Well, this was a difficult chapter for me. I don't know how well it turned out…This whole hospital scene is freakin' me out mannn. But I tried to make it semi-long, since I won't be able to update again for a bit because I'm goin' on vacation! Yayyyy! Anyhoo, thanks to the people who have become regular reviewers for this; you have no idea how happy it makes me.
The ride to the hospital was long and silent. One of the medics informed Silver that Mica was being taken to the Goldenrod General Hospital. That was about it for what was said during the ride, which was thankfully short.
Silver followed the medical team through the hospital, until they directed him onto a gurney in the ER; apparently, his health had to be checked as well. He sat there as the nurses prodded, poked, and cleaned the blood off his hands, all the while growing slowly more infuriated.
What an idiotic situation to have landed myself in! Silver fumed. Honestly, who walks around in criminal-infected woods without even a single pokemon out. Now I'm stuck waiting in this stupid hospital to hear about someone who I don't even like!
After being deemed uninjured, the nurses directed him to a waiting room. Silver, still thoroughly annoyed, asked how long he would have to wait.
"Well, the stab wound will have to be cleaned and dressed. It won't be stitched up, since the fluids need to allowed to drain to prevent infection; however, if it's deep enough, some rubber tubing will be applied to-"
"I didn't ask what they were doing to her, I asked how long!" Silver interrupted.
"Oh. A-around half an hour," she stammered, disconcerted with the intense glare the boy was giving her. She headed off towards the ER again, leaving Silver alone with his thoughts.
Several times throughout the course of that half hour, Silver stood and meant to leave, having no patience for this kind of wait, and telling himself that he didn't really care about what happened to her anyway. However, each time images kept popping into his head; of Mica drooped against the tree, about to be stabbed in the chest by Proton, of her looking vaguely into his eyes, slowly losing consciousness. He would remember the soft and unstoppable push of her blood against his restraining hand as it flowed out of her body. And so, with these thoughts in mind, each time he got up he would quickly end up sitting back down again, huffing angrily. Finally, a different nurse from the previous one came and got him.
"Your friend is still unconscious, but you can come and see her if you like," she told him. Silver didn't quite understand why he was going to see and unconscious girl, but got up and followed the nurse nonetheless.
The room looked like the average hospital room; a window, puke green walls and a small nightstand beside the hospital bed that Mica was sleeping in. Like the nurse had said earlier, there was some rubber tubing protruding from under the blankets that Silver assumed was attached to the wound in her side. He noticed also a cut on her arm that the doctors had put a few stitches in. Silver looked at her face- she was still very pale, which made her seem stressed even in her sleep- and grumpily sat in a chair that was by her bed.
Why am I here? He questioned himself. What I should be doing is combing the forest to seek out the Team Rocket scum that did this. He entertained himself for a bit with images of what he would do to Team Rocket (and specifically Proton) if he got his hands on them. However, the nurse interrupted his violent thoughts.
"We were able to find her contact information based on the name on her Trainer's Card. She had a man named Lucian listed as her emergency contact; would that be you?" she asked politely, idling wondering if the Lucian referred to was actually that Elite Four member way over in Sinnoh; she doubted it though.
"No, it's not," he snapped rudely, still in a rather bad mood.
"Oh, well we'll be contacting him shortly than, along with the family she has listed," she responded, not as baffled at his rudeness as the first nurse was. "It also says that she has two pokemon under her name, but we were unable to locate her pokeballs. Do you have any idea where they might be, we need to check them for injuries as well." Silver wordlessly held out Mica's belt, which the nurse took. She thanked him, asked if he needed anything, and then left when he refused.
So I get to meet her family and whoever this Lucian guy is, huh? Great, I get to watch a sob fest. Just perfect, he thought to himself bitterly.
After a while, the same nurse that asked about Mica's pokemon came in and told him visiting hours were over. She directed him to a section of the hospital with private rooms (that actually boasted no more than a coach and bathroom) reserved for friends and families of patients to stay overnight. Silver slept, and went back to Mica's room the next morning without breakfast, still unsure of his own motives.
