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Misty's Awakening
Part 8
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When Misty awoke, the first thing she saw was her Doctor entering the room.
Rubbing her eyes, she began to yawn, and then watched as he came over to her, smiling.
"Good morning, Misty."
She nodded.
"Well, today I have a bit of news for you...I think you'll like it."
"Hm?!" Misty was interested now.
"Well," the Doctor continued, sitting by her in the chair, "looking at how well you're doing, we've decided that it'd be OK to release you."
Misty's jaw dropped a little. "Re..really?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes. It's been decided that you are well enough to leave the hospital now. You'll still need to finish your therapy, but you won't need to stay here for that. Dr. Johnson will come to see you every weekday, and a few times a week, she'll take you here to work on the hospital equipment. I'll come once a week too, to check up on you."
Misty swallowed, dumbfounded. "I...I can leave?" she managed. She hadn't even considered leaving yet...
"Yes. There's no reason why you need to stay any longer."
"Well..." Misty went on, "when do I go?"
"Hm...I was thinking that this afternoon after your therapy session would be OK— as long as you *feel* ready, that is."
Misty nodded quickly. "Sure, I'm ready. That sounds...fine."
"Good! Well, that about sums it up..." He stood, and made for the door. "Oh, and here comes your friend."
He walked out the door, and Ash entered at the same time.
"Misty! Misty!! Did you hear?!" His face was alive with excitement.
"You mean—"
"-- that you can leave!" Ash finished, "The Doctor told me earlier!"
Misty smiled. "Yes, I heard. It's great! I didn't think I'd get to go so soon!"
But as soon as she had said that, it hit her. She went pale.
"...Ash?"
"What is it?"
"Wh...where will I go?!"
"Whaddaya mean?"
"Ash! They say I can go home, but...I don't want to go *home*!"
"Oh, yeah. Well, actually...the Doctor was asking me about that..."
"Huh?" Misty bit her lip.
"Well, while your sisters are...*responsible* and all, he said that you'd need constant attention, especially for the first few weeks, just to be safe."
"...Yeah...?" There was an air of hope in her voice.
"And, since I've been coming to see you everyday anyway..."
Misty's eyes grew wide.
"...I get to make sure that you make it safely to the Cerulean Gym to be with your sisters."
"...WHAT?!" Her heart sank, let down and angry.
"Misty!" Ash was laughing hysterically by now. "Mist, you can stay with me! I was just kidding about that part! I was just testing you for a response!"
An unstoppable grin took over Misty's face, and she threw her arms around the boy, despite his cruel joke. "I can stay at your house?! Ash! Oh, thank you so much!!!"
Ash was still laughing softly. "Heh, your welcome. I'd love to...well, I mean, *we'd* love to have you stay with us."
"Thanks a lot!" Misty said, releasing him. "I...I really don't want to live with my sisters...you understand." She smiled weakly.
"Yeah, I do."
A nurse entered suddenly with a breakfast tray.
"Oh my...my...Ash, what about...clothes?!?" She didn't even look at her food. "I just realized that all I have are hospital clothes!!" She looked down at the blue and white thing she wore.
"Well...I'm sure we could work something out. Maybe your sisters could be useful after all...and loan you some clothes, just for when you leave the hospital and all. Unless you...want to wear your old clothes..." He took from a drawer by the wall a stack of folded fabric.
"What the— oh..." Misty took the clothes and unfolded them, holding out first a pair of shorts with suspenders. "Ugh...I...*wore* this?!" Ash laughed softly.
"And, yellow? Oh my gosh, I remember this shirt!! Ash, these are terrible!" She threw them into a wad on the bed. "I'm sorry you ever had to *look* at me wearing those!"
"Heh...I guess you aren't going to wear 'em, then."
Misty smiled. "I doubt they'd fit me anymore— so it wouldn't matter, anyway. They're out of the question." She finally eyed her food, and bit into a piece of toast. "Maybe my sisters *could* drop off something for me...if that's OK."
"Sure. I'll call them...the hospital will have their number."
"Whew...good. I don't even remember my own phone number, come to think of it."
They smiled at each other, and Misty finished her breakfast.
* * * *
Misty had never been so eager to finish up therapy. Everything that Dr. Johnson told her to do seemed like one more barrier that kept her from leaving.
"OK, Misty— we'll be done soon enough. But you *must* focus on your crunches for now."
Misty sighed. "Yeah." She was lying on the blue padded floor, attempting to do another crunch. She had done two, and she had been asked to do fifteen. This could take forever...
