While they were waiting for Nurse Joy to heal Trucy's bibarel, Apollo had to use the bathroom. "I'll be right back," he assured the girl.

"Or I could come with you…" Trucy batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.

"Uh…no thanks."

As Apollo stepped into the bathroom, he noticed small amounts of something red on the floor. Further inspection revealed that it was blood flowing out from under one of the stalls. "There are no girls in here," Apollo muttered as the color drained from his face. Quickly and aggressively, he knocked on the stall's door. No response. He knocked harder. "Go away…" weakly made its way to his ears. By this point, Apollo dropped all his standards and peeked through the crack between the stall door and the stall divider. A boy was sprawled across the small area, covered in blood. Both hands were shoved in the toilet, and the toilet water was stained red. The boy's eyes fluttered, barely open. Apollo charged at the stall door, and, after several tries, knocked it down. He scooped the boy up in his arms, and, with much effort, carried him into the room in which Apollo had rested earlier.

That done, Apollo ran to get Nurse Joy. When she saw the boy and his torn-apart arms, she started to cry. "Oh, Paul! First you cut yourself and now this!"

In order to assure that the boy made it okay, Apollo stayed in the patient's room. Trucy, thinking that Apollo must have diarrhea or something, fidgeted in the Center's waiting room.

Finally, unable to stand it any longer, the girl got up and went to the men's room.

"Hello?" she asked, cautious but loud. "Is anyone there?" A knock produced no result. She pushed open the door. The first thing Trucy noticed was the blood on the floor. She approached the stall slowly. "Hello?" she tried again. Trucy pushed the stall door open carefully. She saw the blood in the toilet and almost screamed. However, she managed to keep her volume down to a normal indoor voice. "There was a GIRL in here? ! And she didn't flush? !"

Watching someone else get stitches is very disgusting. Apollo twitched and cringed with every stroke of the needle. But Paul didn't seem to mind. He was even going through the operation as he had requested, without anesthetics. After Nurse Joy left Paul to recuperate, Apollo felt the need to strike up a conversation with the boy. "So…"

"So," Paul mumbled.

"Why'd you stick your hands in a toilet?" Apollo cringed and immediately regretted asking that question, but Paul answered very matter-of-factly.

"To stop scabs from forming so the bleeding wouldn't stop and I would die." Paul looked Apollo over critically. "Why'd you save me?"

"Because you were dying! ! !"

"But I chose to die. Wanted to die. Actually, I still want to die."

"So? ! I'm not about to let someone else die, like it or not!"

Paul looked at Apollo incredulously. Never before had he seen someone who cared so much about a total stranger. He felt a strange fuzzy feeling in his tummy – was that what happiness felt like? What being cared for felt like? "Do you like me for who I am or for the fact that I just almost died?"

"Well, I don't know who you are. Yet. Tell me a bit about yourself."

Paul smiled. It hurt his cheeks. "I'm a Pokémon trainer, my older brother's Reggie, and the rest is none of your business."

"Got any parents?"

The smile faded from Paul's face as quickly as it had appeared.

"It's okay to tell me. I'm an orphan. I understand that there are all types of parenting situations. And some are sadder than others."

Paul took in a deep breath. So much for recuperating, he thought. "My mother left us as soon as I was born. I think she hated me. –"

"How do you hate a baby?"

Paul glared at this interruption.

"…Sorry."

"As soon as my brother turned sixteen, my father left us, and Reggie's been taking care of me ever since."

"Wow. That must be hard. Hey – don't cry." Apollo wiped a tear off of Paul's face.

Paul seethed silently over the fact that his hands and arms were completely bandaged, and he couldn't wipe away his own tears. On the other hand…that felt kind of…good.

"Is that why you…"

"What? ! No!" Paul was back in his glaring mode.

"Then why did you do it – er, try to do it?"

"Like I said, none of your business." Paul was completely closed up now

Just then, Nurse Joy returned. "Apollo, Trucy wants to see you."

"Look, Paul, I'll be right back. And until then, you'd better prepare yourself to tell me what happened to you." Apollo tried for a menacing look, but the result was laughable.

Paul responded with a real menacing glare.

Apollo slinked out of the room.

"Polly!"

"Don't call me that!"

"There you are! I thought you had diarrhea!"

Apollo rolled his eyes. "I left the bathroom, Trucy." Speaking of which, he really had to pee by that point. But he couldn't just go in the stall next to where Paul had tried to kill himself! He'd go in a urinal! "I'll be right back, Trucy."

Trucy snickered.

After Apollo had relieved himself, Trucy resumed her interrogation. "Were you scared off by the girl period?"

"What girl per – oh, you mean the blood!"

Trucy looked horrified. She took Apollo's hand. "T-then why was there bl-bl-blood? ? ?"

Apollo took in a deep breath. "Someone tried to kill himself."

Gasp!

"That's where I was. Trying to work things out with him."

"Wait – then why was there blood in the toilet? !"

"He stuck his hands in there."

"WHAT? !"

"To keep the cuts from scabbing over!"

Trucy shook her head. "Some people."

"I know. Too smart for his own good. You can keep training your Pokémon if you want. I need to keep that poor boy company."

"But Apollo!" The brunette exclaimed dramatically. "I will never leave your side!"

"Have ten dollars."

"Okay!" Trucy kissed Apollo's cheek and ran.

To be continued...