It had been two weeks since their fight, and Ash hadn't left the hospital once. Goh was alive, but in a coma.
"Ow, my head." Goh said, weakly.
"Goh. You're awake!" Ash said amazed.
"Nurse! He's awake!" Ash shouted into the hall.
A few minutes after some initial tests, Goh turned to ask some questions.
"So what happened?" Goh asked.
"You grabbed me, and Pikachu zapped you." Ash said.
"So why are you here, shouldn't you hate me, or be reveling in being the leader again." Goh said.
"I don't hate you, completely. Besides I was worried about you, that was a hard zap." Ash said.
"You get zapped all the time, what made this one so powerful?" Goh asked.
"Rage, a Light Ball, and I might have accidentally aura linked with Pikachu in the heat of the moment." Ash said.
There was a moment of silence, before Ash spoke again.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. When I left, and when Pikachu zapped you." Ash said.
"Heh." Goh laughed.
"What's so funny?" Ash asked.
"I finally turned and got a look at you, you look terrible right now." Goh said with a smirk.
"You spend two weeks worrying in a hospital and tell me how you look." Ash said with a laugh.
"I did, and my best friend wasn't there for me." Goh admitted.
"Goh, I didn't know." Ash said.
"After you left, my grandmother's condition got worse. I spent two weeks in the hospital, hoping for anything to get better. That you'd burst through the doors, and make everything better. You never did." Goh said weakly. "That's why I was really mad."
"So, what about us?" Ash asked.
"You tell me, I'm the one who messed up. I blamed you for everything, and took it out on everyone around me, poor Eva didn't even know me and I took some of it out on her." Goh realized.
"It'll take time for them to forgive you, you do understand that right?" Ash said.
"And what about you? Will you forgive me?" Goh asked.
"I, I don't know. What you said, and even more what you did, it will take time." Ash said. "I see your family coming, I'll let them have some time with you."
It was a few days later that Ash made his way back to the hospital. Per Chloe's request, he had gone back to the lab and took care of himself.
"You're looking better." Ash said, walking in.
"That makes two of us." Goh said with a smile. "I'm happy you came back."
"In all fairness, I made him come back to the lab." Chloe said from the door.
"Hey Chloe." Goh said, a bit sadly.
"Don't even try it, I was your main punching bag before Ash showed up. He just had too much pride to deal with your crazy meltdown." Chloe said.
"My meltdown?" Goh asked.
"That's what my dad's labeling it as." Chloe said.
"So why does me being a terrible person need another label?" Goh asked.
"For starters, your entire family, among many other people, think I'm a girl." Ash said as Chloe closed the door. "So if we told them that you were actually in here because you chose to grope me, and I reacted in self defense…"
"Things would look bad for me, my family, and you guys." Goh said.
"For once, it wouldn't be the lab. My dad is actually looking out for you." Chloe said, still not having moved from the entrance.
"I said I didn't want to see your life thrown away, so we came up with this. The stress of the research and the loss of your grandmother, broke something up there." Ash said pointing at Goh's head.
"All true." Chloe pointed out.
"You had a mental breakdown, hurting yourself in the process by attacking a Pokémon." Ash continued.
"Still mostly true." Chloe piped in.
"There is a condition to all this however." Ash said.
"If you want to return to the lab, you need to see a therapist." Chloe said holding out some papers. "This isn't the first time you've done something like this, and my dad was going to bring it up anyways."
"What do you mean, I haven't done anything like this before." Goh said.
"You had similar breakdowns when I started dressing like a girl, and after you kissed me." Ash pointed out.
"So, I still have my position?" Goh said.
"Eventually, after you're out of the hospital, you'll have desk work and smaller research until they feel it's safe to let you go out further." Ash said.
"Thanks guys." Goh said.
"Don't thank me, I'm not fully on board yet." Chloe said.
"Oh I almost forgot!" Ash said, digging through his bag. "During your power trip, you had a lot of bad ideas, but a few good ones too." Ash said, pulling out three light jackets. "We're a team, eventually at least, and having something that shows that doesn't hurt." The jackets were fairly simple with the labs name and Logo on the back, with each person's name on the front.
"Chloe, I'm sorry for what I did, I promise I'll make it up too you." Goh said.
"Start by getting better." Chloe said, a bit coldly.
"Give her time." Ash said comfortingly.
Between Physical Therapy, and Mental Therapy, Goh's days had been filled. He had barely notice Ash hadn't shown up for a bit, until he did.
"Can I ask you something?" Goh asked.
"Sure, what's up?" Ash asked bouncing a small ball to Goh.
"Why do you keep coming back?" Goh asked bouncing it back.
"Back to where?" Ash asked.
"In general, I mean you keep coming back to Pallet Town after your journeys, you keep leaving and then coming back to Vermillion City, I treated you terribly, and yet you keep coming back to this hospital room." Goh said.
"I come back, because I care about the people there." Ash said honestly. "I'm still not fully over what happened, but you're my friend, and I need to be there for you." Ash said.
"Not many other people from the lab have shown up like you have." Goh said.
"They're working on tracking Regice, but they also are adults and weren't as hurt by what you did." Ash pointed out. "Chloe and I on the other hand, well she's trying."
"Goh, are you ready to begin?" A woman said walking in.
"Oh, maybe I should go." Ash said.
"Wait Ash, can you stay?" Goh asked.
"So you're Ash." The woman said. "Goh's talked a lot about you. If you want to stay, Goh's the one who can say no."
"If he wants me to stay, I will." Ash said, sitting down.
Authors Note
A lot of these lately. Anyways, understand I don't entirely hate Goh, and while this wasn't my original idea at the start, this is where it ended up going for him. He's broken and it will take time for everyone, this B plot won't be over immediately