First Faith

Chapter 2: Diagnosis

Chapter 2: Diagnosis

Ten minutes later, Salamence was lying on a very large gurney and Dawn and I were in the waiting room, sitting rigidly against the comfy chairs. The man was talking to Nurse Joy. I let him do the talking, something I wasn't used to. I was used to do everything myself. Too numb from what had happened, it didn't seem to matter for once.

A few minutes later, the man walked up to me, his Espeon right next to his side, "I'm sorry your Salamence is hurt."

I looked up at him. I wasn't good at socializing on a normal day, so thinking of something to say to this stranger now seemed impossible. Dawn sensed my inability to socialize and riled up her chipper spirit, "Thank you so much for helping us."

"Anytime. My name is John by the way." He held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Dawn and this is Paul and Piplup." Dawn shook hands with him and Piplup waved. I did the same, somehow managing to make eye contact.

"Don't worry, your Salamence will be fine." John said.

"There's really no real way to tell that." I said. I'd never liked optimism.

John shrugged, "It wasn't by chance I felt like taking a walk in the middle of nowhere this morning. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have seen you fall. It was really weird too..."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"Well, I didn't notice until Salamence started roaring, but it looked like something invisible was shaking him in the air almost."

My mind filtered back to those gusts of wind. They were impossible. In those sky conditions, it was out of the question for that kind of force to exist. Not only that, but right before hitting the ground, air had blown us up, steadying Salamence. It was impossible for air currents to rise upward only feet from the ground with the force to keep a bulky Dragon type and two humans in the air. Absolutely, undeniably impossible.

"I guess God saved you guys." John said, "So really, you'll all be fine."

I stared at him.

"I need to get going, but I'll be back to check on your Salamence tomorrow."

"We may not be here that long." I said, sounding colder than I wanted to.

He looked like he wanted to pat me on the head reassuringly, "I'm sure you want your Salamence to get some rest. You seem very close to your Pokemon."

I decided not to reply.

"I'll be here tomorrow." He repeated.

"You don't need to do that." I tried not to sound exasperated.

"I really want to make sure he's ok." John said gently, "It's no problem."

"Thank you so much." Dawn stepped closer to me as if sensing I'd snap, "It means a lot."

"Nice meeting you two." John waved before turning and walking towards the exit, his Espeon trotting nimbly beside him.

"He's so nice." Dawn said.

I didn't say anything.

"You ok?" A hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"I'm going to check on Salamence." I said, walking away, letting her hand fall off. Part of me wanted to turn back and correct my mistake, but I was too set on priorities to even consider that option.