False Hope (Pokémon)

Chapter 44

Day: Friday.

( Red's POV )

As I woke up, I realized I lay in a bed instead of against that tree. I must've fallen asleep against it, I couldn't remember anything after that. There were all kinds of things attached to me, medical stuff. I had never understood how doctors did what they did, and I didn't know any of the things that were gonna help me recover. The lights were out, but I saw some sunlight through the curtains. I tried to stand up, but I felt a screaming pain in my ribs. So I laid back.

Then the door opened. I tried to look who it was, but that involved me moving my ribs. What the heck had I done with my ribs anyway? The lights switched on. I just kept laying as still as I could. A nurse gave me some food and helped me to sit straight. It was embarrassing that she needed to feed me, but right now, I didn't have a choice. The door opened again. While I was still eating like a baby. I spilled half of it anyway.

The brunette in the doorway smiled awkwardly to the nurse, and sat down on a chair beside me.

"I've got other patients."the nurse said. "Miss, could you please feed your friend in my place?" Leaf faked a smile and nodded.

"Of course."she said after a while. The nurse thanked her by bowing. Then she walked away and got back to her work. Leaf changed the direction of my neck, so that I looked at her. What she didn't realize was that it hurt like hell. But I said nothing. She picked up the fork and gave me some food, gesturing I should open my mouth. I slowly opened my mouth, hesitating a bit. It was even more uncomfortable now that Leaf did it. She opened her own mouth and said, "Look, I know that we haven't been on the best terms lately. And I know that that's my fault. I just... I wanted to thank you for what you did back in Vien Forest." She bit her lip.

"You don't need to thank me."I said softly. "I did what I always do. I can say I hate you, but I won't ever mean it. I love you. And I'm afraid that's never going to change. But I'll be able to get over the fact that you aren't in love with me. By the way, Gary really is a stupid asshole. Tell him that for me. The stupid asshole almost got himself killed."

"Let's not talk about Gary right now, okay?"Leaf asked. Dammit! I was already thinking of how beautiful Leaf was. Those thoughts should be banned. Leaf wasn't ever gonna like me, I shouldn't pretend like she was. I should be happy for her and Gary. I had been so wrong about Gary. He might be an idiot, but he wasn't pretending to love Leaf. He was honest.

"Why not?"I asked annoyed. "What's wrong with talking about Gary? I don't remember you having problems with talking about Gary before." Leaf looked away, at the wall.

"I know our friendship will never be like it used to be, but I do want to try to get it that strong again."Leaf said carefully.

"No, Leaf."I stated. "We won't go back to the way it used to be, and we won't try to. The only thing we can do is move forward, and see where our relationship will lead to in the future." Leaf looked at the ground. Then she shook her head a little and smiled again. Her fake smiles looked so real, but I could still tell the difference. I had known Leaf for long enough to know when she was faking something. She picked up the fork to give me another bite, when I held her arm to stop her. I screamed on the inside, but tried not to show any sign of it on the outside.

"W-what?"Leaf said, a bit taken away by my action. Don't you want to eat?

"I know now this might seem as something impossible."I said slowly. "That we can only be friends in the way it used to be, but we both changed. I don't want to turn my back on a change. I'll have to embrace the fact that I'm different now. You should too." It took an inhuman control in me not to scream. Leaf's other hand touched mine. Her hands were warm, in comparison with my cold hand. She carefully placed my hand back to where it lay on the blanket. Inside, I sighed out of relief. Outside, I didn't change emotion, not even a little.