Authors Note: Aww, what the heck, it's a holiday weekend, here's a chapter Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Monday :)
Under the Skin
Chapter Three
Gary sat heavily, breathing heavily. Rehab was a bitch, that's all he had to say about it. He was determined to become self-dependent again, and it distracted him from the terrifying question of what had happened to him during the last five years. Try as he might, he could never reach deep enough in that proverbial swamp that personified his mind. He couldn't 'see' deep enough into the water to shift the rock that blocked those memories, and every time he tried harder, he would get pounding headaches and dizzy spells that more often than not caused him to lapse and pass out.
Prof. Oak handed him a glass of water, and the young man's frustration only grew as his shaking hand failed to grasp it. He'd been able to grab a ball and throw it a small distance not five minutes before… Helping his grandson, Oak tilted the glass for him, taking it away when he was done. Gary leaned back in the chair, his breathing slowing. His whole body ached, but it was a welcome pain. A week ago he had barely been able to twitch his toes, let alone feel them. He could see his body, but the feeling had nearly completely gone. His therapist had begun to work his limbs, and slowly tingling sensation had begun to build up in them after a few days.
Another reason he wanted to be able to move and operate on his own was because of the scars. The hospital had done everything to decrease the ones on his face, and they had done a spectacular job. The hair growing back covered the ones on his scalp and the rest were faint, mostly visible on the sides of his face, and a few on his neck. Though below that he was a mess of fight scars and burn marks, though they looked better than they had several months ago apparently. He could at least wear short sleeves without feeling too self-conscious. He just didn't want his grandfather to have to see them anymore when he helped the red head to the bathroom to shower or take care of business.
"Alright, let's go again." He said, starting to stand shakily, almost collapsing. Oak caught him and helped him to his feet, adding only support so Gary's legs could get used to holding his own weight again.
"Gary, are you sure?" He asked. "It's been four hours and you're at your limit." He said, concerned. He wasn't supposed to overwork himself.
"I can go a bit longer." Gary said, gripping the handrails that lined a short walkway. The professor stayed behind him and his Therapist stayed ahead, watching his patient carefully, ready to tell him to quit until the next day. Gary was able to grip the rails though his arms shook with every tiny step. He reached the end and both men had to catch him.
"Alright, enough for today." The therapist said. "You can hardly catch your breath buddy." Gary nodded, letting them sit him in his wheelchair and get him water. He felt so useless, but he was making improvement. He had a few things in his bed to help his arms gather strength back, and today had been the first he could mostly support himself on the rails thanks to those.
On the way back to his room, Gary leaned back in the wheelchair, closing his eyes. He was exhausted, usually was after a therapy session. He'd sleep for a while, probably miss a guest or two and see them again when he woke up the next day.
His grandfather and therapist helped him into his bed, amidst much wincing and bit-back groans from Gary as his body moved in ways it wasn't used to and tender wounds not completely healed just yet had pressure applied to them. Oak stayed with him for a while, before he had to return to his work. Gary did enjoy these short times alone, to an extent. The moment his thoughts caught up to him he was wishing for someone to be there to distract him. He desperately wanted to break down the wall, lift the rock, which blocked those missing memories. It was killing him not knowing what had happened to him.
He couldn't believe 5 years were just gone, with no trace of them but the empty void in his mind that haunted every waking moment, and even in his sleep as he was still tormented by nightmares of white Eevee's that no one remembered him having, but he knew, clearer than anything, that he'd had one. Sometimes there was a girl. He could never really make out what she looked like, but from what he could, she was beautiful. He always tried to reach for her, but fire laced in front of him suddenly, blocking her off, and he'd wake with a start, and end up lying awake for hours.
At the moment, he settled with staring around his room. He'd memorized every detail. How many bricks were in the white walls, how many circles were in the wallpaper that reached halfway up the walls, the number of nice wooden cabinets, the lights, cords, and other machinery he was hooked up to and was also sitting in standby for future use. He knew every detail, and swore he was almost done counting the dots on the ceiling tiles; anything to distract himself from the missing years of his life and the Pokémon that haunted his sleep.
Sighing, he grabbed a dumbbell and started to exercise his arms, counting to keep his mind busy. Another reason he worked so hard at his therapy was to stay motivated, otherwise he felt he'd fall into depression faster than he could drown. He was tired of digging through his mind with no luck at all of finding anything more than he already had, and he had no way of getting out further. The water was too deep to walk through; too dark to swim in without knowing what was out there. And he was too tired to try. He knew it wasn't him, he normally would jump right into something, but now he couldn't. Or just wouldn't, he wasn't able to tell the difference.
Gary lay back and looked out his window, watching the clouds roll past. He finally turned the TV on, searching for something interesting, having little to no luck. He finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Moments later an older man with blue hair pulled into a short ponytail paused inside the doorway to his room, shoulders falling a little at seeing the red-head asleep. He gently shifted a pack on his back and then turned away, leaving nothing to indicate he had ever been there.
Author's Note:
Hope you enjoy this one, it's got very little dialogue, and a lot of Gary thinking.
This one took forever to write, I tried to think of what it would be like for me in that situation: Bored out of my mind for one.
Again, thanks for reading, and i hope you will continue!
