3 months later
May was struggling to get through snowdrifts on the road to the local hospital. It was quite hard for her, but she got used to it after doing it every day.
Winter came to Hoenn region much sooner than everyone had expected it to come. It was only November when the first snowflakes started to fall from the sky. A few weeks later snow covered the entire region, and low temperatures that appeared very quickly forced most of the people to stay in their houses and leave them only when it was necessary. The worst situation was in Petalburg City, where snowdrifts often had two meters high. There was no traffic on the roads, because it was simply impossible to drive on icy roads. What was even worse, most of the shops were closed, and people were starting to suffer from hunger. The government of Hoenn had to deliver supply by helicopters to help the locals in surviving.
However, there was one family for whom harsh winter wasn`t any obstacle. They had their own stored food and water thanks to the father of the family, who was always preparing for this kind of situation. This allowed them to wait out the worst frosts in the comfort of their own house. They would never leave their house, however, one person from their family would always sneak out of the house. And this person was, of course, May.
Her parents tried to convince her to wait for the weather to calm down, but she wouldn`t listen to them. Even when she got sick after one of her daily escapades, she still would sneak out to the hospital. And why was she sneaking there? To see an important person, of course.
After what happened in Team Rocket`s base, she quickly ordered Charizard to pick up Ash and transport him to the best hospital in the entire region, which was located in Petalburg City. The raven-haired trainer was badly injured and when May and Serena arrived there right after Charizard, they heard that it`s most likeable that Ash won`t survive the night. The girls were traumatized, but they still had hope. They convinced the surgeons to remove the bullets off Ash`s body and disinfect his wounds. The operation was very long, and after eight hours the main surgeon told them that they were able to remove all of the bullets, but the boy was still in a critical state. He said that they should had been prepared for the worst.
The situation hadn`t changed after a week. The girls would just stay near Ash`s room, hoping to receive some good news about him, but unfortunately, the doctors didn`t want to say anything.
After a month of waiting, precisely at 11th November, they learned that wounds on Ash`s body were healing slowly, and that gave them a new amount of hope. A few days later Serena received a phone call from her mother, in which Grace told her about some tragedy in their family. Serena had to come back to Kalos, but she managed to say goodbye to May, who promised to inform the honey-haired girl about Ash`s state.
And then, the winter came. Many of the patients from the hospital have already left to their houses, and Ash remained as one of a few people who had to stay there. May wanted to transport him to her house, so she and her parents would take care of him, but he must have been connected to the life support. The brunette decided to visit him every day, so he wouldn`t be alone. And, although he was in coma, she knew that he needed a company.
Every time she came to him, she would spend a few hours relating everything that happened. Sometimes she would just sit there with him and think about the events from the past. There was a time when she fell asleep on the chair and the nurses had to make the effort to wake her up the next day. The hospital personnel accustomed to May`s presence, and she was even able to befriend some nurses that were taking care of Ash. Unfortunately, the doctors didn`t like her and they often tried to kick her out of the hospital. But then, the friendly nurses were taking care of the doctors and they never really did to her.
This day, May had a great humor. Maybe the weather was bad, and Ash was still in the hospital, but she couldn`t wait to spend another day by his side. Or bed, in this situation.
She opened the door to the hospital and looked at the reception she was coming by every day, and then one of the nurses stopped her.
"Mrs. May, there was a call to you a few minutes ago, from the girl who was here with you a few months ago" the woman said with a bright smile. "I would suggest you to phone her back, she looked kinda worried."
May nodded and turned to her left, where, three meters from her, a videophone was standing. She made her way to it and chose an option to call the latest number. After several seconds the screen flashed and Serena appeared on it.
"Hi May, you are really hard to track down, you know?" Serena said with a smile.
"So, why couldn`t you call me on my phone number?" May asked.
"Umm, I kinda forgot to get your phone number, so I phoned the hospital. I knew you would be there sooner or later, so I thought that it would be easier." Serena shook her hands in shame.
"I see" May said. "So, what did you want from me?"
"…" Serena was silent. She looked at her feet in sadness and sighed. Then, she looked up and started to speak.
"You remember the time, when I left Petalburg to return home?" she asked. When May nodded, Serena continued. "Well, I… lied about the tragedy. It wasn`t the reason of my departure."
"So, what was the reason?" May asked slightly surprised.
"To tell you the truth, I didn`t want to be there at the moment when Ash wakes up, you probably know why…" Serena saddened.
"I understand, and I don`t blame you" May said with a sad smile. "But he still hasn`t woke up yet."
"Let`s hope that he will wake up soon" Serena said. "He`s in coma for such a long time… I`m scared that he may not…" Serena couldn`t finish the sentence, because one of the nurses quickly ran to May and dragged her on the side.
"He`s awake Mrs. May, you hear me? He`s finally awake!" the nurse said with a big smile. May looked at her, dumbfounded. It took her a few minutes to fully understand what she said. But when she understood, she quickly informed Serena about what happened and hung up. She stormed into the room where her friend was lying and stopped in the doors. She locked her eyes at the bed. Ash wasn`t moving, but she noticed a major change in his appearance.
