Chapter Text
A call, 2:30 in the morning. Answered, because who the hell calls then? The number is familiar. Work? He was still a surgical resident, they wouldn't call him at this hour. A voice, asking. The phone drops and he's running, running as fast as he can to the hospital, panic rising as he thinks this can't possibly be reality. This can't have possibly happened...
He refrains from pushing open the too slow moving automatic doors to the emergency room.
"Franken." He pants to the alarmed nurse. "Stein. I got a call about a man named Spirit Albarn." Why was Stein still his emergency contact? What was going on that he was the one who was called.
Another nurse touched him lightly on the shoulder. "Follow me."
He tried to control his heartbeat as she led him to the trauma center. No, no, no. What happened? What was going on?
"Please wait here." The nurse dropped him off in the waiting room. It was empty except for a little girl and yet another nurse. The girl was wrapped in a blanket and trembling but seemed unhurt, aside from the smallest of wrist braces on her arm.
"Oh, hello, you must be the next of kin." The nurse stood. "Do you recognize him?" She asked the girl kindly.
The girl looked up and shook her head, but Stein gasped. He would know those green eyes anywhere.
He cleared his throat. "Um, legally, I suppose if that's what Spirit put." he said awkwardly. "Um. Franken. Stein. You look like your mother." he added, speaking directly to the child.
She looked at him hesitantly before nodding slightly. He could tell that she got that a lot.
The nurse made a note on the clipboard. "Well, you are who you say you are, even though it's clear the two of you have never met. How are you related?"
"Um." Stein didn't like talking about himself much less his more spectacular failures. "Spirit is my... um. My ex-boyfriend." He muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"I..." The nurse snapped her mouth shut and made another note. "Come with me for a moment."
The girl let out a cry, not wanting to be left alone. "We'll be just right here, sweetie." The nurse said, pointing to the door way. "See? You can still see us?" She nodded, seemingly satisfied with that.
"What happened? Whats going on?" Stein asked the nurse urgently.
"The Albarn family was in a car crash this evening." The nurse spoke in a clipped, professional tone. "The parents sustained heavy injuries and are both in surgery right now." She gestured to the girl. "Maka Albarn, age 5. She was asleep and secured in her booster seat. Just a sprained wrist."
Stein nodded. "Can I see their charts?" He asked. When the nurse raised an eyebrow, he added. "I'm doing my surgical residency here."
She pursed her lips, but showed him the intake information. It all looked bad. He shivered, giving his head a scratch to clear his thoughts.
"I haven't seen Spirit in years." He explained. "We broke up after high school... I didn't even know he..." He knew that Spirit and Kami got married, but he had no idea about the kid. Or that Spirit trusted him enough to put him down as 'next of kin'.
The nurse nodded sympathetically. "I understand it's a lot, but until those two are out of surgery... you might be all she's got. I have to go now."
Stein turned back to the small figure. She didn't seem to be crying, just tired. Or bored. Stein wasn't the best at reading faces. Or being around children. It definitely took an exertion of mental energy to get himself in a state that he could talk to her.
She eyed him warily as he approached. "Would it be okay if I sat right here?" He asked, hoping his voice was gentle.
Another few seconds of staring and she nodded. He sighed with relief and sat down next to her.
"My name is Franken." He said, holding out his hand for her to shake. "It's nice to meet you."
Maka nodded and took his hand. That surprised him. "Hello, Mr. Franken." She spoke almost like an adult, her voice soft and polite. "My name is Maka. It's nice to meet you, too."
They shook and let go. That's Kami's kid all right, he thought to himself. She had always been very formal with everyone except Spirit.
"Do you know what's happening right now?" He asked.
"Of course I do!" Such indignation from such a small body. "I'm not a baby!"
"No, no, of course not, I didn't mean to-" His back-pedaling was cut short when he recognized Doctor Heron – his mentor - appearing in the door way, a grave expression on his face. The doctor motioned for him to come and he followed, glancing behind his shoulder.
"Stein, I didn't expect to see you here." the doctor said. "To be honest, I didn't think you knew anyone at all."
Stein shrugged. "Old friend from high school, Doc."
