55. Burden of Truth


Sitting. Fists Clenched. Eyes going from the floor to the counter to the floor again. Trying not to cry or think about anything.

That was how the guy from earlier found me. I didn't know what he had looked like since it was so dark, but I knew it was him when he came up to me, his hands in his pockets. He was a pretty tall guy, very lanky with his body kind of bending forward to look at me. His hair was messily orange, but the roots were black. He had bright hazel eyes that almost looked green. He was wearing jeans as baggy as Jacoby's, but I noticed along his right shin there was a big stain of blood where I had hit him.

"I know you're going through hell, so I guess this is a bad time to talk about what good weather we're having?"

I smiled for a half-second. It was very fleeting, much like Keane's chances of survival. That thought kept pounding in the back of my head. "Yeah, it is."

He rubbed the back of his head before dropping into the seat next to me. "…Is there anything I can get you? A beer maybe?"

"Or maybe a decent joke?"

He leered at me. "Sharp tongue you got there. I'm guessing you chew on knives, too?"

"This got weird." Pity laughs wouldn't even do for that one.

"You're right. I drew the knife joke too soon." He shrugged and leaned back into the couch. "You never told me your name?"

"You never told me yours."

"Touché. It's Gage. Gage Alcott."

"Rochelle."

"Rochelle…?"

"Worley."

"Well, Rochelle Worley, I'd say it was nice to meet you, but you kind of broke my shin. I could also say it was a pleasure, but I'm not masochistic."

"Do you just talk to hear yourself talk?" I asked.

He smirked at me. "If someone has to laugh at my jokes, it might as well be me. At least then someone would get them."

That point was valid, I guess. I didn't say anything else and stretched back until my entire body sank into the frame of the couch. I leaned against the right arm of the couch, folding my own arms on top of it and setting my face in the crook of my bent elbow. Gage decided not to say anything else until he stood up and did his own stretch.

"Want some coffee?" He gestured across the center to the counter where a pot of coffee, creamers, and sugar packets sat, waiting to be used.

I wasn't the biggest fan of coffee, but having enough creamer made it taste pretty decent. "Sure. With heaps of sugar and cream."

He sounded somewhat offended in his response, wagging one finger in objection. "So coffee with a helping of diabetes. Tsk."

Gage limped over to the counter across the room and poured two cups of the center's complimentary coffee. I sighed heavily and stood up, going over to the center's counter as a new nurse appeared behind it.

"What's the status on that xatu?"

"They're doing everything they can, Miss Worley," the nurse replied vaguely. I didn't miss the concerned expression on her face or how her tone suddenly became ten times more motherly than when she was addressing other trainers that had approached her.

I paced uneasily in front of the counter as Gage walked up to me, handing me a hot plastic cup with a lid.

"I poured enough sugar and cream to make an island."

I stood in place for a few seconds so that I could thoughtfully sip the coffee. After a few warm gulps, I dissolved into my impatient pacing once more, trying to peer behind the counter to the back room. I expected Gage to talk and try to make me laugh some more, but he hadn't said anything or tried anything to get my attention. That was when I looked back across the center to see he was getting a second cup of coffee already.

When he came back, he stood in front of me, drinking it until it was complete. He looked like he was debating whether he should go back and get another. Maybe the only reason he wasn't talking as much was because he had probably burned his tongue from all that drinking.

"Are you a train? Because that was some fast chugging," I pointed out. "Do you also go by 'Magnet'?"

"I guess I could since I've been told that I'm attractive." He leered at me.

"Your mom doesn't count."

"Miss Worley?"

I turned so fast that I spilled some of the unfinished coffee on the floor. Gage snatched it from me before I could do any more damage. I think he had even started drinking from my cup, but I wasn't looking at him. I was staring at the nurse that had addressed me and was folding her hands together from behind the counter. Her face was a blank canvas. If I had some markers with me, I would have drawn a smile on it, since that was desperately what I wanted to see right now.

"Miss Worley, if you would please follow me into the back room…"

I felt my legs giving out, but I convinced my muscles not to give up. Not yet. There was still time. Maybe it wasn't what I expected. I couldn't give up. The possibility was the only thing that kept my knees from buckling.

Gage elbowed me gently, jarring me from my daze. I nodded my head at the nurse before following her into the back room.

All of the nurses in the center seemed to be congregating around the table that was being covered with a white sheet. There was a small lump that suggested a body under the sheet, but it wasn't moving. None of it seemed right.

