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Misty's Awakening
Part 2
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Misty sat there, as if paralyzed, for several moments. Time stood still. She couldn't get her voice to utter a single word. Not after what she had just heard. Not after what the Doctor had told her.
She was staring at her hand now, unable to move her gaze from it. There was a hospital bracelet on her wrist...and her fingers looked...longer?
At long last, she slowly, steadily, looked up to the Doctor. His face; his eyes— they looked sincere and concerned. He wasn't smiling anymore. "Misty," he said gently, "I'm very sorry..." She just looked into his face, as if to ask him for the real truth. To ask him, at least, for a way to change it.
"I'm sorry, but... what's done is done. Accidents happen, and sometimes, they aren't at all how we want them to end up."
Misty let herself breathe. "H...how long? Three years?" Fear flowed clearly through her voice, and the strange, sick, nervous pain in her stomach felt almost unbearable now.
"Not quite three," the Doctor said. "More like two and a half." Misty nodded, but she seemed to be somewhere else.
"Two and a half years..." she repeated quietly. "Two and a half... years."
"Misty," the Doctor told her, "Many coma patients don't even wake up after that long. Many are permanently handicapped, or get brain damage, or worse. You got off very lucky. I want you to at least consider that."
Her breath wavered. "Yes... but... two and a half years... are gone..." She closed her eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'll never have them back." Several more tears came, falling off of her chin and soaking onto the hospital blanket.
The Doctor touched her arm. "I understand. But the important thing now is that you woke up, and you're alive. You're healthy, and you need to keep it that way. You must rest now.
She nodded, biting her lip.
"Th..thank y...ou," Misty stammered, and looked away.
The Doctor helped her to lay down again, and she buried her head in her pillow.
She waited until she heard the Doctor close the door to break into uncontrollable sobs.
* * * *
Throughout the day, the Doctor, as well as several nurses, all writing things down and checking machines, came in and out of Misty's room. She pretended to be asleep, though; she didn't want to talk to them.
Misty actually tried to sleep several times, but her slumber was brief and full of nightmares. Over and over, she saw herself tumbling down a ledge, sharp rocks protruding into her skin, and blood and scratches covering her body as she rolled onto the cold sand. After that, it was like returning to her black void...the one she had been trapped in for nearly three years. She never wanted to sleep again.
That evening, the Doctor returned. He told Misty that she needed to take some pills and water.
He sat her up, held out a tray of pills, and handed her a cup of water. It felt strange to drink water again. She couldn't recall it's soothing, cold, feeling; liquid and smooth, trickling down her throat It felt like a very distant memory.
The Doctor was just picking up the cup and tray when a nurse came to the door.
"Doctor," she said, "Misty Waterflower has a visitor."
"Oh, yes. Right on schedule. I suppose...he knows."
The nurse nodded.
The Doctor turned to Misty. "Would you like a visitor?"
She had no inkling of who would visit her— she hadn't thought about that before. "Sh..sure, yeah," she mumbled.
The Doctor stood, and walked to the door with the nurse. It closed.
Again, Misty felt that sick, nervous feeling. Who would visit her? She was so anxious, she couldn't get herself to remember anyone she had ever known. Her head was a whirlpool of names and faces that she couldn't match...
The knob on the door turned; it cracked open.
A teenage boy, looking to be about sixteen, stepped in. He was wearing a T-shirt with jeans...but it seemed to suit him. His complection was clear, and his hair was dark and a bit wild, though good-looking, and his eyes looked caring and curious.
'Who in the.....'
Shocked, Misty's jaw dropped in sudden realization.
"Ash?"
The boy's face turned into a smile— a joyful, relieved smile. He ran to Misty's bedside.
"MISTY!!" he cried out, and wrapped his strong arms around her body. "It's TRUE— you're awake! I can't believe you're awake..."
If this was Ash, he sure wasn't acting the part. Just the same...Misty hoped that it really was him.
"Ash..." she choked. "Ash, is it really...?"
The dark haired boy looked up. Misty nearly gasped— those eyes, that face, there was no mistaking it was him— and his face was wet with tears.
"Oh, Ash!" Misty cried, and she flung her own arms around the boy. "I... missed you..."
* * * *
They ended the embrace, both in tears by now, and looked at each other. Misty's breath was shaky, but she didn't feel nervous and cold anymore.
