This one shot is a continuation of my other Fanfiction story, Dirty Little Secrets, however it can be read as a stand alone story.
"I miss you, Paulie!"
Paul resisted a smile as he moved the phone to sit in the crook of his neck, his hands busy stirring a pot of soup on the stove.
"I miss you too," He finally said, earning a giggle from the voice on the other end, his niece, Lizzie.
"Okay bye! Daddy wants to talk to you!"
"Alright put him on. See you soon."
"Hey Paul, how's it going?" Reggie's cheery voice filled his ears and Paul hissed as a splash of boiling soup spit out of the pot and burnt his hand.
"Reggie. Yeah, you know, just being burnt by soup."
Reggie chuckled, "Typical Paul, growling about the little things. We'll probably come up for a visit this weekend if it suits you and Dawn."
Paul paused for a moment, mentally checking off what they had planned for the coming weekend, "Yeah that should be fine."
There was a faint beeping heard in the background but Paul ignored it, he would call whoever it was back when he was finished talking to Reggie.
"Great. Lizzie is looking forward to it. So are we," Reggie responded, almost teasingly. He paused momentarily, as if in thought before continuing, "You know, I really hope the next one doesn't love you more than me, too."
Paul smirked, he heard the exasperation in Reggie's voice but he knew his older brother was only joking, "I can't help it. I'm the cool one, Reg."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. How's Dawn going? Is she back from her work trip yet?"
Paul heard the faint beeping noise return and he rolled his eyes. It could wait, he was sure.
"She got back last night, it went really well. They are going to air it next month, we'll keep you guys posted so you can watch it if you want."
Dawn had been invited to Network Six to host an interview with an upcoming fashion designer. Rouge – the magazine she worked for – had put her forward for the position with the agreement that she write a series of articles about the designer for them exclusively. It was a big opportunity and Paul had a hard time hiding how proud he was of her.
Paul could hear Reggie's amusement without him even needing to talk, "That sounds good. We can tape it too if you like."
"Whatever," Paul replied, though part of him decided it would be a good idea to record it on their TV so Dawn could watch it again if she wanted, not Paul though, he wouldn't watch it again. Nope.
The faint beeping noise was back and Paul let out a frustrated growl, pulling his phone away to look at the screen, it was Misty – she, Dawn, May and Leaf were out for a few drinks to catch up. Paul's eyebrows furrowed, there were two calls from Leaf and one from Misty. It was odd, they didn't usually call him so impatiently – each call was spaced a minute apart.
"Reggie, I'll call you back."
"Okay, say hey to Dawn for us," Reggie responded, unsurprised at the sudden change of tone.
Paul hanged up, pressing accept to Misty's incoming call simultaneously, "Hey Mist."
"Paul, you need to come down to the hospital. Now. Dawn got hit by a car, we just got to Sacred Hearthome. They won't tell us anything because we aren't family and Johanna is coming but it might take some time."
He gripped the phone tightly, already out the door, keys and wallet in hand, "What happened? Is she okay?"
"We weren't there, she didn't show up and when we called her some lady answered her phone from the hospital – a nurse – we are just walking through to the ward now. We don't know if she's okay because they won't even tell us that."
"I'm leaving now."
He hanged up the phone and for the first time in a long time, Paul felt a pit in his stomach. The thought of losing Dawn hit him like a train and he felt sick. What if she wasn't okay? What if she didn't come back to him? What would he do without her? The answers to those questions flooded through his mind and he swallowed the heavy lump in his throat.
"Just get there and see what happened," Paul muttered to himself as he pulled into the hospital carpark, not even bothering to get a ticket.
He walked briskly through the halls, only stopping once to get some directions to the emergency ward. As he approached, he saw Misty, May, Leaf, Gary and Ash standing nearby in a circle. He didn't greet them, but they saw him anyway and he walked straight to the counter in the middle of the room.
"I'm looking for Dawn Berlitz," Paul said firmly and the nurse eyed him briefly before speaking.
"Are you a family member?"
He didn't hesitate, "I'm her husband."
Leaf's eyebrows furrowed, and the rest of the group focused on the nurse to see if she would buy it. They had to admit, it was quick thinking on his part.
The nurse seemed to hesitate before sighing, she's in Room 4 down the hall.
Paul thanked her and gestured for the others to follow him with a nod of his head. They collected Drew on the way, who had just walked in and May caught him up on the situation so far.
They found Room 4 and Paul walked straight in, not worrying about knocking or asking for permission. There was a doctor by the bed and Dawn was sitting up, legs draped over the side of the bed, her right arm in a sling, a few small elastic stitch Band-Aids on the top left of her forehead and a bandage draped around her torso. Her singlet was pulled up to her chest and her jeans looked slightly torn in places.
Paul let out a sigh of relief as he approached. She was alive. The rest they could get through, but she was alive.
"You're okay," he breathed. The doctor turned around and smiled before leaving the room.
Paul couldn't help it, he walked up to her and kissed her before pulling her close to him, trying not to hug her too tightly.
"I am," Dawn replied, "I'm glad you're here."
"You're glad? I'm glad. I love you so much. I love you. I love you," He started repeating it, not caring who heard. The love of his life was okay and he couldn't help but appreciate her.
"I love you too," She interrupted his string of sentences, "It's really not so bad, you know."
