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Steven made it a point to keep his relationships professional. It was just easier that way. There were exceptions naturally. The obvious one is Wallace given that they were dating and living together. Winona was a long-time friend of the two of them so he was a bit closer to her. As much as he tried to keep his relationship with the twins professional they had other ideas. It was rare for children to become gym leaders, but when it did happen exceptions had to be made. The twins had only been in their position a few months before he had taken over as the champion and only a month longer than Wallace. He had been confused when he met the twins after moving to Mossdeep City. While they were very mature for their age they tried their best to get his attention despite their obvious independence. Their parents didn't seem to be home much, but they did their best to remain in their children's lives. Liza and Tate spent a lot of time at the space center as a result. They had been eager to show him the space center and were always finding new ways to drag him there. Wallace liked to tease him about how fond the twins were of him. He had simply accepted that they were going to hang around him more when their parents were gone.
The night was going the way it did rather frequently when he went out with Wallace. They had gone out to dinner after he returned home before walking around the city until Wallace was ready to go back to his house. He had stopped by the gym on the way home and checked on the twins, much to Wallace's displeasure. This earned him a scolding for working while they were out. Once they were home, however, Steven did his best to make it up. He put on Wallace's favorite movie and they cuddled on the couch. It was relaxing enough Steven supposed. They only made it through the first twenty minutes of the movie before Wallace dragged him into the bedroom, though much to Wallace's displeasure Steven's phone started ringing. He was quick to send it to voicemail with a murmured apology. He turned back to Wallace who had an understanding look in his eyes. He tilted his neck so that he could kiss Wallace again when the phone rang immediately once again. He sighed as Wallace got off of him with a mildly annoyed huff. “It’s Tate.”
“Tell him to figure whatever it is out,” Wallace grumbled halfheartedly.
“It’s late. Something isn’t right.” Steven reasoned before he answered, “Yes, Tate?”
“Steven, can you come over? It’s Liza.”
Steven was out of bed and pulling on a pair of sweatpants that he wasn’t entirely sure were his. Despite Tate’s best efforts, Steven could tell he was scared and upset “Calm down. I will be there in a minute. What’s wrong?” He tried to pry some information from him as he slid on his shirt. He could see Wallace getting dressed out of the corner of his eye and didn’t question it.
“I think she’s sick. She barely ate anything earlier. She said her stomach hurts. She’s in a lot of pain, Steven. Like a lot.”
“Alright. I’m leaving now. Just stay with her until I get there.” Steven waited before he heard Tate hum an agreement before hanging up the phone.
“What’s going on?” Wallace asked from behind him, concern evident in his voice.
“Not really sure. He thinks Liza is sick. I’m going to go check on them.” Steven replied as he tripped over the leg of the sweatpants. Yeah, these were probably Wallace’s.
“I will come with you in case you need help.”
“I appreciate it. He sounded worried.” Steven shoved his keys in his pocket along with his phone before smoothing down his hair as they left the house. The walk was short given that they were right next door, but to Steven, it felt like an eternity. He kept replaying earlier events in his head in an attempt to recall if anything seemed off. He couldn’t think of anything though. Liza had seemed fine earlier though perhaps a bit quiet. Steven was admittedly more than a little worried when he found Tate sitting next to her on the couch in the bed trying to calm her down. He was pretty sure he had never seen either of the twins cry before. He silently knelt in front of Liza and brushed her hair from her face before resting the back of his hand on her head. He turned back to Wallace, who was leaning against the wall, and whispered “She’s burning up.”
“I will get something to help,” Wallace replied.
"The medicine is in the bathroom upstairs," Tate instructed Wallace before he disappeared out of the room.
Steven turned back to Tate and asked “How long has she been like this?”
“Maybe a few hours?”
Tate’s voice was more childlike than Steven had ever heard and he hated it “Okay.” He started soothingly “I’m here now and we will get her feeling better.” He reminded himself that they were still children despite their status as gym leaders. Tate was scared and Liza was sick. They needed their parents right now, not the league champion. Steven was out of his element here. He didn't have siblings or kids of his own. How was he supposed to take care of them? He met Tate's fearful eyes and took a steadying breath before ruffling Tate's hair. He brushed his finger along Liza's cheek to catch a stray tear and said softly “Liza, sweetie, can you open your eyes for me?” He felt his concern growing by the minute, but he couldn’t let it show so that he wouldn’t scare Tate any more than he already was. He smiled at the young girl when she complied.
