A Confession Gone Awry (Season Two Premiere)
So to sum up all the events of chapter 13, May steals Kelly's limousine and takes it along with its driver and Kelly's chauffer Gordon to Pallet Town to perform the hit on Ash Ketchum. The reason for the planned hit was because May watched television to see the speech from Raoul Contesta which broke down the reasoning behind making the switch to make Dawn Berlitz the new Grand Festival champion.
Speaking of which, Zoey and Dawn found out from Zoey's parents that the Grand Festival decision was reversed. When Dawn got a call from their offices, she left the room and took it, allowing Zoey and her parents to talk about the family reunion (which at this point, Zoey has not told Dawn about) and the moment that Zoey and Dawn had in the shower, which Zoey tearfully regrets ever happening.
Later, Dawn takes a moment to reflect on the fact that she is the legitimate Grand Festival champion, but she gets the wind taken from underneath her sails when her mother Johanna reminds her that her ex-boyfriend Kenny gets out of jail in a few hours. The news is enough to cause Dawn to fear for her life and she wails at the mere thought of how Kenny would exact his revenge on her. After a talk with Zoey's folks (see 'What's Done is Done') Dawn and Zoey are banned from sleeping in the same bed for two nights. Dawn then meets the first of Adman's family in his parents.
Kenny is later escorted out of jail. He is not necessarily a free man as of yet, but according to the agreement of the courts, he must undergo rehab, attend regular meetings with a parole officer, pass random drug tests, and live in a halfway house for three months. Kenny doesn't plan on following orders, though, as he is calling on the services of a group called Avenue Five.
Max is able to corner Kelly and let her know that he knows of her affair with May, but gets into a bind, as Kelly finds out that Max is secretly dating Misty Waterflower. To make sure that that relationship remains secret, Max agrees to keep Kelly and May's relationship quiet, although now Kelly must contend with a very curious Max Maple, who along with Drew is tagging along with Kelly to see Kelly's mother Sonya, who is dealing with an unspecified illness.
While at a group dinner date with friends and family, Ash and Jessie finish their meal with a large dessert brought to their table. In actuality, the dessert is Jessie's old partner in crime Meowth, who presented Jessie with a box that has a ring inside. Ash planned the entire date to propose to Jessie, who said 'yes'. When Ash goes to his mom's car, he has a chance to reflect on everything and knows that everything in his life is looking up, among many things, he's getting married and that Dawn is now the Grand Festival champion…until May makes the hit.
May uses her baseball bat to strike Ash in the back of his head, and once more hits him in the face while he is laying flat on the ground. After the hit, she leaves and heads back to the limo. Jessie sees him and is inconsolable. The guys help to resuscitate him as an ambulance arrives onto the scene.
And as Kelly, Drew and Max travel to Kelly's hometown of Lilycove City, they come across Solidad, and for some reason, this makes Kelly really uncomfortable.
NOTE: This is the arc that contains the family reunion. In order to understand parts of that, I recommend that you read a short two part first person narrative called Family Trees, which breaks down the respective family trees of both sides of Zoey's family; the Neale's and the Baker's.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 14- Vacation Part 7: I'm a Believer)
"All right," a female voice affirms in the summer night sky in the absence of the street lights that would often brighten the evening, "We're almost here, guys!"
"Great," another girl concurs. "I can't wait for Tyson to see this beauty," and then she holds the trophy high up in the air signifying her as the girl's volleyball champion in her age grouping of 12-14. The trophy is about one and a half feet tall and it portrays a unisex athlete in a striking stance about to hit a volleyball beyond the other end of a net.
"It really is a nice trophy," a third voice echoes. "You certainly do know how to rack them up, Mike. I mean, how many does this make now? Two hundred? Two-fifty?"
"More like three hundred and sixty…three," the finely tuned athlete recollects. "I'm pretty sure that's how many trophies I now have, Corey."
"Wow," Corey remarks, "Smarts and athleticism all rolled into one." Turning to where he is sure his older sister is walking, Corey informs her, "I guess you know what this means, Rocky. No guy is gonna want a thing to do with our little Michelle." Rocky can only chuckle in response, as she has shared that same sentiment for quite a while. "An intelligent girl that can also kick your ass if you get out of line? I don't know how many guys are willing to take that bait."
A frustrated Mikey has heard enough of her siblings both taking shots at her, and fires back, saying "Hey, Corey? Rocky? How about both of you have nice hot cups of shut the hell up, okay? I don't worry about your love lives, so don't worry about mine, capiche?"
In an attempt to regain order in their three-way conversation, Rocky gives Mikey a strong pat on her right shoulder, explaining "Cool down, sis. Corey and I are just messing with you, you know? You'll find that right guy…" and pausing her speech for a bit to consider their family's situation, Rocky addendums the comment with, "or girl for you someday, and when you do, you'll be happy knowing that you'll have the support of mom, dad, Zoey, K.C., Corey and myself. We know that no matter what, who you choose to love will be your business, and neither of us will interfere in your business. Okay?"
Fortunate that it is dark and that Rocky cannot see Mikey shake her head in complete dismay at her older sister's outright lie to her face, Mikey begins to slowly but surely lose more respect for her older sister and younger brother's alliance to break up Zoey and Dawn. No matter what, Mikey will love her siblings, but they are making it very difficult to be respected as they secretly plot the demise of a loving couple for whatever reasons involved.
Without question, she knew of the feelings that her twin brother had for Dawn, but Rocky's reasoning behind wanting the two to end up in Splitsville remains mostly unknown. Innuendos about Dawn's past are all she has thrown out as reasoning behind her disdain for Zoey's girlfriend, but Mikey thought that both of them would be a lot more mature about this entire situation then they are being.
'I can't believe,' Mikey ponders, 'that they would just lie to my face about something like this. Oh yeah,' she sarcastically thinks, 'they won't interfere in my relationships, but apparently, Zoey is fair game. How goddamn hypocritical can you get?' Few other words are shared between the three as they continue on their way.
It doesn't take that long for Rocky, Corey and Mikey Neale to make it back to the summer house after getting text messages from their brother and their parents telling them that much of Adman's family has already arrived onto the property grounds for the upcoming festivities. Family reunions between the Neale family and the Baker family are a fun, and friendly atmosphere that brings together people of different faiths, nationalities and various other situations to celebrate for the summer.
The three are now approaching the door to the house to enter in and partake in some light fare before they go to bed for the evening. Using her key with her younger siblings right behind her, Rocky opens the door to the house to find that there is much commotion occurring in just about every room from the large kitchen to the game and entertainment rooms, lower and upper dens along with the family room.
Many of the Neale's family members lined the house and looking around several of the rooms in an attempt to find her parents, Rocky estimated that about 100 members of her dad's family had already arrived onto the property, not counting the ones that would come later. Anyone that is not used to the fervent activity on an annual basis would be overwhelmed, but not the Neale siblings, as Rocky finally comes across her mother, who is entertaining some of Adman's relatives on the backyard porch which gives a great view of the boardwalk and activities that occur 24 hours a day throughout the Seafoam islands.
"Mom," Rocky begins, "We're here. Hi, Aunt Anita. It seems like every time I see you, the baby is getting more eager to get out of your belly. What is it, now? Five months?"
"It'll be month number five next week, Rebecca," Anita replies back to her niece using her given name. "Do you have two new names for us?"
"Actually, I do." Rocky then gives Anita the names Connor Blake and Wendy Priscilla. Anita thanks her afterwards, and says that the choices are unique and creative.
As Jo-Jo temporarily turns away from her conversation with Adman's sister and Rocky's Aunt Anita, she says hi to Rocky and her other kids, telling them to just have fun for the rest of the night with their relatives and she'll go over the plans for the main festivities on Saturday.
"Okay, mom," Rocky smiles back to Jo-Jo, as she turns around to see that her younger siblings have already gone to do whatever it is they want to do with the remaining Thursday evening. Rocky didn't think much about it, as she admittedly had another issue to tend to in finding Dawn Berlitz.
