I haven't updated in my pearlshipping fics in a while. Omg. It's been a whole year and a couple of months since I've updated this story. I hope you guys haven't left yet, because I haven't left this story either.
If you guys didn't know, then I'm currently in Florida in university right now. My spring term has ended and I'm now taking summer classes before I go back to Belize for the summer. It's been quite fun here, but school can really put a toll on ya.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the update!
The raven-haired boy snuggled closer and hugged his pillow tighter. As his fatigue started to fade and as his mind started to slowly relax, he couldn't help but to wonder what it would be like if a certain blunette were next to him in bed, for their bodies to be snuggling closer together. He'd be able to be in awe of her natural beauty, smile and innocence every day. He'd wake up with her dark blue luscious hair on his face and her arms on his chest.
He suddenly opened his eyes and began to chuckle to himself lightly. It was admittedly a bit pervy to be fantasizing about Dawn right now, but he couldn't help it. He placed his arms around the back of his head, his brown eyes staring into the ceiling. A smile etched unto his features.
Ash positioned himself up when he heard a glass break.
Curious, the ebony-haired male walked out of his bedroom and proceeded towards the kitchen. He eyed the floor, only to see the broken pieces lying on the floor. He sighed to himself. He figured since he was already here, he should clean up the mess before someone else got hurt in the morning.
When he finished discarding the glass pieces, a familiar car horn was heard and it sounded as if it was coming from outside the house. He peeked out the window, looking around for anything suspicious, when his eyes caught onto the familar head of purple hair. Ash narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he watched Paul enter in Albus's vehicle.
Ash looked at the clock. It was just minutes after midnight.
Where the hell was Paul going at this time?
"Well, being the meddling person I am, I noticed Paul hop in grandpa's old vehilce this morning and he seldon takes his car. So I wondered where he'd head off to in the early morning. I followed him unnoticed and saw him pull up at the hospital."
He recalled Drew's words earlier and connected the pieces together. He knew Paul was on his way to the hospital, but what for? Despite his curiosity, he didn't want to just follow and spy on Paul. He wasn't sure if he could pull through with his family's orders to creepily follow Paul around.
His phone vibrated and Ash reached for his cell phone and widened his eyes in slight shock to see Paul calling. "Hello?"
"Be at the hospital in ten minutes," Paul said.
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Uh," he fumbled an incoherent response.
"I saw you looking," Paul added. "It'd just be better off if you were here, since you saw me."
Ash, now embarrassed, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's cool if you don't want me to interfere, man. I respect your privacy, Paul. We are cousins after all. But just because I respect your privacy doesn't mean I don't care about you."
The line was silent for a while. "Hm," Paul said. "Then come to the hospital. I'll be waiting."
Ash eyed the phone and just shook his head in disbelief. Was this really the same Paul who always pushed his buttons and made fun of him? He tried to get over his slight shock as he grabbed his car keys.
Ash spotted Paul standing nonchalantly against the wall of the hospital waiting room, his eyes closed, as he crossed his arms. He approached the purple-headed male and touched his shoulder. "Paul?"
His eyes opened instantly and he exhaled as his onix eyes wavered. "You didn't tell anyone I was here, right?"
Ash shook his head. "Course not, I'm the only one here."
"Good," Paul responded as he sat down and looked towards the floor. "Thanks...for coming."
Ash sat down next to him. "Hey, just because you're an ass doesn't mean I still can't do nice things for you," he joked, to which Paul let out a small chuckle. "But how long have you been coming here?"
Paul shrugged. "About two weeks or so."
Ash was about to ask more questions, noticing that Paul was rather comfortable in sharing how his emotions, but the receptionist called Paul towards her desk. He watched as Paul nodded respectedly towards her and looked back at Ash, indicating for him to come along.
Ash was eventually found in front of a patient's room and was utterly confused when Paul walked inside. He followed suit and his eyes found someone lying on the bed. It seemed to be a girl and she seemed to be lifeless and extremely pale, as several bruises and bandages were wrapped around her legs and arms. Two nurses were currently in the room and when Paul presented himself to them, the two nurses politely left.