“It hurts…” She whimpered, her voice barely audible.
“I know.” Steven sympathized with a sad smile “Can you tell me what hurts?” He looked up when Wallace slipped back into the room with a wet washcloth. He didn’t try to stop him when he carefully placed it on her forehead and sat on the floor next to the couch.
“This will help cool you off. So what hurts?” Wallace cooed gently.
“Tummy.”
Steven was surprised by Wallace's tone. He was pretty sure that was a new tone for Wallace. Or was it? He recalled that Wallace had a niece and an older sister. Maybe Wallace was better for this than he was. They had already gathered that much from Tate. He needed more to work with. A fever and stomach ache weren’t enough to go on “Can you describe the pain for me?” He fought a sigh when Liza shook her head and wrapped her arms tighter around her stomach. “That’s okay. Let’s get you comfortable so you can sleep, okay?”
"I brought these down." Wallace offered out the Tylenol and a thermometer. He slid the small device in between Liza’s lips before handing the bottle of medicine to Steven.
“That’s good.” He had only started uncapping the bottle when a low beep sounded in the room. That quick for a reading was not a good sign.
“We need to get her fever down,” Wallace confirmed as he took the thermometer.
“Liza, can you sit up for me?” Steven asked gently. He watched as she started to move, but after watching her struggle for a moment, he wrapped his arm around her and helped her sit “That’s it.” He cooed softly, trying to mimic Wallace's earlier tone “You will feel a little better if we get your fever down.” He offered out the medicine after double-checking that this was children’s Tylenol. He turned to Tate, who had been silently watching, and said “Go get some sleep. We will keep an eye on Liza.”
“But-” He started to protest but Wallace cut him off.
“It will be fine. We aren’t going anywhere.” Wallace said firmly, his face neutral.
“Wallace is right. We will stay here tonight.” Steven encouraged with a knowing look to Wallace. He definitely was going to make this up to him. “You need sleep too.” It wasn’t a lie, but there was definitely an ulterior motive for Tate going back to his room. If this was contagious, it would be better to lower Tate’s exposure as much as possible. One sick kid was going to be hard enough and he wasn’t sure what he would do if the younger twin ended up sick too. He nodded once as Tate got up from the couch and left the room, his light footsteps echoing on the stairs. He turned his attention back to Liza, who looked small and scared as she lay curled up on the couch. He gently scooped her in his arms with a hushed apology as she whimpered in pain and carried her to her room. It wasn't hard to find her room. Both of the twins had their names hanging on their doors in neat calligraphy. He was reminded once more that the gym leaders were just children as Liza pulled a stuffed Ralts closer to her chest as he got her settled. "Get some sleep." He murmured as he carded his fingers through her hair, pausing to untangle a knot "I'm right here." It didn't take long for the young girl to drift off into a restless, fevered sleep.
“Should we call their parents?” Wallace whispered with a yawn from the doorway, watching Steven settle on the bed next to Liza. He plopped down on the floor with his back to the bed.
“Let’s see how she is in the morning. No need to have them come back early if it’s just a bug.” Steven decided.
"Do you think that's all this is?" Wallace asked skeptically.
"I have no clue. I'm the last person to ask about this." He looked over Wallace before adding “You can go get some sleep on the couch. The floor can’t be comfortable.”
“It’s not, but this way I’m around if something happens.” Wallace closed his eyes and leaned his head against Steven’s leg.
“Up to you.” Steven shrugged. He knew he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight, but he didn’t see any point in them both being tired. Steven closed his eyes and let his mind drift off. He felt raw anxiety tearing at him and it was getting harder to keep his mask up. What if he was wrong? Should he take Liza to the hospital now? He hadn't been prepared to take care of children as part of his duties as champion. He was definitely underqualified now. What if something happened to Liza?
"Steven, breathe. I can hear you down here." Wallace didn't open his eyes. He didn't need to. Steven's heavy, rapid breathing alerted him to the oncoming panic attack. He reached his hand up and squeezed Steven's thigh gently. "We will figure this out. Together."
