Courtney sighed heavily as she pulled another shard of broken glass out of Maxie's wrist. She'd worked for the temperamental Magma leader for long enough to know not to even bother saying anything. Instead, she worked methodically – picking out the broken pieces, sterilizing the wounds with neat alcohol and tightly winding bandages around the injured hand.
Maxie had stubbornly refused every one of her pleas that he go to the hospital and get sewn up by a professional and had even refused any kind of painkiller, instead sitting awkwardly at the edge of the sofa gritting his teeth, digging the nails of his uninjured hand into the palm and breathing in sharp gasps as his long-suffering admin patched him up.
She hadn't bothered to ask any questions when she'd come in to find him cursing and snarling, clutching his bleeding right hand to his chest. She'd seen the news report on the TV in her own room: the cocky, good-looking Galar gym leader grinning widely, arm around a shyly smiling brunette girl. Presumably the same report had something to do with why Maxie had punched his fist through the TV screen. Of course Courtney had recognized the girl immediately – she'd even fought her a couple of times. It didn't mean there was any chance of him talking to her about it, though. There had only been one time in all these years that Maxie had been drunk enough to break down and unburden himself to Courtney about how he felt, and he had never done so again.
It was so frustrating. Maxie had people right here who were willing to give anything for him. People who loved him more than he'd ever understand – and yet he continued to fixate on May, and she would never understand why. May who had practically destroyed everything they'd worked so hard to build. May who had carefully avoided Maxie for an entire six months after they'd dealt with Groudon. And, most importantly, May who'd left Hoenn entirely after the whole meteorite incident and hadn't looked back since.
And now it seemed May had made an entirely new start in Galar, beaming with happiness in some selfie or other with that ridiculously good-looking dragon trainer who never seemed to be out of the gossip magazines and social media lately. She'd moved on, and pretty conclusively, it seemed. Why hadn't Maxie? It was ridiculous to still be this obsessed with someone he hadn't even seen in years. She could hardly blame May either. He wasn't Courtney's type at all, but she couldn't exactly say she didn't see his appeal – ridiculously toned abs barely hidden under his sportswear; long, tanned limbs; white teeth flashing in a wide smile and turquoise eyes half-closed yet still focused on the camera's lens. Maybe SHE should get herself a nice gym leader or someone like that to squeeze at night instead of continuing to dote on an embittered old alcoholic who would literally never love her the way she loved him.
She pulled the bandage unnecessarily tight as she stewed to herself. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was time for Courtney to move on too, just like almost everyone else had. She was still young and cute. She could probably pull someone equally as hot as that dragon guy, and that too would serve Maxie right. It wasn't as if, after all these years of dedication, he was going to suddenly start appreciating her.
Later that evening, sat alone as usual in her room, cross-legged on her bed, she finally did something she knew she should have done years ago. She pulled out her tablet, logged on to Plenty of Magikarp, created a profile and hit send.