The Light in My Life
Rifiuto: Non Mirena
Summary: In an effort to erase the heartache from her broken life, Jo tries Grace's PTSD device, and only succeeds in giving herself amnesia. With no memory of her current- or former- life in Eureka, Carter and the others decide that maybe the only way to get their Jo back, is to give her the one thing she'd tried living without... so they put Zane in her path. I know, this had been done before, but I wanted to give it a shot. I've got an idea, and I want to run with it.
She laid back, the silver node glinting in the light. She couldn't believe she'd asked Grace if she could try her device- she'd lied, saying that she wanted to finally deal with the trauma she'd suffered in Afghanistan; in reality, she wanted to finally deal with the Zane problem. Throwing his ring at him had only forced him to ask more questions than she was willing to give, and it hadn't helped her move on. If she dealt with it this way- using Grace's device- then she could finally move on. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the node to her temple, and turned it on. Then, she laid back on the hood of her sporty blue car, turning her eyes to the stars.
She swallowed, becoming lost in her thoughts. Eventually, she closed her eyes, becoming lost in memories of her childhood. Images of her father dancing with her mom in the living room, of her mom taking her to dance classes, of her brothers playing catch, or her grandmother welcoming the family during one of their visits... flashes of her mom's cancer diagnosis, of her mom growing weaker, of her last moments with her beloved children, of her funeral, of her dad packing away her mom's things, watching old home movies, of her life, moving from place to place.
She saw images of her military career, of her captivity in Afghanistan, of her return stateside, of her early years in Eureka, of her friendship with Carter, of her relationship with Zane...
She choked, sitting up, but refusing to open her eyes. She reached up, attempting to remove it. But Grace had said that once the device was active, she couldn't remove it, and only succeeded in shocking herself. She jumped, tumbling off the hood of her car and hitting the hard, packed dirt of the ground around Lookout Point. Once again, she reached up to remove it, and only succeeded in shocking herself worse than before. The sound of electricity crackling caused her to roll onto her side, and hold her head.
She cried out, struggling to take a breath. But soon, the crackling gave way to a high-pitched whistle, and she whimpered, her whimpering giving way to a scream of agonized pain. Her screams echoed in the forest laid out around her, but no one in Eureka heard. She was alone, surrounded by her memories and the pain in her broken heart. And a small, weakened part of her soul prayed for death, and looked for Death's kiss, waited for the comforting arms of God to take her away. And eventually, she became enveloped in the sweet arms of unconsciousness as it settled around her body.
And, it was here, hours later, that Carter found her- rushing from Cafe Diem, where their small group was supposed to meet for dinner- of which Jo never showed.
With only the light of the moon, beam of his flashlight and Andy's heat sensors, he searched the area; his flashlight landed on the sporty blue car, that- in their timeline- had once belonged to Fargo, but in this timeline, belonged to his Head of Security. "I... I don't see her... I..."
"Boss, over here!" Quickly, Carter rushed around the car, to see Jo, laying unconscious on the ground; Andy was quickly checking her vitals and running internal scans. "Her body temperature is exceedingly low; she is either on the verge of hypothermia or in the midst-"
"Andy, call Allison and tell her to ready a bed in the infirmary." Carter said, taking over for him. He pulled Jo into his arms, checking her over for any sign of trauma or struggle- of which he found none, but a small silver node on the side of her temple. "Come on, Jo! Wake up! Come on, Josefina Ballerina, don't give up on me!" Moments passed, before he climbed to his feet, Jo in his arms, and rushed to his Jeep. climbing into the passenger seat, Jo in his arms, he turned to Andy and ordered him to book it back to Eureka. "Come on, Jo, hang in there! Hang on for me!" With sirens blaring, they rushed back to the small Oregon town, Carter sending silent prayers up to Heaven that they hadn't lost Jo.
He didn't remember the ride through downtown, nor did he remember rushing through GD, his best friend unconscious in his arms. He didn't remember Allison or her interns taking Jo from him and rushing her into emergency. He just remembered pacing the hall, the various scientists casting curious glances as they moved past, and finally, the familar presences of his friends. And when Zane joined them, he didn't say anything, but clapped a hand on the young scientist's shoulder before resuming his pacing. Eventually, Allison came out, pulling her gloves off.
"It's a good thing you found her when you did, Jack. Any longer, and she would have succumbed to hypothermia. We... managed to bring her temperature back up with various treatments, and we're just bringing her out of the coma we induced a couple hours ago." She pulled something from her pocket. "I... found this on her temple." She held it out to Grace, who went quickly to the good doctor and picked it up.
"Is that-" Henry started. Grace nodded.
"It's my... Jo asked to use it so she could... come to terms with... what she went through in Afghan-" But she was interrupted by the scream coming from inside the infirmary. They rushed inside, Carter leading the charge. The sight that greeted him was one of a very pale, very frightened, Josefina Lupo.