Hello, and happy belated New Year! I hope the year is treating everyone nicely~
Man I am SO glad I got this out on time. I promised (kindanotreally) that I'd try to get it out before February, AND I SUCCEEDED! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Now, I know some people freaked out over what happened last chapter, but I'm not sorry that I did it. This is a slice-of-life story, and serious things like this can happen in life. I know middle school is a tough time in everyone's life, so I just felt like I didn't do the wrong thing. If you disliked it, sorry. But I think people liked it? No one expected it, so in a way it was kinda exciting? I dunno lol
So anyway, enough rambling... Enjoy~
?'s POV
"I'm late, I'm late, I AM SO LATE!" I ran as quickly as I could without having to use Quick Attack or something like that down the empty road to school. "Mom's gonna kill me if I get detention again!"
I only live a few blocks from school, so I tend to take my time getting ready. My parents work super early in the morning and are gone long before school even starts, so I'm responsible for waking myself up on time. Though I usually take advantage of this and end up being late to school often...
"Ugh why do I always press the snooze button too many times?!" I complained to myself out loud. Since the school bell's gonna ring any second now, the road to school is literally empty, so I can talk to myself without looking like a complete weirdo.
As I continued to sprint I looked up to get a glimpse of the school's clock.
"Oh man I am so screwed! There's like only a minute left—huh?" While looking up I noticed something strange that was barely in my line of vision. "I-Is that someone up there?"
Despite the dangers of me getting detention for like the millionth time this week, my pace quickly slowed down as I got a better view of what caught my attention.
"Someone is up there on top of that building... A-And they're dangerously close to the edge..."
I stopped completely and gulped. Just a couple of buildings ahead of me, a white figure stands at the edge of a really tall building. My body started to tremble as my imagination begins to run wild on what that Pokemon could possibly be doing.
"W-Wait a second..." I slowly walked closer, "Th-That's not just any white figure...!" I gasped. "What is Mint doing up there?!"
I began to sweat bullets as I imagined the worst possible outcome of this. I felt a pain build up in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it. My instincts told me I should run over and yell at her, ask her what she's doing or something, anything. But my body... it was paralyzed with fear.
What was Mint doing? She's going to be late for school! Mint is like the smartest kid in our grade! She's a total perfectionist! Why would she be standing on top of a building right before school starts?! She's not gonna—
Suddenly the school bell rang. Any worry I had of being late for school disappeared and was replaced with fear and panic.
As quickly as the bell rang, Mint was no longer on top of the building.
"SH-SHE'S GONNA KILL HERSELF!" I screamed with horror.
I had no time to think or panic. My body reacted instantly. With as much energy I could muster up, I performed the fastest Quick Attack I've ever done and jumped towards the falling Kirlia. All I could think about was saving Mint.
I HAVE TO REACH HER! PLEASE LET ME REACH HER...!
I reached out as far as I could. Mint was quickly falling towards the ground. I used up all my energy to power up my Quick Attack ever more as I began to think what would happen if I didn't make it.
As I got closer and closer I felt like time was stopping. This was either make it or break. Someone's life was on the line, and I would never forgive myself if I failed to save someone in front of me. With the time slowed down, I caught a glimpse of Mint's face. She looked like...she was in so much pain…
"MIIIIIINNNNNTTTT!" I shouted as I miraculous caught her in the air, just feet away from the ground. I-I GOT HER...!
With the sudden weight in my arms and all the force from the Quick Attack, the landing was less than pretty. I quickly spun my body so that I didn't land on top of Mint. I shouted in pain as I landed my side. With Mint held as tightly as I could against me, I rolled and slid several feet from the base of the building Mint jumped from.
After several painful rolls on the pavement, we were finally halted to a stop. My entire body was in pain and probably covered in cuts and bruises, but I didn't care about that. I quickly sat up and released Mint from my tight grip. I scanned over her to see if she had any injuries. Luckily, it was only a few minor scratches.
"Wha..." Mint slowly opened her eyes. "Huh?!" She suddenly gasped and jumped away from me. "G-GARNET?! WHAT THE HELL?!"
"W-What...?" I furrowed my brow in both confusion and anger. I saved her life and the first thing she does is yell at me?! "Why are you saying that?! I should be the one saying that! What the hell are you doing trying to kill yourself?!" I shouted angrily.
Mint gasped and was silent for a moment. Her body began to tremble and she started crying.
"W-Why...?" she whispered beneath her sobs. "W-Why did you save me...?"
"H-Huh...?"
"W-WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?! I-I WAS TRYING TO KILL MYSELF! I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE!" Mint began crying uncontrollably.
"W-What do you mean why?! Of course I'd save you! Anyone would want to save you! Why would you want to kill yourself?! Are you crazy?!" I was dumbfounded. Mint legitimately wanted kill herself...
"BECAUSE THIS LIFE ISN'T WORTH LIVING YOU STUPID COMBUSKEN!" Mint shouted. "IT HURTS GARNET! IT HURTS SO MUCH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I-I...c-can't..." Mint's voice slowly began to stutter. She began to sway left and right as her eyes slowly closed.
