A Jaded Recovery [Joan]

[Ami]

"Ugh..."

Oh, this was definitely not a pretty sight. During their patrol of Pravus' experimental Pokemon reserve, Ami and her team encountered a rather formidable force. Unable to safely get away from the beast, several of the scientist's Pokemon were forced into the fight, and one was not able to escape the area without taking serious damage. There on the hospital bed lay Abby, an Absol unfortunate enough to know the wrath of a dragon.

In hindsight, the damage could have been much worse. Upon entering the center, the cat's minor scratches were immediately treated and bandaged. His front paws, as well as his underbelly and several patches of fur, had experienced minor-to-severe frostbite. His back legs showed the worst of the damage: his right leg was taped up, a severe cut bleeding pink through the bandages. On his opposite leg, his foot was supported by a pillow: any effort to try and move it would make the cat wince in pain.

"Abby..."

This was never an easy situation to be in. As they waited for the doctor, Ami sat behind her partner, gently placing her hand on an unbruised part of his back. Despite work, and despite everything else, the scientist stayed here at the cat's side.

"H-how bad does it look, Ami?" The cat managed a small grin, before giving another small wince. "Didn't even lose consciousness this time... I think I'm getting better at fighting these gods..."

"Jeez." Ami sighed, shaking her head: "Just try to rest, and get your head on straight."

Worried as she was, Ami never really had a fondness for the Pokemon center... and why should she have fond memories of seeing her Pokemon in pain? "The doctor should be here soon."

[Joan]

Welcome to Nada Citadel Pokemon Center.

A place, where walls colored in nauseating pink, mixed with gray patterns of the cold steel benches and counters were supposed to make the visitors felt welcome. Under supervision of the Main Hospital, this place was treated much like its foreign 'office'. With the only difference that they didn't treat humans here.

Joan hated her shifts here. Mostly because of the contingent that would visit this place. Back in the Main Hospital, the patients were a different lot - human, pokemon or pokemorphs - she was able to sympathize with most, if not all of them, due to the point they were in pain. But here ... the only visitors she would get would be humans. Bringing in their poor pokemon after being mauled in a fight. These ... 'trainers', they call themselves.

Hah. Trainers - my foot.

The gardevoir morph was in a hurry right now - she had been called to the medical chamber - she had a visitor. She had been wearing a white coat over her normal clothes, and a badge at the sleeve, with the sign of the red cross. And as she was approaching the door, she felt a bit strange. She could feel emotions of worry and distress flying from a person on the other side of the door. The trainer, no doubt. But ... she couldn't feel the pokemon's presence. At all. Why? She knew not.

The door creaked open.

Oh... that's why.

Joan froze in the doorway for a moment, eyes widening a bit, as she gazed upon the picture in front of her. There was a woman, a woman the gardevoir paid little attention to, eyes instantly locking on the pokemon lying on the medical bench. It was an Absol. A Dark-type. Joan instantly shuddered, her instincts kicking in. Dark-types were natural enemies of the psychics, and the gardevoir part within her felt threatened the moment she saw him. However, the expression of fright changed to that of pity, when she had seen the state the feline had been in. Someone did quite a number on him too... The damage was not life-threatening, but ... very extensive. And the face expression changed to that of a cold anger when her eyes locked upon the woman's. Joan walked forward, her heals making an audible 'clack' against the tiles. Crossing her arms on her chest, she looked over the Absol once more. He looked like he had been fighting several pokemons of different types at the same time. Just ... what kind of a horrible person would keep sending the same pokemon at them? To be gradually injured more and more?! The thought was simply infuriating.

- Your pokemon has taken quite a beating, there... - Joan had said, placing a medical bag upon the table next to the bunk, and opening it. - What did you force him through, human? - she added, making an empathis on the last word. To the Absol, the doctor's manner of speech would've seemed quiet, and calm. But to Amy, the simple question would echo with a thunderous howl in the background, like an accusation even. To Joan, they were always to blame.

[Ami]

"Ugh..."

On hearing the door open, the Absol gave a small grunt of pain, enough for him to raise his head and see who the nurse was. And boy, did he wish he didn't see: there stood a Gardevoir morph, with both a look of dread and anger in her eyes, staring right towards the cat. The expressions she gave off were curious, especially when she first entered the room: instead of a normal worried look, Joan looked like she had seen a deer in the headlights. Now, Abby might have looked like crap, but he was sure that all of his limbs were still attached to his body and that he wasn't the most horrifying thing that the girl had seen in her life: the next expression, one of concern, was expected... but then, what was that aura of pure rage that was radiating off her?

He returned his head to his pillow with a sigh. Great, they sent a hardass their way. There was not a single positive emotion to be felt from her; only dry pity. Fine, whatever, you don't need to like us. Just don't stab me with those eyes, sheesh.

Sometimes he was glad that psychics were unable to read his mind.

