SO.

We're just going to pretend like I haven't been completely absent for an extended period of time. I'm not going to offer any very valid but unconvincing reasons for my hiatus, and you're not going to complain about how I disappeared again.

Ok?

Ok.

ALSO- Did I ever name the female trainer? I can't be bothered to look back through to find out, but I can't for the life of me remember. PM me or leave a comment if you know.

"So do it."

"What? No." The young male nurse frowned at the thought, his confusion evident by his facial expression as he unfolded his arms and stared at where the anthropomorphic female was seated. "I aleady told you that there was no reason for me to do any further tests. I also told you that you're completely healthy and that we can check you out with some medication that should ameliorate your symptoms. Most patients that I have come through here would be more than happy to go about their day- well, night in this case- with the understanding that they were fine." He jammed his hands into the pockets of his white labcoat. "So, and I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way," he began after a brief pause, finding her eyes after realizing that his gaze had dropped to the floor, "What exactly is your problem?"

Amber had also uncrossed her arms at some point, and she was staring at the nurse. The impression that Jay got was that she thought he was a total idiot, but damn if he could figure out why. "Look," she said pointedly, her tone beginning to evince how frustrated she was getting with the Joy sibling. She hopped up off of the table, standing and walking over to where he was, leaving about a half of a foot of space between the two. "You don't get to ask me what my problem is when you can't seem to figure out your own issue. You're supposed to help me, aren't you?" Jay's head tilted at the emphasis she placed on the word 'help'. "So stop washing your hands-" she grabbed his left hand with her right " like you're done here, and help me."

Jay's eyes went wide when she grabbed his hand. He looked down at the link that she had just created between the two of them, and then back up at her. Something changed in his facial expression; an emotion that Amber couldn't quite place because it wasn't one that she was expecting. "Amber," he said quietly, his voice distant. His eyes gazed deeply into hers, which caused her eyes to widen as well. Had she finally gotten through to him? The nurse raised his right hand to the left cheek of the Growlithe anthro, which caused her already hot skin to warm even further, a tint of rouge added to the skin under the thin layer of fur. Jay leaned in closer to her. Amber's heart fluttered. Was he about to kiss her? Her eyes closed.

"You're practically burning up!"

Amber's eyes snapped open. She realized that she had been leaning closer to the nurse, and that her lips had puckered. He looked at her strangely for a second, and then pulled away from her and crossed the room, leaving her behind him near the sink.

"Stay right here, I'll be back in a second," Jay promised, producing the key from his coat and unlocking the door, stepping through it, before closing and locking it again. Thus, Amber was left alone in the room. She hadn't budged since her eyes had closed, minus having retracted her lips so she wasn't preparing for a kiss from Casper. Her eye twitched, and she turned her head to stare at the door.

"What the fuck is wrong with that idiot," she muttered to herself, her hands going to her hips. "Did he think that I was just going to kiss him, just like that? Hah!" She smiled triumphantly, and then looked around to see that she was the only one in the room. Her smile fell and her ears drooped. There was no sense guarding her pride when no one was there. He had just made a fool out of her, and once he got back, she was sure to make him understand that it was not going to happen again.

Amber's teeth grinded and she fought the urge to spew flames at the closed and locked door, managing to tell herself to wait at least until he got back to begin unleashing her rage upon him. No one turned her down, especially… well, especially in her time of need. A shudder at the thought that she needed him, and then another frown. Had his rejection of her really changed her opinion of him that drastically that quickly? Her arms folded and she fell backward into her rolly chair in defeat, leaning her head back and issuing a small sigh, eyes closing once more. She had no idea. All she knew was that she was going to kill him, and that she might be in love with him. Maybe she would ask his charred remains if bipolarity is a symptom of her heat, or if she was just insane.

Or both.

Jay stood outside of the door, his heart pounding in his ears and his eyes the size of dinner plates. He stared blankly at the floor, his body seemingly incapable of movement. Had he managed to get through the door before he had begun having a complete panic attack…? He thought so, but there was no way for him to be certain. She had leaned in to kiss him and he had brushed past her and locked her in an exam room alone without more than a few words. What the hell was going on? The graveyard shift was supposed to be nothing but one or two weird nocturnal trainers and their equally weird Pokemon, and maybe an exhausted traveler in need of a place to stay for the night. Not crazy hot girls his age coming onto him in his exam room.

