This story has nothing to do with any of the author stories have published in the past, there is relation whatsoever, I hope you enjoy this little story I've been dying to write about.

Somewhere in the eastern part of Kanto, in a woodland part of the region, there was a hospital. A hospital found in the middle of nowhere, but it serves as the setting for the events that are about to occur.

In the waiting room, a brunette girl with sapphire eyes, a green bandana and an orange vest with black biker shorts sat on a bench with a few other people. There was purple-haired girl who sat next to a green-haired boy. The trio faced another bench where two adults sat, one of them was a brown-haired woman with a pink shirt and the man next to her wore a lab coat and had gray hair. On the shoulder of the sapphire-eyed girl was a mouse, it was fairly small and yellow, it just sat there and had a blank look in its eyes. A small and dark-green Pokémon hid in the hair of the purple-haired girl and also had a bank gaze. They were the only ones in the entire room, probably because the hospital was hidden deep in a forest part of Kanto.

One thing this group of six shared in common though was they all had the same grieving faces. The brunette girl sitting next to the purple-haired girl had a very frustrated gaze in her eye and it looked like she'd have an emotional breakdown at any second. Her blue eyes showed signs of despair in them and she could do was stare at the floor while she fought back feelings of sadness inside her.

"May, are you alright?" Iris touched the girl's shoulder and grinned weakly.

"I'm fine," May concealed the sadness in her face and gave her a half-grin.

"Would you like Iris or me to get you anything?" Cilan inquired.

May shook her head sideways and continued to look down at the floor while Iris and Cilan sighed. The brunette lifted her head up and saw Ash's mother, Delia, clenching her fists and struggled to fight back tears while Professor Oak grabbed her by the shoulder and tried to comfort her.

The Hoenn girl also clenched her fists and grinded her teeth in an attempt to fight back any tears, she then turned to Iris and Cilan and spoke, "How did this happen?" The girl's sapphire eyes looked at the pair; her sparkly blue eyes were dark and gloomy rather than the usual bright shine.

Iris, Cilan, Axew, and Pikachu's faces became pale when May asked them. Cilan let out a deep breath and spoke, "We were just returning from Unova with Ash, we were going to celebrate in Pallet Town all the adventures we had in Unova. On the way to Pallet Town though, we were walking through the forest and heard the sound of a little girl screaming for help."

"We looked around frantically and ran in the direction of the yell, when we reached the source; we ended up on a cliff in a mountainous part of the forest. When we looked over the cliff, we saw a little girl and a Pichu clinging on to their lives from a branch hanging out of the cliff," Iris took control of the narration for a moment.

"We were all trying to find a way to save the little girl until Ash told us to tie a rope around him and hold on to it while he lowered himself to reach the girl. At first we were hesitant, because we weren't sure if it was safe, but Ash insisted, he kept saying the little girl and Pichu were going to die if we didn't do anything, so we followed his instructions, Iris, me, Axew, and Pikachu held the rope while Ash lowered himself as he went down the cliff slowly," Cilan described the incident as best as he could.

May raised her eyebrows and recalled how similar the incident sounded to when she had almost fallen to her death with her Torchic, but Ash saved them.

"Ash continued to lower himself and I still remember what happened next, very clearly…" Iris's voice had a depressing tone as she spoke.

Ash looked up at Iris and Cilan and gave them a thumbs up. The raven-haired teen lowered himself enough to reach for the little girl's hand, "Hey there, we're going to get you to safety, ok?" Ash smiled at the girl.

"O…oo...ok," the little girl was too frightened to talk properly and her Pichu didn't say anything at all.

The auburn-eyed teen grabbed the little girl by her wrist and spoke, "Ok, I'm going to need you to let go of the branch now."

"Buuu…but I'll fall," the girl was still afraid.

"Don't worry, I won't let that happen, I promise," Ash assured the girl that everything would come out fine and looked into her innocent, green eyes.

"Prooo...mise?" the black-haired child asked.

Ash nodded gently and the girl nodded back. Then suddenly, the little girl let go of the branch and felt herself fall and closed her eyes while yelling, when she felt herself stop, she opened them and saw Ash holding onto her while she dangled in the air.

