Unexpected

Chapter 11: Oh Right, I'm Here

The rain has finally stopped.  Clouds head their own way and make way for the sun to shine.  It takes a couple hours for this to happen, but it's so beautiful when it does.  Captain Turbot is on his boat, The Flounder, looking up at the sky with his camera.  Today is special because there is a triple rainbow, extremely visible to the naked eye.  "Ahhh, what a beautiful sight.  This really is a magical place to be," the Captain says to himself out loud as he takes more pictures of the sky. 

He takes a couple more photos and smiles tom himself.  "These are positively pulchritudinous picture perfect photos.  Yes, they will be great for the cover of Skies Weekly," The Captain says with a smile.  "Alas that will have to wait.  I have a problem on my hands.  A certain friend decided to show up today.  Marshall is on my boat.  Not entirely sure why, but he seems to be okay.  I'm gonna head to Katie's though just to be sure."  The Captain sets his camera down on the dash of his boat and sighs before he turns on the engine.  A few seconds later the engine starts and he heads for Adventure Bay Pier.

A few hours later, Katie walks out to the waiting room of her Pet Parlor.  It's grown in size over the years and is now staffed with additional vets and pet doctors that specialize in helping animals with all sorts of problems.  Katie is still the owner and helps where she can.  "Well Captain, I have some news.  It's lucky you brought Marshall in here.  He seems to have caught hypothermia.  Shivering a lot, weak pulse, dizzy, slurred speech, lack of coordination, and a bit of memory loss.  Poor guy must have ran a long time in the rain.  I already called Ryder to tell him the sad news," Katie says as she sighs. 

"Yeah it is very good that I brought him here.  Who knows what else could have happened if I didn't.  You said has slurred speech and lack of coordination.  Does that mean he is awake?," The Captain asks as he looks at Katie.  "Yeah he is awake right now.  Woke up about 30ish minutes ago.  Thankfully he woke up too.  Hypothermia can even cause loss of consciousness so it's amazing he woke up from how long he ran and swam in the rain.  If you want, you can come back to see him," Katie offers to the Captain.  "That is a great idea.  After all he did show up on my boat.  It's good to talk to him," Captain Turbot say as he stands up and follows Katie to the room Marshall is in.

Once there, the pair walk inside before closing the door behind them.  Inside, Marshall is on a bed wearing a heated blanket with a hood on it.  It's set to where it won't burn him, but still pretty hot to bring his body temp back up.  He's currently shivering away as he looks up and sees the Captain.  "C-Captain...what are y-you doing he-he-here?," Marshall asks through shivering and slurred speech.  "Came here to check on you.  Wanted to make sure you are okay.  I know you're shivering and cold, but at least you're alive," The Captain says as he sits in a chair in the room.  "You know, I'm the one that brought you here.  Good thing too cause you were in a worse shape than I thought."  "So-Sorry for being...a nui-nui," Marshall went to finish his sentence yet is cut off by the Captain.  "Uhpp, not a nuisance.  You never have been Marshall.  I'm always happy to help the Paw Patrol.  Especially after all the silly calls I made in the past," Captain Turbot says with a smile.  Marshall just simply nods as he looks out the window of the room. 

Katie and Captain Turbot look at each with worried looks on their faces.  "Did you happen to tell Ryder he's here?," The Captain asks to Katie.  "Yeah I did and he said he is happy that Marshall is okay.  Yet at the same time he seemed disappointed.  He didn't tell me and when I tried to poke further he backed off so I didn't push my luck," Katie says as she looks at the Captain.  "Must be disappointed cause he knows what provoked Marshall to run away.  That's what I would hazard to guess.  But let's not assume anything.  For now, let's keep an eye on our friend," Captain Turbot says as he turns his attention to Marshall with Katie doing the same.

Marshall keeps staring out the window.  He begins to remember how he found himself in this situation.  Rocky had yelled at him and then he cried for a hours.  Afterwards, he wrote that letter and ran off.  He wishes things were still the same.  The Dally sheds some tears as he thinks about it.  Katie and Captain Turbot pick up on this and rush over.  "Marshall what is wrong?  Something hurting?," Katie ask as she goes to match Marshall's eye level.  "Y-Yeah...my...he-he-he...," Marshall tires to speak but shivers again and shakes a lot.  "Your heart?," She asks as she gestures to it.  He nods and sheds another tear.  "It's broken Katie...I have a broken heart," Marshall says as he stops shivering as does his slurred speech. 

