Heyyo, PokeDopes here! Been a while since I dipped my toes in any Pokémon story with the intent to actually finish it. That's not implying anything btw... BUT, this is a brand-new story that I'm quite excited to write! First chapter here we go! It starts out dark, but the following chapters are much lighter! I hope you enjoy!
All an Act
Broken Childhood
The tiny green shoes of a young boy, about 10 years in age, swing back and forth from being kicked up and down as he sits in a plastic chair inside a hospital waiting room, waiting impatiently to be called in. Sitting next to him is his mother, holding her purse in her lap. Her fingers tap on the leather material anxiously, she also waits to be called in to see the condition of her significant other. This duo of mother and son has no idea that today would be a day where their souls will cry and their hearts will break, for someone that's extremely close to them that's been fighting against a terrible, fatal disease is about to lose said fight. The mother and her child watch as doctors and nurses walk in and out the red colored, double doors at the northern end of the waiting room, hoping that one of them will stop in front of them to lead them to where their loved one is waiting. Their wish is granted, as one of these nurses push the doors open with her right hand and walks through to eye down the mother and child with a sullen, yet relaxed expression. Her job is no easier than the job the two of them will have to deal with once she tells them about the tear-jerking condition their loved one has succumbed to.
She slowly walks towards the chairs they're sitting in, her head falling down towards the ground a little. Her right foot puts itself in front of her left, and it follows suit as well, her heels making a click-clack as she walks on the white-tile flooring while mentally and physically preparing herself for the news she must bring to these two. They both look up in response to the nurse's presence, looking at her face, ready to hear whatever it is that they have to say. "Jessica, I presume?" she says, her tone as calm and relaxed as possible as she can make it. She tries her best to not show any sadness or worry to not make the already tough situation worse for them.
"Yes, is… is he okay?" she says, knowing that the condition had been getting worse over time, only now, she hopes that it changed for the better. The nurse's head drops down further, it immediately makes Jessica's hands come up off her purse and up to her mouth, gasping silently as to not scare her son.
"The Pokerus has overwhelmed his immune system… all our efforts to try and cut the amount of it within his body have been ineffective and he's no longer responding to antibiotics of any kind. We fear he might not have much time left…" she says, trying not to sound upset by this fact. The bright overhead lights on the ceiling reflect in her pupils and the shine in her eyes dims a little. News like this is always heavy on both parties, nobody should ever have to tell someone their loved ones are dying, and conversely, nobody should have to hear about it either. She simply watches as she unzips her purse to pull out a couple of tissues to pat her eyes dry, a sniffle coming from her nose in the process. She puts it back and tries to harden herself for she has to ask one last question.
"Can we at least see him? It's been almost a month since he was brought here…" sadness and heartbreak hide deep within her tone and her eyes shimmer with tears who've yet to see the light of day. Her cheeks are flustered a deep red, not from embarrassment, but from the overflow of emotions that's mixing deep within her.
The nurse nods her head 'yes', and Jessica quickly zips her purse up with her right hand, puts it over her shoulder, and then stands up. This causes the young boy to stop kicking his feet and down and to stand up from his chair as well and look right up at her. "Mommy, are we going to see daddy? I miss him." His voice, high and innocent, is clueless to the magnitude of what's happening.
She reaches down with her left hand to grab his right hand and sighs, trying not to make him worried. "Yes Milo, we're going to see daddy now. He's going to be so happy to see you and you can tell him all about your amazing test results when we get to his room, okay?" she almost breaks right then and there from the innocence her child is plagued with. She manages to barely keep it in though, for she knows he wouldn't want to see her like this. She grabs hold of his hand and closes her fingers around it gently to keep him from wandering off, but not too tight to the point it would hurt him. The nurse shows off a small smile at this sight despite the soul-crushing news she had to deliver before turning around and walking towards the double doors to bring them to the room where the one they want to see resides.
Both mother and child walk through the doorway following close by, almost immediately the atmosphere changes from being clear and calm to highly tense and anxious… but it's not the same kind of tension and anxiety that's usually found in a stressful situation. This tension and anxiety are of the sad kind, the feeling one gets right before they discover a dreadful outcome that they'll be powerless to stop. A gut-wrenching, spine-chilling combo of tension and anxiety accompanied by a dull, plain looking hallway with countless rooms on each side, all containing patients of various conditions and illnesses. The lighting in this hallway is many times dimmer than the lighting in the waiting room, and unlike the pure white tiles that lined the floor in there, icky light gray speckled tiles line the floor in here. Almost everything about this hallway is oppressive and sad, many families over the years have walked these halls with both good and bad endings, and this mother and child's path is no different.
