For the Love of Dogs!
by fogdragon23
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon but I want to!
Warnings: mild violence, hospital fic, girl to girl fluff, etc.
A/N: This is a challenge fic assigned to me by my close friends. The prompts were to make a shojo-ai pairing from Pokemon and somehow show the way they write or what they write on to characterize them and their relationship with each other. This is my first Shojo-ai and/or Pokemon fic so reviews are very much appreciated. TY!
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The hospital doors banged open as a stretcher was quickly rolled through. The patient's eyes rolled in his head, wincing away from the fluorescent lights. He tried to stand to show he was okay but became dizzy with the effort. A hand touched the back of his head comfortingly. "It's okay, it'll all be okay. Don't worry." The voice was very familiar in its soft tones. It reminded him of a voice that he had heard a long time ago, when he was a child. The world blurred then began to darken before his eyes. He consciously breathed once more before passing into a much darker world.
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A nurse clicked her way down the hallway with a clipboard clasped to her chest. She traveled quickly to deliver her message to the proper person. She turned left as the hallway came to an end and sped through a door labeled, Waiting Room. The receptionist smiled up at her and she did so back, "Uh, where is...?" She followed the direction of the receptionist's outstretched finger. "Oh!"
The receptionist tapped the end of her pile of papers on the desk before her. "She was trying to stay up all night but I coaxed her to rest a little, poor girl."
The nurse bowed politely, "Thank you very much." She rushed to the indicated door and knocked gently. "Miss? Are you awake? We have some news for you."
"Come in. I'm awake," came a strong voice from the other side.
The nurse opened the door and entered. She smiled weakly at the person in the rest cot. "It isn't much but...the doctor said that he will do the best he can. Your partner has been put under for now."
The other woman stared at her hat placed on a nearby chair. "At least he'll get his rest."
"Is there anything I can get you, miss?" the nurse asked, trying to be comforting. "I could get you a free soda, if you want."
"Please, call me Jenny. I think I'd prefer water."
The nurse nodded, "Yes Mi...Jenny. I'll get that for you right away. Do you need an extra blanket?"
Jenny shook her head. "No thank you, it's warm enough in here."
The nurse placed her clipboard on a nearby table then turned to the door. "I'll be right back then."
The nurse snuck passed the patient rooms to the vending machine and water fountain. Her attention was suddenly caught by a sizable Chansey trying to get water on its own. "Chansey!" it squeaked every time water shot from the faucet. Usually, Chansey are able to place a cup in the faucet's line of fire to catch the water but this one had the cup too far toward the wall for this technique to work. Though not a Pokemon to get flustered easily, it kept pushing the button in hope of miraculously reaching the cup. "Chansey!"
"Oh, here," the nurse said as she filled the cup herself and gave it to the thirsty Chansey. "Now go on."
The Pokemon happily took the beverage and waved as it waddled toward the cafeteria. "Chansey!"
"Bye!" She waved back briefly before returning to the fountain. "Water will do her good," she grinned, filling the cup nearly to the brim. "Oh...a little too much!"
After her brief errand the nervous Pokemon nurse picked her way back to the room, trying not to disturb any patients. She came to Jenny's door and sighed in relief and determination.
This time the nurse flicked on the light when she was told to enter. "Ow, hey!" Jenny exclaimed at the sudden light.
"Sorry, it's just so dark in here."
"The receptionist told me to rest," Jenny argued.
"The receptionist doesn't know your situation," she reasoned. "And neither do I, but I'm very worried." She sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. "The doctor says that nurses can't get too involved but...if I'm going to do this for the rest of my life then I should make it fun for me and my patients."
"Where did all that come from?" asked Jenny, blinking confusion.
"Oops! Sorry," she placed her hands in her lap and looked toward the ground. "My associates say I talk too much, am I bothering you?"
"No, but can I have my water?"
"Oh! Here."
Jenny took the cup and checked the nurse's name tag. "Thanks, Nurse Joy."
Joy smiled back jovially. "No problem."
The room descended into silence as the officer took a long drought of her water and handed the empty cup back to Joy. "You should have got me a bottle instead, I just came out of a sandstorm."
Joy laughed at her own idiocy, "I forgot! You were caught in the sandstorm up north, right?"
Jenny nodded enthusiastically thinking back into yesterday's events. "I was in a regular chase after Team Rocket when my Jeep broke down from the storm. I feel so stupid that I didn't pay attention to where they were leading us. Me and Gro...my partner had to leave it or risk being buried in the Jeep so we bailed. I covered my head with my jacket and let Gro..." she broke off sadly.
Nurse Joy's eyes were big in fear but she placed a hand on Jenny's, "He'll be fine, I'm sure of it. Saying it won't make him worse."
"Growlithe," Jenny said quietly once, then twice. Letting the name ring through her. Gaining confidence, she opened her mouth to finish. "Growlithe could still see so I let him take charge. I don't know how long we were out there but my legs were numb by the time we got to the edge of the storm. He stood guard over me until I could walk again and let me pause when I needed rest."
"But you look fine, ma'am," Joy interjected.
Jenny looked up at her pathetically. "That's because I used my last Potion on myself when we found a cave to settle in."
"So you were attacked after that?" Joy asked, completely taken by the story.
"Yes, the cave was home to a nest of Golbats that were not very happy to see us. Growlithe was able to head them off for me as I escaped, but their repeated Wing Attacks caused the cave to collapse." Jenny paused, lost in her own thoughts.
Joy was at a loss for words other than, "That's horrible."
