Career Day
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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"Miranda!"
"Coming!" Miranda called. She nearly tripped on a shoe lace, and her friend restrained a laugh and a sigh. Both came easily, after two years of being roommates and eight of being best friends.
"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days," she observed as Miranda caught up.
"I'll be more careful, Tabitha," Miranda promised. Tabitha rolled her eyes, as she did every morning when this scene-or one much like it-was repeated. Miranda was the only girl she knew who could manage to trip on a perfectly clear floor, with bare feet, in a slow walk, which she routinely demonstrated. Like... now. Tabitha caught her friend as she slipped again.
"Much more careful," Miranda amended, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"Right."
The bells began to sound as the two girls slipped past the closing doors. St. Claire's School for Girls was not fond of people running late, and 8th-graders more than any other class were carefully watched to see if they were in need of discipline. It wouldn't do to be late, especially today.
"So," Tabitha said, voicing her thoughts. "Who do you want to talk to during Career Day?" She gave her friend a fierce grin. "I want to find Officer Jenny and talk to her about joining the police force."
Miranda seemed to consider a moment.
"I think," she began softly, but Tabitha was on her favorite discussion topic, and didn't even hear.
"I want to help rescue people and save them from crime, capture criminals and punish them!" Tabitha beamed at Miranda, and shook her fist at the ceiling. "And I'll be the best police officer in Kanto!"
"You'll be the oldest graduate in Kanto if you don't hurry up, miss," a maid hissed as they passed. The two girls looked at her, and she winked. "Headmistress Jones is on the warpath."
"Thanks, Kat," Tabitha said sincerely. She grabbed Miranda's arm. "Come on, let's hurry!"
For a miracle, Miranda managed to keep up with her energetic friend until they could duck into homeroom. They could just hear the acerbic tones of the headmistress from around the corner, and the teacher raised her eyebrow as they shut the door rather firmly behind them.
"Just in time," was all she said. "Take your seats."
The girls sat down at their adjacent desks in the front of the room. Tabitha would have preferred to be less visible, but she'd never once suggested leaving Miranda by herself, and the younger girl could barely see in front her nose without her glasses. With them... well, the blackboard was just close enough to the front row, if Miranda scooted forward a foot or so.
"Good morning, class," the teacher said when the clock had ticked over to 8 AM.
"Good morning, Miss Holt," the class chimed.
"Today, as you all know, we have many important visitors here for our Career Day. They will speak to you about their jobs and what they like and dislike about it. They were instructed to be as candid with you as possible, so that you get the best possible idea of your future career." Miss Holt held up a small stack of paper. "Last week, I asked you to write down what jobs you would be interested. The headmistress arranged that these consultations would be staggered throughout the day, with larger groups being addressed in the morning, and individual conversations scheduled later in the day. With that in mind, would the following please stand?"
Miss Holt began to read off a list of names, Tabitha's included. The total came to half the class.
"Officer Jenny, of Cerulean City, is waiting in Assembly Hall 1 to speak with all those interested in a career in law enforcement. I understand that she's also part of the K9 unit, and so she has brought her partner Growlithe as well." Tabitha gave Miranda an encouraging smile as she filed out with the rest of her group.
Most of the rest of the class was sent to speak with the Pokemon Ranger representative in Assembly 2, and those that weren't were sent to a speech by Professor Ivy regarding pokemon research. In the end, only Miranda was left, nausea and anxiety warring in her stomach for precedence.
"Miranda," Miss Holt said as the last of her classmates filed out. "You asked to speak to someone who wasn't attending today." She tapped her list and began to continue, sympathy written on every part of her face, when a knock at the door interrupted her.
"Excuse me!" a voice sang from the hallway. The door opened, and a young woman with her strawberry hair coiled beside her neck entered.
"I was told I could find Miranda Bentley here," Nurse Joy explained. "I'm here for career day," she continued as Miss Holt sought for words.
"That's me!" Miranda blurted. Miss Holt managed a weak smile.
"I suppose I'll leave you two to talk, then," she said. Nurse Joy shook her head.
"It's all arranged," she demurred. "I've spoken with her parents and the headmistress. I'm taking her directly to the Pokemon Center."
