Chapter 5-December 22
Delia stretched and opened her eyes to strange surroundings. There was no alarm clock on the bedside table, no bedside table, and no frilly curtains. It took her a second to realize where she was. She hurriedly got dressed in the bathroom and hearing Samuel snore gently from the couch, she covered him with a quilt and headed downstairs to listen to the radio. It seemed dark down in the lab, even with the lights on, so she reached out to pull back the curtains on the window to find that snow had drifted and piled high against the side of the building.
Poké-poké, ring-ring-ring.
"Hello."
"Mom?"
"Ash dear, how are you?"
"Pretty good. When I didn't get an answer at home I called the lab. What are you doing there?"
"Sam…er, Professor Oak hurt himself and I'm helping out at the lab."
"Oh. Well, I just called to say that we're flying back in a few days."
"You might have to postpone that dear."
"What do you mean."
"Pallet Town's in the middle of a blizzard."
Ash gave a resounding sigh. "Alright, I'll tell everyone."
"Don't look so down. Just think of it as an extra long vacation."
He immediately perked up. "Yeah, you're right. Bye, mom. Oh, and give my best to Professor Oak."
"Bye dear. Don't forget to wear clean underwear."
"Mom!"
Delia hung up the phone and headed upstairs to give Samuel the news. As a second thought she went back and brought the radio upstairs with her. She shook Samuel's shoulder and he slowly came awake.
"Get up, you sleepy-head. Ash just called to say they would be home soon and I told him to postpone the flight."
"I hope they enjoy their extra time. I'll make sure and work them extra hard when they get back."
"I know you're not that mean."
"You know me too well, Delia."
"By the way, Ash sends his best. I'd better get breakfast started."
"You spoil me Delia. What am I going to do when this blizzard blows over and you go back home?"
"I guess I'll just have to teach you to cook for yourself."
He laughed at the thought but stopped when he saw how his hand had become stiff, hard, and pewter gray. "Oh, no."
Delia came over and saw it too. All she could do was reiterate his comment.
"Oh, no is right. It looks like I'll be doing all the work today. You need to rest. I'm going to have to pick your brain from time to time, though."
"Fine." He covered his face with his good hand. There was no point in arguing with her when he could see how his condition was worsening.
!ELDERSHIPPING!
Delia sat down in the lab, bent over a microscope and his laptop. She could faintly hear the radio from upstairs, but otherwise it was eerily quiet. She looked over at the stairs and felt suddenly lonely. She realized she craved Samuel's company, even in his present condition. So she gathered everything and trudged upstairs.
"What are you doing up here?"
"It's too quiet down there. Besides, I can always use your help."
She set up the microscope on the coffee table and plunked down in front of the couch. Samuel smiled. He could tell that she was, in actuality, lonely. As was he. Samuel sat back and opened the book he had been reading and then closed it and looked back down at Delia. It was then that he realized what she was wearing and decided she looked really good in one of his lab coats.
!ELDERSHIPPING!
It was eight o'clock. Delia rubbed her eyes. Ugh! I'm not getting anywhere with this. The answer is right there in front of me. I just know it.
She stretched her arms along the length of the couch and tipped her head back to lean against Samuel's knee. Closing her eyes for a few seconds she felt something wrap around her hand. She picked her head up and saw that Samuel had grasped her hand in his good one. She glanced at his face and found he was still asleep. The radio was still playing in the background.
I want you close, I want you near
I can't help but listen, but I don't want to hear
Hear that voice again
I want to be with you, I want to be clear
But each time I try, it's the voice I hear
I hear that voice again.
That was Peter Gabriel and That Voice Again. This is Samantha, your late night deejay for PPKM. I love that song; makes me kinda think of forbidden love or losing out on love…
Delia looked at Samuel's peaceful face and could feel something squeeze in her chest as her stomach turned cartwheels. "I know how that feels."
His lips moved and she scooted closer to hear what he was saying. "Delia…sweet Delia…"
He snored again and she smiled sweetly. He was dreaming of her.
"Please don't…"
She leaned close to him and held his hand to her cheek while she whispered quietly to him. "Don't what?"
He sighed in his sleep. "…Don't leave me, Delia."
She smiled again and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry."
He smiled in his sleep and she gently extricated her hand from his. She rubbed her eyes and headed downstairs to hopefully think. While she was down there she let a Geodude and a Squirtle out of their pokéballs. She gave them each a berry to eat. As she watched them, an idea came to her. She rolled it around her head a few times and then smacked her forehead.
"How could I be so dumb? Uh…you two should get back in your balls."
The two pokémon looked at each other, bemused, and shrugged their shoulders as they flashed back into their balls. Delia, meanwhile, had rushed upstairs and finished putting all her data into Samuel's laptop. She ran a few experiments on it and each time found the same answer; it was possible. She hurried back downstairs with the laptop under her arm. Throwing on her coat she tried to shove her feet in her snow boots. That's how Mimie found her when he came downstairs, hopping around on one foot while she tried to put her boot on the other.
"Mime my-mime, mimie (Where are you going)?"
"I need to run home fast, Mimie. I think I've found a way to help Samuel."
"Mimie?" A strange smile flashed across the pokémon's usually chipper face.
"Oh, hush you perverted little thing!"
"Mime!"
Charmeleon flashed from his ball. "Char!"
"Good idea Mimie. Come on Charmeleon."
Delia cracked the door and the Charmeleon stuck his head out and melted the snow.
"Thanks again Mimie!" With a slam, Delia was gone.
"Mime (Humans)." Mimie shook his head and headed back upstairs to keep and eye on Professor Oak.
!ELDERSHIPPING!
Delia hunched over as she followed behind Charmeleon. Luckily she didn't have very far to go. She sniffled as she entered the greenhouse behind her home.
Oh dear. I hope I don't come down with something.
She gathered a few things and headed back behind Charmeleon, his tail lighting the way back to the lab. When she got there she fed Charmeleon as payment for his help and rummaged around the lab shelves gathering the rest of what she needed.
"Mime?"
"Oh, good. Mimie, I'm going to need your help."
"My-mime (Why me)?"
She slipped on one of Samuel's lab coats and rolled up the sleeves. "Well, Samuel's incapacitated and you're the only other one here."
"Mimie mime-mime (Stupid dumb luck)."
"First thing in need you to do is…" She scrunched up her face and rubbed under her nose. Not being able to hold it in any longer she let out a resounding sneeze.
"Ah-choo! Sniff! Find me some tissues."
!ELDERSHIPPING!
For the rest of the night she mixed, tested and retested. It took a while but she had only one mishap and that was when the antidote she had mixed up reacted violently with the Kabuto oil and exploded the microscope.
"I guess I'm going to have to pay Samuel back for that."
"Mime (Duh)."
When she was absolutely sure she had found the cure she took the Kabuto fossil off the shelf and carefully unwrapped it. She found a diamond tipped needle for giving rock pokémon shots.
"Now for the true test." She carefully injected under what she hoped was the Kabuto's shell, six milliliters of her antidote.
