4 “Adopted”

I was woken by an truely heinous amount of pain radiating from my shoulder as I tried to sit up and take in my surroundings…key word there was tried as my body refused to move..

I was absolutely freezing cold as I gave up trying to lift my upper body and just peered around and realised I was back in the "orphanage", in the mouldy, decrepit and miserable room that never seemed to be clean no matter how much we were ordered to clean the place that was stuffed to the gills with rows of wobbly and very much unsafe and uncomfortable wooden bunk beds..

I manage the will power to look over to my shoulder that's been barely bandaged by what looks like rags made from my own dirty t-shirt..

And it seemed my arm wanted to let me know it was in the running for what could cause me the most pain at the moment, as soon as I moved it, it felt like a stabbing pain running through my entire arm causing me to jolt, which just caused more pain because the jolt moved my other injured shoulder.

I remember that asshole and his dog going to town on me because I burgled his shop after catching up to me, and then a voice? Someone telling him to stop?

But I don't remember anything after that..

"you're finally awake"

I shift my head to the other side the bed to see a maybe 13 year old girl with brown hair and eyes watching me with a hint of pity..

"What happened?, how did I get here?"

She looks me over again and her gaze lingers on my shoulder a little longer than my arm.

"A police officer dropped you off at the steps of the orphanage in bad shape"

Really, just dropped me off? Looking my still weeping wound it seems he didn't seem to think immediate medical attention was required….

"Why wouldn't he drop me at hospital or Pokémon centre or something?"

"We are just orphans, why would he bother to take you to a hospital?….hospitals can be pricey, and you wouldn't ever want to visit a Pokémon centre if you aren't a league certified trainer, they would charge you through the nose… so you can forget being treated with heal pulse"

So the league has shitty healthcare unless you're a trainer then?…I'm starting to like the league less and less

"So what?, we just have to suck it up and die if we get injured?"

"Pretty much, the worlds a cruel place to people like us, you just have to accept it and try to live life as best you can,"

Dude, I realised that this world was a lot more brutal than the games or anime but god damn….. this is fucked.

I mean I'm happy the guy saved my life and all that, but for him to just drop me off bleeding in front of the orphanage really drives home just how little people give a shit about you unless you have money or are a league trainer..

"Oh and you're welcome by the way"

"And what is it that I'm thanking you for?"

"The fact that I cleaned and dressed your wounds? Basically saving your life?…Miss B told me to just bury you out back and be done with it, she seemed especially upset when you turned up on the doorstep for some reason, and I doubt it was because you were injured"

Even as injured and near death as I am, I doubt that bitch would let go of the fact I didn't return home with her "groceries" or her money, and telling her I have a stash hidden wouldn't really change anything….she would just take it all and beat me anyway..

It also goes to show just how fucked up this society actually is if this kid just talked about burying my dead body without so much as a twitch, and I could tell she was serious…almost like she had to do it before...

All our wardens are particularly cruel when it comes to disobedience, regardless if you actually mean to or not, the fact that I was attacked and "robbed" wouldn't stop Miss B from "teaching me a lesson"

I honestly don't know if I'm going to survive this winter…my wounds look pretty bad and the fact I'm bandaged in dirty ripped clothing doesn't fill me with much confidence that I'll be getting medicine for if it takes a bad turn…

I just realised I don't actually know this girls name..I don't really know many of the kids names and I'm not actually interested in learning them after I was ratted out, but I guess I should learn the persons who apparently saved me

"Hey thanks for patching me up doc, I appreciate it, names Gideon by the way.."

"I know who you are kid, you're almost famous after getting caught stealing food from the Miss's and not "getting adopted", you got away with just a bit of a beating after Bernice ratted you out, oh and my names Becky"

Getting adopted? I'm guessing that's code for being found dead in a ditch somewhere…..So that's the name of the snake who snitched on me eh, not that it matters, I'm not going to do anything about it, no need to make things more complicated by adding more misery to this place, hopefully I survive the winter and can make a get away, and if I somehow survive in the outside world alone long enough to see her again…well I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Just as I was about to follow up with a question of how much of my shirt is left after bandaging the door slams open to reveal an emotionless Miss B scanning the room..

Becky freezes up and back away from me in a hurry trying to distance herself from me as she noticed Miss B's gaze finally sets onto me with her face shifting from emotionless to a furious scowl…

She made her way over to my bad and without even looking Becky's way orders in a cold voice that left no room for argument's "get.out"

Becky wasted no time before booting out of the room leaving me with a "grumpy" Miss B who looked like she was ready to take a bite out of my other shoulder….but after a brief moment of venomous glaring she managed to spit out…

"Where are my groceries…."

I kinda felt this coming so while playing up my very real pain I reply

" I was mugged on my way back by some guy with a poochyena Miss B, I'm sorry but he got your groceries"

Her face didn't seem to change at all

"That doesn't sound like my problem, you will have hand me "groceries" with my money back for wasting my time by the end of the week or I'll finish what that mugger started"

She placed her hand on my shoulder and dug her thumb into my wound which led to me whimpering in pain, trying not to scream because I know she would make me suffer for screaming in her ear..

"Do.i.make.myself.clear?"

Being in so much pain that I can't form a real verbal response I just nod trying to hold back tears

She lets go and leaves without looking at me again, what a fucking bitch, I've only been on this world a few months and I feel my general sympathy for my fellow man bred in a more caring world is starting to fade….fast

From day one I've been on the back foot, making plans to leave this shit hole as quickly and peacefully as I can, but I'm starting to feel more and more hatred for this world and the people in it as the days go by, all because people just keep walking all over me…

And there isn't a thing I can do about it unless I want to murder the Miss's in their sleep, which is starting to sound like a pretty good option …

Hssssshhh, fucking hell my arm hurts when I accidentally move it….it's basically just flopping around because it's not bound in a splint, I'm actually pretty lucky considering it looks like a clean snap….I doubt Becky would know how to make up one from scratch anyways, luckily I do…unluckily though, is that I need someone else to do it because is impossible to do with one arm…

I reckon I can guide Becky to whip me up a splint if I ask, she seemed like a sweet kid….maybe…

Man I could really use some painkillers….even that bottle of whisky from my loot stash sounds tempting right now, to bad I'm going to have to hand it over to that absolute cunt Miss B to pay her off so she doesn't off me…

Well I guess I'll try and get some more rest until Becky comes back, and I try to talk her into making me a splint.