The morning rush ended in a flurry of pets and fond farewells. A few long-term patients were finally going home. And, with only a few minutes until lunch, the office was in a temporary lull. The sound of water could be heard in the backroom. Gloves were being stripped off and the white jacket switched for a hoody.

“Hey, Al, I was thinking we could swing by that Kalosian restaurant for lunch.” With nothing but her own Pokemon around, her normally mousy voice was plainly audible. “ Maybe pick up some macaroons for Mikky.” A croaking noise from up front served as assent. With that done, Aubre sat down to try and tackle some outstanding paperwork.

A short walk up the hallway was the clinic’s front lobby. In place of a human receptionist, a little yellow lizard perched on the desktop. Beside him lay a bright yellow memo pad and a matching ink pen. His tiny claws tapped idly at the keyboard, flipping idly through some unboxing videos. Big baby blues, however, were locked onto the black cat clock above the door. He wasn’t one given to watching the clock. Instead, he tried his best to make the day go faster. “Lisk…” Alastor sighed. Those psychic punks had it easy.

Suddenly, the front door burst open. A squeak emerged from the Helioptile as the door knob collided with the wall. His heart pounded in his chest as sparks rippled across his form. ”!?” The feeling of relaxation ended when he spotted the red trailing down the trainer’s arms. This was serious stuff! But he figured Aubs could fix—ah, Arceus. His eyes widened to saucers. Alastor furiously shook his head.

“Optile!” With surprising grace, the tiny lizard dropped to the ground. His claws flipped furiously through the memo pad as he raced towards the back entrance. Short questions, numbers, and a few games of tic-tac-toe flashed by as the electric type settled on an empty page. Up and down the paper the pen went as the lizard placed himself between the man, the dog, and the door.

Hearing all the commotion, the doctor pushed back from her desk. Her red brows lowered somewhat in concern as the man called out. “Al? Is everything all right?” Back in the lobby, the lizard’s panic grew. With a final swipe, he turned the paper to the Houndoom and its owner. On it was a drawing of something with a giant x through it. It had a snout—or, well, beak?

Frantically, he tapped the butt end of the pen against the paper.

The handle jerked down as Aubre moved to shoulder the door open. “Hel!” A sharp rebuke from the lizard drew a thoughtful frown. From him, a thin bolt of electricity hit the doorknob. A scarred hand snapped back with a yelp.

“Hey!” Aubre sucked on her tingling fingers as she stepped away from the door. She could see shadows moving on the other side. “If someone’s hurt out there—Alastor McKenna, you better open that door.”

It seemed the sight of Houndoom had caused distress in the little yellow receptionist. Sigurd got the message loud and clear as he saw the pen pointing at the canine-looking drawing with a big fat x on top.

That can’t be right! He thought in distress.

The Houndoom whimpered some more at the sudden movements of the one carrying it. “No, I am not leaving before a doctor fixes this. You can’t send us away. We have a right to medical assistance. You can’t discriminate like that!” He spoke loudly enough for anyone in adjacent rooms to hear. His voice filled with a mixture of disbelief, anger, frustration, and a hint of fear.

A small shock sent toward a door-knob caught his attention, especially as a voice called out from behind the door. “Yeah, your little friend out here is trying to deny my partner Pokémon urgent medical attention!”

OOC: Mission thread for NURSE JOY
LOCATION: SLATEPORT CITY -> Aubre Mckenna's Practice
TAG:Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

Well, at least my  Pictionary career to fall back on track, Alister thought to himself. As the man protested, the lizard brought his claws and the notepad up to his head. Tiny ivory claws dug in briefly as he tried to figure out a way to communicate what was wrong. “Lisk!” No matter what he said, this guy would take it as discrimination. Which it totally wasn’t. Aubre loved dogs. Her best buddy growing up even happened to be an Arcanine.

Discrimination? Aubre felt her blood run cold. If the board thought she was turning patients away, they’d take her license away. Then, she’d have to turn to sex work or murder or something else to provide for her daughter. Then, she’d probably get a horrific nickname to go with it. One article and any chances of doing what good she could in the world would vanish. The rest of her days would be spent sleeping on the streets or relying on a criminal for sustenance.

Her uninjured hand rubbed at her shocked palm, the pain helping her focus. “That does not sound like Alister—” While he certainly could be rude—and likely contributed to her daughter’s bad behavior—he did care about her work. Never had he overstepped the line or put one of her patients in danger. “I do not understand why he’d do that.” Then, the whimpering drew her attention. She’d heard that noise before. Right around when Leon sunk a bullet into a Houndoom’s shoulder.