After Misty finished that, she was then instructed to sit with her arms back and her hands supporting her, and move her legs from side to side on the mat. Misty obeyed, finding the task amazingly difficult. She figured that when she had taken her fall, she had gotten injured fairly badly in her legs. It didn't help, either, that when she had healed, she had been unable to exercise them for years after that. Building up strength in them would be tough.
"Well, you're getting the hang of it," Dr. Johnson said, "but our time is over today. You're done."
"Ah!" Misty gasped happily. She was helped into her wheelchair.
* * * *
By the time Misty had gotten out of her bath, a nurse brought a bundle in to her.
"It's from your sister...she came by," the nurse told the towel-clad Misty.
"Oh— thanks."
These were, Misty realized, some of her sister's old clothes. They didn't *look* old or worn at all— her sisters went through fashions and fads like pet stores go through feeder goldfish. Many of their outfits were constantly being pushed to the back of the closet. Looking through the clothes in her hands, she knew that they were probably a year or two old, but they didn't look bad to Misty.
After browsing through the stack— a pair of jeans, a black skirt, a bright purple shirt, among other things— she decided on a blue floral spaghetti-strapped dress that came to her knees, with a little blue sweater to go over it. Misty liked it, and it seemed to fit her reasonably well, so she folded up the other clothes and had the nurse wheel her back to her room.
First thing she noticed upon entering her room was the look on Ash's face.
"Uhh..whoa, Misty, you look really nice!"
She had to giggle a little at this. "Heh, thank you, Ash."
Ash took a breath and, pulling his eyes away from Misty, looked down at a bag on the bed. "I...I put all your stuff in here, and..." he reached for her back pack, "this makes everything, I think."
"Yes, I think so. Thanks for doing that...so, when do we go?"
Ash gestured to the door. "Well, I called my mom, and she should be driving up anytime now."
"Oh... okay." She was quiet for a moment, but gathered enough courage to ask Ash a question. "Um...will you...brush my hair again? Please?"
Ash laughed softly. "Of course. I'd love to." He reached into the bag, and a moment later he withdrew a brush.
"So..." Ash said, taking Misty's hair in his hand and beginning to stroke through it, "you gonna miss this place at all?"
Misty was silent for a moment, then she said quietly, "Well, Ash, if three years of your life were wasted lying in this room...would you miss it?"
Ash shook his head. "I understand."
Misty looked up at Ash momentarily. "I'm sorry. It's just that I— I want to live again. I want to be myself, and that's not lying in a bed with people having to bathe me and care for me. I want to live my life..." She tried to force a smile.
Ash returned it. "And you will."
Another short silence. Then, setting the brush in the bag again, Ash looked to Misty. "Ready?"
"Yes."
"Well, Off we go."
* * * *
A car drove up to the hospital entrance, stopping before the two waiting figures.
"Here, I'll put your stuff in the trunk," Ash offered, taking Misty's things from the ground.
Ms. Ketchem emerged from the front seat, grinning as she caught sight of Misty.
"Hello, dear! My, aren't you looking nice!" She took hold of the wheelchair and pushed her up to the curb.
"Lemme help," Ash said, holding on to Misty's arm as she sat in the passenger seat.
Ash closed her door and hopped into the back as his mom sat down and started the car.
"We're so glad you're going to stay with us," Ms. Ketchem said. "I cleaned up the spare room and fixed it up just for you, and it's all ready to stay in."
"Great," Misty said as she watched the hospital grow smaller and smaller. "Thank you very much."
Ms. Ketchem giggled. "Oh, we're happy to have you, dear!
The drive was only about ten or fifteen minutes long, mostly through an expanse of open fields and several clumps of trees here and there.
"I biked through here everyday," Ash piped up from the back seat, "you know, to see you at the hospital."
"Really?" Misty asked, becoming impressed.
"Yeah. Mom needed the car to go to work so I had to bike."
"You work, Ms. Ketchem?" Misty asked.
"Oh, of course! I have to pay for things somehow."
"She works at the nursery now," Ash said, "you know how she's good with plants."
Ms. Ketchem beamed. "Heh, oh, I'm glad you'll get to see my garden, Misty. Not much is in bloom, I'm afraid, but the colors are still pretty. Ash even helped me plant some of it."
"Heh, yeah, the part that died," Ash said, turning slightly red.
"Well, at least Ashy tried," his mother admitted. Misty couldn't help but giggle.
They drove onto a residential road and passed a sign reading "Pallet Town Limits". They had arrived.
Nothing much seemed different since Misty had been here last. It was still a small little town, friendly and peaceful, with a hill sticking up in the distance with trees quite a bit of property behind it. That was Professor Oak's lab, the fame of Pallet Town.
