It was Saturday. Julia's eyes fluttered open as the sun drifted into her room and onto her face. She yawned and looked at her clock, which read 9:30. She sat up and yawned again, slowly getting out of her bed. She ran her fingers through her hair as she walked to her door.

She walked out of her room and went downstairs, but something was strange. She didn't smell any breakfast. Her mom usually cooked breakfast on the weekends and she was always the first one up. Maybe she was making something that wasn't on the stove?

Julia walked into the kitchen to find it empty. There were no signs showing that her mom had been in the kitchen, either. She looked out the front window to see the car still there, so her mom hadn't left to go anywhere.

"She must have slept in later than usual. She wasn't feeling well yesterday." Julia said to herself, remembering seeing her mom lying on the couch.

"Pip! Piplup! Pip!"

"Buneary! Bun! Buneary!"

Julia jumped, startled as the Pokemon ran downstairs and she saw Piplup and Buneary looking worried.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked.

Both Pokemon motioned towards where they had come from: her mom's room. Julia walked to her mom's room and found her mom asleep.

"She's asleep. She wasn't feeling well yesterday, guys. She's resting, so just let her rest." Julia said quietly, not wanting to wake her mom.

Julia turned to leave, but Buneary and Piplup blocked her. Both were motioning towards Dawn and Julia finally understood that they wanted her to wake her up.

Julia quietly walked over to her mom's bed and she gently shook her. Normally, her mom would wake up to a gentle shake, since she was a light sleeper.

"Mom? Mom, wake up." she said softly, shaking her mom a little harder.

There was no response.

"Mom, wake up." Julia said, speaking in a normal tone and shaking her harder.

Still nothing. Julia was getting really worried now.

"Mom, wake up! MOM!" Julia cried, shaking her mom.

Julia was now shaking with fear. What was wrong with her mom? She wouldn't wake up!

Then, Julia remembered something. When I'm sick...mom always feels my head.

Julia put her hand to her mom's forehead. Her forehead was really hot and her breathing was very shallow. She took her mom's wrist and put her hand there to feel her pulse. Her pulse was slow and weak. Julia's eyes started watering. She knew that something was very wrong with her mom and she didn't know what it was!

She ran out of her mom's room and straight to the front door. She managed to get the door unlocked and get her shoes on in her hurry, and darted across the road to Ash's house. She ran straight to the house, and without stopping to knock, she walked right in.

"Mr. Ash! Alex!" Julia cried.

Alex looked towards the hall. They had just finished eating breakfast and he was helping with the dishes. Ash was already out of the kitchen. Alex quickly turned the water off and went to join his dad. He found Ash kneeling in front of Julia, who looked terrified.

"Julia, what's wrong?" he asked.

"My mom...she won't wake up. I don't know what to do. She's sick...really sick."

"Take us to your mom." said Ash.

The three of them ran back to the Berlitz household and went to Dawn's room. Dawn was still where she was when Julia left her. Ash walked over to her and felt her pulse. It was slow and weak, just like Julia had said. Her forehead was hot, so she had a bad fever. Her breathing was very light, too.

Ash realized that Dawn needed help. Fast. He removed his cell phone and called for an ambulance.

"What's your emergency?"

"I need an ambulance to Twinleaf Town, the Berlitz household. My girlfriend's pulse is very weak and she's barely breathing. We don't know what's wrong with her."

"Okay sir, remain calm. Help is on the way."

Ash hung up and dialed Johanna. She needed to know that Dawn was sick.

"Hello, Ash."

"Johanna, can you meet me at the hospital? Something is wrong with Dawn and we don't know what it is. An ambulance is on the way to the house."

"I'm on my way."

Alex and Julia were standing by the door. Julia was hoping that her mom was okay. Alex was hoping Dawn was okay, too. Ash was kneeling next to Dawn's bed, holding her hand.

"Ash?" Dawn asked weakly as she slowly opened her eyes.

Ash's head snapped towards Dawn. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. It feels like I'm dying."

Ash stared at her in shock.

"Ash...if I don't make it..."