"So that's when my mom says to me 'It's when you say no need to worry that I worry the most,'" to which her peers in attendance give off a resounding response of laughter. For the past several hours since Dawn first met Zoey's grandparents and her numerous Aunts, Uncles and cousins, Dawn has been nothing short of the life of the party, immediately connecting with just about every of age member of the Neale family in attendance.
Even though she is meeting most of these people for the first time, with their welcoming attitudes and hospitality, she feels like she has met up with childhood friends from days gone by. Time seemed to fly by while all of the cousins in their mid to late teens congregated inside the den of the summer house.
Long after the punch line to the joke Dawn made has been told, the Ty twins can't help but continue to laugh. "Oh! Oh, Dawn," Tyler remarks, "That so reminds me of our mom, right, Tyson?"
"Oh, no doubt," adds Tyler's twin brother. "It kind of reminds me of a few family reunions ago when we had the sack race, remember? The finals came down to me and Mikey, and right before Uncle Roger is about to blow the whistle to start the race, my mom tells me to be careful. I tell her 'yes ma'am,' while rolling my eyes wanting to tell her that it's just a sack race for Pete's sake, but what I didn't notice is that the race had already begun, and that Mikey had gotten a head start. It was so big that there was just no way that I could catch up, and she won."
"Funny, Tyson," a voice from behind him speaks, "I seem to remember that sack race much differently than you do."
Tyson turns around to find his younger cousin Mikey holding the volleyball trophy that she won earlier that day. Tyson and Tyler both get up and give Mikey a hug wanting to know how she's doing, to which Mikey says "I'm fine. Hey Tyson. Take a gander at this if you think that the sack race from three years back was just a fluke." Mikey holds up the volleyball trophy, which warrants whistles of approval from Zoey and Tyler, but a roll of the eyes from Tyson.
"What?" Mikey innocently asks.
"Where did you steal that?" Tyson sarcastically inquires.
"Steal it? Ha! Don't make me laugh! There's plenty more where this baby came from."
"Maybe," Tyson tells Mikey eye to eye, "but until you win the Baker-Neale family reunion volleyball championship, that little thing you call is trophy is nothing more than a mere toy."
"Don't sing it, bring it, Tyson!"
"All right. All right," Zoey raises her voice and stands in a moderator's position in an effort to stop her sister and cousin from tearing each other's heads off. "Settle down, you two. The best athlete will win on Saturday," but showing that she has a clear and obvious bias, she adds, with a smile, "and it will be Mikey."
The crowd around them laughs up yet another storm, while a frustrated Tyson says, "Aw! You're just saying that 'cause she's your sister."
"Maybe," Zoey admits as she pulls Dawn up from the couch they've been sitting on for the past four hours, "but Mikey has won hundreds of trophies over the years, so if that one is a fluke, than the other three hundred some that she has home also have to be flukes. Come on, Dawn. Let's get away from these…crowds for a little bit."
"Private time with your new girlfriend, eh Zoey?" asks Gaby.
"That's right. You got a problem with that?"
"No ma'am. See you two later," Gaby bids as both Zoey and Dawn make their way up to the master bedroom. After Dawn met up with Zoey's grandparents earlier, she thought that seeing as how well that meeting went, it would be best to just come clean about their relationship with everyone, and it turns out that her prediction was on the spot, as just about everyone that they told either heard about or saw the Grand Festival and concluded that that was the reason why Dawn was here, or they already knew about Zoey being gay. The reason why it's not everyone is because of the differences that Zoey and her cousin Kristen still harbor for each other. Although Kristen made it clear that she's not homophobic, she doesn't necessarily condone the behavior.
The mostly friendly atmosphere that the Neale family provided made Dawn forget about all of the troubles in their lives as the pair made their way up to the bedrooms. While the entire house is happy to be together for the celebration, one person in particular has just had the wind taken out of her sails. Rocky, who watched her sister and girlfriend from the other end of the room heard their entire conversation and was very disappointed to see the two of them being so open with the rest of the family. To say the least, it threw quite a monkey wrench into her plans, as she had hoped that either Dawn or her sister would be too insecure to reveal the truth about their relationship, but it turns out that this was not the case.
'I thought I could draw the ire of some of my cousins by making them think that you didn't trust them with your lesbianism, Zoey,' Rocky thinks, 'but it seems like you and that bitch are just gonna throw caution to the wind with dad's family.' Thinking about their present situation even more, she gives off a smile just like the one the Grinch gave off right before his quest to steal Christmas. 'Well, you might have dodged a bullet this time, girls, but you won't be as fortunate when mom's side of the family comes. That's when the real fun will begin.'
"Hey Rocky."
Rocky turns around and aggressively asks the person what they want without looking to see who it is. When she is completely turned around, she sees that it is her brother Corey. After apologizing, Corey gives Rocky a glass of punch, which she immediately accepts. Corey than silently instructs his sister to follow him to the bathroom; the only place he felt that they could talk in privacy.
Once the door to the first floor bathroom is closed, Corey tells Rocky, "There might be a bit of a dent in our plans, Rock. It seems that Zoey and Dawn have already told most of the family that they're a couple. So how else can we break them up? This is your plan, after all."
Rocky chuckles for a moment before patting Corey on the top of his head and saying, "Patience, youngling. First of all, Dawn and Zoey haven't told all of the family that they're a couple. They've only told half of the family. Remember that the other half hasn't come to the house yet, and them being as accepting as dad's side is more than a bit of a stretch, because…"
"Say no more," Corey interrupts, realizing that the Baker's have not yet arrived. "I doubt they'll be able to stand the heat of mom's side of the family." Trying to hold together his excitement, he compliments his sister's planning by saying, "Rocky Neale, you are a genius!"
After that comment, Rocky, in a very camp style, flings the hair on her side to behind her back, and tells her brother "Well, I do have my moments. Now let's go back out there and party hearty, 'eh?"
Corey opens the door to the bathroom and tells Rocky "After you," to which Rocky exits the restroom with Corey closely in tow. What the kin in cahoots does not know is that as they make their exit out of the bathroom, Mikey from another part of the room is watching them, and is rightfully assuming that they are plotting her favorite couple's demise. Deeply sighing, she attracts the attention of her brother K.C. who asks what's wrong.
Not wanting to open up an even bigger kettle of fish, Mikey decides against telling K.C. about Corey and Rocky's plan, and instead opens up to him about another thing that has troubled her since the day began.
Walking to the door of Zoey's bedroom, Dawn and Zoey look to both sides and find that no one is nearby.
Feeling a great sense of accomplishment, Dawn tells her girlfriend "We're clear," as she leans into Zoey and gives her a deep, long and somewhat wet kiss on the lips.
Zoey reacts to the action by hugging Dawn's lower back and slowly pulling back from the kiss, adding to Dawn's quip, "And we're ready for takeoff," as she gives Dawn a strong kiss of her own.
After about a minute of back and forth tonsil hockey, Dawn releases her kiss on Zoey and admits "No offense, but I'm glad that we were able to get away from your family, even if it is for a little while. I never mind kissing you, but…when I'm around your folks, I have to tighten my hold on the reins so that I don't go too overboard in my affection."
"Hey, none taken," Zoey agrees. "And I also agree with you. What we do should be between us, and nobody else. That's what makes it so special. And…the fact that we can't spend the night together in bed makes me cherish this alone time that much more. I know eventually everyone downstairs will be asking about us and where we are."
"Maybe," Dawn responds, "but with the exception of your cousin Kristen, I'm pleasantly surprised at how supportive everyone in the family has been, you know? I mean, Tyler and Tyson are a riot, and I feel like I can talk to Chloe, Gaby and Dru about anything like they were my own cousins." Upon hearing the first statement, Zoey cringes for a bit, realizing that Dawn has not met everyone in her family that there is to meet.