I just want to make sure she's ok because…if she's not, than Team Rocket wins again. I'm staying to make sure she doesn't let that happen, he eventually convinced himself, shaking the images of the previous night from his head as he did so. The last thing I am is concerned for that little wimp.
Silver entered the room to find a man with purple hair and a purple suit sitting in the chair he had occupied the night before.
Gah! Who is he? And when did he get here? He wondered, pausing in the doorway and taking the man in. He rose when he saw Silver and introduced himself.
"Ah, hello there. I'm Lucian, Mica's…mentor, I guess. May I ask who you are?" he said politely, though he looked rather tired and stressed.
"Silver," he said shortly, taking a seat on the opposite end of the bed from Lucian. The man sighed slightly, and sat back down.
"The nurses weren't able to tell me much, may I ask what happened?" Lucian asked Silver, clearly worried. Silver glared at the older man, not in any mood to talk, but told him what he saw in the shortest way he could.
"I was training in the forest, I heard a scream, I followed it and I found her," he jerked his chin to where Mica was laying, "about to be stabbed again by Proton," he told him.
"Who's Proton?"
"A Team Rocket executive," he replied, no longer looking at the man, instead choosing to study Mica's slumbering face. Lucian wanted to know how he recognized Proton, but decided against asking. Instead, he just sighed and leaned back in his chair, waiting for the girl to wake up.
Poor thing. Her journey isn't exactly getting off to the best start, he thought, saddened and angered by the fact that fate was denying her the easy rode that most trainers got to travel. He and Silver sat in silence, waiting for Mica to wake up.
Mica woke up about a few hours later, feeling very heavy and weak. She tried to open her eyes, only to be blinded by florescent white light that seemed to be coming from directly above her. She moaned slightly and closed her eyes against the assault. She heard a voice, though she couldn't make out the words at first. After a few seconds, her ears seemed to tune in, and she recognized Lucian's voice.
"…positive I just heard her moan. Mica? Can you here me?" Mica wanted to respond, but she still felt groggy from being asleep. She assumed he'd make do with another moan.
"Hmph. About time," another, more impatient voice chimed in. Was it…Silver's? "The nurse said she should have woken up at least two hours ago. Just like you to sleep in." The last bit was said in a louder voice, and Mica assumed he was talking to her. She again tried opening her eyes against the light, this time keeping them squinted until they adjusted to the harsh lighting. She tilted her head slightly to the left, and saw her red headed rival glaring down at her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. There seemed to be something else in his glare than the usual irritation, though she couldn't quite place it.
"Mica, how are you feeling? The nurse said the anaesthesia they gave you would make you feel groggy when you woke up." She felt a hand on her shoulder, and by moving her head to the right she could see Lucian's concerned face hovering slightly closer to her. Had she been less confused, she would have been more entertained by their vastly different greetings.
"Feel…heavy," she murmured. "Where am I?" she asked, unsure of what circumstances could have possibly brought Silver and Lucian into the same room with her.
"You're in Goldenrod General Hospital. You were stabbed by a man named Proton in Ilex forest. Do you remember?" he answered, leaving his hand on her shoulder.
Oh…right. That. Mica let her head fall back against the pillow, the events of the last night she could remember flowing back into her head. Last thing I remember is…Silver's face. He looked panicked; it was a weird expression on him.
"Yeah, I remember," she answered. She turned back to look at Silver. "You brought me here. Guess that means you saved my life," she said to him, then smiled slightly. "Thanks oodles," she said, getting some satisfaction out of the huff of annoyance from Silver.
Hmmm, he really did save my life though, she considered. Maybe it's wrong of me to goad him.
"Don't make a habit of needing it. I'm not a hero, and I don't make exceptions for wimps like you. I was just trying to defeat Team Rocket, and called the hospital when I noticed you there since it wasn't too much of a nuisance for me," he told her, deliberately leaving out how much of a nuisance it really was to stick around in the hospital.
