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Repo'd been hauled into the base on the back of a Pidgeot with at least two others. Blessed unconsciousness had kept him cradled in its arms, as he was transferred quickly (but none too gently) from bird to bed. The doctors had worked quickly, and a messenger pidgey had been dispatched to find his roommate. On the off chance that they had acted too late, it would only be right to let his partner know that he'd need to find someone else to work with from there out.

Thankfully it had not come to that. The doctor let Max, who'd been confined to the waiting area for a healthy period of time, into the austere room. Red hair, gently curling but slightly flattened with sweat, haloed the head on the pillow in the bed. The clear mask covering his nose and mouth was almost constantly fogged with his still-rapid breathing. "He's still sedated, but he should be coming around soon. He might be in pain, and talking a lot will aggravate his condition. And whatever you do, do NOT step on that tube." The coated man pointed to a long thin tube that wound out of a thick bandage wrapped around Repo's exposed chest. The other end fed to a small unit hooked to a stand nearby. "That's helping drain the air that was trapped in his chest when his lung was punctured and collapsed. He won't be leaving bed for a few days while it re-inflates, so you'll have your unit to yourself."

A stirring in the bed prompted the doctor to take a few lat minute inspections of his patient before abandoning him to Max's mercy.

Repo's own pokeballs were still clipped to his belt. That, along with his pokedex and various other items, lay piled on the bedside table. Like Repo, the pokemon had been seen to. One knocked out by the Galactic elite's Breloom, the other two had been recalled for their own safety. One of the balls shook and popped open of its own accord--Deine, Repo's own drifblim, and family to three of Max's four pokemon. She'd inherited her mother's angry disposition, but rather that irritated, she seemed completely listless with sadness. She'd let her trainer down, and he'd been hurt. Been BADLY hurt. And she hadn't even been able to help fly him to safety. "Buh...b-blim..." She sobbed, wrapping one arm to the corner of Repo's bed and staring down at him.

Maybe it was all the noise, or the eevee settling nearly on his head, but one of the monitors attached to the prone grunt began to beep faster...a moment later his eyes fluttered open. His lips were still tinged slightly purple, but his eyes seemed more or less alert. Perhaps forgetting his condition, or perhaps thanks to the heavy sedation, he tried to move (to sit?) and groaned, falling back. He panted heavily for several minutes before calming and just regarding the drifblim above him.

"B-blim...?" The drifblim seemed near tears.

He winced, extending his right hand up to gently pat its arm. At that point the drifblim did break down, and he sighed as it drifted up to the ceiling, bawling loudly.

"...Did...did they tell y'...I died or some b-blarney?" The effort of talking made him cough again, and he had to lie back and still again. Arceus' mane, that still hurt. It was like being kicked by a mule each time he breathed too hard. At least his ribs had died down to a dull throbbing. Oh blessed, blessed sedation...

What? Max'd been praying? For him? Stupid lad. But Repo managed a smile at the thought. Both from distant regions, knowing no one here, and joining Team Rocket for their own personal reasons...Tossed in together, they'd found a good bit of common ground. Max had even given him his first pokemon, that same drifblim that was now sobbing into the ceiling tiles.

All he could do to reassure his partner for now was continue breathing. Moving hurt. Clearly his lung still was impaled on his rib. He hadn't been there long enough to go through surgery. That would probably be reserved for after his lung reinflated. Of course, he felt bad for worrying Max. Clearly he'd been very upset. He coughed, an sighed at the twinge. Understandably. Given how poorly he felt now, he could guess how close he'd come to...the big finale.

For a good cause though. "We...we sen' those...Galactic," Whatever insult he gave them was obscured by his rasping breath. Take it slow..." ...Runnin'...Y'should've seen Deine...so proud..." He sighed, sinking deeper into the bed. In the silence the whir and beep of the machines filled the empty air. In the calm of sleep, Repo's breathing eased. The right side of his chest rose and fell almost abnormally, while the left side, the side with the tube feeding out, barely moved at all.

