A New Dream

Family Bonds: Dawn's POV

My eyes fluttered open briefly and I groaned as a bright beam of light lanced into my eyes, causing me to snap them shut.

"Dawn!" 

My eyes flew open and I looked over to see my mom's face flooded with more concern and relief than I had ever seen.

"Mom?" I asked in disbelief. 

She rushed forward and pulled me into a fierce hug. Tears sprang to my eyes and I hugged her back, breathing in her comforting scent of nanab berries and cinnamon.

"Oh, sweetheart, are you alright? I got here last night and you wouldn't wake up!" Mom said in a shaky voice as she sat down on the edge of my bed and pulled away to run her hand down the side of my face.

"How long did I sleep?" I asked, surprised at how scratchy my throat felt.

Mom immediately reached for a water cup with a straw and handed it to me. I sipped the cool water gratefully as she explained that I had been sleeping for two days. The doctors said it was probably a side effect from the forced hypnosis that Hypno put on me.

"Where is Paul?" I asked as soon as she had finished. Mom smiled and patted my hand soothingly.

"He's been in here every second since I got here. I can't believe you didn't tell me you were dating someone, Dawn!" Mom said teasingly and I felt myself blush.

"Well... It kind of happened really fast. Paul and I started officially dating a few days before the pokemon league and I didn't really know how to tell you..." I explained awkwardly and Mom laughed.

"So you let me see you hug and hold hands on national television instead?" she asked with a wicked glint in her eyes and I blushed harder.

"Sorry," I mumbled, not realizing that Mom had been watching the pokemon league broadcast. Mom shook her head and pulled me into another hug. "What do you think of him?" I asked curiously as she pulled back once again.

"He is not the kind of person I expected you to fall for," she answered candidly and I frowned. I opened my mouth to defend Paul when I saw Mom smile gently over at me. "But I can't think of anyone else I would trust more with your heart," she whispered. 

Tears prickled the back of my eyes and I rubbed them with my left hand since there was an IV drip stuck into the back of my right. Suddenly the door to my private hospital room opened and I turned to look.

Paul, dressed in a simple blue V-neck and black jeans, walked in. He had bandages wrapped around his left palm and up his arm and I could see the edge of a bandage poking around the back of his neck. Worry made my throat constrict briefly, but when our eyes met the relief and love that shone from his expression relaxed my entire body.

Blinking rapidly I held out my arms silently. Paul walked across the room in four giant steps and scooped me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and buried my face into his neck, tears streaming down my cheeks and dripping down onto his neck and collarbone. Paul cradled me in his arms, murmuring soothingly into my ear as I cried and held onto him. I heard the door shut softly, signaling that my mom had left the room.

When I finally calmed down Paul gently placed me back on the hospital bed and then sat down in the chair my mom had been sitting in when I woke up. He took my hand into both of his and kissed my fingertips tenderly, making me smile and squeeze his hand tightly.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked with concern in his amethyst eyes. I nodded and ran my other hand over the bandages on his left arm.

"Are you?" I asked with worry and he smiled.