Peacekeepers

Chapter Ten - Loss

"Asenath,"one of the doctors addressed her gently, using her whole name instead of her more commonly used nickname, Sena. "Are you still feeling pain?" When she weakly shook her head no, the doctor nodded and gave her shoulder a reassuring pat.

Cautious not to get underfoot of the medical team, Steven moved to stand beside his father. "Dad, I'm here."

"Steven!" his father exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Thank goodness you made it in time."

In time? What did he mean by that? Steven knew things were bad, but did he mean-?

Before he could even process his father's implications, the older man was ushering everyone out of the room. "I'm sorry Joseph," one of the doctors murmured sadly and glanced at Steven. "There's just nothing more we can do but try and keep her comfortable. Her heart has simply given out."

Joseph nodded stiffly, with the most pained expression Steven had ever seen on his father's face. "How long?"

The doctor shook his head, seeming at a loss. "An hour, at the most."

Hearing those words, Steven felt like his whole world was crashing down around him, as if the very walls surrounding him were made of glass and had all simultaneously shattered in an instant.

He wanted to drop to his knees and scream out in agony, but he was frozen in place, anguished and confused. His mother had always had a weak heart for as long as he could remember, but he always thought that just meant she would be in a perpetually weak state the rest of her life, unable to do anything strenuous. He never thought she would be taken from him so soon...

"-ven. Steven!" his father was hissing at him pointedly, though he was clearly trying to keep the edge out of his tone for the sake of his mother. Steven shook his head and staggered a little when Joseph made to guide him towards the other end of the couch so his mother could see him.

"Sena," Joseph spoke softly, smiling despite the tears in his eyes. "Your son is here to see you."

Sena had closed her eyes after the doctor spoke to her earlier but at the sound of her husband's voice she opened them again and immediately focused on their son. "Steven, there you are," she called to him weakly, her smile warm and loving as her own dark pools began to fill with tears. "My precious boy with his timid heart."

"Mom," Steven groaned out with a mild, inconsequential frustration. He immediately knelt down beside her, fighting against the tightness in his throat and sting in his eyes. "You're the only one that says that."

"That's because I'm the only one that knows who you are, deep down." She reached out to cup his face with both hands and he in turn placed his right on her left, cherishing his mother's touch for probably the last time. "You might fool the rest of the world with that confident bravado of yours, but not me... Never me."

"You're wrong, I'm not timid," Steven insisted fervently, though the words he spoke were not the ones he meant to say. You can't die! He swallowed the thought along with a painful lump. "I'll be the Hoenn Champion one day, you'll see!"

"I have no doubt you will." Sena pulled him closer and touched her forehead to his, causing Steven to release a silent, agonizing cry and streams of tears. "But I think we both know I won't be around to see it."

"This isn't fair," he whined, feeling pathetic and small against such intense grief. "I didn't know... If I had known, I would have come home sooner!"

Sena hushed at him soothingly and pushed his head away enough to lock eyes with him. "That's right, you've been gone for so long." Her dark blue eyes were still cloudy but she spoke as though she were altogether present. She suddenly gave him a stern look. "You haven't been picking up any bad habits have you?" Before he could answer she added, "go on and remind me what I taught you?"