"...Who's she, Paul?"
"Ursula," he replied. "Ursula Bryans."
He raised an eyebrow. In all of his life of living together, he had never mentioned that name to him. Well, to be fair, Paul had never mentioned anything news-worthy to him anyway, so he couldn't really fathom why he was surprised in the first place.
"She's someone I met at work. Got into an accident a couple of weeks ago. I've been visiting her ever since," he explained, sitting on the bench aligned next to the bed.
Ash couldn't believe what his eyes were witnessing. This cold, broody, mysterious and jerk ass of a cousin who had been taunting him for almost all his life was actually sitting next to someone in the hospital bed, visiting her for almost three weeks? "Huh," Ash commented. "Who knew, Paul does have a heart."
"Shut it."
He chuckled in response. "It's not a bad thing ya know. It's actually kinda nice to see you this way. It feels like you're actually a human being inside that hard exterior."
"That is exactly why I didn't want anyone to know," Paul replied. "I swear, Ketchum, if you tell anyone-"
"Relax," Ash said, waving his hands to him in assurance. "Your secret's safe with me."
Paul closed his eyes in satisfaction until he heard a groan. He opened his eyes and saw Ursula fumble with her words. "Someone fucking get me out of this dump," she mumbled.
"Well, she seems to be like such a ball of sunshine," Ash mumbled sarcastically, but under his breath so Paul wouldn't hear him. He watched Paul stand up and look at Ursula in worry. He noticed his hand forming into a fist.
"Paul?" Ash called out, to which he responded by looking at him. He looked to where Ursula was, who was sound asleep again, and asked, "Why are you even here at midnight? I mean, this is an unusual time to visit her, don't you think?"
Paul shrugged, and Ash could tell he was getting a bit uncomfortable. "I was a bit worried."
"A bit?"
Paul glanced at him with deadpanned eyes.
Ash walked outside, slightly chuckling to himself in slight disbelief of the fact that Paul would actually be so concerned about someone that he'd actually visit them in the hospital for two weeks. If anything, Ash was sure of one thing: This girl actually meant something to him. Paul never explicitly said anything, but Ash noticed the look on Paul's face when he would glance at Ursula, and it not a friendly look.
Ash poured himself a cup of water from the water dispenser and quenched his thirst, when he noticed a familiar blue head of hair bouncing around the corner of his eye. He set the foam cup down and realized it was Dawn in the waiting room. Not only Dawn, he also noticed Serena sitting beside her, and the two looked extremely worried and depressed.
He noticed Dawn getting up from her seat and he froze in place when she caught his eyes, even if they were several feet apart from each other. His lips parted and he couldn't find himself to move his feet. Dawn, on the other hand, had tears in her eyes and Ash could clearly see she was on the verge of breaking down.
Without any warning, Dawn ran up towards him and slightly pushed Ash's feet back when she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, as she broke down crying vigorously on her shoulder, tears spilling onto his shirt. "I-I can't lose her! W-what am I gonna do? I already lost my dad, please don't do this to my mom! P-please!" she cried.
Ash had never seen her so broken before and pulled back from the hug, wiping her tears. "What's wrong?! What happened?" But Dawn wouldn't reply as she continued to keep crying and speaking incoherently.
Ash was utterly confused, but then noticed Serena in front of them. He noticed she also had tears in her eyes. "Mom had a heart attack."
"Oh shit," Ash remarked. "Where is she?"
"The doctors took her in the emergency room. We're really lucky that we live really close to the hospital, otherwise who knows..." she trailed off, as a tear escaped her eye.
Ash noticed Dawn couldn't even say a word. "Hey," he cupped her face, "It'll be alright, don't worry." Dawn looked up at him, as more tears escaped her eyes. The blunette sighed to herself.