Ami, less versed in detecting emotions, was a bit happier to see the doctor show up. After all, smiles and a good attitude made everything a bit easier, right? She tried to make this as painless as she could, a smile on her face as she stood to greet the doctor, ready to explain what she knew about the situation in full. She stopped short of a handshake, however, when Joan's eyes shot gravely in Abby's direction, sucking all the mood out of the room.

"Your pokemon has taken quite a beating, there..." With a judgmental undertone, anger resonating in her psychic mind, Ami pinched her sinus at the inevitable question: "What did you force him through, human?"

"..." Ami sighed, shaking her head. "Look-"

"Nng..." Gritting his teeth, Abby looked up, shooting a small glare at the side of the Gardevoir's face. "That's some nerve, doc..."

"Abby, shh." Not wanting him to stress himself, Ami's hand returned to his side. Feeling it, Abby stiffened up for a moment, before taking a breath to relax. "Just stay calm for now."

Not moving from where she was, Ami gave her answer: "I was tasked with investigating the disappearance of Pokemon from Pravus' experimental reserve. During the investigation, we found the culprit, but were put in a situation where we were forced to defend ourselves. My Lucario and Magneton made it out fine... still, Abby was the only one strong enough to face the main threat."

"Tch." Still annoyed, Abby took another deep breath: "I hate to break this up, but my foot feels like a broken bottle. Ami, just... wait outside."

"Abby-"

"Trust me."

If you two talk more and she gives you more shit, I'll do something and probably hurt myself...

[Joan]

- Oh...

Joan's stern facial expression had softened slightly, when she heard the explanation for what had transpired. For one, this woman was with Pravus, making them in league, somewhat. This one wasn't a mindless trainer getting his pokemon hurt for the sake of some barbaric practice they called 'sport'. She sighed, and rubbed her sinuses - experiencing negative emotions was not good for her. After all, the morph was partially an Emotion Pokemon.

- That was very brave of him... - she gave the feline another pitying glare. But that one was soon replaced by a more studious one, as the doctor looked over the wounds present. There were quite extensive, and treating them as a complex would require some time... Joan's hand glowed in soft green light, and she brought it to one of the smaller cuts on the body, close enough to heal... expecting it to close.

But nothing happened.

- ... Of course. You're a void... My healing abilities would have no effect on you... - the morph sighed with a mix of pity and disappointment, and reached for her medical bag, extracting a syringe with yellowish liquid - morphine. The least she could do at this moment, was to ease the pain.

- It means I will have to treat you through conventional means... - Joan had added, and dampened a patch of skin near the vein in alcohol, before pricking the skin and injecting the bulbous liquid into the vein. Her other hand was kept on the wounded creature, to keep him from making sudden moves that would damage him otherwise.

- I will also have to put a cast, and administer healing to the frostbited areas before they start atrophying. - Joan stated, extracting the needle out and covering the small red dot with a piece of gauze. She slowly moved her attention from the cat to the female, whom she still did not send away.

- Did you capture the culprit, human? All this bloodshed ... better be worth it.

This time the word human was said without hostility. At least, without the thundering sounds in the background.

[Ami]

"..."

Well, this was still a little aggravating. Even after Ami explained the situation to Joan, the Absol still tasted a bit of resentment in the air, if not between the Gardevoir and Ami, then at least between the psychic and the dark type. However, there was no reason to get worked up over it. At the very least, the three of them were at relative peace now, as Joan tried to use her healing hands on his wounds, something that the scientist knew wouldn't work off the bat:

"Nurse, he's-"

"Ami." The Absol shook his head, closing his eyes as the warm energy radiated over his wounds. Despite not being affected by psychic energy, he did appreciate the effort that the Gardevoir was going to give. When the realization finally left Joan's lips, Abby sighed. "Its alright, doctor. Do what you have to- aah, that's cold." With the alcohol pressed against his side, against a front leg, the Absol relaxed as a cold needle pressed against his fur.

His eyes closed, a deep wince given as the solution was pushed into his vein, before a finally-relaxed look entered the cat's eyes. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to take the edge off, Abby almost in a different world as Joan continued to speak.

As she spoke, however, Ami also spoke up, a strong tone of concern in her voice: "Nurse, his foot... he said it felt like glass? The um, threat, was a rather sizable dragon, and his leg was struck fairly early in the fight." Ami cast her eyes away, shaking her head. "He had to keep fighting on a broken foot until I could get to him, so I'm worried how much he stressed it-"

"Ami, she gets it. Trust me... its not your fault." With that, the cat rested his head against the pillow, as Joan asked her next question. This, however, was met with a different answer than she would have liked:

"The nature of the threat... well, it was a legendary Pokemon, Kyurem. Because of that, I'm not exactly allowed to divulge whether or not its in Pravus' possession without proper clearance-"

"It won't be bothering the preserve again, now that Pravus knows the threat potential." With that, Abby shot a look towards Ami, the scientist nodding, sitting at the far end of the recovery room, leaving Abby and the doctor room to work.

