And they are all Upset® about something. A tribute to all who felt I was skimming over details -I probably still am, though.
Delia didn't feel at all well as she sat down in the hotel's restaurant. It was still early in the morning, but she hadn't managed to sleep and needed to get out of the room a.s.a.p, the walls seemingly coming at her the longer she stayed there. The unfamiliar scents inside the hotel were causing her even more stress as she was only made aware she wasn't home. Her sleepy yet distressed mind had known and caused her even more discomfort, by not allowing her to sleep. Perhaps it was her consciousness keeping her awake, as the woman couldn't help but feel as if she could have done something to avoid all this happening. The therapist was right, of course, even if she had known about it, there wasn't much she could have done, except for having gotten injured, mortally so -if Pikachu and Mimie's conditions were anything to go by- but her mind wasn't so easily convinced.
"Would you like some coffee, Ma'am?"
The woman stared at the waiter with a confused look, blinking as she belatedly realised he was offering her something.
"O-oh, I'm sorry, sir," she apologised. "I would like some coffee, yes, thank you."
"Milk? Sugar?"
"Milk, please."
The man nodded and put a small jar of milk on the table, before pouring her a cup of coffee.
"Are you okay, Ma'am?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, I… I'm not feeling like myself today."
"That's quite alright, Ma'am, seems like a common occurrence today."
"… How so?" she asked, confused as to why he said that.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Ma'am."
"Please tell me? I… I could use the diversion."
The waiter gave her a look-over, as if trying to decide whether he should tell her or not. He must have decided she looked miserable or desperate enough, as he sighed.
"Just a strange vibe going on in here, Ma'am. I thought it was my imagination until you noticed it too."
"That's because... Well, my son was admitted to Celadon Central," Delia answered.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ma'am," the man quickly said, as earnest as he possibly could muster. "I hope he's alright."
"I don't know, sir, Ash was still in Intensive Care when I left yesterday."
"Ash? Ash Ketchum? I know about him, alright."
Delia grew suspicious upon hearing that and gave the man a sharp look, her motherly instinct jumping in, ready for action.
"Yes?"
"I've always liked him, gave me the strength and determination I needed to move regions. If a little kid could travel so freely to chase his dreams, so could I. And well, here I am."
"Oh," she said, as this was the first time anyone admitted to Ash being an inspiration to them in front of her.
"Didn't know something had happened to him, though, I'm getting the chills standing here."
"I've not seen whether it's come up in the news."
"The TV broadcasting the news in here broke down yesterday, so I don't know either. There was no news on when I left for work either, so… Either way, Ma'am, if there's anything we can do for you, let us know. We'll see you right."
'I'm sure you will,' she thought dryly yet knew she needed to appreciate the kindness.
Even though she knew that, no matter how much good intentions or deeds were offered, none of them would help Ash out of the dire situation he was in. And the idea that she might soon be alone in her home, as alone as she already felt, left her listless. Why she suddenly had a plate with food in front of her was beyond her, but figured someone of the hotel's staff might have done this. It was all a testament to how bad she must look… or that the waiter was a tattle-tale. A rueful look at her phone told her she still had over seven hours until she could visit her little boy again and Delia didn't know what to do with herself. But, seeing she had her cellphone in her hand, the woman figured she could just as well give professor Oak a call.
"Delia!" he exclaimed, having picked up straight away, as if having expected her to contact him "How are you doing, my girl? Are they treating you alright there in Celadon?"
"I feel like death," she whispered, her emotions getting the better of her. "They're so kind to me here too and I can't even bring a smile to my face. Samuel, what do I do?"
"I know it's hard, I really do. Look, why don't you go and see if you can't get something to put in Ash's room? I'll send you some money, see it as a gift."
"I'm not sure whether I can take anything and leave it there. If so, putting Pikachu with him would be the next best thing."
"Delia, if he's that sedated not to feel pain, he won't know Pikachu's there either. Besides, he's in Intensive Care, they don't want a pokémon there to suck up the attention Ash needs."
"Oh."
"Follow your gut feeling, my girl. Just not straight into the hospital, they won't let you in right now."
"No, I know that. God, Samuel, what a mess."
"I know, my dear, I know. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know, okay?"
"Sure," she answered, but again, there was little she could do with the professor's good intentions either… unless. "I think I have something you could do for me."
"Oh?"
"You still have the keys to my house, right?"
"… Yes?"
"I would like you to check Ash's computer, Samuel."
"Really? Whatever for? And what do I do if he has a password?"
"My son doesn't do passwords," she answered quickly. "You remember that I told you I thought that something was going on with him?"
"Yes?"
"I think Ash realised he wasn't alright as well. Dr. Knight told me to go look somewhere I wouldn't expect it and if there's one thing I wouldn't think he would do, it would asking total strangers."
"Alright, alright, Delia, I'll humour you. Who is this dr. Knight, though? I thought dr. Martin was Ash's doctor?"
"The therapist, Samuel. Dr. Martin is the paediatrician and specialised in traumatology. There's another one too, an anaesthetist, I believe, but I don't remember his name."
"Three," the man stated, sounding a bit sad. "Heavens, Delia…"
"The more help he gets, the better I'll feel, Samuel. Just thinking he'll be there, all on his own… I don't even want to think about it."
"It's Intensive Care, my dear, there's bound to be someone around, at all times."
"Yes… I'm sorry, Samuel, I can't think straight, I always end up seeing Ash in that bed, looking so lifeless and… I'm at a loss."
"You're not alone in this, Delia, know that."
She was, though. Even if this kind waiter admired her little boy, he didn't care as much as she did. Yes, she might not have always shown it, but she had tried to be a good mother, allowing him the freedom she never had, to go and discover the world, giving him the knowledge he always had a home to come back to. But perhaps it hadn't been enough, perhaps she had underestimated Ash's need to have a more practical kind of love. He had never pushed her to do anything she hadn't wanted to either and in a way, Delia feared her son had grown up to be a young adult while she wasn't looking, having left him to be taught the necessities of life by strangers.
Who was she to tell professor Oak she hadn't expected Ash to talk to people he didn't know about his issues? He had always done so, he must have! Just because he didn't talk to her, didn't mean he didn't trust a stranger to be more helpful… than his mother?
'God, what have I done?' she lamented.
"Delia? Are you still there?" professor Oak asked.
"Yes. I'm still here."
"I'll go to your house now, my dear and I'll call you as soon as I learn something new."
"Thank you, Samuel. I think you might be best off checking the search results of his browser."
"I'll keep that in mind. Don't forget to eat and go outside for a bit, though. Promise me that?"
