Paul and Dawn's mother talked a lot about Dawn together. Paul had told Johanna (Dawn's mom) everything that had happened between them. He really liked her and had wished his mom had been as strong as Dawn's mother. Johanna told him to forgive himself about his parents. It wasn't his fault they were out of his life. When Dawn was finally awake they went to see her together. Paul was excited but scared at the same time. What if she didn't accept his apology?

They went in the room and saw a very pale Dawn lying in bed. She had all sorts of tubes coming out of her and it looked really creepy. She was awake and looked at them when they entered the room. When she saw Paul her eyes turned from tired to alarmed.

"Oh Dawn" her mom exclaimed. "We were so concerned about you, but luckily you are okay," she put her arms around her daughters head and hugged it very tightly.

"I'm going to be okay mom," Dawn said while her voice croaked from not being used for a while.

"I know sweetie, but I really thought for a moment that I lost you," Johanna whispered to her daughter. She felt the tension between Paul and her daughter and decided to get a coffee.

"I am going to get some coffee," she told Dawn, "I will be back in 10 minutes." Dawn nodded and her mother left the room.

Paul sat down on a chair next to the bed. Both Dawn and Paul didn't speak for a while but Paul felt he needed to start the conversation.

"Dawn, I" he started to speak. He wanted to make eye contact but she avoided his gaze by staring at the tube coming out of her hand.

"I am really sorry about what happened," he told her really quickly. Finally their eyes met and he saw a shocked look in her eyes. "May told me what happened between you and Conway. I should've known something was up, you didn't seem happy about dating him. Can you forgive me for doubting you?" his voice sounded full of remorse.

"I, I don't know. I have no clue what happened exactly last week. Well, I do have a clue but I don't know how to place everything," Dawn replied.

Their conversation was interrupted when not Johanna but Conway entered the room.

"What are you doing here?" Paul asked him rudely.

"Visiting my girlfriend of course," he answered arrogantly.

"I see we have reached an impasse," Paul replied, "because Dawn is my girlfriend." Conway looked surprised and looked at Dawn.

"Wha-, you told him about your feelings?" he asked her. Paul answered this question "she did and we are very happy together now. So if you'll come near her again I will smash your head," he threatened. Conway looked warily at Dawn and made his way out of the room and the hospital.

"You didn't have to do that," Dawn told Paul.

"Oh I know, but I wanted to. Now you don't have to worry about that creep anymore and you can do whatever you want. For his sake, lets pretend we are boyfriend and girlfriend," he said.

"You don't mind?" she asked him in return.

"No, why would I mind? I'd rather have it this way than to see him lurking at you." Secretly he would die of envy if Dawn really started to like that creepy dude. But he couldn't tell her he loved her, not now anyway. He wasn't ready yet.

Dawn wanted to move a little in her bed but winced when it hurt.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked worriedly after seeing her wince.

"I'm okay, as okay as I could be anyway" she tried to reassure him.

"Are you in much pain?" he asked her.

"I am when I move. As long as I don't move I'm fine," she replied.

A few days went by and Dawn slowly got her health back. Paul visited her as often as he could and brought her all the homework so she could keep up with school. Dawn's mother had left because she had to get back to work. Finally the day arrived on which she was allowed to leave the hospital and go back to the dorms again. She could walk again, laugh again without having pain and eat everything she wanted. Cilan wanted to throw her a welcome home party with everyone there. He and Iris left to go grocery shopping because he wanted to make Dawn's favourite dishes.

Leaf, Gary and Misty wanted to make a welcome home banner for Dawn. They found an old blanket in the closet and some paint. Gary painted the words: welcome home on the banner. The girls painted all sorts of figures on the cotton like hearts, flowers and kisses. Paul, Drew and Ash were hanging up balloons on the ceiling. May was arranging flowers in vases and making sure everyone else did their job. Iris and Cilan had already arrived home and started cooking the most delicious things for the party.

Paul had told Dawn to call him whenever she was ready to leave the hospital and he would go and pick her up with a car he borrowed from a fellow student. His phone went off and the whole room was quiet. Nobody wanted to betray the surprise for Dawn when she would arrive home finally. Paul talked to Dawn on the phone and when the call finished he told his friends she was ready to come home. Not everything was ready yet, but Paul trusted everyone to finish his or her job as quickly as possible. He grabbed the car keys and drove in the direction of the hospital. He had an idea; he needed to buy her something. Something to tell her he was glad she was okay. Maybe a box of chocolate was a good idea. No, she did get enough of that from everybody else. And there were already enough flowers in the apartment so that wasn't happening. A stuffed animal would be very cliché, but he knew Dawn loved them and Paul wanted to make her happy.

He still didn't know why he cared so much about her. What was so special about this girl that turned his world upside down. He got so caught up in his thinking about Dawn he noticed he had already parked the car. Dawn was healthy again, but he didn't want to let her walk to the apartment. She had walked in the hospital but not outside and he didn't want to take the risk of tiring her too much. He walked inside the hospital and went into the gift shop. One bear caught his attention because one ear was hanging a little lopsided. It didn't look as perfect as the other bears. He bought it and quickly went to Dawn's room.

She was sitting on her bed and looked very impatient. It had been long enough since she saw all of her friends at the same time. It was very boring in the hospital because everyone is sick. Of course, a hospital is for sick people but the aura of the place did feel like everyone was going to die. Paul saw the light of excitement brighten her eyes when they met his. She was ready to go and all he had to do is wink at her. She jumped of the bed and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for picking me up! I am so ready to get out of here. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight!" she exclaimed excitedly.