"... Joan, right?" Abby gave a glance towards the doctor, the stupor of the morphine beginning to set in. "I think that's what the chart said as our reporting doctor... but yeah, relax a bit, and just do what you need to. And don't worry, I'm not going to bite ya."

His species was one that was very attuned to fear, something that he noticed as soon as the morph stepped into the room. "You called me a 'void'. That's a new one for me..."

[Joan]

- A legendary? Why would they harass us? They did not care in the past...

This new piece of information baffled the gardevoir morph nurse. Admittedly, she didn't know, or hear much about Legendary pokemons before. She knew some people considered them Gods, but that was obviously a wrong notion, and this injured feline was attesting to that. If they were to face a God in true sense of the word, he wouldn't have been here, now. Joan made an effort to forget about this info - it did not concern her, and was not for her to know...

- A 'Void' is how I call dark-types. I see the world in a different spectrum. But to me, your kind looks null and void. - Joan explained, her voice softening a bit, as she reached for the fractured leg with both of her hand. Carefully, she began feeling it, at the place where, underneath the fur, the flesh was turning purple from the blood vessels turn underneath. It was not an open fracture, which was both a good and a bad thing. She tried for her prodding to be as soft and gentle as possible, to cause less pain during it. The morphine had to lessen it even more.

- Fighting with a broken limb is dangerous. The bone pieces could get dislocated and tear tissues and blood vessels alike... Cause internal bleeding too... - she sighed. Added to other injuries already here... the recovery process would take quite a while. A surgery even might be required. Reaching for a fixator, which would be a contraption of planks and bandages, she would lift the leg for a bit, and place one plant underneath, and the second one above - and start wrapping bandages over it.

- We would need an X-ray of the leg, before deciding whether or not it requires surgery to place the bones back... - she sighed, and looked at the female again. Animosity in her eyes almost vanishing, instead replaced by concern and understanding.

- He might have to stay here for a while. A few weeks, at the least.

[Ami]

"Trust us, doctor. We'd like to know as much as you would."

With the medicine beginning to work through his veins, the Absol relaxed more underneath the doctor's hands, letting her simply do what she needed to do. It wasn't as if he was going to be anywhere else for quite a while. When he heard how Joan 'saw' Abby, the cat gave a small smirk:

"Okay, so your psychic eyes can't feel my thoughts, and your aura can't feel my emotions. That doesn't mean I don't have them, doctor." Still doped up on morphine, his lips were a lot looser, thoughts running straight out of his mouth. Stuff that would ordinarily be kept silent were put straight on display; Joan might have been familiar with the phenomenon, but in this case, the thoughts were entirely thrust towards her.

"But in some ways, isn't that better? To have such a mind that you can know how everyone is feeling, that sounds kind of overbearing." He winced, feeling his foot lifted, being put onto a splint. "You'll get used to me with enough time... ah!"

"... Sorry." Ami sighed. "He has a kind-of poor verbal filter to begin with."

With that, the discussion moved onto the foot, and as Joan explained the depth of the injuries, Ami cast her glance away, still blaming herself a bit for what happened.

Abby, well, not so much: "Better to wreck my foot then be at the full mercy of a dragon. Trust me, I didn't like the idea either. If its any consolation, I still have feeling in the foot. That's a good sign, right?" Well, aside from the pain, anyway. Joan's further analyses seemed standard to both of them, but for Abby to be holed up for so long...

"Abby, I'll-"

"-Go right back to work, starting tomorrow." The Absol's look was adamant, a small glare at her trainer. "We've been through this before: the world can't stop spinning because of this."

"Right... I'll, um, go pick up Lucca and Spark, then. Joan, I'll trust you'll take care of him?"

"Tch... just go, already." Even without the psychic influence, the look on his eyes as he rested his head on the pillow gave a clear impression:

I can't stand to see you worried...

[Joan]

- Don't worry. I have heard weirder things from creatures under morphine. Yours is docile. - Joan reassured the human female, after having finished the makeshift cast, and passing a hand over the feline's head to keep it quiet, and not listening much to what the chatterbox had been saying. It wasn't going to be anything she needed to know, anyway.

However, the female looked worried. Her aura was of purple color right now - the color that symbolized many things, fear and unsureness among them. Self-blame too. A twinge of guilt moving inside of Joan for having been harsh to her just a few moments ago. This one, really proved to be an innocent person, who was worried for her pokemon. Joan mustered a kind smile, and looked at Amy, making use of her psychic abilities to make her voice as soothing and reassuring as possible:

- Do not worry, I will take good care of your Absol. Even if I cannot use my healing magic on him, I am still armed with everything modern medicine can produce. You could visit him on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 6 to 7 pm. I suggest you go and have some rest now. This must have been a hard day for you too...