The nearest Pokemon Center was more than two hours away, in Saffron City, by relatively fast car, and more than that if you traveled the speed limit, which explained why Nurse Joy had needed permission to take her there. It also made Miranda wonder precisely why Nurse Joy had come to St. Claire's for one not-particularly-special girl. Miranda shyly voiced this thought as they climbed into Nurse Joy's vehicle. Headmistress Jones had met them at the entrance, leaving no doubt that Nurse Joy had taken special care in arranging this meeting. Though never her favorite student, the headmistress had actually smiled at Miranda, wishing her good luck.
"You want to know why I did all this?" Nurse Joy asked, genuinely puzzled. Miranda nodded, looking down at her hands. Her glasses began to slip and she hastily grabbed them as her chaperone flung the car through a tight corner.
"I should think it was obvious." Nurse Joy turned to look at the girl, a broad smile on her face. The loud honking of a semi brought her attention back to the road, and she quickly shifted back to her side of the road. "For years, my relatives have been the only ones who chose the life of a Pokemon nurse. There was one girl, I heard, who also was interested, but she disappeared several years ago. But ever since my great-great-great-aunt Joy, the first Pokemon nurse, every nurse since then has been one of her descendants, and we've all been named Joy. You would be the first nurse who wasn't a member of our family, and a big step in the right direction." They were on a straight stretch of road, with nobody ahead or behind them. Nurse Joy turned to look at Miranda again, this time with a serious expression.
"There aren't nearly enough Pokemon Centers," she explained. "There are-maybe-ten in the entire Kanto region. Think of it. There are dozens and dozens of hospitals, but only ten places that sick pokemon can be treated." She sighed sadly. "I treat nearly a hundred pokemon a day, including those just needing a chance to refresh, and I know there are hundreds more that need my help. There's just not enough time for just me to handle it, and I've got a relatively small area to cover. Some of my relatives have areas as much as twice or three times the size of mine. We need more nurses."
Apparently satisfied that she'd gotten the point across, Nurse Joy was content to let Miranda ride in silence until they pulled up outside the Saffron City Pokemon Center. The large, dome-shaped building filled Miranda with awe and hope, both feelings with which she wasn't overly familiar.
"Come along," the nurse told her. They were met at the door by a pair of Chansey, who both cheered as their nominal superior returned. One of them, wearing a slightly more elaborate headpiece than the other, began to gesture briskly.
"Oh, no!" Nurse Joy shouted before the Chansey was more than half done. "Burns? Again?" She turned to Miranda. "Wait here," she ordered her, and then paused. "No, actually, come with me." She beckoned the other Chansey. "Get her a gown, gloves, mask, and hairnet," she said. "And then..." she glanced down at the first Chansey, the one apparently in charge, and nodded. "And then bring her to Operating Room 2." Nurse Joy scurried off, her attention now entirely on her patient.
Chansey led Miranda to a small room just off the operating room hallway. With an urgent "Chansey!" it swung open the door to a locker, where a long blue operating gown hung on a hanger. Miranda looked at Chansey, looked at the gown, and hurriedly pulled it off the hanger. While she would normally have been inclined to hesitate, for some reason, proving herself to Nurse Joy suddenly mattered very much. And there was also that pokemon that needed help. She wouldn't be able to do much, but she just might be able to help.
She shrugged into the gown. Chansey pressed gloves and hairnet into her hands, which Miranda also donned. She found a surgical mask in the pocket of the gown, and tied it over her nose and mouth. She looked at Chansey.
"Like this?" she asked. Chansey clapped once, and then waddled out of the room, looking behind to see that Miranda was following. Nurse Joy looked up as they entered the operating room. She gestured at the table.
"Growlithe, third degree burns," she explained shortly. Miranda shuddered. Much of the Growlithe's right rear leg was burned, the fur completely gone and the skin itself an unhealthy grey-brown tinge. "He's been anesthetized for roughly thirty minutes, but he should come out of it any minute. I want to start cleaning out the dead skin and treat the remaining flesh with an antibiotic to prevent infection." She nodded at the Chansey who had escorted Miranda in. "Procaine," she ordered. Chansey nodded.
Miranda saw the younger Chansey fill a syringe with amber-colored fluid. Leaning towards it, she read the label off the bottle. It was bupivicaine, not procaine, but perhaps it was another name for the drug. The name reminded Miranda of something, but so quietly that Miranda couldn't immediately say why. As the Chansey placed the needle on the Growlithe's skin, however, she suddenly remembered, and lunged forward, knocking the syringe to the ground. Nurse Joy turned with a jump at the crashing noise, and the Growlithe whined as the noise started to bring him awake.
