Aftermath (Indy Lives)

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 Pokecenter. 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, holding 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 an expression of tired relief, the look she has after a long shift, but one where good things happened.

“It was close, Skye, but he pulled through. Your friend is okay.” She says, and hugs you tightly, burying her face into the top of your head. You take a few seconds to process her words, all your fears gradually dissipating as the thorns that clutched your heart loosen, and you finally start to relax.

“Thank you,” You sob, pressing your face into her neck and letting your tears soak her collar, “Thank you, mom.” You tighten your grip on her and hold onto her as if she was a pillar of stability, while she murmurs reassurances into your hair.

He was okay. And that’s all that mattered.

After what feels like an eternity, your crying finally subsides, and your newfound relief transforms into guilt. He would have been fine if you didn’t make him take the Nutbusters. He wouldn’t have nearly died if you had controlled your fury, and if you didn’t make him fuck Vivian, then he would have been happily taking you out to dinner, instead of eating bland hospital food. God, you’re such an idiot. You could have had an amazing friend, but you threw it all away because that bitch’s barbed tongue stoked your anger. Indy probably hates you now, doesn’t he? You nearly fucking killed him because you just wouldn’t take no for an answer, who wouldn’t hate you after what you did?

“Skye? What’s wrong, baby?” Your mom asks, as you slowly withdraw. You don’t deserve her sympathy after what you did. She should be scolding you, berating you for nearly committing ****. But instead, your mom wraps an arm around your shoulder and places her other hand on yours.

“You’re blaming yourself aren’t you?” She prods gently, and you nod, shame filling you as she easily guesses what’s going through your mind. Hell, you can’t even muster the courage to look her in the eyes as you admit your mistake.

“It wasn’t your fault, Skye. You don’t need to blame yourself, it was a 1-in- a-billion allergic reaction!” Your mom reassures you, but she doesn’t know the whole picture as you do.

“Mom, he didn’t want to take the ****.” You sigh, “He said no, and… I just kept pushing him to do it! He wouldn’t have nearly died if I just listened to him… I’m the reason he’s in the hospital.” You finish in a barely audible whisper, and you hear your mom sigh. You cringe internally, getting ready for the tongue-lashing that’s about to follow, but to your surprise, she gently lifts your chin until you’re facing her, and her concerned brown eyes gaze through you as if reading your mind.

“What happened was your fault then,” She says sternly, and your heart sinks as you feel the disappointment radiating off of her. If she was angry, you would be able to just let her words bounce off of you, but disappointment was a harsh enemy. There would be no heavy verbal **** here, just a cold feeling that would seep past your defenses and sap your strength. Even more shame fills you as she continues to keep you in the uncomfortable situation, and you look away, no longer able to maintain eye contact with your disappointed mother. You just want to run, but that would be even worse, so you settle for just looking at the wall while blinking back tears.

“Now what are you going to do to make up for it?” Your mom asks, and her question makes you fidget nervously. What’s a good repentance for attempted ****? A simple apology would obviously not suffice, but what else could you do? Beg for his forgiveness? Maybe he would be interested in ****, so you could offer to let him nearly kill you? He probably wouldn’t take you up on it, but fuck! How do you apologize for nearly killing someone?!

“I-I don’t know…” You reply weakly, and she sighs in disappointment again. Why does this feel so horrible? When even your mother thinks that you’re a failure of a human being, how much farther could you even fall? Why can’t you think of some way to make it up to Indy?! “I’ll apologize, and help look after him until he’s all good again!” You cry desperately, and she gives you a small smile, which may as well have been the radiant dawn after a moonless night.

“That’s a great start! You’re a good person Skye, and I know you’ll do the right thing.” She says reassuringly, and your heart sings with joy. “You made a mistake, but everyone makes some. All that matters is that you fix what you did, and never repeat it. You really do care about him, and if you want to keep his friendship, you have to make sure to mend the bridge that you just broke.”

“I’ll try.” You reply, just happy that you’ve been given a chance to repair your friendship.

“And Skye, he may not react as well as I did. The boy nearly died because of you, so if he gets angry… Don’t take it too badly, okay? Just leave and try again later.” Your mom advises, and your heart sinks again. God, if seeing your mom be disappointed in you filled you with that much dread, how could you even bear Indy’s wrath? It would be well-deserved anger, but it would still hurt just as bad, and just the thought of him yelling at you fills you with fear.

“Hey Skye, hey mom.” Your brother greets you as he casually strolls into the small room. Theo Gold is tall and lanky, his blonde hair cut short, and he still has that stupid goatee that you hate. You tell him it looks like mold every time you see him, and he refuses to either grow it out or shave it. But right now it looks so familiar that it's comforting. He’s dressed in scrubs, probably because he just finished a life-saving surgery or something equally as impressive, and now he deigns to grace you with his presence. But his usual arrogance is gone, replaced by mild concern, and a part of you misses his cockiness because that would mean that everything is okay.

“Hey Theo,” You reply as he sits down on your other side and lightly shoulder bumps you.

“How’re you doing?” He asks, and you give him a small smile.

“I’ve been better.”

“Alright Skye, I have to get back to work, so Theo’s going to be with you now, okay?” Your mom says, giving you one last hug and kissing the top of your head. You hold on tightly, not willing to let her go, but she gently extricates herself from your embrace and rubs your shoulder. “Theo, be nice to your sister, okay? Bedside manners, not sibling manners.” She orders sternly, and your brother rolls his eyes.

“When have I been anything but delightful to my dear sister?” He asks innocently, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “Skye here loves me, does she not?”

“I despise you.” You reply, and he clutches his chest in mock distress.

“You wound me, sister dear. I so thought that our relationship was one of trust and affection, and now you’re telling me it was all a lie?” He gasps, and you crack a small smile at his theatrics.

“One child would have been enough, why did I insist on having three?” Your mom sighs, and your brother laughs.

“Hear that? Clearly, I’m the most loved!” He boasts, and normally you’d be quick to shoot back a retort, but you’re in no mood to do that now. When you just roll your eyes and sigh sadly, he shoots himself in the foot so that you don’t have to. “Or maybe I’m the fuck-up baby, and that’s why they wanted someone who actually stood a chance of being successful!”

You smile at that and lean into him, making him tighten his grip on you and a calm feeling descends onto you. Everything might actually be okay now.

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Here's the real Aftermath, and I hope it's what you guys expected, because this took me nearly a whole week to write, because I unfortunately have to feel the emotion to actually write it, so I couldn't write this chapter until I was sad.

:(