Having said what she was supposed to, and sending the human off, the morph then prepared to deal with the frostbites. For a second, she pondered on what to do. Frostbites were harder to determine severity of, in comparison to burns. The white color of the fur and skin underneath was not making it easier either. She scrolled through her university textbooks in her mind, for a correct procedure. First, had to come inspection.

Touching the fur on the underbelly, she brushed it away, her fingers moving as carefully and gently as possible, in order to have a better look at the skin underneath. She spotted blisters straight away - they were filled with milky fluid - they had to be removed. Reaching for the medical bag, the doctor extracted a needle - a sterile one.

- This might feel a little bit unpleasant. Be strong, and endure. - Joan said and began popping these blisters. One by one, and wiping the fluid that was coming out, with sterile gauze. There was at least a dozen of these small ones on the underbelly, and several on limbs as well. Then, she took a cask with aloe vera gel, and dipped her fingers in it. This gel was going to prevent infection. She put said gel over the popped blisters, before covering them with a loose bandage. Noticing the pink bandage that was covering a cut, the gardevoir morph asked the drugged feline:

- How long it has been since that bandage was placed?

[Ami]

"Alright, Joan. Call if there's any news."

This wasn't easy for Ami, but it was what had to be done. Standing up from the chair, the girl collected her purse, a small nod and a wave given towards Joan. With one final look at the fallen cat, Ami turned and left, closing the door behind her. And, with that, Abby finally gave a relaxed sigh:

"Now I don't have to listen to her worry..."

He wasn't being entirely selfish: he was sure that she would cope with it better if the scientist preoccupied herself with her work. Still drugged on morphine, though, his more selfish words came to mind, the Absol glancing towards Joan as he inspected her fur, finding those rough patches of skin and frozen blisters. Even through morphine, it was still a sensitive area to touch...

... And, with a needle pressed against them, the cat couldn't help but give a pained hiss through his teeth. He forced himself not to struggle, each poke causing him to wince, then give a relaxed breath as the gauze wiped away the mess. He was going to look like he had lost a fight with a porcupine, with all these small bandages... ah, but they were soon onto his second-worst injury, the gash on his leg.

"The one on my, um, 'good leg'? Its been taped and bandaged twice since coming in; chart says I'm due for stitches. I think that one's twenty minutes out- wait, its already pink?" Looking over his shoulder, the Absol gritted his teeth and laid down again. "Sheesh..."

Under the bandage, Abby's story would be proven true: a tight round of medical tape over a small piece of gauze was put around the leg, to keep what would have been a wide cut somewhat narrower, before a layer of gauze was placed over it, then bandaged again. The edges of the wound looked slightly frozen, as if a blade of ice had cut through his thigh.

Well, that was exactly what happened.

"The ER said I'd be up for stitches... and to be thankful that the cut missed vital things. Don't worry, I don't feel like I'm about to pass out, or faint, or whatever." Again, it looked a little worse than it was.

With that inspection, Abby gave a small look back towards the morph. "... You're quite friendly. You know. When you want to be."

[Joan]

Once the human female finally left, Joan gave a sigh and rolled her eyes slightly. Now, she was alone with the patient, who seemed to be eager to talk her ear out. Like a chatter box, he kept commenting on things that did not really concern him - like medical things. He was not a medic, after all, and what he had been saying, aside from the time bandage was placed at, was largely useless. Reaching for his muzzle, the gardevoir morph pressed a finger underneath his jaw, and closed his mouth, a clacking noise from his teeth against one another, slightly.

- Shh, chatterbox. You need not to say so much. - she said softly, before reaching back for the medical bag. The bandages needed replacing now. And the wound required stitching to heal properly. First, the morph drenched the bandage in special liquid from a green bottle, which would soften the crust, and ease the process of removing the bandage. It would still be felt, but not to the same degree if she were to simply tear it out of the wound. For a second, Joan's eyes widened, as she gazed upon the wound before her.

- Oh my... - she muttered. The wound had been quite grievous - the last time she had seen a similar one was during her work in hospital, during the Clone Wars. The operation, however, wasn't going to be difficult. Disinfection, the removal of anything foreign left in the wound, like small pieces of gauze and whatnot, then stitching. Joan prepared her instruments - a needle with a medical thread. For a second, she pondered, before asking the Absol:

- What kind of stitches do you prefer? Wide ones would cause the least amount of pain, but a large scar would remain. Smaller ones mean I would have to prick your skin more. But the scar will be smaller.

It wasn't common for her to give patients a choice on this matter. But Joan figured it would be for the best. She didn't want to hurt the patient more than she had to... Plus this one was a male, and males were usually vain like that. They wore their scars like badges of honor. This one would be quite a large badge.