"M-Mint?!" I panicked.
"I...can't..." Mint suddenly collapsed on the ground. W-What just happened?!
"Mint?!" I got closer to her and began to shake her body. "Hey Mint?! What happened?! S-She didn't have some backup plan to die did she?!"
I quickly checked for a pulse. I placed my fingers on her wrist, praying to Arceus that she still had a pulse. I've never actually done this before, but I've seen it on TV before. I let out a huge sigh of relief when I finally felt it, mostly because she wasn't dead, but also partly because I did it right.
"What should I do...?" I looked at the school clock again. Though it felt like an eternity, less than 10 minutes have actually passed.
Without really thinking it out properly, I picked up Mint's unconscious body and ran towards the hospital.
Mint's parents work at the hospital... I should just take her there. Plus it's not too far from school... I grunted while struggling to carry Mint. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but after taking that nasty landing, it was harder than I imagined.
M-Maybe I should've just taken her to the nurse at school...
I continued to struggle while carrying Mint in my arms. I staggered several times, losing my balance and even almost falling once, but I was determined to get Mint to the hospital.
"Damn... this is really more difficult than I expected..." I cringed in pain. My entire body ached, and I began to worry if I broke something.
"I-I wouldn't be able to carry her if I broke an arm...r-right?" I spoke out loud, trying to reassure myself. I looked down at my arms and gasped to see that they were actually bleeding from the scratches and cuts.
"C-Crap!" I gasped. It wasn't bleeding badly or anything, but I should definitely get it cleaned and bandaged as soon as possible. "I hope it doesn't get on Mint..." I panicked.
"Screw it, I'm probably gonna regret this, but I don't really have a choice." I shook my head. Using Quick Attack to get there quicker would probably be a bad idea seeing how messed up I am right now, but it's taking way too long to get to the hospital and I was getting way too impatient!
I braced myself and prepared the attack. It's a straight road to Homura Hospital from here, but there's a chance that I'll bump into someone or something.
Please don't let me run into anything! I shut my eyes tightly and used what little energy I had left to Quick Attack to the hospital.
As I ran at high speeds with Mint in my arms, I could feel my I could feel the body aches intensify. I endured it as much as I could while shifting around potential hazards that blocked my path. Within a minute I was standing in front Homura Hospital, panting like crazy.
"I-I... I made it!" I quickly rushed into the hospital before my body had a chance to pass out from exhaustion.
"H-HELP!" I screamed out loudly. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"
"What is going on?!" Someone shouted. I was beginning to lose consciousness, so I couldn't see who it was, but it was definitely a man.
"Oh my—Mint?!" The man gasped. "You! What happened to my daughter?!" D-Daughter...? So then…
"Please... H-Help her..." I lost all feeling in my body and collapsed onto the ground. My consciousness began to fade away at an alarming rate, and I could barely make out the yelling going on in the background.
"H-Hey! Ar...yo...kay?! Som...brin...retchers...ckly!" Before I knew it, I was completely knocked out.
"Nnngh..." I groaned loudly. I slowly opened my heavy eyelids only to be welcomed to a bright, blinding light.
"Nnngh...!" I groaned again, closing my eyes again. I didn't know where I was, or what time or was, or anything, but all I wanted to do was go back to sleep... Wait a second!
I suddenly remembered what happened as I opened my eyes quickly.
"M-Mint—Ow!" I moaned in pain from suddenly getting up. "What the...?" I finally took a second to take in my surroundings. I was in a hospital room, and I was covered in bandages.
"Oh yeah... I did take a bad fall..." I slowly lied down on my hospital bed. I scanned my hospital room: There was a TV that was off, a few chairs, machines that I have no clue on what they do, a clock that said with the hour hand on 3.
"Wait, it's already 3? Oh crap I missed an entire day of school..." I began to tremble in fear. I was gonna have an unexcused absence from school, Mom and Dad's gonna freak out! But surely they'll understand if I tell them what happened...r-right?
"Oh Garnet!" The door opened with two Blaziken standing at the entrance. It was my parents! Mom quickly ran up to me and hugged me tightly.
"Ow!" I shouted. My body was still sore from my injuries. "M-Mom!?"
"Dear, you're hurting him! He's injured remember?" Dad scolded Mom.
"Oh, right!" Mom gasped and jumped away. "Sorry... Oh Garnet..." Mom wiped a tear from her eye, "I'm so glad you're okay."
"We assumed the worst when we got calls at work that you were hospitalized!" Dad cried. It was strange, seeing my parents all sad and stuff. They're usually way more strict, especially with how often I get in trouble at school from the meaningless fights I get into...
"Mom, Dad... s-sorry..." I apologized genuinely. I often get in trouble at school, so I'm used to apologizing to my parents, but it happened so often that it never really felt genuine.
"It's okay Son..." Mom nodded. "We just need to know..."
"What in the world happened?" Dad finished Mom's sentence. "The doctor and nurse would also like to know."