They drove up another street and to a cozy little house with a white picket fence around it. There were gardens of flowers, bushes, and trees everywhere, and the grass was neat and trim Misty knew from memory that this was the Ketchem home.
"Here we are," Ms. Ketchem sang, stopping the car. "Don't you just love our garden?"
"Yes, it's gorgeous," said Misty truthfully as she gazed out the window.
Ash opened her door and, taking the wheelchair from the trunk and unfolding it, aided Misty as she sat in it. He pushed her through the gate and to the doorway, where Ms. Ketchem unlocked and opened the door.
The house was warm and cozy, like it looked to be from the outside. The front room, with a couch, a few chairs and a coffee table in the middle, looked soft and comfortable.
"We tried to move things around a little," Ms. Ketchem told Misty, "just so you can get around easier."
She was pushed by a fireplace and into the kitchen beyond. It was pastel and bright, the sun coming in through the over-sink window and illuminating the room. Misty remembered being here before...standing by this counter...sitting at this table...
They passed the staircase, where Ash's room was, and took Misty down a small hallway just beyond the kitchen with three doors and a table at the end of it.
"My room's at the end of the hall," Ms. Ketchem said, " and yours is right here."
Misty was guided into the first door on the right.
The room wasn't too big, but it was beautifully furnished. A canopy bed, with several pillows and purplish-pink sheets, lay in the center of the room. Across from that was a dresser with an oval mirror, and a draped window to the right.
"I hope you like it," Ms. Ketchem said. "I've always liked these sheets, but I've never had anyone to use them on, given that Ash obviously didn't want them." She giggled. "Actually, they were given to me as a gift and I never needed them until now."
Misty smiled, looking over her room. "Her" room. It felt good to think of it that way. "I love it," she said.
"Good," said Ms. Ketchem happily. "Now, I'll go fix some lunch for us, and Ash, you get her bags from the car." Ash nodded. "We'll be right back— make yourself at home." They left.
The room really was nice, Misty thought. She took the wheels of the wheelchair in her hands and found that she was able to roll herself forward.
She touched the comforter on the bed and moved to the window, drawing the drapes aside. She gazed out at the mountains beyond, reflected along with the bright sky in several large puddles in the garden outside the window.
Misty sighed contentedly. At that very moment, she felt as if she belonged.
_________________
...To Be Continued...
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Misty's Awakening
Part 8
________________
When Misty awoke, the first thing she saw was her Doctor entering the room.
Rubbing her eyes, she began to yawn, and then watched as he came over to her, smiling.
"Good morning, Misty."
She nodded.
"Well, today I have a bit of news for you...I think you'll like it."
"Hm?!" Misty was interested now.
"Well," the Doctor continued, sitting by her in the chair, "looking at how well you're doing, we've decided that it'd be OK to release you."
Misty's jaw dropped a little. "Re..really?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes. It's been decided that you are well enough to leave the hospital now. You'll still need to finish your therapy, but you won't need to stay here for that. Dr. Johnson will come to see you every weekday, and a few times a week, she'll take you here to work on the hospital equipment. I'll come once a week too, to check up on you."
Misty swallowed, dumbfounded. "I...I can leave?" she managed. She hadn't even considered leaving yet...
"Yes. There's no reason why you need to stay any longer."
"Well..." Misty went on, "when do I go?"
"Hm...I was thinking that this afternoon after your therapy session would be OK— as long as you *feel* ready, that is."
Misty nodded quickly. "Sure, I'm ready. That sounds...fine."
"Good! Well, that about sums it up..." He stood, and made for the door. "Oh, and here comes your friend."
He walked out the door, and Ash entered at the same time.
"Misty! Misty!! Did you hear?!" His face was alive with excitement.
"You mean—"
"-- that you can leave!" Ash finished, "The Doctor told me earlier!"
Misty smiled. "Yes, I heard. It's great! I didn't think I'd get to go so soon!"
But as soon as she had said that, it hit her. She went pale.
"...Ash?"
"What is it?"
"Wh...where will I go?!"
"Whaddaya mean?"
"Ash! They say I can go home, but...I don't want to go *home*!"
"Oh, yeah. Well, actually...the Doctor was asking me about that..."
"Huh?" Misty bit her lip.
"Well, while your sisters are...*responsible* and all, he said that you'd need constant attention, especially for the first few weeks, just to be safe."
"...Yeah...?" There was an air of hope in her voice.
"And, since I've been coming to see you everyday anyway..."
Misty's eyes grew wide.
"...I get to make sure that you make it safely to the Cerulean Gym to be with your sisters."
"...WHAT?!" Her heart sank, let down and angry.
