Beep.
Cold, dark...
Beep.
Chelsea's eyes fluttered open, she blinked several times. No one.
Beep.
No one was... there? Where was "there" anyway?
Beep.
Then came the irritating stench, hospital. Chelsea knew. They all were the same, especially the awful smells associated with them. Obviously, she had hurt herself during her little... trip through the mines. It was her fault, she didn't bother to listen, again, and just jumped head first into something she knew nothing about. In her defense, Sabrina never told her about the floor just collapsing like that. Really, that's kind of a detail worth mentioning, especially for a beginner.
Chelsea couldn't bear to feel ill-will towards Sabrina though, it wasn't her fault that Chelsea hadn't listened to Will when he tried explaining excavating to her. And it certainly wasn't her fault that Chelsea wasn't been paying attention to where she was going when she first walked into the mines. Chelsea's only real question, where was this hospital?
Using her elbows, she lifted herself up from the laying position she was previously in. With a sigh, she plopped out of bed to look out her window. The cold tile floors sent shivers up her spine almost as if someone put an ice cube down her shirt. Hospital gowns really needed to be warmer, this was just ridiculous.
Her steps were light and delicate, but she made it to the window. The moon was out in the center of the sky, so it had to be late. Chelsea leaned against the window pane, and let her back slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. It was times like these where she realized how lonely she really was, usually she'd have Persia to talk to, or snuggle on, or both. Persia wasn't here, Chelsea was alone.
"Why hello there!" An awfully cheerful woman said while flicking on the light switch near the door. Chelsea jumped, Goddess that surprised her. The cheery woman's blue skirt dragged on the floor as her heels clicked towards Chelsea. "Need a hand?" she inquired, while extending one of her own. The other held a small wooden clipboard. Quite thankfully, Chelsea accepted the hand and the lovely nurse pulled her to her feet.
"I'm Chelsea," Chelsea stated blatantly, "Thank you very much," The nurse giggled at Chelsea's frankness.
"I'm Elli, do you know where you are?" Chelsea shook her head no, so Elli elaborated, "That was quite a tumble you took in those mines, and when we got the call we were happy to take you in for awhile,"
"In where?" Chelsea questioned, not fully understanding what Elli was talking about.
"The Mineral Town Clinic, but I was getting there," Elli paused, and considered for a second why her patient was not in bed, but she supposed that didn't matter at the moment, "When you fell through that hole, you hit your head pretty good, apparently. You would not believe the frantic call that I got from your friend Will, he was just up in arms about you,"
Chelsea nodded. So Will was the one who got her out of there...
"Well Elli, do you know when I'll be allowed to leave?" Elli checked her clipboard, simultaneously adding a few notes and scribbles here and there.
"It looks like the doctor wants to do a few more tests on you," Elli started as she flicked back her chestnut hair, "After that, you should be free to go,"
"Alright," Chelsea replied, flipping her bangs out of her eyes. It was a real pain to not have her bandanna. "How long do you think that'd take?"
"It'll be later today," Elli said, "Way later. It's only two am."
Chelsea was surprised by how late it was, "How long have I been out?"
"You've been incapacitated for almost eleven hours," Elli responded, glancing at her clipboard to verify.
Eleven hours? Chelsea was disappointed, she'd lost out on an entire afternoon's worth of mining, and now her sleep schedule would be messed up.
"Elli," Chelsea questioned, a thought occurring to her, "Why are you here so early in the morning?"
"I live at this hospital with the doctor. Your heart-rate sky rocketed after you woke up, and my pager notified me. So here we are," Elli said with a laugh, whipping her arms in a small circle to illustrate "here".
"Now, because it's obvious you're doing better, I'm going to leave you to get some sleep, myself included,"
"Wait!" Chelsea interjected. Elli paused, and turned her attention back towards Chelsea.
...
"I don't know if I can pay for this hospital visit," Chelsea whispered shamefully, "See, I'm in a little bit of fina-"
"Oh, honey don't worry about it!" Elli said sweetly, "You're stay has been paid in full, in advance,"
"By who?" Chelsea asked.