"They are the girl's parents after all..." Mom frowned. For some reason, I felt a pit in my stomach. "Let me go get them real quick." Mom soon left the room, leaving me alone with Dad.
"Dad, is Mint okay...?" I asked reluctantly.
"Mint? The Kirlia, right?" I nodded. "Well, she still hasn't woken up yet, but I think the doctors said she'll be fine. I think it had something to do with her blood sugar or something? Not eating or drinking, maybe?"
"Oh thank goodness..." I sighed in relief. Now that I think about it, Mint has been acting a little weird the past couple of days. I always hearMasello from across the cafeteria celebrating because Mint didn't eat her food or something like that…
It wasn't long before Mom returned. With her was a Gallade, who I assumed was Mint's dad. The two were panting heavily, probably from running here. I guess if I was in that Gallade's position, I'd be running down here as fast as I could.
"Garnet, this is Nurse Ray. He's the one that fixed you up. He's also Mint's father."
"Hello Garnet." Mr. Ray greeted me calmly, much to my surprise. I thought he'd be shouting his lungs out at me or something.
"H-Hello...sir..." I greeted back nervously.
"Please, Mr. Ray is fine. No need to be so nervous." Mr. Ray smiled softly. I looked around to see if anyone was behind him. No one was there. It was just him.
"W-Wasn't the doctor supposed to be here too?" I asked.
"Oh... yeah about that..." Mr. Ray looked away sadly. "My wife, Doctor Sana, is taking a short break right now. She's been extremely stressed out lately, and after seeing Mint like that put her in a bit of an emotional breakdown..."
"O-Oh..." Crap, I probably shouldn't have asked... "I'm sorry..."
"It's fine. It's not your fault. At least I sure hope it wasn't your fault Mint was hurt. So, please, could you explain what happened? Why did you barge in, covered in scratches and my unconscious daughter in your arms?" I know he was trying to be nice, but the way he worded it just sounded so...threatening and menacing...
"U-Um..." I gulped. "W-Well..." I stuttered nervously. I started to tremble with fear. How am I supposed to tell someone that their daughter tried to kill herself?!
"Garnet," Mom placed a hand on my shoulder, "No need to be nervous. Take a deep breath, and start from the beginning."
"R-Right..." I took Mom's advice and took in a deep breath. I was..." I suddenly remembered that Mom and Dad are gonna find out that I was about to be late to school again. I shook my head to rid those thoughts, deciding that compared to what happened, that hardly even matters.
"I was running to school, trying to beat the bell..."
"Again?" My parents said monotonously. I tried to ignore it, but still gulped with fear.
"A-Anyway, I looked up at the school clock as I was running and saw something in the corner of my eye. Someone standing at the top of a really tall building, and dangerously close to the edge. I started slowing down to get a better look, and when I realized who it was, I stopped in my tracks. I recognized the figure as Mint..." Gasps suddenly filled the air. I paused for a second before continuing.
"My imagination began to assume the worst, and the moment the school bell rang, it turned out to be true..."
"Are you saying that Mint...?!" Mr. Ray said with absolute fear in his voice.
I nodded. "Mint... S-She jumped..." I suddenly felt tears rolling down my face. I was shocked. I almost never cry, and I didn't cry as I saved her, so why am I crying now?
"I-I panicked. My instincts told me I n-needed to save her. I used up all the energy I had into a Quick Attack and miraculously grabbed her before she fell. I wasn't able to land properly though, and we were pretty high up in the air, so when I landed, I tumbled several feet. That's how I got all messed up. I did my best to make sure Mint didn't get injured...
"When I finally stopped sliding across the pavement, Mint jumped away from me and starting yelling at me for saving her. I asked her why she tried to kill herself, and she began to cry uncontrollably. She shouted that she was in pain, and that living wasn't worth it anymore..." The tears started flowing down my cheeks even harder. I felt a pain in my heart as I retold what happened this morning.
"A few seconds later she began to lose consciousness and fainted. I panicked because I thought maybe she took some poison or something suicide pill as a backupplan. I quickly checked for a pulse. She was still alive, so I picked her up and carried her to the hospital...
"I-I know I probably should've just taken her to the school nurse'soffice, but I panicked! I figured it would've been best to take her here since her parents work here s-so..." I stuttered nervously. The air was heavy in the hospital room. Both my parents' mouths were opened wide, and Mr. Ray stood there silently, his entire body shaking.
"A-Are you serious? My daughter...she..." Mr. Ray fell to his knees. "I... I don't know what to say."
"Are you okay?!" Dad ran over to Mr. Ray's side and offered a hand, which Mr. Ray accepted.
"Y-Yeah... Sorry..." Mr. Ray apologized as he got up with Dad's help. "I just couldn't believe it..."
"I-It's true, s-sir!" I frowned. I know he told me to call him Mr. Ray, but I was scared and felt like I should probably more polite here.
"No, no, I believe it..." Mr. Ray crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He furrowed his brow and frowned, "It's just... it makes sense now. Mint was acting awfully strange this morning." He sighed.