It feels like an eternity, an endless corridor with doctors and nurses moving to and from different rooms carrying various things. At the end of the hallway is an elevator and a staircase to go up to the higher-level floors, and its metallic gray doors don't give off any inviting vibes in any stretch of the imagination. The sounds of the nurse's heels clacking throughout the hallway echo loud and strong as she approaches the elevator with her two guests in tow. Her right hand presses the call button and the doors immediately open to allow them to enter the lift where they'll be taken higher up to the floor they desire. The nurse presses the button for the 7th floor and the doors close, only the three of them are on this ride this time and the moment the doors close, the lift starts ascending the floors. The souls and hearts of these three all jump and fly high with the initial lurch the lift makes, their stomachs filling with Butterfree as they climb higher and higher into the sky. The lights above the door slowly illuminate as they reach the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th floors.
The lift slows as it reaches its destination: the 7th floor. The elevator jerks up a little as it locks into place and the metal doors open to reveal the 7th floor. There's nothing new or different about this floor minus one wide, large window all the way at the end, revealing the last few rays of the setting sun and a dark orange, sunburnt sky made by the rays refracting through the atmosphere. The heels of the nurse echo once more as they all exit the elevator and walk down the hall, a clock counting the seconds with each step, time passing as it always has since the dawn of life. Once again, an eternity later nets them at the door where behind it lies a criminally ill man whose life was dedicated to helping a Pokemon Professor, as well as bringing strides towards the medical field for Pokemon. A father he is as much of a hard worker too, and he had made a promise to his son that, unfortunately, will never be brought to life as his condition is too far gone to recover from.
The nurse opens the door and allows the mother and child inside, the sight they're greeted to only further strengthens that sinking feeling deep within the mother, but the child is unaware… Another nurse stands by in this room to make sure the critical condition this tired, old soul is in doesn't deteriorate into something worse. He's alert, though extremely tired and worn looking. His head turns to face the direction of the door and upon seeing his wife and child, he immediately smiles and the weariness in his face ceases. The young boy immediately runs up to the bed his father lies in and grabs his left arm, hugging it tightly. "Dadddyyyyy!" his voice contains joy, happiness, and purity.
"Hey buddy… Don't squeeze me too tight… Everything hurts." The voice of his father cracks and warbles a bit with pain and glee mixed together. He can't tell his son of what's really happening, he wouldn't understand it. "Heh… I'm sorry I couldn't come home sooner, the doctors say that I'm still too sick to leave."
The boy, with his chocolate brown eyes, looks into his soul. "You're still sick? But… I thought you were going to get better here! Please, you have to get better! I got a 97 on my Pokemon Trainer test earlier, you have to come home!" He pouts and puffs his cheeks out a little at the end, but his innocence leads him to unintended ignorance and what he doesn't know will most certainly shock him. His eyes shimmer in the white light cast by the bulb in the ceiling above and he loosens his grip on his father's left arm.
He simply smiles and chuckles, which leads him to cough a couple of times with a nasty wheeze being heard along with it. "It's okay… I'll be better soon and we can get you your Pokemon so we can start that journey together, just like I promised…" He takes a deep breath in, holds it for a moment, then releases it. "A 97 on your Trainer test, huh? You did real good, Milo. Keep doing good, it'll help you once you start your journey."
"But I don't want to keep taking tests and doing stupid homework. I want to play with Pokemon and become the very best, just like you have!" He doesn't understand.
"No, you have to. By learning all about Pokemon and everything there is to being a Pokemon trainer, you'll be ready for anything that you might encounter during your journey. You need to do good in school, Milo, so please, keep it up." Though his voice is weary and tired, he's happy and pleased with his son's work. His encouragement is all he has to give him now, because even if he wanted to, the hospital staff wouldn't let him leave and fulfill the promise he made to him.
The eager boy frowns a little, typical of all children to not like school that much, but he understands. "Okay daddy, I'll keep trying my best." He stands up on his tippy-toes and gives him a hug, being gentle and careful to not hurt him this time around as his arms slowly wrap around his stomach.
"Thank you… never stop trying to be the best you can." He takes yet another deep breath in and out, not holding it this time but it's clearly audible. For some reason, that weary and tired look on his face returns and he starts breathing heavier normally, as if he's gasping for oxygen. In the back, one of the nurses is talking to Jessica, explaining the entire situation to her and what will most likely happen to him.
"I know you're probably not ready to hear this, but I think it's better for you to be told instead of not having anything to prepare for it. That Pokerus infection isn't responding to any of the antibiotics we've given him, and we've started seeing signs of total organ failure. I'm afraid he doesn't have long and could even-" she cuts herself off purposely, looking at Milo quickly for a brief moment before turning back to her and talking in a slightly quieter tone. "He could pass away at any moment as we speak."
"What!? You're telling me you've done everything you can to try and help him? You have to try harder, there's gotta be something that will work…" her tone shows the disbelief she's veiled herself with as she knows deep down, her husband won't make it.
