Pain

By: KarmaAliceFowl009

Chapter 2: Never Too Late

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater! Also, this story contains instances of self-harm (as mentioned in the summary). You have been warned.

Soul was numb the entire walk to the hospital, thoughts swirling around. He couldn't get the image of Maka covered in her blood to leave his mind. He knew he should have stayed home with her. If he had, this wouldn't have happened. He was her weapon for Christ's sake! He was supposed to protect her from everything, including herself. He felt his stomach drop from the thought of how long she had been suffering in silence. Why did she not come to him? Oh yeah, because he was the dumbass that caused this. Well, he wasn't the only cause, but he sure felt like it. Tears were pricking at his eyes, burning them. If only he could have stopped this. Why did he have to tease her for all those years? Why did he have to be such an idiot?

"Soul, calm down," Black*Star whispered, placing his hand on the albino's shoulder. "Your wavelength is going everywhere." This snapped Soul out of his self-loathing. There was more to worry about than how stupid he was. He could dwell on that later. Right now, the focus was Maka and making sure she survived through the rest of the day and the night.

"Sorry," he murmured, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. He knew Black*Star probably blamed him for what happened as much as he blamed himself. Maka was his little sister, and the fact that Soul had been part of the cause was sure to make him enemy number one in the assassin's eyes. Black*Star stopped and turned to face the sulking scythe.

"I know you blame yourself for this, but you don't need to. It's not your fault, well, not entirely. We are all to blame for this. And if anyone is to take the brunt of this, it's her father. He's the one who caused this," he spoke quietly, trying to get through Soul's muddled thoughts.

"But if I wasn't so stupid, I could have prevented this!" he yelled, tears springing in his eyes.

"Soul. Listen to me. Mental illness is something that you can't prevent. It happens. Shit like this happens. You know better than anyone else what I mean. But all we have to focus on now is that we got to her before she got worse and we are trying to get her the help she needs." His eyes bored into Soul's, hands clasping down on both shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he sighed out, eyes flickering down to his wrists before looking back at him in the eye. Black*Star was his best friend, the only one he had ever told about his times before the academy and the pain that came with it. "Let's get there soon before I go crazy," he grinned somberly as they continued walking towards the hospital.

The rest of the walk was silent. Before long, they were at the hospital, meeting up with Kid.

"I brought the evidence in case Stein needs it. The girls took Tsubaki to your place and are taking care of her," he spoke to Black*Star and he nodded back in answer.

Soul's heart rate picked up as he saw Stein walk out of the emergency room towards them.

"She's stable as of right now. I stitched up the particularly deep cuts and bandaged the others," he spoke, messing with the screw in his head as he pushed up his glasses. "However, she will have to stay overnight for monitoring." Soul exhaled a breath of relief; his Maka was going to be okay.

"Is it okay to go see her?" Soul asked, fear creeping into his voice. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. He needed to see Maka. He needed to see that she would be fine.

Stein cocked his head to the side, contemplating his words. "Well I don't see any harm in it but she is asleep," he spoke but the rest of his words fell on deaf ears as Soul sprinted to her room, intent to be by her side until she was well. He paused outside the door. What if when she woke up she didn't want to see him? Would she blame him for living? He pushed these thoughts aside and entered the room, breath catching in his throat as he saw her connected to various machines to monitor her heart rate and administer medication, as well as he could see the bandages that covered her arms.

"Maka…" he whispered, sitting down beside her and grabbing her hand, squeezing it lovingly. The sight of her like this chilled him to the bone; it reminded him of his past too well. He shook that thought off. No time to dwell on it now.

"Maka I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't see that you were hurting sooner. If I did, I would have helped you instead of make it worse. I feel terrible now, but I'm glad that I didn't lose you. You mean so much to me. I, I love you," he whispered, tears dripping from his eyes to stain the sheets as he squeezed her hand yet again. His eyes shot open as he felt a faint squeeze back from her. "Maka! Are you awake?" he asked, but then the door slammed open, cutting him off.

"Stay away from my daughter you prick," Spirit yelled, face red. Soul's eyes narrowed in a glare as he faced the Death Scythe who was wobbling slightly from alcohol consumption.

"Make me," he snarled out in a challenge.

"I don't see how you can sit beside her and pretend to care when you were the one who caused her to be like this!" he yelled, grabbing his collar to attempt to pull him away from Maka's side.

"Get your hands off me you asshole!" he screamed, breaking the Death Scythe's grip and pushing him away from the bed. "You know what old man? I'm not the only one to blame for this! You were the one who fucked her up with your cheating ways! You made her not be able to trust people, so no wonder she has so many issues and couldn't go to anyone when she was hurting! This is mostly your fault!" he growled, knocking him over.

Spirit was stunned into silence from Soul's words. "N-no! I refuse to believe what you say!" he gasped out, trying to stand up.

"I don't care if you believe or not because it's true. It was even in her suicide note," he spat, glaring at Spirit. Before the other could utter another remark, Stein walked in, stepping between the two.

"Listen both of you. I know that there is bad blood between you, but now is not the time to be bickering. You both need to get your shit together for Maka or you won't be allowed to visit," he said seriously, which shut both of the men up. Soul slunk back into the chair, clutching her hand again as Spirit sank back to the floor, unable to force himself to stand.

"H-how did she try?" Spirit whispered brokenly from the floor.

"Highly potent blood thinners combined with Vodka before hacking at herself," Stein stated matter-of-factly, causing both of them to cringe, Soul from the memory of walking in and seeing her in that state and Spirit from the thought of his daughter being so serious about taking her own life that she would go to such extreme measures.

"What's going to happen now?" Soul asked as he caressed her hand softly, idly wishing that she would squeeze back again.

"Well, there are a few options. We could send her away to a mental institution…"

"No," Soul cut in, glaring at the professor. How could he even suggest sending her away when she was like this?

"Soul, this isn't the time to be a brat," Spirit seethed. How dare he try to interfere with his daughter's treatment?

"Sending her away when she is this fragile will do nothing for her Spirit. I know her better than anyone else. She will just become more upset and try again," Soul sighed. He wanted to rip his hair out from the stress.

"Or…" Stein interjected. "She can stay here. She will have to be in the hospital for at least a week after regaining consciousness and when she is released to have constant supervision to make sure that no more attempts are made. And once a week she would have to come see me."

"Would that be what's best for her?" Soul asked, glancing at the doctor. He seemed to muse this over for a few minutes before responding.

"While it would be ideal to send her to a mental institution for treatment, I do have to agree with you Soul about how that probably would damage her worse. I do think that if you monitor her, since you are so close to her, it will bring about better results than sending her off to a stranger." Soul just nodded, silently agreeing to the doctor's orders. He would make sure Maka recovered, he swore on his life.

"Soul," Spirit addressed him, finally able to stand. "You better take good care of my Maka, you hear? Make her better."

"I will," he promised, and that was enough reassurance from both men as they left him alone with Maka. "I will help you get better Maka. I swear on my life that I will," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. Now all that he could do was wait for her to awake.

A/N: Read and Review my lovelies! Sorry it took so long to update T.T

Between work, school, and SoMa Week, I had no time for any of my other original stories. I shall try to be better with this now! Anyways, I hope you enjoy (as much as you can given the content). And remember! Negative reviews are to be PMed to me directly! I don't want others reading hate or any spoilers to happen! Please and thank you!