"Of course, I will go and get something for Ash. He's… always been a bit more materialistic when it came to presents than I ever was."
"Indeed so, my dear. Mind as you go now."
"I will. Thank you again, Samuel."
"No problem, Delia. I'll talk to you soon."
"Yes, bye."
The woman lowered the phone to her lap, instant regret filling her. Did she really want to know what other injuries would be haunting her little boy? Even if it was hormones, even if it was a funk, he hadn't been out of it when that monster took him. He would still be feeling bad when he woke up! New injuries didn't cancel old ones, after all, and now Delia was dreading the professor's next call. A beep startled her out of her thoughts and bewildered, she stared at the screen… and promptly wondered what the heck Samuel thought she was planning to buy. Ignoring the strange amount of money the man had sent her, she did her best to finish at least one sandwich, before leaving the hotel, onto the streets to go and find her son a gift.
The dreaded call never came, but professor Oak had sent her a message that he had encountered some trouble and would meet her in the hospital a few minutes before one o'clock in the afternoon. This was more than alright to Delia, who had very little of her fingernails left, having bitten them off due to stress. She really didn't want Samuel to have discovered something awful, because that meant Ash had gotten into an accident in Unova and had told no one about it. Part of her figured it was unlikely he would have had an accident, as it would have appeared in the news, as foreign trainers were one of the pokémon league's top priorities. But on the other side, she was quick to remind herself that her son was good at keeping secrets.
'Oh, I hope he didn't start hiding things from me because he thought I wouldn't care if he told me. My poor darling…' she thought, silently lamenting in her seat.
With the professor not having specified how long before one o'clock he wanted to meet up, she had come far too earlier. Delia was already stressed out and she didn't want to miss the man's arrival, hence why she had come in at a quarter past twelve. Only to see him powerwalk into the lobby at barely a minute before one.
"When you said a little before one, I didn't think you were talking seconds, Samuel."
"It's madness outside, Delia. I thought that taking the car was a good idea, seeing Gary's being released today and all that, but heck, this is the last time I'm driving to Celadon city."
"I didn't notice anything, but then again, I just need to cross the street to get here."
"Count your blessings, my girl," the professor sighed. "Anyhow, I've done as asked, but the internet connection in Pallet seems to be down, so I couldn't see what he was actively looking at, just his searches."
"And?"
"It doesn't bode well, Delia, he was looking at illnesses first, ones that caused dizziness and forgetfulness. The search engine must've shown him that it wasn't an illness, because his search stopped at asphyxiation."
"O-oh… Oh, no, surely that couldn't have happened to him?" the woman asked, eyes full of disbelief.
"I would have to ask professor Juniper, Delia, see if she knows anything."
"Yes, please, I would appreciate that, if you could. It… It's already bad enough Ash had to live with the knowledge his worries had a cause. Oh, heavens, I hope those search results gave the wrong conclusion."
"You can't assume he was spooked, though, if he knew something was wrong, Ash must have been fully expecting something bad. I'm convinced he clicked on the link to asphyxiation, knowing fully well what happened, though only linking it to the symptoms once reading what could cause them."
"Oh, heavens," she lamented. "Dr. Martin will have noticed something, he said he would be taking a test, it was an… euhm…"
"X-ray?" professor Oak suggested.
"No, he said that, with Ash still having those deep cuts, he didn't want to risk exposing him to the radioactivity. I think it was an MRI-scan."
"Ah, right. In that case, the doctor will have noticed whether Ash has brain damage or not."
Just hearing the profession mention that her son could be suffering from something so horrible, left her reeling and she didn't know she had started crying until the man offered her a handkerchief.
"Would you like to me to ask if I can join you, Delia? I'm sure Gary can wait a little longer."
"Yes, please," Delia answered softly.
"Do you have an appointment or should we just let the kind nurse over there know we're here?"
"Yes, euhm, she needs to call dr. Martin, I think."
"Good, let me go and announce we've arrived, then," professor Oak said and left the miserable-looking woman alone for a bit.
Or at least, Delia assumed she was looking that way, seeing a nurse eye her with a concerned mother kind of look. It has been a while since she had last gotten one aimed at her, but she couldn't find the strength to even nod to the kind woman. At least the professor returned rather quickly.
"He's waiting for us, my girl, come. Hold my arm."
She did hold onto him, possibly more forceful than he had expected, if his small flinch was anything to go by. But Delia needed the support and was cursing Giovanni and those old idiots from the pokémon league as all the things they had done to Red had stopped him for having been here for her and Ash. She shouldn't have needed to bother this poor, old man with this, her husband should have needed to be in his place!
"Easy now, Delia. I can't hold your whole weight, even though I wouldn't want anything more than to pick you up and carry you to the doctor's office."
Again, good intentions which meant nothing to her. All it did was flatter her ever so slightly, but that was about it.
"I'm sorry," she said simply.
"I know, my dear, I know."
The doctor didn't know what to think when he saw the highly upset woman come inside his office, guided in by the man he recognised as one of the people who had donated some blood for his newest patient. The expression on his face meant trouble as well, though and now the poor doctor knew he was on thin ice.
"Are you okay, Mrs. Ketchum?"
She shook her head vehemently and the man looked up, answering in her stead.
"We've gathered some information, doctor, Ash seemed to have been aware of some issues he was experiencing."
"Issues?" dr. Martin repeated blankly, before remembering that Mrs. Ketchum had indeed told him her son had been acted oddly for a while. "Oh, yes, the clumsiness and the emotional outbursts, I remember now."
"He went online to look for answers."
"Oh," the doctor winced. "That's never a good idea."
"We believe he thought he had brain damage from asphyxiation." The man continued, unbothered and determined to make his point.
The poor woman buried her head in her hands and dr. Martin understood. His face must've shown something she had been dreading, causing him to stifle a sigh as he only had bad news for her today. Though the doctor made a mental note to not underestimate the boy, few patients were able to diagnose themselves correctly, even with the help of the internet.
"I'm afraid he's correct," he said, steeling himself for the reaction he would be getting. "Whether it is from asphyxiation or not, I couldn't possibly say, but there is brain damage that could correlate with him possibly having suffered from a lack of oxygen for a certain period."
"Is it bad, doctor?" Mrs. Ketchum asked, having grabbed the table upon getting the confirmation that her son was a whole lot smarter than they had given him credit for.
"I will show you the results I've based diagnosis on, Mrs., the MRI-scan was conclusive enough for me to use it as a reference to show you as to why I think Ash was right in assuming he had brain damage," he said and took the boy's file from a neat pile to his right. "This is one of the images where the damage is visible. Now, it is very small, but you can see it right here, at the bottom in the middle."
