You can easily say Phoenix is furious at the recent course of events.
Now, what he's furious at is a lot to unpack, and he'd rather throw the whole suitcase away than think about it would he be able to actually do a thing about it, but today, it's apparently Helpless Day, so tough luck there. Being stuck in public transportation during a traffic jam isn't making it any easier to forget what's been on his mind ever since he came back from an easy trial.
Heh, should've known they couldn't have had it that easy. That'd have been much too simple to deal with and, as Apollo would put it: they're lawyers, they live for unnecessary complications.
Ah, yes, Apollo. Somehow, despite sharing the same office, Phoenix never noticed until it was far too late how bad his own colleague and mentee was doing. He doesn't even have the excuse to have been digging around the underground to find information on Gavin, the forged diary page or the Gramaryes' Secret that, sure enough, links by blood his adoptive daughter to his "friend's" former apprentice: he just failed to notice something that, in retrospect, was obvious, right under his nose, and he's furious because of it.
Saying that Apollo had been under the weather for a couple days would be an understatement. The very fact the "Chords of Steel" wouldn't scream across the office should've told him there was something fishy, but Phoenix thought it could've been something else – fatigue was the likeliest cause, and until yesterday, he was thinking of giving Apollo a couple days off to let himself rest from the hectic trials that keep getting thrown their way.
Yeah, he really should've put two and two together sooner. The lower voice wasn't the only weird thing: the fact Apollo would remove his tie at work, or at least think of doing so, should've rung that very specific bell, one Maya has nicknamed "dad instinct" the very first time she saw him rush to the sofa where his mentee was just asleep from spending another night on some case file again, thinking something worse had happened. And, well… Maybe Apollo and Trucy being related kind of makes him feel like he should be this boy's new father too.
Still, it's too late to mop around and wonder about what-ifs and other speculative questions. All there is to it is that he's allowed his employee to get deathly sick and that Trucy will most likely never forgive him for it because, let's be honest here, there's nothing here that'd make any of this better on his part. He knows how Apollo is, how his professionalism may just be a cover for how he really feels inside, if he's anything like his half-sister whose existence he doesn't even know of.
They can't do much about it, can they? He's no doctor and, despite his numerous visits to Hotti Clinic, he can't exactly say he has any privilege to go over the assigned visiting hours, especially when the patient he's come to visit started noisily sobbing while trying not to drown himself with his own tears and pleural fluids. All he can do is to let medical staff take care of a boy he's sworn to keep an eye on. Talk about a broken promise. Thalassa has all the reasons in the world to feel betrayed over this, even if, all things considered, he may as well have been more of a parent to her own son than she's ever been.
He's lividly furious at himself for this. All of this could've been avoided if, like he said he would do yesterday and the day before that, he had given Apollo that miraculous-looking day off. At least, he'd have time to breath, instead of breathlessly rushing into more things because he's an impatient determinator who won't stay in place for a minute before throwing himself at finances even if he feels like he can't breathe properly anymore. Did he even notice what was happening to him all along? He isn't sure. It's hard to tell, with someone like this guy who won't show himself as anything but a professional once at work.
Trucy told him about "Polly", yesterday. She told him about how he seemed so much more tired than usual and how he was even less prone to small talk than she'd ever seen him be. Sure, Apollo is usually stubbornly keeping his personal life from the professional world, and lawyer Apollo has never been the same guy as the one who still doesn't know why he keeps behaving like a protective older brother towards his boss's daughter – but, judging from Trucy's tone, he should've immediately known it could have only been much worse than that from now on.
On second thought, maybe he's also furious at Apollo for being a moron. You'd think that a professional lawyer who loves to make sure his case looks like something before setting a foot inside the lobby, eyeing through his Court Record to make sure he didn't accidentally forget something at the Agency, who sometimes sleep on the couch rather than going home just because he's afraid of being late to a trial would have the idea of telling his own boss that maybe he should take a day off because breathing is getting a little hard.
Of course, Phoenix has been here, done that, he knows his younger self wasn't much better. He's a moron in his own right who's chewed on glass, showed up to investigations and trials sick on multiple occasions, and keeps being battered by life itself (only to miraculously get away from terrible incidents with flesh wounds at worse); but it doesn't make what Apollo did sound any better. In fact, it makes it worse: Phoenix just knows how terrible this is and would have liked his own employee to listen to him. Okay, sure, maybe Apollo doesn't want a second father figure disappearing under his nose, that'd he understand, but can't this rookie listen to him as his boss instead, then?
