Obsidian and Plum: Unlikely Events

Chapter 8 - A trainer's quandary

"Ash honey? I'm going shopping now..." Delia called up to her son.

Ash was in his bedroom, standing by his dresser in his underwear and trying to decide what to wear, he rolled his eyes at his mother, sighing as she continued.

"...Are you quite sure you wouldn't like me to get you anything that isn't on my list already?"

"I'm good mum, really!" Ash replied for the umpteenth time.

Choosing one of his new tracksuits, he walked back to his bed – a slight limp was apparent as he walked across the floor. He sat down on the edge of his mattress to get dressed.

Ash looked healthy now, apart from a fading yellow bruise on his right cheekbone – which was actually a new development involving the stairs.

Ash still suffered the occasional shooting pains and aches in his right leg, and there was a visible scar where the bone had broken through the skin – and where the surgeons had made the incision to realign and mend the bone. They had also fixed a metal rod in there somehow. The good two-inch scar was a permanent reminder of his accident, and the raised line of healed skin across his shin was still very red in colouration – even now, eight weeks after his operation. The scar didn't bother him at all, and Ash had laughed at airport security when he'd set off the metal detectors and told Pikachu he was a metal type now.

Ash looked at Pikachu with exasperation as his mother's voice reached his room once again. Pikachu just shrugged.

"Well okay, but please be careful on the stairs honey." Her voice was filled with worry and concern, and Ash knew she was remembering his small mishap coming down them two weeks ago.

It was about six weeks after his operation, and his first week home when it had happened. He'd been coming down the stairs carefully on his own, having already proved to his mother that he was more than capable. He'd already refused to let his mum move his bed into the living room because he wanted to sleep in his actual bedroom.... Well, he'd been on the last few steps when a sharp pain had taken him by surprise. He'd been unable to bear weight on his leg for a few seconds, had panicked and grabbed the hand rail, and had managed to collide his face with the newel post at the bottom. Being far more embarrassed than actually hurt – with a purple eye and cheek bone, his mom had almost won the argument that he should sleep downstairs... Almost!

Ash pulled the black t-shirt over his head and down to his waist, then sorted his tracksuit bottoms ready to put them on one leg at a time. "Will do mum, don't worry!" Ash replied, he knew better then to argue.

Delia called goodbye to her son, and Ash sighed in relief when he heard the door close.

"You know, Pikachu? I love mum, I do! But I'm nineteen! I'm fine now. I wish she'd stop smothering me."

Pikachu just nodded in agreement to support his trainer, and watched as Ash pulled up his tracksuit bottoms and finished getting dressed.

His leg didn't hurt all the time, and he had limitations that he had to get used to, but he refused to let that stop him. The doctors had told him that he had to start small, gradually rebuild the muscles in his leg, but no matter how much time past, there was always the chance that his leg would never return to normal.

It had been a painfully slow and tedious process, arduous too, but the physiotherapist had been rather impressed with his willpower and determination. She'd also said that he never knew when to stop and admit defeat, that he'd tried to run before he could walk. He'd been bored being confined to a bed, dependent on someone else for nearly everything, and embarrassed when he needed help with certain needs. He'd been desperate to get his life back, so he'd worked hard and pushed himself to get up and work through the pain. It was his body!