Jenny stammered clumsily, "I-I-I tried to dig him out...it-it was useless. I ran to get help and found a biker. He sped off to get your medics." Her words were coming slower but they still held her emotion. "I was so scared. I couldn't find him in the rubble by myself and I thought..." Her eyes were dangerously wet now, like the tears might never stop once they started.
"But he isn't, he's just in pain," the nurse supplied, "you'll see him soon, right?"
A few sobs were caught in Jenny's throat as she fought the urge to release her stress. "I'm not so sure," she choked before letting the first tear stain the white sheets.
Not knowing what else to do, Joy stood and hugged Jenny's stooped form against her. "Let it go. Don't keep it inside or you'll break, you hear? It's okay to cry now, it's over. Let it go."
And she did. The next two hours were filled with nonsense sounds and broken sentences. Joy had to wave people away three times when they came to see what was the matter. She nervously touched the tear stains on her blouse as another cracked silence settled between them.
Joy stood to wave off the person at the door. "She'll be alright, she's just...oh, Doctor! It's you!"
The doctor's green eyes were huge in distress and sympathy. "I'm sorry Officer Jenny but...he didn't make it..."
Jenny looked up at the doctor with no more tears to shed. "I know...I felt it..."
The nurse's mouth hung open in shock. "But Doctor you can cure anything! I've seen you do it!"
The doctor just shook her head numbly. "Not this time, I'm afraid. All I could do was make sure he went with minimal pain. I'm sorry."
Now it was Joy's time to cry. "I-I thought it would all be fine, that it would be over soon. I lied to my charge...I outright lied!"
The officer took the nurse in her arms and held her steady. "It's okay...he wanted to go. Don't cry because of us...you have to be strong."
"But...but you lost your partner when I said it'd be okay!" Joy sniffed pathetically.
"Sh," Jenny hushed, "you didn't know what was going to happen. It isn't your fault."
"His paper's will be up front," the doctor said with a comforting tone.
"Okay," Jenny said as she planned to not leave until Joy was better.
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"Would Nurse Joy please report to Station Two?" came the rare sound of the intercom in the cafeteria. "Repeat, would Nurse Joy please report to Station Two?"
Joy looked around at the other nurses, embarrassed. "Oh, what'd I do this time? Later, everyone!"
"Blissey!" came an answer from another table.
Joy continued to rush to the desk at Station Two and nearly stubbed her foot on the wood of it. "Hi! Nurse Joy reporting! What's the problem? Did I switch meds on a patient again? I'm very sorry...it's just that the numbers are so small that I mix the three's with the eight's."
The desk man looked up at her, baffled. "Actually there's someone in the waiting room who asked for you...an Officer Jenny."
"Really? I wonder why? I was so unhelpful that time," she wondered aloud. Curious, she clicked to the Waiting Room door and opened it. Something big and orange pounced on her, sending her back out the door. "Ouf! Excuse me! I'm sorry!"
The weight on Joy was carefully lifted as the thing was pulled away from her. "No Ruby, bad!"
"Ruby?" said Joy as she squinted up at Officer Jenny. "Oh hi!" She waved a hand then realized that her sprawled legs were causing her skirt to show more skin than the hospital's policy allowed. "Oh, sorry!" she said before finding her feet. She gazed at Jenny then brought her eyes down to find what had jumped all over her. "Oh, you have a new partner?"
Ruby growled back in distrust but settled down at Jenny's command. "Yeah, she's new to the training so it's been hard."
"She's a beautiful Growlithe," the nurse remarked, trying to butter-up the Pokemon with compliments.
Ruby glared for a tense moment then sniffed at her. She sniffed again then moved to nuzzle the edge of a box, sitting by one of the room's chairs.
Joy tilted her head in confusion. "What's in the box?"
"Your present," Jenny explained. "It's for staying with me through all that. Have a look."
"You didn't have to," Joy said shyly as she approached it. It's just part of my jo..."
Two big wet eyes stared up at her from the container. A small pink tongue hung from the creature's muzzle as it sniffed at her with a button nose. It gave a small bark and shook it's short bushy tail in cute greeting.
"It's a Growlithe," Joy observed slowly. A moment of awkward silence formed before she suddenly had the urge to cuddle and hold the puppy. After the idea hit her, she couldn't stop herself. "Oh! Puppy! I love him! Aren't you the cutest!"
"Ruby is a little older and I'm helping to adopt out her litter so that she can be on the force full-time. Do you have room for him?"
"Yeah!" Joy said brightly. "I live by myself and I thought about going to a pet store but my schedule has been so erratic lately. Oh, I love him!" She squeezed the puppy to her chest in excitement.
"Well, me and Ruby have to go soon... so here," Jenny offered a slip of white paper to the nurse. "If you need any help with him, give me a call. Say bye, Ruby."
Ruby ruffed a salute and gave a last whine to her puppy.
The puppy whined in return and tried to wriggle out of Joy's grasp.
"No, bad!" said Joy as she produced a pen. "Wait, you should have my number too! Uh..." she looked around for a piece of paper.
"Here," Jenny said tapping her bared arm, "write it here."
"Okay," Joy obliged and hastily scrawled her name and number on the uneven surface with a puppy wiggling around. "Done, I hope it's readable."
The police woman looked at the signature. "Geez, me too. We can figure it out later, goodbye!"
"Bye!" Joy waved with the pen still wrapped in her fingers.
Her puppy howled in protest, calling for its mother. She didn't come back.
"Now what should I name you?" Joy asked as she poked at the puppy's face.
The puppy growled and bit her finger.
"Ow, snap!...Hm, Snap's a cute name..." she contrived.
"Barh?" The puppy barked in confusion. Its ears perked up in its worry.