"Told ya," Ash chuckled and looked up at Iris and Cilan.

"Cilan, Iris, pull us up now," Ash ordered them.

"Right," they both nodded, relieved that Ash now had the girl. The duo along with the help of Pikachu and Axew pulled up the rope with Ash and the girl.

When they were nearly at the top Ash began to speak, "Iris, take the little girl first."

"Ok," Iris said and let go of the rope to help Ash, while Cilan and the Pokémon held on.

Ash struggled to lift up the girl with his left arm, but managed to do it and Iris grabbed the girl by the wrist. "It's ok, I've got you," Iris told the girl softly and pulled her to safety.

"Thank you," the girl smiled when she touched the ground and was safe.

"Pichu!" Pichu smiled at Iris, now safe, the little mouse had found the will to talk again.

"Ok Cilan, now pull me up," Ash smiled.

"You've got it," Cilan grinned and with the help of Iris, the group prepared to pull Ash up until suddenly, the rope snapped loudly and the two teens and Pokémon lost their grip.

Ash's eyes widened with fear and the last thing he saw and heard were his friends pale faces and the little girl's scream. The auburn-eyed teen closed his eyes and felt himself drop until a loud bash was heard and everything turned dark.

"That's how it happened," Cilan sighed and wiped away a tear in his eye.

May was paralyzed and just looked at the pair. Ash…always putting others' lives before his…never caring for his own well-being, just the safety of others, May thought in her mind and recalled how Ash had done the same for her, her brother, Brock, and Pikachu multiple times in the past.

This wasn't supposed to happen, I just won the Johto Grand Festival, I just finished my journey and all I thought about was meeting up with Ash again, but not like this. I was excited to tell him about everything that's happened, I wanted to catch up with him and see how he was doing, meeting with him was my top priority after getting back from Johto, May spoke in her mind and clenched her fists in aggravation.

The brunette recalled how this all started, how she ended up in the waiting room of a hospital. May walked over to the phone of her house after unpacking some stuff and dialed Ash's number, "I can't wait to hearfrom Ash again, it's been so long," the brunette grinned and waited for someone to pick up.

When someone finally picked up, May was surprised to see who it was, but he didn't have the normal cheery look he usually had one, instead, he had a gloomy demeanor on, "Hey Tracey, what are you doing at Ash's house?" The sapphire-eyed girl asked suspiciously.

"Hey May, I'm here taking care of Ash's home while Professor Oak and Ash's mom are at the hospital," Tracey spoke with a sad tone.

"Why are they at the hospital?" May became concerned.

"Ash has been in a coma for two days May, he was coming back with his friends from Unova, but they got into some trouble and Professor Oak and Ash's mom have been staying at the hospital since yesterday," Tracey gave her a depressed look.

"Ash…at the hospital…in a coma?" May was in a state of disbelief.

Tracey nodded and just looked at her with sad eyes. May frowned and spoke, "I'm heading to Kanto right now, Trace, do you know what the hospital is called and where it's located?"

"It's called 'The Woodland Hospital', it's located in Route 2, please hurry May, having more friends coming to see Ash would help," Tracey told May.

"I'll be on my way," May answered and hung up the phone.

After explaining to her family for her quick departure, who were also saddened about the news, including Max, they told her to go off to Kanto to check on Ash and May dashed off like a bullet to the harbor. Luckily for her, the bullet trains to Kanto were operating she should arrive to Kanto before noon.

During the whole ride, she had feelings of sorrow, disappointment, and concern. All she wanted to do was reach Kanto and rush to the hospital, she thought she could probably get on Blaziken and reach Route 2 within an hour, but the thoughts only made her feel worse.

"All I wanted was to call Ash and tell him that I was heading to Pallet, I wasn't expecting this," May mumbled and felt tears swell up in her eyes as the ship began to depart.

After the bullet train took off and arrived in Kanto in an hour, May arrived in Vermilion City and took off without another word on Blaziken to Route 2. Her mind was blank throughout the whole ride and looked around carefully when she arrived in Route 2; the brunette knew very well a hospital in the middle of nowhere wouldn't be easily found.