Not wanting to push any more issues, especially at the high that Dawn is at currently, Zoey simply agrees with Dawn and gives her a lighter kiss than the ones they've had in just the past three minutes.
In the midst of their activity, the girlfriends do not notice that Mikey has climbed up the steps and has seen their final kiss. Mikey nervously says hello to the tandem, which causes the two of them to turn from their kiss to Mikey in a state of half shock.
"So, how are you two?" Mikey says in an effort to break the ice.
"We're fine," says the pair in unison.
"So you two are spending time alone that you won't get to spend together tonight, huh?"
"Mike, how did you know that?" Zoey asks in bewilderment.
"After a talk that I had with…I should just be honest with you both," Mikey drones. "When I found out that you two were sleeping together, it was around the time that I also knew about your escapade in the shower. I put two and two together, and that's why I joked about you two having some quality time in your bed. I thought you were…you know."
"Yeah," Zoey says understanding every word so far.
"After…I left your room," Mikey continues, "I thought about it and let it sink in that you both might be lying to me to save face."
"But we weren't," Dawn interrupts to make her point clear. "Neither of us have had sex yet, and even though it's on our minds, we know better now, but…are you trying to say—are you saying that you're the one who ratted us out, Mikey?"
Mikey says nothing, instead opting to just nod her head. "I—I just felt that I was doing the right thing. Both of you are smart, mature young women, but there's the key word; both of you are quite young. I just wanted to make sure that neither of you were jumping the gun on this one. Zoey, you know what mom and dad have told us over the years."
"I screwed up, Mikey!" Zoey nearly screams to her sister. "Is that what you wanted to hear from me, because that's exactly what happened Tuesday night! I made a mistake, and now we're paying for it, and that's the way it should be. I don't care that you ratted us out. Hell, maybe we needed it, but that'll never happen again. I promise. You shouldn't have to worry about us, Mike, because Dawn and I can take care of ourselves." Zoey than calms herself for a moment and addresses Mikey, saying, "But—come here. Come here, Mike."
Mikey looks at Zoey, who looks like she's about to give someone a hug. Mikey says to herself that everything appears to be fine, and then walks to the welcoming arms of her older sister as she is pulled into a big embrace. After a few seconds, Dawn joins in, turning this sisterly hug into a group hug. While in the hug, Zoey thanks Mikey and tells her that she appreciates the concern, but while Mikey is embracing both Zoey and Dawn, she signals to Dawn with her fist facing down just above Mikey's head. Dawn flashes her own fist, and Zoey speaks to Mikey once more.
"There's one more thing I gotta tell you, Mike," Zoey coos to her sister, but all of a sudden, she speaks the word 'Now!' out loud, which signals Dawn to join her girlfriend in giving Mikey a double noogie. Mikey tries to fight out of it, but Zoey continues her prodding by telling Mikey to 'Never let it happen again,' before both of them finally halt their assault on Mikey's scalp.
Zoey and Dawn laugh it up for a bit before Zoey says to Mikey, "Nah, I'm just kidding. Thanks again for your concern."
"We're cool?" Mikey asks the pair.
"Yeah," Dawn answers. "We're cool."
"Okay then," Mikey says, relieved that Zoey and Dawn are not mad at her for telling Jo-Jo and Adman about their affairs. "If I don't see you two anymore tonight, then good night to both of you, and dream about each other if you can't be next to each other."
"Don't worry, Mike," Zoey assures. "Besides, it's only for two days, and by Saturday night, we'll be back in each other's arms."
"Sweet," Mikey commends, as she heads back downstairs to join the rest of the party.
Dawn turns to Zoey and has to tell her "You know I would have been willing to bet the farm that it was K.C. who told your parents about us. But she did it, even when she supports us as much as she does. That takes some class. And you know something else? I'm not even mad that she did it, because she did it with such courage and…Mikey is really looking out for us, isn't she?"
Zoey gives Dawn a 'thumbs up,' and simply tells her "That's my sister. Now come on into my room. I need to check my e-mail, and you can check yours, too."
As Zoey opens the door to her room, Dawn says "Good deal," and walks behind her girlfriend to the laptop placed at the center of her work desk.
Reluctant to ride in the same vehicle as the brown-haired beauty, Kelly didn't really show her disdain towards knowing that Drew picked up Solidad about an hour or so ago. Instead, she along with Max and Solidad all went to sleep in Drew's car as he meandered through the winding roads that lead to Kelly's hometown. While resting, Kelly pondered more than just a few errors in Solidad's story about wanting to go to Lilycove city for a pokemon contest. The fact is that there is not a single contest scheduled for the next three weeks in Lilycove, so unless Solidad moves at a snail's pace to get from contest to contest, her story has more than a few holes.
"All right, everyone," Drew reverberates throughout the vehicle, "We're here. This is Lilycove General." Kelly doesn't have much time to think about Solidad's reasoning for being with her, as she has to tend to her ill mother. As Max rubs the sleep out of his eyes, he looks over to Kelly, who has already unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door to get out of the car as Drew has parked his Prius into the hospital parking garage. Kelly seems to be in quite a hurry in Max's eyes, and if her mother is really sick, then it does make more than just a bit of sense why Kelly would be in a hurry. Then again, Kelly did look quite uncomfortable around Solidad during their long car ride, so he figures that that might play a factor in her wanting to get out as quickly as she can.
Still determined to free himself despite the possibility of being blackmailed, Max unbuckles himself from the car in an attempt to follow Kelly closer than even her own shadow. While he is most certainly in a bind as he is unable to out Kelly and May to his family, friends and Drew due to Kelly learning about his secret relationship with Misty, that doesn't mean that he still can't gather information about Kelly's behavior to share with Misty, which is what he is doing as he sees Kelly run to the receptionist with a full stride. Behind Kelly and Max are both Drew and Solidad, who compared to their riding companions, are calmly making their way to the help desk, even though their hearts and minds are completely focused on Kelly's mom.
"You know, Drew," Solidad admits, "I can understand Kelly wanting to see her mom as soon as she can, but what's up with Max?"
Drew, who has had his suspicions about Max's behavior over the years answers, "Damned if I know, Solidad. I've suspected something odd about Max over the past couple of years, but I can't quite pinpoint it. Something's just off with him, like he has mist on the brain, or what have you."
While the two old friends talk about everything under the sun as if they were taking a spring stroll through the park, a determined Kelly makes her way to her final destination in the forms of the receptionist's desk. Once she makes it there, it is clear to the female in her forties tending to the desk that the person that ran up to her desk needs some assistance.
As Kelly stops at the help desk, she takes about half of a minute to catch her breath before the receptionist asks what she needs.
Not quite recovered from her windedness, Kelly is nevertheless able to explain to the receptionist "I need…to see…Sonya…Mordetsky. Please." Pulling out her ID and showing it to the woman, she further explains, "I'm Kelly Mordetsky. I'm her daughter."
Looking at the ID, the receptionist has seen enough to check on the name. Looking through a few pages on the hospital's system, she finds Kelly's mother, but there is somewhat of a catch.
"Okay, Kelly?" the receptionists begins to get the girl's attention, "It seems that your mother is in this database and was in Room 423—stay here, please," she interjects as Kelly tries to make her way towards the elevators. "Like I was saying, she was in Room 423, however, she checked out not that long ago with a man about her age who said that he would take her home. I believe his name was…Micah Mordetsky. Are you related to him?"
Kelly takes in the information given to her like a sponge. Knowing that Kelly was quite a way's away, Sonya most likely thought of the other people that could help her out, so in Kelly's mind, what likely happened is that Sonya probably called Kelly's father and Sonya's estranged husband Micah to help her because at the time, he was closer to her than Kelly.
Thanking the receptionist, Kelly walks back to the waiting room where Drew, Solidad and Max are patiently biding their time. Looking to Kelly when she enters the room, they listen for whatever news Kelly has to give them.
