The memory of the sun warming my face is rather surreal. It was like suddenly realizing that you can breath. I felt the sun everyday but that morning, well, something about it felt pretty nice. I felt nice that day or maybe I felt lighter. When I realized that I was awake, I wanted to be awake. I wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to. . . I just wanted. I wasn't sure what I wanted but I wanted. I stretched and breathed in deeply. I felt a pinch on my arm before I realized I still had the IV. Ugh. That's a pain but. . . wait. . . I smelled something.
"Aaaah Cooo." said an Audino that was walking toward me with a meal tray. I smiled brightly as I saw his apron. "Oh, hello Maxwell."
It was nice to see a friendly face.
Maxwell flashed me a smile back and set the tray down on the stand then swiveled that table over my lap. "Is the oatmeal?" I asked my friendly audino. Maxwell tilted his head in confusion and pulled a notebook out of his apron.
It had my name on the page he showed me. It seemed like that was my meal plan for the day. Wiki curry with chesto berry slices on top. Sliced oran berries drizzled with pecha sauce. Apricot juice with oran peels. One slice of pan fried oinkologne.
"Thank you for the wonderful lunch, Maxwell!" I exclaimed.
I didn't get meat often and I hadn't asked for any when Nurse Carmine had made my meals. It felt a little strange since I wasn't sure what sort of meat to ask for. Was it ok to say I wanted a tauros burger? When I thought about Carmine, I realized something important. I didn't wake up from a nightmare this morning. I didn't feel drained either. On the contrary, I felt refreshed. Oh wait. . .
"Hey Maxwell. Is my meal plan still the same in the folder. I mean, can I expect to keep eating the same meals as before? Is today just special?" The cheerful pokemon made a yuck face and shook his head in a definite 'no' then patted his apron where he had put his notepad.
It seemed like Maxwell had the authority to change my meals. I wondered at how strange it was to give an animal authority over my meals but he was also the only nurse that made sure I did my exercises. It wasn't much but I had been glad for the exercise before my umm coma? Was there a name for it when you passed out a few days randomly?
I stared at the IV as I enjoyed my meal. I chewed slowly and enjoyed each bite and sip. Each item had a wonderful flavor.
Had Carmine's food tasted this good? Didn't Carmine tell me that I had been asleep for weeks? Why didn't I have an IV in before?
I wasn't able to finish my plate despite how delicious the food had been. I ended up poking food around and just enjoying the scent of the plate for a while. I was too full for even more juice.
I remember being really hungry last time. Didn't the nurse have to take the food away from me last time? What did I eat that day?
My thoughts were interrupted by the chiming that was audino's voice. He had a nurse with him. He pointed to her, smiled and patted me on the head before taking my lunch tray and busying himself with clean up. The nurse fumbled with the line of my IV as she tried to pinch and remove the line. She didn't seem familiar with the IV at all so to save myself and her a lot of discomfort, I opted to remove the line myself.
I was used to doing this in my old world. Once I hit forty-five, I was constantly in and out of the hospital. I loved to learn and constantly had new nurses practicing on me. I wasn't the type to yell at the folks just trying to do their job but it get's old after a while and I was old and losing patients with the severely incompetent people they kept sending into my room.
This nurse seemed like the more incompetent sort. Once I had handled the line. She just stood there in shock so I made the mistake of trying to get out of bed on my own. I fell right into the nurse who thankfully caught me. That was embarrassing. She helped me with gentle words of encouragement all the way to the huge tub.
This was very different from the norm. None of the nurses had said anything to me during my stay. Maxwell was the only one that bothered to talk to me and he couldn't even speak like people. . . The nurse had a really kind look on her face. I guess she was new. Yeah. She must be new and not so jaded as the others that have been here.
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The pool had been filled with warm water at some point but it was verging on chilly now. The nurse invited me to test the water while she prepared a bathing suit for me. I wasn't taking a bath as I had hoped but instead, this was my new exercise routine. I was going to get in the water and float.
People in this world didn't seem to care so much about taking a bath or shower. The nurses had mostly wiped me down with a warm wash cloth since I first woke up. Carmine had put oil on my scalp to help with the itching as my hair grew back in. I wonder how long ago that was.
The nurse helped me into my swimsuit and began explaining the morning plan. She had a bathing suit as well and made sure that I knew how to float before she started explaining the tiny wiggles that she wanted me to do while I floated. Her voice was calm and even as she instructed me. Was that music playing in the background? It was soothing. I hoped this nurse would be a regular and keep talking to me.
