Hurt, But not Fatally(Kazu and Graham)

She had a few scratches on her body and her ankle hurt, but that was about it. Kazu sat up from the spot she had just fallen and gently pressed agenst her ankle. It stung, but it wasn't broken; not enough pain for it to be broken. I've had worse before. Kazu thought. Falling out of a tree was nothing. Actually though, something had been on her mind, it was Graham the other day. For some reason, the scene from the other day played over and over in Kazumi's mind like a video tape set for repeat. Sure, she understood him wanting to be alone, but then why was it bothering her so much?

Guess that's what happens when you let yourself get distracted. Kazumi steadied herself up agenst the tree, slowly but carefully. But then a sharp pain shot through her knee. She sat back down and rolled up her boot-cut pant leg. Yowch, that's nasty. she thought looking at the gash in her knee. Kazumi grabbed her bag laying next to her and dug through it. She had the stuff to clean it with, but was out of bandages. Shoot. she thought. I must have forgotten to re-stock.

Graham was, of course, lost.
Again.

"Okay. One road leads to Waffle Island. One road leads to my farm, in Mineral Town. And the last road leads to this place, apparently." He stopped in the middle of this...forest (apparently) and threw his hands up.

"Where the heck am I?"

Something behind him cracked, and he heard a startled cry. He frowned. "That was odd." He stood there in the forest for another moment, blanking out. Realizing with a sigh that he should go investigate, his feet started to move in the direction of the sound.

"You get around, don't you?" he asked when he saw Kazumi sitting at the base of a tree. He frowned, following her gaze to her ankle. It looked swollen. Her pant leg was rolled up, as well, revealing a deep gash on her knee. "Let me guess," he said, leaning against the nearest tree. "You fell."

He walked over to her and sat down on the ground. "Here," he said, reaching in his back pocket. He pulled out a bandage and handed it to her. "I use these on a daily basis. Put it on your knee. You'll have to tell me where the nearest clinic is. I have no idea."

Kazu was suprised to Graham appearing from nowehere. She was even more suprised when he kneeled down and took bandages out. "I'm ok." she said shaking her head. "I've had worse." Kazu slowly started to stand up and balanced herself against the tree. "I can take care of myself."
What am I saying? she wondered. "Um...that is....thank you, but you don't have to trouble yourself." Kazu said avoided Graham's eyes. "Sorry to bother you..."

"Don't be stupid. Your ankle is swollen like a basketball. And you'll probably need stitches." He stood up. "Stubbornness is not going to heal wounds. Or boost your ego or whatever else you think it's going to do. So take my hand and let's go to the stupid clinic, already." He pushed a bit of hair out of his eyes. "You're not just going to sit there, are you?"

Kazu shook her head. "N-no sir." she studdered doing as she was told. "S-sorry to trouble you like this. Thank you." Kazu felt sort of embarresed. No one--besides her father or Chase--had ever used such a stern tone with her, it felt kind of strange. Kazu couldn't help but smile at that. "Um, thank you." Kazu repeated. Only this time, it was more calm and ernest.

"Don't be stupid," he repeated, shaking his head. "It's not a trouble to me. I'm lost, again, anyways. I'd end up here even if you weren't crumpled on the ground." He pulled her off the ground, minding her swollen ankle. "And my name is not 'sir,'" he grumbled in addition. "Now, let's go." He helped her cross through the trees. "You're going to have to tell me which way to go."

Despite herself, Kazumi chuckled. "Alright, it's very close by, once you get out of the forest, take a left then keep going straight." Kazu was silent for a moment, then continued speaking. "You know, i'm going to have to take you to every town sometime and sho you around, that was you won't get lost!" For whatever reason, it seemed funny that he was wondering place to place with at least without a map. Still, exploring new territory and getting to know it on your own was always an adventure.

Graham scowled. "I don't need directions," he muttered. "I'm usually okay at finding my way around by myself." He could hardly imagine himself popping into a nearby facility and ask the overly perky desk clerk where the heck he could find someone to sell him a pack of smokes. In fact, he was craving one at the moment, which was why he ended up here - maybe some store sold them here. If not, he was going to have to special-order them. With the money he didn't have.

"Alright, left, then straight," he said, turning left when they exited the forest. He took the first left on the paved path and walked down. "That's it, down there?" he asked, pointing with his free hand.

Kazu nodded. "Hm hmm." she said. She glanced up at Graham, he seemd a bit...sick? No, that wasn't the right word. Tierd, maybe? Whatever you wanted to call it, he seemd a bit out of sorts. Kazumi wanted to ask about it, but decided against it. "Alright alright." she replied when he said (rather grumpily) that he didn't need directions. Before she knew it, they were at the front of the hospital.

Graham nodded at a bench by the door. "Sit down," he said. "I'm going to get help." He kind of plopped her down without waiting for an answer - not that it was a question in the first place - and pulled open the door. Striding in, maybe a bit calmer than people would believe he should be, he looked directly at the nurse at the counter. "The girl sitting on the bench outside needs help," he said. "Her ankle's swollen pretty bad; she can't walk."

He watched as nurses pushed past him. One waved for a wheelchair, which he thought was unnecessary, but hey, protocol was protocol.


[Shall we continue at a Clinic?]