Underneath it All
The sun shone done on the streets of Townsville whose skyscrapers sought to reach as high as they could in their white and diamond skins. Jane used her hand as a visor over her forehead as she got into City Station's shadow. She looked up at the hospital sign and ignored the passersby and car horns. She felt her nanocom buzz in her pocket, and she reached into her black pants and pulled out her communicator. The smooth screen showed the face of her sister whose black hair ran free on her shoulders. "What is it, Jess?" Jane asked as she walked into the hospital lobby, leaving the city's noise behind. The cool air instantly gave her goose bumps.
Jessica looked at her sister through her black glasses with her brown eyes as she sat her desk. "I just want to let you know that the girl does not know she is terminal," Jessica quickly said as she ran through her notes. "So, don't let it slip."
"What?" Jane stopped by the lobby chairs, letting her red ponytail swing at her shoulder blades. She put her free hand on her hip, "How old is this girl?"
"Um," Jessica ran a finger on a bullet point, "she's nineteen."
"Oh my god, she's older than me and I'm gonna have to keep this secret from her," Jane rubbed her forehead as she continued to the reception desk. "Jane Rosario, ma'am," she told the elder receptionist. "I'm here under Dexter's jurisdiction." The woman smiled, stood up gently and said, "Follow me, sweetie."
Jane followed the woman through the sliding glass doors into a murmuring hallway where nurses and doctors scattered around. "In this elevator, sweetie," the woman smiled almost closed-eyed. "Thank you," Jane nodded as the elevator doors closed on them, playing a rhythm and blues song that drowned out the reality of the hospital. "Still there, Jess?" Jane looked back at her nanocom. She saw Jessica typing away at her computer with a pen wrapped in her lips.
"Mmhhmm," Jessica murmured before taking the pen out and saying without looking at her nanocom. "The girl's name is-"
"Jacqueline…yeah I know."
"She's nineteen…fought alongside heroes in Downtown since the spring that the war started…and what else…"
"Jess," Jane said as the woman led her out into a hallway on the fourth floor, "you talk as if this is just some other girl. Not interested in this case?"
Jessica looked at her sister in her nanocom and put her pen down. "Sorry, Jane. But. This is just one girl of thousands of people who have died due to the fusion matter. Millions worldwide."
"Just saying," Jane looked up at the counter as the woman left her with a younger middle-aged blonde woman who put up a finger as she was on the phone.
"Oh Janie," Jessica picked up her nanocom as Computress came into her office with a tray of food and documents for her to look over, "there is someone there who could help you. She's an acquaintance of Dexter. She's a K.N.D. agent…former I believe."
"Oh my goodness!" Squealed a high pitch voice that made Jane's heart sink. Jane closed her eyes whispering to herself, "Please no, please no!" She felt someone bump in back of her and attempt to squeeze all the air from her lungs. By the smell of the girl's soft and flowery perfume, Jane let the rest of the air in her lungs escape, knowing exactly who the girl was.
"Now turn around so I can see you," the girl grabbed her shoulders, "It has been too long. Months…ever since I moved out of the tree house…"
Jane turned to see a smiling round face beam at her. The girl's dark brown hair was resting in waves above her shoulders, and her brown eyes examined every inch of Jane's body. Jane stepped away, feeling vulnerable and tensed her body up. "Tiffany," Jane made the edges of her mouth rise, "how…have you been? Like your hair…"
Tiffany squealed and pulled Jane into a tighter hug. "I've missed you, grumpy!" She hopped with Jane who let her limbs dangle.
"Wait," Jane pulled away and look at Tiffany's blue scrubs and name tag. "You're a nurse? Since when?"
"Since two months ago," Tiffany grabbed Jane's hand. Jane tried pulling away but Tiffany tightened her grasp making Jane realize Tiffany was intentionally being assertive. "I've been going from job to job, figuring things out. I'm going to school for this one. They need what they can get…I'm still getting the hand of things…I'm an intern."
"Really?" Jane raised an eyebrow. "I think your best at being a soldier though."
"Well that's 'cuz you haven't seen me nurse," Tiffany pulled her down the hall. Jane looked at her nanocom, but Jessica had hung up on her. Jane squeezed her nancom back into her pocket while her other arm was being pulled out of its socket.
Tiffany stopped in front of a room whose door was closed and blinds were shut. "Oh, were always so blue," Tiffany nudged Jane. "Outfit and all. Not to mention your beautiful blue eyes. We go with the white theme of Townsville. Speaking of random things…look at you. Girl, you are filling out."
Jane blushed, "Tiffany."
"I'm just saying," Tiffany hung her chin low to tease Jane, "You're losing your baby fat – as am I," Tiffany raised her chin and shimmied back and forth, "and you've grown. We're about the same height now."
"I think we have things to handle," Jane crossed her arms. Tiffany swatted Jane's shoulder and slowly opened the door.