After some help from her other Pokémon, they found the hospital. May's Pokémon also showed concern for Ash after May explained to them the whole reason for the abrupt journey, they all became saddened, but May assured them that Ash would be fine, but not even the brunette could believe her words. When she rushed inside, she found an almost empty waiting room.

When Professor Oak and Delia saw her, they rushed over to the girl and hugged her. "May, thank goodness, you're here," Delia wept as she talked to the girl.

"Tracey, told me you were coming, we were expecting you," Professor Oak spoke with a serious voice.

"I came here as quick as could, how's Ash doing?" May questioned them, before someone else answered.

"Not too well, Ash is still in a bad condition," a green-eyed boy informed her.

"We're all very worried about him," a purple-haired girl added.

"Who are you?" May raised her eyebrow.

"I'm Cilan," Cilan introduced himself.

"And I'm Iris, we're Ash's friends from Unova," Iris finished off the introduction.

May smiled at them and responded, "Hi, I'm May, a friend of Ash's, from Hoenn."

Iris and Cilan grinned at her, but their expressions became gloomy again after the introduction. Behind Iris's head, a yellow mouse popped out with a dark-green Pokémon, the yellow Pokémon jumped at May and yelled, "Pikapi!"

"Pikachu, it's been so long," May caught Pikachu in her arms and embraced it.

"Ax axew ax?" Axew looked at May with confusion.

"Oh, and this is my Pokémon, Axew," Iris grinned sheepishly after introducing her Pokémon.

While May held Pikachu in her arms, she grinned and replied, "Hello, Axew."

"Why don't we all sit down and explain to May what's going," Professor Oak suggested and they all agreed.

They sat together in the waiting room and May put on a stern look, knowing Ash was somewhere inside the hospital, weak and at the brink of death, troubled her.

"We were with Ash when it happened and we called his home after the accident. We flew over here on Iris's Dragonite since it was the only nearby clinical building," Cilan explained to May.

"As soon as we arrived, they took Ash to the emergency room and we called his mother, like Cilan said. We rushed here as fast as possible, we knew we couldn't fly to the next town because it was too far," Iris went into further depth.

May's eyes showed signs of shock as she listened and the girl tried to wrap everything inside her head. "And how is Ash doing right now?" the brunette asked.

"He's been a coma for two days and his condition hasn't improved at all," Professor Oak frowned in frustration.

"Why did it have to be my Ashy, what did he deserve to do this?" Delia wept into Professor Oak's chest while the man held her.

May and the others had disturbed gazes, they all just couldn't accept the fact that Ash was in a very dire life or death situation.

May came out of her flashback and looked at the clock, it was almost night, she had been sitting in the hospital, worrying for Ash for almost 6 hours, she hadn't eaten or anything since she arrived. Her worries overpowered the appetite she usually had.

The brunette heard footsteps coming from the hall and turned to the left. She and the others saw a tan man with spiky brown hair and a white coat approaching them. "Doctor, how is he?" Professor Oak stood up and asked.

The doctor sighed and spoke, "There have been no improvements in his condition. We're still doing our best to save him. Patience and hope are our only saviors at this point."

"Can we see him?" Delia asked with a weak voice, her throat tired from the bawling and her eyes, red from all the sobbing.

"You may," the doctor nodded and led the group to Ash's room down a very white, sparkly clean hall.

As they walked to Ash's room, May peeked at the rooms she passed by and saw no patients at all, nurses roamed around aimlessly, and the girl believed the lack of inactivity was because of the location.

The doctor took a right to one of the rooms, which was pretty big and when the gang entered, everyone's eyes widened and they gasped when they saw the figure lying on the white bed.

May couldn't believe what she was seeing, Ash lay there on the bed, his arms were connected to some machines, and his whole body was covered by a white sheet stained with some blood. His face was covered almost completely by cloth, only his left eye and messy, black hair stuck out of the cloth. The boy had his eyes closed and looked almost dead, he was pale and basically lifeless.

