Lost in their Past

Chapter 31:- He's in good hands

Gary looked a lot better after staying overnight in the hospital wing of the island of Hald Fest. He was tucked in the bed wearing a blue pinstripe pyjama and reading a book called: Into the Unown by Dr. Diana Kets.

Delia smiled as she sat down at the foot of his bed. "Interesting, huh?"

Gary hadn't noticed her presence until she spoke up, he dog-eared the book and smiled. "Yeah, I... I had no idea you were so... academically inclined."

Delia took the book away from him and glanced for a moment, it had been so long since she'd seen one of these. Her graduation thesis was once widely credited but over the time, it had faded away.

"Did you think you were the only one with the brains to be here?" She asked.

Gary smiled sheepishly and nodded, "No offence but look at what I have to complete with!" He spread his arms, "Ash is good but let's be real, he's nothing compared to me, Dawn is a goody two shoes and Serena... well, she's a..." he scratched his head, "I can't say anything about her without sounding like a complete asshole."

"No you can't," she playfully hit his ankle, "glad to see your ego isn't wounded, would you like for me to call on those cheerleaders? What did they used to say?" She hummed playfully while massaging her chin, "Gary, Gary he's a man if he can't do it no one can! Go Gary!" She pumped her hands in the air like a teenager.

By the time she was finished, Gary was the shade of a tomato. "You remember... huh."

"Of course I do," she said with a motherly affection, "I always considered you as my son even when you were enemies with Ash."

It was true, after Bethanys untimely demise, it was Delia Ketchum who had looked after the poor boy. Been to his school graduation along with Samuel Oak, baked him cookies and clicked embarrassing pictures. Samuel Oak was an excellent parental figure but he wasn't a mother, Delia had tried giving Gary the same affection Bethany had once given him. It wasn't enough but it was the best she could do.

"Yeah well, the one who should consider me as a son has shunned me, hasn't he?"

His sharp words prickled her heart.

Delia knew she couldn't make excuses for Charlus being an awful parent but he was also her friend... James's brother. She liked to think if there was a little chance she could make the relation with his son better, she had to take it.

"Charlus doesn't know you're here," she said softly, "he's on a very important mission."

Gary scoffed. "Yeah right," he said vindictively, "however, it doesn't explain his absences from my life for fifteen years." He sighed, leaning against his pillow, "fifteen years, auntie Delia, for fifteen years he didn't..." his voice was breaking but Gary seemed too proud to cry, he took a deep breath and continued, "I was always jealous of Ash, did you know that?"

"Why?"

"We both had only one parent," he shrugged, "but you were always around and mine never was."

"Sweetie," she took his hand in hers, "your father suffered a loss, Bethany was the-"

"I know love of his life," he sighed, if he had a dollar for every time he'd heard the dialogue, he'd be rolling in riches, "but she was my mother, my mother! You lost your husband, auntie, did you abandon Ash?"

Delia chewed her lip bitterly, every word of what Gary had said was correct. Delia wanted to defend Charlus but the evidence was against them, she wanted Gary to see Charlus the way he truly was but Gary wasn't a five year old boy anymore, he was a grown man with his own thoughts and opinions.