Ash knocked on the door and when he got a reply, he entered and noticed Paul lying down on the bench. "Paul," he called out to which the purple-headed male responded by sitting up and glancing towards him with a slightly irritated expression. "I hope it's alright with you, but someone important is here and their mom just had a heart attack. So I was wondering if I could be there with them. They really need it."
Paul had a nonchalant expression. "It's fine."
Ash sighed with a breath of relief. "Thanks! I'm sure Ursula would be fine if you're here. How long are you going to be here anyway? You're not planning to stay the entire night, are you?"
Paul shrugged. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."
As Ash was about to walk out, Paul stopped him by asking, "So what's her name?" Ash turned around to see a mischievious smirk forming on his lips. Ash stared at him incredulously. "I'm waiting."
"How did you know?" he asked.
Paul rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You always have that look in your eye whenever a girl is involved, whether or whether not you know she's gonna dump you." Ash wavered his eyes a bit as hurt flashed acrossed his features, but for the first time, he heard Paul add, "I...I didn't mean that."
"Just go," Paul said. "I'll be fine." Ash nodded.
Dawn was currently resting her shoulder against Serena's, completely lifeless and unaware of her surroundings. The tears had eventually ceased, but inside she was crushed and so weakened to a point where she couldn't even talk. No matter how much Serena had tried to console her, she just couldn't form a response.
Both Serena and Dawn grew up with their mother ever since their father had died when the two were really young. Dawn had been the closest to her father when he was around. She recalled when he would take her to the park and she'd run around and play in the sand, intentionally getting sand in her shoes so she could pretend to have an excuse to buy a new pair.
When their father passed away, Dawn, despite being extremely young, was saddened and almost emotionally scarred. She'd isolate herself from everyone at school and wouldn't talk to any of the kids in her grade. Eventually, time healed that wound and she was able to reform herself again.
But she wasn't sure if time would heal this wound if she lost her mother; the only form of role model and support she had in her life.
"Here," Ash said, bringing a glass of water in front of Dawn's eyes. He handed one to Serena as well, who took the cup from his hands and gave him her gratitude. Dawn took the cup from his palm and reluctantly gulped the water down, cooling her throat.
"You don't have to be here, Ash," Serena said.
He looked at her as if she had grown two heads. "Are you out of your mind? Your mom had a heart attack and is fighting for her life. I'm going to be here for the both of you, okay? You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"Are you sure?" the honey blonde asked. Ash nodded in response.
He sighed and sat down next to Dawn, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Dawn looked up at him and again, couldn't form a response, but Ash could tell that she was thankful for his presence.
Dawn opened her eyes, her vision clearing as she yawned. She slowly became aware of her sourroundings and realized she was in the hospital, recalling last night's events. She looked at the time in her phone; 6:31a.m. She looked at Serena, who was sound asleep beside her. Sighing, she kissed her younger sister's temple and then looked around, not noticing Ash around.
She noticed him exiting the men's room and noticed him yawning. She realized that he had stayed up all night. He had no idea how grateful she was. No guy she ever knew would do something like that. She walked up towards him and Ash, who noticed, attempted to stop yawning.
"I can't believe you stayed up all night just for us," she said, uttering a full and coherent sentence after almost twelve hours. Even Ash was a bit taken aback.
"You just looked so worried last night," was Ash's response.
Dawn let out a small smile. "Thank you, Ash. It means a lot."
Ash grinned, satisfied to see that she had somewhat returned to her former self. She didn't look as broken and lifeless as the prior night. Before he could say anything, someone intervened. "Dawn and Serena Berlitz?"
The blunette looked towards the source and realized it was the doctor. Serena, who was now awake, joined the duo and walked towards where the doctor was. "Is mom okay? Please tell us that everything's alright!" Serena pleaded. Ash rubbed both of their backs in a comforting manner.