The doctor let them get closer and they all looked at Ash with fearful faces. Delia began to weep into Professor Oak's chest again, while Iris could no longer fight back her sadness and cried into Cilan's chest. Both males wrapped their arms around the females for comfort while May, Pikachu, and Axew watched with pale faces.

Pikachu and Axew leaped onto the bed and looked at the motionless body of their beloved friend. The more they stared, the more their eyes swelled up with tears until they could no longer resist, but cry.

"Aaaaxeeew…." Axew sniffled as tears dropped on Ash's bed.

"Pikaaaa piiii….." Pikachu buried his face on Ash's face and began to weep. The little mouse's tears began to wet the sheets and everyone in the room felt a great deal of sadness overcoming them.

May clenched her fists as tears streamed down her cheeks; she couldn't accept the idea of her best friend there, lying like a dead person, she just couldn't believe that the person who has saved and cared for so many lives was now having his own slowly slip away.

The brunette shut her eyes tight and ran out of the room, saying, "I can't handle this."

Everyone watched May rush out, but they didn't care, their sadness for Ash was much greater. The brunette dashed across the hall, past the waiting room, and exited the hospital; she ran and ran as fast as possible. She didn't take a look at anything she just ran until she would get tired, her only wish being to get as far away from the hospital as possible.

She rushed into the forest and only thought of Ash's face, his name rang in her head like a bell and every time it did, the tears rushed down faster. Eventually May could longer find the strength to keep going and dropped to her knees, on a small pasture of grass surrounded by trees.

"Ash, you can't leave me like this!" May yelled at the top of her lungs and slammed her fists against the dirt out of frustration. "You just can't go, you can't," May repeatedly pounded the ground until her fingers became red.

She took deep breaths and stopped slamming her fists; the sapphire-eyed girl looked at the grass and remained quiet and her fury finally settling. "Ash…why?" May sniffled and hid her eyes under her hair.

The brunette began to think of all the times she had with Ash when she traveled with him. She remembered swimming with a school of Luvdisc with him, she recalled the Terracotta Contest and how they tied, she recollected memories of the times Ash had cheered her up after losing in a contest, thoughts of the time they had together on island filled with Donphan returned to her mind.

May closed her eyes and began to relive some of her memories with him.

"We got ourselves the Terracotta ribbon!" Ash and May held their halves of the Terracotta Ribbon proudly.

Another memory then popped into her head, the time when they argued and had been considered a couple by two strangers, named Oscar and Andi. May smiled sheepishly at Ash and spoke, "I was thinking about myself instead of us as a team, friends again?" the sapphire-eyed girl asked timidly.

Ash grinned at her happily and the brunette could ready tell his response.

Her memory of the time on Donphan Island then, suddenly rushed back. Ash grabbed May by her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes while speaking with a very serious tone, May looked deep into his and felt herself swell up with warm feelings.

"May, this has been your dream, Pacifidlog is your last contest and your last chance to get into the Grand Festival, you deserve that dream, go after it," Ash stared deeper into her eyes while May became stunned by his words and wasn't sure how to respond.

Yet another memory then popped into her head, this time, when she had lost to Savannah. Ash looked down at May and grinned at her, "When you know you and your Pokémon are totally in sync, you'll both start going after your goal with even more power."

May smiled sheepishly at Ash and said, "Wow, thank you, Ash." The brunette then felt her spirits resurge with Ash's encouragement.

May returned to reality and continued to let tears quietly stream down her cheeks. "So many things left unsaid, could this have been avoided if I had never left him? What would have happened if I had stayed with him? If we had continued to travel together, we would have continued to support each other; there is no better friend than Ash. He is everything to me, I could've been happier if I had traveled with him till this day. I don't care if we had to go to a region with no contests, I don't care about any of that, because…I love him," the sapphire-eyed girl lifted her head and recalled what she just said.

"I love Ash, I always have, if I hadn't been so stupid, we could have traveled together…as a couple, I couldn't have been happier if that had become true, because being with Ash made me happier than anything else," May mumbled to herself.