"What was that?" she asked. Chansey pointed at Miranda and began to complain in a loud voice.
"Bupivicaine is poisonous to Growlithes," Miranda explained softly. Her face was burning at the sudden confrontation she'd spawned, but she stood her ground. Nurse Joy turned to fix Chansey with a look.
"I told you to use procaine," she said in a quiet, dangerous voice. The Chansey froze mid-rant, and then looked down at its hands. The other, older Chansey looked at its subordinate, who murmured something and left the operating room.
"How did you know?" Nurse Joy asked, preparing the anesthetic herself this time. She examined the bottles very carefully before selecting the one labeled "Novocain."
"I studied," Miranda admitted. "When I knew I wanted to be a nurse... I wanted to learn as much as I could."
Nurse Joy bestowed a dazzling smile, visible even through the gauzy mask, on her young assistant. Miranda blushed even more deeply.
"I'm injecting our patient with 20 cc-cubic centimeters-of local anesthetic. That will numb the area around the burn."
The three-Joy, Miranda, and Chansey-worked urgently in silence, broken only rarely by Nurse Joy issuing a command or explaining something to Miranda. Chansey needed no instructions; unlike its younger twin, this Chansey had worked with Nurse Joy for long enough to know instinctively what to do. The clock ticked away on the wall, until more than an hour had passed. Nurse Joy straightened with a sigh of relief.
"He should be fine now," she declared. "A bit the worse for wear, but a week's rest will see him back on his feet, I expect."
Miranda's back ached, her neck was sore from being bent down to help bandage the Growlithe's leg, and she had a headache from the strain, but she had never felt so happy.
"I actually helped," she whispered to herself, joining Nurse Joy in the antechamber to strip off their gloves and masks. Those went directly into an incinerator, Nurse Joy explained. The gowns and hairnets followed them, and Nurse Joy rubbed her hands together happily.
"I hate latex," she confided. "It makes my skin itch." She stretched once as Chansey came rumbling past with the stretcher. "Growlithe's on his way to Recovery, thanks in part to you. How do you feel?"
"Great!" Miranda replied, her shyness abated slightly by the realization that she had, quite probably, saved a life.
"Glad to hear it." She gestured down another hallway, just behind the reception desk, that Miranda hadn't noticed. "Let's visit my office."
Nurse Joy's office was cluttered with medical journals, textbooks, a variety of anatomy posters, and the accumulated detritus of half a decade of medical pursuits. Joy sat down behind her desk as Miranda gingerly perched on the only other chair.
"Well, now you've seen pretty much what it's like to be a nurse," the woman began, leaning back in her chair. "Are you still interested?"
"Yes."
"In that case..." Nurse Joy reached into a drawer and pulled out a folder. "I had planned on giving this to you after describing the job to you, but you have the idea." She passed the folder to Miranda, who opened it. Inside was an acceptance letter to the Pokemon Career College, and a scholarship application for the Pokemon Nursing department. The girl looked up in surprise.
"I told you. We need nurses, badly. A girl who's truly interested in studying the field, and who can actually use what she studies... that's important to us, unbelievably." Joy tapped the folder held in Miranda's hands. "That application will be accepted immediately, once you turn it in. It will cover room, board, tuition, and supplies, with a small stipend."
"I don't know what to say..." Miranda began, stumbling a bit over the words. St. Claire's tuition had been paid by the last of her parents' savings, and it was certain they wouldn't have been able to afford higher education. Becoming a nurse had been a far-off dream, something that Miranda might have been able to aspire to after years of saving. With the acceptance letter and a scholarship, Miranda could begin immediately after graduating from St. Claire's.
"Say 'I accept,' then," Nurse Joy said practically.
"I accept!"
* * *
Graduation came almost faster than Miranda could believe. She stood in her silver-colored graduation gown and square hat. Tabitha caught her with the ease of long practice as she tripped over the hem.