"Don't say that. You're fine, you're just sick. The flu, that's all." Ash said, not wanting Dawn to say what she was about to say. The hard part, though, was that Ash didn't believe his own words. He knew something was seriously wrong.

"...Ash...I love you..." Dawn said softly as her eyes closed.

Ash was about to lose it, but he realized that she was just unconscious.

Just then, sirens blared from outside and Ash hurried to lead the paramedics to Dawn's room. Dawn was put on a stretcher and quickly taken away.

"Come on," Ash said to the kids.

Alex and Julia followed Ash out of the room and were about to leave, but the Pokemon cried out. They were motioning towards Ash's car, saying that they were worried and wanted to go with them, too. Ash opened the door for Alex and Julia and got in himself. Alex and Julia hopped in and Buneary, Pikachu, and Piplup followed.

As Ash drove, he was praying that nothing was seriously wrong with Dawn. He glanced at the rearview mirror to see Julia looking scared for her mom and Alex was scared, too.

He pulled into the hospital parking lot and found an empty parking spot. They got out and Ash saw Johanna hurrying across the crosswalk.

"Johanna!" Ash called.

She got across and stopped. She waited for the three of them and once they were next to her, she put her arm around Julia.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You did a good job getting Ash." she said to her granddaughter.

They walked into the hospital and went straight to the front desk. The receptionist was a young girl with blonde hair, curled to her shoulders, dark brown eyes, and tanned skin. She was wearing blue shrubs.

"We're looking for Dawn Berlitz. Do you know what happened?" Johanna asked.

The girl (who was named Trinity), looked at some folders. "Dawn is in the emergency room right now. Doctors are trying to figure out what's wrong with her."

"Thank you..."

They had no choice but to sit and wait. They walked to the dark blue chairs in the waiting area and sat down. Alex and Julia looked at the cartoon that was playing on a TV, both trying to take their minds off of what was happening. Ash and Johanna talked quietly while the Pokemon were by their feet.

"I don't understand. She was fine the last time that I saw her." Ash said quietly.

"I think I remember hearing about the flu going around. This might just be a severe case of the flu." Johanna said.

Maybe...but highly doubtful. What type of flu makes your pulse weak and stops you from breathing? Ash thought to himself. He also couldn't erase Dawn's words from his mind. She said that she felt like she was dying...

After twenty minutes, footsteps were heard. Ash looked up. The doctor was approaching. He tried to find any signs of how Dawn was doing on his face, but he showed no signs.

"Dawn Berlitz's family?" he questioned.

Ash and Johanna stood up and Alex and Julia joined them.

"I'm Doctor Garrison. We've figured out what's wrong with Dawn. She has been poisoned. We've given her an antidote...but upon examination, we saw that the poison had already spread through most of her body. So there's no guarantee that the antidote will save her, it may already be too late.

"We're doing everything we can to save her life, but she only has a very small chance of making it. You all may want to prepare yourselves for the worst. I'm very sorry." Then he walked away.

Ash watched as he walked away. His whole body felt numb. How could Dawn be poisoned? How could she have such a small chance of living? This couldn't be possible. He couldn't lose another woman he loved! He had already lost Misty, and by meeting Dawn, he was finally able to move on after her death. If he lost Dawn, too...he didn't think he would ever be able to move on from her.

He was thankful that he had put his hat on today, because he felt like he was going to cry. He sat down in the chair and lowered his hat over his eyes as the first tear fell from his eyes, which were clenched shut, trying to keep the tears in. He didn't want Alex and Julia to see him like this. He wanted to be strong for them, but it proved to be easier said than done.

Johanna was thankful that she had a table beside her after hearing the news, because she lost her balance. She clutched the table and had her eyes closed. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose her only child, her only daughter. A child wasn't supposed to die before their parent. A child was supposed to bury their parents, not the other way around.

Johanna closed her eyes and began saying in her mind, Please, Arceus...don't take my little girl away. It's not her time yet. Don't take her from her daughter, and please don't take her from Ash or Alex. Please...it's not her time to go. She has so much to live for, and so many people need her. She WILL beat this! Don't think that she won't, my little girl is stronger than this. She went through the heartbreak of losing her husband, so I know that she can get though this!