Heh. Hot. In more than one way.

As Jay snickered at his accidental pun, it occurred to him that he hadn't breathed in a while and that he was about to pass out. He exhaled a sigh and then filled his lungs, eyes raising from the floor to the hallway ahead of him as he begun thinking about what he should do. He said that Amber was burning up or something- which, to be fair, she actually was. Her body temperature was significantly higher than even a fire type's should be, even in heat. But, if she was as embarrassed by the entire situation as he was, then it made sense for her to be blushing and thus feel a little hot to the touch. Or if she was preparing to douse him in flames. Which, at this point, he determined was equally likely. So what should he do so that he could return to the exam room without looking like he had just run out of the room reflexively and out of sheer terror?

As he walked, he resolved to confide in Rose what had happened, and get her take on what he needed to do. He set a course for the room where he knew the Zoroark's trainer to have been assigned, and his pace quickened from a walk to a speed walk, maybe a little more. He figured the longer that he waited to address what had happened, the worse the situation was going to get. The distance between the two points closed rapidly, and out of his periphery he saw the examination room where he knew Jess to be taking care of the dark type Pokemon that had come in earlier with the blonde girl.

He stopped in his tracks, turning to face the door and knocking on it. There was some quiet commotion going on behind the door, but everything fell silent at the sound of his knocking. "Nurse Jessica," he said in his most official-sounding tone of voice, puffing out his chest to fit the character. "Is everything going alright in there? I was informed that there was some degree of difficutly with the treatment of the Zoroark from earlier, and I was hoping that I could have a word with you to give my professional opinion," he lied loudly with the intent to get her to come outside so that he could get her opinion as well.

Several uncomfortable seconds of silence ensued, and Jay's posture returned to normal as he waited for his sister's response. After what felt like way too long to think about the question that he had proposed, he got an answer: "N—no, that won't be necessary Jay. I've, uh, got everything covered in here," she said in a pitch higher than he had expected and a bit more frantic as well. What the hell was going on in there?

"Are you alright in there? The Zoroark isn't holding you hostage or anything, is he?" He laughed a very fake and very professional sounding laugh loud enough to be heard through the door, and then it quickly faded as he recognized that it might actually be a possibility based on how she was acting. It reminded him of some kind of crime show. What was actually going on in there that it was taking so damn long to treat what should be a pretty routine incident?

"What? No. Are you fucking stupid?"

"…"

"We're just—I'm making sure—" A sigh of frustration from behind the closed door. Jay noticed at that point that the door was locked electronically from the outside. Who could have locked them in…? His thoughts drifted to Rose. Maybe she was pranking them, or something? It didn't seem like the best time to be playing a trick on the Pokemon nurse, but he supposed that anything was possible. The thought of foul play again entered his mind, but his train of thought was derailed by Jess speaking to him again: "Look, Thor is going through some… emotional stuff with his accident, and that can't be treated so quickly. This kind of thing takes time and compassion, which you seem to be lacking if you can't understand that. Can you just give us some privacy to, uh, work this out?"

Jay's eyes narrowed at the door. He wasn't so naïve that he didn't know something else was going on, but he didn't have the time or frankly the energy to discern what was going on in Jess's convoluted life at the moment. And if she was hell-bent on making sure that he didn't find out, maybe it was for the better that he didn't find out.

"Okay, well… This door apparently locked somehow when you closed it. I'm going to unlock it for you, so whenever you're, uh, done in there, you won't be trapped. Just… come find me whenever you're through, alright? There's something important that I need to tell you, but it's concerning another patient so I don't want to yell it through a closed door, for confidentiality reasons."

"Okay, bye," he heard almost immediately, and very dismissively.

Jay's eyes narrowed at the door. He thought for a moment and then turned and walked away, leaving the door locked. "Bitch," he murmured under his breath, stuffing his fists into his coat pockets and continuing to where Rose would be found. Apparently he wasn't the only one with some interesting things happening, and he intended to get the scoop from someone about what exactly it was—be it Jess, Rose, or Violet.