The brunette looked back through the trees and saw the hospital; she turned to the setting sun and sighed. May got up and spoke, "I need to go see Ash," was all she said. With that, the girl then began to calmly walk back to the hospital with the sunset in the background.

When she arrived in Ash's room, she found no one in there and assumed everyone else had gone to the cafeteria or something. When she entered, she was also surprised to see that they had removed the cloth from Ash's face and his right arm no longer had any straps, needles or tubes connected to it. A square cloth was the only thing on Ash's right arm and it covered any wounds on his wrist.

May walked over to Ash and saw the raven-haired teen, his eyes were still shut, but now without the cloth, all his wounds were exposed. His face was covered in small cuts and bruises, but he still looked the same old Ash. May could see a large white patch of cloth covering a part of Ash's forehead, the cloth was a dark red and May assumed it was one of the parts where Ash got the most damage.

The brunette got a chair and sat next to Ash's bed. She looked at him tenderly and reached for his right hand, it was stiff, cold, and pale, but the brunette held it anyway. She caressed it gently as she took deep breaths.

"Ash…I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can there are just some things I've always wanted you to know," May sighed and smiled sheepishly. "Let me start off by saying that you are my best friend and my travels with you are the best part of my life so far, they are unforgettable and I always thought about you and those adventures throughout my time in Johto. I always remember everything you taught me since day one, and I want to thank you because you're responsible for all of my success.

May took a deep breath and gazed at Ash quietly, the only sound being that of the machine, which indicated the rate of his heart. The beeping was slow and gentle while May talked, "You are the greatest friend and mentor anyone could have ever asked for." The brunette then began to shed tears and her voice started to become weak, "You were so incredible…and I always thought that if we ever met again, the first thing I'd see would be your smile," the sapphire-eyed girl sniffled.

"I've always considered you my guardian angel, you always picked me up when I went through a tough time. You made things so easy for me when I started my journey, I just can't describe how much you mean to me," May's tears began to drop down faster and her eyes became red.

May placed her hand on the part of her chest where her heart was located, "And there's still one more thing I wanted to say, Ash…"

All of a sudden, the gentle beeping of the machine became a constant a deep and the graph display a straight line instead of the normal zigzags. The sound was loud and piercing, but May ignored completely and tried to talk, but her throat hurt from the crying, her eyes were red, and the tears stained her cheeks, but the girl found the strength to say it, "Ash, I love you, I always have!"

The girl then buried her face on Ash's bed and began to cry, the tears began to wet the sheets and May breathed heavily through the sobbing. Her sobbing became louder with every deep breath and as she felt Ash's spirit being taken away, she felt her own leaving her body as well, it was an inevitable feeling.

She continued to sob and breathe, but suddenly, her crying began to calm and the loud beeping sound of the machine became gentle and quiet again. May stopped her crying for a moment and wondered what was going on. The sapphire-eyed girl then felt a hand placed on her head and a voice called out, "May…"

May lifted her head a bit and wiped away the tears. She looked up and couldn't believe her eyes, there he saw sitting up and beaming his signature smile at her. "Don't cry," Ash ran his fingers through the brunette's hair.

The female coordinator's eyes began shine like sapphires at the sight of Ash's auburn eyes and she was left speechless. The only thing she could do, was the flash her greatest smile at him. She placed her hand on the hand Ash was stroking her with and said his name quietly, "Ash…"

Ash smiled and replied, "I've always loved you, May…" The girl couldn't believe what Ash had said, but the next thing she felt was Ash nearing his lips towards hers and she surrendered to him.

May sealed the kiss and wrapped her arms around him, she was careful not to harm the fragile boy, but she kissed him passionately like he did. She couldn't believe the miracle; Ash returned from near death and had heard all of her words, especially when she said she loved him.

Ash placed his right hand on her cheek and felt life coming back into his body, warmth returned to it, and the feelings May was giving him with this kiss were, serenity and love.

Hope you enjoyed this short, little story, but it's not over yet. There's still an alternate ending that you have left to read, in the end it'll be up to you to decide which one satisfies you more. I hope you enjoyed the story and remember to REVIEW, thanks guys.