Chapter thirty-five: Hugs and Therapy
"-Ow,.. -Ow,.. -OW!" Chase grunted.
Bending back over Billy's knees backwards didn't bother him very much and was even quite relaxing. But the pressure Maggie was putting on his forelegs to help with the stretch was already beginning to push him to what felt like the breaking point; despite how gently she was pressing.
"Relax into it slowly," Billy coached calmly, keeping both hands on either side of the pup so he wouldn't fall. "Breathe.. and feel through the stretch."
Chase strained, biting back the rising pain of his shoulder as he tried to let up. But when he finally started to give in he immediately recoiled, pushing Maggie's hands forward off him to sit upright again.
"Inh! What is the point of this.." Chase sneered, flexing his shoulder. "I thought we were just having to strengthen it, not stretch me thin like elastic."
"Part of strengthening it is to put a strain on it." Frank told him simply. "Remember, muscles can't grow without resistance,.. pressure. Therefore 'no strain, no gain'."
"Don't you mean 'no pain, no gain'?" Chase grumbled, swiveling his body to log roll himself off Billy's thighs and land roughly on the floor. And in doing so he stumbled slightly to the right, away from Billy as his legs didn't quite seem prepared for the full extent of the landing.
"But that's why we came prepared." Billy said, as Maggie set a box nearby and he almost recognized it instantly.
"But first.. let's go one more time," Billy began again. "Then we'll put you through some movement training."
"Ugggh! Fine.." Chase groaned deeply, turning back to walk back over to him sulkily.
"Just you wait,.. You'll forget all about how hard this was when you're stronger than ever." Billy told him with a knowing smile.
"Yeah, then I can use it to knock some sense into some of these weirdos." Chase half cursed as the three of them assumed their positions.
xxxx
The sprayer quit when the last line was painted, then the pup that held it in his hydraulic claw shook it to see how much was left in it.
"All done with the marking, Ryder," Rocky announced for his pup tag to hear.
"Great, we're about to send the last load," Ryder replied, his tag flashing with the vocalization of his voice. "Then you guys can hoist us outta here."
"Copy that, we're standing by!" The mixed breed replied, arriving at the edge to peer down on them. "Right Chess?"
"You know it." Chester replied, sitting up straight in Chase's driver seat.
The Air Patroller's hook came down again and when Ryder hooked it up to the net, he watched it go up from a safe distance then turned toward the winch hook that dropped down after.
"Let's go, Marshall." The boy said, placing his helmet on and lowering the visor to take the hook to his harness.
"I'm ready!" The Dalmatian announced, hopping into his leader's arms, the boy held him tightly with one arm and firmly grasped the rope with the other. Giving it a couple tugs, the winch line began to pull them up. When they were near the top, Ryder eased Marshall up and pushed him onto the ground level with Rayla and Snowflake there to help make sure he came up safely. Grabbing the edge of the drop, he pulled himself up abruptly as he released the winch, landing on one knee and a hand bracing to the ground for support.
"Great work, pups," he said, standing up again. "I think, our work here is finally done, let's pack up and head back to the Lookout to check in with our friends."
"Sounds good, Ryder," Snowflake responded happily.
So they all scattered to their vehicles and followed their leader out through the open barrier and Rayla reblocked it before hurrying to head up the rear.
XXXX
"And that is the story of how I accidentally ski-boarded backwards down a rocky mountain road in the dark." Skyler was saying as her explanation came to a close.
"And let me tell you, 'fun' was like the 800th thing on my list on how to describe that experience."
"I imagine you were scared and concerned about your safety. That story doesn't sound 'fun' at all. More like jumping into the abyss!" Brian commented with concern.
"It wasn't," Skyler sighed dryly, "but Jack's friends sure thought so."
"Did you have a light with you? Did you get hurt?" Melody asked, wondering about Skyler's safety.
"Thankfully yes, but one was a headlamp on some spelunking gear set I had. And the other somehow got strapped to my back. So it was pretty much useless." The border collie replied waywardly, when the roar of engines brought their gaze to the returning team.
"Okay," Melody said with a blink. The group looked over at the team as they drove up and parked their vehicles.
"How did it go?" Ned asked curiously.
"Good, we got everything we wanted to do done." Chester informed them, with a borderline tone and a neutral expression to match.
"Now the construction crews are taking it from there." Marshall said, glancing up at Ryder.
The non-team members looked the group over.
"Where are Rocky and Rubble?" Tiny asked.
"Oh, they stayed behind. The construction crew offered for Rubble to stay and help and Rocky wanted to help them with the debris and see if there was anything he could reuse." Skye informed them.
