The servers hand was shaking a bit as she poured the coffee, it was either luck or experience that kept her from spilling all over the saucer.
Dragons often had that effect on people.
Psychics, ghosts, fairies, they all had a tendency to leave people a bit awestruck, and even fearful, but if any type could be said to encompass fear and awe in one package, it was Dragon. The poor waitress looked like she was torn between running, asking for an autograph, or falling to her knees. Generally Carita tried to sympathize, and tone down her aura, as the kids said, but right now she couldn't give a damn.
And if the girl had spilled, she probably would have just grabbed the kettle and poured it straight into her maw. She needed this.
The coffee helped steady her nerves. She had found her quarry, but they still weren't back to the den, the hospital, she mentally corrected herself. It didn't feel right to not have her in view right now. Sure, the nurses had let her engage the safety lock on the door, usually meant more to stop people coming in, than out, but there was still the window.
Was it likely Hailey could, or even would try to climb out a window? No, but try telling instincts that.
Carita had always resisted being ruled by her instincts though, so here she was, sitting on a PokéCentre patio, in the fading afternoon light. She'd ordered coffee, two milks, two sugars, while her 'guest' had ordered tea, some berry blend. All around them were couples on dinner dates, though more than a few glances were surreptitiously and not so surreptitiously being thrown their way.
A Dragonite and a Drifloon, none to common around these parts, or anywhere really.
So, what did the Ghost want to talk about then?
She was clearly in no hurry, lifting her cup, blowing on it gently, before taking a small sip. Carita was more used to slamming back an entire mug in one gulp in between Code Reds. Still, she'd wanted answers, so there was no point Persian-footing around it.
"So, how did you come to meet Halcyon?" She tried to keep her tone neutral. They'd found no evidence that Hailey had been lured out by anyone, yet, but still she wasn't 100% sure.
"So that is her real name?" The ghost answered, in a aggravatingly calm way.
"On her birth certificate, yes, she doesn't usually go by it."
"Lovely, and how appropriate." Pomona paused to take another sip. "You see I met her at dawn, in the middle of the Floroma Meadows. It was a… striking scene."
"The Meadows at dawn, sounds like a cheap paperback. Surprised my little Sunbeam actually rose to meet her namesake, she's generally a sleep till noon type, if we let her."
"Oh, I don't believe she did, she was asleep, or… something like it, when I found her. Was probably there all night."
Carita could feel her eye twitching, but she managed to avoid breaking the mug she was holding. "Stu… Foolish girl, sleeping outside? This is why she can't be out of sight."
"So, she is under watch all day back at the hospital? That must take a lot of people."
"Well, not literally, even if I tried putting a camera in her room she'd just find a way to smash it with a crutch or something. While some human nurses do check ins, drop off food, essentially all major care duties are mine alone. Can't trust any of the other Pokémon, as this little escapade has shown."
"Just you? That must be quite the burden." Carita was speaking slowly, deliberately. "Still, I can't help but feel sympathetic for her, were there really no other visitors? I would find myself quite lonely if it was just one in the Manor."
"No, no not really. It's not my place to talk about her family situation but, well… nothing ever worked out.” Carita sighed, looking down at the table. “Probably the best example is a story from before I was there, told to me by her previous doctor. After it became clear she wasn't healthy enough to be in class all day with other kids they tried to set up a… visitation thing, where girls from the school could go up to her room, talk, do homework that kind of thing. Thing was, I don't think any of the girls were too enthusiastic about it. Hailey was strange to them, perhaps even frightening, and for her part, I doubt she would have liked it either. She hates feeling like an obligation."
"I'm surprised she couldn't go to school, even part time. While I did witness one of her episodes, she still made it quite far, almost entirely under her own power. Surely sitting in a classroom half a day would not have been more effort."
Carita let out a horse laugh. "That's because you didn't see her as a kid, Arceus, even I only saw the tail end. These days, while not exactly predictable, her attacks are more… motivated. By stress, anger, exhaustion, she can go weeks or even months without them now. The main issue these days is her nerve damage, and inability to put on any muscle or fat, but a decade ago? The attacks were random, totally and utterly. Reading the notes of my predecessors it was a daily war to keep her from tearing herself apart.
She stopped to shake her head, while she'd diligently studied every record that had been left, it had been hard reading.
"The stack of paper detailing all the treatments tried would put your average fantasy epic to shame. I think she hated the Psychics the most."
Pomona tilted her head at that.