Once we finished with our exercise, the nurse wrapped me in a warm towel at the edge of the pool. I couldn't kick my feet without over balancing myself so I just I just twirled my fingers in the water instead while I waited for her to change. To my surprise, the nurse had a cute pair of blue pajamas for me. The color reminded me of a cloudless sky and they were soft and warm too. We walked to my couch and a heavy warm blanket was draped over my lap and legs. Ah, I was in heaven. The nurse gave me a bright smile and reminded me that Mr. Bones would be in soon to talk with me. She even said that I could sleep if I wanted to. "No thank you. This feels great and I don't want to miss out on this great feeling." I had told her and I meant it. This was worth being awake for.
"Good morning Flame." said the adult to the child.
He was much taller than I was. I had started thinking that I was pretty tall before I met him. Mom was only a head taller than me after all. Dad wasn't much taller than Mom. Nurse Carmine had been a little taller than Mom but the rest of the nurses had been about my height, except for Maxwell but he was a pokemon and even a big audino wasn't very tall. Mr. Bones' hair was long enough to have it in a pony tail low on the back of his neck. He was the first man that I had seen with long hair. It was a lot longer than my own purple hair but head injuries are not kind hair dressers after all. His dusty blonde hair seemed to be rare in the hospital. I had seen a few people with dark purple like I had but no one else was even blonde. His eyes were also different from the others. He had green eyes. That would've been common in my old world but lavender eyes were average here. I'd seen at least five nurses with lavender eyes. His skin color was also unusal but we had that in common. He had a pale caramel tan to his skin just like me.
"Good morning Mr. Bones." I replied. The man lifted an eyebrow at me. "Why are you calling me Mr. Bones? I'm not your teacher or an old man." Huh? "Flame, I'm only sixteen. How old did you think I was?" he asked with an unhappy look on his face. I sat there in shock. I was stunned. I was too stunned. His face grew more and more red as I sat there staring. Shoot. I should say something. " Oh. . . umm. . . You. . . You are tall." I stammered. Thank you brain. I wanted to face palm myself but milo actually stopped looking angry so crisis averted. "I get that a lot." he said simply while rubbed the back of his neck. "So. . . umm Milo. You said that you study human medicine. Are you studying with my doctors?" I asked in the hopes of changing the topic and gaining back some hope in a normal conversation.
A bright red line shot out of Milo's pocket and a wartortle is suddenly standing in front of me. "Misty, it's not time." Milo scolded the pokemon and shot an aggravated look at the newcomer. "Kreeceez ik." responded the wartortle, I think. The sound it made reminded me of twigs and branches snapping. Misty extended a umm should I say a hand or umm maybe a claw. "Oh, nice to meet you, Misty?" I said a bit awkwardly as I shook . . . her? . . . hand?
Her skin didn't really look like a reptile's but then again, I had never seen a reptile this big before let alone touched one.
"Flame, this is my wartortle that I mentioned last time." he said with a smirk. Huh? The wartortle snickered.
Did that pokemon just snicker at me?!
Misty taps her forehead and points at me. "Oh, you were serious!?" I exclaimed. They both proceeded to laugh at me as another red light shot out and a tiny drowzee formed on the sofa next to me. Churro proceeds to lay down next to me and curled up.
The days continued like this for a while. Maxwell made me breakfast. A nurse took me to the pool. Milo brough his pokemon to visit. Sometimes he and his gang stayed for lunch. Lunch was usually hospital stuff. It wasn't bad but Maxwell was better and Nurse Carmine was the best. I would do more floating after lunch. I would have some journal time before finally ending the day with dinner made by Maxwell.
The journaling was interesting. Each day, Milo brought a folder with a few forms and some blank writing paper. The forms looked like your basic psych assessment forms, like the kind you fill out when you see your primary doctor for a check-up. On the blank paper, he had asked me to describe my meals. I had used this technique before with my own therapy patients. It really helped patients that were having trouble pointing out the problems or had trouble putting their emotions into words. I could figure out a lot from what the patient wrote based on how each meal made them feel or if they felt anything about the food. Some patients felt better just because it was a different train of thought from what they were used to. I wondered how Milo planned to use the information that he was getting from me. I tried my best to be honest. I didn't know how he would perceive what I wrote so I couldn't exactly lie and I always told my patients to be as honest and detailed as possible with me so I could help them.
Whose your favorite character?