"Doctor Nesbit," Tiffany whispered inside. Jane heard a muffled voice then Tiffany hum, "Mmhhmm." Tiffany closed the door and turned to Jane. "The doctor is talking about the girl's recent status. She isn't doing so well. The cancer is spreading to her organs."
"So it is a cancer?" Jane furrowed her eyebrows.
"Not really," Tiffany scratched her head, "more like an alien disease. The microscopic fusion cells are eating away at her body. They just use cancer as way to generalize it."
"Dexter wants me to investigate the symptoms and copy the data you guys come up with since they won't allow the patients to be sent to his lab."
"As they shouldn't," Tiffany set her words in stone, "Dexter is a genius but he's no doctor."
Jane remained quiet as the girls waited for the doctor to come out, but Jane remembered the issue with Jacqueline. "She doesn't know, right?" She asked Tiffany without looking at her. Tiffany sunk on the chair outside the room and responded, "No. It will be too much for her."
"She's eighteen. Considered an adult." Jane shook her head, "She should know. It's her life. Not the doctor's."
"Think about it, Jane," Tiffany looked up at her, "At that age…in this war. We are still kids. Kids who didn't have a chance of growing up normally, something we will never know. She has fought for so much and to tell her she was just a martyr…to be one of those statistics to study years later…"
"It's what she deserves. The truth. She needs to handle it on her own. She's a big girl."
Tiffany brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Jane. You're not the one taking care of them. We're dealing with something we do not know how to treat. I've been taking care of this girl for a few weeks now. To tell her that she is dying then to have to look at her for who knows how long…"
Jane scoffed, "So you lie to her."
"Then you tell her, Jane," Tiffany stood up and gestured a hand to the door. "Then please take my scrubs and take care of her. Because it is too painful to do so. You'll see."
"You're not the one dying, Tiffany," Jane crossed her arms.
"I may have only worked as nurse for two months, but in this city…death is brought to me, to all doctors and nurses and loved ones. I am one of the people taking it in my hands."
"Pretty selfish," Jane looked out at the hall seeing nurses and patients walk around slowly.
"Go ahead, call me that," Tiffany flung a hand in the air and sat back down with her legs crossed and chewing her lip. "But you're insensitive. Just drop that news off and leave, is what you would want. It's easier for you."
The air around them began to sizzle, but Jane took a deep breath and let it our, sharing it with Tiffany who began to become calm. They snapped their heads to the door when the African American doctor walked out and smiled at Jane. "Go ahead," he told Jane then turned to Tiffany. "She will be needing more of her medications within the hour."
"Of course," Tiffany nodded.
"And you must be the agent," Doctor Nesbit smiled at her in his warm attitude. "With all the knowledge of Dexter and the devices and the inventions and what not." Jane's eyes widened from the humor of the doctor as she tried to hold in her laughter.
"You two young ladies go in," he gestured and walked away as he mumbled, "with your jobs and your hair and your make up," before laughing.
"You get used to him," Tiffany almost laughed as she led Jane in the room. There in the hospital bed and in a gown, a young girl with caramel skin and short hair sat up looking at Jane with a smile of a greeting. She was thin, and Jane knew she probably weighed more before she caught the disease, and her skin would have look darker if it were its natural hue. Another nurse studied Jacqueline's arms as she adjusted the white thin tube that connected to the IV bag. The nurse stood up straight and went over to Jane, shaking her hand and saying, "I'm Courtney. Tiffany's advisor. Nice to meet you."
Jane liked the strength of Courtney's grip. She was about head shorter than the girls but she was older than they were, making those several extra years seem like lifetimes. Courtney's tan skin and black hair were as natural as her gaze on Jane. "Nice to meet you too, Courtney," Jane softly smiled. "I'm Jane. Agent of Dexter's Laboratories. Friend of Tiffany."
Tiffany studied Jane's smiled and bit her lip, trying to figure out how she could make her smile. "Courtney took care of me back when the war started," Tiffany stepped closer to them as the girls took back their hands. "Funny how things turn out…she'd be the one supervising me…again."
Courtney let out a small laugh as she turned around and introduced the girls to Jacqueline. The girl looked over the other three, noticing their differences in posture and attitude. Courtney had her hands together against her stomach and looked over Jacqueline as if she was trying to solve her problem with just her eyes. Jane looked at Jacqueline with eyebrows furrowed and mouth left open and with her hands on her hips. Tiffany had the palm of her hands together as if in prayer and at her chest, showing her teeth with a smile and rocking back on her toes.
"Jane knows her stuff, Jackie," Tiffany put a hand on Jane with almost a giggle. "She's going to report back to that genius of a lad and then things are going to be fine. Dexter can solve anything…"
"Anything reasonable," Jane looked from Tiffany to Jacqueline. "We can't promise success. So please don't get your hopes up."