"I can't believe how...how different you look!" Misty told him, looking him over again. In this case, she decided, different was good. Very good. Ash had turned into quite a good- looking guy, and while Misty was sure that it was her same Ash, there was a new quality to him. Maturity.
'A lot has happened to him in two and a half years...' she thought.
"Well, you have, too."
Misty hadn't thought a lot about this. She looked down at her hand again. "I guess you're right."
They both smiled; his almost made her blush. She wasn't sure what to say now. What were you supposed to say to someone you had disappeared from nearly three years ago?
Then, she remembered something that the Doctor had said earlier.
"Ash, what did the Doctor mean— he said you were 'right on schedule'." She gave him a curious look.
"Well...he said that because this is the time I usually come to see you." He sat down in the chair by her bed.
Misty's face went a bit white. "You...you've been coming to see me?"
Ash nodded. "As often as I could."
It was hard for Misty to think clearly. What exactly had happened to Ash since she fell?
She breathed in slowly. "What...happened, Ash, after I went unconscious? Tell me everything you can."
Ash sat still for a few seconds, as if recollecting events he didn't want to remember, and then he began to speak.
"OK, Misty...if you really want to hear it. Where should I start? Uh, I guess where you ran off. Well anyway, I had a laugh for a couple of minutes about what I had said to you...but after about half an hour without you coming back, I, well, I got worried." It felt good to hear him say that.
"So after a while, I told Brock I was going to look for you. He wasn't exactly, uh, *there* at the moment, you know how he was sick...so I just left to find you...."
//=//=//=//=//=///=//=//=//=//=//
Ash wasn't sure why, but he had never been so worried about Misty. She'd run off before but...why did he get the feeling that she wouldn't be coming back this time?
"Pikachu, you've got to stay here, with Brock," the boy told his Pokemon. "Will you do that for me?"
"Pika! Pikachu!"
"Thanks, Pikachu. I'll be back as soon as I can!"
The sun was beginning to set now. Ash couldn't make his legs do anything but run. Where was Misty? Why hadn't she returned? Was she serious this time, about leaving?
"She loves the beach," he told himself. "She'll be by the ocean, I'm sure."
He found a cliff leading down to the beach. Ash climbed down it, slowly, as not to fall, and began to search over the sand.
"Misssss-ty!" he called, "MISSS-TY!!" Certainly, she was here...she had to be.
Ash ran frantically over the sand, breathing furiously, and continued to look and call for his friend.
He saw ahead of him, in the darkness, something on the sand by the cliff...
"Misty! Oh, Misty..."
He fell over in the sand by her side, shaking her body urgently, yet gently. "Misty, please, I...I'm sorry— please, *please* get up!"
He looked at her body...scratches and gashes covered her once fair skin. Her face was expressionless; her body, lifeless.
Ash whimpered softly. "...she.... she's....." He choked back tears. "...Misty, no...."
He sniffed, and glanced around. 'What should I do? This is— this is all my fault!'
He felt warm tears in his eyes. "I've got to do something... I've got to—" He sobbed agonizingly. "Misty...I'll do something..." He pulled her up into his arms, carrying her, and carefully climbed the ledge.
He moved as fast as he could back toward to camp. "Please, Misty.... " he whispered, "...don't die on me."
* * * *
Ash looked over his two friends, both lying, rather motionless, on the ground. He had wrapped Misty up in a blanket tightly, hoping by some whim that she was still alive. If she was, it was he who would have to save her. This was his fault, after all. She never would've run off if he hadn't laughed at her.
"OK....OK....Uh, I can, Uh....go find someone!" He paced back and forth, Pikachu walking at his heals nervously. "Pikachu, I have to find a road. It's our only chance."
The Pikachu nodded, and hopped over to the two comatose figures. "Chuuu."
Ash thought for a minute. "I...I guess there was a road back there a little..." He looked north. "I've got to hurry....bye Pikachu! Wish me luck."
"Kaaa," Pikachu said sadly, and watched his distraught friend run off again.
* * * *
The wait seemed to last forever.
'At least I got her here,' Ash thought. 'At least she has a chance.'
Pikachu had fallen asleep in the chair next to Ash's; the waiting room was full of the noises of ringing phones and talking people. Ash had tuned himself out. All he could really think about was how all this was his fault.
"Ash Ketchem?"
Ash jumped. "Huh?! Oh." It was a Doctor...Misty's Doctor.
He sat down on Ash's other side. "She's in intensive care," he told him. "She could go either way."
