A/N: Thank you to leafeons, missalex3030, Sky65, Storm Skyress, Lumia, Wolflyn, nocloodypooh, and Rieth for your reviews (and Lumia for your translation corrections)!
ch. 14: nasty plot
The next time May woke up, she found herself in a strange bed in a very white room. There was a bundle of unfamiliar voices around her and the steady rhythm of beeping. Opening her eyes had been a trial, as she spent a few minutes simply trying to find her eyelids among her muscles. Slowly, slowly, she opened them.
It was not hard to determine she was in a hospital bed. The window by her bed showed a few nurses whispering to each other. There was a television mounted on the corner of the room. The chair beside her bed was occupied by a man with silver hair.
This was something that required some time to understand. May's heart pounded for a few seconds, causing the machine beside her to beep with panic, before forcing it to still. Even with the beeping, the man thankfully did not stir. She allowed herself the moment to assess her surroundings.
She was in a hospital. Her head hurt terribly. Steven Stone was asleep beside her.
It did not seem like a restful sleep. His head was resting on his own shoulder at an unnatural angle, and she knew that his neck would hurt when he woke up. There were circles beneath his eyes, and his shirt was unbuttoned and disheveled, sans jacket. She had the feeling he had not been home in a while.
But that begged the question of how long she had been there. Finally, she raised an arm to wave weakly at the nurses outside. For a moment, they did not see her, but as soon as one did, they all jumped. Tripping over one another, they rushed for the door.
"Ms. Champion! How are you?" one rambled in greeting as she ran up to her bed. May winced. She had forgotten all about that. She felt the disappointment in her gut heavily.
"Plea-" She stopped and choked over her words. Her mouth was too dry. She tried to summon up some spit to fuel her words and then continued clumsily, "Please, just May. I can't stand... anything else." She then looked over at Steven again, who still had not woken. "How did I get here?"
"You were caught in the explosion at Devon Corp's labs," explained one nurse. "It's been about 20 hours since then."
May grimaced and struggled to remember. There had been an explosion, yes, but what else? Something else had happened, right? Why couldn't she-
Latias!
"Shit!" she hissed. She flailed to throw the blankets from her legs, and the nurses yelped with surprise. The closest to her tried to push her back into the bed.
"No, miss, you can't get up! You have a concussion and need to rest-"
"I can't!" cried May desperately. The machine started to beep frantically again, and she scrambled and tear the gauge from her finger. It tore at the skin painfully, and she hissed as blood began seeping down her finger onto the bed.
It hurt. Her heart hurt! Why couldn't she make them understand? She couldn't let that man get away! He had Latias-
"May."
Her throat closed as she felt a pair of cool hands on her. One took her bleeding hand. The other wrapped its way around her shoulders. She looked up to see Steven Stone gazing down at her, a pained expression on his face. The shock of seeing him awake and in such a way made her stop more than anything else.
"Lie down. You're bleeding," he murmured.
May couldn't fight him as he leaned her back onto the bed. His hand still held her wrist gently, and a nurse rushed over to bandage it up. May looked around the white room frantically and noted the television was on with a news reporter speaking.
"... an explosion at the Devon Corporation Laboratories. Reports say a thief stole several rare pokemon and research materials. Police are investigating…"
Suddenly, the channel switched. May looked up to see Steven grimacing above her.
"Don't think about that right now. You need to focus on healing first," he said. May shook her head forlornly.
"I can't!" she countered desperately.
Steven's lips tightened for a moment, and then he looked at the nurse. He asked, "Could you give us a moment please?"
"I need to check her chart," said the nurse, frowning. Steven gave his best attempt at a charming smile.
"We'll only be a moment. Please?" he asked.
It seemed to be enough, for the nurse nodded and turned for the door. She cast May one last questioning glance before leaving and shutting the door behind her. The click was louder than May had expected.
"You have questions," murmured Steven.
"How did I get here?" asked May quickly.
"You passed out at the lab. Augustine and I brought you here," said Steven.
"And Latias?" she breathed.
To this, Steven did not answer immediately. May's stomach sank with defeat.
"The police can find Latias. You need to recover before you can leave," he said stiffly.
