The doctor nodded his thanks and walked over. He sat across from them and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd?" They were startled awake, but slowly sat up. They looked at the doctor with concern. "I have some news..."
Chase took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. Skye grabbed Chase and he pulled he into a hug. "I think we got to him in time," the doctor continued. "But we've had to intubate him as his throat had completely closed up. He's on a ventilator for now, but seems to be improving." Skye gasped and began crying, Chase nodded but couldn't speak. "I take it you did not know of his allergy to shellfish?" asked the doctor.
Chase only shook his head. "C-can we see him?" whispered Skye.
"We've moved him to ICU for the time being," said the Doctor. "I'm afraid we can't allow visitation while he's on the ventilator. But I'll take you two back to see him for a moment."
"T-thank you, Doc," said Chase.
They turned to see all the others standing around with tears in their eyes. "Go on, we'll be here waiting to hear from you," said Marshall.
Chase and Skye followed the doctor through the double doors and down the hall to ICU. They walked into Rocky's room and upon seeing him connected to all the machines Skye buried her face in Chase's chest. "He looks so small and vulnerable," Skye whimpered.
"He's in good hands," Chase said looking up to the doctor.
"We don't see any signs of brain damage at this point," said the Doctor. "But until the swelling goes down, I'm afraid he's going to be in here."
"I can't believe it happened so fast," said Chase.
"It does happen fast," said the Doctor. "We'll be running some tests for other allergies while we have him here. You should expect to be carrying an Epipen with you at all times from now on."
"What's that?" asked Skye.
"Epinephrine, it's a drug that stops the reaction," the doctor explained. "It's ultimately what we used to save your son's life. If you had one at the time he reacted, you could have stopped the reaction or kept it in check until you got him to the hospital."
"Thanks again, Doc," said Chase. "For everything."
"You're very welcome," said the doctor. "This is what I went to medical school for. It's nice to save one once in awhile. Lord knows, we can't save them all."
"That I understand," agreed Chase.
"Well, I need to check on some of the other patients. I'll leave you two with Rocky for a while." The doctor walked out of the room. Chase turned and saw that Skye had pulled a chair up to the bed and was stroking Rocky's hair, tear running down her cheeks.
"He's going to be okay," said Chase.
"I know, but it was so close," said Skye.
"I know, I know." In Chase's mind, he replayed Rocky falling from the ridge and him catching him. 'I don't know if my heart can take much more,' he thought. He pulled a chair up beside Skye and placed his hand on hers. They both looked down at Rocky and smiled.
~~~
"So what did the doctor mean, his throat closed up?" asked Rubble.
"When you have an anaphylactic reaction," Marshall explained, "the airway will sometimes completely swell shut. If they had not caught it in time, they would have had to cut into his airway and bypassed the vocal cords. It's a very tricky procedure but it's the only way to save them. Luckily we got here in time."
YOU ARE READING
Second Chance (PAW Patrol AU)
Fanfiction*A story collaboration between myself and @MarshalB* Rocky has been abused by the ones that are supposed to love him unconditionally - his own parents. A series of events leads to his placement in foster care. There, he meets Officer Chase who, afte...
