Heart of Steel [Pokémon Fanfiction]

44| Remains of the Halved

"Sweetie, are you listening?"

   "Hm?" I looked up, my eyes lazily focusing on the nurse standing in front of me. Her bright pink uniform and short, dark hair stood out against the stark whiteness of the examination room. Behind her, a blue-uniformed officer waited by the door, keeping watch.

   "I was saying that you need to use the crutch for a week or so until your bones finish healing. Heal Pulse isn't the end-all-be-all for injuries," she said in a sweet, polite voice. "Even then, you should stay off your leg as much as you can. The same applies to your arm. It needs to stay in the sling for around the same amount of time. But if you really want to hear my personal suggestion on what you should do, it'd probably be for the best if you took a week to relax and heal to minimize your chances of hurting yourself again."

   I nodded once before looking back down at the white short-sleeved shirt I now wore. My shirt and pants had been all but ruined by my fall down Mt. Pyre, and I had been provided with a new shirt and hospital scrub pants by the nurse who had been attending to me.

   "Th-thank you. I'll try to take your advice," I said simply. The nurse helped me to my feet, handing me the crutch I was to use. After gaining balance and steadying myself, I was escorted out of the room by the officer, who was carrying my satchel.

   Minutes after Meteor and I said our final goodbyes, a small platoon of police officers descended the cliff we had fallen down. Meteor's body had been taken away, and I was airlifted to the Cascade General Hospital in Lilycove City. There, I was treated for my injuries with the same Heal Pulse method Liam had used on me and had to stay there for the day along with the following night so the doctors could make sure that I was "okay," at least in the physical aspect.

   Faye, Wallace, and Winona spent every last second of every visiting hour with me while I was bedridden. Through them I learned that nearly all of the Insurgents present on Mt. Pyre had been apprehended, including Valerie. There was no doubt that she would be convicted for several accounts of murder in the first-degree coupled with so many other crimes. Imprisoned for life or perhaps worse... I would have felt some minimal amount of pity for her if she weren't such an abhorrent, despicable person.

   After some swift interrogation, some of the arrested Insurgents revealed that my dad was being held prisoner in Rustboro City. Luckily, the police were able to rescue him. He was being escorted to Lilycove, and from the last update I heard, he had just passed through Fortree. That gave me a bit of joy. I couldn't wait to see him again.

   There were several officers stationed in the waiting area as well, guarding every possible entrance and exit. At that moment I had no pride to speak of, so I didn't mind the frankly overkill amount of extra security. Besides them, the room was very much empty aside from my friends who were waiting for me in a sun-lit corner.