Chapter 41: Complications 

"There you are!" 

I turned just in time to see Dawn running towards me, Piplup jogging behind her with an irritated scowl. By the looks of it, she'd just thrown on her clothes and hadn't bothered with her normal morning beauty treatments. Her hair was messy, her hat was askew, and she breathed heavily as if she'd sprinted the whole way here. 

"Good morning," I greeted her. 

"I didn't know where you'd gone!" she said shrilly, striding up to me and glaring in annoyance. 

My eyes held steady. "And how do you think I felt when you were gone all day signing up for your Contest?" 

Her mouth opened furiously. "I said sorry for that." 

"We're even now." I crossed my arms. 

"So was this just to get back at me?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"I just woke up and felt the need to train." I shrugged. 

Bagon walked over to Dawn and tugged at her pink boot. After a few seconds of frowning at me, she looked down curiously. "Hi, Bagon. You sure look happy." 

Indeed, he did. Winning his first ever battle against a Pokemon Trainer he'd never seen before had given him a huge confidence boost. "He just won a battle. There's a lot of room for improvement, but I must say it was a very impressive sight." 

Bagon grinned cheerfully at me. Dawn gave me an encouraging smile which I ignored, though I was glad she was back in good spirits and not pestering me about not telling her where I was. 

"So what's the plan now?" she asked. 

"We'll go train on Route 117, which is east of here," I replied. "But first, we need breakfast." 

Dawn nodded and we went inside the Pokemon Center. Her hair was still messy, but to me she seemed fit to go out in public without being a laughing stock. I wasn't sure if she'd noticed her appearance wasn't up to her normal standards or if she just didn't care this morning. Either way, I smirked every time I glanced at her. 

We both grabbed trays of food and found a table near the window. Clouds flew by lazily- the sun was already up and shining. 

"God, I'm going to miss this." Dawn sighed as she poured syrup onto her pancakes. "There's nothing like eating a fresh hot meal." 

I nodded as I grabbed the syrup dispenser off the table. 

"So, what'd you dream about last night?" 

I fumbled with the handle and almost knocked the syrup over. Holding back a swear word, I righted the syrup and looked at Dawn who was watching me curiously. She'd never seen me drop anything before. 

I should have known the "What did you dream about?" question was coming- she almost always asked about my dreams. I'd always thought it silly. What did it matter, dreams? I don't live in any sort of fantasy land where people can fly and things were made of cotton candy. She always told me her dreams, but they were filled with things like that. My dreams may be more realistic, but significant? Hardly. 

Now, I wasn't so sure. 

Her blue eyes searched mine. "Are you ok?" 

"Yeah. My hand just slipped." I shrugged, fighting the heat that was creeping slowly but surely into my cheeks from the embarrassment. 

"You never drop anything," Dawn said. 

"There's a first time for everything." I tried to sound calm, but heard the sting in my voice. 

"Is anything wrong? Did you have a nightmare or something?" Dawn leaned forward, her elbows supporting her body weight on the table. It looked like she was suppressing the urge to hold my hand as much as I was suppressing the urge to shudder. 

I paused, thinking of an excuse. "I'm just ready to get out of here." 

I stared at my plate, not looking up, feeling her eyes on me as she asked again, "What's wrong?" 

Her voice was authoritative, but gentle. It was such a different tone than I was used to- she was slowly becoming more independent, someone who couldn't be pushed over, someone who didn't back down if I refused to answer and continue the day like nothing had ever happened. 

My heart hammered at this realization- she was different, someone new. Someone I had come to respect. And with these changes, she'd become an enigma. No one had ever affected me like this before, had ever become close enough to me. I'd never thought that by traveling with her that she'd shed many layers of who she was as a person and become.... this. 

I looked up at her suddenly, studying her with widened eyes. Her mouth was set in a firm line and she refused to lower her gaze. Her hair was not perfectly kept and she was sitting in a crowded room, not focusing on her looks, but instead on me. 

The day had come where she thought about me more than hair care. 

I instantly deemed that too much to handle. 

"I'm not hungry anymore." I stood up abruptly. "I'm going to pack."  