"Okay," Kelly opens, "My father apparently checked my mother out of the hospital before we got here and he's taking her home. My house isn't that far from the hospital, so I can walk there, Drew. Thanks for taking me."
Drew gets up from his seat and says "No problem," to Kelly, giving her a hug and adding, "I'm just glad to hear that your mom is doing okay. I'm gonna head back to Petalburg and May so we can determine where we're gonna go next on our journey. Take care, now."
"Alright, Drew," Kelly answers. "You take care of yourself, too. You and May both." As he watches this scene happen from the sidelines, Max is once again flabbergasted at Kelly's acting, as she is really making Drew look like a fool with her innuendos and double entendres. Max sighs heavily as he too goes up to Kelly and says good-bye, but also tells her in her ear, "We're not done, Kelly. Drew will know what you and May are doing, consequences and my relationship be damned."
Max turns away from Kelly and asks Drew if he is ready to go. After giving Solidad a hug, he tells Max that he's ready, and after Max bids Solidad farewell, Drew and Max head to the garage and Drew's car to head back to the Maple home leaving Kelly and Solidad in the waiting room.
Growing perturbed at her presence, Kelly inconspicuously asks Solidad, "Don't you have somewhere to go, Solie?"
Not answering Kelly, Solidad leans over and kisses Kelly on the lips while they are the only two people left in the waiting room.
Fighting her way out of the osculation, Kelly pushes Solidad way and aims to slap her for the kiss, but stops herself, and instead asks, "What the fuck, Solie?"
"I'm sorry," Solidad apologizes. "I—I couldn't hold it in for much longer while Drew and Max were here. You've helped me and several other girls out so much over the years, and you care very much about the people around you. I love that about you, Kelly. I love…"
Kelly walks directly in front of Solidad, so that there is very little in the form of space between the two. "Don't you dare say it, Solidad! I don't want to hear those words come out of your damn mouth ever again! You know that my heart belongs to May. You knew that eight years ago, and you know that now! I love her enough that I'm willing to put my love for her to the side so she doesn't have to be abandoned by her family because of her feelings for me."
Taking a step back, Kelly continues, "You see, Solie, May has always and will always have a leg up on you because the feelings that we share for each other are mutual. Between us, Solidad, there was absolutely nothing but sex, and that's all I've felt. We had a sexual relationship as you are a member of the Dyke Clubs. You share a special place in my heart because you were my first, but…if I knew then what I know now, I would have never gotten involved with you. I hate to be cruel, but…I don't love you, Solidad, and we will never, ever, ever be a couple. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go home. I'll see you…whenever." Kelly pushes Solidad to her side and makes her way towards the hospital exit.
Turning around Kelly informs Solidad, "Oh, by the way, I know that there isn't a contest scheduled in this city for weeks, so that can't be the reason why you're here. So spill it; why are you here in Lilycove?"
Solidad gives Kelly and infectious smile and explains, "To see you. What else?"
Kelly, almost in the vein of a spoiled child, tells Solidad, "Well, I don't want to see you, so I suppose you don't need to be in Lilycove anymore. Bye," is the last word Kelly says to Solidad before she finally leaves the hospital to walk home.
Solidad laughs for a bit, before she declares, "I won't give up on you yet, Kelly. I'll find out what makes you crack, and get to the bottom of your anger, as well. May might have your heart, Kelly, but pretty soon, I'll have your mind and soul." Opening her purse, Solidad takes out her cellular phone, dials a few numbers and listens for a couple of rings.
The voice on the other line then speaks, "Hoenn Region Cab Company. How may I help you?"
Using the intercom system in the limousine, chauffer Gordon Colton calls the passenger in the back of the limo. "Excuse me, Miss Maple?"
After a couple of seconds, May uses her intercom and calls back to Gordon, asking him "Yeah, what's up?"
"We've just gone past the Petalburg City limits, and I'm wondering were you would like me to drop you off."
"You're saying we've just past the city limits, Gordon?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Several seconds pass before May tells Gordon to "Just drop me off at the next stoplight, and I should be alright. Thanks again for taking me to Pallet Town."
Gordon says that it's no problem, and twenty seconds later, the limo hits a stoplight. May quickly gathers her materials, including her baseball bat and her black clothing, and she exits the limo, leaving the stolen key to the car with Gordon before she makes the quick walk to home.
During the walk, May remains relatively calm in the face of her actions from about two hours ago. In her mind, the trainer (she refuses to use Ash's name even in her thoughts) got exactly what he deserved for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Had well enough been left alone, she would have been a Grand Festival champion at last. It obviously meant a great deal to her, as she has worked toward the goal for nearly a decade.
"Well," May says out loud, "the trainer won't keep me from the things that I love anymore. My hard work will never be in vain again."
About half an hour passes before May makes it back home to the Petalburg City gym, where she sees that Drew's car is parked in the driveway, all by itself. Having heard from Kelly's chauffer Gordon that Drew is taking Kelly back home, May thought that it would take much longer for the transportation to occur, but it turns out that this isn't the case, as Drew has apparently returned from the trip to Lilycove.
Once May gets to the door of the house, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the key to the house to go inside. Once May is inside, she yells to find out who is home and after a few seconds is greeted by Drew with a big hug and a kiss.
After a second, the mood turns serious as Drew wants to know "How are you feeling, May? We all heard about the Grand Festival, and…we're all very sorry."
May sadly smiles back at her boyfriend, assuring him "Don't worry. I've gotten over it. I might have…cried over it some and laughed at the irony, because the same person who suggested I come to Kanto to compete in the Grand Festival is the same person who in effect ended up costing me my title."
"Hey," Drew consoles, "It doesn't matter any. You'll be a Grand Festival winner one day. You have all the tools in the world to do it, and I know this because in my mind, you're already a Grand Festival champion. Screw what the judges say; screw what the final results from Contesta say, and screw what Ash Ketchum has to say. May, you are the Grand Festival champion, and with all due respect to Dawn Berlitz, who is a superb coordinator, like I told you that day in the Orange Islands, you will always be my champion, May."
Drew then caresses the shoulders of May while looking at her square in the eyes, elaborating "I know that we've had our difficulties over the years. Every couple has their highlights and their lowlights, but we've been on quite a roller coaster ride since that day in the Orange Islands Grand Festival. I know I haven't been the best boyfriend because of…shallow crap, but I've grown up, May. We've grown up. Our relationship feels like it has come full circle over the past several years, and you know that I know that our love for each other is something that I value a great deal, and I feel that we…I feel that we've hit a point where we can take our relationship to the next level."
Shock is not a word appropriate enough to describe May's feelings as Drew tells her that he is ready to truly become one with her and reach intimate peaks that you'd read about in romance novels or see on the silver screen. As she had understood it, Drew always seemed like the guy that was willing to wait for marriage. In fact, when May talked to Drew earlier in the year about this very subject, Drew explained to May that he does not want to rush into anything, and May was more than willing to go along with him.
Over the past six years, in some capacity or another, May has shared something with Kelly. Whether it is a love for all things pokemon, an intimate understanding of each other, or a bed, they have shared a great deal over the years. As a 'committed' couple, the subject of sex for May and Drew was sure to come up. May wished that she did not have to deal with it right here and right now.
"Uhh, Drew?" May questions, "This is…this is all so…sudden, don't you think?"
"You don't have to decide right away, honey," Drew corrects.
May is taken aback somewhat, because Kelly would more often that not be the one that would call May 'honey'.
"Besides, we really couldn't do it right now. Max is here, and we don't want to do that and risk him catching us in the act. And…even though your parents are out visiting your grandmother…I want it to be special for both of us without having to worry that we're gonna get caught. Do you understand what I'm saying? So, rake some time to think about it—I promise that I won't pressure you into making any hasty decisions, and whatever you want to do, let me know. For now, I'll wait in the other room."
As Drew goes into the hallway that leads into the bedrooms, May considers everything that Drew says, and decides that she's heard enough to make her decision.
