Love and Anger (Chapter Two)
Jenny thought as though she would lose her mind sitting in that small chair in that waiting room. Looking at her watch she saw that it had only been three hours since they wheeled Joy into x-ray and then into the operating room, yet to her it felt like forever. She kept getting up out of her seat to pace the room only to sit back down again and tap her foot nervously on the floor.
Reaching to her belt, Jenny grabbed two pokeballs and starred at them. She wished that the hospital didn't have their ridiculous 'No Pokemon' policy. Jenny knew Growlithe and Chansey would not be able to do much, but it would be comforting to just have someone else with her during this time.
Fortunately, the officer did not have to wait that much longer until the doctor stepped into the room and addressed her. "Officer Jenny, I'm Dr. Proctor."
Standing once again Jenny quickly asked the doctor, "How's Joy?"
Proctor could hear the worry in the officer's voice and spoke gently to her, "Her wound was more serious than we first thought. When the pokemon struck her in the chest, not only did it cause hair line fractures on three of her ribs, but also a tiny piece bone broke off and punctured her lung as well."
Jenny's eyes grew wide at the news she was hearing.
Seeing her reaction the doctor continued, "We had to operate on her to remove the bone and repair her lung. She's still unconscious but stable, and even though we'll have to keep her here for a while longer, I expect a full recovery."
This news made Jenny slightly less worried for her friend but it was not enough to calm her fears entirely.
"Can I see her?" she asked the doctor.
Proctor had an almost pained look on his face as he answered the officer's question, "I'm afraid hospital policy states that only a patient's relatives are allowed to see them during this stage in recovery."
Hearing this Jenny got angry all over again, almost as bad as she did when Cassidy had ordered Raticate to attack Joy.
Grabbing the doctor by his coat she became overwhelmed by her rage, "Listen! That woman maybe just a patient to you but she's the best friend I've ever had! I am her family dammit! Joy is my…my…"
Jenny knew exactly what she wanted to say but she could not force the words past her lips. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. It was probably because of those tears that she realized what she was doing, that and the look of fear on the doctor's face.
Shaking her head slightly, Jenny released her grip on doctor, took a step back, and wiped her eyes before the tears could come out. "I'm sorry I…I just care about Joy so much."
Proctor was more than a little startled by the blue haired woman's behavior, yet when he saw the look in her eyes it was clear that she was fighting to keep her true emotions in check.
The doctor then let out a sigh. He looked around to see if any other members of the hospitals staff were around, luckily it was the middle of the night and very few people worked at such late hours.
"Come on." The doctor said while motioning for Jenny to follow him down the hallway, "If you can keep it to yourself, I'll let you see her." He said with a small grin on his face.
Jenny looked at him with both shock and happiness in her eyes, "Thank you," was all that she could manage to say as she followed as the doctor led her to Joy.
The officer stepped into the room and felt the door being closed behind her. As she looked over at Joy, who was lying peacefully asleep in her hospital bed, and walked over to her side. Pulling over a nearby chair to sit by Joy's bedside, Jenny took Joy's hand in hers.
Taking a moment to simply look at Joy, The nurse had so many tubes running in and out of her arms to machines and an IV bag. Jenny felt sick seeing Joy in this condition. Yet she managed a small smile as she began speaking to lifelong friend.
"Hey Joy, it's me. I don't know if you can hear me but, when I was sitting in that waiting room, I thought of a few things I should tell you." She paused for a minute using all the strength she had not to cry.
"I hate seeing you like this Joy. You don't deserve this. When I…when I saw Raticate attack you…It was like I just saw a burst of red filled my eyes. All I could think about was that you were hurt and I wanted the person responsible to pay.
"I was scared Joy, first of losing you and then of myself. So much rage filled me in such a short amount of time. If it wasn't for Growlithe…I don't know if I would have stopped hurting that woman." Jenny looked down at her hands, one in her lap, the other wrapped around Joys.
A small, sad laugh escaped her lips as she continued, "It's so weird. I spend every day dealing with thieves, thugs, poachers, and every other bad guy out there and not matter what; I never lose my temper with them. I've seen people abusing their own pokemon and even other people and still I keep a level head so I can get the job done, yet the minute that you got hurt…I simply couldn't think clearly anymore. That's only happened once before. Do you remember Joy?"
She paused once more, taking her free hand to push a strand of Joy's hair out of the sleeping woman's face. "We were six, maybe seven, years old. I practically forced you to come with me to the park to play. Back then all you ever wanted to do was stay in a read; it was all I could do to get you to go outside for a while." Jenny giggled at the memory of young Joy's pouty face as she dragged her out of her house.
