Misty

He's…okay…I think…He's pressed back against the box as far as he can go and staring at me with huge wide eyes. He looks absolutely terrified. I don't think I've ever seen him look that scared…He's completely tensed up, and his teeth are being forced together while his lips refuse to close completely, and he's holding onto some…piece of cloth like his life depends on it…I think it used to be a blanket…Well, whatever it is, it's dusty and dirty and I can't even tell what color it used to be…

"Ash, are you okay…?" I ask gently…I still want to kill him, but that can wait until we're out of here…Right now, I don't want to scare him anymore than he already is so I can convince him to come down…

He's not doing anything…If anything he looks more scared…Just great…

"Ash? Come on…We…We were worried about you…"

I think I saw some type of reaction at that, but whatever it was it's gone now…He still hasn't said anything…

"…Ash? Is something the matter…?"

"Pikapi…?"

He fidgets a little and pulls the piece of cloth closer to him. He's holding it so tight his knuckles are white! What's the matter with him? He's also…breathing really hard…I didn't notice that before…but now it seems rather obvious. Maybe that was the breathing I heard when I came up here, not mine and Pikachu's…

"Are you okay?" I try again. I'm trying to be nice…I think that's what he wants right…? I know I wouldn't like it if someone came looking for me and then started yelling at me…but this is Ash we're talking about and anything could be possible…

He's still staring at me like about to attack him or something…He should know better than that……unless…Oh, this doesn't have anything to do with…that…does it…?

Oh, he really oughta know better than that…Ash…you…you can be so silly sometimes…

"Come on, Ash…I'm not going to hurt you…" I reach for his hand so I can try to drag him out of the box, but he makes a sharp whimpering sound and jerks his hand back hard. I think he said "No…!"

"What…?"

He's whimpering more…I think he's trying to make himself smaller…I can't believe he's doing this…It wasn't that big a deal…

"…What's wrong? Why won't you answer me?"

I see him bite down hard on his lip and try to scrunch back farther. Alright…I won't stand for much more of this…

"Fine. If you're not gonna talk, then the least you can do is come downstairs! Maybe Brock will be able to get something out of you…"

He glances at me again, and I can still see the fear continuing to rise in him…Why is still acting this way? Can't he see that I just want to help him now? Well, whatever it is, I've had enough of it. I grab him by both hands and this time I don't let go.

Whoa, he's struggling a lot more than I expected…Pretty fiercely too I might add….Well he's trying fiercely at least…Kicking and screaming for help from Pikachu…but Pikachu can't do anything because if he tries to shock me, he'll shock Ash too…besides…I don't think Pikachu would shock me on command anyway…He's too nice for that…but Ash on the other hand…

"What is your problem!?" I demand as I gradually drag him out of that little box. For all the fighting he's doing, it almost seems too easy to get him out…like there's not enough intensity behind his struggling…but I know he's trying hard. It's obvious that he doesn't want to come out of there at any cost…so it shouldn't have been so easy for me to pull him out…

"Let me go!!" he cries aloud, but when I look, I can see real tears at the corners of his eyes, which are squeezed shut in what almost looks like pain…He barely gets that sentence out though before he starts coughing heavily and in a sudden pang of worry, I hope that it's just from all the dust everywhere…

"Are you o-?!" I start, then stop in surprise when I think I see a large red spot at the base of his neck. That wasn't there the last time I saw him…What…?

He takes advantage of my suddenly slack grip and backs right back into the box and pulls the cloth over him again. Argh! Now I have to pull him out again…and I can't see that spot anymore…It's too dark in that box…What was it…?

He coughs again, and it's not just a little cough, but it's a real hoarse, hard one. He winces for a second, then goes back to trying to stay as far away from me as possible…

How could he be sick…? He was fine when I last saw him…unless…?

"Ash!? Get back out here…What happened to your neck?"

He glances at me again. "Huh?" Now that I take the time to notice, he does look bleary…

"Your neck…I saw a red mark on it…Come out so I can get a better look…"

He doesn't move…He just keeps staring at me, breathing raspily…

"Ash…Please…I'm not going to do anything else to you, just let me see it…"

Ash, we're in a dusty old attic probably full of all sorts of creepy things and…please let me look at it…If it's something bad I'll be able to tell, but looking at you right now, it probably is something bad…

His defenses are coming down…just a little…I think I see a tad more worry than fear now…not that there's a huge difference between the two…but he looks away stiffly and squeezes the blanket more.

