A/N: Sorry for the day's wait. My housekeeper was here and she was vacuuming so I couldn't concentrate on the story. Thanks for you patience.

Disclaimer: I, Sceptile, am not a pokemon owner. Hah, now you can't sue me!

Sickness of the Heart:

Chapter 3: Unconsciousness

"A coma," Ash murmured to himself. Pikachu had fallen asleep in his lap, but after hearing the news, the last thing he could think about was sleep. It had been six hours since Ash had heard that fateful word. Misty's sisters had paid her a visit a little while ago, but lost interest after discovering that there was no way to communicate with her.

"This is great, I might lose Misty before I even get a chance to tell her that I…" His thoughts were interrupted,

"Mr. Ketchum?" Ash stood up and strode over to where the white coated man was standing.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash relayed. "Ahh, yes we've received some details about your girlfriend after running some tests," the doctor stated.

"Umm, actually she's not my girlfriend, she just a really close friend," Ash responded, blushing profusely at the thought of him dating Misty. The doctor narrowed his eyes in disbelief, but decided to let the subject drop.

"Well as you know, your friend has come down with an extreme viral infection and has maybe a twenty percent chance survival rate. We're giving her all the pain killers and medicines we can, but we don't really know what to expect, let alone when she might wake up. I'm sorry," the man finished.

By now, Pikachu was wide awake, and Ash was sitting down once again with his face in his palms.

"You may see her now if you wish," and with that the doctor left to attend to another patient.

Ash immediately stood up and paced up to the door that the doctor had just exited. He took a deep breath and entered slowly. Misty was neatly tucked into a white hospital bed. Her hair was neatly combed and let down to the left side of her head. She had regained some of her skin color, but she was still slightly pale. Ash felt his throat swell up and the tears began flow. "How could this happen to such a sweet innocent girl like Misty?" He asked himself. He pulled up a small metal chair and sat down taking Misty's hand in his. "Misty," Ash managed out, "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this. You're an angel to me, even if sometimes we didn't get along to well…" Ash managed out a small, choked back laugh. "But please," he continued, "I need you, you can't leave me. If you die, then so do I," he finished. He could no longer help himself. He quietly stood up, leaned over, and gently planted a soft kiss on Misty's forehead.

Just then a doctor passed by, glancing at one of the machines resting next to Misty's bed. Then, he poked his head back into view with an extremely startled look on his face.

"Doc, is there something wrong," Ash asked with a nervous look. The doctor paced over to a keyboard and began pressing buttons, with the monitor flashing to different screens.

"I'm… I'm not sure, but it seems your friend's vital signs have just boosted at an incredible rate. Was there anything that you may have been doing to trigger this?" He asked with a questioning look on his face.

"Well… I… Umm… I just…" he was cut off, "Son, I don't know what you were doing, but whatever it was, keep doing it," and with that, he left the room.

Ash then looked back at Misty with a confused look, but soon turned into a sheepish grin. "Well, you heard the man," and he began to lean over.

But just as their lips were centimeters apart, an interrogative voice asked, "Ash?" "B…Brock? What are you doing here?" Ash asked with an almost harsh voice.

"Listen, pal, I'm sorry if I interrupted something…" he said with a smirk. Ash's face turned to the color of a beet, but then managed, "N…No."

"Well, alright then… But did you really expect me sit around while one of my best friends was this sick?" Ash shook his head.

He knew that Brock had all the rights in the world to see Misty, because he had known her just as long as long as Ash had.

"Ash, are you okay?" Brock asked. Ash realized that he had been looking off into space. "Yeah, I'm just feeling a little out it," he replied.

"Well, do you wanna go get a bite to eat, I haven't eaten since I left Pewter," asked Brock. Ash looked a little stunned as he realized that he hadn't eaten or fed Pikachu in a day. Pikachu gave Brock an eager look and directed it back to Ash. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea seeing that we haven't eaten in a while, right buddy?" Pikachu nodded. "Then let's go," finished Brock, and they made their way to the cafeteria in the other wing of the hospital.

They had a good meal with Brock picking the salad bar, Ash choosing the soup of the day, and ordering a small dish of lo mein for his small yellow friend. When they were finished, they paid the tab and started the walk back towards the wing of the hospital that Misty was resting within. They entered the large waiting room and took two seats near the exit of the room, but just as soon as they had sat down a doctor sped over to them with an extremely nervous look on his face.

"Excuse me Mr. Ketchum, but something has gone wrong with your friend's treatment," he almost blurted out.

"Wh…What?" Ash choked out with a look of absolute horror in his eyes.

"Well, her body had a certain reaction to some of the medicine we gave her, and her lungs failed, the only thing that is keeping her alive right now is a machine that we've hooked her up to. Sir, there is nothing more we can do for her, and we need the machine for other patients. We've contacted her sisters but they refuse to speak to us. We need to know if you are willing to let her go…" Ash's face teared up almost instantly.

He didn't have time to think, he simply stated, "Let her go," and before another word could be spoken Ash bolted out of the hospital, into the pouring rain.

"Ash!" "Pika!" His two friends yelled out, but Ash could not hear them over his own sobs.

He ran down many of the Cerulean streets just trying to escape from an unknown enemy.

He finally fell to his knees and cried out to the heavens, "WHY? SHE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! AND NOW IT'S MY FAULT SHE GONE!"

He put his head down to the ground. He could no longer tell the difference between the rain and his tears he was sobbing at full force. He didn't look up until he heard a soft, gentle, feminine voice ask, "Ash…?"

A/N: Not really much to say. Next chapter out soon.