishly. "-made it hard for you to get the help I needed. But I'm glad you knew who to go to and what to do. I truly am. But its dealing with the rest of these adults in this city..."
Ryder stopped, seeing the complete understanding and annoyance in the pup's faces. Rocky spoke up and vocalized what everyone was thinking:
"We love each and every person here. We do. But they are a LOT sometimes. The rescues were getting out of hand!"
Laughing at the seriousness and annoyance dripping through his words was probably the next best feeling Ryder exprienced since coming home. Every one of them knew Rocky spoke nothing but the truth, which made it all the funnier.
Then Rubble flopped on his stomach and let out a huge sigh and exclaimed, "This is the BEST!"
"Hmm? What do you mean, Rubble?" Ryder arched an eyebrow. Rubble grinned.
"This! I think this is the first time we've all been together and relaxing WITHOUT a random call for help!" Rubble laughed. Ryder chuckled and scratched behind Rubble's ear.
"It's fine, Chase. The resisdents of Adventure Bay need to take care of themselves." Ryder breathed in deeply and sighed.
"But it looks like I need to have a talk with the hospital before they start snooping around. I'll call them today and get everything straightened out. And then we can all go see Alek. Does that sound like a plan?"
All the pups yipped in agreement, secretly planning to finish Ryder's surprise party after dinner. Ryder lightly chuckled before he got up and decided to finish getting ready for the day. As the others went with him to discuss food and clean up the pup's breakfast bowls, Chase pulled Marshall to the side.
"Hey, Marshall. I guess we have a bit more time to have a meeting later with the others to discuss Ryder's party, huh?" Marshall nodded.
"But not much. Still, I think we'll be okay. But Ryder... seeing his brother after all this time..." Marshall trailed off. Chase nodded, understanding where he was coming from.
"Yeah, seeing his brother alone is going to be rough. But we promised Ryder we'd be there to help him. So we have to be there when he goes."
Marshall nodded in agreement. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up Cynthia, but I knew she was going to call him sooooo many times and I didn't think it was right to keep it a secret-"
Chase dismissed it and gave Marshall a head noogie. "Frankly, Marshall, you've been the most leader like since this all happened. Even though you're still a silly dally!"
Marshall laughed and the two pups exchanged light hearted banter and play. Ryder stepped out on the balcony and watched them with a relieved smile.
"Its good to see them happy and playing again. I don't remember much while I was sick, but it sounded like they were under a LOT of stress." he mused aloud. He leaned against the balcony and soon heard the happy yips and barks of the other four pups as they all came outside to play a game.
"Alek... I really wish you could have met them. You would have loved them... you'd be so proud of how much Chase grew into a strong leader..." Ryder wiped his eyes, realizing tears were pooling in them as he lingered on his brother.
"I just hope I made you proud. And... I'm sorry. But I cannot forgive those people who were supposed to be our parents. They left me alone and if it wasn't for those six little pups who needed me, I would have joined you where you were... and I know how much you would have hated me wasting my potential." Ryder took a deep breath and relaxed.
"I didn't want to go down that road. But I'll tell you all about it when I see you, Alek. I'll be there soon. And I'm sorry it took me so long to come see you...I'm sorry for being afraid."
Ryder shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Now was not the time for negative things like that; this was a bright time in his life.
He had his pups. He had his role as a savior of Adventure Bay. He had his strange, odd and often dangerous resuces. He finally had his health, and a lot more time to spend with his family.
He had a bright future ahead of him.
He wasn't going to hold onto a grudge anymore. His parents were no longer important and he wouldn't let them take up any more space in his mind.
Pleased that the pups were enjoying themselves, Ryder headed back to his bedroom and grabbed his PupPad.
First thing was first, though. He really needed Cynthia off his case and hopefully, she'd leave the pups alone, too.
He swiped a few times and found the number he was looking for. Tapping the icon, he leaned back in his bed and waited for the person to answer.
"Dr. Cynthia speaking."
"Hello, Miss Cynthia. This is Ryder of the PAW Patrol." Ryder's face scrunched up at having to talk with the lady. 'This is nuts but I'm putting an end to this now.'
"I understand you wanted to ask me a few questions? I also- oh. Hold on." Ryder quickly checked a strange file that he noticed was in his email. He saw his name, date of birth and other information that made him realize it was test results. But when he opened it, he didn't understand anything that was actually on the file.
"Okay... and Marshall gave me some test results, it appears? I was wondering if we could talk about that as well, since I know he couldn't have gotten these from you without pulling some hairs."
"Ah, Ryder. Thank you for talking with me. Yes, I did send those to Marshall earlier today; I'm glad he was able to get this to you." She paused, and Ryder could hear some paper rumminging in the background before she got back on the line. "Okay, my apolgies. I have your file opened; where shall we begin? Your choice."
Ryder groaned internally as he told her to lead the conversation. 'Thiiiiiiissss... is going to take awhile. Ah, well. Sooner we can get this done, the happier we will all be.'
And done! I enjoyed this chapter; it was nice to give Zuma some air time since my poor baby hardely gets any in cannon!
Let me know what you think; I've got two more chapters and an AN to go and we have reached the end! Thank you all for sticking with me!
Until next chapter!