"Sorry, Wallace." Steven placed his hand over Wallace's with a small sigh. He was getting worked up over nothing and he knew it. They stayed like that for about thirty minutes before Liza stirred with a whimper. Steven snapped his eyes open with his attention fully on Liza. She was shaking and her face had lost all the color that was there. She shifted uncomfortably and pressed closer to Steven before shifting again. He went back to running his fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm her back down. Was she having a nightmare? Given her fever, it was certainly possible. She shifted again back to Steven before her blue eyes opened and she rubbed at her eyes with a whimper. She didn't seem to be fully awake so Steven tried to coax her back to sleep. At first, it seemed to work as she stilled next to him, but after a moment she was suddenly vomiting onto the blankets. Steven had not been prepared for that and he moved to the side to avoid the mess, accidentally kicking Wallace in the process. He pulled Liza’s hair out of her face and did his best to comfort her as he tried to figure out what he needed to do next. She didn’t have much in her stomach to begin with and the spell quickly went from vomiting to gaging and dry heaving, occasionally bringing up a mouthful of bile. He barely noticed Wallace vanish from the room as he comforted the crying child. He carefully got her out of the dirty blankets and pulled her into his arms. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Here.” Wallace reappeared in the room with a small trash can and some towels.
“Thank you.” He said gratefully before standing from the bed, Liza in his arms. “Could you take her while I get this?”
“Yeah, sure.” Wallace took Liza as gently as possible and carried her into the other room. He felt her tense as Steven’s arms released her.
Steven made quick work of getting the dirty blankets off the bed and into the laundry. To his relief, the only one that suffered any casualties had been the thicker blanket on top of the bed. He gestured for Wallace to follow him back into the room once he was finished so they could get Liza situated back in bed.
“Sorry…” Liza mumbled into Wallace’s chest.
“It’s not your fault. There is nothing to apologize for.” Wallace said reassuringly as Steven pulled back the blankets and stepped to the side so he could put her down.
Steven knew that Wallace was just as concerned as he was by this point as Liza pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her stomach again, letting her head rest against her knees. “Liza, where does your stomach hurt?” He asked seriously.
“Here.” Liza mumbled as she placed her hand over the middle of her stomach “Really bad.” After a moment she added as she moved her hand to the right “And kinda right here.”
“I’m going to check something, but I need you to lie on your back for me.” Steven forced the uneasy feeling growing in his stomach away as he helped Liza get comfortable. He did his best to remember what he had read once “I’m going to press down and I need you to tell me where it hurts.” He explained. The scared look in Liza’s eyes made his heart ache and he was hesitant to even do this. He glanced over his shoulder to Wallace, who simply nodded before he seemed to have an idea. He watched Wallace pick up the Ralts plushie and hand it to Liza, making sure to tuck it under her arm.
“Hold on to this, okay.”
Steven was once again impressed by Wallace's forethought. He silently thanked Wallace, not for the first time tonight, and pondered his options once more. They could just go to the hospital now and let an actual doctor check Liza. That was probably the safer option as well. Something was nagging in the back of his mind telling him this wasn't just a stomach virus.
“Steven, it hurts like this,” Liza whined, squeezing the Ralts plushie tighter.
“I know. This won’t take long.” He replied sympathetically. If he was right then they would be going to the hospital and it would be a long night. He could only hope he was wrong. He gently pressed where Liza had first pointed out in the middle of her stomach. He watched her carefully as he did so for any sign of discomfort or pain. He frowned when she flinched and moved his hand to the left. Nothing. He moved back to the right and again nothing. He slid his hand down and slowly pressed against her distended abdomen. She flinched with a muffled cry.
“There.” She whimpered.
Steven nodded and pulled his hand away, but when he did Liza cried out in pain. He clenched his teeth together before apologizing and trying to calm her down. “Liza, did it hurt more when I moved my hand?” He didn’t get a verbal response and she pushed his hand away and wrapped her arms around his hips. He felt her nod against his side. Steven knew that getting Liza to talk like this was not going to get them very far. Sure, she was giving them the information they needed to piece together what was wrong, but it was slow and stressing her out more. He shared a look with Wallace. They were thinking the same thing. “Get some sleep for now. We will see how you are feeling in a few hours.”
“Stay here…?” Liza buried her face under the Ralts plushie.
“Of course.” He took his spot on the edge of the bed again and rubbed Liza’s back until she was asleep once more. He was trapped by her pressing as close as she could get to him. He wasn’t sure what to do with Liza now that she was sleeping in his arms.
“Steven, you know what I am going to say.” Wallace rubbed the back of his head with a sigh, doing his best to keep his voice low to avoid disturbing the sleeping child.
“And I agree with you. Worst case scenario is we are wrong and they will give her something to help the pain until she feels better.” Steven nodded “I was willing to chalk it up to a stomach virus, but she’s in too much pain. Let her sleep for a little while. We can take her to the hospital if she doesn’t feel better.”