"An idea that came up more than a few times, if the body wouldn't respond to any treatment, what about the mind? Perhaps she could be soothed, or even disconnected during a fit, stop it in it's tracks. Never worked out. Even powerful, trained psychics found it hard to focus on her for more than a few minutes, even when guided by the hand, and that lack of focus meant that rather than a gentle hug the treatments were more like a psychic hammer. I can't say I blame her."
"So, what then changed, because I can only see a shadow of that story in the young woman I met."
"Sad to admit, but I can't really tell you. I've tried to do my best, and can probably claim some of the improvement. Diet, exercise, medication, I've been keeping it under my thumb for about seven years now. From tracking every meal to participating in as much of her physiotherapy as my schedule will allow, she has improved. Apparently more than I had realized. While I'll be giving her a very thorough physical once we're done here, I have to admit, when I first learned she'd vanished, I thought we'd find her collapsed before even hitting the Jubilife outskirts."
It was unprofessional, but she couldn't help but feel a little proud of her sunbeam for that, 27 years of hell and she'd refused to give up.
"Yes, you should ask her to show you the pictures she took in the Meadow." Pomona said, putting her cup down. "It is a shame there is only a single one of her out of the lot, she looked so… radiant, so happy to be there. I only truly realized that when I met again after."
The Ghost floated higher, into something resembling a standing position, before curtsying. "It was a pleasure to speak to you Carita, I feel I genuinely understand Hailey better now, and I hope you will as well."
Carita just narrowed her eyes.
Ghosts, always plotting something.
It would be a lie to say Gem didn't appreciate some peace and quiet after the day she'd had, it'd been a busy 24 hours. Fights, emotional breakdowns, haunted mansions, gangbangs, and a Dragonite ambush.
Still, even as she felt sleep calling, another part of her sparked for new stimulus, excitement. Curse of her typing.
Pomona floating right through the wall in front of her, mid yawn, wasn't it though. The yawn turned into a strangled yelp, which set Hailey off, the girl bolting up with her own indistinct cry. Pomona didn't seem bothered by either of them, floating over to one of the chairs before flopping over it, and then slowly sinking partway through.
"Uh, hey there Ms. Purple'n'Plush, where have you been?" Gem said, as Hailey stretched and yawned. Darkness had near totally fallen outside.
Pomona didn't answer for a moment, instead making a whining noise that was not unlike air escaping.
"Hailey?" She finally said, to which the girl responded "Yes?"
"You chose to go head to head with that giant lizard every day?"
"Heh, yeah, she's a lot isn't she? Guess I just got used to her over the years. Plus, well, who else was I going to yell at?"
"You have my respect then. I don't think she was actually angry at me the entire talk, but the sheer pressure she put off… I'm surprised anyone questions her, ever."
"Well, you just haven't seen her try to secretly scarf a bag of Chocolate Caffeinated Chesto Berries, it's a little less dignified." Hailey laughed.
"Listen, there's only one natural reaction when someone that size starts staring you down." Gem cut in. "You either run for cover or bend over and grab your ankles. Have to say, it's nice to see you can sweat just like the rest of us."
"Huh, why would I not be able to?" Pomona said, face still the same mask it always was.
"So, what were you two even talking about while we were on house arrest?" Hailey asked.
"Well, I just had some questions about…" her words were cut off as the red light above the doorway switched to green. Carita didn't just stand in the doorway, she filled it. The Dragon had to duck so that she didn't carve a horn shaped scar into the top.
Clipboard in one hand, she didn't even look up as she addressed the room.
"Managed to cajole the nurses into clearing out one of their examination rooms, so hop up Hailey, I don't want to leave checking for damage any later."
It was only then that they noticed the wheelchair Carita had brought in with her. It wasn't the same one as before, the covering was green for one. Must have belonged to the Centre.
Gem rose to help the girl out of bed but was stopped by Carita's outstretched hand, which was roughly the size of her entire head.
"Appreciate the thought sparky, but checkups are a strictly private affair, I'll handle things from here.
As the two exited the room Gem had a hard time telling what part of that brief exchange had annoyed her most. Being told off, or the fact that the Dragon hadn't stuck those fingers down her throat
It may have been an entirely different city, but an exam room was pretty much an exam room no matter where you went.
Bright florescent lights, bed-thing covered by a roll of disposable paper, little tools hung on the wall. These places were basically Hailey's second house.
She'd been deposited on the examination table while Carita fussed around some cabinets, pulling out tools and sundry.