The small shift in the bed as Max slid onto it was enough to make Repo's chest ache. He woke, though Max didn't seem to notice. Was that lamb of a lad crying? Over him? He tried to sigh, but it came out more of a hiccuping wheeze.

Looking straight up he could see the two drifblims comforting each other. He had to look a mess. He felt a mess. It took an unusual amount of effort to turn his head towards his partner. "If...if'n ye'r t'be...doin' tha', take i'....outside. I don' need some...blubberin' fool hangin over me." He weakly thumped Max's arm with his fist. Ow. Okay, bad idea. He grimaced, but fought the pain. Clearly his partner was distressed enough already without him adding to the worry by showing off how weak he was.

Hearing her trainer's voice, Deine dragged both herself and Kunal down towards the bed. She draped her long arms over his face, mussing his hair, blubbering, "Blim...blim!" Repo did cough then, but only because one of her arms had gone into his mouth. "An' you too...don' be actin' so gacky..." He scolded her with a smile. In response, the drifblim wailed once more and floated quickly out of the room to who knew where.

Repo winced as the eevee walked over him to get to Max. Thank goodness he was so small and light. Bah, what a mess. Stupid stupid Max. "Y'think ye'r bein' there'd'a...made any difference? Ye'r off...yer nut. Best it'd've been's you in tha' bed cross..." He was glad Max hadn't gone. True, more firepower'd have been useful, but what if they'd both been hurt? That wouldn't have done any good for anyone. It was dumb for him to blame himself.

"Stop tha' blubberin'. Or I'll have tha' ruddy doctor -wheeze- toss you ou' on yer arse." Alright, that was probably enough talking for right now. He could see why they'd told him not to. He'd felt alright for a bit, but now he felt a bit light headed. He settled to breathing as deeply as he could without coughing for a few minutes. That helped, and he soon felt calmer.

Repo fought Max's touch, about to complain, but one of the doctors who'd been lurking about stepped in and did it for him. "Alright now, I think that's about enough. We're all ready in the operation room to get that 'bone in your lung' out. But you," He pointed an almost accusing finger at Max. "Can't stay. Go to the cafeteria. Get food. Or got back to your room and rest. Protocol. And...take these with you." He gestured to the various pokemon scattered around Repo's bed.

With a sigh the redhead lay back in his bed. About time. He nodded once to Max, sending him on his way. He wanted him to get better? Fine. He'd be glad for another nap. He was feeling very tired. Very, very tired...

Beside the bed, the doctor released the knob attached to a small tank that'd been feeding into one of the tubes to Repo's mask. Anesthesia, for the surgery, of course. But it was also good for cutting short these visits, that would otherwise drag on. "You can check in on him tomorrow. If things go well, he'll be feeling much better then. Probably...two months for the ribs to heal, and he'll be able to leave in another half a week, once his lung re-inflates."

Well this was much better. Following the surprisingly quick surgery, Repo'd felt a good deal better. Of course, everything still hurt, he still had a tube in his chest, he was still trapped in bed, and his ribs were still broken (and on top of that he had a lovely incision all stitched up and aching)...but it didn't feel so terribly wrong. The drugs helped too. Oh yes they did.

He'd made a new friend of sorts after the surgery late last night. Deine had come back from her adventure loaded down with food (none of which he'd been allowed to eat) and not just another drifblim, but that drifblim's trainer. His name was Mau, and they'd found out they had an odd amount in common. Max hadn't come back, of course, but he assumed his roommate would be turning up sooner or later.

He still wasn't quite able to sit, thanks to the bruising of the muscles in his back, but he'd sent Laidir off to fetch several items to keep him busy. He couldn't fiddle in bed, nor would he in public, but he could read. He'd gnawed through two of the lighter paperbacks already that day, and was well into a third when he sighed and set it down on his chest. Books weren't heavy, but holding them up when flat on your back did eventually wear them out.

Alas. He was bored.