Steven alternated between pacing the room and sitting in the corner. He hated the waiting. Wallace had called Roxanne to meet him at the hospital so that he wasn't alone. He couldn't help thinking that this was somehow his fault. Everything seemed to go smoothly when Tori started to mega evolve and the data he had showed there had been no malfunction from the equipment. If Alexander had lost consciousness first then it would stand to reason that was likely the cause of the accident. He should have tried harder to talk him out of performing. If he could have made Alexander listen…

"Steven, pacing won't make this go any faster," Roxanne said for the third time that hour.

"I know. I can't help it." Steven sighed as he dropped into the chair next to the gym leader.

"I understand. Try to relax. You won't be any help if you collapse too."

Steven didn't respond. What was he supposed to say back to that? He knew that she was right, but despite that, he felt too restless to sit in one place.

"Mr. Stone?"

His head snapped up when an older nurse poked her head out of the triage room. He got her attention and started towards her.

"I will be out here." Roxanne gave him a nod.

"Thank you," Steven mumbled over his shoulder. He would need to give her a raise or something. He would worry about that later. The nurse led him through the small triage room and into a drastically colder hallway that seemed to house the patient rooms. He let his eyes drift and take in his surroundings. The area was dimly lit and rather unwelcoming. The staff were all scattered about doing their own tasks with the exception of two doctors standing over the nurse's station passing out coffee and discussing something intently. His guide stopped halfway down the hall and opened the door without a word. She invited him in before following. Steven took in the sight of his newly found boyfriend lying on the bed with various wires attached. The wound on his head appeared to have been stitched up and bandaged and he had an IV in one arm that was attached to a bag filled with clear liquid.

"Mr. Stone. I am the doctor in charge of Alexander."

Steven shook the gruff man's hand with a nod "How is he?" He didn't like the way his question was met with a sigh.

"Alive. Somehow. He tempted fate and came out alive. We won't be able to get a full evaluation of his injuries until he wakes up. I won't be surprised if he has a concussion based on the cut there. Needed six stitches. I looked over his medical records and I must say I am surprised this man has cheated death on multiple occasions. I will be back in a few hours to check on him."

"Right. Thank you." Steven managed to reply. His mouth felt hot and dry. He waited for everyone to leave the room before falling into the chair in the corner of the room. "If you die I will never forgive you." He muttered. He stared at the unconscious man as the clock ticked deafeningly in the background along with the beeping of the monitor. Alexander was alive. That was a good start. They could deal with anything else that came after now. He ran through the various scenarios that could follow and how he could make things work. He must have drifted off because the next thing he knew the room was brighter and there were several nurses and the doctor from before surrounding the bed. Alexander was being poked and questioned despite the obvious discomfort.

"Right, well, apart from the obvious concussion you managed to fracture your ankle again and break your foot. We had been worried about spinal damage, but thankfully there was none."

"So what does that mean?" Alexander rasped.

Steven didn't miss the fear in the other man's eyes, but he kept silent and still. For now, he needed to gather as much information as possible.

"Well, the severity of your injuries makes that difficult to tell. Your ankle is unstable right now, but surgery is out of the question due to your concussion. For now, we can keep it as stable as possible and if it begins to heal then you should be able to avoid surgery. If it doesn't, then we will need to revisit our options. You will need to stay here for observation before I feel comfortable discharging you. Especially because you live alone."

"I can stay with him," Steven spoke up finally. Alexander looked close to tears at this point. He stood stiffly and moved across the room next to the bed. He sat on the edge and rested his hand on Alexander's shoulder, careful to keep his touch gentle. After a fall like that he was willing to guess that he would be sore.

"Even so. I want to keep him here for a few hours to monitor his condition. If everything looks good then we can consider sending him home. The good news is nothing seems out of place with his foot. That is rather surprising given the severity of the injuries."

"And the fact he was walking on it." Steven gave Alexander a pointed look who returned it with a pout.

"I didn't think it was broken."

"No matter. We are going to numb your foot while we do this. You will still feel some pain, but it will be more tolerable."