"Still the same old Miranda," Tabitha laughed. She had learned of her acceptance to the Pokemon Police Academy only a week before. With her family's money, she'd have no trouble paying for it out of her own allowance, and she'd offered to do the same for Miranda, wherever she went. It was only then that Miranda had shown her Nurse Joy's gifts and the reply from her scholarship application. Tabitha had been stunned, and then pleased.
"Promise me," Miranda found herself saying as her memory replayed the event.
"What?"
"You'll become the best Pokemon police officer, and I'll become the best Pokemon nurse..."
Tabitha laughed aloud. "Are you still worried about that?" she teased. She picked Miranda up and thrust her arm through her best friend's. "We're going to the top, no doubt about it."
The girls filed out with the rest of their class, into the large amphitheatre of the gym. The seats ringing the gym were filled with proud parents, and as the girls took their seats, the entire floor was packed with future graduates, and the room buzzed with the pleasant sound of expectant, hushed voices. Even that sound drained as the faculty of St. Claire's School for Girls assembled on the stage.
"Congratulations to all of you," Headmistress Jones said. She launched from there into a speech in which the phrases "proud history of St. Claire's," "the future of our society," and "credit to your teachers," featured prominently. Other teachers stood and spoke in turn, each highlighting some aspect of education they believed would stand their students in good stead in future. Finally, it was time for the main event. The girls all stood and began to form a careful line up to the stage.
"Miranda Haynes," the headmistress announced as Miranda reached the podium. She handed the girl a leather-bound folder containing her diploma. "Congratulations," she said more quietly. "And good luck."
"Tabitha Kettering!" she added in a louder voice as Miranda stepped aside.
They were dismissed after everyone had received their diplomas, and the girls all cheered when the headmistress finally sat down. Hats were strewn everywhere as they celebrated their freedom, and then were hastily collected as someone reminded them that refreshments were waiting in the lobby. Tabitha was one of the first to leave the gym, hauling Miranda with her and making a severe dent in the crowd as she passed.
Miranda's father and mother in their Sunday best stood next to Tabitha's elegantly-dressed parents, and the two friends walked over to them to receive their congratulations. Both children were congratulated by all four of the adults, for Tabitha had been a frequent guest of Miranda's, and vice versa, while they had lived at home. As Tabitha talked happily about her future career, Miranda's gaze was drawn to a large white, blue, and pink blur approaching. Her mother also noticed, and she poked her daughter and Tabitha gleefully.
"I think you've got guests," she said. Tabitha, whose eyesight was better, identified them a split-second before Miranda realized who they had to be.
"It's Nurse Joy! And Officer Jenny, too!"
"I'm Officer Jenny from Saffron," the policewoman corrected easily. She smiled. "My second-cousin's sister, Jenny of Cerulean City, said to say that she wanted to be here, but she was called out on an emergency. So here I am! I'm supposed to be your mentor until the academy opens for the fall."
Tabitha smiled at her. "Glad you could make it," she replied. "And I understand. Duty beckons, right?"
"That's our little future officer," Jenny said with apparent pride. Based on her reaction, Miranda thought, Officer Jenny's family must be as pleased to have Tabitha as Nurse Joy's was to have her. Speaking of which...
"How's Growlithe?" she asked Nurse Joy.
"Doing just fine! He recovered a month ago, and now he's back on the job."
"The job?"
"Yes!" Officer Jenny replied. She pulled a pokeball from her jacket. "Go, Growlithe!"
The fur on his hind leg had recovered, but, squinting, Miranda thought she recognized the markings.
"Is this...?"
"That's the Growlithe," Joy confirmed. She knelt and patted the canine on the head gently. "Good as new, right?"
"Growlithe!" it confirmed, jumping up to lick her face. Miranda laughed with delight. Her last memory of Growlithe, looking into Recovery before Nurse Joy drove her back, was a limp, almost lifeless orange ball. Seeing that depressing sight turned into the energetic puppy she saw now made her heart swell almost to bursting.
"Pictures!" an older man intruded into their gathering. Nurse Joy smiled as she saw Miranda try to duck behind her parents. She reached out and grabbed the girl's gown, pulling her to stand in front. Tabitha stood in front of her parents, and Jenny and Joy took up positions beside their respective future students.
"Say cheese!"
"Cheese!"
"Growlithe!" the puppy yelped, and jumped up into a surprised Miranda's arms.
[The End]Chapter End Notes:This was a submission for Theme Week 1, School
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"Miranda!"