"Drew?" she calls out, "Come back here, please."
While at his desk, Max quickly takes out his phone while he is certain that no one in the house can hear him, and he uses the speed dial option to call name number one on the list. Today has not been the best day for the young Maple sibling, and much of that can be blamed on him. If Max had been more careful of his property, he could've avoided being found out by Kelly and would not have in turn been threatened with blackmail should he decide to unveil the truth about Kelly and May. Had Max been more assertive earlier when armed with what he knew, he probably could have had Kelly and May confess to Drew long before getting caught in this web of deceit.
Waiting for the dial tone, Max takes a deep breath and considers all the events that have taken place over the past day or two, as the other end of the line is picked up, and the person greets 'Hello,' while in a place that seems to have quite a bit of outside commotion.
Recognizing the voice as Misty's, Max quickly says hello, but then explains to his girlfriend, "We've got…a bit of a roadblock."
Though Max obviously can't see Misty on the other end, Misty is wide eyed, thinking that Max's parents or someone with a great conflict of interest has found out about their partnership as she is still like a statue in an aisle of the supermarket.
"Roadblock?" Misty is just able to expel out of her mouth. "What do you mean, 'roadblock?'"
As Max explains, "Kelly knows about us being a couple. She used some…underhanded tactics to find out, and threatened to spill the beans to my mother." With his voice breaking, he continues, "I'm sorry, Misty, but I just couldn't take the risk of mom or dad knowing, and then…I want to still be with you, you know? I love you a lot and the thought of you not being around…"
"Say no more, Max," Misty assures. "It's fine. We don't need to push the issue with Kelly and May. Sometime in the near future, we can catch them in a lie, or we can warn Drew like I warned you about May."
Max explains to Misty, "Waiting for those two to make a mistake could in fact take a while. Though I'm not around May that often, I know—she informs me about her goings on, and I no idea whatsoever about her being bisexual. You'd think that being in a relationship over six years that some inkling of a hint would come out, no pun intended, but, I'll tell you what, May and that bitch both deserve Academy Awards for their performances over the years, because they have fooledeveryone."
While still in the supermarket aisle, Misty takes time to think about what Max has just said, and has to agree with the logic. "You're right. It takes some type of skill to fib your way out of something as cruel as cheating. But what about the second thing I suggested? What if we hinted to Drew, or your parents that something is wrong like I did for you?"
"We really can't do that, Misty," Max regretfully states. "If we hint that something is wrong, then in all likelihood, Drew or my folks will want to dig deeper, or they'll want to know why we've kept the secret if they find out. It's like a catch-22, and…"
Max stops speaking when he hears his sister say the words, Drew, come back here, please. Looking through the crack of his door, he can see Drew walking up to May, who gives her boyfriend a big hug. Sensing an opportunity to at least dig up some information, Max asks Misty on the other line to hold for about a minute or two.
Misty tells Max that it's no problem, and continues shopping for the final item on her list. Truth be told, she didn't really have a list and only came into the market to get one item she desperately needed. Everything else in her basket included items she bought to draw attention away from this one thing. As Misty grabbed the thin rectangular box, several hundred thoughts entered her mind including a heavenly voice asking "Misty? Are you still there?"
Taking the phone away from her mouth, Misty whistles in response to Max coming back on the line. Misty guesstimates that it took no more than three minutes for Max to do whatever he needed to do. Misty tells Max that she's still on the line, and Max informs Misty, "I just eavesdropped on Drew and May. They're apparently gonna meet tomorrow at the Petalburg Palace."
"The Petalburg Palace?" Misty interrupts. "That's the same place we went to on Tuesday to make love that night. Are you trying to say…"
"Yes," Max declares. "I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, May and Drew are gonna have their first time together. Drew told May, and I quote, 'Prepare for the ride of your life.' May is planning to meet Drew at six o'clock, and I think that that would be a good place for me to meet May before she goes inside and to confront her about her affairs."
"That sounds all well and good, Max," Misty admits, "But what makes you think she'll admit to anything? She's as stubborn as an ox, and admitting that she's doing this will go against her and Kelly's plan that they've had in place for the past six years to keep everything a secret."
"I know more than anyone else how stubborn May is," Max ponders, "but if I wasn't a good friend to Drew and a protective brother to May, I wouldn't even try doing this. I have to at least try and see what happens if I face May one on one. Her guilt will eventually have to take its toll on her psyche. And besides, I don't know what else to do. We can't wait this out and expect Drew to be kind and generous to us knowing that we kept this secret for so long. We have to act."
Misty listens to Max and moves to the checkout line, encouraging Max by telling him, "Good luck, Max." Looking at the box again as it makes its way to the scanner, she adds, "Once everything blows up, we're all gonna need it. I'll talk to you tomorrow, all right?"
"Good deal," Max responds. "Take care now."
"You too, sweetie," Misty closes as she kisses the receiver and closes the cell phone.
Once her seven or eight items have been rung up by the attendant at the register, he smiles back to her saying, "That'll be twenty-four dollars and eighty six cents, ma'am."
Meanwhile, Max is pacing back and forth in his room, trying to think of a way to combat May before she goes to the hotel with Drew tomorrow.
"I'm gonna need some solid, tangible evidence to stop these games once and for all," Max says, stating the obvious. "But what? What could I use to nail Kelly and May once and for all?" As Max continues to pace, he walks a bit further to the window of his door, and unexpectedly trips on something that he did not previously notice was on the floor.
"OWW!" Max exclaims. "What the fuck did I trip over?" Max looks around and after two seconds sees something in front of him that causes him to gasp loudly.
"Is that what I think it is?" Max wonders as he pokes at the item a couple of times, before he realizes where it probably was the last time it was used. "EWW!" he disgustingly sounds out as he runs for the bathroom to wash his hands. As Max lathers the soap and turns on the hot water, he asks himself, "How did that thing end up in my room?" Coming up with a conclusion of how the object came to being in his room, he grabs the bar of soap again and rubs his hands together, feverishly.
The distance from the hospital to Kelly's house is about three miles, and in this three mile walk, the mind of Kelly Mordetsky is cleared from the anger and frustrations she has harbored for many people over the years. One person that she has been particularly mean towards is obviously Solidad, and in a lot of ways, Kelly feels that Solidad doesn't deserve it. In her mind, Kelly has tried nicely to tell Solidad that she is not in love with her, but Solidad is persistent in her efforts to make Kelly her steady girlfriend, despite her clear and obvious affection for May Maple.
Over the years, two other people that Kelly has shown a lot of anger towards are her mother Sonya and her father Micah, who compared to Jo-Jo and Adman's reactions towards their daughter Zoey coming out, reacted quite negatively to Kelly's confession, claiming among several things that she didn't know what she was talking about, and that she was crazy. Though it has been several years since Kelly came out to her parents at the age of twelve and they now both accept and love her daughter as she is, the hell that she went through due to her parents not wanting a lesbian for their only child still hurts her deep inside. A lot of nights, even now as a twenty year old, Kelly has cried herself to sleep thinking about the hateful thoughts that still harbors for her parents.
Although she still loves and cares for her parents deeply, and the feelings are mutual for both parties, Kelly often finds it difficult to forget the hurtful words that her parents would often use to describe her after she came out of the closet. She finds it difficult to forget when she attended meetings with groups like the Exodus movement and other anti-gay movements, which were cleverly disguised as group family therapy sessions with licensed doctors and practitioners, and Kelly finds it a struggle day after day to act like everything in her life is okay in front of the media, especially the press.
As Kelly makes her way to the front door, she notices that her limousine is parked in the driveway, with Gordon washing it as the sun goes down for the night.
"Hey, Gordon," Kelly calls out, "what happened this morning?" to which Gordon answers, "An emergency in Pallet Town that I had to tend to."