Ash nodded. "She... might make it, right?"
"Yes, she may. She's fragile right now, though; this is a critical stage. But, at least you were able to get her here before her condition got any worse."
"Yeah..."
The Doctor changed the subject quickly. "Your other friend— Brock. He's doing pretty well. He had a bad case of the flu, but we've given him some medication and he's doing good."
"That's good," Ash said abstractly.
"I'll let you know when any changes occur," the Doctor informed Ash. "We'll do all we can for Misty."
"Thanks."
* * * *
All night Ash waited. He waited, not knowing what to expect, except that if Misty didn't live, he couldn't forgive himself.
At last, the Doctor came out and spoke to Ash again.
"You can see her now."
He guided Ash down a hallway, and into a room with a closed window and machines all around.
"She's stable, but from what we're seeing...she may not wake up soon."
Ash walked to the girl's bedside. "What?"
"She's in a coma."
That was quite a blow to Ash. She wasn't going to wake up, then?! She was alive, but she couldn't even talk to him?
"When will she wake up, Doctor?" Ash's voice sounded afraid.
"We don't know. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not at all."
"Oh..." He kneeled by her side. What had he done? "Misty, I'm sorry," he whispered. "But.... you're alive." He found himself crying again. "Oh, I'll make it up to you, Misty. I won't leave you."
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
Misty was staring at Ash, still seated in the chair. Tears were again welling up in her eyes. Had he really gone through all that for her?
"Ash... I had no idea... you've been here the whole time."
Ash nodded. "I wanted to keep my promise, and...I was worried about you."
Misty couldn't believe her ears. Ash had gone through more than she had in those couple of years! And yet, after he told her about all this, she felt like she was still in the dark.
"Ash, what happened after that? I mean, after I was unconscious for a while."
"You were so far from— from Cerulean, and Pallet," Ash began. "I wanted to stay close to you, and even though you were sent home to Cerulean for a while, they decided that you would be safer under a Doctor's care. I guess they thought something could happen...they were scared. They moved you to a hospital that was kinda close to Pallet and Cerulean, so I was able to see you almost every day. I lived at home. I didn't want to leave again; I didn't feel right doing that.
"You were in stable condition then. But they told me that they thought your heart might stop if you weren't monitored. They kept giving you all this medicine on IVs and stuff; they fed you through IVs, too. I always felt bad about that, because I remembered how much you liked to scarf down ice cream, and you couldn't." He smiled; Misty smirked at him, but it was hard to hide her playful smile.
"I can barely remember ice cream..." she said wistfully. "I wouldn't mind some..."
Ash laughed. "Neither would I, to be honest."
"You still eat like you used to, then, don't you?"
They both had a laugh for a minute.
Misty looked at Ash again, thinking of all he'd done for her. It must still hurt him to feel so at blame. "Ash," she said seriously, "I want you to know I'm very flattered that you did all that you did for me. But you've got to realize that I do forgive you. You've more than payed me back with what you've been through, and I don't want you to blame yourself for this."
Ash stood up from his chair, and sat on Misty's bed gently. "Misty, I thought about just leaving you in the hospital. Really, I wanted to not feel guilty about it, but I always acted like I had hated you when we were traveling— I wanted to prove somehow that I didn't, even if...if you didn't wake up."
Misty wished that she could somehow pay Ash back for what he had given her, but he didn't seem to feel too bad about his ordeal now. It was like just the knowledge that she was awake was good enough for him. But she couldn't get passed the fact that he had become mad with himself when she was the one who had run off like a stupid little child. She'd done this to herself, and Ash had payed for it. He'd sacrificed the thing that had always been his number one priority— his Pokemon training. Then, suddenly, Misty had become his priority. He couldn't have done a sweeter thing.
"Misty, you look exhausted. I really think you should sleep for a bit."
"What? Ash, I've been asleep for almost three years!" She had to laugh at his suggestion. "I've already tried to sleep, anyway. Its... hard."
He nodded. "Yeah, but you've been through a lot just today. I think you should at least try to rest, OK?" He looked at her convincingly.
Misty gave in. "OK, I'll try."
"Thanks. Maybe... maybe we can talk more later."
"I'd like that," Misty said.
She settled down in her bed and Ash left, turning off the light.
After he was gone, Misty found it hard to get her mind off of all the events she'd just heard about. But when, at last, she did drift off, her dreams were surprisingly pleasant.
_______________________
...To Be Continued....