She said nothing, but stayed in her seat. Dawn didn't follow me, questioning my every action, my every move. She didn't complain, but just stared after me until I was out of sight. She no longer made me sigh in frustration or develop headaches, but instead soothed me in ways I never thought possible. 

And that's what scared me the most. 

I made it to our room, feeling out of breath. My stomach was in knots and I felt lightheaded and confused- a feeling I was not at all used to. 

I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit. 

I prided myself at always knowing- knowing my Pokemon, my battle strategies, my opponents, and myself. Now, it felt like everything had flipped upside down and that all the information I had ever collected had been translated into a foreign language that I didn't understand. 

Without even thinking about it, I began stuffing my few belongings back into my bag, then made the bed where I'd slept the night prior. Finished, I studied the sheets before turning to the other unkempt bed in the room. 

Dawn's. 

It was a mess- she really had just scrambled out of bed to come find me this morning. The comforter was hanging half off the bed, trailing onto the floor. Without thinking about it, I bent down and grabbed the thick comforter and ran it through my fingers, smelling a hint of Pecha berries on the fabric as I thought again about what Dawn had looked like asleep in my shirt.... 

I closed my eyes in anger- what did it matter, what she looked like? That I'd dreamed of her? That she was a different person now? Big deal! Everyone changes. Just because she changed into a more appealing person meant nothing... if anything, this was worse. I couldn't ignore her like I used to. She was, if anything, more frustrating with those all-knowing eyes. Her quiet moments, her logical questions that made me think and question not only the world, but myself. 

I swept the comforter into my balled fists and threw it back onto her bed into a heap. 

Right at that moment, she came through the opened door. I'd forgotten to close it in my hurry out of the cafeteria. Those blue eyes stared at me again, traveling first to the moved blanket and then to my fists. I unclenched them with great difficulty. 

"Stop looking at me like that," I snapped. 

"I'm not looking at you any different than I would any other day, Paul," she replied calmly. 

I refused to argue with her. "I'm ready to go." 

"Ok. Give me five minutes and I'll be ready." 

The feeling to flee the room was back. Every time I was near her, I just couldn't stand it. Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't take this feeling any more. But I couldn't leave her. I'd promised. Still, I had to get away, to breathe, to think, at least for a moment. "I'm going to wait outside." 

She nodded and watched me stride out of the room. Right outside the Pokemon Center doors, I leaned against the wall, arms crossed. I'd never thought a morning could be so draining- I'd done nothing today. I'd woken up two hours ago and yet because of Dawn, I felt like I'd ran fifty miles. Like I couldn't go any farther. Even my actual body felt off. My heartbeat didn't seem to want to slow down and I felt myself shaking despite how I attempted to tense and slacken my muscles to force my limbs to be still. 

As the door opened, I flinched. Piplup was in Dawn's arms and her hair was a bit better looking- not that it had been 'horrible-looking' messy. I'd kind of liked it- 

I stopped my thoughts. I had no opinion about her hair. This time, as she walked toward me, I felt the same desire to run. To be rid of her presence, to not feel her eyes on me.  

But at the same time, there was a growing need to move towards her.  

Why? I asked myself. Why do I feel like this? 

I struggled internally- I couldn't move closer. That didn't even make sense, to grow closer to her. Closer than I already was. To want to have her with me at all times, to dream of her, to hate Kenny with a passion.

It became too much, in those few seconds as she came out the door. I began walking quickly east, not looking back. 

"Paul?" Dawn's voice called. 

I walked faster. 

"Hey, where are you going? Wait up!" She sounded more like her old self. Besides the fear. It was genuine fear that rang in her words. Fear of being left behind, or was it fear for something else? 

I entered the forest ahead, not slowing down. I heard her feet hurrying after me and began jogging. I didn't want to leave her behind, not for long, but just long enough to collect my thoughts, collect myself, convince myself that I felt nothing for this girl that stared at me, that met my gaze like no one else would, who's eyes softened instead of cringed, unlike everyone else's. Who made me smile, who kept me company while everyone else shunned me. 

