Author's Note: Employment, here I come!
Chapter 10: Your Problem
Jonno collapsed as he passed through the town's gateway, heaving giant lungfuls of crisp morning air and verdant Cerulean dew. He scraped his hands on the cobblestone road, and drew odd looks from the townsfolk passing by. The roaring of the northern river filled his ears, along with the schluck-schluck of the poisonous grimer on the river's surface as they splashed against jagged rock.
"Help me, please!" he begged the nearest bystander, a woman with a child close by her side. The child looked upon Jonno, shirtless and breathless, with more sympathy than his mother, who simply turned up her nose and kept along the path, her heels click-clicking on the stones.
Jonno stood up and saw the red roof of the Pokémon Center just up the road. They didn't typically help human patients, but there was no other clinic in sight. The trainer rushed to the sliding glass doorway and stood in front of it expectantly, awaiting the automatic sensor to kick in, but it never did. He spied the hours of operation on a white sign nearby - closed. For the day.
"Are you kidding me? Open the door, I need help! Someone's dying out here!"
More confused looks from the townspeople were all his pleading earned. He banged on the doors with balled up fists, the glass shaking in its frame, but he could see no lights on inside. No nurses, no chansey aides. Nothing.
"Keep it down, ya hoodlum, it's 6 in the goddamn morning!" a homeless man called from the alley across the way. Jonno flipped him his middle finger with a brazen "Fuck you!" and ran around the back of the building, glancing through every window he could. It appeared that no one was home. That was unacceptable.
He pulled back his elbow and smashed it into the glass, shattering one of the windows inward. He climbed through with trepidation, careful not to cut himself on the jagged frame.
Once inside, he felt the warmth of the central heating as it rushed out into the cold morning. He appeared to be in one of the surgery rooms - it was barren and featureless, save for an empty IV bag and a well-kept cot. The door into the rest of the center was unlocked - Jonno pushed it open and entered the hallway, looking to his left - nothing but a deep red exit sign glowing the the abandoned corridor - and the right - a single small square of light, broadcasting someone's presence in a nearby room. Jonno could hear two voices - one a low, gruff, breathy sound - the other, a feminine giggle.
"Hello?" he called out, "I need help, somebody!"
Two intertwined shadows danced in the square of light, but didn't react to his voice. The doors were too thick.
He jogged to the doorway and grabbed the handle, ripping the door open, before suddenly wishing he'd knocked.
There were indeed two people inside, a man and a woman - the woman's lab coat and button-down shirt were wide open, the man's hands cupping her breasts, his pants down around his ankles and ass bare. Jonno shielded his eyes as the two turned to him, like deer in the headlights, and the woman started to scream.
"Sorry, sorry! God, fucking dammit!"
"Close the door, close the door!" the woman shrieked. Jonno did as instructed, listening to the man and woman arguing inside about who had forgotten to lock the clinic's front door. A few haphazard and rapid zips later, the man emerged from the room, face flushed, hair mussed, hyperventilating.
"How did you get in here? We're closed, ya know-"
"You're a fucking clinic, how can you be closed? Someone is DYING outside, I need help YESTERDAY," Jonno raved, pointing and sputtering. The man before him was young, not much older than Jonno - a nurse, by his manner of dress. He seemed sympathetic, by the look on his face. The woman emerged from the room in short order, flattening the wrinkles in her coat, hiding her embarrassment behind a veil of anger.
"What's the trouble, young man?" she asked, condescending. She appeared to be in her forties, hair just beginning to gray. Her eyebrows oozed bitchiness.
"There's a girl on the slope of the mountain and she's going to die unless we help her, right now. Please, I'm sorry for breaking in but-"
"Breaking in?" the female doctor reiterated, seemingly ignoring everything else Jonno had said. She turned to her young consort. "I told you I'd heard something."
"I'll pay for the window, I swear, just..." Jonno promised, his voice cracking, eyes welling up. "Please!"
"We don't treat humans. Nurse, show him the door. I'll be in my office."
The woman turned on her heels and walked away, despite Jonno's protests. She disappeared into a dark room at the far end of the hallway, as Jonno and the nurse watched.
"She's right...I'm sorry, man. We're just not equipped to deal with human patients. Please understand. But if you wanted, you could speak with Misty, the town leader. She has a doctor in her employ, at the nadatorium just down the road."
Misty. I know that name.
"Is there anything else I can help you with? Pokémon related, preferably..."
The nurse was talking out his ass. He just wanted to get back to banging his boss.
Jonno pulled Dewey's Poké Ball from his belt and lobbed it to the nurse. "Burns. Please save him, he's all I've got left. I've got to go - Misty. Misty at the nadatorium. Thanks for almost nothing, jackass,"
Jonno returned to the broken window and climbed out, back into the cold morning air. He wished he'd stolen some scrubs, or a blanket - but he didn't have that kind of time. He had to find Misty.
Lottie...I'm coming...just hang on...
Treble shook Carlotta's hand as she nodded off again, snapping her back to consciousness. She ran her fingers over its soft, fluffy skin.
"Baby don't cry...Mommy doesn't even feel it anymore..."
Carlotta's skin was turning blue. Treble looked down the mountain expectantly - as if Jonno were going to be there. But he wasn't. A half hour had passed, and he still wasn't back.
"Clefairy," the creature vocalized, desperate. It had an idea.
It put both hands in the air, and began swinging its body back and forth, like a pendulum.
"No, Treble...don't..." Carlotta rasped.
Treble's eyes sparkled. While it might not have had any more healing juice left, it still held a wild card. Metronome.
"Treble! No!"
The fairy glowed with a white light before suddenly launching backward with a cry of pain - it rolled down the slope of the mountain, kicking up dirt and rocks with its speed. Carlotta felt the gash in her leg start to seal, as Treble's squeals of pain grew louder and louder. As suddenly as the healing started, it stopped - blood still poured from her wounds and pooled underneath her. The pixie had absorbed some of her injuries - but it wasn't enough.
She closed her eyes, and said a silent prayer.
As Treble struggled to stand, she saw a shadow pass over Carlotta's body.
Will she or won't she? Review and you'll find out!