Aftermath (Bad Branch, Indy dies)

Before long, you’re waiting in a small room with your head in your hands, trying not to cry. They rushed Indy off somewhere, and now you’re alone with no idea what’s happening. You don’t even know how long it’s been. Someone handed you some clothes earlier, and now you put them on absently, your mind a million miles away. The T-shirt is a bit loose, and the skirt feels a bit weird when you’re putting it on, but that’s the least of your worries right now. Is Indy okay? Why hasn’t anyone come to get you yet? Maybe he died in surgery? Do they even do surgery for anaphylaxis? Oh no, his Charmander is going to be crushed if Indy dies.

Oh shit, you left all his stuff at the Pokécenter. Should you go back and get it? But then Indy would be all alone. But what if someone steals it? Indy would never forgive you if someone took his Charmander. But you can’t leave him in a strange hospital alone because he needs someone by his side when he wakes up. If he wakes up… NO! Indy will be okay, but what are you supposed to do?!

“Skye!” You hear someone gasp, and before you even identify who it is, you’re enveloped in a warm hug. “Oh, baby, are you okay?” Your mom asks, and the dam keeping your emotions at bay crumbles. You wrap your arms around her tightly and bury your face in her chest as you hold her like a lifeline to your sanity. Finally, things would be okay. Your tears soak into her shirt as you silently sob, and your mom rubs your back soothingly as you cry yourself out. “It’s okay, just let it out.” She reassures, and all you want to do is keep crying, but you must find out if Indy is okay.

You pull your face out of her nurse’s uniform and look up at her with red-rimmed eyes to ask the question, “Is Indy okay?”

And the look on her face answers you before she even speaks. It’s the face she makes when she has to tell people that something terrible has happened, and your blood freezes in your veins while your heart shatters. NO! You’re just imagining things! He is not fucking dead!

“Baby… There were some- He didn’t-” She stutters before clearing her throat, making you wait in grief-filled limbo. “He didn’t make it Skye. I’m sorry.” She moves to hug you again, but you recoil in anguish, a pit forming in your stomach as you process her words. Everything around you fades to a blur as you stand up unsteadily, her words echoing through your mind.

“He didn’t make it Skye. I’m sorry… He didn’t make it Skye. I’m sorry…”

No, no, no! It has to be a cruel joke! You called the ambulance in time! He has to be fine! It’s just a poorly-timed joke, right? Indigo is perfectly fine, and nothing bad happened to him! Yeah, it’s perfectly okay, and your mom is just trying to be funny.

“Mom… That’s not funny,” You seethe, and the hurt on her face makes you pause. But it doesn’t make you stop. “You can’t just say something like that! I can’t believe you’d say something so fucked up! Tell me the real truth, where is Indy!”

“Skye, that is the truth… The doctors couldn’t save him.” Your mom says softly.

“Stop. Fucking. Lying! What did you do to my friend!” You shout, but she doesn’t reply this time, instead just staring at you with pity. And somehow that’s even worse than an answer. Why won’t she tell you what happened!?

“Answer me!” You rage, nothing more than your fury keeping you together. Why does she keep looking at you so sadly?! “Answer me!” You shout again, and when she doesn’t say anything, you slump down onto a chair and look at her melancholic face.

“Please… Just tell me he’s okay…” You plead, and she finally moves closer to hug you tightly, and you realize that she was telling the truth all along. You tense up in her embrace as reality falls apart, and the gravity of the situation finally sinks in.

He’s dead.

And it’s all your fault. You forced him to take the aphrodisiac, even though he didn’t want to, and now he’s dead. You caused his death, and as you look at your hands, you can almost imagine Indy’s blood dripping off of them, staining your very soul with the weight of your sins. Why did you insist on making him fuck Vivian? Why did you listen to your anger and make him take the drugs? You should have just let her leave, and then you’d still have your friend, but now you have nothing.

“Skye? Talk to me, baby,” Your mom asks because you’ve been frozen in her arms for a few minutes. But her words sound like they’re coming from a million kilometres away, not even coming close to crossing the chasm of sorrow separating you. How could your mom even stand to look at you? Someone’s death is on your hands, and she’s still comforting you as if you’re the victim! Shame and guilt bloom within you, and a part of you expects your mother to let you go and scold you, but she just holds you tighter in her embrace.

“It’s all my fault!” You wail, “I made him take the drugs, and now he’s dead!” You bury your face in her neck, and the tears start anew as you sob in grief.

“Please just be a nightmare,” You think, “I just want to wake up now, in bed with Indy’s arms around me.”

“Skye, it’s not your fault-” Your mom starts, but you cut off her reassurance, your guilt driving you to explain everything.

“He didn’t want to take the drugs, and I kept pushing him to, and now… he’s dead.” You say sorrowfully, and in response, your mom rubs your back and holds you even tighter.

“I’m a murderer…” You murmur softly, burying your face in her neck to hide your tears as you sob quietly.

“No! You are not a killer!” Your mom exclaims, holding you at arm's length to look into your teary eyes. “Did you know he had a drug allergy?”

“Does it matter?”

“Did you know that he would die?” She presses, and you sigh.

“No…” You say sadly, “If I did, I never would have offered him them.”

“Then it’s not your fault. His death was an accident, and you did not kill him,” She says sternly, but you’re still not convinced. If you accidentally ran over someone with a car, wouldn’t their death still be your responsibility? It would be an accident, but you’d still get thrown in jail. You say exactly that to your mom, and she sighs before going quiet.

“That’s different, Skye.” She says after a while.

“How is it different?” You question, “It would still be an accident, but their death would be my fault!”

“Because- It’s…” Your mom struggles to counter your reasoning and finally sighs, “Because you’re my daughter and a good person. I know what guilt does to kind people, and I don’t want you to tear yourself apart.”

It was a bit too late for that statement because you’d been letting your remorse rip you apart from the inside ever since you reached the hospital. But you don’t tell her that, choosing to just melt back into her comforting arms. Right now, this is the only place that gives you solace

“Do you want to stay here for a while?” She asks while stroking your hair, and you murmur your assent, making her rest her head on top of yours. God, you hope this is just a bad dream, but sooner or later you’d have to leave your mom and face reality. And that’s a thought that terrifies you.

-

-

-

-

Note: This isn’t canon.

Yeah, he’s not actually dead lmao. I just could not make the hospital scene the way I wanted, so I wrote this to reset my brain :P

And also to give some of you heart attacks :3

(Like I legit have 6 slightly different versions of the hospital scene, but none of them sound right, and I refuse to publish until I perfect it)
Which was also why I was gone so long. I was trying to finish something by the second week of February, but how can I write sad stuff if I'm not sad?

I can write the smut because I’ve seen and read enough of it, I can make a decent plot because I read a lot, and I can write the combat because I’ve played enough of it, but I don’t read enough comforting sad stories to write something like this lol

The real chapter will be published later hehe