"Paul, you're being childish-" She was cut off by something. I heard something fumble and drop to the ground behind me and then a scream. 

Dawn. 

Instantly, all my thoughts snapped into focus. I felt no confusion, no anger or sadness. 

Instead, I felt afraid. 

"Dawn?" I called as I sprinted to where I'd heard the noise. What had happened? Was she hurt? 

So many questions piled into my mind, clouding everything else. The fear was so intense that I almost couldn't stand it- I'd happily take back the confusion and have Dawn be ok. 

"Dawn!" I shouted, a note of urgency in my voice. 

"He-here!" her voice stammered back. With another minute of searching, I found her sprawled on the forest floor, her left arm pressed into her body and tears streaming silently down her cheeks. Piplup stood in front of her defensively, glaring up at me. 

"What happened?" I knelt down, ignoring Piplup who looked like he wanted to attack me. My eyes were only for Dawn- it was obvious she was hurt and needed attention. Her eyes looked pretty unfocused as if she was in shock. 

"I tripped on a tree root and fell down. My ankle is ok, but I put my hand out to catch myself and..." She winced as she moved her left arm.  

"Let me see."

She gave me a scared look that reminded me of a cowering animal. 

"It's ok," I said as soothingly as possible. "I just need figure out if anything is broken or not." 

Hesitantly, she held out her arm. I gingerly pressed my fingers against her skin and asked her which parts hurt. Her fingers were all ok, but when I got to her wrist she jumped, jarring her wrist again and yelped, more tears coming to her eyes. It was swelling like a Pokemon using Stockpile. I grimaced. 

"Broken wrist," I confirmed, holding back another swear word and trying to ignore the guilt building in my stomach- it was my fault she'd been running in the first place. "We're going to have to go to the hospital. In the meantime, hold your wrist up. It needs to be elevated." 

"Ok," she said weakly.  

I took out a Poke Ball. "Weavile, come out." 

Weavile appeared, looking at Dawn with pained eyes. 

I fished through my bag for a plastic bag and held it out to Weavile. "I need you to fill this bag with ice. Use Ice Beam." 

Weavile did, making a nice ice pack. I zipped it back up, thanked Weavile, and returned him to his Poke Ball. I wrapped the ice pack in a thin cloth and gave it to Dawn. "Put this on your wrist. Keep it there- it'll help with the pain." 

Dawn obeyed, taking the ice pack and gently pressing it to her skin. She closed her eyes and her body rocked a little from side to side as if she didn't have the energy to sit upright. 

"You can't walk." I could tell just by looking at her that her body wasn't dealing with the injury well. If she were to get on her feet, she'd faint. "I'm going to carry you to the hospital. It's not far from here." 

The hospital was pretty close to the Pokemon Center- I'd seen it on the way to Dawn's Contest yesterday. I began taking off my jacket- no need to get too hot while carrying Dawn. She opened her eyes and they burned me again with their intensity. "You're going to carry me?" 

"Of course. What, you don't think I'm strong enough?" I raised an eyebrow. 

She looked at me for another second and then closed her eyes again, which I took to mean that I was allowed to pick her up. It was no picnic- Piplup kept shouting at me to be careful and I found it hard to position her in my arms in a way that wouldn't hurt her wrist and that her dress wasn't bunched in a revealing way. I forced myself not to think about that, but to focus on the matter at hand.  

After a couple minutes of adjusting her weight, I began walking. Dawn remained pretty quiet, wincing occasionally. I tried to avoid jarring her around and kept her touching my body at all times. Her head was level with mine and at first she stared at me, those dark blue eyes refusing to leave my face. 

I couldn't return her stare- I was too busy watching the road, making sure I wasn't going to shake her too much. I kept my stride, hoping not to hurt her further. After all, if she hadn't been chasing me, she wouldn't of hurt herself in the first place. 

After about fifteen minutes, Dawn dozed off. Her head rested on my shoulder, her forehead pressed against my neck. 

It was intimate, this position. I gritted my teeth- it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't fallen. Her body wouldn't be against mine if I hadn't been, as Dawn had called me, childish. It was the first time she'd called me immature- I was usually the one saying that to her. But now, our positions had switched.