His eyes were opened.
"Ash?" May asked, feeling a sudden shyness. She slowly walked to the bed and sat on the chair.
"… May?" the raven-haired boy said weakly.
"Yes, Ash?" May barely hold back to not hug him at the moment she heard his voice after a few months of waiting.
"…Where the heck am I?" he asked, confused. He slowly tilted his head on the side. There he saw May, with her face wet from tears. "May, something happened?"
May wiped her face with her jacket and looked at him lovely. She took his hand in hers and locked her eyes with his.
"It doesn`t matter anymore" she said. "What`s important right now is that you are okay and I`m here with you"
Ash smiled at her and after a while tried to get up, but he failed to do so. He hissed in pain and lied back on the bed.
"I must have been hit really hard if I`m not able to stand up, huh?" he asked his friend.
"Well, you were shot three times, you had a broken arm, and you lost much of your blood." May said with a hearable hurt in her voice. "It was a miracle that you survived…"
"I see…" Ash said while looking at the ceiling. "And what about Kyogre?"
"I informed Nurse Joy about his location. She came there with a few strong trainers for secure and they released him to the sea again, so yeah, I think he`s good" May answered.
"Giovanni?" he asked with hate in his voice.
"Dead, you did quite a good job back there" May smiled proudly.
"And his grunt? The silver-haired one?"
"After… he shot you…" May stuttered. "Sceptile took care of him. He isn`t a danger anymore."
"Who was he by the way?" Ash asked.
"All I know is that he was an agent of Team Rocket for quite a long time. I talked to Officer Jenny and she told me that, according to the investigation she was doing, he spied on us while we were in Kalos. That`s why they knew where we were going."
"Ehh, how could I be so stupid" Ash said, angry. "I should have known that after winning the league some people would try to get me. I only put you and Serena in danger by travelling with you."
"Maybe" May agreed. "But it`s all over now, and you shouldn`t blame yourself. The most important thing is that Team Rocket doesn`t exist anymore. Now, try take some rest, you`ve just woke up from a coma."
"Yeah, you`re right…" Ash said and looked at her. "And what about you?"
"I`ll stay here with you, of course, if you want me to" May proposed, slightly blushing.
"Of course, I`d love you to stay here, but I see that you`re tired a little, maybe you should take a nap too…"
"I wouldn`t fall asleep even if I wanted to, especially now" May laughed. "But don`t worry about me now, just try to rest, okay?"
"Okay mom" Ash said and they both laughed.
After a few hours Ash was woken up by a sudden noise. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the door were opened. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his left side. His vision was still blurry, but the sight still shocked him.
May wasn`t there.
The boy panicked a little, not knowing where she was gone and what happened to her. He got up and quickly got out of bed. With bare feet he ran out of the room as fast as he could, and on the corridor he spotted May talking with some boy. May turned around and noticed Ash, standing there with a puzzled look on his face.
"You shouldn`t go out that fast, you know?" she sighed, but quickly smiled. "Nevermind. There`s someone who really wanted to see you."
Ash looked at the boy and without bigger problems recognized him.
"Hi! I`m glad that you`re okay!" the boy said, while pulling out his hand.
"Yeah, it`s good to see you Max" Ash responded and shook his friend`s hand.
"So, how is your journey around Hoenn?" Ash asked while sipping his tea. He and Max were sitting in a café that was located in the hospital. May wanted to talk to her parents, so she left the boys alone. Max shrugged and pulled out a case, in which were his badges.
"I have four badges, and I was going to challenge my dad today. But then my sister phoned me and asked me to come here. When I heard that you finally woke up, I couldn`t resist to come" Max laughed. "May told me the whole story and I know how did you get here. I knew that you are a tough guy but still… wow, I admire you even more!"
"Hey, I`m going to blush!" Ash laughed. "But the truth is, I wouldn`t be there if it wasn`t May who saved me back there.
"Yeah" Max said and looked through the glass that separated the café from the lounge. May was standing in front of the videophone and was probably talking to Norman and Caroline. "I talked to her several times in those three months. She would spent every day in the hospital, just sitting with you to keep you company. She would come here even if the weather was disastrous"
"Really…?" Ash said, shocked. He started to feel bad for the girl. She spent so much time worrying about him. He knew that he could never repay her for this.
"Yeah" Max said and both of them became quiet. They focused on May, who was still talking to her parents. They noticed how happy she was when she was explaining what happened.
"I never saw her that happy before" Max said.
Ash could only nod at this.
Max looked down at his cup of tea. He took a spun and looked at it, trying to think about what to say next. After a minute he looked at May again, noticing that Ash still hadn`t looked away from her.
"She loves you a lot" Max said. "I hope that you realize it"
"I do, Max" Ash said with a sad tone. "I do"