Ash and Misty's Love?

Part 6

Written By TwistedReality

Misty's POV

I stared at Ash for hours, alternating between sobbing and silence. He didn't
move no matter how hard I cried, no matter how much I hoped.

I heard a soft creak as the hospital door opened slowly.

It was Brock.

"Misty..." he said reluctantly, "Can I...?"

A part of me wanted to ask for more time with Ash, but when I looked at the
time, I realized that I had been in the room for four hours. Brock was Ash's
friend too, and he needed to see Ash just as much as I did.

"Sure..." I told him, taking one last look at Ash, before leaving the room.

"Just get some sleep, Misty..." he reassured me with a sad smile.

I nodded, realizing what a mess I looked like.

I walked to the hospital bathroom, and saw that my face was wet and sticky
from all the crying that I had done.

I dampened a paper towel and wiped my face with it.

For a moment all I could think about was the image of Ash, laying still on the
ground, and I started to breathe faster. The hand holding the paper towel
shook, but all I could think about was the explosion.

*Don't cry...Don't cry...* I tried to tell myself.

But no matter how much I urged myself to keep calm, tears continued to roll
down my cheeks, and I could hear myself whimper as I choked down sobs.

"Misty.." a voice said gently, breaking my concentration and resolve. Through
a haze of tears, I could see Ash's mother standing in front of me.

I lost all self control as I burst into loud sobs. I could feel comforting
arms wrapping around me, rocking me back and forth.

I lost all awareness of the world as I was slowly swallowed up by a warm and
inviting darkness.

***

"Misty!" a voice cried excitedly in a loud whisper.

I rolled over in my bed and opened my eyes slowly. My head hurt, but I was
still able to register that the voice belonged to Brock.

"mm...?" I moaned, still half asleep, but curious.

"Ash is awake!" Brock proclaimed with a smile.

My eyes widened as I suddenly felt fully awake. "Really?!" I asked a little
louder than I had intended.

Brock nodded, and I instantly shot out of the cot that I had been sleeping on.

"Where's Mrs. Ketchum?" I asked, as I started out the door with Brock. I had
remembered last night when she had comforted me, and I assumed that she had
carried me to the cot when I had fallen asleep.

"She's with Ash." Brock said, sounding a little impatient with me.

I was a little shocked at how calm I was at the news. I expected myself to be
jumping up and down in excitement when Ash woke up.

Instead, the news took time to register in my mind. As I continued to think
about it, I felt a dull shudder of joy that caused a smile to emerge slowly
on my face.

When we reached the wing of the hospital where Ash was kept, I started to
break into a slow jog. I expected Brock to berate me for running in the 
hospital, but he only walked faster with a smile on his face. He barely
acknowledged the fact that I was running.

The door to Ash's room was slightly opened when I went in. Mrs. Ketchum was
sitting next to her son's bed. She was holding Ash's hand, while she
spoke to him softly. Occasionally, Ash would respond in a weak, but happy
voice.

For a moment, I was afraid walk any closer, because I didn't want to disturb
the peaceful scene.

"Misty..." Ash whispered softly and quietly, as he turned his head to me. He
gave me a small smile and I could feel my heart flip.

"Hello..." I squeaked, walking to Ash and his mother.

Mrs. Ketchum gave me a warm smile as she walked next to Brock, who had just
arrived in the room. There was a relieved smile on his face, but he stayed
back, urging me towards Ash.

There was a brief silence as I held Ash's hand, enjoying the feeling as he
simply gripped my hand in return.

"Ash...I'm...." I said, feeling a wave a guilt as I remembered Ash laying
so still on the ground. I couldn't say anything else because of the lump that
had formed in my throat.

We were both quiet for a moment which actually seemed to last forever as
I looked back down on my hand that was holding Ash's hand.

Ash also looked down at my hands before he broke the silence. "Misty.." he
whispered, as he looked up at me.