While silently wondering to himself what was going on with his sister, he made it to the closed door of the room where Rose and the other girl would be found, and he went to simultaneously knock on and open the door, only to find that this door was locked as well. This was odd to him, because typically the staff only locked a door when treatment was taking place. Had the girl been injured as well? Or was something else abnormal happening, this time with arguably the most trustworthy of Jay's associates?

Yes, may I help you, JJ? The sound coming from inside of his head caught him offguard, interrupting his thoughts and causing him to blink a few times. I'm currently preoccupied with a wellness check with the young trainer from earlier. If you could come back in a short while, I'm sure that I would be able to assist you with whatever it is that you need. Jay's eyebrows raised at the way that she was talking. It was unusually formal, and he had to assume that it was because what he was hearing was also heard by the trainer in the room with Rose.

"Well, it's actually rather important. Could you come out here for a moment, please?" Silence ensued shortly thereafter, and after a few moments the door was audibly unlocked and opened to reveal Rose standing in the doorway. The door remained open for only a second before closing behind her; Jay didn't get to see inside. For all he knew, she was completely alone in there, and just wanted some time to herself. Not that he believed that to be the case, but it was a little strange that she was so intent on keeping the door closed.

So? She prompted him, raising her eyebrows at him and folding her arms underneath her bust.

Jay quickly and quietly told her everything that had happened since Amber had arrived at the Center, supplementing the details that he couldn't recall crystal clear with flashes of his memories, putting all of his experiences since the Anthro had shown up in the forefront of his mind for easy access by the psychic type. Rose nodded silently along with him, and once Jay stopped talking she had an amused smile on her lips.

"What are you smiling about?"

Rose shook her head, still smiling. JJ, you are just so damn innocent that it's adorable, she informed him, clearly still amused. Jay was unsure if he should be frustrated or embarrassed, so he was both. She obviously has a crush on you, and because she's in heat she was led to act upon it. She wasn't acting strangely, she just… has a sexual desire for you. Jay blinked. In other words, you were about to get laid. I don't know why you're reacting in such a melodramatic fashion; most guys your age would kill to be in your position.

Another blink from the nurse. "But if she was making sexual advances toward me, isn't it literally in the handbook for me to turn them down? I'm fairly certain it's considered unethical for me to take advantage of a patient like that, especially one who isn't entirely sure of her actions. You said it yourself, she was only coming onto me because she's in heat."

Rose's face reddened at the thought of what Jess had done, was doing, and what Rose herself was probably about to do. She cleared her throat uncomfortably, which was odd considering she didn't have to verbalize to speak. Well… Sometimes situations arise in which it is perfectly acceptable for a medical professional to venture outside of the traditional bounds of their field to associate with a patient, she said carefully and methodically. She rubbed her arm awkwardly. I think that you're in one such case. You're young, you're curious. Make some mistakes, have fun. Don't be so stuffy, she said with a mischievous grin, giving him a gentle jab in the arm.

Jay searched her eyes, mulling over what he had just heard. What she was saying sounded fine, but he wasn't sure if it was too good to be true. Surely no one else would take advice like that… would they? All at once Jay snapped back into focus and his eyes narrowed. "Have you said something similar like that to Jess recently?"

Rose paled and her smile faded. Jay's nose wrinkled in disgust. I have to return to my own business now, she told him quickly, giving him a brief hug. Jay nodded and then realized that it was all too likely that she was taking her own advice.

"You aren't-" he was silenced by Rose putting a finger to his lips, looking at him harshly, and then opening the door once again and disappearing behind it. The sound of the door locking was heard, and that was the end of that conversation. Leaving Jay staring at the door in front of him in horror.

At the same time though, that was all the convincing that he needed to go back in there with Amber and finish his own patient's 'treatment'. Jay's chest felt heavy as he began walking back in the direction from which he had come, fearing that their respectable Pokemon center had quickly turned into a brothel in one night. Did that make him a whore? He pushed the thought away, cringing, and tried to focus on what to say to Amber once he got back in the room with her. His mind was blank for several moments before he sparked an idea, and veered off of his path.

I was going to write more, but I have actual work I need to get done tonight, so you're going to have to wait until next chapter to find out what happens between Jay and Amber. Or maybe between Jess and Thor. Or maybe between Rose and Jesus Christ what the fuck is her name.

Tune in next time!