Nah, it's not wrong, Mica realized. If we really do end up knowing each other for as long as Lucian thinks, something tells me this is just how it's going to be.
"Where are my pokemon?" she asked Lucian, turning away from Silver. "Do they know what happened?"
"They're in the ward of the hospital designated for pokemon. I told them what I knew; they're rather worried," he told her. Well, Horatio seemed worried, he thought to himself. The clampearl just closed her shell. "Mica, based on what I've read, it's important for you to tell us what happened; you can get your emotions worked out before the police question you."
"I want to have my pokemon with me first," Mica answered. "Can you go get them?"
"They're not allowed in this portion of the hospital," Lucian told her. "But we can get a nurse to load you on a wheelchair and go over there." Mica agreed, and Lucian called a nurse to get the wheelchair. Silver seemed annoyed at being forced to make the trip over to the pokemon ward, but restrained himself to just huffing impatiently and glaring at whoever dared look his way.
The bag that collected the fluids from the stab wound had to be loaded beneath the seat before they could head off, kept thankfully out of sight (Mica was thoroughly disgusted with the contents thereof). They made the trip to the other half of the hospital (Silver commenting on how mediocre a hospital was when it wouldn't even focus on a species) and were directed to a room that was reserved for pokemon that needed minimum care. In it were pokemon that looked relatively healthy, some with very minor injuries, and some with none at all. The worst Mica could see was a charmander that had a nasty looking gash over its left eye, forcing it closed. Though it was beginning to heal up a bit.
Horatio and Biv both spotted Mica as she was wheeled in; Horatio immediately ran over to her and hugged her leg (having the sense not to jump onto her lap and press against her injury) while Biv, having no means of transportation, let out an enthused greeting. Well, enthused by comparison to Biv's usual reserved ways.
Horatio noticed that he had left Biv behind, and promptly ran back over to her side to try and carry her over to their trainer. However, Biv was large than Horatio when he was curled up, and her shell was smooth and hard, so Horatio was having a rather difficult time getting a grip on the oversized oyster. The injured charmander noticed his struggle, and went over to help him lift Biv before Lucian could walk over and do it himself. The two fire types each took a side and carried Biv over to where Mica was sitting in her wheelchair, huffing by the time they got there.
"Hey, thanks little guy," Mica said, bending over as much as her injury would allow to pat the little orange lizard on the head. Mica could feel the skin under her hand twitching, and the charmander seemed hesitant to let her touch him, though he did not pull away. He simply turned his head so he could observe her out of his good eye for a few seconds, nervously flinching back a little so Mica could only touch him very lightly. Horatio also gave him his thanks, and after offering a little 'charrrr' in response, turned and waddled until he was with another group of pokemon about five metres away.
"Mica…" Biv was peering up at her with concerned eyes, apparently wondering what had happened. Horatio also looked worried, and she felt Lucian again place his hand on her shoulder. She sighed, gestured for Horatio to sit on her lap, and kept her eyes on him and Biv as Lucian and Silver moved into her line of sight.
She told them what happened, from when she stepped into the forest up to before she passed out, though her memory was blurry after Proton stabbed her. Had she been looking at something other than Biv and Horatio, she would have noticed the various emotions flashing across Lucian's face; fear, concern and anger, all showing at various different times and in various different combinations. She might also have noticed the charmander with the cut across his eye glancing over at her with nervous curiosity. She looked at Silver once, when he interrupted her story at the point where she recalled Horatio into his pokeball.
"You returned him because he was uncomfortable?" he asked, wearing a predictably irritated face. "Boo hoo! Did it not occur to you that you were way less likely to be attacked with a pokemon by your side? Are you just retarded?" He sounded very angry, by the end his voice had risen to a yell, earning an uncharacteristic glare from Lucian, several nervous looks from the pokemon, and a sharp look from a nearby nurse.
"I didn't know Team Rocket was in the woods; I wasn't expecting to be attacked," she responded, dropping her gaze back down to Horatio and scratching him behind the ear. Silver gave an irritated huff, but didn't say anything and allowed her to continue her story.