The woman let out a pitiful noise at getting the picture in front of her and dr. Martin became suspicious when he saw the man accompanying her reacted just as startled as his colleagues had upon getting face with the image of the boy's brain activity. He wondered about it for a while, before realising that this wasn't just anyone, this was a pokémon professor. And really, brains were brains, pokémon or human, so of course, this person would know what to look for.
"I-it's not even the size of a pea…" Mrs. Ketchum uttered.
"Indeed, but it's very significant, nonetheless. Let's not forget the brain is three-dimensional and we have visual that this entire part of his brain is not responding to any kind of stimuli."
"O-oh… What does it mean?"
"That you were not imagining he was swaying or that he was unstable while walking, Mrs. Ketchum," the doctor said and took a deep breath. "We… have discussed it, my colleagues and I, I mean and we have concluded that we won't offer your son a chance for a prosthetic limb."
"What!?" the man growled, giving him a furious look.
"I'm sorry, sir, but it is for the sake of the boy's health. It would be unfair for us to give him hope of walking again, when he couldn't have kept his footing even if he still had two legs. The effect of him falling constantly will eventually make him frustrated, not to mention he could get gravely injured. If it happens when the boy ascending stairs, or in the middle of a busy street, the effects could be disastrous."
"And what about this?!" the professor exclaimed, jabbing his finger at the picture, landing perfectly on the spot that had made every single doctor in the room present at the time of the meeting cringe.
"This… is the damage caused by the accident that brought him here, sir. What you see here is the brain stem and… and it shouldn't be squeezed together like this," the doctor answered as calmly as he could muster. "Due to the swelling, this area had started receiving tension which… could be life-threatening. For now, I have one of my assistants and a nurse on stand-bye in his room, to monitor his condition."
"What are the consequences of it?"
"It varies, sir, I cannot say for sure."
"What could be the consequences, then?"
"Symptoms of lasting brain stem injury vary, sir, they could cause breathing and swallowing difficulties as well as verbal impairment… but if the injury is severe, there's a chance he could suffer from personality changes to memory loss. And there is also the possibility that, if the damage caused by the swelling is too great, the boy will never wake up from his coma."
The sound that came from the woman would haunt him for the rest of his life. She seemed to crumble to pieces right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to help her. Her son was gravely injured and he had no right to lie to her. She needed to know what to expect if the boy woke up.
"Is there really nothing you can do, doctor?"
"My second opinion is coming in tomorrow, to look at Ash's case, sir," he said. "But the brain stem is in such a position inside the brain, it's impossible to treat when injured. Chances of us causing more damage while doing so are incredibly high, so high that no one is willing to risk it. All in all, we need to consider the child's quality of life-"
"What quality? Of being in that bed for the rest of his life? Or being stuck in a wheelchair?"
"I know it's hard, sir, but I'm morally forced to be honest with you. And the child's injuries are no fault of mine."
The man sagged in the seat, all his apparent anger seeping out of him, possibly filling him with regrets and guilt. Dr. Martin had noticed this certain rudeness towards the child and especially the negligence from the mother irked him to no extent. Who on earth didn't know their child suddenly was suffering from something? What kind of mother was she, for her son not to have gone to talk to her, upon discovering he was having issues? Even if the kid was suffering from mood swings, if the boy had appeared to have been completely normal at first, why hadn't this woman grabbed her child and had rushed to the nearest doctor? Also, who the hell wouldn't have known their child had suffocated to the point their brain had shut down!? If she wasn't so visibly affected by this, he would have most likely sent Child Service on her.
But it was clear, she still cared, these silent tears running down her face weren't fake. Perhaps she didn't know she had been doing something wrong, some mothers just didn't have a clue… And from the look of things, this woman was still pretty darn young to have a fourteen-year-old son, so perhaps she had been a mother from a young age and clueless how to deal with her kid as soon as he left the cute baby stage. Dr. Martin had seen it often enough, but rarely had he needed to break such tragic news to someone like Mrs. Ketchum. As dysfunctional as a family could get, it was still a family -sometimes unfortunately so- and it would still hurt to hear a part of it would, in essence, be missing, possibly forever.
"Would you like to sit with him for a bit, Mrs. Ketchum? Because I assure you, we are not giving up hope, this is only the second day and we will give him the best care we can give."
"I-I… Yes. Yes, I have a gift. For him"
The doctor nodded, trying to keep his own emotions at bay as much as he could, as it would hardly look professional should he start crying as well. As much as he was affected by the sad state this child was in as well. However, as he stood, the boy's file in hand, all the contents of it came falling, causing him to pinch the bridge of his nose, sigh and start collecting all the papers strewn all over the floor.
'The world is out to get me today,' he thought bitterly and tried to save face by being as quickly as possible in cleaning up the mess.
Though neither the professor or Mrs. Ketchum seemed to mind his fumbling. Understandable, they had other things to think about, much worse than a doctor who wasn't quite feeling like himself today. Even as they had gone towards the room, the situation only got a whole lot more creepy when the woman placed a music box on the nightstand. She probably meant well, but the nurses here were superstitious. If that thing suddenly got into gear in the middle of the night, he would be hearing about it for weeks. As if getting evil looks from the professor wasn't enough, just because he wasn't let inside of the room.
"There is only so much you can do for her, sir," dr. Knight said, having come to dr. Martin's aid when he had noticed the professor's oppressive glare aimed towards his colleague. "I know you are aware she must get all the support she needs, but she will have to ride a large part of this emotional rollercoaster on her own."
"I can ruddy well try and help her anytime."
"She is an adult, sir, you need to give her the time and space she needs to figure out how to deal with this. Oppressing her with your good intentions, boxing her into a future with 'it's going alright' only for it to show that it won't… What good will that do? Besides, you have to deal with your own emotions as well, I can see you care for the child as well. And that's perfect, children can never have too much support, but what when you can't even handle yourself? No one told you to carry the troubles of the world on your back, you will regret attempting it, sir."
"The only thing I'll regret is leaving a woman who's falling apart on her own."
"Ah, and how will you fix her grief, sir, if she does potentially fall apart? Or her family? By giving her your grandson to care for, perhaps? I'm sure Gary wouldn't mind, even though it will only have negative consequences for him. Mostly because Ash isn't gone and there is still a healthy chance he will wake up one day or another. Only to discover he's lost his mother to someone he considered his friends."
"I heard something else than a healthy chance."
"Oh, so you have already written the boy off, have you? It's barely the second day he's been in here. Makes me wonder why you're here, sir. To save the boy, or to save the boy's mother."
"I do care about Ash."
