Day: Friday. And it's still morning. I'm afraid Friday will take longer than Thursday. That'll be sad. Well, we'll see.

( Drew's POV )

I waited, and waited, and waited. While eating some chips. I had been awake way too early. And school wasn't going to take away my time today, because of what happened in the gym. So I had immediately ran to the hospital, only to be told I had to wait. But it was already passed twelve o'clock, and I was getting impatient. Luckily songs were on the radio. Sometimes I danced a bit, since no one saw me anyway.

It surprised me how cold it was here. That would probably be because this was just a hall to wait in, but it was still unusually cold.

The door opened and a young nurse came out. "Sir, she's awake."the girl said, but I had already gotten up. "Before you go inside, I think it's better to tell you some things first." The girl closed the door behind her, making me wait even longer. "The bullet has gone deep. She's alright, but she needs all the rest she can get. So I suggest you won't stay longer than twenty minutes."

"That little time."I muttered disappointed. But I knew twenty minutes was the most time I would get with her. "Fine, if that'll help her recover." The nurse smiled sweetly, and opened the door for me. I stepped inside. The curtains were half open and sunlight shone on May's beautiful face. I ran to her. She smiled.

"Drew?"she asked. I almost cried hearing her voice, without pain in it. "You're here. That's nice. How long will you stay?" I saddened a bit, but I held her hand, more for me than for her.

"I can only stay twenty minutes."I admitted. "The doctors say you need to rest, and I believe the doctors are right. After that I probably won't see you in a long time. I answered officer Jenny's call, and found out just how badly my parents want me out of here." May's smile faded. "But don't worry, I'm here now, and we've got twenty minutes."

"I need more time with you."May mumbled. I smiled.

"I need more time with you too, and I promise you that I will do my best to stay."I promised. "I have to talk to my parents anyway. Officer Jenny was furious at them that they didn't even let me stay here for something as important as this." May chuckled a bit.

"When isn't officer Jenny furious?"she asked, smiling. "I probably need to talk to her too. I kinda broke the deal she and I had. And I guess she's busy enough to snap at me anytime."

"I'm sorry that I'm the only one here now, but Ash didn't come to the hospital, and the others first had someone else to visit." May squeezed my hand a bit. I was glad May hadn't come to the dance with me. Even with that bullet that the doctors had gotten out of her, she would've been injured even more if she had gone to the dance last night. I still didn't know how Paul was doing. I should question Dawn about him later.

"It's okay."May said, smiling. "I'm happy that I have some alone time with you, before you leave." I smiled back.

"How's your injury?"I asked, to brighten up the mood. She removed the blanket and showed a bandage tied around her waist. The bandage was pure white, no blood to be seen. But I didn't know what the last time was that the doctors refreshed her bandages. Lucky for her it was the only injury she had. She would have to refresh her bandages, in case it would bleed again, but it wouldn't keep her in here for very long. Just like the others.

"They just refreshed my bandages, but it stopped bleeding already a long time ago."May said proudly. "If it keeps this way, they said I might sleep in my own room tonight." I hugged her, careful not to hurt her injury. That must mean Sky's trial would be soon too. And I wouldn't be there to make sure it would be alright. No, I would find a way to stay with May. I had to.

( time skip )

"Oh, good, so you're still alive?"my mom snapped.

"Yes, I am."I answered, tightening my grip on the phone. She had to say just one sentence, and I already wanted to hang up. "Though I swear officer Jenny would've killed me if there weren't any laws against it."

"Well, why would you have to stay anyway?"mom muttered. "It's not like you conspired against the police to go off on your own or something like that."

"Actually, that's exactly what I did."I admitted. If it meant I could stay in Almia longer, I would be honest with my mother. My mother had always cared for me, but in the wrong way. My father knew lots about children, and I loved my family, in a way. It was just... I had a family here that I cared about more. And my parents hadn't been there for me for over four years. I couldn't just come back to them with open arms.

"You did what?!"my mom yelled. I just sighed and hoped this would be over soon. She took a deep breath before saying, "Right. Well, I'm very sorry for your officer, but I can't have you walk around town when there's a murderer living in it."

"That murderer has already been caught, mom."I said annoyed. "I can stay here without being in any danger." I knew that my mother was doing this for me, but I couldn't go, yet.

"I don't care!"mom snarled. "You are coming back to us, if you want to or not!" I looked at the ground, some anger boiling up inside me.

"No."I said with a sudden determination. "No, mom, I'm not."

"You are, Drew!"mom yelled. "I have spend days worrying about you. I've bought you a ticket, and it was expensive! Don't you give me that look, and certainly don't think we will keep you there. You are coming to Hoenn, and you will go today."

"I'm afraid I haven't made myself clear."I growled. "I am not coming back." I picked up the ticket that lay on top of my bag. "See this? This is your ticket. The ticket that I never agreed on getting." I made sure my mother saw the ticket, before I tore it apart. My mother gasped, and I saw how she was getting angrier every passing second. "Mom, you think you know me, but it has been four years. I can't remember the last time I have actually seen you, and not on a screen. I don't consider you my family anymore, because I have one here. And that family is there for me, always."

"Drewy, do you realize what you've done?!"mom screamed. "That ticket cost me more than three hundred dollars! That was the only chance you had of getting out of that place!"

"Maybe you haven't heard me,"I said to her. She looked a bit confused. "But I don't want to get out of this place."

"But... But you..." I looked my mother in the eyes, making sure she'd get the following message.