“Would your Pokemon happen to be a dog?” She swallowed. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to control her pounding heart. A steady count in her head kept her fixated on the now. When she spoke, her voice was full of guilt. “That’s just—I have a—I have canine-related PTSD. The board is aware, but we rarely get emergencies.” The woman laid her palm on her side of the door. “How—how bad is it?”

Her hand lowered back to the door handle. “The other doctor should be back soon.”

She could do this.

She could do it.

She had to do this.

Perhaps if one of the most important Pokémon to him weren’t currently whimpering on his shoulders with a badly wounded leg, then he would’ve been calm enough to get the message across. Perhaps he would even have considered his words carefully.

Unfortunately, calm was not a word in his vocabulary right now. He was THIS close to just erupting on the poor Lizard when a voice appeared from behind the door.

His eyes shot toward it, but noticed the door stayed closed.

The addition of a new voice brought some calmness to him. Clearly, he had the attention of a doctor now, which was all he wanted. Her accompanying explanation did make him feel bad. But that didn’t change the fact that HIS Pokémon was wounded.

“Damn… I. I am sorry, but yes, it’s a Houndoom! And it’s bad. We are talking Angry-Scyther-Attacking-With-intention-to-harm bad.” Sigurd replied. It had been a miracle that it was only the left leg that had been granted the honor of a long deep gash. And it was another miracle that his shoddy bandage work had even worked as well as it had so far.


OOC: Mission thread for NURSE JOY
LOCATION: SLATEPORT CITY -> Aubre Mckenna's Practice
TAG:Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

The apology received an unseen smile in response. “I think I owe you an apology.” The look accompanying the expression gesture was not really a smile. It represented powerlessness and self-loathing. In many ways, the expression reflected terror. It stood in for a hundred different emotions a few facial muscles couldn’t convey.

“A Houndoom?” Aubre swallowed. The voice shrunk until it was barely a defeated whisper. “O-oh.” A good doctor would have asked for more information. Maybe ran off to get supplies. The redhead just continued staring at the door knob with a shell-shocked expression.

Aubre had spent years in therapy trying to build up a tolerance for something that once seemed normal. Hypnosis? Medication? She had tried it all. And, while she was certain she’d made some progress, she’d never gotten around to testing it. Especially not in such a high-stakes situation. Worse yet, not with that particular dog Pokemon. After all, it was easy enough to convince her that a Dachschbun wasn’t what’d hurt her. But an actual Houndoom?

Arceus, give her strength.

The injuries were bad/. A Scyther’s blade could easily cut through an artery or blood vessel. And, until she opened the door, she wouldn’t know if the dog could make it a few more hours. Which meant hiding might kill someone’s best friend. A burden Aubre doubted her broken back could carry. In came a deep breath as the redhead moved to grab the door handle. “Alastor. Move.” A noise of protest from the other side made her shake her head, even if no one could see it. “Please.”

With a worried expression, the lizard stepped aside. He didn’t like this. Not one bit. The door opened with a quiet click as the tiny doctor turned into the nearby exam room. Her eyes remained averted as she moved to wash her hands. They shook beneath the water. She’d seen the blood on the man’s shirt.

Aubre tried to concentrate on the now/ The sting of hot water on her hands. The hardness of her new shoes. The familiar scritch-scritch of Al’s claws on the tile.

“Put her on the table, please.” The redhead swallowed as she dried her hands with the provided paper towel. “And, if you could get her to put on a muzzle that’d be…appreciated.” The last fire hound to attack her wasn’t even injured at the time. God knows what might have happened if she tried to poke the fire-type with a needle.

It seemed they had come to an understanding. Taking a deep breath of air, Sigurd felt strangely relieved for a moment. He didn’t like to snap at people like that, especially not those with good reason to do so.

Her hesitation was now understandable. He prepared himself for some continued hesitation as the woman finally made her appearance. But appear she did. And Sigurd was quick to follow her to the nearby examination room. While she was washing her hands, he was already half way over at the table.

“This will hurt, but please bear it.” Sigurd informed the canine fire-type.

The Male Houndoom mewled lightly, as it readied itself to take the pain of movement once more.

While Sigurd tried to be gentle, swinging an adult male Houndoom from his shoulder and onto an examination table gently was a difficult task. But the Houndoom took the pain, knowing that its trainer would do it no harm without good cause.