Take your day off, Apollo, is a sentence that is never going to be heard, is it?
Still, he knows being furious at anyone isn't going to help. In fact, nothing Trucy and he can do will help: this battle is one Apollo needs to fight for himself with other people he doesn't know around him. As much as it pains him to admit it, it's the truth, and nothing will change it: lawyers aren't doctors and magicians aren't nurses. No Mr Hat and no flashy attorney's badge will help pneumonia go away.
It's painfully obvious that his anger comes from a place of worry. If he spotted Apollo for his links to the Gramarye Secret and Trucy, Phoenix has undeniably grown attached to this horn-headed, hot-headed attorney whom he saved from unemployment after somewhat using him against an old enemy. Once again, that came from a place of good faith, or at least he hopes it does: working with Gavin would've probably destroyed this kid's psyche down the line. Klavier Gavin is a good enough example as it is, so a second victim isn't needed, especially if said potential victim can pull… this sort of stunt.
For a while, Phoenix didn't think twice about Apollo's astonishing professionalism. If his original employer was Gavin, there's no surprise as to why or how he ended up putting on a mask when entering the courtroom, dealing with witnesses, managing a case. Plus, that kid seems to have had the shittiest track record he's seen in a while: losing both your parents at the young age of something like… one, ending up it who knows what place, only to have Gavin as your employer of all people can't have given him the nicest of personal lives. He probably lives off instant ramen too. Maybe being ruthless in court is all he's got left when the rest of his life so far has been to screw him over royally.
Now, however, that professionalism is worrying. He's seen people shut off for the sake of work multiple times, and that was part of why he was so bent on saving Edgeworth from his own demons: this is no different. However, this time, Phoenix feels some sort of direct responsibility: Apollo is more like family than he'd ever guess. Even without considering the promises he made to Thalassa, the very fact he's Trucy's sibling explains most of his issues at hand away, especially now that she knows about the truth. Knowing how stubborn Apollo is, Phoenix can only guess it'll take a lot to convince him to finally open to them, rather than hide everything under a self-destroying façade.
The sun is finally setting down, darkening the sky as Trucy and he go upstairs rather than back into the agency. She's holding his arm as he unlocks the door to their flat, right above their offices, because there's no way he'll be able to focus on anything tonight – his mind is eaten up by the fact they had to shorten their visit due to Apollo practically choking on his own phlegm. His daughter has been shaking ever since that unfolded, so he's kind of relieved she decided to cancel tonight's show after realizing she was worried beyond her mind.
They're both silent as they prepare to go to bed. No, not go to sleep: he knows he's already going to be losing hours of it over Apollo's condition and how they won't be able to know how it goes unless things get that bad for him. Phoenix had to give his own details to the hospital staff as the person to contact in case his employee was approaching death's door. Two bets as to why he also never talks about his family life: he's got none, unless you count his antics with the sister whose existence Phoenix should really reveal to soon. It's about time, especially if he doesn't want things to become awkward between the two siblings.
The air is tense and silent in the flat as he heats up a frozen meal. It wasn't meant for tonight, but the change of plans makes it so he has no energy to go grab the pizzas he originally promised they'd have for dinner after her show. Now, chicken and potatoes sound about good enough, albeit neither of them is that hungry. In fact, he hesitated procrastinating on throwing the contents of the package in a frying pan for a moment before realizing it'd at least take his mind off Apollo's predicament for a minute or two.
Usually, by this point of the day, Trucy'd have been telling him about hers. She'd ask questions about what she didn't understand in her homework or lessons, she'd tell him about her day at school, about her latest trick. The change of plans makes it so she isn't in a hurry to eat dinner so she can arrive on time for her shows and, as such, is dead quiet: now, the only thing the both of them must do is just… maintain themselves alive. He isn't used to their flat being this eerily silent.
Mondays have always sucked anyway.
At the table, the atmosphere doesn't get lighter in the slightest. They're both stuck on saying absolutely nothing, not even daring to sigh, with Trucy playing around with the food in her plate rather than actually eating it. That is, until the silence gets too heavy and one of them gives into the temptation of filling the air with something other than tension.
"Daddy, can I spend the day with Apollo tomorrow?"
"Trucy, you've got…" Phoenix stops midway through his sentence.
"If I'm not in his room, then Polly'll be lonely… so I need to be there for him!"