"The police can't find her. If they see her, they'll want to know what she is, and she can't afford to have anyone else know about her!" she argued.
Heat began to burn in her eyes again. She averted her gaze slightly with shame to hide her tears. Steven gripped her hand tightly.
"I know you're worried about her," he whispered. Her throat tightened painfully. "But I'd be devastated if something were to happen to you too."
She shook her head forlornly. The place where she had torn out the IV from her hand now stung as the wound dried. Her head pounded, as if someone were smashing a hammer against her temples from within. She wanted to sleep, but everything in her body screamed to go.
"I'm sorry," whispered Steven. She felt one of his hands reach up to push her sweat-dampened hair from her face. She shook his touch away furiously. His hold on her hand loosened.
"May!"
The door slammed open, Steven's hands shot away from her. Phoebe and Brendan rushed in.
"May, are you okay? Are you hurt?" rambled Phoebe, panicked. She hardly noticed Steven as she rushed to May's other side, taking her hands. May accepted this touch. She did not notice the scathing glare the man shot his former colleagues.
"I'm okay," said May, pushing a small smile to her face. Her heart ached. Brendan joined them, a deep look of grief on his face.
"I'm so sorry, May," he said softly.
"Why? It's not your fault," she said, smiling genuinely at her friend.
"If we hadn't been there, you wouldn't have felt as compelled to share her with us. Less people would have known."
"Who's 'her?' What did you share?" asked Phoebe, frowning. Her eyes then widened with a gasp. "Latias," she breathed.
May's lips trembled at the sound of her dear friend's name, and she finally gave into her tears. Hands touched her with concern - she didn't know from whom - and her cries came harder.
"I-it's all m-my fault!" she sobbed. "If I hadn't been so stupid- if I hadn't agreed to t-take her… with me-" Her lungs gasped and clenched as she wrestled against her grief. Her head pounded so painfully that she could barely see.
"May! May, it's going to be okay! Just breathe!" came Phoebe's voice.
"I'm going to the nurse!" said Brendan.
"May," whispered Steven in her ear. "Darling, breathe. It's going to be alright. Latias will be alright," he repeated over and over. His soft voice took hold of the monster thrashing within her, soothing it, calming it. He wrapped his arms around her and cradled her gently. The sobs continued to rack her body even after the nurse returned with Brendan. Steven did not let go.
Phoebe took a step back from the scene as the nurse and Steven laid May back down onto the bed. May's hands came up to press against her eyes, and Phoebe wondered if it were to block out the light or to block out the people around her. Brendan and Steven hovered around her as Phoebe stepped out into the quiet hallway.
"Excuse me."
Phoebe looked up to see a handsome man in a lab coat smiling quietly down at her. She stepped to the side.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, wondering why she had never had the luck of meeting such a handsome doctor before.
"Oh, no, I am not the physician. My name is Augustine Sycamore. I've been working with May and Steven here from Kalos," he explained.
"Oh, you're Professor Sycamore! May's told me all about you," said Phoebe with her best smile. One thing May had failed to mention was how striking the professor was.
"Please, just call me 'Augustine,'" he said smoothly. His smile faltered. "Is she okay?" he asked, softly this time.
"She's… upset obviously," said Phoebe. "Steven and Brendan are in there with her now."
Sycamore nodded thoughtfully then gave a sort of sad smile.
"They are quite a trio, are they not?" he mused. Phoebe nodded, hearing the implication in his voice.
"Yes," she agreed. Quite untouchable, she added silently. "I'm glad you were there to find her," she said.
"Steven found her first," said Sycamore. His smiled deepened with amusement. "Anyway, I'm going to head back to the lab to help direct cleanup. Can you tell Steven to call me whenever he can tear himself away from May's side for a moment?"
Phoebe laughed and said, "I'll let him know. Good luck."
As Sycamore walked away, Phoebe studied his tall back, mildly mourning that she had not taken up May's offer to come visit sooner. She could have been here to protect her and even met him under better circumstances.
Phoebe sighed, looking up at the clock on the corridor wall. It read, 20:16. She should probably go look out for the others who would undoubtedly be coming to see their Champion. Flannery and Wallace would have to be calmed down before they could be allowed to see her. The last thing Phoebe wanted was for May to be humiliated again.