Steven moved back to the chair to get out of the way while the doctor worked on setting Alexander's foot. It was painful to watch so he could not imagine how it felt for Alexander. He was in the process of asking Wallace to get his things from the hotel when another nurse returned to the room with a small stack of papers and discharge forms. She went over each paper one by one with him rather than Alexander. It was a mixture of home care instructions, phone numbers to call, and a prescription for stronger pain medication if needed. Once all of the paperwork was finished Steven hailed a cab and did his best to keep Alexander awake on the ride back to his apartment. That proved to be harder of a task than he believed given the other man was asleep on his shoulder within minutes. He decided the best way for him to get his luggage from the hotel was to have Wallace bring it to Alexander's apartment. He was just grateful that Wallace agreed to do it. Once the two made it into the apartment, Steven set to work getting Alexander settled on the couch. Steven had given up on keeping him awake for now and looked at his phone. Wallace was on his way over now, but for now, he needed to get Alexander comfortable. He found his way into the bedroom and pulled the comforter off the bed along with all of the pillows before returning to the other room. He carefully lifted Alexander's leg, apologizing when he whimpered in pain in his sleep, and propped up his foot, making sure to cover him up without moving him around too much. He had only just finished getting Alexander settled when a loud knock sounded from the front door. Steven was grateful for Wallace's cooperation in getting his things from the hotel and bringing them to Alexander's apartment. He had invited Wallace in but the invitation had been declined. He dropped his bags on the floor behind the couch and took his spot on the floor by Alexander's head. The younger man was still dozing soundly, seemingly undisturbed by the noise. He turned so that he could rest his hand on Alexander's forehead to check his temperature. He sighed in relief when he found no fever. That was a good sign. He had a little time before he needed to wake Alexander so he decided to get some work done and check in with Glacia. He would need to make arrangements for his league matches now that he was staying longer than initially planned. Glacia replied almost immediately asking what had happened. He did his best to reassure her that he was fine and be as vague as possible with the details. He did his best to be quiet as he worked on the quarterly report. By the time his alarm went off his legs were stiff. "Alex." Steven shook his shoulder carefully "It's time to wake up." He felt a little better when Alexander's eyes cracked open, squinting against the light. "Sorry, I know you want to sleep."

" 'S fine."

"How are you feeling?" Steven asked as he helped Alexander prop up.

"Head hurts."

"I would say so. Do you want something for the pain?" Steven asked, already moving to get the bottle of Tylenol from the table.

"Yeah, that would help. Sorry to trouble you."

Steven stopped and looked at Alexander seriously. That was a tone he hadn't heard before from the young singer before. "You are not bothering me. Please do not think like that. I offered to stay because I was worried about you. Here." He grew more concerned when Alexander seemed to struggle to swallow the medicine and barely drank any water. "What's wrong, Alex?" He questioned seriously as he sat on the arm of the couch.

"Nothing. Just a little queasy." Alexander answered before swallowing thickly. He hated feeling like this.

Steven hummed sympathetically while carding his fingers through his short, raven-colored hair "That was something the doctor said could happen. If you feel worse let me know. I'm right here."

"Steven?"

"What is it?" He looked down curiously.

"Is Tori alright?" Alexander blinked a few times to hide the tears that threatened to expose him. He felt his face heat up when Steven chuckled.

"She is safe. After you lost consciousness she tried to save you."

"What happened anyway? You never said before."

Steven bit the inside of his cheek. He really had no desire to talk about that so soon, but he didn't have much choice. "You were riding Tori and trying to mega evolve her when you lost consciousness."

"Why did I pass out?" Alexander tilted his head back with a wince in an attempt to get a better look at Steven.

"We aren't sure, but I think it was from the pain. Afterward, you fell into the pool. If Wallace hadn't been there…" Steven trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. He could not say it out loud. That would make the fact Alexander almost died far too real.

"I see. I'm sure that was frightening to watch. I'm really sorry."

Anger swelled in Steven's chest. "Of course, it was terrifying to watch. That is not the point. The point is that I almost lost you!" Why couldn't Alexander understand that this was about him? His anger disappeared instantly when Alexander pushed himself up and wrapped his arms around Steven's neck.

"I'm not going anywhere." Alexander whispered, "I am truly sorry that you went through that."

That was all it took for Steven's composure to break. He felt the hot tears slip down his cheeks. His breath caught in his throat as he silently cried. He took in a deep, shuttering breath before closing his eyes and leaning into Alexander's shoulder, careful to not put much weight against him. Steven had found that he loved that Alexander smelled of strawberries.

"It's alright to cry. I won't tell." Alexander pulled Steven closer, doing his best to ignore the pain. Right now Steven needed him.

"I'm not crying." Steven protested weakly. He knew Alexander could hear it in his voice, but his pride would never allow him to admit it. He was unsure of how long they stayed like that before he felt Alexander swaying. He pulled away and used the heel of his hand to dry his eyes. "You should lay back down. I will wake you up in a few hours." He could hear how weak his voice sounded and cursed internally. He was confused for a moment when Alexander simply shook his head. It was clear he was in pain.

"I'm fine. Just a headache."

"Sleep will help then. You need to rest for a few days." Steven helped Alexander so that he was lying back on his side. "You will feel better once you get some more rest."

"How long are you going to stay here?" Alexander asked with a yawn.

"As long as you need me," Steven murmured as he carded his fingers through Alexander's hair once more.