At first, he's tempted to reply Apollo must have at least one person who'd keep him some company, only to realise there probably is nobody to fulfil that role aside from Trucy and him. Thalassa doesn't seem to want to reunite with her son yet, and he'll be busy investigating on his next client's case tomorrow.
Moreover, as much as he wants his daughter to get her education, he also feels like she won't learn much if she spends the day terrified for her brother. He's probably better off letting her skip one day if it means having her heart more at peace, even if only slightly (she's still going to be spending her day next to someone infected with pneumonia who scared the crap out of them three times in one single day, that doesn't sounds like much of a relaxing activity to unwind doing). Nothing about this situation sounds decent, that's for sure.
"If you really feel like you can't do otherwise, then I guess you can… You'll probably find it boring, though."
"It doesn't matter if it's boring for most of the day. I'll be guarding Polly, and that's all that matters! If he wakes up, then I'll be here, that's my mission as… as his sister."
She lies a specific emphasis on the final word of her sentence, which is the one good thing about today: she seems to be taking especially well that, in actuality, she has a blood relative still alive and by her side.
"I'll be doing the dishes, so go take a bath, okay?"
"Got it, Daddy!" She responds before running to the bathroom.
Seeing Trucy's enthusiasm shine is bringing a bit of comfort, even if the anger and the concern still remain rampant, toxic even. All he knows, at this point, is how he must be a better mentor figure in the future. He can't let this sort of events happen again, for any reason.
Trucy can't possibly find sleep tonight. Not after what happened today.
This was supposed to be a normal day of scouring the town and using buying props as an excuse to spend time with Polly outside the office. Of course, as a Gramarye, she has the power to sense people's emotions and tension more than your average teenager, so she had an obvious motive behind her lie. She used her poker face again, and you could say she broke his trust, but she swears it's for a good reason.
In actuality, she had noticed Apollo sounded more tired than he'd ever had, and that was when taking in account all the times his stress had gotten the best out of him. As such, she wanted to first pretend like they were going to shop around town for a show she'd actually had everything read for even before he had come to the office in the morning, then pull her bait-and-switch and actually get him to sleep while pretending to test a new trick with him. She had even planned her locations to provide for maximum comfort, including buying some cough drops at the pharmacy because Apollo's cold just wouldn't go away.
In the end, she never got the time to reach the pharmacy before the inevitable happened.
There are countless regrets flowing from her heart to her mind and vice-versa, rendering her almost nauseous from how much she wants to cry in distress. Daddy is busy tomorrow too and Apollo wouldn't want to see her cry, so she tries to hold it together, but it's getting harder and harder with each thing gone wrong she recalls, with every single thing that she could've saved.
She should've forced Polly to sit down when waiting for her. She should've torn her bags from his hands and break through the habits they have which she's responsible for. She should've been more forward and told him to stay home, or at the office, and put so many pillows next to him that he'd be stuck there and forced to rest. She should've dragged him to the doctor's office before dragging him anywhere else. She should've known this wouldn't end well for everyone involved.
Trucy doesn't dare look at the clock. Her phone's turned off and charging as far away as possible from her bed where she tosses and turns. She knows that, if she keeps it nearby, she'll spend the entire night on it, hoping for a message from Apollo saying he's fine, but actually fine, not how he always pretends he is when something about him keeps nagging her. In these circumstances, that'd mean he's conscious enough to send a coherent text message to her phone, which would be more than enough to soothe all of the poison flowing down her veins and burning her from the inside.
Her chest is tight and her pulse won't slow down – is that how he's been feeling like for who knows how long? She tries muffling her tears and keep her breathing in check, but it only partially works, and the mere thought of what Apollo must have suffered through while she was only half-pretending like she was just hanging around in town to buy some shiny items sends a new wave of shivers down her spine. This is horrible.
It's her fault too, thus why she needs to fix her errors tomorrow. Moreover, he must be feeling lonely, alone in that hospital room with no one to watch over him than medical staff with whom he's clearly unfamiliar. She doubts he has a lot of potential visitors, considering how much he keeps his distances with anyone she's seen him interact with. He never speaks about himself, so it's hard to say if he even has friends; and, even then, even if he did have people who'd visit him, do they know about it? Can they get the news, or is he just this isolated, this alone? She needs to look into it as soon and as much as possible.
Trucy knew all along she should've insisted harder that Apollo take a day off, maybe even force him to stay put when he was too far gone to realize it himself; but now, it's too late to do anything about it, and she can only suffer the consequences of her shortcomings and do all in her power for it not to happen again. That's her duty as his sister, his only relative left.