"Then you might want to try and make an effort to respect the man who is giving that child his everything," the therapist countered calmly. "You see, I understand, I've arrived over an hour late to my job too, sir. Traffic was horrible indeed, but it gives you no right to work it out on a doctor. I'm stressed too yet you did not see me yelling at everyone who suddenly makes a move I dislike. Luckily for me, you are here, so if you are ready for it, sir, I have a whole lot of stress I can dump on you too."
"That would be unfair."
"Ah, and showing such a despicable attitude towards a doctor isn't? I know you feel bad, sir, but it's not our fault the boy was hospitalised. We are here to help, but what are you doing for him, other standing here and giving his only hope evil looks?"
"It's okay, Oscar-" dr. Martin started.
"No, it's not okay. Nothing is okay today, from the moment the navigation system in my car thought I was driving a bloody submarine by directing me straight into route seventeen to the moment where you, our dear professor Oak decided it was a good idea to try and muscle his way into the room of a patient? Have you forgotten that you have no jurisdiction here, sir?"
"You had the same issues with your navigation system?" the professor uttered.
"Oh no, you're not changing the subject as easily as that."
"This has happened before, when Ash was born-"
"Don't say that."
"But-"
"Mrs. Ketchum is not thinking about the birth of her son, she's trying to get to grips with a possibility he might die. Let her," the man all but ordered. "People are allowed to grieve and in a way, even if Ash wakes, she will have lost a piece of him. Perhaps this will teach her to respect the time she's got left with him."
"She's a good mother!"
"I never said she wasn't," the therapist sighed, clearly starting to lose his patience with the man. "But she does lack things. Do not forget, I've spoken to your grandson and what he told me suddenly made me realise what was going on here. And let me tell you, you've put ghosts into that child's head as well, comparing him and his friend to someone you once knew and loved and yourself. Gary himself told me he was on far better terms with the boy than you have ever been with that woman, sir. I think it's about time you let go and focus on someone who needs your meddling far more, because you might be a pokémon professor, a more than decent one at that, but you're a grandfather before anything."
Initially, dr. Martin feared he would be the sole witness of dr. Knight's spontaneous combustion, but the professor sighed deeply and let his shoulders sag. The doctor did make a mental note never to try and start arguing with a therapist who had contact with one of his relatives.
"I know. I never signed up for caring for a teenager. But Blue left and I…"
"Just like Mrs. Ketchum lost her husband, making the same mistakes you made. Only, Gary and Ash have a different character, so they responded differently."
"… It's a mess."
"The whole world is, but you still have a lot of time to make up for. Keep in mind that it's a privilege Mrs. Ketchum might not have."
"Oh god… Gary's going to suffer so badly when he hears about Ash's news too."
"As will you. Thankfully, he's there too. Communicate, man, for heavens' sake."
"Yes… Yes, I'm sorry, dr. Knight. And dr. Martin too."
"Thank you, sir." The doctor answered, knowing better than to tell the man it was 'alright' again, dr. Knight was right, treating a doctor like an enemy was never a good idea.
"Why don't you go and get your grandson, professor? He's ready and waiting for you. And if you wish to wait for Mrs. Ketchum, you can wait in the lobby. Just tell a nurse what you're doing and we'll make sure she'll get to you safely."
"Yes… Thank you."
The professor walked off, a slightly dazed look in his eyes, but it was still an awful lot better than his previous state of rage. A rather uncomfortable silence fell, causing dr. Martin to sigh.
"You told him good."
"Oh, did I tell him off too badly?"
"I think so."
"I'm sorry. But I wasn't kidding when I said I was stressed, please believe me. I'm not the only one either. Did you hear about Nina, the midwife? She's been working here for over six years, having delivered over a hundred babies, this year alone and she suddenly started bawling louder than the baby she just delivered. I spend over an hour trying to calm her down, so overcome with emotion she was."
"I didn't hear about that, you know I'm always the last person to hear about news and the like. That being said, I'm not in the mood to carry even more emotional burdens."
"Is the kid's condition really that bad?" the therapist asked, wincing in sympathy.
"Unfortunately. I hope that bringing professor Deare over will add something to the situation, though I have my doubts. She was quite clear in stating that treatments for such injuries are non-existent, as brainstem injuries are so deeply hidden among the lower brain, it's impossible to go have access to the area without causing even worse damage."
"Holy… So basically, all we can do is pray?"
"Yes."
"What a rotten situation. Shall I go and talk to Mrs. Ketchum for a bit? I… I do have a good feeling about this boy, you know?"
"You do?" dr. Martin asked, frowning at the man.
"Yes, I can't explain why but he sounds like a fighter, that one."
"I hope he will be your patient one day, I really do." The doctor sighed. "Go on then, go work your magic. Heaven knows the poor woman can use a bit of support, seeing what kind of obliviously selfish people live around her."
"I will." The therapist chuckled. "Also, could you perhaps bring out Ash's birth record, by any chance? Something the professor said intrigued me."
"… I'll humour you because I owe you one. But on the one condition that you keep any kind of mythical mumbo-jumbo away from me and the boy's mother, alright? You said it yourself, she doesn't need that kind of distraction right now, even if there's a link between these strange occurrences and the child."
"Yes, I will. Thank you."
Dr. Knight disappeared into the room after a grateful nod towards his direction, but it did little to relieve his worries for the future of this boy. No matter how much of a fight you could put up with, there were always battles you couldn't win. Those located on the inside often were the bane of many, whether it was their own body or mind pulling up their defences and there often was little anyone could do about it. No matter how much of a good feeling any doctor had about the case.
Delia hadn't felt like doing much, having holed herself up in the room of the hotel until professor Oak and Gary had come out to drag her back to Pallet. She found herself unable to smile at the sight of her pristine house, but it seemed like the professor had let everyone know that she wasn't… well… be her usual smiley self and after a small, polite applause from the Pallet residents, she was allowed back in her home. Though with nothing to do.
She had tried the TV, but there was no service, she had tried her phone, no service either. The videophone refused to even start and the woman was not willing to go outside, to get some magazines. The radio did work, so she had left it on, wanting some kind of noise inside the room, even if it was just Pallet's own, uninspiring radio show. Delia had gone to sit into the couch that looked so painfully new against the old ones, which hadn't been damaged. The carpet had a completely different colour than what she used to have, though the light minty green, almost soft teal colour wasn't looking too bad in her interior. The hair on it was longer too and it made her feel like putting her foot in it, to revel in the softness. But as she did, the woman felt nothing.