As she was speaking, memories of what had happened kept flashing in her mind; the feeling of being pushed from behind, the knife being held in front of her face, Proton's voice in her ear, and his sharp, excited eyes staring into her own. The latter came up most often. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted Silver to know; wouldn't it be just another avenue for him to belittle her with and refer to when calling her weak? Not to mention, she definitely did not trust the red head. He had far from proved he deserved to be trusted. But, he did save her, and Mica reasoned that since he stayed at the hospital until she woke up he deserved to know what happened.
When she got to the part when Proton pulled the knife out in front of her face, she felt her hands begin to shake and her eyes began to burn with tears.
Easy girl…Don't cry in front of Silver…You're going to be fine, he didn't even manage to do any lasting damage, remember? She paused, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Horatio reached up and nuzzled into her neck, just like he did when he was a cyndaquil, and she felt Lucian's hand rubbing her shoulder- though he didn't say anything. She didn't hear Silver doing anything, which she supposed was a good thing, since he wasn't mocking her.
Since she was trying to calm herself, she didn't notice that the small charmander from before had inched over to her; she felt a small pressure on her leg, and look down to see the charmander's large green eye (the one without the injury) looking up at her. The expression in his eye was so completely gentle and sincere that the simple gesture of him placing his hand on her leg calmed her enough to continue talking.
Throughout the rest of the story she kept her arm drooped down to the charmander's level so she could stroke the top of his head while she talked. No one commented on the charmander's presence, and by the time she had finished talking, she felt significantly calmer. Lucian and Silver, on the other hand, did not.
"Tch. Typical of Team Rocket to attack from behind, armed, against someone with no pokemon out. Only the weak take such a pitiful course of attack."
There he goes again. Using that 'w' word again, Mica thought, sighing inwardly as Silver started his rant. She tuned him out for a second and glanced at Lucian. He also seemed angry, though he wasn't as vocal about it as Silver; his hand were clenching and unclenching at his side, and he wasn't looking at anyone. Mica, who didn't like this new behaviour, reached a hand out to him and held one of his clenched fists in hers. Lucian looked down at her, and she smiled up at him. He seemed to relax, and smiled back (albeit a little sadly) and held her hand properly. Satisfied, Mica tuned back in to Silver to hear the tail end of his rant.
"…because a proper fight has to have both sides armed. So even among criminals, Team Rocket is pathetic." Silver finished. Mica felt faintly confused by this, and wondered what he had been saying while she was concentrating on Lucian.
"What? Did you expect him to hand me a knife, turn me around properly and say 'here, fair maiden, we shall duel for your chastity'?" Mica questioned, feeling relieved enough from her talk to be able to joke again.
"You're completely missing the point!" he fumed.
"You make points?"
"Yes, I make points! Because I, unlike you, actually still have my sanity," he snapped loudly, scaring away the little charmander at Mica's leg. Mica watched him go, looking a little disappointed. "And why did you blow a raspberry in my face at Violet city?"
"Hmmm, that was a while ago," she noted vaguely, still looking after the charmander. "To make you stop talking."
"And spitting in my face was the best way you could think of?"
"Yup."
"What the hell! Are you honestly so stupid and immature that when you can't think of actual words you resort to spitting?"
"I prefer the term resourceful." Lucian watched the banter in silence, unsure of how to react. He highly disapproved of how rude Silver was being to Mica- especially as she was recovering from a stab wound and a near rape. At the same time though, the back and forth seemed to have lifted her spirits; Lucian got the impression that she enjoyed infuriating Silver.
Well, whatever makes her happy, I guess. The squabbling continued for another few minutes, finally ending with Silver announcing that Mica was a 'pathetically weak retard'. There was a few seconds of silence; no one was particularly sure on where to go from there. Mica resorted to scratching Horatio behind the ears, and Lucian bent down to try and communicate with Biv. When she saw him bend down to get to her level, however, she simply snapped her shell shut without a word.
