The world still felt like it was spinning when Delia regained consciousness. She made a little moan of discomfort and a warm, strong hand grasped her cold, limp one.

"Delia?" said a familiar voice. "Can you hear me?"

Once she felt the room stop spinning, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus on the face hovering above her.

"Samuel?" she murmured as glanced around the unfamiliar room. "Wh-where am I? What happened?"

"You fainted. You're at the hospital."

"Hospital?" A confused Delia looked around. When she heard the beeping of the monitors around Ash's bed, she then remembered. "Ash." She looked over at her son's bed and made an attempt to sit up.

"No, Delia," Samuel told her firmly as he gently pushed her shoulders back down on the pillow. "You're staying right here in bed. You'll pass out again if you try to get up."

"But I…"

"No. You're exhausted. You need to rest. And if you don't get some sleep, I will have the nurse sedate you. And if she won't do it, I will." He reached inside the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a small vial of sparkling pink powder. "Sleep Powder works just as well on humans as it does on Pokémon."

Delia's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't…"

"I will if I have to." He reached for the can of apple juice. "And you're going to eat something if I have to force it down your throat myself. Because if you don't, I'm going to have the nurse come back in here and put an IV in your arm. Hell, you're probably already dehydrated." He poured the juice into a small cup and handed it to her. Her hands were shaking so much as she took the cup from him that she spilled some of the juice onto the blanket. He took the cup back from her and held it to her lips. "Just a little bit at first, that's it. If you drink too much too fast, you'll get sick." After she had taken several sips of the juice, he put the glass down and picked up a small container of pudding. "Since I went to all the trouble to ask the nurse to bring you this, the least you can do it eat it."

She wrinkled her nose as she read the label. "Tapioca? I don't like…" She shut her mouth as he gave her a stern look.

"You are going to eat this whether you like it or not. Now open your mouth." He shoved a spoonful of the pudding to her lips and she reluctantly took a bite. As the pudding slid down, Delia was suddenly aware of the incredible gnawing in her stomach. She snatched the pudding from him and started to devour it. "Delia, don't eat so fast," he warned. "You'll get…"

Too late. Delia gagged as she felt the pudding coming back up. Samuel quickly grabbed the waste can and held her as she retched. When she had finished vomiting what little food was in her stomach, she collapsed limply onto the bed.

"I'm so sorry, Delia," Samuel said as he picked her up into his arms. "I shouldn't have forced you to eat that. Forgive me."

Delia started to cry. She was so tired, so sick, so exhausted, so afraid – she just couldn't handle it anymore.

"There, Delia. That's it," Samuel said soothingly as she wept on his shoulder. "You need to cry." As she sobbed uncontrollably, he rocked her slowly and kissed her clammy forehead. As her weeping slowly subsided, she sighed and closed her eyes. With one final whimper, she sagged against his chest and her body grew limp.

"Delia?" He looked down and saw that her eyes were closed. At first he was afraid that she had passed out again, but a closer examination revealed that she was asleep – finally. He laid her back onto the pillow, pulled the blankets up around her chin, and kissed her cheek as he turned out the light over her bed.

---

Brock, Misty, Richie, and Gary, all dressed in black, slowly walked away from the stadium. Misty was still dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

"That was so sad," she said quietly as Brock put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

"I know," the older boy agreed. "But at the same time it was kind of beautiful." The four had just finished attending the memorial service for the young Pokémon trainer who had been killed two days earlier.

"League President Goodshow gave a pretty good speech, didn't he?" Richie said as the four teens passed by an outdoor café. "Especially the part about how life is like a journey."

"Why don't we get something to eat?" Brock asked the others.

Gary shook his head. "Nahh, I've got to get to bed early tonight. Umbreon and I are going to get up early tomorrow and work on our strategy for the final match tomorrow."

"Are you okay, Gary?" Misty asked. Gary had been unusually somber ever since Ash's accident – and even more so tonight.

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "I'm okay."

"Did you know Lena well?" Misty continued. Brock had mentioned to her earlier that Lena and Gary had known each other.

"She was two cabins down from mine. We talked a couple of times, but I didn't really know her all that well."

"Good luck against Melissa tomorrow, Gary," Richie said as Gary started back for his cabin.

"Hey, Melissa was the one who knocked you out of the fourth round in your first Indigo League match, wasn't she, Gary?" Misty said.

Gary stopped in his tracks. He didn't like being reminded of his humbling defeat two years earlier.

"Yeah, she was, Misty," Gary bristled. "But she'd better watch out this year, 'cause I'm gonna kick her butt."

"I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but it's kind of nice having the cocky Gary back again, if only for a moment," Brock said as he watched the younger boy head determinedly back to his cabin.

"Do you think he's worried about Ash?" Richie asked as the three headed back to the Pokémon Village.

"Even though he won't admit it," Misty said with a tiny smile, "I think he is."

"But I though Ash and Gary hated each other," said a puzzled Richie.

"They used to be good friends a long time ago," Brock said. "But when they became interested in becoming Pokémon trainers, Gary and Ash became so competitive that their friendship fell apart."

"So now they're rivals," Richie summarized.

"You know," Misty said slowly, "Even though they may be rivals, I think Gary and Ash actually respect each other. And the way they fight is just like how my sisters and I do. We're always trying to see who can outdo the other."

