.::Promise::.
A cold, rainy night it was as I limped down the darkened streets of Glacier Town, searching for something, anything that could take help me to escape from this sorrowful madness.
A shiver ran through my body as I placed a trembling hand on the cold, wet brick wall beside me in an attempt to balance myself.
Deciding against my original plan, I moved over to the wall, which, thankfully was shaded by a roof of some sort, built to shelter fruits and vegetables when they were being sold during the daylight hours.
As my back hit the rough texture of the wall, I allowed myself to slide down to the ground, fresh, hot tears beginning to slide down my cheeks; the only warmth currently on my body.
Placing my head in my hands, I allowed the tears to come, cascading rapidly down my cheeks in tiny streams. The already violently trembling of my body was increased by the soft sobs making their way out of me.
"May? Is that you?"
At first, I ignored the soft voice to my left, continuing to express my sorrow as if no one were there.
"May?"
Seconds later, I felt a warm, dry hand lay gently on my shoulder, forcing me to look up.
I was met by a set of dark sapphire eyes, filled with equally as much sorrow as my own.
There was a brief moment of piece before the tears once more came, more rapidly this time.
"It's okay…" I felt myself being pulled into a light embrace, much like he used to give. This, of course, only made my sorrow deepen.
"They took him from me, Brendan," I nearly whispered my sentence, the words contained being choked up by sobs, "They took him…"
"No they didn't," his voice was reassuring, yet had no meaning to me; made no effect, "He'll be fine, I'm sure. You and I both know he won't give up that easily."
"He's in intensive care right now," a feminine voice occurred from my right, causing me to look up. Brendan's embrace disappeared, but his hand remained on my shoulder.
A blue haired girl knelt down beside me, a cell phone in her hand.
"He'll be fine, May, I'm sure," she gave me a reassuring smile as she placed the cell phone in a pocket on her coat.
"C'mon." I looked back to my left to see Brendan rising to his feet, soon after extending a hand down to me, "Let's get back to the hospital and get you dried up."
"You'll feel much better then," the girl added as I allowed Brendan to pull me to my feet.
"Here." I then felt something rest gently on both of my shoulders, covering them both, as well as my entire back. Looking over to my right, I was greeted by a warm smile, as well as the realization that the girl's coat was now wrapped around me.
Forcing a weak smile onto my face, I nearly whispered, "Thank you, Dawn." before allowing the two of them to begin to escort me back to the hospital.
None of my sorrows had diminished; they were just hidden, put away momentarily so that I could put on a fake appearance of reassurance to fool my friends into believing that I was okay now. But, just beneath the surface, a painful sorrow was beginning to eat away at me; the horrid realization that he could possibly be gone. Nothing that Brendan nor Dawn, nor any of my other friends did could take that away, and I would never be whole again until I once more heard his voice, or could at least look into his warm, auburn eyes…
---
As the three of us entered through the sliding transparent doors of the Glacier Town hospital, I immediately heard what seemed like a hundred voices speaking at once.
"May, you're back!"
"Are you okay?"
"Where were you?"
But, rather than hundreds of people, only three approached me; a dark brown haired woman, and two dark haired boys.
"May, why'd ya run off like that?" I looked down at one of the boys, being met by a set of chocolate brown eyes, framed with thick black glasses.
Worry clouded the original essence of them; worry for me.
I then became slightly surprised as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, this being accompanied soon after by a muffled, "I was worried about you…"
As I gently stroked the hair of the boy, attempting to comfort him, the other dark haired boy in the room approached me, a magenta colored blanket in his hands.
"You should lie down for a little while," he told me as I felt Dawn's jacket leave my body, "You'll feel a lot better if you do." He then handed off the blanket to someone behind me, who immediately wrapped it around me, adding some warmth to the icicle that had become my body.
As I was lead slowly to a couch on the opposite side of the lobby, I looked over to the woman, sitting alone near the desk, what looked like tears beginning to line the brims of her eyes.
My own dropped to the ground momentarily before I broke free from the gentle hold of my friends, making my way over to her as I pulled the blanket up further onto my shoulders.
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Ketchum…" I sat down softly beside her, my eyes glued to the ground, "It's all my fault; I shouldn't have--"
"No, it's not your fault, May." I looked up as she spoke, her voice firm, yet trembling, "It's no one's fault."
"Yeah, but--" I silenced myself as Dawn sat down on the other side of me, leaning forward a bit in order to see the woman beside me.
Another woman, clothed in a white nurse's attire, entered the room, clutching a clipboard tightly in her arms.
Instantly, everyone in the room directed their attention to her, all waiting in hopeful silence.
"You're all here for Ash Ketchum right?" The tone she used made me want to wring her neck. It was like she didn't care that a young teenager was fighting for his life in one of their dull, lifeless rooms, or that a bunch of people could possibly lose a close friend or loved one.
Delia, beside me, nodded slightly, slowly rising to her feet, her hands clasped before her chest. Dawn and I remained where we were, looking up at the woman with urgent expressions.
"Follow me." Instantly, all in the room either rose to their feet or hurried over to her, silently forming a small group of worried friends and relative. The woman didn't seem fazed by this in the least, but simply turned and disappeared into a side door near the desk, all of us following along behind her.