"Ah, c'mon Biv. Be sociable; you have to learn how to make friends." Mica tried to persuade her, but Biv remained stubbornly shut. Mica began to bend over to try and touch her shell, but was stopped when the motion tugged on her injury, causing her to sit up with a little gasp of pain. Lucian was about to ask what he could do when his phone began to vibrate. He stood up and checked it, finding a text from Flint that read:
Lucas got lucky. You have to get over here to send him home.
Lucian sighed, annoyed with both the boy's timing and with his coworkers' failure to keep the mediocre trainer out of the league. He did, however, appreciated Flint's choice of words; luck was the only way Lucas could have managed to make it all the way to Lucian. But that luck was about to run out.
"Mica, I'm really sorry, I have to go. There's a challenger at the league that I have to take care of," he told her.
"Don't worry about it, I'm really grateful you came," she told him. Lucian gave her a swift hug, which surprised Mica slightly, but pleased her nonetheless. He said goodbye to her, told Silver it was a pleasure meeting him (Mica assumed he was lying) and left.
Silver looked a little uncomfortable at being alone with Mica, and for some reason the situation struck her as awkward too. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, he announced that he was going to go challenge the Goldenrod gym.
"I don't want to be here to watch you get all goozily over your pokemon anyway," he snapped at her, and began to leave. Mica reached out and caught his sleeve as he was walking by, making him stop.
"Silver…um, thanks. You know, for saving me and all that," she said, a little unsure of what the proper wording was in that kind of situation. She didn't think Silver would know what it was either, though, so she wasn't overly worried.
"Hmph. Like I said; don't make a habit of needing it." He pulled his sleeve out of her grasp and left as well. Mica spent the next few hours chatting with Horatio and Biv (the few times that she deigned to talk, anyway). The little charmander seemed to gain the courage to come over to her again, now that the loud red head was gone, and Mica was happy to include him in on the conversation- even if she didn't know what he was saying. After a while a nurse told her she had to be taken back to her room so the doctors could check her injury. As the nurse was wheeling her back to her room, Mica asked her about the charmander with the cut over his eye.
"Oh, that little guy has been here for a while. That was a really deep gash when he first got here, and it took us a while to heal it up. He only moved into the minimum care room recently."
"How'd he get that cut?" Mica asked.
"Oh, well…from what I've heard, he had a trainer before who had some sort of extreme mental disorder that made him violent. The pokemon rescuer that saved him- do you know what a pokemon rescuer is?" she asked; Mica shook her head. "A pokemon rescuer is like a trainer, in that they have their own team that they bond with and make stronger, but they also are always on the lookout for pokemon being abused by their trainers, and have the authority to take them away if they deem it necessary.
Anyway, the rescuer that saved him said that apparently this trainer (who probably shouldn't have been allowed pokemon in the first place) had stopped taking his medication. He became violent, and carried around…oh what was it now? It was something weird…" the nurse stopped for a second, thinking. "A hatchet!" she declared. "Yes that was it."
"He used a hatchet?"
"Yes, apparently Charmander had just lost a battle to the rescuer, so he picked him up and…ah, I guess slashed him across the face. He would have done more, but it happened right in front of the rescuer, so he managed to save the little guy before any more damage could be done. But I'm afraid that he's going to be blind in that eye for the rest of his life. Unless he evolves, which is unlikely."
"Is there something wrong with how he grows to?" Mica asked, a little disgusted with the story.
"Oh no. It's just that he'll have to be adopted, since the hospital can't raise him. And who's going to adopt a half blind pokemon?" It was phrased as a question, but Mica got the feeling the nurse meant it as a rhetorical one.
Poor little Charmander! He's so sweet too…
"Anyway, here we are," the nurse announced as they entered Mica's room. The doctors were there waiting for her, and prodded and poked about for a bit, and then left.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Supper came after a while, and Mica was able to watch T.V. for a bit. She could tell that her stay in the hospital was going to be a rather boring one. She decided, while eating her supper, that she would adopt Charmander. He seemed to like her, and she knew that she was one of the only few people willing to adopt a half blind pokemon.