The nurse to my right started speaking, and she gently placed an arm around my shoulders. For some reason, the nurse's words sounded slower, as if they had to travel through molasses before they reached my ears.

"Miss Worley...we did everything we could."

No you didn't.

"Your xatu was still fighting to the very end."

I know he was.

"When you brought him in, he was in a comatose state, but eventually his organs shut down and there was nothing we could do."

Yes there was. Help him. Fix him.

Words were stuck in my throat. Tears were stuck in my eyes. Everything felt stuck. And wrong.

"Since your xatu—"

"His name is Keane," I corrected. It sounded like someone else was speaking through me. Someone stronger and more controlled. "And he isn't 'my' xatu. He's my friend."

Slightly taken aback, the nurse continued, "Keane was a very strong pokémon. Miss Worley, if there's anything we can do, please let us know. We have to begin discussing the transfer of the body and if you wish to have him buried or cremated. From everyone here at the pokémon center, we are so sorry for your loss."

My eyes hadn't left the sheet since I had entered the room. I lifted my hand and reached toward it until my hand rested on the lump. Then I peeled back the sheet to stare at the lifeless xatu, whose unseeing eyes were shut. His feathers were very ruffled still, but the blood had been mostly cleaned from the wound, making him appear as if he were sleeping.

I didn't know how long I stared at him, but the nurses stayed silent while they were around me before a few decided to file out of the room. Gently and slowly, I put the sheet back over him and turned, leaving the room.

I sat on the couch in the lobby of the pokémon center and stared numbly down at the floor.

I didn't see Gage, but I knew he was there. He hovered for a second before planting himself on the other end of the couch, leaving enough space between us. He didn't speak or do anything. No bad jokes. He drank yet another cup of coffee, sipping it quietly.

"…I hate apologizing in these kinds of situations, but I really don't know what else to say. 'It sucks,' maybe, because it does." He paused and then drank his coffee.

I continued staring at the floor, tracing the lines in the tiles with my eyes, which were surprisingly dry.

"…My condolences. Really." He held out a full cup to me. "I got you another island. With all that sugar, you could end up being the new owner of Candy Land."

I didn't move and didn't say anything.

He put it on the table in front of us when he understood I wasn't going to grab it. "…Not that my opinion matters, but what kind of world is this where they can take anyone they want from us?"

I agreed, but I really didn't feel like talking. I guess he finally picked up on that because he dropped into silence again, finishing off the last of his coffee. He stared at his empty cup in silence.

"…Rochelle—"

"Chelle," I corrected. My voice nearly broke as my eyes filled with the tears I was determined not to unleash. It was stupid, but as soon as he said my name, it reminded me of Keane. Keane always addressed me as 'Rochelle,' and sure that was my name and occasionally I would be called that, but usually everyone else in my life would use a nickname. He was always so formal and proper. I didn't need a reminder of him. Not now. Although technically everything was reminding me of him right now, even the pink and yellow tiles I was staring at.

"Chelle. Do you have anyone coming for you?"

"My brother."

"Just wondering. I'll…stay with you until he gets here." He scooted a little closer to me, but he was still keeping his distance, as if he thought I was some kind of bomb that was about to go off. I honestly didn't know what I would do next. What I did know was I wasn't getting any sleep tonight, not that I could if I wanted. With Keane's passing, and then the fact that Bundy was in critical condition…there was no way my thoughts would let me sleep tonight.

"…Thank you," I finally said. Gage didn't realize how incredible it was that I had just said that. I hardly ever thanked anyone or apologized to them. If Keane was here, he would be so proud…

The stillness my muscles had enacted crumbled like an old dam, letting the tears pour down my face. I bent forward and sobbed mutely into my knees, wrapping my arms over my head as my shoulders trembled profusely.

"I don't like anyone to see me cry either," Gage murmured. I felt his hand on my back, moving in small circles. Normally the movement would have left me nauseous, but for some reason it was helping.

When Jacoby got there, he pulled me up gently and wrapped me in a hug. He whispered apologies to me and ruffled my hair as his hand went comfortingly along my shoulders. I pulled away and started heading for the door. I didn't hear what he or Gage were talking about, but I knew they were talking about me as I exited. Preen was outside waiting for me. I cried with her next, burying my face into her feathers as she extended a wing for me.

I just wanted to go home.