"I hope he doesn't get too much metal to recycle. I don't think his truck could fit a lot more!" Ned commented cautiously.
"What would he even use it for? A giant blow dryer?" Melody joked.
"Where'd you come up with that?" Chester wondered, point blank.
"It was the first thing that popped into my head," Melody answered honestly.
"So, Chase has been relaxing with his friends. We left them alone so they could train without distractions," Brian informed them.
"Yeah, Billy, Maggie, and Grandpa are here," Ned added.
"Frank! His name is Frank!" Brian exclaimed to his brother.
"Easy Brian. Ned probably just forgot his name. But, who is Frank? I don't think I met him yet. Billy and Maggie for sure," Snowflake chimed in.
"Frank is their dad." Rayla told them.
"Ooooh. Alright," the four huskies said together in understanding.
"Yeah, he's the head of that bunch, but Billy's the brains of the outfit." Chester told them. "Come on."
Leading the way across the yard, the group approached the doors of the Lookout. As the doors parted it was rather quiet, but then they saw why as they stepped inside.
Maggie sat up against the elevator for support just to the right of the door, and they soon discovered why she was sitting there. Chase lay across Maggie's upturned knees draped over it like a lap blanket, and covered by something thick and heavy. Their best view of him was his head on his left cheek as he faced out from the girl's body laying there quietly with little to no resistance or awareness. A cord snaked off away from them and disappeared, Billy and Frank had both found a spot to sit nearby, as Maggie held onto the sleeping pup at both sides.
"Hi everyone.. We're back," Snowflake whispered kindly.
"Welcome back, team of heroes." Frank greeted quietly, smiling warmly.
"You wear him out already?" Chester hinted, approaching his brother slowly. Chase made a sound, barely opening his eyes then closing them and relaxed down again; making Maggie pat his back gently.
"Not yet, just finishing up his therapy," she said.
"He'd tell you we've been a little rough on him, but don't let him fool you. He'll thank us later." Billy spoke up.
"What did you do? Have him run around The Lookout? Carry bags of food? Crack his shoulder?" Snowflake guessed.
"Nothing but the last one," Billy replied. "Sort of. But he's not necessarily asleep and if he is it's not necessarily because he's that tired."
"Okay," Snowflake said in understanding.
Marshall came up to stick a paw between the material and his friend's shoulder.
"A heat pad?" He said. "What did you do to him this time?"
"He'll be fine pups." Billy assured them. "The more safe strain we put on it, the stronger he'll rebound once those muscles start to build back up again. He's already starting to get stronger."
"How? Lift weights? Balance on one leg?" Brian asked half joking.
"Weights perhaps.." Billy said, "but,.. not that kind."
"How does that even make sense?" Rayla wondered.
"I'll tell you how.. It doesn't." Chester answered for him. "Seriously, Billy. What did you do?"
"We just worked on stretching him out and mildly touched on some strength building." Billy explained. Chase released a big breath and quietly lay there still.
"Well at least he seems comfortable." Rocky observed.
"I wouldn't, that seems kind of awkward if you ask me." Tiny remarked, giving the German Shepherd an odd look.
"So stretching him like a rubber band and touching his shoulder? I can understand the stretching part, but if you pull too hard, that rubber will snap-"
"Melody!" Snowflake, Brian and Ned exclaimed as they turned to their sister.
"What?! It's true!" Melody countered innocently.
"I don't think Chase would be stretched to his physical limit. Therapy is supposed to help; not make an injury worse!" Brian pointed out.
"Exactly!" Chester piped up.
"Plus if his owners did stretch his leg that much, he would need to be in the hospital again. And we're certainly not doing that!" Snowflake added.
"Oh we're not his owners," Frank informed them. "That's all Ryder now. We were just the ones that started him. He was born in our facility and raised in our home until he disappeared on us."
"*sigh* we can just say it, I accidentally got shipped to Adventure Bay in a box." Chase mumbled, still trying to soak in the relief of the warm heat at his back.
"Awwwww. You poor thing.." Melody said, before walking over to Chase and giving him licks of affection on the face. Snowflake and Brian came over to gently pet Chase on the back, while Ned joined Melody in the tongue doggy kisses.
"Ah-oof! Uck! Ew! Ulck! Yuck! Quit it!" Chase recoiled snapping at them more than he would've liked.
"What's wrong with you guys!" He cried, wiping his face off with his foreleg after shoving them away, especially Ned.
"Ease up, they're just trying to be nice." Frank reminded him.
"Well they can do it by just saying I'm sorry." Chase returned in a huff. "And it really wasn't that big of a deal, cause it all worked out in the end. And now I have you guys here with us when I need you."