Katie nods as she looks at Marshall, maintaining eye level with him.  She waits patiently for him to speak for himself.  Which this takes a few minutes as he glances around the room and breaks eye contact multiple times.  "I had the love of my life accuse me of cheating on him when he could clearly see I wasn't.  Hopefully they read the letter I wrote and remember me well," Marshall says before he pauses and looks at his neck.  "Where's my collar at?," Marshall asks he keeps looking at Katie.

"It's back at the Lookout where you left it.  In your doghouse where you took it off.  I'm guessing you're gonna spend a few days away from home because of this situation?," Katie asks as she keeps eye contact with Marshall.  "Yes, that is correct.  I'm not ready to face the love I lost yet.  My heart can't take seeing them right now.  Instead, I plan to...spend a few days in the Mental Hospital a couple cities away.  I've ran away from my problems many times.  About time I take responsibility and play it safe," Marshall says as he turns away from Katie to look out the window again. 

"Well Marshall, I should tell you that you don't have to go very far for a mental facility.  We have plenty of new staff here ready to help you with your needs.  They won't do it for free of course, but they'll talk about that with Ryder," Katie says as she takes the heated blanket off Marshall.  Marshall simply nods and allows Katie to do this.  "You're very strong, you know that right?," Katie says as she folds up the blanket. 

"She's right you know Marshall.  Not every day someone admits they need some help.  You're very good at doing that," Captain Turbot says before petting Marshall on the head.  "I'm not strong at all you two.  Just a weak dog who runs away from his problems all the time.  Never thinking of the damage he does to others.  Being extremely selfish and a pain to everyone.  Why bother helping me at all?,"  Marshall asks as he looks out the window with a completely emotionless face.  Katie sighs and says Marshall's name as she has heard this before.  She doesn't say anything else as she stores the blanket away.   Katie then walks over to Marshall and requests that he follow her.  He nods and follows Katie to the mental health part of the Pet Parlor.

Once there, they are greeted at the front desk by a very nice lady by the name of Karla.  "Ah Katie, I see another patient of yours is in need of some help," Karla says nicely as she looks at Marshall who has a blank expression on his face.  She talks with Katie and the paperwork is set up so that they can bring Marshall in for questioning.  The Dally just sighs a lot throughout the paperwork process and answers to a lot of questions, about 49 in total.  This is all to help in knowing what they can do for him.  One question in particular stops Marshall's blank face.  "Tell me, are you constantly trying to run away from your problems?," Karla asks politely.  "Not constantly trying per-say Karla.  More like every so often I actually do run away from my problems.  Especially after a traumatic experience," Marshall says as he looks at the lady.  Karla takes note of this as all the questions are now finished. 

"All right, that's all I need to know.  Based on all the questions you answered truthfully we can help you," Karla says before she goes onto her computer and types out a long message to one of their mental health counselors.  About seven minutes later she finished typing and turns back to Marshall who is alone with Karla at the front desk.  "By the looks of things sweetheart you are in need of some serious help here.  Thankfully I just paged a counselor for you and they will be out.  Oh they're coming right now,"  Karla says happily and greets the counselor.  The counselor then kneels down to Marshall and greets herself kindly with a comforting voice.  "Hello Marshall, I am Diane," The Lady says with a bright smile.  She's wearing very comforting looking clothes with all sorts of colors and eye catching designs that make Marshall feel safe around her.  He hopes that she can help him out.

And with that everyone, Chapter 11 comes to a close.  This will be my last story update for the year until 2024.  I'm excited to spend the rest of the time with family and doing other random stuff.  Trust me when I say, you won't want to miss what I have coming up.  With that said, if you enjoyed this Chapter please give it a vote and comment what you think.  Love hearing back from you all and any feedback is highly appreciated.  Once again, see you in 2024.