She went to bed, and decided she would talk to one of the nurses about it tomorrow.
She woke up the next morning at around 9:30, according to the clock on the wall. She had breakfast, and talked to a nurse about adopting Charmander. She didn't know the charmander she was talking about (apparently, she didn't go over to the pokemon half of the hospital often) but told Mica that one of the people that worked in that ward could probably help her.
After breakfast she asked to go visit her pokemon again, and was subsequently wheeled down to the other half of the hospital. She beckoned for Charmander to join Mica, Horatio and Biv where they had settled themselves once she was in the room.
"Hey little guy. Wanna join my team?" she asked, rather bluntly. It struck her in that moment that she had not thought the decision through very much, and she had no idea how to raise a half blind, formally abused pokemon. Would he give her troubles because of trauma from his past? She shook the thoughts away; of course he wouldn't, he looked so sweet! And besides, she needed to save him!
Charmander looked a little surprised by the suddenness of this question. He tilted his head to the side, and slowly stretched his face up towards her, stretching his neck up to do so. She reached her hand out and stroked his nose, smiling at him as she did so.
She seems…a little rash. Does she always make decisions this quickly? He wondered, looking up at her. But I feel…like I can trust her. I don't know why. And she's willing to take me, even though I'm half blind. It's probably the best offer I'll ever get…
"Charrrr," he said, looking up at her with a small smile. Mica cheered and bent over to give him a hug- a little too quickly. She sat up and grasped at her side, having pulled on the wound there again. After a few seconds she removed her hand from her side and stretched it down to Charmander again, stroking the top of his head. Horatio, who had been at her side the entire time, along with Biv, cheered happily and smiled at Charmander. Biv gave him a vague 'welcome, then', though she was smiling too.
"Nurse!" Mica yelled out for someone so she could start the adoption process. Mica was sure to make her voice sound more demanding than worried, so the nurse only looked slightly annoyed when he came over, not fearing any kind of medical emergency. Mica announced to him that she wanted to adopt Charmander, and he directed her into another room where she was told to fill out various forms to confirm liability, consent, her authenticity as a trainer, her mental health, her criminal record (or lack thereof) and the like.
It was lunch time by the time all the forms had been read and signed (apparently, the age when someone was allowed to adopt a pokemon was sixteen rather than eighteen, which made everything a lot easier), and Mica tried very hard to let the nurse allow her to eat with her pokemon so she could get to know her new team mate. She nagged and nagged, but the nurse seemed immune, much to her dismay. She did, however, succeed in getting him to allow her to carry her pokemon back to her room, under the condition that they stayed in their pokeballs. Mica promised (while hiding crossed fingers behind her back) and wondered why eating with pokemon was such a big deal.
She chattered happily to the nurse as he took her back to her room, and he informed her that she was allowed to visit the courtyard after lunch, which was another place where she could have her pokemon out. This lifted her mood considerably, and she was looking forward to spending time with her new team mate outside. Her good mood was spoiled, however, when she saw who was waiting for her back at her room.
Oddly enough, she didn't actually see him first; she could smell that familiar sent when she was wheeled into her room. The sent of the high end hairspray that he loved to use to keep his hair just exactly the way he wanted it flooded the small room easily. He turned from the window at the far end of the room when she was wheeled in; his face all strict lines and his clothes just as presses and creaseless as she remembered.
"Mica. The hospital contacted me after you were admitted." Her father said. "How on earth did you manage to scamper all the way over to Johto?" he asked her, every syllable ringing with cool rage.
Duh duh duuuhhhhh! Erk, this was a really hard chapter to write. I don't think it's quite up to scratch… I also didn't have time to edit very well T.T
Hmmmm, I'm not liking the names of these chappies. Too…ick. Any suggestions?
Anyway, when I get back, I hope to see an inbox full of reviews