Misty's Awakening
Part 2
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Misty sat there, as if paralyzed, for several moments. Time stood still. She couldn't get her voice to utter a single word. Not after what she had just heard. Not after what the Doctor had told her.
She was staring at her hand now, unable to move her gaze from it. There was a hospital bracelet on her wrist...and her fingers looked...longer?
At long last, she slowly, steadily, looked up to the Doctor. His face; his eyes— they looked sincere and concerned. He wasn't smiling anymore. "Misty," he said gently, "I'm very sorry..." She just looked into his face, as if to ask him for the real truth. To ask him, at least, for a way to change it.
"I'm sorry, but... what's done is done. Accidents happen, and sometimes, they aren't at all how we want them to end up."
Misty let herself breathe. "H...how long? Three years?" Fear flowed clearly through her voice, and the strange, sick, nervous pain in her stomach felt almost unbearable now.
"Not quite three," the Doctor said. "More like two and a half." Misty nodded, but she seemed to be somewhere else.
"Two and a half years..." she repeated quietly. "Two and a half... years."
"Misty," the Doctor told her, "Many coma patients don't even wake up after that long. Many are permanently handicapped, or get brain damage, or worse. You got off very lucky. I want you to at least consider that."
Her breath wavered. "Yes... but... two and a half years... are gone..." She closed her eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'll never have them back." Several more tears came, falling off of her chin and soaking onto the hospital blanket.
The Doctor touched her arm. "I understand. But the important thing now is that you woke up, and you're alive. You're healthy, and you need to keep it that way. You must rest now.
She nodded, biting her lip.
"Th..thank y...ou," Misty stammered, and looked away.
The Doctor helped her to lay down again, and she buried her head in her pillow.
She waited until she heard the Doctor close the door to break into uncontrollable sobs.
* * * *
Throughout the day, the Doctor, as well as several nurses, all writing things down and checking machines, came in and out of Misty's room. She pretended to be asleep, though; she didn't want to talk to them.
Misty actually tried to sleep several times, but her slumber was brief and full of nightmares. Over and over, she saw herself tumbling down a ledge, sharp rocks protruding into her skin, and blood and scratches covering her body as she rolled onto the cold sand. After that, it was like returning to her black void...the one she had been trapped in for nearly three years. She never wanted to sleep again.
That evening, the Doctor returned. He told Misty that she needed to take some pills and water.
He sat her up, held out a tray of pills, and handed her a cup of water. It felt strange to drink water again. She couldn't recall it's soothing, cold, feeling; liquid and smooth, trickling down her throat It felt like a very distant memory.
The Doctor was just picking up the cup and tray when a nurse came to the door.
"Doctor," she said, "Misty Waterflower has a visitor."
"Oh, yes. Right on schedule. I suppose...he knows."
The nurse nodded.
The Doctor turned to Misty. "Would you like a visitor?"
She had no inkling of who would visit her— she hadn't thought about that before. "Sh..sure, yeah," she mumbled.
The Doctor stood, and walked to the door with the nurse. It closed.
Again, Misty felt that sick, nervous feeling. Who would visit her? She was so anxious, she couldn't get herself to remember anyone she had ever known. Her head was a whirlpool of names and faces that she couldn't match...
The knob on the door turned; it cracked open.
A teenage boy, looking to be about sixteen, stepped in. He was wearing a T-shirt with jeans...but it seemed to suit him. His complection was clear, and his hair was dark and a bit wild, though good-looking, and his eyes looked caring and curious.
'Who in the.....'
Shocked, Misty's jaw dropped in sudden realization.
"Ash?"
The boy's face turned into a smile— a joyful, relieved smile. He ran to Misty's bedside.
"MISTY!!" he cried out, and wrapped his strong arms around her body. "It's TRUE— you're awake! I can't believe you're awake..."
If this was Ash, he sure wasn't acting the part. Just the same...Misty hoped that it really was him.
"Ash..." she choked. "Ash, is it really...?"
The dark haired boy looked up. Misty nearly gasped— those eyes, that face, there was no mistaking it was him— and his face was wet with tears.
"Oh, Ash!" Misty cried, and she flung her own arms around the boy. "I... missed you..."
* * * *
They ended the embrace, both in tears by now, and looked at each other. Misty's breath was shaky, but she didn't feel nervous and cold anymore.