Perhaps tomorrow would be better, when Mimie and Pikachu would be coming home. Then some life would be returning to this emptiness. In a desperate attempt to try and feel something, she went inside her bedroom and fished out a couple of photo albums. She rarely looked at them, as they brought tears to her eyes, but even that would be a relief. Professor Deare -the specialist in everything cerebral brought in as dr. Martin's second opinion- had been very kind to her, but her words had cut straight through whatever hope Delia still had and now she was lost. Ash was lost. Chances of him dying were slim, yes, but the chance of him waking up naturally and… be a person still were just as low.
Her hands traced the delicate cover of the first album. As she opened it, Delia was greeted by her wedding pictures and let out a sad chuckle, seeing her father stand in the background. The look in his eyes would've shot Red if he could, perhaps metaphorically, as it truly had been a shotgun wedding. She and Red had been twelve and thirteen when first meeting each other, the latter already having been a Champion when they met. They had hit off, despite the fact her parents thought he was a bum. Red had asked her not to tell anyone about his profession and she had respected that. Until the fateful day that she, age fifteen, had come out of the bathroom with shaking hands, holding onto the positive pregnancy test.
Her father had been furious, foam on his lips as he cursed her and Red's relationship. Until it became clear her darling boyfriend was very happy to be a dad and promptly bought a house for the two of them, as an early relationship present. In Pallet Town, a quiet but nice town, full of warm people and the town where Red's parents and his best friend Blue lived at. They had married, but despite the knowledge their daughter was safe and sound, in the arms of a Champion as young as he was, the rift between Delia and her parents had gotten too deep and too wide. They had no trust in the relationship and had straight up told her that they wouldn't accept Ash -who hadn't even been born back then- as their grandchild. That had been the last straw for Red, who had all but exploded in her father's face, showing exactly why he was such a feared Champion. But that confrontation had been the last time she had seen her parents. It had been a cruel way to lose family, but not quite as cruel as Ash's case.
Looking at the pictures of a happy past, the woman sighed at the sight of her blissfully unaware, fifteen-year-old self. What misery she would be facing shortly after this, with Red having gotten mixed up in global issues that had really messed him up so badly. Her poor husband, so young yet so old already, had taken on too much, had suffered more than he could take. She had remained in Pallet Town, just because of the memories the house had, gently caring for her barely one-year-old son, who had been uncharacteristically silent the day his daddy left and his mother wept in his stead. However, just as she had tearfully closed the photo album, she couldn't help but frown, seeing that the sky was already coloured a deep orange colour… and it wasn't even noon yet.
As numb as she was, the woman just shrugged it off and took the album of Ash's baby pictures downstairs. She barely registered having leafed through the thick book, until she saw a very particular picture of the sky… that seemed to look suspiciously like what was going on today. And she remembered, the day her contractions had started, at around seven in the evening, it had already been dark by the time they had belatedly remembered to have lunch at one in the afternoon. A picture of her exasperated husband showing his navigation system was out of order and that his phone didn't have any service caught her attention, onto which she gently closed the book and laid it on the table. She couldn't recall why this made her feel this way, but she needed to get out right now. Something was telling her that things were going amiss outside and Delia needed to see it with her own eyes.
"… Mr. Lance?" she asked, baffled to see the man sit in a seat right in front of professor Oak's laboratory.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ketchum." The Champion sighed. "Sorry to bother you, you can just walk past me."
"… Not without asking you what on earth the meaning of this is. Have you eaten anything? Do you need sunscreen? Heavens, you're not dehydrated, are you?"
"The pokémon league security network failed earlier this week, Mrs. Ketchum. As concerned as I am to find you've only noticed me sitting here right this moment despite the fact you walked past me every single day this week, I have to be here, to protect the Kanto laboratory. I'm completely fine, thank you."
The woman blinked, indeed unable to remember having seen the poor man sit here, despite her having come here every day to ask professor Oak for a ride to Celadon.
"Does that mean there is a Champion in front of every laboratory now?" she asked carefully.
"Yes, has been since Sunday."
"Beastly. Whatever is the cause of these issues with the security network?"
"The same thing plaguing all the satellite, masts and fibre cables, I suppose. First time in over a hundred years that no news has been able to have been broadcasted all over-"
"No. Not that long. It's happened again." She heard herself say. "Fourteen years ago."
"Is that so?" Lance said, clearly disinterested.
"Yes, I was just looking through my son's baby pictures and there was a picture of my husband, showing his navigation system was sending him to Cinnabar, instead of Celadon and his phone was out of order."
"Why torture yourself with looking at your son's birth pictures, Mrs.? Besides, it wasn't that uncommon for appliances to go haywire back in the days."
"Don't judge me! And Red had good tools at the day. His phone came from the pokémon league, you would've had the same one."
"… Red?"
"Yes, Champion Red."
"Good Lord, I knew he was married but I didn't know he had a kid!" the man exclaimed.
"Why are you so surprised?" Delia asked dryly, being the unimpressed one this time around.
"Because he's my brother. Stepbrother, actually, but we still have the same father."
"… I didn't know that either. But well, you can thank those old idiots in the pokémon league's defence system for Red's inability to have remembered I was pregnant when he left. By the time he came back, the poor man thought I had cheated on him and along with all the other ghosts and skeletons in his mind, it tipped him straight over the edge. But well, I suppose you will have known about that too."
"Unfortunately so. I… God, I didn't know I had a nephew."
"You don't. Not really." Delia sighed.
"Delivery for Gary Oak?" a rather monotone voice suddenly called out, causing the woman to turn with a blank look in her eyes.
"I'll take that, thank you," Lance answered and hastily grabbed the package.
Delia couldn't help but stare at the strange person who was walking away from them. She couldn't tell the gender, though and to her, it was apparent that they had tried very hard to look like they worked at a delivery service, though she couldn't tell which one it was for the life of her.
"Odd," she commented.
"Not as strange as you would think, Gary has been buying some stuff online. Manner of coping, I assume," the man answered. "Mind if I went and gave it to him? I'll go and alert the professor you're here."
"Sure."
"Don't worry, you're not alone," he said and pointed at his chair.
Underneath it was the man's Flygon, who was looking at the sky with watchful eyes. It made no move to even look at her, which was fine to Delia. She didn't need to land in the hospital with a dragon bite either. Besides, it would be kind of stupid for criminals to strike right now, so why they had sent Lance here was beyond her. She didn't think the issues the world was experiencing were so selective anyway and if there really was a villain out to get them all, they would have acted already. No, there was something bigger going on, something that didn't discriminate nor gave benefits to anyone. The realisation gave her a strange comfort, but just as she let out a sigh, figuring she would just accept the end of the world if it came today, a scream of pain made her turn to the door of the laboratory. Her eyes widened when she saw professor Oak and Gary come outside, the latter's hand covered with what seemed to be a kitchen towel.
