Always With You
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I do, however, own this story.
Edit 6/6/09: Jun's name changed to his English name, Barry.
Groaning slightly, I shift from one side to the other, wincing as pain shoots through my body. I try to smile bravely, but something in my face must betray me, for Mom is at my side in instant.
"What is it, baby? Where does it hurt?" she asks, reaching over to stroke my black hair. Man, I hate it when she calls me "baby." I'm practically an adult now, for God's sake! Still, there's something so comforting and familiar about my mother's touch and soothing words, and I can't help but soak them in happily. Perhaps I need all of the comfort I can get right now.
"Ash, don't try to move, alright? Just try to take it easy for now." Brock shakes his head as he speaks, his voice solemn and low. He, like the rest of us I suppose, can't believe what happened.
"When do you think the doctor will be in?" Dawn asks anxiously, twisting her hands together. When we arrived at the emergency room the hospital staff had insisted that only Mom could stay in the small examination room with me, but Brock and Dawn, the good friends that they are, had been adamant that they remain with me throughout the ordeal. I'm so lucky to have them.
Right after Dawn finishes speaking, a tall, thin man with salt and pepper hair and a bushy mustache enters the room, a manila envelope clutched in both hands tightly, almost as if it contains the secrets of the world and he's protecting them from prying eyes. Jeez, what could be so important?
"Hello, Ash." The man fumbles with the envelope, fingering it nervously, and readjusts his blue-green scrubs. What could be making him so afraid?
"Uh, hi." I try to speak loudly and confidently, but my voice is barely a whisper, one strained by intense pain. Mom catches on immediately.
"Surely you must be able to do more for his pain!" Mom stresses, her face twisted in anguish. I realize that watching her only child suffer this way must be as painful for her as it is for me. "Can't you see that he's suffering?"
"Calm down, Mrs. Ketchum. We're giving him as much pain medicine as we can," the doctor answers, a wee bit impatiently. He then seems to notice Brock and Dawn for the first time since arriving in the room. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. This business pertains to family only," he states in a matter-of-fact way. "Frankly, I'm not sure how you got in here in the first place. There's a nice waiting room with a television and plenty of magazines right out that way—"
"No way!" Brock is on his feet, almost as if preparing for a fight with the older doctor.
"Excuse me?" The doctor seems shocked by Brock's sudden outburst.
I try to sit up in an attempt to argue on Brock and Dawn's behalf, but find doing so impossible. Everything hurts. Instead, I look over at Mom imploringly.
"It's alright, doctor. Ash's friends can stay," she explains calmly, having seemingly recovered from her earlier agitation regarding the pain medication.
"Well, if you're sure..." the doctor begins, to which Mom nods emphatically.
A palpable silence cloaks the room as each of us waits for the doctor to resume speaking. By the grim look on his face, I can tell that the news isn't good.
"Um, I have the results of Ash's X-rays here," he begins, almost as if unsure of how to address us.
"Go on," Mom urges, although I can sense the anxiety in her voice.
"Well, for starters, Ash has broken a couple of ribs on the left side."
I guess that's why my chest hurts so much and breathing has become such a chore. Good to know it's not a heart attack.
Dawn gasps audibly. Brock reaches over and squeezes her shoulder.
"Luckily neither lung appears to be punctured, and no internal bleeding is evident," the doctor continues.
Mom sighs in relief, but the look on the doctor's face alerts me to the fact that he is far from done. Plus, the intense pain in both legs lets me know that I'm dealing with more than a couple of broken ribs.
The doctor looks over the X-rays again, and I know he's trying to waste time, simply putting off the bad news. Get on with it already, I can't help thinking.
"I'm afraid that Ash has fractured the right tibia and fibula as well as the left femur," the doctor states simply and hurriedly.
"In English, please," I reply, gritting my teeth against the pain.
"It means you've broken both legs," Brock explains tonelessly, though he knows as well as I do that it's more serious than that.
"Well, Ash, remember when you broke your leg as a little boy?" Mom begins, smiling slightly. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Clearly she's relieved that the doctor's diagnosis isn't worse, although, mercifully, she, unlike Brock, Dawn, and I, has been spared the sight of what's under the covers of the gurney I lay on. If only it could stay that way.
"Well, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm afraid the femur fracture is a compound fracture," the doctor states, and I see Mom's face darken as she realizes that things are worse than she had thought.
"W-what does that mean?" she asks,
"It means the bone's sticking out," I reply, immediately regretting my words as I see Mom's face turn green, a look of horror apparent one it.
"Oh…oh my." Mom sways slightly, catching the wall to keep from falling. Brock graciously helps her over to his seat.
"Is..Is there anything you can do for it?" Mom asks fearfully.
"Yes," the doctor responds. "We'll operate on the leg immediately, using a rod and pins to position the bone back in place."
"Surgery?" Mom seems petrified now. I want to comfort her somehow the way she's always been able to comfort me throughout my times of greatest fear and suffering, but I'm simply too exhausted…and in too much pain.
"Yes. The operating room is being prepared as we speak," the doctor explains.
"I can't believe this," Mom states sadly. "My poor little boy…"
"Don't worry, Mrs. Ketchum. The best surgeons at Viridian City General Hospital will be taking care of your son," the doctor reassures Mom.
"Thank you, doctor." Mom answers. She seems to have regained her composure, for she slowly approaches my bed. "Are you going to be alright with this, honey?" she asks me.
"Sure I am," I reply, smiling. "The sooner this surgery is over, the sooner I can eat!"
Everyone laughs. I laugh, too, glad that, for a moment, anyway, I have distracted them from the pain.