The doctor nodded. "Haven't spoke in a while?"
He shook his head, becoming impatient. "Look, Heron, if something happened..."
His mentor gave the kind of heavy sigh you only get when you're about to receive bad news. "The wife, Kami Albarn, died 10 minutes ago on the operating table."
The blood drained from Stein's face as he white knuckled the sleeves of his hoodie. "And... Spirit?" He managed to choke out.
Heron shook his head. "He's still under the knife." He looked over at Maka. "Is there anyone else?"
Now Stein shook his head. "He emancipated himself at 15 and I don't really know anything about Kami's family."
The doctor sighed again. "Can you do it?" He asked.
Stein swallowed thickly. It usually took people a few weeks to hate him. To become immediately hated was not something he looked forward to. "Yes." he said, heading back to Maka. "I can."
Again, Maka's eyes watched him carefully as he approached. Fuck. he thought. He didn't even know if Spirit had told the kid about life and death. He wasn't sure how to give the news, but he knew that he liked getting direct answers and wouldn't want someone to beat around the bush with this.
"Hi, Maka." He said, sitting down next to her again. "The doctor gave me some very sad news. They tried everything they could, but your mommy died. Do you understand what that means?"
Maka looked away from him to stare straight ahead. He was about to speak again when she nodded slightly. Relief at her understanding quickly gave way to panic as he noticed she was trembling, silent tears streaking her face as she clutched the folds of her dress tightly. She didn't make a single sound beyond a slight whimper.
Somehow that shattered Stein's heart more than any sob could.
“We don't know when he'll wake up.” Dr. Heron had come back in to update him on Spirit's situation. It was now 6:30 in the morning. “And... look.” He sat down next to Stein. “We've all been talking and... you're an outstanding resident, you really are. We think you should take some time off.” He glanced at Maka. “The records indicate that they wanted you to take care of her if something happened.”
Stein shook his head. “They never told me.” He said, quietly. Maka had cried herself out and was asleep, her tiny body stretched out across the double chair next to him.
“You don't have to do it.” the doctor said. “We can call child services.”
“No.” He hissed, not wanting to wake her. “I don't want her to get lost in the system before Spirit can even process...” He trailed off. “I'll take her home. I want updates every hour.”
“He'll need to under go more surgery.” Heron added. “We still aren't clear about the extent of damage.”
Stein looked at Maka's sleeping form. “I know. I know he isn't out of the woods yet but. Just call me, okay?”
He nodded wordlessly and left. Now came the hard part. Maka had registered her understanding last night, but he had no idea how she'd react now. He certainly didn't want to just take her to his apartment without making sure she was okay.
“Maka...” He said lightly, shaking her shoulder gently. “Maka, wake up.”
She stirred, fussed, but eventually sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked around, confused. When Stein said her name again, she looked over at him.
“Hi.” He said. “Remember me?” She nodded. “Do you remember what we talked about last night?”
She looked away, biting her lip. After a moment she nodded. She didn't want to cry again, but the tears wouldn't stop.
“Um...” Stein reached out a hand awkwardly. “Would you like-” She clambered over on to him before he could finish his sentence, clutching the front of his shirt and sobbing. He enveloped her in a hug, making vague soothing noises.
It took about an hour, but as the sun peeked its rays into the waiting room, she let go.
“What about Papa?” She asked.
Stein sighed and shook his head. “He's not awake yet.” He explained. “And they need to keep trying to fix him.”
She nodded, more tears leaking.
“Maka, the doctors told me that your papa said that he wanted me to take care of you.” He told her. “So how about we go to my apartment? It's not very far and the doctors said they'd talk to us there. Is that okay?”
She hesitated. She had never spent a single night away from home. Since she didn't fully sleep, this didn't count. Would she be okay without Snuggie and Blank? Still, she was really tired. And if Mr. Franken said that they would stay near papa, she'd rather go with him.
“Okay.” She said softly, climbing down from his lap.
“Okay.” He agreed.
They started walking through the hospital, Stein lost in thought. It wasn't until he heard a pained groaned that he snapped back, looking around. He panicked; where was Maka?
“Mr. Franken...” Maka was doubled over, hands on her knees. She was gasping for breath.