The room was silent. Mr. Ray continued to stand there silently with his arms crossed and eyes closed, processing everything and thinking to himself.
"So, um..." I decided to break the ice. "What happened with school and stuff? Like do they know why the two of us were absent...?"
"O-Oh, right..." Mr. Ray answered, uncrossing his arms. "We called the school to let them know you two were hospitalized for unknown reasons. We asked them to say you were both just sick for the day if any of your friends asked. We didn't want to cause panic to anyone until we knew what was going on."
"Oh, okay then..." I sighed. Jon must be worried sick. I hope he doesn't try to visit my house. If he knew I was in the hospital I know his family would probably give me flowers or something like that.
"Speaking of which," Mr. Ray said with a serious tone in his voice, "I'd like to ask you all to keep this a secret. I'd rather not let any of Mint's friends know she tried to kill herself. Let Mint bring it up herself if she chooses to let anyone know."
"Okay..." I answered. My parents also nodded, promising not to tell anyone. Now I need to come up with some excuse about these injuries then—oh yeah, my injuries!
"So about my injuries..."
"Oh yeah, that too!" Mr. Ray walked up to me. "You were messed up pretty badly, but luckily you didn't break any bones. Let me just double check some things real quick."
Mr. Ray examined me closely, as well as looking at the cords that were attached to me and the machine. He nodded and stretched his arms out in front of me with a light starting to form from his palms. Suddenly, I felt a gentle warmth embrace my entire body. Is this Heal Pulse? It feels so relaxing...
"...Aaaand that should be good!" Mr. Ray dropped his arms to his sides. "Let me just disconnect these and you should be good to go!" He gently removed the cords and stepped away, gesturing me to get off the bed. I jumped off with ease. I felt no pain or anything.
"Oh, I feel good as new!" I exclaimed happily. "Wow, your Heal Pulse is way stronger than the school nurse's!"
"Well I do work at a hospital so I should hope so!" Mr. Ray chuckled. "You should still have some scratches, so keep them bandaged until they disappear. It should only take a day or two. Make sure to disinfect them too."
"Will do!" I nodded happily.
Mr. Ray smiled. "You guys are all free to leave now. Just go ahead and talk to the receptionist to check out. Don't worry about any bills or anything. We'll cover it. You saved my daughter after all."
"Thank you so much, Nurse Ray," parents thanked him, offering handshakes, which Mr. Ray accepted.
"Just doing my job." Mr. Ray smiled for a second, as if quickly disappeared and became a frown. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a talk with my wife..."
"W-Wait!" I shouted out.
"Yes?"
"I-I was just wondering..." I stuttered nervously, "i-if I could maybe see Mint...?"
"Hm? Yeah sure. She's actually just next door." Mr. Ray said, allowing me to much to my surprise. "She's still asleep though. We don't expect her to be knocked out for too long, but you can never be too sure."
"That's okay." I nodded. "Actually, could I perhaps stay until she wakes up...?"
"Garnet, don't bother Mint! She'll probably be exhausted when she wakes up!" Mom scolded me.
"But Mom! I'm just really worried about her! I saw her...y'know, after all! I just want to be there when she wakes up. I need to know why she did it..."
"Garnet..." Mom said quietly with a frown. "I suppose if it's okay with Nurse Ray here."
"I suppose that's fine. You are Mint's friend right?" Mr. Ray asked. I nodded in response. I wouldn't say we were exactly friends, but I definitely don't hate her, and I don't think she hates me? I'm definitely not as close to all of Mint's gang like Jon is, but I do have some sort of friendly bond with them.
"Well then I think he has a right to stay and find out why she did it. Just make sure if she wakes up to come find me or my wife."
"Thank you!" I smiled. Mr. Ray nodded before opening the door and taking his leave.
"Well then Son, we'll go and get you checked out. Give us a call by dinnertime if you end up staying late. We don't want to get even more worried," Dad said.
"But don't stay out too late! Try to be home before it gets too dark outside, okay? Oh, and have some money to buy some food if you get hungry." Mom gave me some cash and smiled.
"Thanks guys. I'll try to get home as soon as I can." I accepted Mom's cash and smiled.
The three of us left my hospital room. I said bye to Mom and Dad as they left to the front desk. I walked over to the next room over and stood in front the door. I placed my hand on the door knob and slowly opened the door.
"E-Excuse me..." I said quietly as I entered the room. The room exactly the same as mine, with the same furniture and machines. On the bed, Mint rested there with her eyes closed shut. She had a few bandages on her, and cords attached to her as well. The machine next to her bed gave off a steady beeping sound, representing her pulse.
"Mint..." I whispered quietly as I walked over next to her. I watched her as her body steadily moved up and down from her breathing. She looked so peaceful as she slept. Much more calm compared to when I last saw her.
