It had been three hours, yet you lie awake, staring at the ceiling. The light had long since faded in the window, and now the only light in the room was coming from the telly. The way the light either dimmed or brightened and flashed on the walls was enough to distract your eyes as your mind wandered. You hadn't even tried to sleep, as you knew you wouldn't be able to. Some tugging anxiety even got you along the way, convincing you that even if you did sleep, you might be plagued with nightmares, just as Zoroark had been.
Dr. Andrews had come in earlier and given you a rundown. Your arm had looked kind of nasty, but they stitched you up and reassembled you as best they could. He warned that there would be some permanent scarring, but otherwise it should be healed up okay in about six to eight weeks. In the meantime you'd have to come back every now and again to get looked at and x-rayed. Zoroark had managed to completely dislocate your arm at the elbow and fracture the ulna, as well as tear a couple tendons as a result of the dislocation. He gave you a packet that instructed you on how to keep your cast clean and how to manage pain in the coming weeks.
In part, he seemed surprised that you'd been attacked at all like this, as pokemon in the wild tended to just want you away from them rather than taking the time to maul you like whatever had. And that was IF they were any shape or form of hostile at all. You neglected to mention that it was your own pokemon that caused this, as you didn't want to make this case any stranger than it already seemed to be. Pokemon attacking people like this hadn't happened in a looong time, and you weren't exactly thrilled to be a part of it. You just took the packet and were told you'd be discharged in the morning, as they wanted to make sure you hadn't gotten any underlying issues from the attack.
Bede was still with you. He was still sitting back in the chair next to you, but now facing the telly. He'd flipped channels to something at least bearable and watched it with you for a while before starting to nod off. Every now and again he'd lift his head to look around a little, but otherwise he was still. He was either mindlessly watching the telly, or trying desperately not to fall asleep.
"You should go home..." You whispered to him, trying not to startle him when breaking the silence.
"Huh..?" he drawled softly, his eyes flicking open just a little. You found yourself smiling slightly as he turned his face to you. His expression always seemed to have this scowl on it. You found it incredibly enduring, especially now. He looked cranky for being stirred, but you knew he wasn't.
"Go home," you repeated. "It's getting kind of late. Don't you have work tomorrow?" You watched him stretch his arms a little, flexing his wrists so they'd crackle and pop.
"Mmh, technically yes," he strained mid-stretch, then letting himself relax back into the chair. "But also no. I don't think Opal would mind it if I took a few days off."
"You don't have to."
"I know. I would just rather." he stated. Your voices had gone from a whisper to silent chatter, though you found yourself taking note of how nice Bede's voice sounded when it was this low and quiet. It sounded almost like a hushed growl in the otherwise silent room. It was the kind of voice that could lull you to sleep. His voice broke you out of your thoughts again.
"Speaking of home, what were your plans after this?"
"I didn't really have any. Just going home and resting my arm for the most part."
"Would you wanna stay at my place for a while?"
You blinked.
"Why?"
"So somebody can keep an eye on you. Someone like me." he answered, something like a smirk tugging at his lips. "That way I know you won't go running off to find Zoroark on your own." You audibly huffed at him.
"Hey, I can fare fine by myself." you challenged.
"Tch, oh that shows." Bede scoffed. "Where are we again?"
You grumbled something quietly to yourself, letting your eyes wander back to the telly again.
"But seriously though," he continued. "You'd have someone to watch you, make you food, give you an extra set of hands to get dressed and stuff. I imagine it wouldn't be easy being alone right now."
You supposed he was right. You didn't think through only having one arm to work with exactly. You also figured that eventually, having no partner at home would get to you. You swallowed.
"Arceus, six to eight weeks of nothing but you?" You joked after a minute.
"Hey, it won't be just me," he corrected. "I've got the team at home too." You smiled at that.
"I mean, if you wouldn't mind having me. That sounds like a good idea." you replied.
Bede let himself relax back into the chair again.
"But that's tomorrow. Tonight, you need to sleep."
"Weren't you going home?" you teased.
"Why? It almost sounds like you're trying to get rid of me," he smiled back at you finally, and it made you happy to see him smile again. "That said, no. I'm not leaving. It would be faster to stay here and take you straight to my place in the morning."
"What about clothes?" you asked. "I need to pack at least a little bit. And I should at least let the landlord know I won't be home for a while so rent doesn't pile up on me too much." Bede took a breath.
"I knew that," he said sheepishly.
