The blue...
There was blue once…
Grey, now…
Just grey…
A ragged form lay under white cotton sheets, and an onlooker might have thought that a nurse had forgotten to pull the sheet over her head, to cover that gaunt, too-old face, that face which must belong to a corpse, were it not for the small noises that were the only signs of life – but the source of those sounds might have malfunctioned, after all. A tall machine by the bedside reduced all the complex workings of her body to numbers, and a monotonous beeping punctuated each moment. On a glass of water resting on the adjacent table, a small drop lazily jittered its way towards the cool wood and caught the dim light of morning seeping in through half-closed curtains.
The window peered through the cloth like a narrowed eye – perhaps the eye of some flying creature, a bird which was not a bird at all but still died like one. Died in the blue.
But that's silly, of course.
There were no eyes left.
"Lizzie!" a boy cried, racing towards the small blue bulb. The wings of the plant's savior cast blasts of wind which ruffled her stiff leaves as she pumped her stubby legs across the cold rock towards her trainer. She jumped into his waiting arms, and he pressed her against his cheek as the leaves scratched his face.
His eyes snapped open at the sound of the first scream, and both he and his Pokémon cast their gazes sharply to the dark shape in the sky. His eye caught movement, and he suddenly realized that a shadow was shooting towards the water. He took a step forward before stopping. There was nothing he could do.
He heard several voices around him shouting commands, but he simply stroked his partner's cool blue skin absently and tracked the shape's dive, feeling the euphoria of a few moments ago sinking with the girl and stunned horror taking its place.
There was nothing he could do.
In the distance, the faint keening of sirens grew steadily towards a wail.
The mechanical beeping began to increase pace. A young auburn-haired man in a pale green uniform pulled open the door and entered, walking quickly towards the bed with a large smile revealing clean white teeth. He set a glass of cold water on the bedside table and checked the IV.
"Hey there, sweetheart. Can you hear me?"
He looked at the girl for any reaction, but there was none. He knew that she would soon wake, though, and it was always easier for patients in her condition to wake with someone close by.
"Aw, come on, sweetie. You're almost there. Just open your eyes. It's okay."
His smile grew at the faint twitch in her cheek.
"Come on. Time to wake up."
A jarring shuddered through her body as her shoulder, and then her skull, collided with the cold. Pain rocketed through her mind like a flare, but she had already drifted away to a place no flares could reach.
Her chest convulsed, and then a deeper, more primal agony washed into her along with the water that tried to fill her lungs. Her mind continued to send panicked distress signals – 'Hey, now might be a good time to start swimming!' – but her mind had apparently decided to call in all of its vacation time and hit the road – 'The number you have reached is not available. Please try again later.'
As the blue, that of reality long before the empty blue of her broken mind, surrounded her, her chest convulsed again.
Her sunken eyelids slowly drifted open, and tortured eyes fixed on him. Her cracked lips opened slightly, as though trying to remember words.
He coughed suddenly as her hand lashed out and struck him high in the stomach, and, as his left hand tried to hold her away, the right shot towards his pager.
Water spattered against the coarse sand as the two young paramedics gently raised each side of her soaked, unconscious body in turn. A few slightly denser sounds rose and then withered in the breeze as the drops hit the bright plastic. After securing the two sides together, the medics gently lifted the stretcher and began the steady march towards the large vehicle, the smooth white of which was pulsating with ripples of color from the bar of light mounted atop, waiting on the road.
As they loaded her onto the gurney, a sharp cry drew their attention. A small shape darted towards the ambulance only to be blocked by one of the medics.
"Easy! Stay back!" The young man raised his head and motioned for an officer to approach. "Do you have an ID on the patient yet? And does anyone know if this Bulbasaur belongs to her?"
The officer held up a black backpack, its front crossed with white stenciled designs, and spoke in a quick, clear voice.
"This is confirmed as belonging to the patient, who has been identified as Jayde Mallik of Pallet by the Pokédex in the front pocket. She does indeed possess a Bulbasaur, and we can assume that this Pokémon is the one." The young woman gave a quick sigh of exasperation at the speak-more-quickly motion of the medic as the gurney was loaded into the ambulance. "The Bulbasaur will be delivered to the hospital shortly, and her emergency contacts will be notified," she said, picking up the struggling Grass-type.
"Thank you, officer," the young man said in a slightly impatient tone.
The siren began whining as the doors slammed shut, and it soon swallowed the creature's cries.
Footsteps pounded on the linoleum outside the glass doors. The response team could see the nurse dodging the patient's wild blows and trying to calm her, but she continued her hysterical assault.
There was a violent, tinkling crash as one of the girl's fists struck the glass on the bedside table and sent it flying to hit the floor next to the pale walls, and behind this noise and the frantic beeping of the heart monitor they could hear the tinny sounds of her screams.
"Damn it, she's not waking up! Her head injuries weren't bad enough to cause this. Do we have any more information on what happened to her?"
A young raven-haired man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but all we know at this point is that she fell some five hundred feet into water. If it weren't for those Pokémon, her injuries would have been much more severe, possibly fatal. There's evidence of slight asphyxiation, but not to the extent that it would result in her current condition."
"Damn it! We'll have to hope for the best. In the meantime, monitor her. Notify me if she shows any signs of waking."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Doctor!"
"Give me one-point-five mills midazolam! Secure her arm and reinsert that IV!"
These words were shouted to be heard over her shrieks.
There was blue and she heard something there heard something in the blue and it followed her it followed her to the grey followed followed followed what did she what was there she heard what
(think)
did she hear she heard in the blue what
(think of the)
what what what did she what did she hear
Her screaming, oh god, her screaming. She sounded as though she were being put through a meat grinder one finger and toe at a time. He shied his face away reflexively as her hand shot by, and he quickly reached his own to grab her wrist. Her back was arching off of the bed as she fought them, but she clearly wasn't aware. Her eyes bulged and rolled, and he prayed that he would never know what they were seeing.
The screaming.
screaming yes she was screaming in the blue but what what did she hear over them over her screams she screamed so loudly but what did she
(chil-)
what did she hear oh god what did
(think of the)
WHAT DID SHE HEAROHGODWHAT
(think of the children think)
SHE HEARD IT IN THE BLUE BUT IT FOLLOWED HERWHATWHATWASIT
(THINK OF THE CHILDREN THINK OF THE CHILDREN OF THE)
WHATDIDSHE
(THINKOFTHECHILDRENTHINKOFTHECHILDRENTHINKTHINKTHINK)
Her blows came fewer and more weakly as the drug took effect. Her eyes still stared wildly at the ceiling, but whatever torment was in them was slowly sinking back into the vault of her mind. Her voice faltered and then wound down into a low, animalistic whine before cutting off completely.
the grey the grey was back blocked the grey blocked the words but her heart knew them her thoughts slipped away oh god the words what did she
(think)
Sorry for the delay, guys! I had another chapter set up as Chapter 12, but then this chapter occurred to me just as I was about to post it.
The next chapter will still be up on Friday, but after that I'll be going back to a weekly update on Fridays - exams are coming up, so I can't devote as much time to writing. At the end of this month, though, I'll probably move back to twice a week.
As always, thank you for reading and for any feedback! Stay awesome!