CHAPTER 6: What Happened?

"... She'll wake up soon, I was able to clean the wound before it was infected."

"Oh good! Thats great news, thanks Doc! But... what about Noctowl? And Alto?"

"Alto just had a concussion, nothing we couldn't deal with, but Noctowl, on the other hand..."

"Is she okay?"

"... If she makes it through the next couple of days, she'll be fine. But, by bringing our Serena all the way here with such a wound, well, it wore the poor girl right out."

"Okay, thanks Doc. I'll talk to you soon."

The sound of a door closing startles me awake, and I slowly open my eyes.

WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT GOODNESS IM BURNING!

"Serena, dear? Are you awake?" I turn to see a beautiful woman with orange-ish red-ish hair staring at me, concerned.

"Um, I'm fine... Who are you... exactly?" I inch farther away, till my back is against something.

The guard railing of a hospital bed...

"Oh, honey! I'm so sorry! My name is Delia Ketchum, I'm Ash's mother." She reaches a hand out, and i go to take it, but realize my arm is in a cast.

The events of the previous night rush back to me.

"Oh... OH! Noctowl! Alto! Ace! Where are they?" I spit out quickly.

"Your sister has Ace, Alto's recovering, as is Noctowl." She says calmly.

"I need to go see Alto!" I go to get up, but Delia gently pushes me back down.

"Okay okay! You lost a lot of blood, so you shouldn't be moving around to much. Wait here, I'll go grab a doctor." She goes to get up.

"Wait! Do you know what room Alto's in?" I ask sweetly.

"First floor, room 45F, now don't move, I'll be right back." As the door closes, i've already swung my feet off the side of the bed.

I hop onto the floor, then fall against the bed.

Ouch.

I slowly make my way towards the door, then open it slightly to see what or who might be on the other side.

A ways down the hallway, I see Delia talking to Hilary and a doctor, who's shaking his head.

Well screw you buddy, I'm going to see my friend whether you like it oooooor not!

I quickly sneak out, and down the opposite hallway, and into the elevator.

After a quick drop, i peek out again, and see a sign;

WEST WING -10F-43F-

-76F-44F- EAST WING

After making sure that theres nobody around, I quickly dart across the hall way to the door of 45F.

Taking a deep breath, I quickly open the door, hurry in, then close the door behind me.

Sighing in relief, I turn around to see... Misty and Ash, both sleeping in separate chairs on different sides of the bed.

I also see Alto, sleeping soundly in a little nest of pillows and sheets.

Smiling, I go to sit beside the bed when...

CLUNK!

I stub my toe on the table by the door, sending the plastic up that was on it tumbling to the ground.

I quickly pick it up and put it back on the table, when I'm thrown against the door.

"SERENA!" Ash cries into my shoulder.

"We thought... they wouldn't tell us anything or let us come see you or..." Misty sobs into my hair.

"Hey guys... hey..." Tears well up, and we all just stand there, just glad to be with one another again.

After a few minutes, I start to stagger a bit, so they walk me over to one of the chairs.

Ash sits in front of me, and Misty leans against the bed.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?" Misty asks gently.

"A bit lightheaded, but good. Almost normal, actually. Other than this wicked cut." I gesture to my arm, laughing.

"Cut?" Ash and Misty both ask, confused.

"Oh! You didn't know?" Now I'm confused.

"Like I said, Serena, they wouldn't tell us anything! All we knew is you were at the hospital, so we called your sister, I hope thats okay." Misty cringes, expecting a backlash.

"No, thats awesome! Thanks so much, I'm glad she's here. But, now. Story time! So, after you left..."

"... and thats how I got the cut! But, I'm not sure exactly how I got here..." I finish.

Ash goes to say something, but I see past him that Alto is just waking up.

"Purrr..." He purrs sorely.

"Hey sweetheart. How are ya feeling?" I crawl gently into bed with him, and he perks up.

"Hey you! Hey you!" He shouts, nestling against my neck.

"Hey you!" We all laugh as i stroke his back feathers.

We are just calming down when the door flies open.

"SERENA HARRIET FLORA! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE YOUR ROOM WITHOUT PERMISSION!" Hilary marches in.

Uh-oh. This isn't good.

"THE WHOLE DAMN HOSPITAL HAS BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU. ALSO, THEY'RE OUT OF COFFEE, AND ITS ALMOST LUNCHTIME. ARE YOU HUNGRY?"

We stare at each other for a few seconds, Misty, Ash, and Delia (whom I didn't see come in) stare in horror at whats about to unfold.