"I'm sure everything's going to be fine," I heard Dawn whisper beside me. Up ahead of us, the older boys were walking on either side of Delia, more than likely attempting to reassure her as well.
Feeling a small hand wrap around my own, I looked down, seeing my younger brother looking back up at me with what appeared to be a smile of reassurance. I weakly returned it, tightening my grip on his hand as we walked down the long, empty hall leading to Ash's room.
It felt like an eternity before we finally reached it; the walk into the small hospital room seemed unreal.
As I looked at the young teenager lying in the small, white bed a few steps away, tears once more began to well up in my eyes.
My hand was released as Max slowly ventured over to the bed, stopping near the foot of it.
Pikachu, who was curled up on its trainer's stomach, lifted its head slowly, its eyes washing over us with a sort of empty essence. They seemed to rest on me the longest, but not long enough before they slowly closed again as it rested its head back on Ash's body.
I watched as Delia and Brock, the older dark haired boy, slowly walked over to his bedside, standing opposite from where Dawn, Brendan and I were.
Brendan ventured over to the bed soon after, standing beside Max at the foot of the bed silently.
"C'mon, May," Dawn whispered to me, giving me a slight push forward, "We only get so long in here."
Attempting to swallow the lump forming in my throat, I allowed Dawn to guide me over to the bed, the two of us standing opposite Delia and Brock.
As my eyes fell onto the seemingly lifeless figure before me, tears began lining the brims of my eyes, threatening to fall. He just looked so…different. It was as if I weren't looking at the same person.
IV's were attached to nearly every part of his body, it seemed. Cuts, gashes, and what appeared to be some burn marks littered his body, accompanying the hopelessness in the paleness of his skin. To add to the depressing state of the young trainer, they had him in a skimpy, plain hospital gown, which I knew had to be uncomfortable -- if he was awake…
Seeing him this way only made things worse; it felt like he would never come back; that he would never be with me, or any of the other people in the room ever again.
"…to go now."
I looked up, rather sharply, to see Brendan standing on the other side of me, apparently repeating what he'd just said, "We have to go now. Come on."
I shook my head. "May, seriously. The nurse said we have to leave."
"I'm not leaving him." I nearly whispered this, but everyone in the room heard it well, "Just like I know he wouldn't leave me."
"May--"
"Ah, just let 'er stay. She won't do any harm anyway…" The voice I heard was unfamiliar, but I knew it must have belonged to one of the nurses.
Moments later, the sound of movement and footsteps was heard as everyone left the room, the door being shut quietly soon after, bringing silence back to the small room. The only sound that could be heard was the faint beeping of the monitor beside me, signaling that Ash's heart was still beating.
Tears beginning to run down my cheeks, I sat down in one of the chairs closest to the bed, leaning over the bedside to rest my head on his chest. The rhythmic beating of his heart seemed to calm me a bit, though tears continued to fall from my tightly shut eyes.
"Please, Ash," I whispered, "Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me. I need you. I love you…"
As I continued to cry into his chest, I felt something, more than likely someone's hand, slowly rest on my upper back. Thinking it was merely Dawn or Brendan, or someone along that line, I ignored it, continuing to let out the pain built up inside.
"May…"
Instantly, my eyes shot open, and I raised up sharply, looking over to Ash's face, which, to my disappointment, was still calm and seemingly lifeless. But, before I turned away, I saw his expression darken, to what looked like pain or discomfort. This tore my hopes down once more, only to lift them back up as I watched his eyes slowly open, the warm, auburn orbs held within them locking on me instantly.
A smile of relief instantly spread across my face, and I leaned in quickly, wrapping my arms around him in a light but heartfelt embrace. My instincts told me to squeeze as hard as I could, but I refrained from doing so, simply enjoying the light hug in itself.
"I'm so glad you're okay!"
I felt the hand, which was apparently his, begin to rub my back lightly as I heard him speak into my ear, "Of course I am. I could never leave you here by yourself."
Though his voice was soft and somewhat hoarse, I understood every word, and, after pulling away gave him a warm smile.
"Besides," he returned the smile as I sat up a bit straighter, looking into the sea of auburn that was his eyes, "If I'd have left, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what I've wanted for so long now."
I let my confusion slip through, furrowing my brow slightly as he laughed lightly, reaching up to run a hand through my hair.
"I love you, May."
I felt my eyes beginning to well up once more as joy spread throughout my body, prompting me to lean forward again and envelope him in another heartfelt hug.
"I love you too, Ash," I told him, the tears of joy beginning to run down my face as I felt his arms slowly wrap around me. My face soon became buried in his chest as I continued to express my happiness through tears. "Promise me you'll never leave me, Ash."
All was silent for a moment, the beeping of the monitor beside us being the only sound in the room until he finally answered me.
"I promise."
---
I know nothing was really explained here, like what happened to Ash to begin with, how Dawn is there, where Brendan came from, or anything like that, but this wasn't intended to be anything big to begin with; just something to get boredom off my chest. xD
So…yeah. Hope you like it! Plz R&R!