"That Will boy, he said he felt responsible for your accident. He went all "I've never injured a maiden, before," on me," Elli shrugged.
"Ah, thank you," Chelsea said quietly, walking back to her bed, "Sorry I woke you,"
"Oh honey, that's my job," with that, Elli left, flicking off the lights as she went. Chelsea could hear her footsteps clicking on the linoleum tiles the entire length of the hallway, then silence.
After a few brief minutes, sleep claimed Chelsea. Her last coherent thoughts were 'I'll have to remember to thank him'.
XxX
"One more test of your reflexes, and you're good to go," smiled the doctor, who had introduced himself as Trent. Chelsea smiled back as she sat on the checkup table, watching Trent dig through his doctor-tools. With a grunt, he pulled out a small hammer and told Chelsea to sit still. Gently, he tapped under her knee cap. Without any consciously exerted effort from Chelsea, her knee kicked forward. Then he did the same with her opposite leg.
"Your reflexes seem to be just fine," Trent commented.
"Does that mean I can go now?" Chelsea really was tired of staying in hospitals, being there was depressing and reminded her that she didn't have anyone who particularly cared about her. Or at least, cared enough to be there when she woke up. Well, excluding Elli, but that didn't really count, now did it? It was her job to be there when the patient woke up.
Trent nodded, "Elli should have your regular clothes all washed up for you in the front, then you're free to leave,"
Ah, her clothes. Chelsea was starting to really miss her bandanna. As soon as the doctor was finished giving her the standard "please be more careful with yourself" speech, Chelsea bolted and changed into her ranching clothes in the bathroom at the clinic. But, how exactly, was she supposed to get home? Chelsea figured she'd ask Elli.
"Elli?" Chelsea called, searching for the nurse in the clinic, when someone caught her eye,
"...Sabrina?" Chelsea questioned, in shock. What was Sabrina doing here? And that French braid really looked cute on her, but as Chelsea recalled, that wasn't how Sabrina usually styled her hair...
"E-excuse me?" Sabrina asked, in a much mousier tone than she'd used before, "Have we met?"
"Have we met? Are you crazy, Sabrina, we met the other day," Chelsea said with a puzzled look on her face, taking a few steps towards the ebony-haired girl.
"I'm sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else..." the Sabrina look-alike said, while pointing her fingers together in a nervous habit.
"Whoa, well then you look just like someone I know," Chelsea said while scratching the back of her head.
"Is there a problem?" a cheerful voice asked whilst walking into the room carrying a stack of paperwork, one that Chelsea recognized as Elli's. "Oh, Chelsea, has the doctor authorized your discharge?" Chelsea nodded yes.
"I see," Elli continued, "Well, there's a ferry service that runs once a week that should be able to take you back to the Sunshine Islands. That boat leaves every Friday, so tomorrow morning," turning away from Chelsea, Elli started talking to the Sabrina-look-alike.
"Mary," the brunette said, "Here to pick up your medication?"
"Ah, yes," Mary replied quietly, almost hiding behind her large glasses. Elli dug for the prescription bottle from behind the counter, filled it, and gave it to Mary. After that, the onyx-eyed beauty left.
"You're still here?" Elli asked Chelsea. Hadn't she been discharged already?
"Um, yeah. Where am I supposed to stay for an entire day waiting for this boat service in the morning?"
"There's an inn that shouldn't be too expensive to stay at, and it's right down the road," Elli stated.
Chelsea blinked. She really had to stay here for another night? She would definitely be lonely now. Bidding Elli adieu, Chelsea left the clinic to find the inn where she would stay the night.
XxX
Sorry this chapter is kinda shortish and filler-y, but it's essential to the overall plot. I'm sorry! At least you know Chelsea is okay. I've never actually played FoMT or MfoMT, so I'm really sorry if I wrote anything wrong. Thank you so much for reading! Any and all reviews will be replied to with a review of my own on your work. Have a great day!