Hilary giggles, setting me off.

It takes us a long time to finally stop laughing, then she comes to the other side of the bed, and gently slaps me.

"What were you thinking? I was worried sick! First, I get a call from YOUR PokeGear, and it's some crying girl WHO ISN'T YOU, might i add,

saying that my little sister was rushed to emergency on the back of one of the BIGGEST NOCTOWLS EVER SEEN. Then, I get here, and poor

little Ace is shoved into my arms, shivering and afraid, and then I come upstairs to find you, and lo and behold, your not in your room?"

She sighs, kissing my head.

"Um... Sorry?" I giggle, and she smacks me again.

"Oh you will be. Dad will be here pretty soon, so you can deal with him."

"You called dad?" I ask, scared.

"Oh yeah, and he's scared, which is worse than him being mad, as I'm sure you know." She says, shaking her head.

"Oh Palkia... I'm to hungry to deal with this right now." I sigh, absentmindedly stroking Alto, who's fallen back asleep on my lap.

"I'll grab you a sandwich, i'll be right back." She walks out, and the door closes gently behind her.

I go to ask Delia about Noctowl, when I hear Hilary's panicked voice.

"Dad! Don't freak out, shes totally fi-"

The door flies open.

"SERENA HARRIET FLORA!"

It takes a couple minutes to calm him down, and I send everyone out of the room so he can cry.

And he does.

A LOT.

"I was so scared honey, Hills told me you were in 'stable condition'. Like, that could mean anything. I was just...

I cant... I cant lose... you to!" He sobs into my shoulder.

"Oh... Daddy... Trust me, whether you like it or not, I'm not going anywhere." I laugh/sob into his shoulder.

"Before you say anything else, Daddy, I have a favour to ask." I gently lift his face up, and he smiles weakly at me.

"Anything for you, baby girl. What do you need?"

About ten minutes later, we are standing outside another hospital room.

"Now, don't be alarmed, she is restrained, and doesn't look 100%, so be slow. She's been very vicious towards all the staff thats tried to

help her so far, so please stay back."

The doctor opens the door slowly, and i walk in, alone.

On a long, white hospital bed, is Noctowl, and she's facing away from the door.

And she's been CHAINED to the bed.

As i slowly walk up, she starts to ruffle her feathers, but she obviously cant move.

I rest my hand on her wing...

"Hey girl." She calms instantly, the sound of my voice familiar.

I walk slowly around to the other side of the bed, and her eyes go wide.

"Hey..." I say, tears starting to well up in my eyes.

Slowly, I stroke her forehead, and she starts to... purr?

I pull up a chair from the corner of the room, and sit beside her.

She had bandages wrapped all around her entire body, including one of her wings, which is strapped to her side. Her other wing is pinned under her.

I slowly undo the chain around her strapped wing, as it looks painful for her.

As soon as the chain comes off, she stands upright on the bed, and hops onto the floor, having slipped under the other chain.

"Hey! No! Time to rest!" I gently nudge her back to the bed, but she plops herself in the corner, and wont budge.

Sighing, I grab all the sheets and pillows and the blanket, and make a little nest for her, which she digs herself right into, and promptly falls asleep again, purring.

I stroke her forehead, then walk over to the door, and slip out.

"Miss, we asked you specifically not to take those restraints off." The doctor says angrily.

"Well, too late, i guess. Anyways, she will calm down for me, so no one goes in there unless I'm present, got it?" I shrug, then walk down the hallway before he can answer.

"Serena, where are you going?!" Dad asks, exasperated.

"I'm starving, and i heard that the cafeteria has chicken sandwiches."

"Oh good! Hilary's waiting for us!" He laughs.

We walk in, and see Hilary, Misty, Ash, and Delia all sitting at a booth.

As we walk up, i notice a familiar smell...

Oh great.

"Hey Serena! We got you your favorite! Mango Chicken!"

Authors Note;

Mango Chicken? Where have we seen that before? Haha! Anyways, surprisingly i got this done the same night as the 5th chapter, but i wanted to wait to post it till the next day, at least. So, enough about me! How are y'all enjoying this? I have some more ideas for people i want to introduce, but i want some opinions! Also, Delia Ketchum? My all time favourite character in all the pokemon shows, books, anime, movies, you name it! She was/still is SUCH AN UNDERRATED CHARACTER. So, leave some ideas for new pokemon, characters, or even plot lines! I'm open to ideas! So, Review! And i'll see y'all later!

~Austin