The white hallways of the hospital were unbearably silents once the visiting hours ended; only the quiet squeak of the doctors sensible shoes and the occasional squeak of wheels broke the monotonous hush. Ash fought the instinct to tighten his grip on Misty's still hand, contenting himself with a brush of his thumb over her knuckles, an action that likely comforted him more than his currently unconscious wife.

He massaged the bridge of his nose and expelled a stress filled breath through his nose, his shoulders tight with tension and hours spent perched in the torture device known as hospital chairs. Somewhere down the ward, a repetitive beep sounded, followed by a small stampede of quickly moving doctors, alerted to a new arrival in the emergency holding area.

Ash threw caution to the wind and released Misty's hand, brushing a kiss across her cool forehead, where he could still smell her heady aroma, a mix of her flowery scent and the exertion of a Pokemon battle. With the indigo league coming closer, her day was usually filled with battling trainers and practicing hard. The doctors said that her fainting was nothing to worry about, it was just because of pure exhaustion but what worried him more was the fall she took, tumbling down the staircase when she fainted.

Fortunately Brock was there at home to help but not enough to avoid Misty's shallow breathing and the sickening crack of bones.

After nearly saving himself from accidents, xAsh had drived as fast as he could at the hostipal only to see her unconscious

Ash scrunched his eyes closed, standing and turning his back to the bed and rubbing his face tiredly, trying to block out the memory of her lying pale and bloodied on the stretcher. A few well-placed growls had ensured no one prevented him from following her stretcher, or tried to evict him from his vigil once visiting hours had ended nearly three hours earlier.

Lack of sleep and copious amounts of stress meant a few choice swears left his lips before a throat cleared behind him, "Come here often Ketchum?"

Tossing his jacket to his recently abandoned chair, Ash strode the few steps it took to bring him to Misty's side, voice gravely with emotion, "Oh thank God."

He winced when his move to sit on the edge of the mattress jarred the bed, his eyes darting as if looking for some new injury, "Did it hurt?"

The fading purple around Misty's right eye crinkled as she smirked, "When I fell from heaven?"

Ash narrowed his eyes, "No. When I bumped into your previously shattered forearm and magnificently bruised thigh."

Misty patted his hand, breathing deeply as if testing if any ribs were broken before running practiced fingers through her matted locks. Her face scrunched as she found the veritable rats nest at the back of her head and dropped back onto her pillow, "Oh. What did the doctor say?

Before Ash had a chance to reply, Misty tugged him forward by the collar of his white t-shirt, "Maybe that I'm lacking vitamin U?"

Wriggling free of her surprisingly strong grip, Ash pressed his lips to her fingertips affectionately, "Dear, you're definitely hopped up on pain killers and will not be using that leg of your anytime soon."

"I'm just intoxicated by you, babe," Misty drawled, finally poking his shoulder successfully on her third attempt.

"Babe?"

"Don't try and distract from the fact that you are falling woefully behind on pick up lines, loser."

Ash responded to her endless shifting by flicking his hand at the adjustor on the bed, tilting her into a relaxed upright position, "Are you bananas? Because I'm falling for you."

Misty quirked a brow questioningly, but accepted the line nonetheless, "No, but if you were a fruit, you'd be a fineapple."

"We're very fruit themed today," Ash chuckled, settling her hands in his lap comfortably.

The red head let out an answering laugh, cut off abruptly by her wince of pain, hands grabbing at her swollen jaw

"Shite, Mist," Ash breathed, mentally considering alerting the staff sooner than he'd planned.

Waving him off, Misty shifted again, "I'm all right, don't coddle me."

"Its not- I just- you-" Ash floundered, trying to choose the best way to say 'I thought the love of my life was going to die before my eyes less than six hours ago so I'm a little edgy' without sounding like a ponce.

"You seem lost, do you need a map to the end of that sentence?"

Sighing, Ash accepted that heavily medicated Misty was not one for serious talk, and leaned forward, their faces a breath apart, "No, but I do need directions to your heart."

Misty poked his nose, "Pretty impressive transition, Ketchum."

"Ta, Ketchum."

Ash brought his hand to her smiling face, thumb brushing along her cheekbone softly, "I was just going to say you really scared me."

"I'm surprised you were even here given how busy the league is and your current situation," Misty smirked, tilting her head into his hand.

A trio of doctors strolled by the cracked door, shoes squeaking as they chatted about some fit bloke in records named Fabio. The couple shared grins before Ash cleared his throat, expression solemn, "I'm sorry."

"I know."

"It's a lame excuse though," Ash muttered, fiddling with his wedding band, eyes downcast.

Pressing her palms into the scratchy blankets layered across her lap, Misty leaned forward, tilting his chin up with scabbed over knuckles, "You're here now, when it matters."

Both stayed silent for a moment, Ash wondering how he's gotten so lucky, and Misty contemplating how much trouble she'd get in for snogging her husband in a hospital bed, before Ash spoke, avoiding eye contact, "Yeah well, I'm going to be 'here' for a while."

Jarred from her reverie involving a locked door and making full use of the adjustable bed and a serious lack of clothing on both their parts, Misty turned her attention a depressingly fully clothed Ash , "What?"

Ash ran his palms down his trousers nervously, "Like maybe a week?"

"Why?"

In an attempt to delay long enough to gather his legendary courage, Ash stretched over the bed, pouring ice chips into one of the disposable cups and crunching a mouthful loudly. Unimpressed, Misty folded her arms across her chest, momentarily distracted from her evasive husband by the ache radiating through her sternum, until she turned her heated gaze toward him once more.

Ash shrugged, letting out a nervous chuckle, "That is what tends to happen when you shout at your boss about missing your wife and running out of the office without a reply"