Quite astute in seeing behind the spoken words of the people she knows best, Kelly asks Gordon, "May took the limo, right?" to which Gordon gives her a thumbs up and throws her the key to the limo. Looking closely at the key in her right hand, Kelly grins like a Cheshire cat, and declares, "May is gonna get it, and get it good."
Kelly then focuses on entering the door and coming face to face with her mom once again. Opening the door to her house, she announces loudly, "Mom, I'm home!" to no answer. "Mom? Where are you?"
"I'm in the den, Kelly. Your father is here, too. Come on in!" a voice tiredly replies back to Kelly. Confused for a second by the fact that her father is also in the house, Kelly nevertheless goes inside of the den to find her mother Sonya resting on the couch, her father Micah tending to her by placing a thermometer inside her mouth, and off to the side sitting on a chair is…
"Solidad? What are you doing here?" Kelly asks in an attempt to hide her disapproval of the older girl being in her house.
"Oh, Kelly, you wouldn't believe it," Micah answers, seemingly for Solidad, "The daughter of the pastor at our church from some years ago came here to Lilycove to do some Good Samaritan work, and when she heard about mom being at the hospital, Solidad came here to help her out. And let's not forget about her Grand Festival victory from some years back. She's also out on her pokemon journey just like your friend, May."
"Okay," Kelly skeptically responds, knowing that that story is nothing short of a lie based on their brief conversation in Drew's car. Turning to Solidad, Kelly asks the Pewter City native, "May I have a word with you alone, Solidad?"
Not wavering from her cheerful demeanor for even a second, Solidad agrees to the one on one meeting with Kelly, but before they can leave for Kelly's room, Sonya asks her to set up the guest bedroom for Solidad, who will be spending the night at their home. Unbeknownst to Micah and Sonya, Kelly cringes upon hearing this news, but turns back to tell her mother that she'll get to work on the guest bedroom for Solidad.
"Thanks, Kelly," Sonya compliments from the couch. "I love you. I always will." Hesitant, but nevertheless in agreement with her mother, Kelly says that she loves her, too.
Walking down the halls that lead to the bedrooms, Solidad can't stop talking about how the two of them are going to have a sleepover, which prompts Kelly to sharply turn back to Solidad and point a finger in her face.
"First of all," Kelly sternly admonishes, "we are not sleeping together. Never in a billion years will we ever do that again." 'Biggest fucking mistake I ever made in my life,' she thinks with scorn clouding her thoughts. "And second of all," Kelly continues with her voice breaking, "you lied to me and my parents to get into my house, and my parents think the world of you much like they think the world of me!" Slumping down onto the floor, Kelly sobs, asking Solidad, "God, what the fuck do you want from me, Solie? Yeah, I may not be the model Christian girl. I made many mistakes, and I've fucked up more times than you can ever imagine. I am a lesbian, and I've had sex with…Lord knows how many girls over the past eight years, and on top of all of that, I'm the other woman who is wrecking a fairy tale romance in May and Drew. If you loved me, you'd know that I've had a fucked up life that nobody here can understand."
After a few more seconds of Kelly's crying, Solidad gets down on one knee and uses her thumbnail to wipe away Kelly's tears. "There, there, cutie," Solidad coos with affection. "You know, you're right about something. No one down here can understand what you're going through, but," Solidad points up into the sky, reminding Kelly that, "he does. You might think you're the only one going through this, but you're not. Just talk to him. When was the last time you talked to him, Kelly?"
Kelly shakes her head, as she can't remember offhand the last time she had a real conversation with God, and then she regretfully tells Solidad that she doesn't know.
"It's okay," Solidad assures in a nonjudgmental fashion. "He still loves you, and people just need to be reminded of that sometimes." Solidad then gets up on her two feet and tells Kelly that she'll set up the guest room herself and leave her alone for the night.
Kelly is left intentionally by Solidad to think about everything that she has said, and while her work as a businesswoman has made her into a multimillionaire, the words of a traveling coordinator have made her feel lower and cheaper than gum at the bottom of a shoe. She spends the next several minutes crying in the corner of her bedroom hallway, with the only words coming out of her mouth, being, "Why, God? Why all of this?" as she crawls into a position mimicking a fetus clinging to the cord for comfort.
If the mood was not somber in the waiting room of the Critical Care Unit, then the average person would have thought that the people there were congregating for a family and friends get together. Indeed, earlier that day, they got together under the best of circumstances with world class pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum proposing to his longtime girlfriend Jessie Palmer over a lunch date, but during the end of the date, when Ash went to the car to get a camera for his mother, he didn't come back. Among those waiting in the waiting room, Jessie had the misfortune of finding her fiancée unconscious with a pool of blood near his head.
Hysterical, Jessie came back inside the restaurant to alert anyone with hearing abilities to help Ash in his time of need. Immediately, Brock, James and a host of others attempted to resuscitate Ash while an ambulance came onto the scene some scant minutes later. Since that moment, all of the members of the luncheon and a few of the people that worked in the restaurant waited for any information that CCU had to relay back to them on Ash's condition.
It has been nearly four hours since the doctors have admitted Ash into a trauma unit, and the tension in the room has gotten to several people, one of which being his best friend Gary Oak, who despite the fact that the two have had their ups and downs over the years has been a great friend in need, providing great advice about dating and relationships while Ash began to date Jessie. Gary has shed tears from the time he begged Delia not to see Ash in his current state to right now, as he anticipates the worst from the doctors in CCU.
'Please, for the love of God, man,' Gary thinks, 'don't die. Everything was going right. Everything was going your way and this happens? Lord, I can't imagine life without my best friend. I can't help but be selfish in this instance, because I've known Ash since we were in diapers. Lord, please answer my prayers and save my best friend.' After this silent prayer, Gary breaks down once again in a fit of tears near James and Brock.
Not too far away from those three are the former pair of Delia and Giovanni, who over the past 25 years have both worked together in some form or capacity to raise their son. While Giovanni has admittedly not been their for his son physically, he has supported his son financially by funding Delia in her dream of becoming a restaurateur, so that she and their son can live without worry. As running Team Rocket became more and more expensive and stressful, Giovanni made a choice to sell his majority share to a gaming and casino company known as Avenue V ('V' being the Roman numeral for five). Much of the decision making that went behind this process had to deal with handing the company over to the highest bidder, without considering whose hands the company would be in.
Despite this, for a cleared three hundred million dollars in capital, Giovanni sold the company less than four years ago to spend more time with his family and attempt to make up lost time with his son. Despite Ash learning that his father, the former pokemon trainer was the head of Team Rocket, he was exceedingly forgiving to Giovanni, even with the subsequent Avenue Five scandal, and immediately welcomed him back into his life.
'Life,' Giovanni ponders in silence. 'It seems so…fragile when you really think about it. But death is, in fact, life. I mean, we will all die, but…'
"No," the ex-boss of Team Rocket whispers, grabbing the attention of his former lover in the process. Giovanni then gets up from his seat, and pounds the wall, screaming, "No, damn it! No!" and then he proceeds to slide down onto the cold tile floor, sobbing as he lands on his knees, and falls forward, leaving him on the floor on all fours.
As everyone in the room looks on in surprise at the former ruthless gang leader showing his human side, Delia walks up to him and asks him what hurts the most.
Sniffling and trying to regain his composure in the face of the situation, Giovanni explains to Delia, "I'm his father…but I haven't really shown it like I should have. I'm supposed to be his protector, and I wasn't there. How could this have happened? Who could've done this to my son? He's more of a man than I'll ever be. He didn't have to take me back and bring me back into his life, but…he did." Shaking for a few seconds, Giovanni then admits, "God, I wish it would've been me!"
Upon hearing this, Delia grabs Giovanni's chin and sternly demands that he never say something idiotic like that again.
"Why not?" he questions.
Delia then rubs the back of the ex-businessman and explains, "You—no. We have to believe that he'll pull through. Besides, you know how hard headed Ash is." Delia felt that the mood needed to be lightened in the room. When Ash's friends talked about how they remembered Ash earlier, she stopped them, claiming that it does nobody any favors to talk about Ash as if he were dead.