"I can't believe how...how different you look!" Misty told him, looking him over again. In this case, she decided, different was good. Very good. Ash had turned into quite a good- looking guy, and while Misty was sure that it was her same Ash, there was a new quality to him. Maturity.
'A lot has happened to him in two and a half years...' she thought.
"Well, you have, too."
Misty hadn't thought a lot about this. She looked down at her hand again. "I guess you're right."
They both smiled; his almost made her blush. She wasn't sure what to say now. What were you supposed to say to someone you had disappeared from nearly three years ago?
Then, she remembered something that the Doctor had said earlier.
"Ash, what did the Doctor mean— he said you were 'right on schedule'." She gave him a curious look.
"Well...he said that because this is the time I usually come to see you." He sat down in the chair by her bed.
Misty's face went a bit white. "You...you've been coming to see me?"
Ash nodded. "As often as I could."
It was hard for Misty to think clearly. What exactly had happened to Ash since she fell?
She breathed in slowly. "What...happened, Ash, after I went unconscious? Tell me everything you can."
Ash sat still for a few seconds, as if recollecting events he didn't want to remember, and then he began to speak.
"OK, Misty...if you really want to hear it. Where should I start? Uh, I guess where you ran off. Well anyway, I had a laugh for a couple of minutes about what I had said to you...but after about half an hour without you coming back, I, well, I got worried." It felt good to hear him say that.
"So after a while, I told Brock I was going to look for you. He wasn't exactly, uh, *there* at the moment, you know how he was sick...so I just left to find you...."
//=//=//=//=//=///=//=//=//=//=//
Ash wasn't sure why, but he had never been so worried about Misty. She'd run off before but...why did he get the feeling that she wouldn't be coming back this time?
"Pikachu, you've got to stay here, with Brock," the boy told his Pokemon. "Will you do that for me?"
"Pika! Pikachu!"
"Thanks, Pikachu. I'll be back as soon as I can!"
The sun was beginning to set now. Ash couldn't make his legs do anything but run. Where was Misty? Why hadn't she returned? Was she serious this time, about leaving?
"She loves the beach," he told himself. "She'll be by the ocean, I'm sure."
He found a cliff leading down to the beach. Ash climbed down it, slowly, as not to fall, and began to search over the sand.
"Misssss-ty!" he called, "MISSS-TY!!" Certainly, she was here...she had to be.
Ash ran frantically over the sand, breathing furiously, and continued to look and call for his friend.
He saw ahead of him, in the darkness, something on the sand by the cliff...
"Misty! Oh, Misty..."
He fell over in the sand by her side, shaking her body urgently, yet gently. "Misty, please, I...I'm sorry— please, *please* get up!"
He looked at her body...scratches and gashes covered her once fair skin. Her face was expressionless; her body, lifeless.
Ash whimpered softly. "...she.... she's....." He choked back tears. "...Misty, no...."
He sniffed, and glanced around. 'What should I do? This is— this is all my fault!'
He felt warm tears in his eyes. "I've got to do something... I've got to—" He sobbed agonizingly. "Misty...I'll do something..." He pulled her up into his arms, carrying her, and carefully climbed the ledge.
He moved as fast as he could back toward to camp. "Please, Misty.... " he whispered, "...don't die on me."
* * * *
Ash looked over his two friends, both lying, rather motionless, on the ground. He had wrapped Misty up in a blanket tightly, hoping by some whim that she was still alive. If she was, it was he who would have to save her. This was his fault, after all. She never would've run off if he hadn't laughed at her.
"OK....OK....Uh, I can, Uh....go find someone!" He paced back and forth, Pikachu walking at his heals nervously. "Pikachu, I have to find a road. It's our only chance."
The Pikachu nodded, and hopped over to the two comatose figures. "Chuuu."
Ash thought for a minute. "I...I guess there was a road back there a little..." He looked north. "I've got to hurry....bye Pikachu! Wish me luck."
"Kaaa," Pikachu said sadly, and watched his distraught friend run off again.
* * * *
The wait seemed to last forever.
'At least I got her here,' Ash thought. 'At least she has a chance.'
Pikachu had fallen asleep in the chair next to Ash's; the waiting room was full of the noises of ringing phones and talking people. Ash had tuned himself out. All he could really think about was how all this was his fault.
"Ash Ketchem?"
Ash jumped. "Huh?! Oh." It was a Doctor...Misty's Doctor.
He sat down on Ash's other side. "She's in intensive care," he told him. "She could go either way."
