Chapter 14: A Parent's Worst Nightmare

~Stein's POV~

I glanced sideways at Spirit out of the corner of my eye. He was looking at the floor, his bangs falling into his eyes. His face carried a solemn, pained expression that I rarely saw on him. Even when he was upset about Maka's rejection or his failed marriage, his sorrow was more…comical. But now his eyes were glazed over as he retreated into his own world of fear and sorrow. He looked devastated, and it made my heart ache. I love Spirit for his attitude, his enthusiasm, his passion, every quirky facet of his personality. I love him for his soul. And right now, that soul was dim and quivering with the fear of losing the baby girl that he had loved so completely since the day she was born. I gritted my teeth in determination. I will not let him lose her. Her death would be the death of Spirit, and I could never let that happen. I will save Maka.

We reached her room, but before he could walk through the curtain, I put my hand on his arm to stop him.

"Spirit…I need to warn you. Maka was very very badly hurt. You need to brace yourself, alright? We are not out of the woods yet. We are keeping her in this coma so that we could get her into surgery quickly if something happens. Until we are certain that she is out of danger, we can't let her wake up. But…if you have anything you would like to say to her she may be able to still hear you. Just…keep that in mind," I told him.

He held my gaze for a moment and nodded slowly, speechless for one of the first times since I've met him. I sighed and pulled back the curtain. Motioning for him to step inside. He took a deep breath and entered the room.

When he saw Maka, he froze. I walked up next to him and looked over at him. He was looking at Maka, but his hair was hiding his eyes so I couldn't see his emotions. After a moment, he walked slowly towards the bed. I noticed his hands trembling as he took the sides of Maka's blanket and tugged them up to her neck. I felt a weight settle in my stomach as I watched the simple parental gesture performed in this context. He pushed her bangs out of her eyes and leaned down to kiss her forehead. He lingered there for a moment and I heard a sob escape from his lips before he sank down to sit on the edge of the bed. He drew himself away from Maka a little, but he remained slumped forward, his hands clutching the blanket in front of him. His shoulders were shaking slightly now, too, and I knew that he was crying. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be okay, Spirit. She has her mother's strength, you once told me that yourself. She'll get through this," I told him, keeping my voice level.

Spirit put his elbows on his knees and leaned onto them, his hands clasped together and his hair still falling in his face. Still, I saw tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Did you hear what the scythe kid said to me?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"I did," I replied evenly.

I couldn't let him see how much his tears affected me. He needed me to be Stein the level-headed doctor right now. He was silent for a moment, so I prodded him to go on.

"What about it?" I asked him, unsure where he was going with this.

His voice came out barely above a whisper.

"He was right…"

I felt shocked. I started to say something to try and comfort him, but he shook his head and looked up at me, his eyes swimming.

"Don't lie to me and tell me I'm wrong, Stein. He was right. I saw Maka just this morning, you know. She was on her lunch break and was going to a café near school with a couple of her friends. I was out with some woman, some brunette waitress from a nearby restaurant. I don't remember her name. I went to say hey to Maka. I told her I loved her, but she just rolled her eyes and walked away. I wanted to go after her, to talk to her, but that woman tugged on my arm and told me she wanted to go shopping. She pouted up at me. That's all it took, and I left Maka behind and didn't look back. I knew she had a dangerous mission tonight. But I didn't consider that she might get hurt. I guess I took her strength for granted. Most parents would have been waiting up to see if their kids were okay. They would be worried. But there I was at that damned bar. I…death help me, he was right, she didn't cross my mind once. I was just bragging and bragging about myself, flirting with those women, and Maka…she was bleeding, dying, and…I just didn't even think of her. I'm a horrible father…And he was right about everything else, too. How different would she have been if I had been loyal to Kami. If I had put my family before all those women whose faces I don't even remember. I have hurt my own daughter, and now she's lying here in a hospital bed, so close to death, and I don't even know her…my own little girl…"

He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands, his elbows still propped on his knees. I have never heard Spirit talk like this. He always tries to defend himself, convince himself that he really did love his ex-wife, make excuses; he had never admitted his faults, and certainly not to this extent…

I sat on the chair in front of him and put my hand on his arm, lowering his hand so that he looked up at me.

"So what are you going to do about it?" I asked him bluntly.

He looked confused.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" he asked, wiping his eyes.

"Well, now you have admitted your faults, so what are you going to do about them? What will you do when Maka wakes up? Will you continue acting like you have been, or will you fix it, be the father that she needs you to be? You're not 18 anymore, Spirit, you're a man. And a father."

He looked over at Maka and reached out to take her hand.

"You know what…you're right. I need to grow up. From now on, I'm going to act like I should have been acting all along. No more boozing, no more sleeping around, it's over. Maka has always been the most important part of my life, but from now on I will actually show her that. If…if she'll just pull through this, I'll be the father I should have been all along…"

I grinned to myself as he petted his daughter's hair. I have to admit, the thought of him not chasing after countless women anymore pleases me. Suddenly, I heard a beep. My eyes shot towards the monitors as I heard Spirit's voice gain a little hope.

"Maka?...Baby?...Did you hear me?"

That's when it happened.

The respirator started beeping as it dropped to an alarmingly slow pace. Alarms and warnings started sounding off all over the room. Spirit looked at me in alarm.

"Stein?! What the hell is happening?"

I rushed to the drawer by Maka's bedside and rummaged frantically around for a syringe and a single vial of bright blue liquid.

I glanced up as I drew the vial out of the drawer. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and a trickle of blood had begun to stream from her mouth.

Spirit put his hands on her shoulders, holding her tightly.

"MAKA?! MAKA! STEIN DO SOMETHING!" he screamed, his voice full of indescribable pain and panic

Damn it! I was afraid of this! We weren't able to stop the internal bleeding permanently, and it looked like the dam had just broken. I don't know if I can stop this. She only has one hope now…

I shoved Spirit back as I jammed the syringe into Maka's IV, the blue liquid flowing down into her veins, illuminating them for a brief moment.

It's time for the biggest experiment of my life.