"Coming!" Miranda called. She nearly tripped on a shoe lace, and her friend restrained a laugh and a sigh. Both came easily, after two years of being roommates and eight of being best friends.
"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days," she observed as Miranda caught up.
"I'll be more careful, Tabitha," Miranda promised. Tabitha rolled her eyes, as she did every morning when this scene-or one much like it-was repeated. Miranda was the only girl she knew who could manage to trip on a perfectly clear floor, with bare feet, in a slow walk, which she routinely demonstrated. Like... now. Tabitha caught her friend as she slipped again.
"Much more careful," Miranda amended, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"Right."
The bells began to sound as the two girls slipped past the closing doors. St. Claire's School for Girls was not fond of people running late, and 8th-graders more than any other class were carefully watched to see if they were in need of discipline. It wouldn't do to be late, especially today.
"So," Tabitha said, voicing her thoughts. "Who do you want to talk to during Career Day?" She gave her friend a fierce grin. "I want to find Officer Jenny and talk to her about joining the police force."
Miranda seemed to consider a moment.
"I think," she began softly, but Tabitha was on her favorite discussion topic, and didn't even hear.
"I want to help rescue people and save them from crime, capture criminals and punish them!" Tabitha beamed at Miranda, and shook her fist at the ceiling. "And I'll be the best police officer in Kanto!"
"You'll be the oldest graduate in Kanto if you don't hurry up, miss," a maid hissed as they passed. The two girls looked at her, and she winked. "Headmistress Jones is on the warpath."
"Thanks, Kat," Tabitha said sincerely. She grabbed Miranda's arm. "Come on, let's hurry!"
For a miracle, Miranda managed to keep up with her energetic friend until they could duck into homeroom. They could just hear the acerbic tones of the headmistress from around the corner, and the teacher raised her eyebrow as they shut the door rather firmly behind them.
"Just in time," was all she said. "Take your seats."
The girls sat down at their adjacent desks in the front of the room. Tabitha would have preferred to be less visible, but she'd never once suggested leaving Miranda by herself, and the younger girl could barely see in front her nose without her glasses. With them... well, the blackboard was just close enough to the front row, if Miranda scooted forward a foot or so.
"Good morning, class," the teacher said when the clock had ticked over to 8 AM.
"Good morning, Miss Holt," the class chimed.
"Today, as you all know, we have many important visitors here for our Career Day. They will speak to you about their jobs and what they like and dislike about it. They were instructed to be as candid with you as possible, so that you get the best possible idea of your future career." Miss Holt held up a small stack of paper. "Last week, I asked you to write down what jobs you would be interested. The headmistress arranged that these consultations would be staggered throughout the day, with larger groups being addressed in the morning, and individual conversations scheduled later in the day. With that in mind, would the following please stand?"
Miss Holt began to read off a list of names, Tabitha's included. The total came to half the class.
"Officer Jenny, of Cerulean City, is waiting in Assembly Hall 1 to speak with all those interested in a career in law enforcement. I understand that she's also part of the K9 unit, and so she has brought her partner Growlithe as well." Tabitha gave Miranda an encouraging smile as she filed out with the rest of her group.
Most of the rest of the class was sent to speak with the Pokemon Ranger representative in Assembly 2, and those that weren't were sent to a speech by Professor Ivy regarding pokemon research. In the end, only Miranda was left, nausea and anxiety warring in her stomach for precedence.
"Miranda," Miss Holt said as the last of her classmates filed out. "You asked to speak to someone who wasn't attending today." She tapped her list and began to continue, sympathy written on every part of her face, when a knock at the door interrupted her.
"Excuse me!" a voice sang from the hallway. The door opened, and a young woman with her strawberry hair coiled beside her neck entered.
"I was told I could find Miranda Bentley here," Nurse Joy explained. "I'm here for career day," she continued as Miss Holt sought for words.
"That's me!" Miranda blurted. Miss Holt managed a weak smile.
"I suppose I'll leave you two to talk, then," she said. Nurse Joy shook her head.
"It's all arranged," she demurred. "I've spoken with her parents and the headmistress. I'm taking her directly to the Pokemon Center."