“We shouldn’t wait too long.” Wallace conceded.
Steven nodded and turned his attention back to the young girl. He watched her for a few minutes before leaning against the headboard, Wallace laying his head on his leg and closing his eyes. A few minutes later he was dozing off.
A few hours later he was pulled from his not-so-much sleep by Wallace's hushed voice as he tried to calm Liza down. He guessed it was another fever-induced nightmare. He reached over and smoothed out her hair. "It's okay now." He whispered, voice rough from sleep. Her head felt warmer than before and she was shaking against him. He turned to Wallace and said "I think we need to take her to the hospital now. She's warmer than before."
"I agree."
"Stay here with Tate. I will take her." Steven was already scooping Liza into his arms before Wallace could say anything.
"Are you sure? I'm worried about you driving. You've barely slept." Wallace climbed to his feet with a grunt. His body was stiff from being on the floor.
"You are no better right now. Besides, you will be able to handle Tate better than I can." Steven admitted with a sigh.
"Just please be safe." Wallace reached out and poked Steven's forehead.
"I will keep you updated." Steven was certain they both could think of things they would rather be doing at four in the morning. Sitting in a hospital waiting room wasn't one of them, but this was necessary. Having to call Tate and Liza’s parents at five to tell them that their daughter was having emergency surgery was another thing that he could have lived without doing. Maybe they could get lucky yet and this was all just a bad stomach virus. He scoffed at his thoughts. That wasn't happening. Liza was quiet on the way to the hospital only letting out the occasional whimper as she clutched her Ralts plush to her chest. Once they actually got to the hospital, however, she clung to Steven as if her life depended on it. He, in turn, realized that he had avoided an awkward conversation with the staff by getting her information from the league database ahead of time. There was still a lot of missing information as he filled out the paperwork, but it was better than he would have been able to do otherwise. All Steven could do was wait as they took her vitals and got her settled into a room to wait for someone to take her for a CT scan. The wait wasn't long though and soon enough a different doctor from before was telling him that Liza needed surgery. He groaned internally and went through the steps of getting consent from her parents. Now he was sitting next to Liza’s hospital bed silently waiting for her to wake up. He was going to have to take care of Liza until her parents could get there, but he had accepted that was going to be how things were. The surgery had gone as well as it could have. Steven kept reminding himself of that. He was beyond exhausted at this point and the copious amount of coffee wasn't fixing that any time soon. He wondered if Wallace was getting any sleep now. His phone had long since gone silent so the answer was probably yes. A weak groan drew his attention back to the bed. "Hey, kiddo." Steven smiled down at the groggy child in the bed "How are you feeling?"
"Sleepy..." Liza rasped "Where's Tate?"
"He's at home with Wallace." Steven studied Liza's expression for any signs of...well anything. He was in way over his head here. She hummed in response before closing her eyes again.
"Are you going to leave?"
Steven's eyes went wide at the timid question. Liza's voice sounded resigned already behind the trembling words as if she was already prepared for the answer. He cleared his throat before answering "No. I'm staying right here."
"Can I have some water?" Liza did her best to push herself up, but the pain in her abdomen was too much. She flopped back down with a whimper.
"Slow down. You just had surgery. Let me help you up." Steven chided as he helped Liza sit. He wanted to make her stay lying down, but the determined look in her eyes made him give in. He propped her up with pillows before handing her a plastic cup with water in it. He chuckled to himself as she gulped the water down. At least she seemed to be feeling somewhat better.
"When can I go home?" Liza asked as she handed the cup back to Steven. "This bed is lumpy."
"In the morning if everything looks good. I also made sure that you get a doctor's note for school. They said you will need to take it easy for a few days." Steven explained, recalling what the doctor had said earlier.
"Wait," Liza started, her voice rising in pitch "what about the gym? Tate and I are a team. He can't battle without me!"
"Relax." Steven put his hand on her shoulder "The gym will be there when you get back. I think it would be best if you took some additional time before returning to the gym though."
"Are you upset with me?" Liza asked, suddenly fascinated by the wall.
"Why would I be?" Steven blinked in surprise. Where had that question come from?
"I let you down. The gym has to close because of me. I got sick."
"You couldn't help it. No one blames you and no one is mad at you." Steven replied evenly. He was beginning to question who appointed children as gym leaders to begin with. This was more responsibility than they needed at their age. "For now, focus on feeling better."
"Thanks for being here."
"No problem."
They would get through this.