Valerie's footsteps echoed off the walls of the relatively empty hallway of the hospital. She followed a nurse through the building as she watched other nurses - some being Pokemon, such as Chansey and Audino - make their way up and down the hall to administer medication and check on patients. The nurse that Valerie continued to follow had requested that she follow her to Luke's room. She was told that her brother gave little response to being spoken to and even when told that he had recovered enough to be released from the hospital, albeit with assistance for some time. Valerie did not like the sound of it either, but there was very little that could be done.
The nurse stopped at a door to the right of them, and knocked as a general courtesy before opening the door. Valerie's eyes laid upon the almost lifeless presence of her brother. His physical state had recovered somewhat, but he did little more than breathe silently and blink. Even when his sister called his name, he looked over to her slowly. His facial expression did not change.
"Wow," the nurse whispered. "That's the most we've gotten out of him during the last few days." It was unsure if Luke had heard her or not, but it was dubious that it would have mattered. Valerie walked over to him tenderly and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Don't you want to go home? Back to Jubilife?" she asked. He responded by looking down and away from her. She began to rub his back gently. "We can go back home, now."
Luke's lips parted to speak. His voice was raspy, likely from lack of use. "It doesn't matter. I'll go wherever you take me."
He found himself wrapped between his sister's arms, and felt her chin rest on his shoulder. For a short time, he heard nothing but an apologetic whisper from Valerie. Before he decided to raise his arms to return her embrace, she pulled back and gave the faintest of smiles. Valerie planted her feet on the ground and grabbed each of his hands with hers as one of the nurses brought the crutches near the bed where Luke sat.
He begrudgingly allowed Valerie to help him stand. He had gotten out of bed to practice walking for a short time each day, but ultimately he had not regained enough strength to walk on his own for more than several minutes without taking some of the weight off his feet. Luke took a crutch under each arm and proceeded to follow the nurse out of the room while his sister walked beside him. She occasionally glanced at him, feeling guilty although she would not have been able to change the outcome had she been there.
After being led through the hall and past a set of double doors, the siblings found themselves in the lobby that Valerie had been waiting in moments before. While she was confirming the release information with the receptionist, Luke noticed a set of eyes on him. He rotated his head to see a child half his age quickly look away. The boy's father, who sat next to him, looked down at the boy and then up at Luke.
Luke found it difficult to discern what the man was thinking or feeling, but it seemed less than sympathetic. His gaze seemed to be offering a warning; not to threaten him, but to be wary.
"Luke?" His sister's voice snapped him out of the trance and he looked back to her. She continued, "It's time to go. I've got your Poke Balls and everything else you had on you, so we can get going."
He nodded. As Valerie lugged a bag in one hand and placed a guiding hand on his left shoulder, Luke turned one more time to see if the man or the child were watching, and neither were. He began to hobble toward the automatic doors leading out of the hospital. All he could think of was getting away from people.
A/N: This is a smaller chapter, as I'm sure you've noticed, but I wanted to make sure I continued to update even if I'm behind so that uploads do not become sporadic just for the sake of having longer chapters. Chapters likely will not be this short but they also may not be as long as the previous two. Thank you again for reading.