"But it wasn't that long until you were running around and laughing as much as I was. I still remember you sitting on that swing set yelling 'Push me higher Jenny, higher!', you had the cutest smile on your face.
"Then, suddenly, you shouted at me to stop and when I did you took off. I remember shouting at you to slow down but you kept running like a herd of Tauros was after you. Luckily it didn't take me long before I could see where you were running to.
"There was an injured Jolteon lying in the dirt on the far side of the park. It looked so frightened, like it had just lived through its worst nightmare. You were so young, nevertheless your natural nurse instincts kicked in.
"By the time I caught up with you, you've already pulled out a bandage and was putting is of the Jolteon's wound. It was so sweet how it responded by gently licking your hand." Jenny rubbed her thumb over Joy's hand as she said that.
"I was just standing behind you, watching you as worked to ease the pokemon's pain as much as you possibly could. I remember thinking how amazing you were. Then you looked at me and said that we should hurry and get it to your mom at the Pokemon Center. We had just put our hands under it to try and pick it up when he showed up."
Jenny stopped once more. Her anger was rising by simply remembering that boy. She squeezed Joy's hand a bit harder and continued with the story.
"He looked like he was about twice our age and it was clear that he was a pokemon trainer. His eyes were just starring hard at the two of us when he asked 'What do you little girls think you're doing with my pokemon?'
"I remember how pissed he looked and how confused I was as to why he was so mad and you looked just as confused as I was. 'If this Jolteon is yours than why is it just lying here when it's really hurt? Why haven't you brought it to the Pokemon Center to be treated yet?'
"I could hear the slight anger in your voice as you asked him that Joy. It was actually kind of shocking hearing you speak in that tone of voice. And what that little punk said next didn't do much to help improve either of our moods that much.
"'He lost the battle. Thought I'd leave it here for a bit, so it will learn to fight harder next time.'"
"The jerk said that so casually, I think it just made the both of us about twice as furious as we were. That's when I told the kid, 'You can't do that! It's your job to take care of your pokemon! You can't just leave it like that!'
"I'll never forget that sickening, smug, look on his face when he said, 'Right. Like you two little girls can tell me the right way to raise a pokemon.' Then he laughed at us. That idiot had no idea who he was dealing with, did he?
"When he went to pull out his pokeball to return the Jolteon to it, I remember being ready to jump and grab his arm when he did. Never in a million years would I have thought that you would beat me to it. I had never seen you as determined as you were when you lunged at the boy.
You held on to his arm and yelled at him at the top of your six year old lungs, 'Stop! Don't hurt Jolteon! You're nothing but a bully!' That is when the kid made his very worst mistake." A dark look came over Jenny's face at that moment.
"He threw you. He just threw you into the dirt. Just like he did with Jolteon, he threw you down and was completely fine with leaving you there. The creep didn't even take a second to glance over to see if you were hurt before he stepped over you.
"That's when I lost it. To be completely honest I almost forgot about the Jolteon. All I could think about was you lying on the ground, hurt, because of him.
"The one thing I don't remember about that day is exactly how I got on top of him. I seemed to just realize that I had my knees on his chest and punching him with everything I had…just like I did with Cassidy today. And just like Growlithe did a few hours ago, you stood up from the ground and grabbed my hand just as I was about to deliver another blow to creep.
"Even after all of that, your voice was so calm and gentle, 'Thank you for protecting Jolteon and me, Jenny. We need to get it to my mom now. Please?' That's when I looked down at the punk. He looked almost as bad as Jolteon did.
"As soon as I got off the kid, he took off faster than a Rapidash; I must have frightened him even more than I did myself. After I took a minute completely calm down, I looked over at you once more to make sure you weren't hurt, and then we both picked up Jolteon and brought it to the Pokemon Center."
Jenny looked intently at the nurse after she had finished recalling their childhood memory. "I'm always the caring police officer that does her job and never lets her tempter get the best of her. Then someone hurts my best friend and all I can think about is making them pay for it. Joy, I'm sorry, I really am. Ever since we were kids you've looked up to me, but I'm far from perfect. I'm sorry for not being the person you think I am.
By this time Jenny was openly crying. Leaning forward she put her head on top of her and Joy's joined hands. Holding the nurse's hand so tight it was like her life depended on it, and in a way it did.
Then a small, weak voice spoke up and startled Jenny, "Flareon."
Jenny sat straight up when she heard the voice. There were tear stains down both sides of her face as she looked to Joy, whose eyes were just barely open and staring at her.
"Huh?" she was so shocked to see the pink haired woman awake that was all she could manage to say.