"What happened?" she asked, merely staring at the scene.
"Someone put a trap with glass shards inside a box and send it to Gary. So he's going to join us to the hospital, alright?" the professor said, looking a bit too calm for some reason or another.
Perhaps he had suffered a bit too much already, as Ash's accident had taken its toll on the poor man as well.
"Sure," she answered. "Come, Gary, you can sit next to me."
"W-why would someone do this to me?" the teen sniffed, clearly in pain. "I didn't do anything!"
"Some people just want to see the world burn," Lance answered, appearing out of the doorway. "Anyway, I've told your senior assistant to take over control over the laboratory, professor. And I'll be here outside."
"Yes, thank you. Come on now, you two, let's get going."
It was far too early to go and visit Ash, though, even if it took a while to get from Pallet Town to Celadon by car. Professor Oak had learned to drive more carefully, with all the navigation systems going haywire but the streets were as good as empty. Pretty much all companies had needed to close down, all their machines malfunctioning or just plain out refusing service so there was little to no traffic. Schools and shopping malls were closed as well, the sliding doors of the latter having gotten stuck in their closing position. People had needed to be evacuated through the fire escape at the time too and it had taken a long time until the mall had been cleared.
"God, it's getting so dark," the professor groaned. "This world is going mad."
"It's happened before, though. Remember?"
"… Yes. Yes, I do. I do hope it's got a different reason for appearing."
"I hope it takes him, Samuel."
The man remained silent, but Delia was strangely at ease at having spoken up that thought. She didn't want to lose her son, she really didn't… but was lying in a hospital a way of living? He was pale as a corpse, he had gotten infections on the deep gashes that had refused to heal and only last week, dr. Martin had told her that the latest MRI-scan had shown a 'growing' darkness around Ash's brainstem area. The swelling had left, yes, as it should, but the damage it left in its wake would leave her little boy a shadow of himself. She would honestly appreciate the darkness taking her darling, if it meant Ash wouldn't have to suffer any longer. The same darkness had cared for her baby when it had become apparent he had some issues during birth, but she had never been told what kind of issues. All she had ever known was that Ash had been carried out of the room and had appeared back in her arms as a perfectly healthy little boy a few hours later.
But it was clear professor Oak didn't feel the same way and she understood… but if he wanted to keep her son alive, despite Ash not being there, just sitting in the same seat, days on end, looking at nothing with the most empty eyes, she would curse him to the end of the world and back for having convinced her to go against her own heart. That was no way of living, she wouldn't stand for it. Ash would never forgive her! For the few times she had taken the effort to go and sit down with him, he had told her he didn't want to end up a 'vegetable' as he dubbed it. He had told her what he wanted her to do and she forced herself to respect that.
It was truly ironic Gary ended up having Ash's doctor stitch up the gashes in his hand, checking if there were no fragments on the beastly trap still in the boy's hand. Dr. Martin had given the teen a tetanus shot as well, just in case something nasty had been on the shards or the trap inside the box. The man looked appalled at the idea of someone sending Gary something as nasty as that but was convinced the teen would be fine… though the boy was doing his best at looking as endearing as possible.
"S-sir? Could I ask you a question?" Gary asked politely.
"Of course, you can."
"Is there a possibility I could see my friend?" he asked and continued at seeing the doctor's quickly darkening expression. "I know it's not visitor hours yet and that only Mrs. Ketchum can see him but could you please make an exception? Please, doctor? I promise I won't cause trouble."
The man seemed torn about the issue and sighed deeply.
"It's not Ash I'm worried about, Gary. He's stable enough, hence why he was moved to the silent ward, so he can recover in peace. But I know you'll be upset when you see him and… heavens, boy, you didn't do this to yourself, did you? So that you could come here and face me directly?"
Despite the doctor looking worse for wear and clearly tired, professor Oak took serious offence to the accusation.
"He's been with me every single day since he was released and opened that box in front of me and Champion Lance. My grandson is not a masochist who would happily put his hand into such a devious trap."
"I'm sorry, I need to check, sir," dr. Martin sighed. "I'll… Alright. Perhaps it would be for the best, to open his room to visitors. But I'm going to need you to hold onto your promise, Gary, I can't risk anything happen in that ward. I hope you understand."
The teen vehemently bobbed his head, already pleased he had gotten his way.
"Come then, I'll guide you there. Though I'm aware you already know the way by now, Mrs. Ketchum."
She simply nodded yet took no effort to walk upfront. As nice as the nurses who greeted her were, Delia hated she was starting to recognise their faces already. Despite this hospital's best efforts, the colourful drawings on the walls were more depressing than anything. The woman had dreaded going to this 'silent ward', named after all the young coma patients they kept there. Much to her dismay, it had looked normal, yet still had left such a strong impression on her, the first time she had entered the ward. Ash's room was beautiful too, with a blue, mint-green theme going on, perfectly matching the small music box the nurses had dutifully moved along with Ash and the window had a beautiful view of a garden… where countless pokémon had seemingly started to settle in. Dr. Martin hadn't seemed worried about it, saying that it was why they had installed the garden for in the first place, so she quickly figured she shouldn't be bothered about it.
Once inside the room, the woman automatically went towards the same seat she had sat in, ever since Ash had been moved here two weeks ago. She lovingly took his hand and pressed her lips to it, already used to the fact it wasn't as warm as it should be. They hadn't told her to be careful with the heated blanket on top of her boy's body for nothing, right? Just as she felt herself sliding into the eased comfort of being near her little boy again, Gary's choked sob at the sight of his friend startled her out of her reverie. For a second, she wondered why he was so sad all of a sudden, before remembering this was the first time he had seen her son since the accident.
'How dare he,' she thought, sudden anger coursing through her body. 'How dare he look that way at my perfect baby-'
"Easy, Gary," professor Oak said, causing the woman to turn her back towards the teen.
"He's lost weight."
"Loss of muscle mass, Gary. He's not been active for a while now, so his muscles aren't receiving the stimulations of movement they're used to and start losing strength and tension. It's only normal."
"But he looks-"
"He's asleep, Gary."
The teen fell silent at that, something the woman was thankful for. She did see him walk around the other side of the bed and ever so gently stroke her son's hand.
"I thought nothing could hurt him," he whispered.
"No one is invincible, Gary."
"I know but… It's just… Ash made the most wonderful, unbelievable things seem real and I just…"
'Stop it,' Delia thought, feeling her resolve to not let her son suffer on the verge of collapse.