"You good, Ch-" Chase's suggestive look told Rocky not to even ask, even though he was now sitting more upright with his paws braced on Maggie's knees. "Right,.. never mind."
"Billy?" Chase hinted.
"I got you." Billy affirmed. "Hey Ryder, got a minute?"
"Sure." Ryder nodded, walking on past him to lead them both away. "What do you need?"
"Alright, bear cub, cool your jets while you warm your rocket boosters." Maggie said, pressing down on the pup's back gently to lay down again. And when he did so she simply stroked from his shoulders down to help him relax once again.
"I like you," Melody said happily to Maggie's comment. The husky pup backed off to give Chase room.
"We're sorry, Chase. We just wanted to be nice and make sure you were okay-" Snowflake said sincerely before quickly shutting her mouth.
'Why is Chase fine with Maggie giving him attention, but not us? What did we do? Ned I can understand, but Melody and Brian have been more patient!' Snowflake wondered.
"Go on." Maggie hinted, pressing into his shoulders a bit more forwardly.
Chase sighed, and from their angle they could see the slight roll of his eyes.
"If you guys must feel sorry for me, and clearly you must,.. you can show it without touching me." Chase told them slowly, in a rather monotone and dragging way. "I'm not the buddy-buddy cuddle type. So please no more hugs, no more licks and NO more material traps!"
"Okay Chase," the husky pups said before whining a little.
"Wait, why no hugs? You hug Ryder and the pups from time to time?" Snowflake questioned upon thinking about the request.
"Yeah, 'from time to time' not all the time and not bombarded with fifty of them!" Maggie's tender hands made Chase temper himself and he laid back down again.
"Why no material traps? What if you had to be bait for a rescue to work?" Ned asked. "Like getting a kitten to safety, but Skye and Marshall are busy and you have no net? The kitten could fall towards you, you catch it in your paws, and release a parachute from your pup pack!"
"First of all that's not how that works and second I'm not usually bait for a rescue, and even if I was there are other ways to handle situations than parachutes.. And that's not even what I mean!" Chase could certainly be considered fuming at this point, if not for Maggie's hand on him, keeping him somewhat distracted.
"I was just giving an example for a rescue.." Ned replied, confused.
"What if you had to practice being a caterpillar to teach kids, or playing parachute with them at gym class?" Brian asked curiously.
"Just like I did during our bonding time with Aaron and Alex!" Snowflake commented happily with a tail wag.
"Ugh, that's not- Urrgh, never mind! You're not getting it.." Chase gave in, laying his head down facing away from them.
"Okay," Ned and Brian said, ears going down
"Want me to give you a bouquet of flowers?- oh wait, snow. Never mind!" Melody chimed in politely.
"For what?" Chase questioned, completely confused at this point. "I'm not deathly ill or anything."
"Well, to cheer you up! You are still healing after all!" Melody responded positively, wagging her tail.
"Yeah but,.. not that much." Chase reasoned. "Therapy doesn't mean I'm broken, it just means I'm getting back to what I was before the injury."
"That pretty much validated the first point." Chester mentioned dryly, making Chase frown at him.
xxxx
"Chase is getting pretty annoyed with some of your guests." Billy mentioned as they exited out the back doors. "He thinks they care too much and boundaries are hard to set without giving them the wrong idea."
"How do you mean?" Ryder asked, point blank.
"Well, he says that now that things are out in the open, he has nothing left to hide. And I believe he's right." Billy went on. "He's afraid that if he asks for space again, they'll think he's hunkering down to avoid them or to hide something again. Especially your husky friends. I told him he can come to the farm for a day, and he's welcome to spend the night if he wants. But only if you're alright with that. It could give him a break from all the attention he's been getting lately. I think he really just needs to be left alone for awhile, with supervision for the concussion stuff, but.."
"Actually we might be able to clear him today." Ryder said. "He'll definitely be happy with that. And as far as your request.." he thought for a moment.
"You might be right," he thought further, "Chase isn't really much of an attention seeker. In fact, he's quite the opposite. He thrives on confirmation, but doesn't need recognition. Same with this.. I'll bet he's tired of being the center of everyone's focus especially now that things are getting better for him. You know what, let's do it, Billy! I think it's a great idea."
Shaking hands seemed to seal the deal and the two headed back inside.
Hey guys, how's it going! Ok so this therapy session was quite hilarious especially when we add the other pups back into the mix. The banter among them as always remains interesting cause you never know what you're gonna get from these characters.
Hope to see you, guys next week when we continue the journey again! Till then enjoy and have a great rest of your week! Thx!