"Mom, have you ever asked me if I wanted to go back to Hoenn?"I asked. "I know that what you're doing is for me, but it's as if I don't have a say in this. But I do. And I don't want to leave, so I won't leave. Could you please call the airport to delete my name. I'm sure they'll give back your money. And if you have anything against it, you should come here and tell that to my face. I'm not interested in obeying someone who hasn't bothered to visit me in four years. Bye."

"Drewy!"mom tried, but I hung up. I sat back in my chair, sighing.

"Are you alright?"someone asked and I turned around, grinning immediately.

"Well, Ashy,"I teased. "I've never been better." He grinned back. Yesterday had been too silent. I should be used to being only with Ash. But I, still, didn't know anything about Paul, and Gary's situation had been unclear. This time, we knew it was all going to be alright. "Why are you here though? Didn't you say something about having something important to do?"

"Yes, and I did."

( Dawn's POV )

"A coma?!"I yelled frustrated, tears coming up. The nurse before me gave me a sad look.

"I'm sorry, miss."the girl said sweetly. "He's lucky to still be alive. His leg is broken, he has a gash in his head, a major concussion, burns everywhere and the smash against the wall must've gotten him in a coma. I'm really sorry, but there's right now not much we can do. Only to heal his injuries, though it's possible he won't wake up from that." I knew what a coma was, and I also knew he could die without anyone actually killing him.

"Can I see him?"I asked quickly.

"I'm extremely sorry, but they're right now busy with an operation."the nurse answered. "You will have to wait if you want to see him." I nodded, but now the tears really rolled down. I sat on the couch, curling up in a ball and crying silently. No one was here. Normally Paul would be next to me to comfort me, but now it was he who was in the hospital bed. And it was all because he had to safe me. What impact would that have? The nurse walked away, her footsteps echoing through the hall.

I hugged my knees, cradling for comfort. A coma... Never had I thought the one with the worst injuries was gonna be Paul. He and I were at the dance. Since when was that dangerous? I should be happy that Paul wasn't dead. I heard a guy Misty knew, Rudy, had died in the explosion. She must feel even worse than I did. Luckily the others had all survived. Misty could leave the hospital already, and May and Gary should be better soon too. Red on the other hand had some serious injuries, and he wouldn't be able to move for some time. Though the doctors said they had knowledge enough to get Red back on his feet, and as fit as ever.

Paul wasn't gonna wake up any time soon, and still I wanted to stay with him. I wanted to be there for him when he woke up. If he woke up. Kenny had said he would come in the afternoon, around two o'clock to check how Paul was doing. I didn't know if I was able to leave Paul. What if someone tried to kill him in his sleep? What if there was no doctor there when Paul's heartbeat slowed down? I had to stay with him.

"Dawn?" I turned around to look at Misty. I couldn't stop crying, so my vision was blurry. Misty walked on only one leg, and she had changed back into her clothes from yesterday. She would have to buy new jeans, since the one she wore wasn't exactly that good anymore. "What's wrong?" I couldn't bring out anything except for my soft sobs. Misty came to me, hugging me.

"I..."I started. No, not I. I wasn't the one who was hurt. Paul was. This wasn't about me, this was about him. "Paul is... Paul is in a coma."I stuttered. Misty's grip on me tightened. I tried to calm down, so that I could explain everything to Misty. She hugged me tightly throughout the story, as if I were the one who was in a coma.

"I'm so sorry."Misty said. Was that all people could say about this? That nurse, Misty, they all just said that they were sorry because they didn't know how to make me feel better. And that only made me feel worse.

"Sorry for what?"I asked sighing. "If there is anyone who should be sorry, it's Sky. But I'm guessing she won't come to say sorry. And she shouldn't say sorry to me. I'm just that girl who can't do anything useful. I want to see her, and I want her to apologize to Paul." Misty petted me on my back. Her eyes were soft, not as cold as they had been yesterday.

"You can't see Sky until she's behind bars. There are people guarding everywhere, and they made sure she's tied down against her hospital bed. But even with all those safety measures, they won't allow anyone inside." I sighed. Of course they wouldn't. It was only reasonable. But I wanted to see Sky's defeated face, and I wanted her to apologize to Paul. But I guess that had to wait until she was in prison. Hopefully Paul would wake up before that.

"What about us?"I asked. "Has officer Jenny..."

"We're safe."Misty interrupted me. "They aren't gonna punish us because we captured Sky, though they did say they couldn't promise the same if we tried something like this again."

"Right." Misty stood up.

"I'm gonna go check on the others."Misty declared, and she hopped away. I laid my head down on the wooden couch. Maybe Arceus was still on our side. Maybe that was the only reason Paul still hadn't died. Maybe everything would be alright. But right now, I couldn't see how that could be true. Right now, it just felt like a huge cloud of darkness got around me, making me unable to breathe.

"Paul."I murmured, before falling asleep.

________________________________________________________________________________

I can't promise anything, but I think I'm almost done. There are just a few things that need to be done before I can end it, but it's really almost the end. One side of me is happy and relieved, but the other side of me is kind of disappointed. It has been almost 9 months... Writing this became sort of normal. It became a habit of mine to come home and know that I should be writing False Hope. Sometimes I was too lazy to do so, but I knew that I could. It's gonna feel weird that that possibility is gone. Though I am gonna write Fighting Arrows. I'm just a bit sad that it's almost done too, you know?

Anyways!

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-LapisLazulli2-