𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 || A Paw Patrol Fanfiction

S I X

"Useless...!"

Ryder jolted awake. He pants heavily and was drenched in sweat. He had tears in his eyes. He hummed as he looked at the clock. It was three in the morning, not a great time to wake up. He rumaged through his bedside drawer for a familiar bottle and sighed as he found it. It was his anxiety pills. He had them for a long while now. Six years to be exact. He had some major anxiety problems during those times and the only thing that kept him stable was those pills. Half of the pups knew this and it's better if only a few of them know his condition. At least for now. He popped the pill and drank some water to wash it down. He then sighed deeply.

"Wyder? You okay?"

The boy jumped when he heard a voice and he looked at his side. It was Zuma. He sighed in relief. Zuma knew his secret when Ryder was mending Robo-Dog a few years ago. The boy was nervous and shaking when he couldn't get to figure out what was wrong with their robot friend, which made him have a panic attack. Luckily Rocky was asleep at the moment so he doesn't know about all of this. "Yeah... I'm alright... You startled me though." He chuckled. The Chocolate Labrador smiles as he snuggled up close to the boy. Ryder smiles as he gently pets Zuma back to sleep. "You got a nightmawe did you?" He asks and Ryder just sat there in shock. He sighed. "Yeah... It was terrifying..." He uttered.

"You should pwobably tell that to the othew pups... To let them help you..." Zuma suggests and Ryder chews his lip. "Soon maybe... I'm just not ready yet..." He told the pup and Zuma nods. "Just be sure to do it..." He quietly spoke and the pup slowly falls asleep in his arms. Ryder chuckled right before falling into deep slumber.

×

"Okay pups! Take it easy!"

Ryder and the team was doing a rescue mission at Jake's mountain to save the people who were stuck inside a cave and need some help getting out. One of the cave explores was stuck inside a hole underneath them and Ryder was the one who got the explorer out. "Okay, pups. I'll be getting out now. I can take it from here." He ordered. He took the rope and he pulled himself up. When he almost reached the top, his rope snapped and he screams as he falls back down, making the pups gasp in horror.

"Ryder!"

They all exclaimed and they rushed towards the hole. Ryder tries to get up but failed. He felt his arm is getting numb by the second and aching. 'I might've sprained my arm...' he thinks, whimpering in pain. He felt his hands shaking and his vision began to get blurry. Ryder was crying for the first time in a while; due to pain and anxiety. He tries to reach towards his vest pocket for his emergency pills and felt nothing. He forgot them back at the lookout. Of course, he forgotten the ONE thing that he needs to stabilize. He curled up in a ball and he whimpered. Ryder then realized that keeping this secret and being brave all the time can get a bit overwhelming for him. So he did the one thing he refuses to do.

"Pups~! Help~! Please~!" Ryder cried out from the hole as he tries desperately to find a way out. He was also a bit claustrophobic and him looking around the hole terrifies him even more. "We've got to save him! He's getting anxious in there!" Chase cried out as Marshall begins to prepare the first aid equipment while Skye gets her harness from her copter and gave it to the German Shepherd. Chase attached the harness to his winch and lowered it down for Ryder to reach.

The boy was relieved when he reached the harness and he carefully locked it on his chest. "Now, pull him up Chase~!" Zuma ordered. Chase barked and the winched retracted. When Ryder was finally out of the hole, Marshall carefully pushed the pups away from the boy so he can have a closer look. "Okay, alright. Make way. Give him some air..." He says and he deployed his x-ray to look for anything broken. "Looks like you've broken your wrist and sprained your arm during the fall... It should heal up in a few weeks with a lot of rest and medicine." Marshall announced as he lets Ryder rest his arm on an ice pack while they get him inside the Dalmatian's ambulance.

Ryder was thinking while he was inside the ambulance as they took him to a hospital to get checked out for further details. Marshall couldn't do this all on his own. He didn't know how the rope snapped since he knows it was sturdy enough to carry his weight. It might've been a sharp rock that cut it loose. He looks down at his shoes and felt terrible for the pups to do this. He was their leader and owner. He knows what to do but, he failed. He sighed deeply as his hands began to shake violently again. He slowly took deep breaths calm himself down, which worked, for a while. His anxiety will rise up again and he doesn't know how to stop it, not until he gets his medication.

A few hours later, Ryder was submitted in a room and his arm and wrist was in a cast. The pups were in his hospital bed with him to look after him as they listened to the Doctor's orders. They all nod their heads and the Doctor left the room. The pups looked at the boy with worry in their cute eyes. "Ryder, what happened in there...?" Skye began to speak. The boy sighed. "I don't know... The rope just snapped and I can't pull myself back up..." "No... Not that..." The cookapoo protested. "You were shaking and just sat in there..." She said. "And you were crying when we got you out..." Rubble added.

Ryder took a deep breath. He knows that he can't keep this a secret for too long. He can't just let his pups worry about him for some mental illness that just stops him. An obstacle that he had to overcome but, failed and terrified to even try. He always had a mask on his face that tells that he's fine at every missions he's been though with the pups. He looks at the blanket, his knuckles almost turning white.

"I was scared..."

"I was scared in there... It was dark, tight and so terrifying. I shook in fear because it reminded me of a place I refused to remember..." Ryder sadly uttered. "I'm really sorry that you have to rescue me even though I can just do it on my own..." He sniffled as he wiped the tears away from his eyes then gasped as the pups cuddled close to him. "It's alright, Ryder~ everyone can feel scared sometimes... And so do you..." Rocky happily pointed out. "Yeah! I thought getting scared at a spider was the worst fear ever~! But, I learned to overcome it!" Rubble exclaimed. "And we can help you overcome, or at least, manage your fears too~!" Skye yipped happily. Ryder was really crying now. He happily hugged them all in his arms and the pups licked his face in pure happiness seeing their owner and leader happy again.

"You're all good, pups~"