"Misty!" Ash was laughing hysterically by now. "Mist, you can stay with me! I was just kidding about that part! I was just testing you for a response!"
An unstoppable grin took over Misty's face, and she threw her arms around the boy, despite his cruel joke. "I can stay at your house?! Ash! Oh, thank you so much!!!"
Ash was still laughing softly. "Heh, your welcome. I'd love to...well, I mean, *we'd* love to have you stay with us."
"Thanks a lot!" Misty said, releasing him. "I...I really don't want to live with my sisters...you understand." She smiled weakly.
"Yeah, I do."
A nurse entered suddenly with a breakfast tray.
"Oh my...my...Ash, what about...clothes?!?" She didn't even look at her food. "I just realized that all I have are hospital clothes!!" She looked down at the blue and white thing she wore.
"Well...I'm sure we could work something out. Maybe your sisters could be useful after all...and loan you some clothes, just for when you leave the hospital and all. Unless you...want to wear your old clothes..." He took from a drawer by the wall a stack of folded fabric.
"What the— oh..." Misty took the clothes and unfolded them, holding out first a pair of shorts with suspenders. "Ugh...I...*wore* this?!" Ash laughed softly.
"And, yellow? Oh my gosh, I remember this shirt!! Ash, these are terrible!" She threw them into a wad on the bed. "I'm sorry you ever had to *look* at me wearing those!"
"Heh...I guess you aren't going to wear 'em, then."
Misty smiled. "I doubt they'd fit me anymore— so it wouldn't matter, anyway. They're out of the question." She finally eyed her food, and bit into a piece of toast. "Maybe my sisters *could* drop off something for me...if that's OK."
"Sure. I'll call them...the hospital will have their number."
"Whew...good. I don't even remember my own phone number, come to think of it."
They smiled at each other, and Misty finished her breakfast.
* * * *
Misty had never been so eager to finish up therapy. Everything that Dr. Johnson told her to do seemed like one more barrier that kept her from leaving.
"OK, Misty— we'll be done soon enough. But you *must* focus on your crunches for now."
Misty sighed. "Yeah." She was lying on the blue padded floor, attempting to do another crunch. She had done two, and she had been asked to do fifteen. This could take forever...
After Misty finished that, she was then instructed to sit with her arms back and her hands supporting her, and move her legs from side to side on the mat. Misty obeyed, finding the task amazingly difficult. She figured that when she had taken her fall, she had gotten injured fairly badly in her legs. It didn't help, either, that when she had healed, she had been unable to exercise them for years after that. Building up strength in them would be tough.
"Well, you're getting the hang of it," Dr. Johnson said, "but our time is over today. You're done."
"Ah!" Misty gasped happily. She was helped into her wheelchair.
* * * *
By the time Misty had gotten out of her bath, a nurse brought a bundle in to her.
"It's from your sister...she came by," the nurse told the towel-clad Misty.
"Oh— thanks."
These were, Misty realized, some of her sister's old clothes. They didn't *look* old or worn at all— her sisters went through fashions and fads like pet stores go through feeder goldfish. Many of their outfits were constantly being pushed to the back of the closet. Looking through the clothes in her hands, she knew that they were probably a year or two old, but they didn't look bad to Misty.
After browsing through the stack— a pair of jeans, a black skirt, a bright purple shirt, among other things— she decided on a blue floral spaghetti-strapped dress that came to her knees, with a little blue sweater to go over it. Misty liked it, and it seemed to fit her reasonably well, so she folded up the other clothes and had the nurse wheel her back to her room.
First thing she noticed upon entering her room was the look on Ash's face.
"Uhh..whoa, Misty, you look really nice!"
She had to giggle a little at this. "Heh, thank you, Ash."
Ash took a breath and, pulling his eyes away from Misty, looked down at a bag on the bed. "I...I put all your stuff in here, and..." he reached for her back pack, "this makes everything, I think."
"Yes, I think so. Thanks for doing that...so, when do we go?"
Ash gestured to the door. "Well, I called my mom, and she should be driving up anytime now."
"Oh... okay." She was quiet for a moment, but gathered enough courage to ask Ash a question. "Um...will you...brush my hair again? Please?"
Ash laughed softly. "Of course. I'd love to." He reached into the bag, and a moment later he withdrew a brush.
"So..." Ash said, taking Misty's hair in his hand and beginning to stroke through it, "you gonna miss this place at all?"
Misty was silent for a moment, then she said quietly, "Well, Ash, if three years of your life were wasted lying in this room...would you miss it?"
Ash shook his head. "I understand."