Tiffany's hand squeezed Jane's shoulder but she kept her smile on her face. "Oh, I understand," Jacqueline looked at her thin hands on her lap. "I know I'm dying…"
"Jackie!" Tiffany breathed after dropping her smile. "No. Don't say that."
"Tiffany, she can handle it," Jane put a hand out to Jacqueline.
"My god, Jane," Tiffany titled her head at Jane. "Please."
"Seriously?" Jane shook her head and hung her mouth open.
"Jackie," Courtney slowly went to the girl's side and gently put a hand on her shoulder, "if there is any knowledge of your status…knowledge that gives light to your outcome. Would you want to know?"
Tiffany and Jane slowly looked at Jacqueline, leaning forward for the words to come out of her mouth. Jacqueline took a turn to look at each face. Looking at Courtney last. She let out a deep breath then said, "If it takes the burden off of your shoulders…then yes. You shouldn't have to hide it."
"See," Jane put a hand out to Jacqueline again as she looked at Tiffany.
"Jane," Tiffany groaned as she rubbed her face in her hands.
"She wanted to know the truth."
"Yes but you didn't know that," Courtney leaned forward to both girls. They both dropped their shoulders and kept their eyes on her. "We can't decide anything. Whether she wants to know or not. We wouldn't know without asking first.
"I'm sorry Jackie," Courtney rubbed her shoulder with her thumb. "We should have asked you this in the beginning."
"It's okay," Jacqueline smiled and lightly shook her head while twiddling her thumbs. "It must have been hard for you."
Tiffany nodded with a sigh, all eagerness gone from her expression. Silence filled the room as the young women looked to each other, trying to find a new route. "Well," Jacqueline breathed and smiled, "Jane. You do go a job to do, right?"
Jane nodded slowly with a small smile. "If you don't mind," Jane walked to Jacqueline's and pulled out her nanocom before sitting on the adjacent chair. "I'll need her documents, Courtney," Jane looked up. "And a blood sample…"
Courtney nodded before leaving the room. Tiffany slowly approached Jacqueline's other side and rubbed her forehead, and she opened her mouth before Jacqueline spoke first. "Tiffany," she whispered and rubbed her hands, "can you make me a promise?"
"Anything?" Tiffany immediately responded as she sat by her hip.
"My grandmother…she's at the Townsville retirement home. Can you make sure she gets on alright?" Jacqueline looked up making Tiffany want to look away and cry. But she did not look away.
Jane picked up her head and looked the exchange of glances between the young women. "Does she know?" Jane softly asked. Jacqueline turned to her and shook her head.
"She has dementia," Jacqueline's voice broke, and Tiffany hurried to the counter and brought a tissue box. "She doesn't really have long now…but I just don't want her to be alone," she sniffed and took a tissue. "Even if she doesn't really know where she is anymore."
"I'll be her nurse," Tiffany whispered, trying not to cry.
"I could help too," Jane sat up straight. Tiffany looked at her with her mouth open in slight disbelief.
"Thank you," Jacqueline smiled. The door opened and Courntey walked in with a syringe and test tubes in a tray. She placed it on the counter and took a cotton swab from the jar.
"No," Jane stood up and put her nanocom in her pocket. She examined Courtney's confused expression. She looked from the tools to Jacqueline. "I'll have to tell Dexter we can't work on Jacqueline."
"What?" Tiffany sat up.
"Jackie's not some experiment," Jane shook her head and looked to Jacqueline's modest eyes.
Jacqueline reached out for Jane with a skinny hand. Jane looked at it for a moment before reaching out and feeling her cold skin. Jacqueline closed her eyes at the soothing feeling of Jane's skin, surprised to feel it in such a girl. "Jane," she whispered before opening her eyes, "if I can help just a little…then I won't be just some experiment."
"But Jackie," Tiffany shook her head.
Jacqueline reached for Tiffany with her other hand and Tiffany immediately took it. "It's okay, Tiff," Jacqueline nodded her head, "I want to help too."
Jacqueline squeezed their hands and they both did so in return. "Okay," Courtney breathed before slowly walking over with the tray. Tiffany and Jane stepped back and looked at each other's eyes. They were both so curious. What more did they need to learn?
Tiffany stepped back and let Courtney work. "Um," she held back a gasp, "Jacqueline…tell Jane about your missions…" Tiffany laughed at the glow in Jacqueline's eyes.
"Wow," Jacqueline giggled, "it's way too much. I took weeks to tell Tiffany everything…"
"Well I interrupted so much," Tiffany laughed.
"Go ahead," Jane smiled and crossed her arms as she sat back down. "There's plenty of time. No worries…"
Tiffany sat back next to Jacqueline's hips as Jacqueline slightly winced at the syringe in her arm. Courtney walked back to the counter and set the tools down before turning around, taking a deep breath and leaning back on the counter. Jacqueline wiped her hair from her eyes as she looked back and forth between each girl, seeing the look in their eyes. The girls laughed. The girls gasped. The girls cried.
But the girls smiled.