Disclaimer - Nope, I definitely don't own Code Lyoko.
At first disorientation rules Aelita's mind as she stares upwards at the dark plaster above her. I don't think this is the afterlife, it wouldn't be this uncomfortable. So that implies I somehow lived…? She closes her eyes again and tries to remember what exactly happened. Aelita had gone into a store to grab milk and bread. Paying the cashier, she turned around with bags in hand and someone pushed her into the countertop. The white man in a black mask gazed at her with manic blue eyes that kind of reminded her of Jeremie before pointing a pistol at the manager. Aelita had tackled the man without really thinking about it; a bit of a martyr complex lived in her. The next thing she recalled was a loud sound and an intense sting of pain in her chest. Something had convulsed within her and blackness took her vision. For some reason she couldn't get the robber's blue eyes out of her mind as she faded away.
Coming out of her reverie, the pinkette attempts to shift on the bed and finds herself strangely weak. A stab of pain in her side makes Aelita stop trying to move on the bed. Peering over the sheets, she spies a long tube coming out of her chest and going into some cylindrical object. What is that for? As a matter of fact her entire chest hurt quite a bit. Not excruciating pain, more like a dull throbbing as if something was healing and resented her movement.
Lifting her hands, Aelita looks at the two needles sticking out of her arms. Her gaze follows the tubes to the bags of crystal liquid suspended in the air to her left. As she watches a few drops of whatever's inside follow the tube and pass into her bloodstream. For some reason a beeping sound invades her mind and she turns to her right to stare at the luminous monitor. How did I not notice that earlier? Some of the confusion subsides; Aelita's thoughts become less hazy.
Something besides the monitor invades her aural sense. Aelita picks up the faint noise of breathing that isn't her own. Really wishing she could see forward, the woman gingerly pulls herself up on the bed. Slowly she reaches a position where some of the room met her eye. A strangely familiar head greeted her vision. The darkness in the room prevented her from making out any facial features. Hmm, that person must be slumped in the chair. Figuring that she'd know when the chest tube was in danger of moving, Aelita continues her journey upward.
Finally she reaches a decent angle and looks out at most of the room. The ball of darkness that indicated a head morphs into a lanky figure with a long medical coat sleeping in the chair nearest her. Aelita frowns and tries to think why a doctor would be keeping a bedside vigil. Nothing immediately pops up into her head. Instead, the robber's face flashes through her mind again and it sparks an idea. Didn't Ulrich mention that Jeremie was a doctor?
With a little bit of nervousness fluttering in her chest Aelita tries to match the shadowed figure with a ten year older Jeremie. Why am I nervous? That was ten years ago for heaven's sake. Yet…she knew that some of those feelings still resided deep in her. How could they not? Her love for Jeremie basically defined who she was for the first couple years of her return to humanity. It even defined her time stuck on Lyoko. She couldn't tell if Jeremie slumbered a mere five feet away.
Opening her mouth to say something, Aelita falls to a sudden wave of hesitation. If that was Jeremie then how could she justify waking him up at whatever time it was right now? He needed his sleep. He always needed his sleep back then; didn't I know that well. A wry smile flicks across her face as those years at Kadic resurge stronger than ever in her brain. The smile fades away as Aelita realizes that Mark had been correct. He never got the full amount of her love since Jeremie still claimed a portion of it. Still…that didn't justify what he did. The usual anger flares in her for a second but a strange twinge in her chest sends a note of panic through her body. A few deep breaths cause the achingly uncomfortable sensation to fade.
Just then she notices the monitor had been beeping slightly more rapidly until she calmed down. Aelita looks over and sees the blood pressure numbers falling and the previous sedate beeping returning. Oh, my blood pressure went up when I got angry. Makes sense. Apparently that wasn't a good thing judging by that weird moment in her chest. The change in rhythm must've brought the doctor closer to consciousness as he stirs in the chair but doesn't open his eyes. For a second the glint of glasses reflected a bit of light when he shifted; Aelita narrows her emerald orbs.
I'm sure plenty of doctors have glasses. Don't get carried away now. Aelita tries to berate herself for the vain hope but she moves a notch closer to the certainty that Jeremie slept in that chair. Even after ten years she still loved him. That definitely wasn't what she expected to find out on this trip to Boston. She shakes her head and chuckles softly. Of course she chose Boston on the off chance she'd run into Jeremie. After the divorce Aelita wanted some measure of security. There still existed one person in the world who had tried his best to protect her…even if she hated it at the time.
Ah yes, the arguments they had. He fought to prevent her from doing anything that posed the slightest harm to her while she screamed at him how she wanted to live. Otherwise there existed no point to all of his effort in the first place. They loved each other but getting along proved too tricky. I tried… With a heavy heart she broke it off; Jeremie loved her too much to bother arguing at all about it. That amused her to no end at the time. He refused to let her do anything yet didn't stop the one thing that hurt her the most? Men. That really is the only thing that explains it properly.