The nearest Pokemon Center was more than two hours away, in Saffron City, by relatively fast car, and more than that if you traveled the speed limit, which explained why Nurse Joy had needed permission to take her there. It also made Miranda wonder precisely why Nurse Joy had come to St. Claire's for one not-particularly-special girl. Miranda shyly voiced this thought as they climbed into Nurse Joy's vehicle. Headmistress Jones had met them at the entrance, leaving no doubt that Nurse Joy had taken special care in arranging this meeting. Though never her favorite student, the headmistress had actually smiled at Miranda, wishing her good luck.
"You want to know why I did all this?" Nurse Joy asked, genuinely puzzled. Miranda nodded, looking down at her hands. Her glasses began to slip and she hastily grabbed them as her chaperone flung the car through a tight corner.
"I should think it was obvious." Nurse Joy turned to look at the girl, a broad smile on her face. The loud honking of a semi brought her attention back to the road, and she quickly shifted back to her side of the road. "For years, my relatives have been the only ones who chose the life of a Pokemon nurse. There was one girl, I heard, who also was interested, but she disappeared several years ago. But ever since my great-great-great-aunt Joy, the first Pokemon nurse, every nurse since then has been one of her descendants, and we've all been named Joy. You would be the first nurse who wasn't a member of our family, and a big step in the right direction." They were on a straight stretch of road, with nobody ahead or behind them. Nurse Joy turned to look at Miranda again, this time with a serious expression.
"There aren't nearly enough Pokemon Centers," she explained. "There are-maybe-ten in the entire Kanto region. Think of it. There are dozens and dozens of hospitals, but only ten places that sick pokemon can be treated." She sighed sadly. "I treat nearly a hundred pokemon a day, including those just needing a chance to refresh, and I know there are hundreds more that need my help. There's just not enough time for just me to handle it, and I've got a relatively small area to cover. Some of my relatives have areas as much as twice or three times the size of mine. We need more nurses."
Apparently satisfied that she'd gotten the point across, Nurse Joy was content to let Miranda ride in silence until they pulled up outside the Saffron City Pokemon Center. The large, dome-shaped building filled Miranda with awe and hope, both feelings with which she wasn't overly familiar.
"Come along," the nurse told her. They were met at the door by a pair of Chansey, who both cheered as their nominal superior returned. One of them, wearing a slightly more elaborate headpiece than the other, began to gesture briskly.
"Oh, no!" Nurse Joy shouted before the Chansey was more than half done. "Burns? Again?" She turned to Miranda. "Wait here," she ordered her, and then paused. "No, actually, come with me." She beckoned the other Chansey. "Get her a gown, gloves, mask, and hairnet," she said. "And then..." she glanced down at the first Chansey, the one apparently in charge, and nodded. "And then bring her to Operating Room 2." Nurse Joy scurried off, her attention now entirely on her patient.
Chansey led Miranda to a small room just off the operating room hallway. With an urgent "Chansey!" it swung open the door to a locker, where a long blue operating gown hung on a hanger. Miranda looked at Chansey, looked at the gown, and hurriedly pulled it off the hanger. While she would normally have been inclined to hesitate, for some reason, proving herself to Nurse Joy suddenly mattered very much. And there was also that pokemon that needed help. She wouldn't be able to do much, but she just might be able to help.
She shrugged into the gown. Chansey pressed gloves and hairnet into her hands, which Miranda also donned. She found a surgical mask in the pocket of the gown, and tied it over her nose and mouth. She looked at Chansey.
"Like this?" she asked. Chansey clapped once, and then waddled out of the room, looking behind to see that Miranda was following. Nurse Joy looked up as they entered the operating room. She gestured at the table.
"Growlithe, third degree burns," she explained shortly. Miranda shuddered. Much of the Growlithe's right rear leg was burned, the fur completely gone and the skin itself an unhealthy grey-brown tinge. "He's been anesthetized for roughly thirty minutes, but he should come out of it any minute. I want to start cleaning out the dead skin and treat the remaining flesh with an antibiotic to prevent infection." She nodded at the Chansey who had escorted Miranda in. "Procaine," she ordered. Chansey nodded.
Miranda saw the younger Chansey fill a syringe with amber-colored fluid. Leaning towards it, she read the label off the bottle. It was bupivicaine, not procaine, but perhaps it was another name for the drug. The name reminded Miranda of something, but so quietly that Miranda couldn't immediately say why. As the Chansey placed the needle on the Growlithe's skin, however, she suddenly remembered, and lunged forward, knocking the syringe to the ground. Nurse Joy turned with a jump at the crashing noise, and the Growlithe whined as the noise started to bring him awake.