While trying to get Giovanni back up on his feet, Delia looks to the end of the room near the door where Jessie is standing and has been standing for the past couple of hours. Everyone from Brock and James, to Meowth and Tracey all the way down to Delia, Giovanni, and a few of the restaurant workers has tried to talk to her to get her feelings, give her some food or drink, and even ask her to sit down, with no success. She hasn't spoken a word, but her face shows a clear indication that much of her time has been spent crying, as her makeup has run from her face.
Her thoughts have all been focused on her husband to be, as he is in a fight far grander in its importance than any badge, or league championship. It's amazing how they went from bitter enemies less than five years ago, to now being fiancées, but she's not complaining. The last couple of years she has spent with Ash Ketchum have felt like nothing short of a dream, but unfortunately for him and the people that love and care for him so much, the last several hours have felt like a nightmare that everyone wishes they could just wake up from like a hypnotic trance.
Speaking of waking up, the opening of the door to the waiting room in CCU causes everyone expecting news on Ash's condition to turn up from whatever they were doing. Without meaning any offense to the person at the door, they really wanted to see the doctor and find out about their friend.
Trying to keep a smile on his face in the face of what he heard on the phone from Gary, another one of Ash's longtime friends Richie enters the room and softly says hello to everyone in the room, who likewise say hello to Richie.
As Richie explains to the people in the room, "I came as soon as I could. And the details Gary gave me…God, this is horrible. I—how could someone do something so senseless? I mean, Ash didn't have any enemies, did he? I know the police are treating the restaurant like a crime scene for obvious reasons, but…this is sick!"
Jessie, more so than anyone else in the room listens to Richie's comments and internalizes them, knowing that someone out there is responsible for Ash being injured, possibly fatally. She doesn't get to think much about it, though, as not too long after Richie enters the waiting room, the prayers of the family and friends have been answered, as after a enduring wait, a doctor enters the room wearing his medical smock, and calling for the immediate family of Ash Ketchum.
Both Giovanni and Delia rise up from their seats to meet with and shake hands with the doctor, who introduces himself as Dr. Ron Sloan. Getting to the point, Dr. Sloan explains to the gallery, "Ash is in critical but stable condition right now. We did an MRI on him, and fortunately, he doesn't appear to be suffering any major damage to his brain."
Upon hearing this, a feather could have knocked down all of the people in the waiting room, as they know that Ash has more than dodged a bullet from the assault. Not wanting to get their hopes up, the family and friends reserve their show of positive emotion. "Despite this," the doctor continues, "his skull and his facial features are severely cracked in several places. He underwent surgery to repair his face and skull, and it was successful, though he did lose quite a bit of blood from the initial shot to the back of his head."
"Whoever tended to him did a great job of applying pressure to his wound, which probably saved his life. Nevertheless, due to the blood loss that he suffered, the amount of oxygen that was getting to his brain at the time of this attack was reduced a great deal, albeit for a brief period. Because of that, he's in a coma, and…the next 24-48 hours will be critical for him."
The doctor stresses in his diagnosis of his patient, "He is, however, in good enough condition that he can be seen by two people at a time, but only for a minute each. Now…" Dr. Sloan stops speaking, as he realizes that this next part can be exceedingly difficult for family and friends, "who would like to…go see Ash first?"
Delia and Giovanni look to each other and then whisper in each other's ears and come up with their decision, mutually agreeing to be the first ones to see Ash, but something inside of Delia causes her to come up with the decision that she does.
After approximately 30 seconds, Delia walks up to Dr. Sloan and explains, "Doctor Sloan, we understand and respect the rules and regulations of this hospital a great deal, but…even though Ash's father and I agreed to be the first ones to see Ash, we'd like to know if you could bend the rules a bit so that Ash's fiancée Jessie can see him along with us."
Jessie, who is standing off to the side of the doctor, hears Delia's comments and raises her eyebrows in pleasant surprise. She thought for certain that Delia and Giovanni would go first, followed by her and either Gary, Richie or Brock, but Delia saw fit to make sure that Jessie got to see her fiancée first, if she could help it.
"Please, doctor?" Delia begs of the M.D. Having seen all of the people in the waiting room that truly cared for the well being of this young patient, Dr. Sloan was taken aback somewhat. He knew that there were always people out there that care, but very rarely has he seen a crowd care for someone in Ash's state to the point that it hurts.
Convinced that the family means well, Dr. Sloan allows Delia, Giovanni and Jessie to all come together and see Ash against his better judgment. Walking to the CCU, he prepares Ash's mother, father and fiancée for what they are about to see by explaining to him that Ash is attached to numerous breathing machines, intravenous fluids and is on life support. He also explained to the trio that they should brace themselves for what they are about to see.
As they get to the door of Ash's room, Dr. Sloan gives the three a final warning before entering the room, by telling them that this is the final time that they will be able to back out of seeing Ash. Asking everyone if they're ready to go inside, they timidly say yes to the doctor, who opens the door, and welcomes the three inside. As if they were all a part of a human funeral procession, Delia, Giovanni and finally Jessie walked into the room and found Ash resting on the hospital bed.
Just as the doctor told them, Ash is attached to numerous breathing machines, syringes, a heart monitor and a life support machine pumping life giving oxygen into the background. His face has far too many stitches to count. Some of the stitches are keeping his right eye shut, and the entire scene looked very gruesome and graphic like an episode of C.S.I. or ER. The only problem is that those shows are obviously fiction, and the person that they are looking at right now is very much real and in very dire straights.
At this point in time, the three have spent about one minute in the room with Ash Ketchum. The doctor knows that the group has gone past their allotted time, but is allowing this rule breaking in this special case. Delia walks over to the side of her son after getting a look at him from every angle, and tells him with the hope that he can hear her, "Ash? I want you to know that dad, Jessie, Gary, Brock and everyone else…we love you very much, and we're pulling for you to pull through." Delia then leans over to an unaffected portion of her son's face, and kisses him while a tear runs down her face and down onto the exposed stomach of Ash.
As Delia steps aside, Giovanni then comes forward and gently grabs Ash's near hand, and lets Ash know, "You're a fighter, son. You always have been a fighter, and as I came back into your life, I could see it." As Giovanni squeezes the hand of his son tighter and tighter, he continues, "It's not in your nature to crawl up in a ball and die without putting up a hell of a fight. Out of my own selfishness, I have to admit that I cried more now than in the last 25 years imagining life without you, but never again, son, because you're going to live. No, you won't just live, you're gonna thrive. I believe it." Giovanni finally lets go of Ash's hand, and walks back to Delia, hugging her and thanking her for her strength in this difficult time.
Finally, of the three people in the room at the time, Jessie came up to Ash and like Giovanni before her; she held the young man's hand. Looking her fiancée dead in the eyes, hoping that he can at least sense her presence, she talks to Ash, informing him, "We have a life together." Looking at the ring on her finger, she adds, "We're engaged to be married, and well before the prime of your life, too. You can't back out of this right now. You're too stubborn to give up in anything. You have so much to look forward to that," at this point, Jessie's voice starts to break, "it'd be a goddamn shame if we couldn't share our lives together by growing old and…I don't know. There's nothing in my life outside of maybe my mother's death which happened when I was, like, five years old," Jessie pauses and presses her left hand to her forehead in a vain attempt to find the right words to say in this situation.
"What do you say?" Jessie asks, rhetorically. "Nothing could prepare me for this in a million years, but I know this much. We're gonna get married, Ash. We're gonna be husband and wife. We're gonna have a Growlithe and a house with a white picket fence, and were gonna have two or three kids, and we're gonna watch our kids grow up and have kids of their own."
Delia watches this essentially from the sidelines along with Giovanni and Dr. Sloan, and all parties are becoming very teary-eyed at the sight of Jessie living out the future that she and Ash were supposed to have.