Alex frowned and looked down. Dawn couldn't leave, she was so nice and caring. She was a motherly figure to him ever since he had first met her. He thought of Dawn as his other mom. Like in movies, best friends call their best friends' parents their mom and dad. He thought of Dawn as his mom, since he didn't have one. He didn't want to lose her. He couldn't. He sat down on one of the chairs and looked at the television. He wanted all of this to be a dream, a horrible nightmare...but it was real.

Julia couldn't believe what she had just heard. Her mom was dying and only had a small chance to live! What would she do if her mom died? Julia's dad had left them, and without her dad in the picture...she would be an orphan. Being an orphan meant that she would be alone and unloved for the rest of her life! She would have to leave her friends and her grandma behind and be put into a foster home and possibly into a foster family...or maybe even worse!

Julia looked around and saw that Alex was staring up at the television. His eyes were glossy, holding back tears that would soon fall. Her grandma was crying...no, what was the word people used.? Bawling, that was it. Her grandma was bawling. Ash had his hat over his eyes...did that mean he was crying? No one was looking at her, so without a second thought, she bolted for the door. She didn't want to cry with strangers looking at her.

"Julia, no!" her grandma cried.

Julia didn't care. Strangers' eyes were on her as she ran. She heard footsteps behind her. She knew it wasn't her grandma, her grandma couldn't move that fast. And the footsteps sounded too heavy to be Alex's. She had just gotten out of the hospital when a hand gripped her arm.

"Don't run."

Julia looked behind her to see Ash. He knelt down so that he was at her level. She stared at him through her glossy eyes to see, to her amazement, that his eyes were slightly red and tears were running down his cheeks. Julia knew that Ash cared a lot for her mom, but this proved that he cared for her deeply and that he truly did love her.

"I'm scared..." Julia started to say. With that, Julia started crying and hugged Ash, crying into his chest. Ash held her and let her cry.

Arceus, please heal Dawn. Don't take Dawn away from Julia. Julia needs her mother. Dawn's all that she has left.

Ash also knew that Julia missed her father. She missed having father support. Like right now, she needed her father, but he wasn't around.

Four days passed. Johanna was watching Julia until Dawn got better...IF she got better. Nothing had changed with Dawn and she still hadn't woken up. Julia still had to go to school and she was doing her best to focus on her schoolwork, but she was worried and scared. Luckily for Julia, Alex, Grace, and her other friends were there to help her when she was feeling that way.

Every day, they went to the hospital once school was over. Maybe some good news would come today. Ash, Alex, Julia, and Johanna walked into the hospital. The Pokemon were with them again, they were worried about Dawn, too.

Doctor Garrison walked out and saw them. "I have some good news." he said as he approached them. "Dawn has woken up and gotten some of her strength back. She fine now. Amazingly, she's beaten the odds. If she keeps improving like this, she'll be able to go home in a few days."

"She's okay!" Julia cried happily.

"You may all go and visit her. She's in room one hundred and fifty."

Once they were where the rooms were located, Julia ran ahead to find her mom's room. When the others arrived, Julia was hugging Dawn tightly.

"I was so scared, mommy." she mumbled.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'm okay now, though." Dawn said, kissing Julia's forehead.

Johanna walked over to the bed and Julia released her mom. Johanna had a few tears falling from her eyes. "I'm so glad that you're okay. Don't ever scare us like that again."

"Sorry, mom."

Johanna hugged her daughter tightly and kissed her head. "Thank Arceus," Johanna muttered, pulling away.

Alex walked over and hugged Dawn. "I'm glad that you're okay. I was scared." he said.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I'm okay now, though. I'm okay,"

Ash walked over and hugged her. "I'm so happy that you're alive. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you."

"Well, I'm okay now and I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I don't plan on leaving any of you." Dawn said and gave Ash a quick kiss.

"Mom...how could you have been poisoned?" Julia asked.

"I don't know, Julia. I really don't know."

After two more days in the hospital, Dawn was released. She made a full recovery. Officer Jenny and the police did an investigation, but the cause of the poisoning was never found. But Dawn was more cautious from then on.

To Be Continue....