"Pikapi…!" Pikachu's even pleading with him now…He won't be able to hold out for much longer…

…But he's even ignoring Pikachu…This is bad…It's not because Pikachu's…siding with me, is it…? Ash, it was just a mistletoe! That's all…! It…could've been more…but it wasn't…Please don't do this to me…

…First thing's first though…I've gotta figure out what's wrong with him…and then…then…I'll figure out the rest…

"…Does it hurt…?" I ask quietly.

He looks at me questioningly. "Huh…?"

"Your neck…Um…Right around here…" I say, showing him the spot on my neck where his spot would be.

His eyes widen a little, and he kind of shrugs then winces afterwards…This is definitely not just something little…

"Ash, come on…Let me look at it…Please…?"

He's still not being cooperative…Fine! I'll make him cooperate. I'm not gonna let him sit there and be miserable no matter how much he doesn't want me near him!

I grab him again and pull hard and fast, effectively propelling him out of the box and almost into me, but he wouldn't let that happen...He's holding back, backing away as best he can…I grip his wrists tightly while he squirms and peer at his neck. It's definitely not just some little spot…It almost looks like a rash, but…No, it's not…There's something in the center…like a……bug bite!?

I feel a good reason to panic now. Bugs are never good…and they are not allowed to bite my friends!…Or me…Let's not forget me…

As I panic, I tug him closer to me so I can get a good look at the bite. He freezes immediately, or tries to…I can hear his breathing get tenser, quicker…It looks like a spider bite…Not that…Please not that…

Of all the bugs in the world…spiders are the worst…I remember…when I was little…I was bitten by a spider…and it made me so sick…I had to go to the hospital…and…

Ash! Oh no…I hope…I hope that doesn't happen now…Please no…

He starts to cough but it sounds like it got caught in his throat and it comes out as more of a wheeze than anything…and not a normal wheeze either…I've never heard him make that noise before. It almost sounds like he has asthma or something and I know he doesn't…

"Are you alright!?"

He tries to nod, but even that gets interrupted by another braying wheeze. Alarmed, I instinctively hold him closer, he's really cold, and try rubbing his back, but that only seems to be making it worse because he's tensing up more…I think he really is afraid of me…

"Ash…Calm down…I'm not gonna hurt you…You need to relax…Just breathe…In and out…In and out…" I'm trying to sound soothing, but I'm really just as scared as he probably is…

He gives me a weird look, but I feel him relax, just a little, and gradually his breathing grows easier…It's still audible, but at least he isn't coughing and wheezing anymore……Coughing and wheezing…Eh…Team Rocket had better not come and try to steal Pikachu now

"…Are you okay now…?" I ask him softly. Right now I don't want to do anything to alarm him if that means he's going to have trouble breathing again…

"…A little…" he whispers hoarsely. I can still feel him trying to edge away from me, not as forcefully as before, but I don't think he likes the fact that I'm even touching him…If I wasn't worried about his health, I'd be worried about what that means about what he thinks about me…but I don't have time for that…

"It looks like a spider bite…" I tell him quietly. I'm still trying to be the calm and collected one here…He looks sharply at me then cringes and coughs a little. What does that mean…? "Ash, did you see a spider…?"

It takes him a little while to respond, but he eventually nods…I'm not thrilled about that answer, but I guess it's better than just getting bitten and not knowing what did it…

"What did it look like…?"

He's quiet again, then he finally talks. "…I saw two…Um…Well…Um…The only one…" Here he has to stop a moment to gasp for breath. He also puts a hand over his chest and that scares me… "The only one that's still alive…" he continues wearily, "was this…big one…black…uh…she was a little red too…"

"What!!?" I screech. He did not just describe what I think he just described…!!…And why did he say "she?" How can you tell…?

"Uh…she was big…and black…and she had a little red on its back…um…"

"You saw a black widow!?" No…! This isn't happening, this isn't happening…oh I hope there aren't anymore around…My skin feels all itchy already….Wait! Ash…Right…

"Uhh…" Now he sounds confused…Don't tell me he doesn't know a black widow when he sees one…

"Did it bite you…?" I press on strainingly…He did mention more than one spider, didn't he? Maybe it was the other one that bit him…

"Uh…I dunno…" he replies weakly. He's holding a hand over his chest again…This is not good…This is not good…

"Let's get you downstairs…" I whisper to him. I have both arms around him protectively…More to make sure he can't get away again than anything…He doesn't like it, but he's not fighting against it anymore…I hope it's just because he's getting used to it, not because he can't…

I start to help him stand up but as I do, he does struggle. "I can get outta here by myself…" he mumbles and breaks loose. He immediately staggers. Not a good sign…

"Uh…Are you sure…?" It's obvious that he can't…Of course, I know it's gonna take a while for him to realize that…

"Yeah…" I can sense a bit of impatience in his voice…like it should be obvious that he can make it out of the attic by himself…Sigh…It's not exactly a short walk to the exit in his condition…

He takes a step forward…barely…I still think he's more eager to get away from me than to actually leave…The second step doesn't go so well. His leg buckles and he drops to his knees. I'm ready to help him walk the rest of the way, but there he goes trying again…I really shouldn't let him do this…It's only going to make it worse…but there's no other way to make him see that he does need my help right now…He's trying to stand up again, but he falls again, and this time he can't even support himself with his arms and he lies on the floor, his face hidden in his arms. I can see his back slowly heaving up and down, but other than that he's completely still…

"Ash…?"