After that Aelita struggled to pretend that leaving him didn't hurt her as much as it did him. Blind to anything except his own mistakes, Jeremie never noticed. Of course, I'm not blameless either. She left Kadic for college and tried to not look back. Her effort failed miserably; the first two years of college she spent remembering those piercing blue eyes she might never see again. Many times she almost asked Ulrich, Odd, or Yumi for his number. It didn't matter what happened in the past. Aelita needed to see him or at least hear his voice. Yet the part of her that remained hurt always prevented her from doing so. Finally the addiction to Jeremie passed; she could go weeks then months without a single thought of him.
Once she met Mark Aelita thought that her life could go on normally. Their courtship and the first few months of marriage were a period of utter bliss for her…until the first piece of news that struck them a severe blow. It hit Mark the hardest; he began to withdraw from her and focus more and more on work. Aelita kept on trying but she knew even after a year that this commitment would fail just like all the smaller ones before. The last straw had been his affair. She stopped caring after that. That was also partly her fault too so she couldn't completely hate Mark. I just have problems with men. It probably would've been so much easier if I preferred women. But I don't.
Aelita stares blankly at the figure while she tallies the last ten years up in her head. Sure she had lived but it didn't mean she always enjoyed it to the fullest. Her relationships failed miserably; Aelita doubted there were any more chances for her. Boston offered opportunity so she'd just have to wait for something to come along. If she figured out why she was in the hospital and made it out of here that is. Time must have flown by while she thought about bygone days. A hint of pink sunlight gleams through the window slit and into her emerald eyes. She flinches from the blinding light with a gasp.
A sound drags Jeremie from his slumber and he opens his blue eyes. A small beam of light greets him and he shakes some of the sleep away from his mind. Aelita's hair shone luminescent in the light and Jeremie tries to figure out why something looked different about her. She's sitting up! The flare of hope and anticipation rising in him paralyzes him to his seat and he can only look over at the face hidden behind light.
Aelita squints through the light trying to figure out who the person was. She still couldn't get a clear view but she knew that there were two conscious people in the room now. The doctor seemed frozen to his chair as he looked in her direction. With a creak he moved toward the bed, the sun slowly revealing his face. There he stood in clear view; the piercing eyes she remembered so well still the same. A few more lines, a few more worries, a few more cares readjusted her mental picture of him. He still could take her breath away if her sudden thirst for oxygen was any indication.
Jeremie stood in shock as he looks into her emerald eyes. Those deep pools that sucked him in ten years ago effortlessly drew him back. Her beauty still shone from her face. How different she looked with her radiant emerald orbs looking right back at him compared to the wan statue that existed here for three days. "Jeremie…" she whispers. He smiles at the sound of his name on her lips.
Shaking out of her fugue, Aelita looks at his nametag and sees the words "Thoracic Surgeon." Did he…save my life again…? "What happened Jer?" she asks as his nickname rolls off with easy familiarity. Those ten years vanished instantly and nothing seemed different from when they were going out. Except for the problems. Those are gone I hope. Jeremie visibly gathers himself.
"You almost died to the gunshot wound in your chest. We got lucky and my team was able to save you. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi are at my house right now sleeping. They all came in the second I called them. I'll pick them up once they wake up. They'll be happy to see you awake." Jeremie replies softly. He enjoyed looking into her eyes too much. All those feelings from high school roiled in him.
"How many times are you going to save my life?" Aelita asks wearily with the hint of a smile playing about her face. "Thanks for adding another bit to the debt I can never repay." she complains then smiles to show that it was a joke. Not that she needed to, Jeremie knew that much.
"Nothing to it my dear. You owe me absolutely nothing. Next time I don't suggest tackling people armed with guns though. It's not conducive to good health. That's my doctoral opinion anyway." Jeremie replies. Aelita raises an eyebrow.
"What's your personal opinion?" she asks with trepidation. This was the sort of thing that caused them no end of problems the first time around.
"It's up to you. Would you tackle that guy again to possibly save the lives of others or would you choose to increase your chance at life? I don't have a say." Jeremie replies. He chuckles at the spark of realization that he had changed that bursts in her eyes. A yawn bursts through his lips and Aelita's emerald eyes harden.
"You've been spending too much time making sure I'm okay haven't you?" Aelita asks while knowing the answer. That drive to stay by her side still surged strongly in him. "In that case, get to sleep." Jeremie chuckles and looks at the sliver of sun slowly rising in the horizon. He had only three hours of sleep under his belt right now and those weren't even restful.
"Well, the nurses should be in soon to check your chest tube and all the other stuff. So I can sit in the chair and try to sleep anyway." Jeremie says. Aelita shakes her head.
"No. You fall asleep on this bed. The least I can do in return is offer something slightly more comfortable than those nasty chairs. I highly doubt you care how it looks to the nurses. Besides, I need a friend right now." Aelita says and smirks at Jeremie's blush. Wow, we're just like teenagers again.
