Uh...-hides in corner- Don't eat me for the lack of update last Friday...you see...THINGS happened...many things. And stuff. Yeah. –cough-

Okay, so I'm sitting on the computer goofing off when the phone rings. No cordless near me, so I must get the phone in the kitchen. For some really odd reason, the answering machine starts going off in the middle of the third ring, so I have to run to get it since it's halfway through the second ring.

So I'm running, and of course I don't see a chair in the dining room. WHAM my foot goes into the chair. I yell out obscenities and whatnot, and let the stupid answering machine get it. And it turns out to be a hang-up. Grrr.

This is no ordinary slamming-you-toe-into-the-wall-that-wasn't-there-before. Oh no, no, no. I can't even feel my three middle toes for about a half an hour. I could've sworn I'd broken them. I can't even walk on that foot for the rest of the night, so I hop on one leg to rest my foot in my bed and watch anime the rest of the night. ^.^

Now I can actually walk –gasp-, but I limp. Yeah, my new nickname is 'Gimpy'. :P There's a bruise the size of my palm near my toes, and one of them is all cut up for some reason. I need a wheelchair.

Okay...sorry if you're yawning now. ~.^ I just HAVE to bore you with stories about my feet. It's SO much more interesting than this next chapter!

Lindsey: Hey! Watch it, woman!

RainbowSerenity: Hey! Watch it, character! I control you, you know. I can make you...HAVE A BAD HAIR DAY!

L: O_O...eep!

That's more like it.

~Chapter Twenty-Three~

"Lindsey?"

I jumped at the sudden sound of Mom's voice and the IV pinched into my skin.

"Ow," I complained. What happened, what happened out there...

"It's...a long story..." I whispered, looking the other way. I didn't want anyone to know about this whole ordeal.

"We're not going anywhere," Mom replied.

I sighed. I guess if you were found in a forest unconscious with some head trauma that led into a coma for two weeks, people would want to know what happened to you.

"Okay," I sighed. "Well...I was...out galloping on Joker, bareback because---" I stopped and glanced at Steve, who was looking at the floor like it was his fault or something.

"Anyway," I continued, not wanting to mention the argument, and Steve looked back up in surprise. "I was led into this forest...or something. Joker stopped and...Kit was there too, somehow.

"So I'm off of Joker's back and I hear this...weird noise, kind of like it was singing but...in another language and then...I see..." I looked back at Steve, and I knew that he knew.

"Dragonair," he whispered.

Mom gasped and looked at Steve, then back at me. "Wha...what?" she stuttered.

I nodded slightly. "I'm...positive it was that same Dragonair Steve and I saw when we were younger...and Kit and Jo started to battle it, but it was too strong and then..."

I contemplated whether or not I should say that the Dragonair's horn pierced my heart. What if everyone took it the wrong way? It wasn't like the Dragon Pokemon was trying to kill me or something...completely the opposite, though I had no idea what it was really trying to do.

I couldn't put that in words, for whatever reason, so I just said I couldn't remember what happened and the next time I opened my eyes, I was here.

"Lindsey…" Steve started.

Mom was looking at me with both a horrified and curious look on her face. Dad wasn't really looking at me at all; he was staring at a point past my head.

"Lindsey, I'm going to ask you a very strange, serious question," Mom suddenly said, and took a deep breath. I noticed she took one of Dad's hands.

"Did that Dragonair try to...attack you?"

My eyes widened and I gasped, but my reaction was nothing compared to Steve's.

"WHAAAT?! How can you even ASK something like THAT?! That stupid Pokem---"

Steve was interrupted by my nod, and his mouth just dropped open some more.

"Yes," I whispered. "It...it did. It...pierced my heart, I think. And this...key…" I pulled the chain from under my hospital gown. "It was glowing this weird blue color." I dropped the key and started crying out at Mom. "Do you know what's going on? How did you know the Dragonair did that? How come you've never told me what this key opens, anyway? How—"

She and Dad just stood up. "Shhh," she comforted. "You need to rest. I'll get the doctor back in here. Don't overexert yourself."

"But Mom---" I started, even though she left the room.

~*~

It was another long, boring week before I was admitted out of the hospital. Ivy and Steve came to see me each day until I could leave---but Darrell didn't come once.

When it was finally the day I could go home, Steve and Ivy were walking alongside my wheelchair my nurse was pushing out to the car, where Mom and Dad were waiting.

"Do you guys have any idea where Darrell has been?" I asked.

Both of my friends looked at me and shrugged. "He hasn't come here to see you once as far as I know," Ivy answered.

"He hasn't," Steve confirmed. "Who the hell is he to just try to make you forget about us like this and then not even realize you were laying here in a freaking coma---"

"Steve, chill out," Ivy muttered, pinching his arm.

I was finally out of the hospital minutes later, and on the car ride home, Ivy complained that they had to go back to Johto---they would be pushing it to stay any longer.

"I can't even imagine all the stuff we've missed," she groaned, pushing some hair behind her ear.

"Oh, who cares?" Steve stuck out his tongue. "School can wait. At least we were here for Lindsey." He smiled and muttered under his breath, "Unlike some people I can think of..."

I sighed and stared out the window. Why didn't Darrell seem to care that I hadn't seen him in practically three weeks? Didn't he wonder where I was all this time? Didn't I mean anything to him? I had to...he wouldn't have kissed me the way he did for nothing.

I decided not to think about it anymore as we pulled up into the driveway. Joker, who had been grazing, looked up and trotted to the fence, putting his head over it and whinnying.

"He's missed you," Mom smiled, helping me out of the car. I walked to Jo and scratched an itchy spot on his forehead. He rubbed some lovely Ponta snot onto my T-shirt in return.

"I'm glad you're okay," I whispered. He lowered his head and Kit suddenly appeared and tumbled off.

"Kitsune," I murmured as he jumped over the fence and scurried up my shoulder. I turned to Ivy. "Thanks for taking care of them. They look great."

She smiled. "Of course. What are best friends for?"

"To use and abuse," I giggled, glancing at Steve, who raised an eyebrow as we all walked into the house.

Part of me was glad they were going back to Johto---the ferry was coming in about two hours, in fact. I could go to the beach tonight without worrying if Steve was going to creep up and ask Darrell where the heck he had been these past three weeks.

But then again, these were my best friends. How could I stand being away from them again, especially since I had ruined our weekend together? Yes, ruined---me not being able to wake up for two weeks and worrying everyone half to death would be considered as 'ruining the weekend'.

We all walked past the kitchen and I heard Mom on the phone, but I couldn't make out the words. She sounded a bit rushed, and even more so as she heard us walk past her. She quickly said goodbye to whoever she was talking to and rushed out in front of us.

"Lindsey," she panted, also eyeing Steve and Ivy. "I'll tell you all now, I guess. No point in hiding it...

"What?"

Mom's eyes were locked on the key, which wasn't tucked into my shirt as it normally was, but hanging out like any necklace.

"Lindsey...we're moving back to Johto."

~*~*~

-gasp- OH THE FREAKYNESS OF IT ALL!

Actually, the freakiness is that it's nine-o'clock on a Friday night and I'm typing this. I need a life. But then again, if I had a life, I wouldn't be able to write me lovely ficanoids, now would I? ^.~

Remember...you must bow to the Might God of the Flaming Donut Holes and review! Flaming Donut Holes god likes reviews. Don't ask me why. We don't have that kind of relationship.