Jessie notices absolutely none of this, as she takes in one deep, long breath, and proclaims with the indication of malice laden within her voice, "But before I do all of that, the bastard that did this to you…must die."
Delia sees the emotion start to take over Jessie and tries to get her to settle down, but Jessie is determined to say her peace. Letting go of Ash's hand and turning to her future mother-in-law, she elaborates, while pointing to Ash, "Do you see, mom? Do you see what that cunt did to your son? Whoever did this is no human being! He's a fucking monster, and if I could get face to face with him, I wouldn't give a second thought to killing the mother fucker! Anyone who would do something like that doesn't deserve to live, period! They deserve to fucking rot in hell!"
With the emotions becoming far too much for the former Team Rocket member, Jessie runs out of the room, yelling 'This is bullshit,' with Delia and Giovanni following right behind her and leaving Ash in his room alone with the simple sounds of a whirring generator, an electrocardiogram and a life support machine providing noise.
The entire scene reeks of a large amount of inactivity and lifelessness, but somewhere deep within the reserves of the minds of the comatose Ash Ketchum, he can still feel, and he can still hear. After hearing Jessie and feeling his mom, dad and fiancée leave the room, he thinks to himself while in his coma 'I love you guys, too. Dad, I want you to know that I'm fighting, and I'll get out of this sooner than later. And Jess? You're right. I am too stubborn, but don't do anything to jeopardize us. Don't hurt May, Jessie. It's just not worth it. I promise I will be back.'
Several minutes after Delia, Giovanni and Jessie saw Ash, the next groups of James and Brock, Gary and Richie, and Tracy and Professor Oak come into the room to see Ash, albeit much more reserved than the initial group. James and Brock, after seeing Ash for themselves, inform Jessie and the others that they have business to tend to in Pewter City as soon as they can. Both young men give Delia and Jessie hugs, with James whispering in Jessie's ear, "Please let us know how he's doing." Jessie nods to James, silently affirming that she will, as the secret pair tells everyone good night.
Once out of sight of the gallery in the waiting room, Brock and James walk to the exit of the hospital, holding each other's shoulders. As they finally leave and come face to face with the humid June night in Pallet, the two are immediately bull rushed by anywhere from 8-10 news and television reporters wanting to know about the condition of Ash Ketchum and the events that led up to his attack. Sighing in the wake of the media bombardment, they answer as many questions as they can and after nearly a half hour of the third degree, they make their way towards their destination, the Pewter City gym.
It is just after midnight at the Neale summer house, and walking down the stairs in her penguin printed blue pajamas is Dawn, who just can't seem to get to sleep on this early Friday morning. Knowing several methods that her mother used to get her to sleep, Dawn heads for the extensively large kitchen, more specifically, the refrigerator to warm up some milk and try to go back to sleep for the night.
Making her way to the kitchen, she spots someone sitting at the table that she recognizes quite well.
"Zoey?" she questions just to make absolutely sure it's her, to which the redhead replies "In the flesh. So you couldn't sleep either, 'eh Dawn?"
After a chuckle, Dawn admits that indeed she couldn't get to sleep, and then, Dawn sits down at the table next to her girlfriend, giving her a light kiss on the lips.
A few seconds pass, and Dawn legitimately asks Zoey, "Do you think that us being together like this tonight is against your parent's rules?"
Shaking her head for a moment while her face is brightened by the moonlight, Zoey answers, "Fuck, I hope not. But we're not sleeping together, and we're not in the same bed, so I suppose that it doesn't count. You know, the more I think about it, the more I think I know the reason why I'm having trouble getting to sleep. Since we've shared a bed, I've slept like a baby, even though it's only been…two nights since we've shared a bed. Thoughts of you, and knowing that your next to me, lulled me to sleep like one of my mother's songs when I was three years old, or one of Rocky's bedtime stories. The fact that I know that…someone was there every night to see your way into dream world made going to bed a lot of fun for me at times."
"I know what you mean," Dawn relates. "Some nights I would not go to sleep unless my mother would read the same bedtime story every night, which was this picture book of Cinderella, and she would sing songs from the movie. My favorite of all time was Someday…"
"My Prince Will Come," Zoey finishes in unison with Dawn. From this point, Zoey hypothesizes, "That's what you've always dreamed of ever since you were a little girl, right?"
Dawn nods and says that that's correct, but Zoey is not done digging quite yet. With some smugness in her voice, she then asks the blue haired beauty, "So, did your prince come to you?"
"Well," Dawn begins, "let's just say that everyday I've spent with you, I feel like a princess. You've protected me, defended me, and comforted me when I needed it, and I thank you for that a great deal. I know that I have baggage and a lot of it, I'm not as willing to be open about as I probably should be in the position that we're in as a couple. It's not that I don't want to, but a lot of this stuff that I'm keeping, my mother doesn't even know about. I promise I won't keep it for long, though."
Wanting to change the subject, Zoey asks her girlfriend, "So…technically, this is the first day of the family reunion. What do you think of my family so far, Dawn?"
"They're great," Dawn compliments. "I know that each family has their black sheep, and even though I thought it was Rocky, nobody in the family can compare with…Kristen Townes, but I'm glad that her opinion doesn't represent the rest of the family. How dare she say that we're weird! She's the weird one. You know what? Never mind her. She's just one person in your big, happy, supporting family."
Zoey drops her face down so it's facing the dining room table, and she sighs deeply. "Dawn?" she says, grabbing her girlfriend's attention, "There's also my mom's side of the family. Remember, they're coming to the house tomorrow."
"So?" Dawn asks, not understanding why Zoey is so despondent.
"My family—my mom's side of the family…none of them know that I'm gay. I've had trouble telling them, because…just about all of them are devout Christians."
Dawn is taken aback by this, thinking that the vacation and the family reunion would provide ample opportunities for her and Zoey to get away from potential gay bashers. Dawn doesn't know what to think about Zoey's latest revelation, so she decides to take some time alone and think.
Dawn gets up from her seat and says to Zoey, "I need some time to think about this."
"Dawn, don't…"
"I'm just gonna smoke a cigarette and think about this, then I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, Zoey."
"Dawn," Zoey begins as she gets up from her seat and attempts to talk to her, "I just wanna talk to you about this! If you had known…"
As Dawn comes within a couple of feet of the house door, she turns around sharply, and faces Zoey, raising her voice, exclaiming "Goodnight, Zoey!" as Dawn turns back to the door and exits the house, leaving Zoey to ponder why she would keep something like this from her girlfriend, even if it had the potential to cause an even greater reaction than the one Dawn gave her.
Looking at the front door for a second, knowing what her parents told her, and convinced that right now is not a good time to talk about this with Dawn, Zoey curses as she pounds the front door and makes her way back to her bedroom to try and fall asleep without her love by her side.
A/N: As you can tell, Rave The Rich is no longer on hiatus, and neither is this story, and might I also say, what a way to come back. We now know the origins of Kelly and Solidad's history, but bes believe that what you've read so far is only scratching the surface. Dawn seems to fit the Neale family like a glove, but as you've just read, the Baker family is probably going to be a much different story. All secrets are eventually revealed in the end, so why go through the expense of keeping them, Zoey and Dawn? Sigh. Will they ever learn, and just what the heck was Misty shopping for, and furthermore, we still don't know why the heck was Kelly's mom Sonya at the hospital?
Also, Drew is ready to go to the next level with May, but is May ready to go to the next level with Drew, and what does Max have in store for May to stop her from continuing her pack of lies? So just what are James and Brock planning to do in Pewter City? And Ash knows that May was the one who attacked him? Are you kidding me? It makes you wish he could come out of that coma and tell everybody, don't you think? No way, Jose. If that happened, where would we get our drama?
Speaking of drama, stay tuned as the drama continues in this, the second season of 'A Confession Gone Awry,' the season where it all comes back to haunt us. Don't forget to read and review, now, and be safe!