The nurse slowly shakes her head back and forth. "There's nothing we can do except make him comfortable as best we can. He was in pretty bad shape when the ambulance brought him here a month ago and it's only gotten worse since then."
Her mouth quivers, she doesn't want it to happen even though there's nothing that can be done at this point. She looks to her right to see her son and husband talking with each other for a few seconds before sighing deeply and walking over to them. She puts her purse down on a nearby table and talks to her significant other. "Ryan, honey it's me. I was just talking to the nurses and-"
He cuts her off. "Jessica, please don't… not in front of Milo…" he wheezes as he inhales. "I know you'll… you'll be alright. You're a strong woman and an amazing wife who's done so much to help me with this… stupid shit…"
She shakes her head back and forth. "No, that's not going to happen. We'll find a way to help you, I'm sure of it. If Pokemon have died from it as well, then there's got to be a cure for it somewhere."
He chuckles weakly, the shine in his wooden brown eyes flickering, almost as if it was going out despite the light from the ceiling being stable and constant. "That's the problem…" Despite being super weak, he somehow manages to sit up off the bed and come closer to her. "There is no cure for Pokerus… I'm sorry, but I should've been more careful back in the lab…" he suddenly starts to cough violently into his right hand, and it causes him to fall back on the bed. Each cough wrinkles his face with pain and torture, the virus is too strong and without a cure, he's living on borrowed time at this point.
She grabs Milo and pulls him away, fearful that her husband's infection is contagious. Milo himself gets scared by this sudden action. "M-mommy, what's wrong?"
She holds him tight using both hands on his chest. "Stay close, I don't want you getting sick from your father. If you get what he has, it won't be good at all and I don't think you want that." She hides the truth, she doesn't need to tell him that he'd end up just like him.
"O-okay…" his tone is not happy anymore, concern and fear control it now. All he can do is watch as his father continues to violently cough uncontrollably. This goes on for a few minutes, there's a couple times where Ryan coughs so hard that he spits up blood into a nearby empty bucket specifically designated for just that. He eventually manages to stop coughing, though the wind has been nearly taken out of him with that and he simply lies there panting and gasping for air. Out of breath, he somehow manages to speak and calls for his son.
"Jessica… Bring… bring Milo… close to… me..."
She doesn't want to, though something deep within her tells her to do it, and her hand slowly comes off the chest of her concerned son. "Go on, daddy wants to tell you something." He looks at her for a few seconds, worried about what he just witnessed but regardless, still goes up to him slowly.
He puts his hands on the sheet of the bed and watches as his father struggles a couple times to roll over. He manages to do so after the 4th time and completely faces his son, a smile on his face despite something being gravely wrong. "Milo… my boy… my dear… sweet son…" he takes a breath so deep that it hurts, then exhales as he talks. "I know you're going to become a great Pokemon trainer… perhaps even the best Pokemon trainer in Unova." his left hand shakily comes up to gently caress the side of his son's cheek. He can see his chocolate brown eyes are watering up and shimmering in the light, a frown slowly etching itself across his face. "Milo the Unova region Pokemon Master and Champion… doesn't that sound amazing?"
"Daddy… w-w're going to do that together, right?" A single tear streams down from his right eye, slowly moving down to his cheek, awaiting confirmation from his father.
"We will… We… will…" suddenly, his right hand stops and drops, completely lifeless. A strange, weird breath comes out of him and the Holter monitor that's been keeping track of his heartbeat begins to emit a constant, loud beep with a single straight line running across the screen. The sound scares the little kid, he has no idea of, nor will he ever be able to comprehend what he just witnessed.
"Daddy? Are you okay?" His words fall on ignoring ears when suddenly, he's thrown back by one of the nurses who pushes him out of the way. He immediately starts yelling. "Daddy no! DADDY COME BACK!" He goes to run back up to the bed, but he's stopped and grabbed by his mother. He starts screaming in response, but he also starts crying as well. "PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! DAAAADDDDYYYYYY! DADDY!" his screams eventually turn into him bawling and crying crazily as he and his mother leave the room while doctors frantically run inside in an attempt to try and rescue him. Milo's crying echoed infinitely through the hall and in one fell swoop, on that day, the gleaming star that shone within him faded away in a burst of tears and screams. His soul completely snaps in half, a massive shock sends itself from the top of his heart to the bottom, completely quaking it from one end to the other in response to all of this. His father, the one who had promised to give him his first Pokemon, had just died right in front of him. The screams and tears continued flowing even after he left the hospital with his mother, and instead of falling asleep that night, he laid his head down on the desk in his room where his homework sat in anticipation for him to complete and eventually, he closed his eyes…
Hope you enjoyed it! Review and all that jazz! Seeya in the next chapter!