The more I looked at her, the more I noticed her newly evolved form. It's only been like 3 weeks since she evolved and beat me in a battle. No one else has evolved since then, leaving us as the only evolved students at she's evolved, you can see her eyes much more easily. Her new hair-like style was a lot cuter. She's also much more slender and…
I suddenly felt my cheeks burning from blood suddenly rushing to my face. W-What the hell am I thinking?! This is Mint! She's still the same nerdy, art and Cobalt loving, super smart and strict girl! She just looks different now! I shook my head to get rid of the strange thoughts I suddenly had and took a seat on one of the chairs next to her bed.
"I do hope you wake up soon. I can't possibly imagine why you would be driven to do something so crazy like that." I sighed. Mint has tons of friends and gets the top grades. So why...? I looked around the room to help distract me from all these thoughts. I saw the remote to the TV and got up and grabbed.
"Who knows how long I'll be here. May as well watch something to help pass the time..." I pressed the on button and clicked the TV on. I went through every channel, and there wasn't really interesting on.
"Man these shows all suck..." I sighed after choosing one of the channels. I decided to watch some drama show that I recognized due to Mom watching it often. All I really know about it is that it's about this duo (a guy and a girl of course) in the police that seem to hate each other, but actually make a really good team.
After just one episode, much to my surprise, I was sitting at the edge of my ended up being a lot more interesting than I expected, and luckily they were playing a marathon of it. I found myself gasping and even talking to myself whenever something exciting happened.
What was probably the climax of the TV series just occurred, and the episode ended with the female lead, an Oshawott named Zoey, getting critically injured and hospitalized. Her partner, a Pansear named Ember (very creative), failed to protect her during a crazy heist with the main antagonist of the story. Currently Ember was alone in the hospital room with an unconscious Zoey.
"Zoey..." Ember whispered silently to himself with a frown on plastered on his face. He looked heartbroken to see his partner covered in bandages and in a coma.
Ember suddenly slammed his fist against the wall. "Dammit! This would never have happened if I was just stronger and faster!
Tears began flowing down the Pansear's red cheeks. "Zoey...please wake up... It's been two weeks already..." Ember began to tremble.
I took a split second to look over at Mint, who was still sleeping. I couldn't help but feel like what I was watching on the TV was very similar…
"Zoey... I know that I always argue with you and treat you like crap...We get into so much trouble with the chief." Ember chuckled sadly. "But... I really love every second of it. Solving crimes, getting in trouble, having arguments over the stupidest little things... I've come to the reason why I love it so much..."
"Oh no..." I felt blood suddenly rush to my cheeks. I felt this strange feeling in my chest, and I started to sweat. "Is he...? Is this gonna lead to...?" I looked over at Mint once more and felt my face rapidly burn up.
"Zoey, I love yo—"
*BEEP*
I scrambled to grab the remote and turned the TV off as soon as possible. During the process, I fell off the chair and face planted onto the hospital floor.
"O-Ow..." I got up and rubbed my beak. I placed my hands on my cheeks while I was at it and felt how hot they were.
"W-What the hell is wrong with me?!" I was so confused as to why I reacted that way. I looked over to see if Mint woke up from my sudden ruckus. She was still sleeping soundly, but my heartbeat race even quicker than ever.
I shook my head. "M-Maybe I'm just hungry. Yeah that's gotta be it. I haven't even eaten anything since breakfast. Some food and fresh air will definitely do the trick..."
Just as I was about to exit the hospital room, I took one last glance at Mint. I shook my head vigorously one last time before scurrying out the room.
After getting some food in my belly and taking in a couple of deep breaths, I decided to return to Mint's hospital room. Unfortunately, Mint was still knocked out, but at least I didn't have any sudden heat in my cheeks. I did still feel a little something in my chest as I looked at her, but I decided to just ignore it.
I took a seat and turned the TV on again, this time not watching that stupid drama show. Luckily, the news channel was showing a battle tournament that just started.
"Ooh, this should keep me entertained for a couple of hours!" I did a fist bump and got myself comfortable on my chair.
After a good amount of heated battles on the TV and nurses coming in every once in a while to check up on Mint, I decided to see how much time has passed. I looked up at the clock and gasped.
"Holy crap, it's already 7?! I've been here for 4 hours already?! Man, stupid battle tournament got me completely distracted!"I stood up from my seat. I looked out the window to see that the sky was already turning a slight shade of yellow and orange. "Mom and Dad are gonna be so worried! I need to call home to and let them know—"
"Nnngh..."
"H-Huh?!" I turned around suddenly from the unexpected groan to see Mint slowly open her eyes. "M-Mint?!"
"Nnngh... Wha..." Mint slowly got up and rubbed her eyes. "Garnet...? What are you doing in my room...?" Mint looked around and slowly realized this isn't her room. "Wait... Is this Homura Hospital?"
"Y-Yeah..." I answered quietly.
"What am I doing here...?" Mint closed her eyes to think. She suddenly gasped and began trembling, tears forming in her eyes. "O-Oh... R-Right..." She began to sob softly.