"I know, my boy, I know he did. He's been a great source of joy to all of us," the man said, though his voice wasn't completely stable.
"I miss him."
The woman pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt the tears prickle in her eyes. It truly wasn't fair, but he wasn't gone yet. She'd fight for him until the end but how would she know? The longer her boy slept, the more it would become apparent he wouldn't wake up alright. But had 'alright' ever been an option? When he had been shaken about so roughly, dragged through route one, all the way to Viridian forest? All she could do, was say a silent prayer on the way back home, with the silent teenager clutching his hurt hand to his chest right next to her.
By now, the sky had gone ink black and it was only two in the afternoon yet… it was fitting. Delia found the darkness comforting, possibly not able to stomach any kind of sunshine or nice, blue skies over her head just yet. Upon getting out of the car, total silence could be heard, professor Oak's car giving one final click before refusing to start.
"Hell, what is going on in this world?" the man exclaimed, his frustrations finally having found an outlet. "For fucks' sake, I can't leave the car here in the middle of the road?!"
"Is everything alright?" Lance asked, coming from around the corner, having been attracted to the scene due to professor Oak's frustrated exclamation.
"No! This stupid car refuses to move."
"I'll help you push it into the garage, professor, try to remain calm."
"It's already bad enough I can't see a damn thing!"
"Yes, I know, professor, I know it's frustrating," the Champion said, trying to appease the man. "You can take the steering wheel, I'll push from the back."
"If… if you want, you can come inside for a bit, Mrs. Ketchum," Gary offered, looking at her with wide, startled eyes.
"I… Yes. Thank you, Gary."
He nodded before leading the way up the path, eerie lighted with the only light source being the laboratory's outdoor spotlight. A noise sounded out and it took both of them a moment to realise that Lance's Flygon was still underneath the chair. The dragon was giving them a sad, longing look and her broken motherly feelings took a hold on her.
"Poor dear," she whispered as she held out her hand, which the dragon nuzzled, if only for the warmth. "Try and convince your trainer to come inside when he returns."
The creature let out a huff of air, which sounded like a strange kind of sneeze but nodded shortly afterwards.
"Good boy."
They resumed their trek to the inside yet Delia couldn't help but wonder why Lance's powerful Flygon looked so lost and scared for. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary but figured she might have missed it, knowing she was missing emotional cues like mad. Gary had done everything to be proper to her, though, offering her a seat and a drink, though looked insanely lost when she accepted the seat but not the drink.
"I'm sorry if I upset you. Mrs. Ketchum," he said softly.
"I've been upset ever since the accident, my dear," she admitted.
"I never meant to be mean to him, you know? I… I just wanted to be close to him, but the other kids kept telling me what a loser he was, while I've never seen anyone like Ash before. Perhaps that's why they were saying those things about him, that they were jealous because they would never be as special as he was."
Delia shrugged helplessly, knowing that people had been mean to her poor boy from the start. Calling him a 'Champion's bastard' and much, much worse. And then Ash had grown up to be so magical, the ability to befriend anything and everything... but even so, assumptions were faster and there were plenty of people who didn't care about her son. There had been plenty of men who told her to forget Red as well, but Ash had inherited her stubbornness. If she couldn't have Red, then she didn't want another man, as simple as that.
"It's not fair," the teen whispered.
She merely nodded, not trusting her voice right now. Silence fell between them, the only sound being the scuttling of assistants in the background.
"Are the two of you alright? Do I need to make something to drink?" professor Oak asked, looking from Delia towards his grandson in confusion.
The woman shook her head, though Gary accepted the offer yet told the man he would go and get it himself. If the professor seemed bothered about that, he didn't show and merely went to sit in the couch in front of Delia.
"How are you holding up, my dear?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't think I can make it work without Ash, but what should I do? What should I do when dr. Martin calls me later today, to ask me if he needs to add life support? "
"… I can't answer that, my dear. It's completely up to you."
"Ash told me he didn't want to live like that. He had become very upset about it too, as if he knew something I didn't," the woman continued. "He smiled and smiled and yet I can't help but think we all messed up royally."
"I think you need to find Red, Delia."
She snorted at that.
"You don't know how angry he was when he left, Samuel. He hit Ash and oh, my son remembers."
"He was one at the time!"
"As if we didn't give him enough examples of anger and dismay to have recognised it from such a young age! He remembers! Just as he remembered having been shunned, just because of his father! That you made the bus leave early on his very first summer class, without telling me, so I could make sure he wasn't late! Or the dismay I showed when he failed your tests, even though it was clear someone had tampered with the results! God, we've done him dirty, Samuel, we never deserved Ash!"
"I promise I'll make it up to him, Delia. To sort out our differences, I… I never thought he was an idiot, I wouldn't have made him part of my research team otherwise."
"You didn't make him part of your team, Samuel, you made him part of your research," she hissed. "Behind Ash's back."
"… I'm not perfect, Delia. All I can do is show you I can make it right."
She sighed loudly and turned away from the man, not in the mood to stand these empty promises any longer. All she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep, even though she knew her mind would torment her and not allow her any rest.
"Euhm, hello, professor? Ah, and Delia," Lance said, carefully peeking behind the living room door. "I was wondering whether it would be okay for me to guard the laboratory inside? It's becoming frightfully cold outside and Flygon's not meant to deal with that outside of a battle."
"Oh, of course, Lance, come inside. If needed, there's another security measure I can deploy, which I'll probably do manually myself tonight."
"You do?" the man asked.
"Yes, at the time when Team Rocket posed a threat, metal panels were installed, to be placed in front of the windows and the doors. I've invested in having them build on the inside, so that you can't see the metal panes on the outside."
"Smart."
"Thank you."
The uncomfortable silence fell again, neither adult knowing what to say. Delia was left feeling even more miserable, knowing that her negligence was one of the reasons why all this had happened. Oh, if only she could turn back time, she would do things so differently. And perhaps, with Lance here, there was a chance she could get Red to see how wrong he was in thinking Ash wasn't his son.
"You haven't seen what I have!" a voice suddenly erupted from the kitchen, clearly Gary's.
There was someone else with the teen, the mumbling an effort to calm him.
"He looks dead!" Gary exclaimed, causing Delia to cringe. "I have to live with the fact my last words to him were that I called him a dim bulb! While he was the most radiant, shining person I've ever seen in my life and now it's gone! My own words have come to bite me in the ass so bad, Tracey! It's not fair!"
"Gary, calm down, you're making me upset." Said the other voice, Tracey's, a little louder than before.
"You should be! We're going to lose the best friend we've ever had and none of us gave a damn about him! We weren't friends, we were the nails to his fucking coffin, that's what!"