“Sure, I can do that.” Sigurd retrieved a nylon muzzle from his pocket. He looked toward the Houndoom. It didn’t seem pleased, but whether it was from the pain or the muzzle that was about to be put on it was hard to tell.

It tried to dodge the muzzle a few times, but at last gave in and allowed Sigurd to tie the nylon muzzle tightly. With the muzzle on, Sigurd looked almost pleadingly toward the doctor, as he petted the Houndoom to calm it.


OOC: Mission thread for NURSE JOY
LOCATION: SLATEPORT CITY -> Aubre Mckenna's Practice
TAG:Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

The redhead stared at the bottom of the sink for a disproportionate amount of time. This continued until the water singed her hands as she layered on what felt like the 12th layer of soap. This isn’t helping, you moron. You’re just putting off the inevitable. Turn around. The self-depreciation managed to get shaking hands to shut down the faucet.

These were lowered to her scrub pants and wiped off. Fingertips brushed the worn-out fabric, focusing on that texture instead of turning around. 10…9…8… Suddenly, a warm hand slipped into hers. A smile appeared as she turned to the Helioptile at her side. A shaky smile appeared on her face, the tears not due solely to fear. “Thanks, Al.”

She grabbed the needle of antibiotics. A stitching kit was settled on the tray beside it.

“I am sorry about the muzzle.” It wasn’t that she thought all dogs were vicious monsters, just her mind that did. Most dogs were wonderful, loyal companions. The tendency towards some time mindless obedience set her on edge. With one final breath, the doctor turned around. Instantly, the pounding heart gained momentum. It went from bongo drum to gong as her pupils shrank to pinpricks.

A dark alley on a moonlit night. An unnerving, rubbery echo with every step. The dumpster’s edge as she slipped and fell in a panic, the feeling of burning and heat creeping up her neck. Then, came the snarl just before—ah, Al’s hand. She focused on the dryness of his claws against her skin.

This got her to the table. There, she focused on the smoothness of the steel and the smell of antiseptic. Green eyes shifted to the Houndoom as her hand moved to gently manipulate the injury. She focused on the shade of the dog’s velvety fur as she nervously stroked his hip.Warm doggy, soft doggy, little ball of fur. Please don’t get up and rip my face off, sir. Though her voice trembled, she managed not to start sobbing. “It’s a clean cut, fortunately. I do not think it nicked anything major.” That was not to say that it hadn’t cut anything, just that the injury wasn’t as dire as it first seemed.

The dampness of tears—of a puddle on her cheek. Concentrate. This isn’t an alley.

From her pocket, she pulled out a spray bottle. Within it was a powerful, high-brand surface-numbing agent. This she spritzes over the afflicted in gasping little puffs. Just like the breath of a terrified teenager. 10…9….8… After giving that a moment to sink in, he grabbed two painkillers from her pocket. These, she injected. In moments, the pain faded to a tingly feeling, not unlike the mouth at the dentist.

“Let me just give him a shot of antibiotics—” Look, see, it wasn’t even the same sex. That dog had been female. She’d even sported a pink collar. She took a deep breath, moving to soak up what blood she could. The next part required a clear line of sight. “--and, I’ll start—” Her voice dropped in volume. Stabbing the hellhound with a thick needle a few dozen times. “--fixing this.”

Sigurd busied himself managing the Houndoom.

It wasn’t pleased, but the fuss it made was mild, more of a show than anything really. Small mumbled “There there, easy Tyr, it’s going to be alright.” was whispered in a calming tone as Sigurd kept one hand on the canine Pokémon’s head.

The Houndoom quieted down. It could deal with the pain, but the damned muzzle was an annoyance it did not wish to deal with. The Houndoom placed its head down on the table, eyes following the doctor as much as they could.

As the doctor began to touch the injury, no matter how gentle she was, there would still be pain followed by annoying itchiness. But nervous strokes at his hip kept him from complaining.

“That’s good right? Makes it easy to deal with, no?” Sigurd replied, a tremble in his voice. Of course he feared the worst. His partner had been hurt. How could he not?

Houndoom gave a suspicious glance at the spray bottle. It knew the tool well, Sigurd had used it plenty when Houndoom was but a wee Houndour.

The doctor did her thing, and so did whatever she sprayed upon the wounded area. The needle was granted another suspicious glance. But it would not make a fuss now. After all, Sigurd had promised it that everything would be alright.

Painkillers and Antibiotics were given, and well. Houndoom could no longer complain. It felt nothing but the faintest trace of a sting as the fixing began.