"What was that?" she asked. Chansey pointed at Miranda and began to complain in a loud voice.
"Bupivicaine is poisonous to Growlithes," Miranda explained softly. Her face was burning at the sudden confrontation she'd spawned, but she stood her ground. Nurse Joy turned to fix Chansey with a look.
"I told you to use procaine," she said in a quiet, dangerous voice. The Chansey froze mid-rant, and then looked down at its hands. The other, older Chansey looked at its subordinate, who murmured something and left the operating room.
"How did you know?" Nurse Joy asked, preparing the anesthetic herself this time. She examined the bottles very carefully before selecting the one labeled "Novocain."
"I studied," Miranda admitted. "When I knew I wanted to be a nurse... I wanted to learn as much as I could."
Nurse Joy bestowed a dazzling smile, visible even through the gauzy mask, on her young assistant. Miranda blushed even more deeply.
"I'm injecting our patient with 20 cc-cubic centimeters-of local anesthetic. That will numb the area around the burn."
The three-Joy, Miranda, and Chansey-worked urgently in silence, broken only rarely by Nurse Joy issuing a command or explaining something to Miranda. Chansey needed no instructions; unlike its younger twin, this Chansey had worked with Nurse Joy for long enough to know instinctively what to do. The clock ticked away on the wall, until more than an hour had passed. Nurse Joy straightened with a sigh of relief.
"He should be fine now," she declared. "A bit the worse for wear, but a week's rest will see him back on his feet, I expect."
Miranda's back ached, her neck was sore from being bent down to help bandage the Growlithe's leg, and she had a headache from the strain, but she had never felt so happy.
"I actually helped," she whispered to herself, joining Nurse Joy in the antechamber to strip off their gloves and masks. Those went directly into an incinerator, Nurse Joy explained. The gowns and hairnets followed them, and Nurse Joy rubbed her hands together happily.
"I hate latex," she confided. "It makes my skin itch." She stretched once as Chansey came rumbling past with the stretcher. "Growlithe's on his way to Recovery, thanks in part to you. How do you feel?"
"Great!" Miranda replied, her shyness abated slightly by the realization that she had, quite probably, saved a life.
"Glad to hear it." She gestured down another hallway, just behind the reception desk, that Miranda hadn't noticed. "Let's visit my office."
Nurse Joy's office was cluttered with medical journals, textbooks, a variety of anatomy posters, and the accumulated detritus of half a decade of medical pursuits. Joy sat down behind her desk as Miranda gingerly perched on the only other chair.
"Well, now you've seen pretty much what it's like to be a nurse," the woman began, leaning back in her chair. "Are you still interested?"
"Yes."
"In that case..." Nurse Joy reached into a drawer and pulled out a folder. "I had planned on giving this to you after describing the job to you, but you have the idea." She passed the folder to Miranda, who opened it. Inside was an acceptance letter to the Pokemon Career College, and a scholarship application for the Pokemon Nursing department. The girl looked up in surprise.
"I told you. We need nurses, badly. A girl who's truly interested in studying the field, and who can actually use what she studies... that's important to us, unbelievably." Joy tapped the folder held in Miranda's hands. "That application will be accepted immediately, once you turn it in. It will cover room, board, tuition, and supplies, with a small stipend."
"I don't know what to say..." Miranda began, stumbling a bit over the words. St. Claire's tuition had been paid by the last of her parents' savings, and it was certain they wouldn't have been able to afford higher education. Becoming a nurse had been a far-off dream, something that Miranda might have been able to aspire to after years of saving. With the acceptance letter and a scholarship, Miranda could begin immediately after graduating from St. Claire's.
"Say 'I accept,' then," Nurse Joy said practically.
"I accept!"
* * *
Graduation came almost faster than Miranda could believe. She stood in her silver-colored graduation gown and square hat. Tabitha caught her with the ease of long practice as she tripped over the hem.