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By the time Bede came back through the door you were already sitting up at the edge of the bed, excited to leave. He came in holding a plastic bag with a change of clothes and handed them to you. He himself had also changed out of his gym uniform, as he stopped at his house before going to yours. He was now adorning a zippered parka. A light pink one in particular covered in little Gengars as well as some stars and moons. You liked this parka, but you honestly missed his other one. That huge dark pink coat he used to have. Sadly, he'd grown out of it over the years. You were sure he still had it somewhere.
You stood up carefully. Your legs ached in response but you didn't really mind. You were just happy at this point to be standing up.
"Thank you, Bede." you smiled, untying the bag carefully with your good arm, you dumped the contents onto the bed. A pair of regular torn jeans fell out, as well as a black and white striped shirt. It was plain, but it would have to do until you'd settled at Bede's place. After you'd turned towards the bed, Bede had walked behind you. You straightened up a little, as the back of the gown you were wearing was a bit unforgiving. You really didn't want Bede to accidentally see too much of you, but regarding the fact that he was planning on helping you get dressed from this point on, it seemed kind of pointless to be anxious about it. He noticed this, as he held his arms up in surrender for a moment before going for the sling's strap at your shoulder.
"Relax," he'd said. "just getting this thing off you." He carefully scooped up the strap of the sling and with some help managed to get it over your head, the rest of the sling sliding carefully away from your arm. You smiled softly at the color of the cast. Pink. You felt a tug at the back of your gown and turned, making Bede let go.
"HO-ld on," you sputtered. Bede pulled back, stepping away with a little flush on his face. "I wanna see how far I can get by myself. I'll let you know if I need help, okay?" You didn't mean for the words to come off so harsh, but he seemed to understand. He turned himself around and faced the door.
"Alright, alright." he sighed, more to himself than you.
You reached back and pulled the string, feeling the knot come loose. It slid off with little problem. You wiggled your left arm just a little to get the sleeve off, making it ache a little in return. You'd taken medicine soon after the IV was taken out, but it sadly seemed to not cover all of the pain. You were still very sore around your elbow and shoulder, though thankfully, the gown came off no problem. So far it had seemed they let you keep on your original underwear and a sports bra you'd been wearing before. You guessed that made it easier at least.
The pants were easy enough to get on, though just a little more tricky than usual, as you had to alternate sides when pulling them up around your hips, then struggling to button them. You sighed and let it be. Bede could just help you with that after the shirt. As for that, you picked it up and found the hole for the left arm, sticking your cast carefully through it and pulling it up to your shoulder. Sticking your other arm in the other hole, you hoisted it over your head and stuck your head through, then pulled it down. Bingo, this was gonna be easy. You fidgeted again with the button for another second before giving up.
"Beeeede," you complained. Bede didn't turn around right away.
"Whaaaat?"
"Could you button my pants for me?"
"Do you have a shirt on?"
You blushed.
"Yeah, I got it on."
"Good," Bede turned himself around, looking down at you again. He wasn't that much taller than you, maybe by a couple inches, but compared to bed perspective before he seemed a little taller than you remembered. It was probably just your imagination. He dropped to a knee in front of you and reached for the button on your pants. For a moment, you couldn't take it seriously. It just looked so strange to you. You even noticed his face turn a light shade of pink as he grasped the button, trying to quickly get it done, as to get out of this weird situation. He fumbled for a moment from the weird angle before getting the button through.
"There," he finished, standing back up again. He then swiped your sling from the bed and helped you slip it back on. "Ready?"
"I think so," You looked behind you at the bed, hoping you weren't forgetting anything. Though you figured you'd only come with yourself really and didn't have much to forget. You looked back to Bede again before eagerly nodding. "Yeah, let's get outta here."
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You climbed carefully out of the Corviknight Taxi, stepping out into a bright sunny day. The towers atop the center of Hammerlocke castle loomed above you. At least to you, they seemed to beckon. Calling you within its protective walls no matter where you were. Being inside the town seemed comforting at times, like you were being protected. Others complained, at times, that the town felt a little intimidating. It was gym leader Raihan's residence, you supposed. But as far as you knew, it was home. You and Bede thanked the pilot, and Corviknight before walking around the corner, heading to the east and towards the Ferry station. Your apartment was the building closest to the stairs. When you arrived, Bede reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring of keys, handing them to you.
"Oh yeah, these are yours. The hospital gave them to me."
"Oh, thanks." you looked through the keys, finding yours and sticking it in the knob, giving it a good twist before pushing the door open.