Her body was light- she was small and easy to carry, though I still began sweating from the exertion. Piplup trotted next to me like an unneeded bodyguard. He was worried about his Trainer and I felt a little less irritated at him for once, seeing as we were driven forward by the same goal.  

After another twenty minutes of walking, we were through the doors of the hospital, the smell of rubbing alcohol hitting us in high concentration. As I made my way to the front desk, the receptionist looked at me in disapproval as if she already knew it was my fault that there was an unconscious girl in my arms. 

"Fill this out." The receptionist slid a clipboard across the counter. "And then we'll see her." 

I nodded, putting Dawn down gently in a chair by the wall before grabbing the paperwork. Surprisingly, I knew exactly what to put on practically all the blanks. Her birthday, her last and middle name, age, height, mother's name. 

I skipped the "days since last menstrual cycle" question and returned the form. 

The lady flipped through the pages. "So, a possible broken wrist? I'll get her into the doctor right away. You're lucky we're not busy at the moment." 

"Thanks." 

"Just get her into a wheelchair and roll her down to room one hundred and five, won't you?" The receptionist turned to her computer screen and began typing. 

I grabbed a wheelchair by the desk and pulled it up to Dawn, who was sleeping now. Piplup was making sure the ice stayed on her wrist. At a gentle touch to her shoulder, she stirred and woke up. 

"We made it to the hospital. I'm going to take you into a room so you can see the doctor," I explained. 

"Ok." 

It was odd, how fragile she looked. I picked her up again and placed her in the wheelchair and we continued down the hall to an open door- an unoccupied exam room. I left her in the wheelchair and stood next to her, feeling awkward now that I couldn't do anything more to help. I studied her. She was more awake now, her eyes wide. I noticed how pale her face was. 

"Are you ok?" A stupid question, but I couldn't think of any better. 

"I don't like doctors," she said simply. 

I blinked in surprise. She'd always been pleasant with Nurse Joy. "Why?" 

"I don't like shots." She shivered. 

"You won't get any shots. A couple of x-rays, maybe a cast, but that's it," I promised. 

Dawn still trembled, looking around the room as if the walls were closing in on her. 

I kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder. "I won't leave." 

Her eyes flashed at my words and I knew what she was thinking- I'd left her without explanation to run through the forest, yelling for me to wait for her. I HAD left.  

My promise meant nothing. 

I was about to respond, explain myself, but the door opened and in came a middle aged man wearing a white coat, looking very sanitized and a little worn. His face looked tired despite it being late morning still and he didn't seem to remotely care as her studied Dawn through his spectacles. I instantly disliked him and didn't trust him to even touch Dawn. 

"Good morning. I'm Doctor Rosin," he said dully, writing on a clipboard. "How are you today?" 

.....How was she today!? Arceus, this guy was a moron. Would we be in the hospital if everything was right as Rain Dance? Idiot! 

Dawn let out a tiny incomprehensible peep and became quiet again. I decided to talk for her, "She hurt her wrist and needs you to help her." 

My tone was threatening. He raised an eyebrow. "Failed to suppress the instinct to break your fall, hmm?" 

I glared at him. "Just get her an x-ray and do your job." 

The doctor smiled smugly. "Of course. Why don't you go ahead and push the lovely lady down the hall." 

Dawn threw a scared look at me as the doctor made his way out the door, waiting for us to follow. I whispered, "I won't leave, ok?" 

I saw her body relax a little at my words as we headed down the hall.

Hellooooo Readers!

Well, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed this chapter :) It was fun to write. I can't believe how many of you are reading my story and I'm so excited that I get to share it with you all. Thanks for being so supportive! It really means a lot. If I could give you all Rare Candies, I would :P 

Question of the Day: What's your favorite Mega evolution? I don't think I've asked that one yet at least... but really, I want to know which Megas everyone just loves. Or is there a Mega you just can't stand because they ruined your favorite Pokemon and you just want to kill them all? :P Go ahead and talk about it in the comments.

Make sure you vote, follow, and/or comment! Thanks so much for reading! 

-Flips