“Oh...” He realized that she didn't even come up to his knee yet. Long, lanky, and oblivious, he hadn't noticed Maka trying to keep pace with him. He stood still for a moment, waiting for her. After she straightened up, he held out his hand. She took it and with that small reminder, he was able to slow down for once.
Hand-in-hand, the odd pair walked through the hospital. Those who knew Stein eyed him questioningly, but made no comment. He made sure to check in with the staff to let them know he was taking Maka and finally they were out the door.
“It's not that far of a walk.” Stein wasn't one for 'reading the room', but it felt odd to just... not say anything to her. He decided not to mention that he ran flat out to get here just six hours previously. “Are you hungry? We can pick something up or maybe you just want to sleep?” Maybe he should do grocery delivery...
She didn't respond, just trudged next to him, clinging to his hand. It didn't feel right, to him. Five year olds had boundless reserves of energy. Very rarely were they as subdued as this. Then he wanted to smack himself in the face for being stupid. She probably was hungry, definitely tired, and she just lost her mother. There's no way she'd be chipper. He silently thanked whatever deity was listening when they reached his apartment building.
“See?” He said, trying to be encouraging. “Not a long walk at all.” However... “It is a bit of a climb though.” He admitted, gesturing to the stair case. The elevator had been broken for as long as he could remember. Cheap apartment in the heart of a city – typical. And he was on the 12th floor.
“Look.” He sat down on the bottom step. “Is it okay if I carry you?” He asked. She had seemed very irritated last night that he dared to treat her like a child. He wanted to make sure he wasn't crossing any lines. Her arms found their way around his neck and he picked her up without another word.
By the time they reached the top, she was already fast asleep. He hesitated as he stood in the bare, messy apartment. All he really had in the way of furniture was his desk, computer, and a futon shoved into what could only modestly be called a bedroom. Was it okay for her to sleep there? He was legally responsible for her, so it should be fine, right? He couldn't let her sleep on the floor...
With a resigned sigh, he carried her into the bedroom and laid her gently on the futon. It's not like it got that much use, anyway. He usually fell asleep at his computer, when he did manage to sleep. He made his way there and collapsed into the shoddy office chair, staring at the ceiling.
Why did he suddenly care so much? He had pushed away everything from his childhood while it had been happening. Even dating Spirit had been more of an experiment than an actual relationship, despite it lasting well over a year. He knew he broke his heart and that was just another emotion tucked away and forgotten, that guilt.
No, Stein had never been overly emotional. That only really happened when things got bad. When he had been up for four days or slept with nightmares. Only then did he cry, or get angry.
And as suddenly as those feelings appeared, they dissipated.
And yet while he could find no tears to shed for Kami, there was an unnatural, gnawing pit of concern growing inside him. Here he was, friendless, kicked out of countless medical schools until he finally graduated, and now suddenly right when he was back on track in some sort of way, the universe nearly took away the only person he almost cared about. And gave him something entirely new to care about.
To experiment on?
He shook his head violently, trying to clear that thought out of his mind. He had to stay out of trouble, had to protect her and take care of her. He couldn't go cutting into a five year old just to see what would happen.
His entire body relaxed when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Distractions. That's what he needed right now. He answered with a sullen “Hello.”
“Stein, have you gotten any sleep at all?” It was his mentor. At the question, Stein checked the time of his computer. 10:17am.
“So that much time has passed, huh?” He mumbled before speaking up. “I thought I told you to call me every hour.”
“Come on, you know how busy this place can get.” the doctor replied. “Anyway,” he continued, his voice a little softer, “he's not awake yet. Vitals are improving, and he's scheduled for a secondary surgery this afternoon.” He paused. “How's the kid...?”
Stein glanced into the bedroom. She was still sound asleep, curled around the hospital blanket she had kept. “Sleeping, right now. Hey, doc?”
“Yeah?”
“How do you even take care of a kid?”
His mentor chuckled. “Just pay attention and ask questions. For right now, let her sleep. And I trust you can handle a sprained wrist?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Hey. You'll be fine. She'll be fine. God willing, so will her father.”
Stein didn't have anything to say to that so he just nodded and hung up.