"It was a Flareon not a Jolteon that we helped that day." Joy said with a small smile.
Jenny moved to wipe her face with her free hand then returned the smile she was being given and sat for just a second trying to remember.
"You're right it was a Flareon wasn't it." She said giggling at her mistake.
"Yes, you were very brave that day Jenny, just like you were today. There's nothing for you to be sorry for." Even though it was clear her body was still severely weak, Joy's eyes shined as bright as ever.
"There is though Joy. If I had kept my temper in check and got to you sooner then maybe you wouldn't be in as bad a shape as you are right now. I didn't even take the time to make sure you were okay before I got out of control. You deserve better than that Joy." With that Jenny's tears once again started to flow.
Joy squeezed Jenny's hand with all the strength she could in her weakened state. "Don't talk like that Jenny. You're the strongest person I've ever known and you're the best friend I could have ever asked for."
"But you deserve someone who can just be a friend to you Joy. Someone who won't worry about losing up your friendship by…by…" She couldn't continue the sobs wracking her body wouldn't let her.
"By what? Answer me please." Joy moved her hand out of Jenny's to wipe the other woman's tears with it. Her body winced at the sudden movement but she ignored it. She knew that Jenny needed her as much and she needed Jenny.
The officer placed her hand over Joy's again. She loved the feeling of Joy's hand gently cupping her face, but as much as she wanted to enjoy it, it only made what she was about to admit that much worse.
"…by loving you. I'm in love with you Joy. I have been since we were kids. You've always been the one to make me smile when I felt the lowest. You make me feel smart and beautiful merely by smiling at me. I…I wanted to tell you all of this so long ago but I just couldn't take the chance of you rejecting me. Please Joy, I know you don't share my feelings but please let me still be your friend. I can't imagine my life without you in it." Jenny's eyes were squeezed shut while more and more tears leaked out over hers and Joy's hands.
Joy's eyes widened at Jenny's confession, but it was not long before they softened. Her hand was still pressed to Jenny's face. Carefully, she moved her hand to place a lock of the officer's hair behind her ear.
Jenny was somewhat surprised by the gentleness Joy was showing her. She assumed Joy was only trying to be nice and let her down easy. That was, until she felt Joy's hand sliding down to her chin and forcing her head to move to look at her.
When she opened her eyes to comply with the nurse's nonverbal command, she was again surprised to see happiness in the other woman's eyes.
"I love you too Jenny." Joy said with a breathtaking smile.
This time it was Jenny's turn to let her eyes go wide with shock. Her mouth instantly went dry; she couldn't form words no matter her hard she tried.
"I love you Jenny," Joy repeated, "You've always been there when I need you the most. You were always so strong when I was weak. Just like I said earlier, I've always felt safe with you Jenny. Ever since we were children I knew that no matter what you could protect me. As much as it scares you to act like that, I know you would never hurt me or severely hurt anyone else. It makes me so happy knowing that I have you in my life. You're my best friend Jenny, but you are also the holder of my heart." This time it was Joy's eyes that started leaking tears.
The only thoughts that were going through both Jenny and Joy's minds were how each of them had waited so long to tell the other how the secret feelings they had kept to themselves. How long they had carried this secret, tucked it away in their hearts, never willing to let it out for fear of losing the one thing in the world they valued most. As they looked each other in the eye, they both let out a small giggle for how silly, as well as blind, as they had been all these years.
Then slowly and nervously, Jenny leaned down. The fear in her heart had vanished and now she was about to do something she had dreamed of doing for so long. She kissed Joy.
Joy kissed back immediately. They were both conveying in that kiss the genuine, pure feelings they shared.
When the two finally separated, they again looked at each other eyes and Jenny was the first to speak, "So now what Joy?" She had the most adorable look Joy had ever seen on her face as she asked her the question.
An idea entered Joy's mind at that moment. She motioned for Jenny to move back and little and when she did Joy slowly and a bit painfully moved herself to one side of the small hospital bed.
"Joy what are you doing? You shouldn't be moving yet!" Jenny had a slightly worried tone in her voice.
Joy had a warm smile on her face and a soft look in her eyes as she spoke her new lover, "Come here, lay by my. Keep me safe tonight."
With that Jenny lips grew into a smile as well. She moved slowly as to not hurt Joy. She lay on her side and curled into the beautiful pink haired woman.
Joy put her arm around Jenny as the officer laid her head on her shoulder and Jenny placed her hand lightly on Joy's stomach. They both looked deep into each other's eyes until they were overcome by sleep. Each dreaming of their new found love.