"Don't say that-"
"None of us were ever there for him, while Ash would trip over his feet in his haste to get to us when we needed him! How's that not true, Tracey?! Have you bothered to check in on him when he came home? No, because you have better things to do than look at the one who made you end up here, who introduced you to the life you're living!"
"I-I…"
"You were herding CATS! Fucking CATS! Ash would've loved them to death if only you could've bothered to find a box and bring them to him!"
"You're not going to spring that on me, you hypocrite! As if you didn't start to bully him as soon as you could speak!"
"I apologised for it! And he accepted it, without a grudge, like the good person he was!"
"He still is."
"I bet he is! I BET HE IS!" the teen screeched. "But whether he'll still be so tomorrow, heaven knows!"
A door slammed and Delia had no doubts Gary had run upstairs. He had never been good with confrontations, after all. She had been there when the teen had apologised to Ash and while she had been appalled at the fact she had thought the two to be best friends and hadn't noticed the bullying, she had seen how shy and uncomfortable Gary had looked. Ash, however, hadn't been taken aback and just smile his ten-thousand-volt smile while he opened his big heart and accepted his former bully's offer of friendship as if it nothing happened.
She was only lightly aware of Lance's hand on her shoulder and if only she would have known Tracey would come to them to answer his questions, she would've made an effort to look less miserable. However, the teen did exactly that and seeing the three adults, hunched backs, shoulders low and all expression varying from hurt, grief, sadness and misery, Tracey had not needed to speak up, his mind answering all his questions with the worst kind of answers. His eyes had teared up in a mere second and his hand flew to his mouth as he whirled around and escaped, possibly to one of the many guestrooms inside professor Oak's laboratory.
"Good lord…" the professor sighed, after a distant slam of a door could be hurt. "All that theatre for nothing. It was a bad idea of dr. Martin to let Gary see him."
"Depends," Lance answered. "Having a nice, heated argument is good for tension and besides, the kid is still alive. Let them prepare for the worst, if he comes out alright, the bigger their relief will be, but perhaps those two will learn to have some respect."
"H-he… He won't come out alright, " Delia uttered. "I… I need some air."
The Champion had a hold of the woman in seconds.
"Are you okay?"
She vehemently shook her head, feeling sick as she knew now that even his friends felt like they had failed her son. And it was the truth, not even Misty or Brock, who could both come by bike, bus or even on foot, had bothered to even come by or just give him a call or a bit of attention. She knew Ash wasn't good at keeping in contact, but once you had his attention, he was there for you. And everyone had just taken him for granted, the poor darling.
"Come on, then, let's get you home," Lance uttered, though the man was slightly startled to feel a tap on his shoulder.
It was the professor, who mouthed 'stay' and pointed towards Delia, before putting his hands to together as if begging him to do so. He nodded, the message clear enough. The man felt like it was for the best, as the poor woman was shaking and was as pale as a sheet of paper. Typical teenager behaviour, to put both feet into a sensitive spot and heaven knew what Gary had been thinking, having such a loud argument in front of Delia. Then again, professor Oak's grandson was smart when in full control of his emotions and it wouldn't be good to underestimate him. Despite the fact the teen possibly had a good, long look at the crudely amputated leg, it took some serious skill to see that the straight angled cut didn't conform to how any kind of pokémon exciting in Kanto cut thing up. When the professional team of researchers got a hold of the leg, it hadn't taken them long to agree with Gary's theory, but their outcome was even worse. Ash had discovered a new kind of pokémon and had paid a terrible price for it.
Why it had hurt him or had gone as far as to kidnap him from his home, was beyond Lance despite him being hyper-aware of the situation. As the Chief Superior, he was an overseer of all the cases and detectives and thus, knew many things. Hence why he had been on the scene to overhear the kid desperately needed a blood transfusion. After realising he had a blood type that matched with the young victim, he had hurried over towards the hospital. This wouldn't be seen as meddling by his Superior, though if word got out that the boy was his nephew, he knew he would be stopped from overseeing the case. Didn't mean anyone could stop him from visiting his newfound sister-in-law or her poor son, though. He felt a great deal of pity for her, hence why he dutifully took it upon himself to get the woman home… only, he knew it was going to be awkward.
This was a mother who was coming to terms with the loss of a son she clearly loved to bit and even if Ash was still alive, even if he would wake up, chances of him waking up as if nothing happened were non-existent. Or so he assumed, judging from professor Oak and Delia's faces during Gary's emotional outburst. Lance understood how it felt to see someone you loved lose a part of themselves, becoming a shadow of who they used to be. He was almost glad Red hadn't stayed with his wife, because of … Ah, he had gotten such bad PTSD he could barely stand, shaking so hard, he couldn't even reach a glass of water. His memory suffered greatly and there were no words that could describe Lance's feelings when he had caught the man staring at the sink, so incredibly fascinated by how the water was coming out of the faucet. It had been upsetting and he knew he had needed some time to process that he had lost his brother, as there had been a period when Red had been so immersed in his demons, he hadn't recognised Lance at all. So he decided to be patient with the woman who meant well, even though the execution of her intentions could use some work.
'And I've not been forced to take those lessons in socialising and anger management for nothing," he thought, still slightly annoyed Mr. Goodshow had less than gently told him to get help.
He wasn't without demons but he would like to think he was on good terms with them. So unless there was an actual bad criminal inside the woman's house, she would be quite safe with him. Or at the very least, safer than she would have been if left on her own. Who knew what Delia would do to herself, given the chance to act out on the bad thoughts she was having? Having both Gary and Tracey trample her most overly sensitive feelings had clearly left its mark on her.
"Do you have your keys with you?" he asked softly, trying to ignore that Flygon's tails had crawled up the back of his shirt, eager for warmth.
"Yes. In my pocket."
"Will you be able to manage?"
"I'll have to."
"Not right now, I'm here."
The woman didn't comment on that, showing that she was quite able to open her front door by herself. She quickly scuttled inside and Lance felt a bit left behind when she disappeared into the dark hallway.
"Don't stand there on ceremony," Delia's voice said and her figure soon showed when she had successfully found the light switch in the hallway. "You put your shoes in the rack at the left."
"… Alright," he answered, figuring she had accepted him as part of her family already.
As good as that was, he did sigh before following her inside. The man wasn't sure whether it was the darkness, the sudden cold or the woman's caring yet rather stoic and sad attitude that worried him the most. Either way, this would be the place where he would be spending the night, so Lance steeled himself, determined to make the most out of it. No matter how dire or odd the situation was.
End of chapter two