I stood there silently at a loss for words. I was happy she was finally awaken, but seeing her like this... It felt heartbreaking for some reason. I wanted to ask her why she did it, but I just couldn't. Without knowing what to do or say, I blurted out the first thing that popped out of my head.
"L-Let me go find your parents! I-I'm sure they'll wanna know that you're awake!"
"W-Wait!" Mint shouted before I could even take a step forward. "Please... I don't want to face them just yet..."
"O-Okay..." I sat down on the chair closest to Mint's hospital bed. I sat there awkwardly in silence while Mint continued to sob quietly to herself.
This is way too awkward. I need to say something. "U-Um..."
"Garnet, why?" Mint looked at me with teary eyes.
"Huh?" I asked, confused from Mint suddenly breaking her silence.
"Why did you save me...? I..." Mint's quiet sobs quickly grew in intensity. "I-I was trying to die! I didn't want to be saved!"
"Are..." I got up from my chair, "Are you serious?! You honestly wanted to die?!" I felt myself slowly becoming angry. I'm notorious for losing my temper easily, but sometimes there's really no controlling it, especially when Jon isn't around to calm me down.
"Yes! I. Wanted. To. DIE!" Mint shouted at the top of her lungs. That put me over my limit. There's no way she would ever truly think that.
Without any warning, a loud smack followed by a high shriek echoed throughout the room. Mint's tear-drenched cheek was suddenly red and throbbing, and my right hand was up in the air above my left shoulder.
"You... You IDIOT!" I shouted. "How stupid and selfish can you be?! Do you thinking killing yourself will fix anything?!"
"G-Garnet..." Mint rubbed her throbbing cheek. She furrowed her brow and glared at me. "You don't know ANYTHING! Don't try to act all high and mighty! How could you possibly know what I've been going through?!"
I flinched at her retort. I suddenly realized I slapped her pretty hard. I let my arms slump to my side as I looked down at the floor, feeling terrible for what I just did.
"Y-You're right. I don't know anything. But..." I raised my head and looked at Mint directly in the eyes. "I want you to tell me. Look at me. Straight in eyes. And say it. Tell me that you truly wanted to die. That you no longer wanted to be in this world. That you wanted to break the heart of all your friends and family."
Mint's eyes widened as she gasped from my sudden demand. She furrowed her brow once more and stared directly back at my deep red eyes.
"I..." Mint said quietly. I could see that she started to tremble badly and bullets of sweat ran down her face. "I-I... w-wanted..." Mint's focus on me slowly died down. Her eyes began to water badly, and before I knew it, she broke contact with me and buried her face in her hands.
"Mint..." I said sadly. Seeing her like this is ripping my heart in half. I've never been one to comforting my friends, and I'm definitely not the sensitive type, but I couldn't help but cry for her.
"I-I don't know what to do Garnet!" Mint cried loudly. "I don't know what to do! M-My mother... she just keeps... putting me through so much pain... I can see why she does it and I see her intentions... B-But... it's killing me Garnet!" Mint flailed her arms in the arm and suddenly wrapped them around me.
"M-Mint?!" I gasped from her sudden hug. Again, I felt a rush of blood flow to my cheeks and a strange pain in my chest.
"G-Garnet! P-Please... T-Tell me... What should I do?! I can't escape! I can't escape from my mother's grasp. I-I'm stuck on these s-strings while she plays with me like I'm just a puppet! I can't do anything I w-want! I can't even tell the one I love how much I care about him, let alone confess my feelings to him!"
"Mint..." She must be talking about Cobalt... But why wouldn't she be able confess to him? I slowly place my arms around Mint, returning her embrace.
Mint suddenly buried her face onto my chest, wetting my feathers with her tears. I let her continue to cry and vent while I slowly petted her head as I listened to her entire story. As she spoke through her sobs, I slowly began to understand just how much pain Mint was truly in. Her mom has put her on a high pedestal, and Mint has been expected to meet those standards. Not to mention the beef her mom has with Cobalt's mom. And when she finally was able to clear the air between her friends after treating them like crap for two weeks, her mom forces her to transfer schools in a different city? I don't know how I'd even be able to cope with that.
"Garnet..." Mint said my name softly.
"Y-Yeah?"
"Thank you..." Mint's grip around me weakened and she backed away. She wiped hertears and gave me a weak smile. "Thank you. For both saving me and listening."
I blushed deeply. "N-No problem..."
"This is a bit awkward though. We were never exactly on the best terms. I mean, it's not like I disliked you or anything, but it's not like we're best friends..."
"It's okay. I know what you mean."
"Heh... It's weird. Seeing you be all considerate and sensitive for once. I'd expect this from Jonquil!" Mint smiled genuinely for the first time today.
"You make it sound like I'm heartless." I jokingly sounded offended. Honestly I knew exactly what she meant.
"Well I mean sometimes you do give off that vibe. Your ego and temper is off the charts! You almost caused a stupid scene with Cobalt when you asked Auburn out!" Mint scolded me. I winced because she's not wrong, but if she's scolding me like this it just means she's back to normal.
