Art by AlexFevr16 of   -SODA-

A little different commission then what I am use to, I always had Ion dealing with some sort of struggle after his serious injury, just not knowing how to go about and show it but after seeing this YCH, it just spoke to me to finally dive into it, as I think at some point in time in our lives, we all struggle to deal with some sort of down mental state and might just need to remember the people out there that care about us (at least this is what I think, I could be somewhat wrong about it all but I hope I am in some sort of right direction) I should also mention that this story is not from any personal experience I have had as I have never had to deal with this sort of issue but have dealt with other more minor things

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Ion at the lowest point in his life, he just barely survived a serious injury, losing a chunk of his insides and most of his left arm in the process. At first Ion was feeling good about himself, that he survived something he should not have had and was determined to get back to full action as quickly as possible. But then came some complications, his internal injuries were not fully healing properly, requiring Ion to undergo several more surgeries then what was expected, while at first Ion tried to stay positive, the constant setbacks did start to get to him. This is when the pain started to set in, at first it was physical, his gut started aching badly due to the amount of times it had to be continually cut open again and again during all his surgeries but the pain from his other injuries also started to get to him. His left shoulder which was severely damaged during the attack constantly ached more and more, not to mention his stub of a left arm where his arm was severed became very painful, as well as the side of his chest, where during his life saving operation, surgeons had to go in and get his stopped heart beating again. All this caused Ion to be prescribed more powerful medication that he started to overly rely on to cope with his new found situation. Then after Ion's injuries were considered healed by the medical staff, his spirits lifted a bit and he set out to regain the last piece of himself, a replacement for the arm he lost. While the technology did exist to help him with that, during the consulting process, a hidden after effect was discovered with his injury, during the medical exams to prepare him for such a major procedure as a mechanical arm graft, it was discovered that Ion's heart had been damaged from when he went into cardiac arrest during his life saving surgery and it could be serious enough to prevent him from getting a mechanical limb, as to power one, the limb uses a special device that is implanted on the patient's heart that uses the circulatory system to generate it's energy. Tests did come back a bit positive, that while Ion's heart wasn't working at it's max capacity, maybe even needed some sort of treatment for it, that he should be healthy enough to undergo the mechanical arm graft but the final decision was up to the overseeing doctor that was managing his injury.

That person was Meeka, Ion's older cousin and the surgeon that did save his life and fixed his injuries, he was hopeful that she would approve this procedure but after hearing about Ion's heart condition, Meeka told him that it was out of the question, especially since he was recommended to have a pacemaker implanted along side the graft, she felt his heart was just too weak to cope with the stress of a mechanical limb. Ion became distraught with this news, refusing Meeka's recommendation of only having the pacemaker implanted, falling into depression that he could not continue on with being a hunter, a promise he made to a dear departed friend to continue on the dream he had had. As the days went on Ion's mood only got worse, he would just stay curled up in bed most of the day, going through different emotional outbursts, he didn't feel like doing anything even the most basic stuff. Ion now also started to heavily rely on the painkillers he was prescribed, while his physical pain was starting to ease up to the point where he didn't really need them anymore, emotionally he only felt somewhat good while taking them. Though the longer this continued on, the more Ion would take each time, as the feelings kept coming back sooner and sooner. Disregarding the dangers that came with it, he would just down as many pills as he felt would make him feel happy, as Ion couldn't read the labels of what he was taking anymore, in his eyes all he could see labeled on them were smiley faces, confirming in his mind that these were the only things that could make him feel happy. He got into this cycle where he couldn't control himself anymore, even starting to wonder what was the point of it all, why did he have to survive that injury where this was all that was waiting for him, at least then he could have been reunited with him.

But as these thoughts started racing through Ion's mind one time when he was trying to medicate himself, he saw a small glowing butterfly flew in and land on the pills he was about to take. Not knowing whether it was real or just a hallucination, it did spark a sudden different thought in his mind, something he was ashamed he didn't realize sooner. There was one person here besides himself that his actions might be hurting as well, the one person Ion associates the symbol of a butterfly with, his mate Zephyr. It was not like he wasn't there for Ion, in fact Zephyr had been by his side every step of the way during his recovery, even putting his dreams on hold to take care of Ion during this time and fighting with the medical professionals to get Ion the arm graft he desperately wanted, Zephyr had been fighting for him all this time, something Ion had only now realized he was wasting away. The sadness Ion now felt turned into anger, as he didn't know how he didn't see this sooner, the pain he was causing to the person he cared the most about in this world. In a fit of rage, with his single arm, Ion violently swiped the pills and the medicine bottles off of the table in front of him, with them hitting the walls and scattering everywhere. The butterfly he saw darted off into the distance at his outburst as it's glow seamed to outline a figure approaching, as in the darkness around him, Ion felt a pair of hands embrace him as the figure came into focus. Zephyr had entered the room where Ion was wallowing, after hearing the noise that was coming from within, scared about what might be going on. He had been worried about Ion for a long while now but didn't fully know what to do, but in this moment this was all he could think of, just a small gesture to hopefully confirm to Ion that he was still there for him. As their eyes met, tears started to fill Ion's as the feelings of shame set in, all Zephyr could hear was Ion apologizing to him as his cries got louder, eventually with him burring his head into Zephyr's chest. All Zephyr could do was be there for Ion to comfort him, gently patting him on the back of the head and just allowing Ion to let it all out. Eventually Zephyr was able to get Ion to calm down, getting him to bed where Ion could get some much needed sleep, but it would still be a long night for himself.

Zephyr just sat by Ion's side and watched over him all night, somewhat stressed about what Ion's mood would be when he would wake up, but that eased when Ion did awake the next morning and was fairly calm. Ion continued on with his thoughts from the previous night, he was shaky but vowed that he would try his best not continue to fall down the path he was going on. It was still a struggle though, with Ion still continuing to take the pills as he still felt he could not function without them but each day with Zephyr's help, Ion was able to wean himself off of them a bit, taking less and less. Zephyr too didn't stop fighting for Ion, while his mood was improving a bit, Ion still needed that last bit of a push to fully bring him back into the light and for Zephyr there was only one way that would happen. Zephyr made one final plea with Meeka about letting Ion have the mechanical arm graft, that there was too much evidence that Ion having a pacemaker implanted with it wouldn't cause his heart to be damaged further. He told her about Ion's struggles in more detail, something Meeka didn't know fully. It was after this news that Meeka did come around that it would be best for Ion to have the procedure for his mental state, epically since Zephyr vowed that if she refused, he would take Ion and find a more underground way to get him the mechanical arm. The surgery was painful as it reworked Ion's nervous system as well as his circulatory system but in the end Ion finally felt completed again. This time he as well as the people around him were more careful with the painkillers, Ion needed them for the time being, as the graft was more painful then any of his other surgeries. But as Ion healed and the pain died down, this time he was able to feel like he didn't need to take the medication, he finally felt that he didn't need anymore. The one memory Ion made sure to keep with him for the rest of his life was that of the butterfly, whether it was real or not, it did help him realize what he was still living for and without it's presence, he would probably not be here today to make full use of the new chance he got on his dream.
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