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Chapter 57: Counterbalanced - An Unovan Tale

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WARNING - From now on, if you haven't read the rest of the chapters yet,
I strongly suggest reading those first. There are important things happening/coming up in the story,
and reading those before the rest of the story just isn't as much fun as the other way around.


Counterbalanced - Chapter 57

Alex was sensible enough to realize that a lot of good things were done in hospitals.
Lives were saved, broken bones were set, medical problems of all kinds were attended to…

Super. Fantastic.

…But as she slipped out of her room, and into the long, white, impersonal hallways of the Opelucid City Hospital, everything in her system seemed to resist the place, making her feel sick.

The hospital clothes made her skin crawl, and the floor felt cold under her bare feet.
Then there was the horrible smell of disinfectants…
No. She would not feel comfortable in any hospital, ever.

A chill running down her spine, Alex soundlessly made her way to the staircases.
The hospital’s security was nothing, she’d easily bypassed it.
But… there was no escaping from the hospital, this time.

…She needed to see him.

And if her information was correct, she needed to go two floors up.

As she slowly climbed the steps, a familiar, agonizing pain shot through her ribcage, and one of her arms automatically folded around it. Her head was throbbing. Her steps were unsteady. The hospital walls seemed like they were spinning around her…

…but she persisted.





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Beep.

Beep.

Beep.






…It took Quinn a while to realize he was listening to the sound of hospital machines.
He’d been floating in and out of consciousness for a while, but so far, he’d just been feeling too tired to fully wake up.

…He’d tried to move, but it was difficult.
His limbs seemed to be so heavy, especially his right leg…





A tingle on his left arm.

…Nimble fingers carefully traced a path, from his elbow to his hand, where they held on.

The gentle sensation helped him find his way back.
Slowly, Quinn opened his eyes, with difficulty at first, as his left one seemed to be slightly swollen.
Then finally, he blinked against the bright hospital lights.





There was some kind of white cast around his right leg, explaining the extra weight.
While he studied it, his mind woolly, he heard a soft gasp on his left, and the hand on his arm was abruptly withdrawn.

“You’re awake…!”

He turned his head.





Standing close to the bed, Alex was gaping at him, her eyes wide.
The pale girl was dressed in hospital clothes, and there were bandages around her head and wrists.
A simple, white neck brace was supporting her neck.

Immediately, the events in the Victory Road’s tunnels came back to him.

Running through the dark.
Fighting Nicholas.
Being attacked by Houndoom.
The pain.

Alex, on the floor. Lifeless…


He breathed in deep.

But he did it.
He revived her.
She was here.
She was okay…


Still a bit dazed, Quinn tried a smile.
His throat was dry, but he couldn’t wait to express his relief.

“Alex… Alex… You have no idea. I’m so glad that you’re alright…”

She blinked, letting his words sink in.
Slowly, a grim expression appeared on her face, and her jaw clenched.





…Then, without warning, she punched the side of his upper arm, hard.
Caught completely off-guard, Quinn cried out, expressing shock rather than pain.

Ah…! Wha-…”

Alex’ voice was raw, tormented.

“How can I be alright, you stupid jerk…?! You almost died…!”

She hit him again, her fist coming down on his shoulder, but with only half the power this time.
Her fingers now frantically clawing in the fabric of his white hospital clothes, she demanded:

“Tell me, damnit…! What would I have done…? If I had lived, and you had died…!
What the hell would be left here for me…?!”

On the verge of crying, she gasped heavily for air, her emotions intense and very real.

…Quinn’s jaw had dropped, perplexed by her outburst.
It took him a long moment to realise where it had come from.

…She’d been worried sick.

“Hey.”

Quinn’s looked up at the girl, his tone mild.

“…I love you, too.”

Alex’ eyes widened in surprise, completely and instantly disarmed.

All of the anger in her body language dissolved, and her shoulders lowered.
Taking another shaky breath, still looking like she might cry, she quietly accepted Quinn’s fingers entwining with hers.
Pulling her hand to his mouth, Quinn pressed a slow kiss on her knuckles.

“There, there. Are you feeling better now…? It’s good to see they let you walk around…”

But Alex sniffed as if he’d told a bad joke, pulling a face, and Quinn’s expression changed.

“…except that… they don’t…? Are you not supposed to be here…?”

She sighed, as if she considered not telling him, but…
…her voice soft, she eventually confessed, incoherently:

“I… had to come here, Quinn. It’s been like… 48 hours since we were brought in, and…
All I’ve seen so far are doctors, needles, bandages and sedatives.
They wouldn’t even… let me have Zigzagoon...”

Her voice failed her, and she had to take another deep breath to continue.

“He’s still with Nurse Joy… And then…
There’s the police questioning me, wanting to know exactly what happened again and again…”

The hospital was a bad place for her. Even in his slow state of mind, he saw it.
Alex couldn’t be more out of her element.

Her dark eyes found his, as she struggled to find the right words.

“They… kept telling me you were going to be okay, but wouldn’t let me see you…”

Her voice trailed off. Maybe she’d feared the worst…
Quinn squeezed her hand, and after a moment, she told him:

“Apparently, I have five broken ribs, and some bruised ones.”

She vaguely gestured at the bandages around her head.
Her movements were somewhat sluggish.

“…And a severe concussion. The doctors keep telling me that I need to rest, but I… I can’t…

Quinn frowned. He hadn’t noticed the dark circles under her eyes before now.

“You haven’t slept at all…?”

Her mouth twisted.

