Chapter 20: Marshall's Wounds
Ryder, Zuma, and Snowflake were in the waiting room as the vets took care of Marshall's injuries. To say the atmosphere was somber was an understatement. Within twenty minutes, Ryder's pup pad rang. It was a call from Chase.
"Hello? Chase?" Ryder answered in a serious tone.
"Ryder, the fire is all put out. We even checked a second time and soaked everything. Nothing but smoke and burnt forest. Mayor Goodway said more firefighters are coming to inspect the area, but we are good to go!" Chase reported through his pup tag to Ryder's pup pad.
"Great! And thanks for double checking. You pups get to the vet. I'll have Snowflake pick you up and drive you back here," Ryder replied before ending the call.
"Snowflake, you'll have to drive the pups here in your tracking van. I need to stay in case there is any info about Marshall from the vet. Plus since Zuma drove his firetruck here, it may have extra medical supplies if the vet needs something or info about Marshall," Ryder told the husky and chocolate lab.
"Yes Ryder. I'll be back as soon as I can!" Snowflake said before running out the doors. Snowflake ran to her vehicle and jumped in. She started the engine before driving fast towards The Lookout. The pups had parked their vehicles and were undressed from the rescue gear and outfits once she arrived.
"Two pups can ride up front but the rest will have to ride towards the back on the outside!" Snowflake explained after stopping her van in front of them.
"Rocky and I will ride up front. Skye and Rubble can ride behind us," Chase offered. He was met with a unison of "yes" before everyone jumped into Snowflake's rescue van. Chase and Rocky sat in the passenger and back seat, while Skye and Rubble were behind Rocky, holding the back of the seat. Once ready, Snowflake drove back towards the rescue vet building. She parked her vehicle, let the pups get out, closed the doors and locked the van.
All the pups ran through the doors until they got to the waiting room, finding Ryder and Zuma waiting for them.
"Ryder! Zuma!" everyone cried out before going over to hug and lick their two buddies. After the greeting, everyone calmed down, remembering why they were there.
"No word on Marshall's condition. You pups just arrived a few minutes after Snowflake left. If I had to guess, Marshall's badly hurt," Ryder said before petting his pups. Everyone looked curiously sad as they waited.
"Ryder?" a voice called out. Everyone looked over to see a vet standing by the doors. The vet was a white, blond, blue eyes man with glasses. He was wearing blue scrubs, a white lab coat, a stethoscope, and holding a clipboard. Ryder stood up.
"I'll be back pups," Ryder told his pup friends before following the vet through the doors. The two went down a hall to the fourth door on the right before stopping.
"Ryder, I'm Vet Tech Aaron. We have Marshall in this room. However, I should warn you Ryder, Marshall is bandaged up and unconscious. But I will tell you everything," the doctor told the boy. Ryder nodded. Dr. Aaron opened the door before they went inside.
The room was painted a pleasant ocean blue, with light hanging from above on the ceiling. Medical equipment, monitors, computers, and tables were neatly placed around the room, safe for the bed towards the center of the room. As the two humans approached the bed, Ryder saw Marshall was wrapped up in bandages from his head down to his chest, with a white sheet and comforter covering the rest of his body. He looked like a pup mummy that was laying in bed, waiting for a proper burying. Blue, clear and green tubes were in his mouth as well as an IV drip tube, blood drip tube, and water drip tube inserted into his arms. Some thin black wires were also attached to his chest, with all the tubes and wires connected to machines.
"Poor Marshall. How is he Vet Tech Aaron?" Ryder asked as his face expression and heart sank, sending his beloved pup in such a sad, serious condition. Even when Marshall had taken the job as fire rescue pup, the team all knew the risks. But given Marshall nor the others couldn't have foreseen the forest fire coming, they were all caught off guard. Even with Zuma and Snowflake's warnings and speedy response, the fire had spread to quickly. There was only so much they could do. The PAW Patrol were great rescuers, but even with friends in danger, the team knew they couldn't create miracles for every situation.
"Marshall will live for sure, but it will be weeks, if not a couple months until he heals completely. He's resting, and I need to show his results," Aaron said before they went to a monitor hanging on the wall. The vet picked up a remote and started to click with pictures showing up on the screen. Upon seeing some of the images, Ryder gasped; gray lungs, blistered and dark brown skin, missing fur, skin images of the damage and how deep the burns went, bandages and cream put onto the skin. Ryder almost felt sick, but held it in.
"Marshall has bad second degree burns all over his body. We put healing cream and bandages on him so he can heal. The fire only burned his Epidermis and a bit of his Dermis. The first and second layers of skin, plus his fur. This is why his skin is blistered and brown. Yes, his fur will grow back over time. The fire did no damage to any of the lower layers of skin, nerves, bone, or muscle, which is good. The gray in his lungs is from the smoke and carbon monoxide the fire released into the air; especiallybreathing it in. We are giving him oxygen and also pulling out the toxic air with another tube. His lungs with be healthy or minorly damaged, but he should still be able to do rescues fine. Just more breathing when running or being active," Aaron explained. He then gave Ryder a serious look.
"I have to sincerely give you and your pups a job well done; getting him here so fast, safely, and spraying water on him, helped the vets and I to make sure his wounds were clean, unbroken, and stable. You and your pups should be proud," Aaron told the boy. Ryder blushed.
"You're welcome. We do rescues all the time, but we always try to be safe when helping others. We know the risks, but ... this fire caught us by surprise," Ryder replied honestly.
"We only do our best. Still, you and your team should be proud. As for Marshall, his skin will need to be given healing cream, and bandaged for several weeks. Plus, we need to watch how his lungs are doing. Marshall will be good to move, but will be slow due to his injuries. We also want to be careful with temperatures and textures. Don't want him to touch anything that could make his skin peel or get his pain receptors going crazy," Aaron responded cautiously. Ryder nodded seriously.
"Apart from all those injuries, Marshall will make a full recovery. Amazingly, he will need no skin graphs to replace skin. We may need to cut some off so it doesn't get too tight for moving around, and it will take time, but Marshall is lucky. You all did a good job. For now, Marshall will stay here until he can be released," the vet concluded.
"Thank you so much Vet Tech Aaron. May I tell the news to my pups?" Ryder asked.
"Yes you may," the vet replied. The two humans walked out of the room, down the hallway and back to the waiting room.
"Ryder?" the pups asked as he approached them.