"You know, Misty, I think you're right," Brock smiled as the three stopped in front of Richie's cabin.

"Good night, guys," Richie called back as he headed up the path to his cabin. "See you at the match tomorrow."

"Guess we'd better get some sleep too, Misty," Brock said as the two continued down the path to their cabin.

"It's just so strange not having Ash around," Misty said wistfully as she and Brock went inside the cabin that they had been sharing with Ash until his accident. "Not hearing him snore in the bunk over mine, not hearing him shoot off his mouth about how he's the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world, not having to pick up his dirty socks, or listen to him complain about how there's not enough food in the refrigerator…"

"Or having him call you a hot-headed redhead," Brock teased.

Misty smiled for an instant and then felt herself starting to tear up again. "You know, Brock, I wouldn't mind Ash calling me that right about now."

"Poor Misty," Brock said soothingly as he took her in his arms. "This has been so hard for you. For all of us."

"I…I love him, Brock," Misty sobbed into Brock's chest. "Even if he does act like a pain in the butt most of the time, I love him."

"I know you do, Misty," Brock said as he stroked her hair. "I know you do."

---

Professor Oak sighed and turned off the television. He had just finished watching the memorial service for the young woman that had been killed at the same time Ash had been injured. As the television cameras panned across the packed stadium during the service, he had spotted a weeping Misty, a solemn-faced Brock and Richie, and an equally somber Gary in the audience. He put down the television remote and glanced at Delia. He had been afraid that the television might wake her even though he had the volume on low, but he needn't have worried. She hadn't even moved since he had put her to bed several hours ago. The sound of the door opening made him look up. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave now," the nurse informed the gray-haired man sitting at the dark-haired boy's bedside.

Samuel shook his head. "I'm not leaving."

"Are you a relative?" the nurse asked.

"I'm Ash's…stepfather," Professor Oak said as he bit his tongue.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know." The nurse looked over at the woman asleep in the other bed. "The previous nurse on duty mentioned that your wife passed out earlier. Is she still unconscious?" the nurse asked with some concern.

"My wife? Oh, Delia. No, she regained consciousness earlier, but she's absolutely exhausted. Let her sleep."

"Do you want me to check on her, too?" the nurse asked kindly.

"That's all right. I'll check on her myself."

"Be sure to let me know if you need anything," the nurse said as she closed the door.

Samuel felt a little twinge of guilt for having lied to the nurse about being Ash's stepfather. But the story really wasn't that far off from the truth. He had known Ash all of his life and knew that the boy thought of him as a father figure, especially since the boy's real father had abandoned Delia when she told him that she was pregnant.

Pikachu awoke with a yawn. "Pika?" the Pokémon asked with some alarm as it looked around for Delia.

"It's all right, Pikachu. She's over there," Professor Oak told it as he nodded in the direction of the other hospital bed.

Pikachu jumped off of Ash's bed, dashed across the floor, and leapt onto Delia's bed.

"Pika-pi?" the Pokémon said worriedly as he sniffed Delia's face. He was worried that something had happened to her, too.

"It's all right, Pikachu," Professor Oak repeated as he picked up the Pokémon and placed him in his lap. "She's just sleeping, that's all." He started stroking the anxious Pokémon's head. "I know you're worried about both of them. So am I." Pikachu started to relax at his touch. Professor Oak continued to stroke the little yellow Pokémon until it fell back asleep. He stood up and carefully placed Pikachu back onto the foot of Ash's bed. Stretching, Professor Oak glanced at the monitors to see if there had been any improvement in Ash's condition since the last time he had checked. He thought he saw a slight improvement in Ash's blood pressure, but he'd have to ask the doctor about it. Bending down, he began to smooth the boy's untidy hair. Like his, it seemed to never stay in place.

"Who knows, Ash?" Professor Oak said quietly as he brushed aside the stray lock of hair on Ash's forehead. "Perhaps someday I will be your stepfather."

---

The clock on the wall read one-thirty-seven A.M. Samuel yawned and rubbed his eyes. He had dozed off for a few minutes while watching the readouts on Ash's monitors. Convinced that nothing had changed in the boy's condition during his brief nap, Samuel stood up, stretched, and then winced at the twinge of pain in his lower back – sleeping in a chair wasn't good for his lumbago. With a final pat on Pikachu's head and a gentle squeeze of Ash's shoulder, Samuel wandered over to where Delia lay. She still hadn't moved a muscle. Matter of fact, she was sleeping so soundly that he couldn't tell whether she was still breathing or not. He peered in her face for a few seconds, then he slipped a hand under the blanket and let it remain until he felt the faint rise and fall of her ribs. Carefully, he laid down in the bed beside her and pulled the blanket over both of them.

"Oh, Delia," he whispered softly as he wrapped his arm protectively around her waist, "I won't let anything happen to you. Not while I'm alive."

---

The nurse on duty smiled at the sight of the sleeping couple as she came into the room a half-hour later to check Ash's vital signs. Even though the gray-haired man was considerably older than his wife, it was obvious to her that he loved the boy's mother a great deal. After noting that there was a slight improvement in Ash's condition, the nurse turned out the light over the bed and let all three of them sleep.