"Whatever!" I answered angrily, though I'm actually kinda happy. "A-Anyway what was up with you passing out after I caught you?! Something about your blood sugar being low?"
"O-Oh yeah... I forgot I also passed out... I mean I guess that's why I woke up like this." Mint chuckled nervously. "Yeah, now that I think about it, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday. And even then I barely ate any of it. I grabbed some food this morning, but that was just to make my parents think I was gonna have a normal day..."
"Ugh, you may be the smartest kid in school, but you're also a huge idiot." I shook my head.
"Hey, I don't want to hear that from you! You get even worse grades than Auburn!" Mint argued back. Her angry expression didn't last long though, as it slowly faded to a frown. "Speaking of Auburn... Can you keep this a secret?"
"Hmm? You mean everything that happened today?"
"Yeah... Please don't tell anyone about what I did. I don't want to worry them. If any of them ever found out I tried to kill myself, I'd never have any freedom for my entire life. I can just imagine Auburn or Tea or even Masello sticking close to me 24/7. And I feel like Cobalt would never be able to forgive himself..."
"Yeah of course." I nodded, "Your secret is safe with me. I promise not to tell a soul. Not even Jon."
"Thank you, Garnet." Mint smiled. "I-I suppose you can go get my parents know... I'm going to have to face them sooner or later..."
"Sure thing. I suppose I should go home too." I paused and looked up at the clock. "It's getting late, and I promised my parents I'd call them if I was gonna be here late. You actually woke up as I was going to go call them!"
"Oh dear, I'd hate to worry them then! Please hurry and give them a call!" Mint apologized.
"Will do." I nodded and headed towards the exit. The moment I turned towards the door I swear I saw a shadow just disappear from the translucent window on it. Hm? Was someone just there? I could've sworn I saw someone. It looked like they had green hair and—
"Oh and Garnet?" Mint voiced out, breaking my thoughts. "Could you possibly do one last favor for me?"
"What is it?" I gulped. What could she possibly want?
"Um, well..." Mint looked away nervously. "C-Could you go to the roof of the building that I jumped from?"
I tilted my head in confusion. It sounded kinda shady. "...Why?"
"W-Well I left my backpack there... A-And it had my s-suicide note in there a-and..."
"Say no more. I understand." I nodded, "I'll get it and give it back to you tomorrow."
"Thanks..." Mint sighed in relief. I don't blame her. If someone found her note and knew it was her, it'd cause a huge ruckus I bet. "I'm sure I'll be discharged tonight, so you can bring it to my house. You know where I live, right?"
"It's the really, really, really, really big and fancy house on the other side of town isn't it?" I jokingly exaggerated.
"Y-Yeah..." Mint blushed. Did I embarrass her? Whoops. Though she's pretty cute when she's blush—wait what am I thinking?!
I shook my head for what felt like the millionth time today. "A-Anyway, I'm gonna go find your parents now! I'll see you tomorrow!" I quickly left the room, but not before Mint could say "bye" to me.
Geeze, my little joke ended up backfiring and embarrassing me... Why am I even embarrassed? I'm probably just tired. It's been an exhausting day... So much has happened, and it's a lot to process. But in the end, I feel like I've grown a lot closer to Mint, and also as an individual...
I shook my head once more. Man I really am exhausted if I'm thinking about weird things like my own personal growth! W-Whatever, I need to go find Mint's parents…
I randomly chose a direction and walked down the hall, searching for Mint's parents. I knew her dad was a Gallade, so then her mom must be a Gardevoir. I saw a door not too far from Mint's room that was slightly opened and decided to take a peek. Inside was a Gardevoir, pacing back in forth, as if she didn't know what she was doing.
That must be her mom. "Excuse me..." I quietly knocked on the door.
"Eep!" The Gardevoir, to my surprise, shrieked, as if she got caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. "Y-Yes?" She turned around and looked at me. She had sweat down her face and her cheeks were red. Her eyes were also slightly red, as if she was crying...
"Um, are you okay?" I asked her nervously.
"Ahem," the Gardevoir cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes, "I-I'm fine, yes—O-Oh, it's you. The one that saved my daughter, Garnet." The Gardevoir bowed, "Thank you very much for saving my precious daughter's life."
"Y-You're welcome..." I answered awkwardly. It felt weird for some reason. This Gardevoir was Mint's extremely strict mom that she told me about, and I could feel a strong aura emanating from her.
"My name is Sana, the doctor that helped fix you up." Dr. Sana introduced herself. Or should I call her Ms. Sana? It probably doesn't matter, though I felt like Dr. Sana would be more appropriate at the hospital.
Dr. Sana nervously looked away, as if she was hiding something. "I-I'm guessing Mint is now awake c-correct?"
"Yeah, I came looking for you or Mr. Ray to let you know."
"Well then, thank you. I will go find Ray and we'll go see Mint now." Dr. Sana quickly left the room and headed towards Mint's room. Just as she passed me, she stopped. "Again, thank you. I'm sorry for everything my daughter has caused." She thanked me one last time and left.