“…They gave me enough tranquilizer to knock me out for a couple of hours yesterday, but I made such a scene, that they haven’t tried again since... I can’t sleep, Quinn… How could I…? Not without knowing how you were doing, and not without having nightmares, I’m sure of it…”

Her free hand went up to her neck brace, and her voice quavered.

“I can… I can still feel them around my neck, Quinn… N-Nicholas’ hands.
They left horrible bruises…”

A shiver went through Quinn as he imagined Nicholas’ handprints on Alex’ pale skin.
He quickly shook his head, dismissing the highly unpleasant thought, before stating with a strong voice:

“He’s dead, Alex. I saw it happen. It’ll only get better from now on…”

Alex nodded, but he noticed that she was now growing increasingly restless.
Realising that she’d probably escaped from her hospital room in some clever way, he did his best to suppress his grin, as he asked:

“So… just how many people are looking for you right now, troublemaker…?”

She rolled her eyes, refusing or unable to smile back at him.

“As soon as they find out I’m gone… Just about everyone.
They’ve been keeping such a close eye on me, and Yena and Chase can’t distract them forever.
But… I heard that you’d wake up soon… so I had to try.”

In his head, Quinn could picture exactly how everything had taken place.
He was grateful that Yena and Chase hadn’t left Alex’ side, even taking part in a scheme for her to visit him here. It had probably just taken a second for Alex to slip out of the door, after which she would’ve rushed through the hallways like a shadow, until she’d finally found him…

He slowly breathed out, impressed by her strong will.
Apparently, not even all of the injuries she just mentioned, combined with the lack of sleep, could stop her.
Back at the Victory Road, it had been almost too painful for her to even stand up.
Moving around had been bad for her then, and it wasn’t helping her healing process now…

He was suddenly worried.
What if the girl collapsed here…?
She looked so weak now…

“You know… The doctors have a point, Alex. You really need to rest.”

Alex’ attention snapped back to him, studying him with wide eyes.
Her skin was awfully pale, and he could tell that she was tired to the bone.
Her voice was suddenly reduced to a whisper, as she pulled back her hand from his.

“You’re sending me away…?”

…His words had hurt her.
Maybe her concussion was making her more susceptible to this.
Feeling stupid, Quinn instantly wished he’d phrased his words differently.
The girl he loved was at her most vulnerable right now, upset and traumatized.
He didn’t want to go at all. In fact, he wanted to keep her as close as possible.

“No. No, of course not…”

Quinn shifted on the bed, ignoring the vague pain in his right leg as he did so.
Then, he gestured at the bit of space he made.

“…Rest here.”

Her eyes widened, and the dread on her face instantly lifted.
She wanted to, desperately. But…

“You’re hurt…”

Quinn spread his arms.

“It’s only my leg, love. I can still hold you.”

Alex stared at him, strongly tempted, before her eyes shifted at the door behind her.
It wouldn’t be long before they’d find her.

“They’ll… They’ll take me away…”

Quinn’s hand grabbed her arm, gently pulling her to him.

“Not if I can help it. Come.”

…Finally, Alex gave in.
Her ribs still extremely sore, she winced as she clambered onto the bed.
But her sigh of relief as she nestled against him, her head on his shoulder, told Quinn that she was in the right place. Pulling her close with both arms, he pressed a firm kiss on her hair.

“You’ll be okay, Alex.”

She basked in his warm embrace, her left arm slipping around his waist as she made herself comfortable.

“…Yes.”

Quinn smiled, cherishing the moment. He’d needed this, too.

His right leg was now gradually starting to hurt more, probably an indication that his painkillers wouldn’t last much longer. Now that Alex was alright, he had room to think about his own well-being.

“So… they’re not going to take my leg off…?”

Alex’ reply sounded somewhat muffled against his shoulder.

“They say that you’ll heal almost completely. It’ll take time.
The best surgeons worked on your leg for hours. I think they put in a little more effort, since the world is watching...”

She sniffed, her tone a bit sour.

“I bet they’re regretting that expensive treatment they gave me to make my ribs heal faster, now.
I could never have walked off without it…”

Her voice trailed off, and Quinn realized she was finally relaxed enough for sleep to catch up with her.
He carefully shifted once more, so he could look at her face.
The girl’s eyes were closed.

“Sweet dreams, lady.”

As a response, she pressed herself to him even tighter.

“Quinn…”

Whispered words. Her lips were barely moving.

“…Thank you for bringing me back.”

She knew. She knew she’d been dead.

It took him back to the moment where she’d come back to life.
Quinn remembered everything about it, all the extreme emotions that had raged through his body.

But most of all… the monumental amount of relief he’d felt.
He’d been so lucky. If it wouldn’t have worked…

It took him a couple of seconds to find his voice again.

“…Thank you for coming back.”



This was the last official chapter of Counterbalanced.

But... you might be curious about how the story continues.

Don't worry.

I want to write more.
There are plenty of scenes in my head, already!
They'll be Bonus Chapters. Or epilogues. However you like to call them.
So don't be afraid, you'll see more of Counterbalanced. ^^ 

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:iconcommentplz:

Did you know that comments totally make my day?
:heart:

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This is the fifty-seventh chapter of my story 'Counterbalanced'.

The story takes place in the Pokémon world, in the Unova region.

First chapter - fav.me/d4gv1bt

Chapter 57 - You are here!
I've been writing a prologue!
Start reading it here - pokenomnomnom.deviantart.com/a…


Pokémon © Nintendo
Yena, Alex, Quinn, Nicholas, Martin and some others © PokeNOMNOMNOM
© 2013 - 2024 PokeNOMNOMNOM
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Is it a Dutch thing to hit the Enter key after every sentence?