You flicked on the light inside. Everything was just how you'd left it a couple days ago. Sure it was a tiny bit unkempt, but so was everyone else at that time. The layout inside each apartment was basically a carbon copy of the other. The main room was a pretty sizable living room with two couches, one on either wall, and a coffee table in the middle. At the opposite end of the room was a telly on a small table, and to the right of that, a fireplace in the corner. The pillows from the couch were still on the floor and there was still a half finished glass of water sitting on the coffee table. You apologized quietly for the mess, walking over and tossing the pillows back to their spots on the couches.
Bede mumbled something quietly back to you, his gaze lifting up to the walls. There were some shelves and pictures, some of them pictures you had taken with you from Unova. There was one of Opelucid City, one of Village Bridge, and one more of you, Zorua, Iris, and her Axew. There were a couple more that you had taken yourself in the Wild Area that he remembered you being quite proud of. His favorite though was a nice sizable picture you'd taken at Glimwood Tangle. You two had settled down to camp with Zorua, his team, and a couple wild pokemon that had come in to join in on curry. It was a nice group photo of everyone gathered around the cooking pot. He remembered you taking it, but he never remembered you actually framing it.
You'd wandered to the back door to the left of the telly and opened it up. Inside the door to the right was a set of stairs going up to the second floor. Up there was your kitchen, your bedroom, and your bathroom. You briskly climbed up the stairs, going through the kitchen and into your bedroom. There was a twin sized bed in the back corner, your dresser, and a small desk. It was all you really had room for, as most of the space upstairs was for the kitchen, though you couldn't complain. It was basically only you and Zoroark up to that point, so it never mattered. You paced to your bed and bent down, pulling out an empty suitcase and opening it on the bed. You then turned to your dresser and got to work, starting to pack for about two months worth of clothes, pills, toiletries, etc.. In the meantime, Bede slowly meandered in behind you, snooping at the things on the desk.
"It's a little quieter in here than I remember." he remarked after a while, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Yeah, well, no pokemon." you reminded him solemnly, shoving the last of the things you needed in and swinging the lid shut on the suitcase.
"Well, besides that," He huffed. "It just feels different."
"I know what you mean," you responded, "Maybe not in the way you're thinking, but to me it feels like it's been ages since I've been here. Like it should be a normal day where I come home to see Zorua, erm... Zoroark, and just spend the rest of my night making dinner and going to bed. Instead, I'm packing. It feels kind of surreal." You reached up and pulled the zipper on the suitcase, zipping it shut and carefully lifting it up off the bed with one arm. Bede stepped over and helped you gently lower it to the floor so you wouldn't drop it.
"Thanks," you uttered out softly, pulling the handle up and starting to roll it out of the room. As you went out the doorway, Bede turned back around and looked towards your bed. Snuggled into your pillow and almost hidden under the blankets was a plush he thought he remembered seeing before. He shuffled over and picked it up. Indeed, it was a little plush of a Zorua, but it was a little different from a normal Zorua. Instead of a red tuft of hair and feet, it had light blue instead. He debated catching you to ask if you wanted it, but figured you left it for a reason. He didn't really want to bother you with all this Zorua/Zoroark nonsense really. He wanted to keep you from stressing out, but to him it seemed you were already stressing yourself out enough. Being here was just bringing back memories. While it wasn't such a bad thing really, maybe it was right now. Against his own better judgement though, he just brought it with him, following you down the stairs just a few seconds later.
"Hey," he piped up, shutting the door to the stairs behind him. "You left this." he reached out to hand it to you. You'd stopped at the couch to make sure you had all your bearings about you. Looking up, you took the plush from him and looked it over.
"Aw...thank you." you smiled a little, kissing its little head.
"You don't have to bring it with you," he said, making you look up. "I-I just say that because I know you kind of don't want to think about all this right now so...I can go put it back."
"No, it's alright," you reassured him. "In fact." you shuffled over to the fireplace. There, there was a circular bed about a good size for even a human being to curl up comfortably in. You bent down and nestled the plush into one of the sides, having it's chin propped up on one of the edges. "She can wait right there for us to come back." you said, mostly to yourself than to Bede. He watched you quietly as you did so. He didn't make a face like he thought it was weird or stupid. He just seemed to put on a sympathetic smile, looking at the plush's cute and big eyes stare up at him from the bed. It was oddly enduring, and you'd thought so too.
"C'mon," you piped up eventually. "Let's get out of here. I kind of don't want to be here longer than I have to."
"Yeah, we shouldn't leave the taxi waiting." Bede agreed, coming to you as you shut off the lights.
You passed one more glance at your living room, taking one more breath and letting it out slowly and shutting the door, using the key to lock it up behind you. Quite literally, it felt like you were closing a door to this particular part of your life. You just silently hoped for a moment that someday, everything could go back to normal again.
But for now, it was off to Ballonlea.