Ash nodded. "She... might make it, right?"
"Yes, she may. She's fragile right now, though; this is a critical stage. But, at least you were able to get her here before her condition got any worse."
"Yeah..."
The Doctor changed the subject quickly. "Your other friend— Brock. He's doing pretty well. He had a bad case of the flu, but we've given him some medication and he's doing good."
"That's good," Ash said abstractly.
"I'll let you know when any changes occur," the Doctor informed Ash. "We'll do all we can for Misty."
"Thanks."
* * * *
All night Ash waited. He waited, not knowing what to expect, except that if Misty didn't live, he couldn't forgive himself.
At last, the Doctor came out and spoke to Ash again.
"You can see her now."
He guided Ash down a hallway, and into a room with a closed window and machines all around.
"She's stable, but from what we're seeing...she may not wake up soon."
Ash walked to the girl's bedside. "What?"
"She's in a coma."
That was quite a blow to Ash. She wasn't going to wake up, then?! She was alive, but she couldn't even talk to him?
"When will she wake up, Doctor?" Ash's voice sounded afraid.
"We don't know. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not at all."
"Oh..." He kneeled by her side. What had he done? "Misty, I'm sorry," he whispered. "But.... you're alive." He found himself crying again. "Oh, I'll make it up to you, Misty. I won't leave you."
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
Misty was staring at Ash, still seated in the chair. Tears were again welling up in her eyes. Had he really gone through all that for her?
"Ash... I had no idea... you've been here the whole time."
Ash nodded. "I wanted to keep my promise, and...I was worried about you."
Misty couldn't believe her ears. Ash had gone through more than she had in those couple of years! And yet, after he told her about all this, she felt like she was still in the dark.
"Ash, what happened after that? I mean, after I was unconscious for a while."
"You were so far from— from Cerulean, and Pallet," Ash began. "I wanted to stay close to you, and even though you were sent home to Cerulean for a while, they decided that you would be safer under a Doctor's care. I guess they thought something could happen...they were scared. They moved you to a hospital that was kinda close to Pallet and Cerulean, so I was able to see you almost every day. I lived at home. I didn't want to leave again; I didn't feel right doing that.
"You were in stable condition then. But they told me that they thought your heart might stop if you weren't monitored. They kept giving you all this medicine on IVs and stuff; they fed you through IVs, too. I always felt bad about that, because I remembered how much you liked to scarf down ice cream, and you couldn't." He smiled; Misty smirked at him, but it was hard to hide her playful smile.
"I can barely remember ice cream..." she said wistfully. "I wouldn't mind some..."
Ash laughed. "Neither would I, to be honest."
"You still eat like you used to, then, don't you?"
They both had a laugh for a minute.
Misty looked at Ash again, thinking of all he'd done for her. It must still hurt him to feel so at blame. "Ash," she said seriously, "I want you to know I'm very flattered that you did all that you did for me. But you've got to realize that I do forgive you. You've more than payed me back with what you've been through, and I don't want you to blame yourself for this."
Ash stood up from his chair, and sat on Misty's bed gently. "Misty, I thought about just leaving you in the hospital. Really, I wanted to not feel guilty about it, but I always acted like I had hated you when we were traveling— I wanted to prove somehow that I didn't, even if...if you didn't wake up."
Misty wished that she could somehow pay Ash back for what he had given her, but he didn't seem to feel too bad about his ordeal now. It was like just the knowledge that she was awake was good enough for him. But she couldn't get passed the fact that he had become mad with himself when she was the one who had run off like a stupid little child. She'd done this to herself, and Ash had payed for it. He'd sacrificed the thing that had always been his number one priority— his Pokemon training. Then, suddenly, Misty had become his priority. He couldn't have done a sweeter thing.
"Misty, you look exhausted. I really think you should sleep for a bit."
"What? Ash, I've been asleep for almost three years!" She had to laugh at his suggestion. "I've already tried to sleep, anyway. Its... hard."
He nodded. "Yeah, but you've been through a lot just today. I think you should at least try to rest, OK?" He looked at her convincingly.
Misty gave in. "OK, I'll try."
"Thanks. Maybe... maybe we can talk more later."
"I'd like that," Misty said.
She settled down in her bed and Ash left, turning off the light.
After he was gone, Misty found it hard to get her mind off of all the events she'd just heard about. But when, at last, she did drift off, her dreams were surprisingly pleasant.
_______________________
...To Be Continued....