"Pikapi…"

We both get closer to him. I put a hand on his back. It's…a little sticky…and stringy…Ew! A spiderweb and…eww…dead spider…He flinches and moves so he's looking forward. I think he looks angry…He pushes himself up slowly, but he's still too weak to try to stand…

"Do you want me to-?"

"No…"

Figures…It…looks like he's going to try crawling there……Let's see how long this lasts…

…That wasn't very long…

At least now he won't be able to struggle anymore…With a sigh, I carefully lift him up. I have to hold him close or else we would look silly with me just kind of dragging him across the floor…Much to my surprise, he actually holds onto my arm, very tightly too…Maybe he just doesn't want to fall…Well, either way, I half drag half support him back to the stairs…You know, he's heavier than he looks…When this is all over, I have to remind him to cut back on the snacks…and the post-second helpings…That or I'm getting out of shape…Well we'll worry about that after Ash is all better…

With my help, it doesn't take very long to get back to the stairs…but then I realize we have another problem…I can't exactly just drop him down there…The same goes for me too…

"Brock!?"

He appears quickly and looks up at us. His eyebrows go up when he sees Ash. I don't know about his eyes. I can never tell with his eyes…

"Is he okay!?"

"No…I…." What am I supposed to say…? I'll worry about that later…First we have to get down…Maybe the same way Ash got up here…? "Ash? Where's Bulbasaur's Pokéball? Or maybe Chikorita…?" Normally, I would've asked him to get it himself, but I don't want him to waste anymore energy…He can't even lift his head…or he's not trying to…

He doesn't answer me, but instead one of his hands goes to his belt and he takes a Pokéball, enlarges it, and tosses it down the steps. It bounces on a few then lands at Brock's feet and lets out a white light which forms into Bulbasaur. The Pokéball floats back up to his hand and he puts it back on his belt. I don't think he's going to give Bulbasaur any orders, so I do it for him…Most of his Pokémon will listen to me anyway…

"Bulbasaur, use your vines to help Ash get down…"

"Saur," Bulbasaur nods and extends dark green tendrils up at us. They wrap around Ash and I let go so Bulbasaur can bring him down. He lowers him slowly. Ash stays limp as he does this…Bulbasaur lets him go next to Brock, who catches Ash when he realizes he can't stand by himself. Bulbasaur helps me down next and Pikachu jumps onto my shoulder.

When we're all safely back on the ground, I take another good look at Ash now that there's actually light to see him with…He's shivering, pale, and he looks so small and helpless with Brock holding him like that…and that bite on his neck…Maybe it's just my imagination, but it looks redder than before…

I forget all about worrying and get straight to business. I didn't get him down here for nothing, now he's going to get better or else!

"Brock, I'll get him into a bed, you go down and call the hospital and get an ice pack while you're there…Tell them Ash got bitten by a black widow…"

"A black widow!?" he echoes in shock.

"Right," I nod, already taking Ash away from Brock. We don't have time to lose. "Now hurry!"

"Right." He hesitates for only a second before running downstairs.

I hold Ash tightly and bring him into our room, then help him into the nearest bed and cover him with a blanket. He still feels so cold, but he's sweating a little…He shifts in the bed then looks at me with pain teared eyes…

"Misty…what…?" he breathes, "The…hospital…?"

"Shh…You're gonna be fine…I just…don't want to risk anything…"

"…I feel okay…" he whispers, "I'm not sick…"

I almost want to laugh at that. He's lying through his teeth…

"I know, Ash…I…know…"

A/N: Um…I'm up for another part? How about all you guys? 'Course, I have to write it first, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, right? It'll just be a little late for Christmas…Oh btw, Llyxius…am I really that predictable…? *^_^*;;  One last thing…In Japan, it wouldn't be a black widow spider, it'd be a button spider…They don't have black widows there, and I may be wrong but button spiders might be worse…Anyways…I just said black widow cuz I'm going by the dub and the dub woulda said black widow…*^_^*;;;