"Yeah but no one would tell us anything," May interrupted. The group was standing across that back of the room, less than a metre from the bed. May had a relieved smile on her face as she addressed the two, "Like they wouldn't even confirm if you were alive. We were waiting for the worst. To see you a bit banged up but mostly okay is quite the relief."
"Wait, what? Why wouldn't they tell you anything?" Dawn was confused. "The nurse told me she took care of letting you know."
"Yeah, we called you to see where you were and she told us, but she didn't tell us anything actually helpful," Leaf's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Marry me."
The entire room went silent and stared at Paul, who had spoken the words.
"What?" Dawn responded, a slight laugh in her tone.
"Marry me."
"Paul you don't want to marry me. You can't just ask because this happened."
"Dawn," Paul emphasised the word to get her attention, then gestured his eyes to his hand which was resting lightly on her lap.
Dawn looked down to see a small box, a beautiful ring inside. It was a silver band with a square diamond in the middle. It was almost simple, but it was so beautiful, so perfect, so Dawn.
She stared at it for a moment before she heard Paul repeat the words softly, "Marry me."
Dawn looked up at him, smiling, "Okay."
Paul smiled too and pulled her in again, holding onto her as if it was the last time he ever would.
He slid the ring onto her finger and felt so complete. Everything was alright in the world.
"Awwwww," was heard from the girls in the room and Gary let out a wolf whistle.
"I love you," Paul said.
"I love you," Dawn had tears in her eyes. "I can't wait to celebrate. We're just waiting on my results and then they'll discharge me."
Paul nodded and sat down beside her on the bed, holding her free hand in his, "What are the tests for?"
"They said they're just routine tests to check my injuries and make sure there's no internal bleeding. They think I have broken two ribs."
"What about the driver?"
"It's okay, it wasn't her fault. She passed out behind the wheel and swiped the side of me. The doctor said she was protected by the airbags so I assume she's alright."
"I can't believe Paul proposed," Ash interrupted from the other side of the room.
"I know, apparently our little Paul is growing up," Gary placed a hand over his heart and pretended to tear up.
"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Paul responded but he smirked none the less. His girlfriend had just said yes to be his fiancé – nothing could ruin his good mood.
"Okay, Ms Berlitz," The doctor walked into the room, a little surprised that the room was still so crowded, "I have some test results to deliver to you. Perhaps your guests should wait out in the hall."
Dawn waved her hand, "It's fine, they can stay."
The doctor hesitated but complied, "Alright then. You have two broken ribs and a fractured wrist. There's no internal bleeding, thankfully, and the cuts on your head have not led to a concussion which is great news."
Both Dawn and Paul let out relieved sighs on the bed and he squeezed her hand gently.
The doctor hesitated, "There is one more thing. Your blood results have come back and the results show that you are, in fact, pregnant."
"What?" Dawn's jaw dropped and Paul's expression was similarly surprised.
"You're eight weeks along, which is still a little early but your vitals look great so far which is a positive sign."
"Wait a minute, I can't be pregnant," Dawn said, more to herself than anything. Her hands had instinctively moved to her stomach – even her injured hand.
The doctor gave a wry smile, "Congratulations. You should schedule an Ultrasound appointment with the nurse for one month's time while you are here."
He left the room leaving a stunned silence in his wake.
"I'm…pregnant," Dawn had not had any symptoms remotely similar to pregnancy. She and Paul were not even trying for a baby let alone planning on having kids. They still had their careers and while Dawn had made the occasional comment they had not openly discussed whether or not they would have kids together.
Dawn chanced a look at Paul, who looked uncharacteristically deep in thought. He was still holding her hand and didn't seem to look as devastated as she had imagined he would.
"Paul?" She inquired gently, squeezing his hand to get his attention.
"Hmm?"
"Are you okay?" She prompted again gently.
"I was actually just wondering if our kid is going to like Reggie more than me."
Gary burst out in laughter and soon everyone joined in at the unusually wistful comment.
The others moved in to give the couple congratulatory hugs and kisses on both their engagement and pregnancy, before discharging Dawn from the hospital and heading back to their apartment.
When the two were finally alone, parting with the others from the hospital, Paul had called Johanna to let her know that Dawn was okay and to meet them at their apartment when she got to Hearthome.
"We're going to be parents," Dawn said as Paul nodded.
She seemed to be rambling a little and Paul found himself wondering if the concussion was being brought on late.
"You seem to be taking it well," She added.
"Like I've always said, Dawn. Things with you just…they seem so easy. Like it's meant to work out this way."
Dawn nodded thoughtfully before an appalled look crossed her face and she cried, "Oh no!"
Paul perked up in alarm, thinking something was seriously wrong, "What? What happened?" He inspected her briefly to see if he could see what was causing her distress.
"I just realised that I can't drink wine for another seven months!" She huffed and pouted.
Paul thought she had never looked more beautiful in that moment, "It's okay – we'll get you some grape juice. Plus, I think I can manage to drink enough wine for the two of us while you can't."
Dawn glared but it broke once he pulled her in for a kiss before leading her to their room and laying down in bed next to her. He played with her hair until she fell asleep, and Paul couldn't help but think about how lucky he had been in life. Who knew that Dawn would end up being all he'd ever want?