Misty looked up at Ash momentarily. "I'm sorry. It's just that I— I want to live again. I want to be myself, and that's not lying in a bed with people having to bathe me and care for me. I want to live my life..." She tried to force a smile.
Ash returned it. "And you will."
Another short silence. Then, setting the brush in the bag again, Ash looked to Misty. "Ready?"
"Yes."
"Well, Off we go."
* * * *
A car drove up to the hospital entrance, stopping before the two waiting figures.
"Here, I'll put your stuff in the trunk," Ash offered, taking Misty's things from the ground.
Ms. Ketchem emerged from the front seat, grinning as she caught sight of Misty.
"Hello, dear! My, aren't you looking nice!" She took hold of the wheelchair and pushed her up to the curb.
"Lemme help," Ash said, holding on to Misty's arm as she sat in the passenger seat.
Ash closed her door and hopped into the back as his mom sat down and started the car.
"We're so glad you're going to stay with us," Ms. Ketchem said. "I cleaned up the spare room and fixed it up just for you, and it's all ready to stay in."
"Great," Misty said as she watched the hospital grow smaller and smaller. "Thank you very much."
Ms. Ketchem giggled. "Oh, we're happy to have you, dear!
The drive was only about ten or fifteen minutes long, mostly through an expanse of open fields and several clumps of trees here and there.
"I biked through here everyday," Ash piped up from the back seat, "you know, to see you at the hospital."
"Really?" Misty asked, becoming impressed.
"Yeah. Mom needed the car to go to work so I had to bike."
"You work, Ms. Ketchem?" Misty asked.
"Oh, of course! I have to pay for things somehow."
"She works at the nursery now," Ash said, "you know how she's good with plants."
Ms. Ketchem beamed. "Heh, oh, I'm glad you'll get to see my garden, Misty. Not much is in bloom, I'm afraid, but the colors are still pretty. Ash even helped me plant some of it."
"Heh, yeah, the part that died," Ash said, turning slightly red.
"Well, at least Ashy tried," his mother admitted. Misty couldn't help but giggle.
They drove onto a residential road and passed a sign reading "Pallet Town Limits". They had arrived.
Nothing much seemed different since Misty had been here last. It was still a small little town, friendly and peaceful, with a hill sticking up in the distance with trees quite a bit of property behind it. That was Professor Oak's lab, the fame of Pallet Town.
They drove up another street and to a cozy little house with a white picket fence around it. There were gardens of flowers, bushes, and trees everywhere, and the grass was neat and trim Misty knew from memory that this was the Ketchem home.
"Here we are," Ms. Ketchem sang, stopping the car. "Don't you just love our garden?"
"Yes, it's gorgeous," said Misty truthfully as she gazed out the window.
Ash opened her door and, taking the wheelchair from the trunk and unfolding it, aided Misty as she sat in it. He pushed her through the gate and to the doorway, where Ms. Ketchem unlocked and opened the door.
The house was warm and cozy, like it looked to be from the outside. The front room, with a couch, a few chairs and a coffee table in the middle, looked soft and comfortable.
"We tried to move things around a little," Ms. Ketchem told Misty, "just so you can get around easier."
She was pushed by a fireplace and into the kitchen beyond. It was pastel and bright, the sun coming in through the over-sink window and illuminating the room. Misty remembered being here before...standing by this counter...sitting at this table...
They passed the staircase, where Ash's room was, and took Misty down a small hallway just beyond the kitchen with three doors and a table at the end of it.
"My room's at the end of the hall," Ms. Ketchem said, " and yours is right here."
Misty was guided into the first door on the right.
The room wasn't too big, but it was beautifully furnished. A canopy bed, with several pillows and purplish-pink sheets, lay in the center of the room. Across from that was a dresser with an oval mirror, and a draped window to the right.
"I hope you like it," Ms. Ketchem said. "I've always liked these sheets, but I've never had anyone to use them on, given that Ash obviously didn't want them." She giggled. "Actually, they were given to me as a gift and I never needed them until now."
Misty smiled, looking over her room. "Her" room. It felt good to think of it that way. "I love it," she said.
"Good," said Ms. Ketchem happily. "Now, I'll go fix some lunch for us, and Ash, you get her bags from the car." Ash nodded. "We'll be right back— make yourself at home." They left.
The room really was nice, Misty thought. She took the wheels of the wheelchair in her hands and found that she was able to roll herself forward.
She touched the comforter on the bed and moved to the window, drawing the drapes aside. She gazed out at the mountains beyond, reflected along with the bright sky in several large puddles in the garden outside the window.
Misty sighed contentedly. At that very moment, she felt as if she belonged.
_________________
...To Be Continued...
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