"Still the same old Miranda," Tabitha laughed. She had learned of her acceptance to the Pokemon Police Academy only a week before. With her family's money, she'd have no trouble paying for it out of her own allowance, and she'd offered to do the same for Miranda, wherever she went. It was only then that Miranda had shown her Nurse Joy's gifts and the reply from her scholarship application. Tabitha had been stunned, and then pleased.
"Promise me," Miranda found herself saying as her memory replayed the event.
"What?"
"You'll become the best Pokemon police officer, and I'll become the best Pokemon nurse..."
Tabitha laughed aloud. "Are you still worried about that?" she teased. She picked Miranda up and thrust her arm through her best friend's. "We're going to the top, no doubt about it."
The girls filed out with the rest of their class, into the large amphitheatre of the gym. The seats ringing the gym were filled with proud parents, and as the girls took their seats, the entire floor was packed with future graduates, and the room buzzed with the pleasant sound of expectant, hushed voices. Even that sound drained as the faculty of St. Claire's School for Girls assembled on the stage.
"Congratulations to all of you," Headmistress Jones said. She launched from there into a speech in which the phrases "proud history of St. Claire's," "the future of our society," and "credit to your teachers," featured prominently. Other teachers stood and spoke in turn, each highlighting some aspect of education they believed would stand their students in good stead in future. Finally, it was time for the main event. The girls all stood and began to form a careful line up to the stage.
"Miranda Haynes," the headmistress announced as Miranda reached the podium. She handed the girl a leather-bound folder containing her diploma. "Congratulations," she said more quietly. "And good luck."
"Tabitha Kettering!" she added in a louder voice as Miranda stepped aside.
They were dismissed after everyone had received their diplomas, and the girls all cheered when the headmistress finally sat down. Hats were strewn everywhere as they celebrated their freedom, and then were hastily collected as someone reminded them that refreshments were waiting in the lobby. Tabitha was one of the first to leave the gym, hauling Miranda with her and making a severe dent in the crowd as she passed.
Miranda's father and mother in their Sunday best stood next to Tabitha's elegantly-dressed parents, and the two friends walked over to them to receive their congratulations. Both children were congratulated by all four of the adults, for Tabitha had been a frequent guest of Miranda's, and vice versa, while they had lived at home. As Tabitha talked happily about her future career, Miranda's gaze was drawn to a large white, blue, and pink blur approaching. Her mother also noticed, and she poked her daughter and Tabitha gleefully.
"I think you've got guests," she said. Tabitha, whose eyesight was better, identified them a split-second before Miranda realized who they had to be.
"It's Nurse Joy! And Officer Jenny, too!"
"I'm Officer Jenny from Saffron," the policewoman corrected easily. She smiled. "My second-cousin's sister, Jenny of Cerulean City, said to say that she wanted to be here, but she was called out on an emergency. So here I am! I'm supposed to be your mentor until the academy opens for the fall."
Tabitha smiled at her. "Glad you could make it," she replied. "And I understand. Duty beckons, right?"
"That's our little future officer," Jenny said with apparent pride. Based on her reaction, Miranda thought, Officer Jenny's family must be as pleased to have Tabitha as Nurse Joy's was to have her. Speaking of which...
"How's Growlithe?" she asked Nurse Joy.
"Doing just fine! He recovered a month ago, and now he's back on the job."
"The job?"
"Yes!" Officer Jenny replied. She pulled a pokeball from her jacket. "Go, Growlithe!"
The fur on his hind leg had recovered, but, squinting, Miranda thought she recognized the markings.
"Is this...?"
"That's the Growlithe," Joy confirmed. She knelt and patted the canine on the head gently. "Good as new, right?"
"Growlithe!" it confirmed, jumping up to lick her face. Miranda laughed with delight. Her last memory of Growlithe, looking into Recovery before Nurse Joy drove her back, was a limp, almost lifeless orange ball. Seeing that depressing sight turned into the energetic puppy she saw now made her heart swell almost to bursting.
"Pictures!" an older man intruded into their gathering. Nurse Joy smiled as she saw Miranda try to duck behind her parents. She reached out and grabbed the girl's gown, pulling her to stand in front. Tabitha stood in front of her parents, and Jenny and Joy took up positions beside their respective future students.
"Say cheese!"
"Cheese!"
"Growlithe!" the puppy yelped, and jumped up into a surprised Miranda's arms.
[The End]Chapter End Notes:This was a submission for Theme Week 1, School