***
All I can feel is pain, especially in my left leg. Groggily, I open my eyes, but that, too, causes too much pain, so I close them again. Soon, though, a soothing voice reaches me from somewhere far away.
"Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?" The voice is soft, feminine, and comforting. Someone reaches out and strokes my face, and the person's skin is smooth. I smile. If it weren't for the intense pain, I would venture a guess that I was dreaming.
Slowly I open my eyes again, taking in my surroundings. It appears as if I'm in a big hospital room, and my mother, the source of the voice, is sitting next to my bed. Then, horrifically, the events of the past day come charging back at me.
"When am I having the surgery?" I somehow manage to mumble.
"Oh, Ash! The surgery already happened. You're in the recovery room," Mom explains.
Oh…that's why my leg feels even worse.
"Where are Brock and Dawn?" I ask.
"They're waiting right outside. They're very strict here about the rules in the recovery room," Mom explains.
"And Pikachu?"
"It's resting at the Pokémon Center."
"Good." I smile, closing my eyes and letting the influence of morphine carry me off to sleep again.
***
"Ash Ketchum, age sixteen, was attacked by a mysterious assailant today while competing in the Kanto League semifinal match. Details about the attacker remain shrouded in mystery at this moment. All we know is that towards the end of the match he or she approached Ketchum from behind and clubbed him in both legs and the left side. The unknown assailant was dressed entirely in black and wore a black mask. He or she escaped on a large Charizard, avoiding league guards and personnel. Ketchum remains in stable condition at Viridian City General Hospital after undergoing surgery there. We will keep you posted as details about this brutal attack continue to come in to us here at Kanto Channel Seven News. We now return to your regular scheduled program…"
"It's all over the television, isn't it?" a familiar female voice asks.
"Yup. There's no escaping it," An equally familiar male voice answers.
Slowly I open my eyes, recognizing my two friends.
"Hey, Brock. Dawn."
"Ash, you're awake." Dawn states giddily, clearly happy to see that I'm no longer sleeping.
"Man, we thought you were going to sleep forever," Brock admits.
I look over at my friends, glad as ever to see them. While I may have been sleeping, clearly they haven't been. Dark circles rest below their eyes, and Dawn, who's normally so well-groomed, looks as if she hasn't brushed her hair in hours, which must be a record for her. Not for the first time that day I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have them.
"Guys, what time is it?" I question.
"Eleven o'clock," Dawn replies.
"Eleven? At night? But I thought I got out of surgery at ten!"
"Ash, it's eleven the next morning," Brock explains.
"Oh, man, I've slept for over twelve hours!"
"Hey, you must have needed it," Dawn rationalizes. "You've been through a lot."
She certainly didn't need to remind me of that.
"Where's Mom?" I ask.
"Oh, she went to get something to eat," Brock tells me. "Do you want me to go get her?"
Before I can answer, though, Mom enters the room, looking, if possible, even more exhausted than my friends.
"Oh, baby, you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Tired."
"Why don't you get some more sleep, then?" Mom suggests. I comply, but before I do I notice a strange looking figure in my room's other bed, one whose bandages cover most of his face and body. Then it's back to the land of my dreams, or, rather, the land of my nightmares…
"Pikachu, are you ready buddy?"
"Pika!" the electric mouse Pokémon appeared at its trainer's side in an instant, flashing the victory sign with its paws.
"Alright then. Pikachu, I choose you!" a teenage boy with messy black hair yelled confidently.
The little mouse Pokémon scampered unto the field, ready to face the Empoleon under the command of a blonde young man.
"You're going down, Ash!"
"I don't think so, Barry!"
"We'll see about that," Barry smirked, ready to win the battle at hand. "Empoleon, Hydro Canon!"
Empoleon unleashed a torrent of water, but Pikachu skillfully dodged the attack.
"Good job, Pikachu!" Dawn yelled from behind Ash, where she and Brock sat in the coach's box.
"OK, Pikachu, use your Volt Tackle attack!" Ash ordered, hoping to finish off Barry's Empoleon with one or two blows.
Instead of unleashing the attack, however, Pikachu looked at its trainer in fear. "Pika!" it screamed, pointing to something behind Ash.
Ash turned around swiftly. But before he could even react a masked figure clad in black hit both his legs with something hard and metal, causing them to collapse from underneath him. As he writhed in pain, he rolled over, and his assailant hit him in his side.
"Ash!" both Brock and Dawn screamed in unison.
Ash had to think quickly, but his brain didn't seem to be working correctly. Luckily, the always faithful Pikachu was at his side in an instant, shocking the attacker with its most powerful Thunder attack.
He could hear voices everywhere, but all he could see were the assailant's beady black eyes. Then his attacker, still smarting from Pikachu's attack, threw a Pokeball, unleashing a large and powerful looking Charizard. The mysterious person was off in an instant, taking flight before league personnel could reach him or her. Then everything went black for Ash Ketchum, but not before he swore he could hear his mother's screams from up in the stands.
Author's Note: I have not forgotten Together and promise to update it soon. It's just that I was experiencing some writer's block and had this idea, so I thought I'd take advantage of it to sort of snap me out of it. My plan is to alternately update Together and this story, so I'll update the next chapter of Together and then update this one. Does that make sense?
I know there isn't any AAML in this chapter, but I promise that there will be plenty of it, so don't worry about that!
I realize that this is rather short, but it's only the prologue. The other chapters should be longer.
I hope you all had a great holiday for those who celebrate Christmas. I got a Wii for Christmas, so that's my excuse (along with writer's block) for not writing more. I have four more weeks of school break, though, so I should be able to get a lot of writing done.
Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review! :)