They hadn't spoken yet.
Having laid a multitude of tools out, Carita turned to the ones she trusted most, her own hands. Starting from the legs, she worked over almost every bit of skin, not just feeling for abnormalities (especially signs of pooling blood) but also visually scanning for things like contusions, abrasions, bruises especially. It was a very familiar routine, the frustrating thing was Carita could have been a masseuse if she'd cared to be, but the examination was, as always, purely professional.
The dragon hmm'd and haw'd but no conclusions yet.
Next came a small hammer and spike. Intimidating to the uninitiated perhaps, but they were just reflex testers, irritating and prodding skin. Her feet, ankles, knees, sometimes there was some sensation, or involuntary movement, but not tonight. They went away.
Blood pressure cuff, aural speculum, even just listening to her heart with her own ear, Carita must have forgotten her stethoscope back in Jubilife. She needed custom made ones.
A bog standard physical exam, she'd had literally thousands in her life. They were often a bit more complex back in the hospital, adding things like lung capacity tests and more, but those kind of machines weren't exactly common.
Aside from her own breathing, the only noise was the scratch of Carita's pencil and her own humming.
"I've heard you had multiple attacks over the past week, what were they like?" Carita said.
"I mean you saw it, and probably caused it. Pretty standard otherwise, saw spots this time." The scratching of the pencil stopped as Carita glanced over her clipboard.
"Yes, I did Hailey, but we both know that's not what I'm talking about. There was more than one. How many? What triggered them? What was their passing like?"
"… Fine, there was another, on 205. Pushed myself a bit hard after Gem hopped on my lap."
"She did what?"
"Just being dramatic." Hailey waved it off. "She didn't know at the time, got a few meters before I started coughing, was really lung centred that one. She hopped right off and pushed again. It passed without losing consciousness, the night air was nice."
"I see, well I'll have to talk with her about that." More graphite scratching. "Not what I was expecting to hear though, I was more thinking about an early morning attack in the Meadows."
"Oh that fucking intangible bitch!" Hailey swore. Carita looked like she wanted to reprehend her for that, but even by the dragons standards, 27 was a bit old to be controlling language.
"Quite the way to talk about someone concerned about you, from what I've gathered, stumbling upon you made quite an impression on her. I'm not surprised, not every day you stumble upon a half dead human in the middle of a field." Hailey could hear the judgment in her voice.
"It was fine." She said, trying to unclench her jaw. "It's summer, it's warm at night. Hell, if I hadn't stumbled on this lodge, I could have slept outside again, it's no big deal!"
"Load of shit." Was the dragons response. "It's warm at night in cities, where heat islands form. Plus, there's this little matter of morning dew, condensation, I'm willing to bet you were soaked through by morning, surprised that Pomona didn't find an Ice type instead." Well, at least she had kept her mouth shut about that was all Hailey could think.
"A little water's never killed anyone!"
"Like hell it hasn't! And you especially are not just anyone!"
"Oh right, I forgot, I'm less than!"
"Who has ever said that to you?! I know I never have! You know I just mean you have to take special precautions!"
"You don't need to talk to say things! I'm not blind, you and all the nurses. I just wanted to do something for once in my bloody life! Don't pretend any of you would actually…" Hailey knew instantly she'd gone too far, that she was talking out of her ass, but it just felt so good to get angry. In a flash her head was in Carita's hand, not painful, but inescapable. It held her view steady as the dragon leaned down, brown eyes into orange ones. It was hard to see from under her but up close there were actually bags under them, normally hidden by the angle.
"Halcyon. Don't you ever say that again. Not about yourself, not about the nurses, you may have your own issues with them, that's not my business unless they're actually abusing you, you need to talk to them. But especially, never say that about me. You think I don't care? You think it's just because it's my job that I dropped everything to fly circuits over half this damn region to try and find you before something terrible happened?"
The hand released her head, rising to rub Carita's eyes.
"Why didn't you just… ask me, if you wanted to get out. I would have booked time off, I would have taken you happily, safely.
"Well… you're always all business, a-and why should I have to?" She was talking slowly now, not because she was shaken Hailey told herself, but to choose her words carefully. "To ask? Who else my age that's not a convict has to? If I want to see some f-fucking flowers before I finally waste away, why should I have to?"
"I guess you shouldn't." Carita finally sighed after a long moment. "Just, maybe consider, I don't think you're going to waste away and even if you didn't care, such a thing would not pass by unmourned."
Things got pretty quiet after that.