I stared back at him, hypnotized by his nervous and scared eyes.

"Thanks...for being there for me...in the ambulance." his hand unconsciously
squeezed mine. "I...I.." he started hesitantly. "Thank you..." he finally
managed to say quickly.

I didn't know what to say. All I could do was smile at him. Fortunately, that
seemed to be enough, because Ash was smiling back.

"You really had us worried us back there.." Brock said with a sad smile on his
face. I was a little shocked when he spoke. It felt like I was alone with Ash
in the room, even though Brock and Mrs. Ketchum were watching the whole time.

"Ash always has us worried..." I joked, with a warm smile. Ash gave me a look
of mock annoyance, and stuck out his tongue.

Brock shook his head in exasperation. I think I heard him mutter something
to Mrs. Ketchum, but I didn't catch what he was saying.

Mrs. Ketchum nodded to Brock in agreement, and they both laughed softly.

"What are you two talking about?" I asked suspiciously.

Brock looked a little nervous, as he turned to Mrs. Ketchum for help.

"Brock just commented on how you two flirt with each other..." Mrs. Ketchum
said with a smile on her face.

I was definitely getting Brock back for this. I could see Brock cringing as he
saw my "I'm gonna get you for this" look.

Ash's face looked red as he suddenly covered his face with his blanket.

"You...didn't have to tell them what I said..." Brock said nervously to Mrs.
Ketchum.

"Honesty is the best policy..." she smiled, looking over to her son, who had
burrowed himself under his hospital sheets.

My grin disappeared at this. I couldn't believe I had forgotten all about
Pikachu...Ash and his mother didn't know yet. Brock looked just as
uncomfortable as I did.

Mrs. Ketchum saw our discomfort and looked worried. "What's wrong?" she asked
us gently.

Brock gulped nervously, and turned to me for help. I shook my head back at him
quickly. I couldn't stand the thought of lying again about Pikachu.

Everything seemed to numb. The fact that I was laughing and joking around just
a short while ago made me feel sick.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Ketchum asked, sounding even more distressed.

Ash noticed the sudden change in mood as he pulled his head from under the
blankets.

"We just realized that we forgot to eat yesterday..."

I looked at Brock in confusion. That was the stupidest cover up I had ever
heard. There was no way that Mrs. Ketchum was going to fall for...

"I guess we can have a big lunch later on..." Mrs. Ketchum responded.

"Mom...Can you bring me some fast food...I heard pretty bad stuff about
hospital food.."

I didn't really acknowledge Mrs. Ketchum's response. I was too relieved about
Brock's cover up working.

"Brock...Don't forget to give Pikachu a lot of ketchup..Nurse Joy usually
doesn't have too much at the pokemon center and Pikachu gets mad if I don't
give him any after he stays in one..."

Brock turned away sadly, and I could see his shoulders shaking.

I felt tears in my own eyes, but I hid them, by pretending to cough. I didn't
do a good job, because Ash's eyes widened when he saw me crying.

"Brock...Misty..What's wrong?" he asked, with quiet dread in his voice.

Brock started to sob audibly, and I knew I was going to be the one to tell
Ash the truth.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked louder, with more alarm in his voice.

I glanced over to Mrs. Ketchum who had started to comfort Brock, before I
looked over to Ash.

"Ash...There's something you have to know..." I whispered, sitting on the
chair next to Ash's bed.

TO BE CONTINUED

Yes, I ended it with a cliffhanger...please don't kill me....

Um...anyways...where was I? Happy birthday to this fic! So far, it's been a
year since I submitted the first part to fanfiction.net! ::Celebrates::

Read/Review. Flames will be used by me to cook hamburgers. Yummy!

This part took...a little more than a month to write...Hey! That's not bad for
me!

To all reviewers: THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! Reviewers are the whole reason
that this story is not dead yet! I can see the ending coming in the horizon..
I just hope I don't get writer's block...or whatever...um...bya!