Out of Paradise
"The color of the fence... the color of the ocean"
Dr Jessica Wobart had run after Bolt and the Death spirit that was carrying him to some place she couldn't reach. She had begged, cried her heart out, yelled and pleaded, and Death hadn't given in. What's more, she seemed fun and entertained at the fact that she could feel at all.
It was an insult over the other. She had treated worse than garbage, she had left her all alone, taking everything away from her.
First, it was Molly, then Bolt. Now, she had no one to return to. She had lost them at the hands of both Death and Life... they were just two sides of the same coin. The Black Forest was just the same to them... Even if a Death spirit had taken them away from her, the results in real life had been quite different.
She lost Milly to Death.
She lost Bolt to Life.
Just where was her? Just in between, in a Limbo... unable to do anything but to see them go, unable to return anymore.
And it hurt her. Greatly.
The last few days at the island had been like Paradise to her.
She had befriended a great young girl, always so energetic, always so cheerful, by the name of Molly.
Then, Molly had found Bolt close to the Black Forest, and then, the little girl had brought the man to her clinic. And she, Jessica Wobart, the only doctor in the island, had been the one who had tended his wounds, and waited for him to awake.
They had talked during long walks along the island. At first, he wasn't too fond of conversation, but slowly, he started opening up to her.
But she enjoyed those walks, even if he didn't talk at all. Having him around was quite comforting and nice to her.
He even offered himself to help her with some carpentry duties. It was then when he painted the fence around the clinic.
Molly originally wanted to paint it pink, but she managed to convince her to paint it some other color. The vivacious child came up with the idea of painting it "the color of the ocean".
Not a regular blue, but the color of the magnificent ocean that surrounded the island. And she couldn't have been more right about her choice.
Luckily, Rand, the owner of the hardware store, had such a color to paint the wooden fence.
They seemed like a family together. Even the townspeople seemed eager to adopt Bolt to their lifestyle.
Only that they didn't know he was a mercenary.
But for her, he seemed to be ready to leave that kind of life behind. Not because she was the one behind the idea, but because he claimed that he had been able to find what he had been looking for.
In a way, he also was what she had been always expecting for.
It was so beautiful to find someone to rely on, to lean on…
With the gorgeous ocean as witness, they gave in to their feelings.
Jessica felt that everything was going really smoothly, and she was really happy.
The only thing that could trouble her was that she once saw him choking after trying to eat a nail.
But she had her own little secret, so she wasn't so surprised, not as much as he had been.
But good things had to come to an end, and sadly, she knew it.
She had known when Milly got close to Death… it had been a sharp pain at her chest. She barely made it until the patient she was looking at was finally outside her house, that she closed the door energetically and braced herself, hoping she was wrong.
But she wasn't.
That very night Death appeared and took Milly with her, not before warning Bolt that she would come for him the next day.
She had tried to prevent it, she had even drugged Bolt when he hinted at her that he planned to do something about it.
But it had been useless.
Death appeared once more, as she promised, and when Jessica could realize it, she was running, chasing the Death that was carrying Bolt in her arms.
It was then when she had begged, but nothing came out from it.
Dr Wobart wept, or did the best she could, as she was, actually, just a PC program in a life support machine in the real world.
She wanted Bolt back.
Milly was already dead, and nothing could be done.
Now, in the real world, she was there, omniscient from her machine's screens and lights in form of cross, just like the cross she had around her neck in that idyllic life. She could only see and talk back when talked. Nothing else.
She had never asked why they had made it that way. She didn't know. She just knew that, once, there was nothing, and then… everything. Life had been inflicted on her, and she didn't know how or why.
But back to the real world, she could see Bolt waking up, adjusting his glasses, just as he had done in her island. Her heart would have fluttered, if she had one, as she could see the tender chest where she had lied over a couple of marvelous times.
She wanted to break free from that imprisonment she suffered.
The woman explained something to Bolt, but he seemed to be more concerned with what was laying at the woman's back.
With her machine.
Ignoring the woman, he had asked her which color was the fence…
He knew it was her.
Despite all the machinery and cables and screens around, he could tell it was her.
And she had been happy, as happy as a computer could be, and more, even. Almost like a real woman.
She didn't know why he had been entrusted to her, but now she had been thankful of having met him.
And she was grateful that she could tell that she still existed.
Jessica answered, "The color of the ocean".
A long pause on his lips, he adjusted his sunglasses, even seemed to sigh.
Then, he asked about Milly. She replied to him.
Then, the woman started talking.
Bolt told the woman he didn't want to be a mercenary anymore. Like in the island. Like when he was with her…
Then he took down her job proposal and left.
And she was left all alone, like at that moment when Death had gotten away with her duty, and in less than 48 hs, she took away two precious souls from her.
Only that this time, she couldn't cry, nor kneel down, nor move in any way, as she was an algorithm in a machine.
In a way, she was crucified in her own cross of lights.
She couldn't control it much, but she was used at coming and going from being a life-support machine to a real doctor in an illusion world.
She didn't want to go on being a support machine, but a doctor, as in her dreams. She needed her Paradise world if she didn't want to get mad about everything and be shut down in the process. This would basically mean a death sentence to her. And she wasn't eager to die.
It was like a way to protect herself from such a harsh reality. That was why she knew that reality was too hard to confront.
And now that she found herself all alone, it was even more difficult.
So, she retired to her island, when no one from the real world came to ask her anything.
And so, Dr Jessica Wobart returned alone to the town from the Black Forest. She had gotten the sympathy and caring from the entire town. They had looked after her lovingly, as she did with them when they weren't feeling well. She couldn't complain about it. She tried to immerse herself on work, or read, or whatever activity could keep her mind busy.
One day, Jessica found herself on the shore. Not so away from her, lies a fence painted blue.
No, not blue, but the "color of the ocean".
She let the sea to touch her feet, and thought about all the things that had happened to her.
There had been more people coming and going from her island, all patients at the verge of death. Luckily, she didn't allow herself to get too close to them.
Life had been calm, like usual in the island.
She had been studying in her free time if there was some connection with the people staying on the island and the machine in the real world, but she couldn't guess much about it.
So, she would have to go on, while praying for a way to meet Bolt, some time.
And so, she came to the beach, to see the gorgeous sea around.
How could she forget them, if they had given her the best days she could have ever lived?
While walking, she noticed something shinning in the sand. She knelt down and picked it, only to realize that it was a screw.
Her thoughts flied to Bolt's memory.
There usually were only snails on the shore.
She grabbed it, and wished that finding it could mean an answer to her praying, like a way to assure her that, someday, she would be able to see Bolt once again.
The End
Notes: I've been with this idea on my head for ages... this certain episode of Eat-Man had been quite touching for me, and I still treasure it through the years... I even used the girls names for some original characters in another fic (didn't take the characters, I mixed them a bit), thinking that I would never get to write this.