"N-No problem..." I stuttered back. I wasn't sure if she heard me or not, since she was already on her way, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Well that was weird. Whatever, I need to find a phone to use...
I went back to the front desk and asked the receptionist if I could borrow the phone. They gladly let me, and I braced myself for what Mom or Dad will yell at me for not calling earlier.
"Hello?" Dad answered the phone.
"Dad? It's me—"
"Garnet?! Oh thank goodness! Your Mom and I have been worried sick! We were just about to go back to the hospital! Why didn't you call earlier?!" Dad yelled at me angrily, but he also sounded relieved to hear I was safe.
"I-I'm sorry! Just as I was about to call you guys Mint woke up and things happened and..." I rambled off, trying to defend myself.
"So she's okay then? That's a relief! So you'll be coming home now right? It's super late."
"Yeah, I'll be home soon. I just need to do something really quick. Mint asked me to grab something she left from where she...y'know..."
"Well that's surprisingly nice of you." Dad joked.
"W-What is that supposed to me?!" I shouted in the phone. I looked up and realized I was talking loudly in front of everyone in the waiting room. I blushed in embarrassment and turned away from them.
"Oh nothing. Y'know, that Mint girl is pretty cute huh? You saved her life, so maybe you two could get a little closer, eh?" Dad laughed.
I blushed even harder than I already was. "DAD! CAN YOU NOT?!"
"S-Sir?!" The receptionist gasped.
I covered the phone and whispered an apology at her. "D-Dad, can you please not? I'm in the waiting room!"
"Haha, sorry. I'll let you go then. Hurry and do that favor and come home before the sun sets completely! Bye!"
"B-Bye!" I hung up and turned around. All eyes were on me, but they quickly looked away when they saw I noticed them. I shook my head and did a facepalm.
"Ugh...stupid Dad..." I returned the phone to the receptionist, thanked them, and headed outside.
The sun was barely still in the horizon, and a deep orange engulfed as far as my eyes could see. I looked up and could already see some stars in the dark sky. I took in a deep breath of fresh air and felt rejuvenated from that stressful call with Dad.
"I can't believe him sometimes. How can a parent be so strict and also a clown at the same time?" I sighed before breaking into a light jog towards the building that Mint left her bag at. While Mr. Ray said I was pretty much fully healed, I didn't want to strain my body anymore than I already have today, so I decided to jog instead of run.
It didn't take long before I made it to the 6 story building. I shivered as I remembered what took place her just hours ago. I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts and entered the building, which fortunately wasn't locked.
I decided to take the elevator instead of the stairs because of the whole straining thing, and was quickly at the roof of the building. I stepped out of the elevator and looked around. There was a gentle breeze blowing, which felt really nice despite it being early February.
"There it is." I saw a backpack sitting near the edge of the building. I walked towards it, making more and more careful steps as I got closer to the edge of the building.
"Here we go." I grabbed the backpack. It was white and light green in color, but other than that it was pretty normal. No key chains or anything cutesy. It was way heavier than my backpack though, probably because it was filled with books.
"Geeze, she carries this thing to school everyday?" I stared at the backpack. Part of me wanted to open it and find her note, but I knew that would be a huge invasion of privacy. I just got a lot closer to Mint, and if she ever found out that I went through her stuff, I don't think she'd forgive me, even if I saved her life.
I shook my head. "Ugh, no! I just need to go home and give this back to her tomorrow." I took a step forward and stopped. I looked back and took a few careful steps closer to the edge.
"M-Man, it's really high up here..." I felt a pit in my stomach. "I don't think anyone would survive a fall from here..." I took a step back and sighed.
"I'm glad I was late for school for once... Hey, does this make me a hero? I mean I did save a life! Now I can brag about it like Auburn!" I laughed.
"...As if. I promised I wouldn't tell a soul. I promised Mint." I sighed as I walked back to the elevator.
"Mint... I hope things are going well with your parents right now. I'll be sure to ask her tomorrow when I return her backpack." For some reason, the idea of seeing Mint tomorrow got me really excited. I felt that strange pain in my chest once again and my face felt warmer.
Geeze, what is wrong with me...? Getting excited over seeing Mint? I need to hurry up home and pass out on my bed...
WHOOOO SPOILER ALERT SHE LIVES!
AND WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED THAT HE WOULD BE THE ONE TO SAVE HER? *PLOT TWISTS INTENSIFIES*
So yeah, Garnet saves Mint, and it looks like he's maybesortatotallynotobviously starting to notice Mint? Maybe? *KOFF*
Anyway, Mint's arc is almost over at this point. There will be one (maybe two?) more chapter after this for her arc. THEN THE STORY WILL FINALLY SHIFT FORWARD! WHEEEE! Let's just hope I can keep my promise of a chapter a month that I promised many months ago.
This story will be turning 3 YEARS OLD in March. HOLY CRAP! I really didn't expect to still be writing this after 3 years... I wanted to end this story much earlier... But oh well! Life happens~
Thanks for reading!