"Well the patient was in a very critical condition last night. It seems the heart attack was due to high blood pressure and as a result, that damaged the arteries. We put your mother on several diagnostic tests last night. Unfortunately, this process is natural during the ageing process. And it takes quite a while to heal. For now, your mother is fine, but we've prescribed some medicines and a beta blocker to make sure she doesn't have a heart attack again."
Both girls were a bit relieved to know their mother was fine but they were also a bit concerned. "How serious is this, doctor?" Serena asked.
"Well, it was a good thing you rushed her in the hospital as soon as possible. As for how the treatment goes, your mother will probably need to continue to stay under our care for at least one to two weeks. Remember, the treatment is going to be progressive and it takes time."
"Can...can we go see her?" Dawn asked.
The doctor nodded. "Of course. But, one at a time please," he advised. The two girls nodded in understanding.
Dawn opened the door carefully and looked at her mother, who smiled weakly when she saw her daughter come in. Tears blurred her vision as Dawn approached her mom and sat down next to her on the bed. The blunette ignored the random beeping the heart monitor made as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "I love you, mom."
Her mother responded by caressing her face. "I'm fine, Dawn."
"Please, don't scare us like that ever again. I can't afford to lose you, mom."
"Neither can I," Serena said, entering the room. "I'm only nineteen. I can't imagine losing my mom at such a young age. We were so worried, mom," Serena said as she laid beside her mother in the bed, careful of not hurting her.
A knock was heard on the door before Serena replied for the person to come in. Ash closed the door behind him and Johanna instantly recognized the familiar face. "Aren't you-"
"Mom, this is Ash. He stayed here the whole night just for us and for you to get better," Serena explained, cutting her off. "He's such a nice guy, isn't he?" Johanna nodded in response.
"I'm glad to see you're doing okay, Ms. Berlitz. Please take care of yourself. Anyways, I think I should be going now. I'll see you guys around," he said before glancing at Serena and Dawn and then leaving the room.
Johanna eyed Serena curiously and the honey-blonde shook her head in response. Dawn raised an eyebrow. "What, do you two have some sort of top secret that I shouldn't be knowing about?" Serena bit her lip in response and looked at her mom. Johanna nodded. Dawn was starting to get confused at the exchange of gestures and non-dialogue. "What's going on?"
"Dawn, dear," her mom started, "Remember when you said you would agree to the arranged marriage?" Dawn nodded. "Dawn, I don't want you to feel as if we're forcing you. You have your own choice as well."
"What does that have to do with this? Is this really the time for us to be talking about that?" Dawn asked.
"It's important, Dawn. I might not be around forever, and I don't want to feel guilty into forcing you into something you don't want to do. After all, your choice is important as well."
"Mom," she took her hand, "I said it before and I'll say it again: I trust you guys. I know you always want what's best for me. You guys are my family and you're my role model, mom. And, I'm ready for this. I want to be with someone that loves me for me. I don't want someone like Kenny in my life," she said and then added, "In fact, maybe after this week when you get discharged, I can go meet him."
The two stayed silent and Dawn looked at the two, raising her eyebrow in curiosity. "What?"
"Well...what if I said...you already know him?" Serena asked, looking carefully at Dawn's reaction.
"What do you mean?" the blunette cocked her head in confusion.
Serena stood up and exhaled, hesitating. She looked at their mother, who nodded. "It's Ash. He's going to be your husband."
Sorry if this was pretty short or depressing, but I hoped that you guys still enjoyed it.
Just out of curiosity, how do you think Dawn's going to react? Will she make a big fuss out of it? Or will she be in agreement? Let me know in a review down below!
Thank you guys so much for reading. For those who have not given up on this story, thank you so much for sticking around, as you guys know that I'm very inconsistent with writing and as such, my updates are unpredictable at this point. I hope you guys continue to stick around and even if you have left, that's understandable as well.
(Also idk why I left a review on this, it's pretty embarrassing. I meant to review someone else's work but I read my own work thinking it was someone else's story...it was late at night, so my brain wasn't functioning well lol)
Love you all! See you next time!