Honestly, for a Pokémon so ever used to being bombarded with techniques that could level houses, the prick of needles weren’t doing much for it. In fact, the painkillers made the sensation so unnoticeable that it began to peer with curiosity at the Doctor as she did her work.

The Houndoom had noticed the hesitation with which she worked, and it wondered why that was? But it could not ask, no, not now.


OOC: Mission thread for NURSE JOY
LOCATION: SLATEPORT CITY -> Aubre Mckenna's Practice
TAG:Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

Keeping herself grounded proved difficult. Many nights she’d stroked the dog that had attacked her. It often looked as calm as the dog beneath her. Though, in retrospect, Aubre wondered how many hateful glances skirted past unnoticed. Though her hands remained steady, each of the dog’s twitches made her pause. As someone who suffered from constant pain, the ginger went out of her way to see the signs.

Any perceived discomfort would be responded to without request. The whole tough act did no good—not for her and not for the patient. Fortunately, the needle sunk in without a discernible reaction.

“Thank you.” Aubre mumbled to the trainer as he did his best to comfort the hound. Anything done to keep the thing’s hellfire eyes off of her was welcome. If it’d not been ludicrous, she’d have been tempted to request a blindfold and bedsheet too. “As your trainer said, Tyr. Everything should be fine.” Unless the wound became infected or it’d been poisoned. Or, worse, the dog decided her face looked like a chew toy. Other than that, however, everything was peaches and cream.

The concern in the trainer’s voice was touching. And, unfortunately, not always present. She’d met her fair share of terrible human beings who treated their partners like decorations or collectibles. “It is. As long as the blade isn’t poisoned or anything.” Aubre tried her best to force a comforting smile. Her hand remained wrapped securely around the tool in her hand, the point leveled at the ground. “Stitching together a clean cut is a lot less nerve-wracking. And, well, there’s usually nothing missing.” So, while it looked like someone had tried to skin this dog, it wasn’t as horrific as she thought at first glance.

Then again, she thought most things looked terrible. Her brain sported a nice pair of, well, whatever was the opposite of rose-colored glasses.

The frightened animal in her was tempted to just rush through the job. To just stitch what she could together, leaving the poor animal’s hip looking like a cobbled-together mess. Aubre McKenna. You are a doctor. You made a promise. Slow down. Nothing’s happening you can’t deal with. With another deep breath, she drove the needle through the canine’s flesh and pulled it out the other side. “Please let me know if something hurts—or stings—or just feels weird, okay?” Aubre froze. "Or, well, let your trainer know, anyway."

Continuing this process, the redhead began to patch the hound’s hindquarters back together. A noise from further up the table made her shift her body slightly, keeping her field of vision constrained to the table itself. “May I ask what caused the injury?” Aubre paused. “I believe you mentioned a Scyther?”

Sigurd breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor’s words reached his ears. It seemed Tyr would live to leave with all four of his legs today.

The Houndoom listened as well to the comforting words of the doctor. Though it seemed less tense. Battles always carried with them risks, after all.

A small rumbling growl of acknowledgement emerged from the Houndoom, letting the doctor know that it would do as requested should it feel any stings. Of course, by now it felt like nothing. Honestly, the Houndoom was growing quite bored by laying there.

But it knew it wasn’t supposed to move about, even if its body yearned to do so. Luckily it seemed there was conversation to listen to.

Aubre began to ask for the cause of this most severe injury.

“Yeah. It was a Scyther, a real aggressive one. Can’t really blame it though. We were trying to arrest its owner for pickpocketing.” Sigurd explained. “It didn’t really seem like it had been trained. But, you know. Sometimes they just get lucky.”

The Houndoom growled lightly, not really satisfied with that explanation. It didn’t sound heroic enough!

OOC: Mission thread for NURSE JOY
LOCATION: SLATEPORT CITY -> Aubre Mckenna's Practice
TAG:Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

“True, desperation do seem to be spreading.” Sigurd agreed.

And so the conversation continued until a light growl from the hound brought Aubre back to a place in the past.

Sigurd’s eyes lingered on her, but knew he couldn’t do anything. He could not pull her out the same way that the Heliolisk did.

Aubrey returned to them. Bringing alongside with her a question. A question which he unfortunately had to correct.

“Oh, I am not a Ranger. I am an Former Military Cadet turned Officer of the Law.” He beamed her a goofy grin to try and ease some of the tension this correction was sure to bring.


OOC: Mission thread for NURSE JOY
LOCATION: SLATEPORT CITY -> Aubre Mckenna's Practice
TAG:Aubre McKenna-Settentrione