Jeremie thinks about the idea and scrolls through the list of possible consequences. Well she could get angry if he didn't and that would send her blood pressure up. It wouldn't hurt her anyway. When could I deny her anything? Except when I was an idiot that is. "Oh fine. You win princess." Jeremie says and gingerly takes the side of the bed that didn't interfere with any monitors or wires. Being this close to her was driving him crazy. Yet her presence also calms him down and soon he falls into some of the best sleep he'd had in years. Aelita looks at him and smiles at how right it felt. A sudden wave of tiredness sends her to the same place where Jeremie frolicked. Aelita falls asleep with a smile on her face.
Time to check on Aelita. Carol looks at her watch and sees that it is promptly 8:30. Perfect time for a routine checkup and perhaps see if the woman awakened yet. She opens the door and finds a scene that never crossed her mind. Jeremie was fast asleep next to Aelita while she slumbered with a satisfied smile on her face. The scrub nurse stares in shock and remembers to close the door. If any other nurse saw this her poor boss would never hear the end of it. She couldn't help but chuckle at the cute picture the two made. They definitely fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.
Deciding to save Dr. Belpois any further embarrassment, Carol taps him lightly on the shoulder. He immediately snaps to alert attention and looks at up at her with a surprised expression. "Good thing it's you Carol. Aelita persuaded me but it wouldn't have been fun if any other nurse saw." His scrub nurse nods and Jeremie quietly stands up. Aelita frowns at the sudden lack of his warmth and her emerald eyes open once again. She blinks sheepishly at Jeremie and the now-laughing woman standing next to him.
"Glad to see you've rejoined us." Carol wheezes in between laughs. Jeremie punches her lightly on the arm and she regains her composure. "Sorry boss." she drawls and earns a chuckle from Dr. Belpois.
"Aelita, this is my favorite scrub nurse and de facto adopted mother, Carol." Jeremie says with a grin. Aelita murmurs a greeting while Carol checks her chest tube.
"Looks like there hasn't been any drainage to report lately. The hemothorax is gone at this point. When do you want to take it out doctor? Even if you're technically off duty today this is a simple procedure." Carol asks after examining the tube contents and finding nothing. Jeremie ponders it and shrugs.
"Why not now? Just have to remove the sutures connecting it to her skin, make sure nothing went wrong, and close it all up. That fine with you Aelita?" The pinkette winces slightly at how matter of fact he describes pulling out a tube stuck in her chest. Better get it over with though. She nods. Jeremie asks Carol to grab some local anesthesia and the appropriate tools. He pulls up a steel basin by her side and snaps on gloves and a facemask with practiced ease. Aelita stares wide-eyed at how Jeremie looked the part of a surgeon. Of course he does, he's been doing this for years. She hadn't seen it until now.
The door bangs open as Carol runs in with a bundle of supplies wrapped in her arms. Jeremie thanks her quietly and inspects the chest tube. Hunting through the supplies, the doctor pulls out a decently-sized needle filled with a clear liquid and depresses it slightly to remove any excess air. Aelita turns away from the sharp object with a shudder. Jer raises his eyebrows at her reaction. "Ready? This will hurt a little but then the area will be numb." Aelita flicks her hand at him to continue. She endures the slight sting from the needle but it quickly fades into nothingness.
Jeremie peels off the dressing around the entry site and inspects the stitches. Carol hands him the appropriate tool and he swiftly clips the sutures out of Aelita's flesh. Now that the tube was free of any connections he could ease it out. Applying steady and straight pressure with his right hand, Jeremie slowly removes it and drops the object into the steel basin. He double checks that nothing was injured visibly by the tube and begins to suture shut the chest wall and then the skin. Jeremie finishes off with a swap of disinfectant and a nice clean bandage. All Aelita feels is a slight tugging sensation then nothing as Jeremie leans back and drops the tools into a tub of disinfectant with a clink.
"Nothing to it. Feeling anything amiss?" Dr. Belpois asks as he flips the glove into the biohazard container and takes off his mask. Carol picks up the debris and walks out the door. Aelita opens her eyes and gazes back at Jeremie.
"That was fast. Nope, nothing seems wrong as far as I can tell. How many scars am I going to have after this?" Aelita asks half-jokingly.
"A couple. Always could've been worse though." Jeremie says with optimism. Aelita nods and stretches her arms over her head. She looks quizzically at Jeremie.
"So…how long am I stuck in this bed?" she asks. Jeremie checks her chart and thinks about it for a couple seconds.
"Probably a week just to make sure that the aorta heals itself as much as possible before you start moving around again. I mean, you can probably walk around with a nurse each day but you can't leave the hospital quite yet. Now that you're up you might want to talk to your insurance company and let your boss know what happened." Aelita chuckles to herself and shakes her head.
"I'm not worried about either of those. Insurance will definitely cover it and I don't start work for another week anyway. I just moved here six days ago. Look what happened." A faint vibration reaches her ears as she completes her reply and she tilts her head. "That your phone?" Jeremie digs through a pocket in his coat and pulls out the lit-up phone.
"Hello Ulrich. Jeremie says into the phone with a smile. Aelita's face lights up as the realization that she would see her other friends soon crashes on her.
"We just got up and read your note. Aelita awake yet?" Ulrich replies. Jeremie looks over at the happy woman in bed.
"Yep. Just took out her chest tube and I'm headed back to pick you all up. She looks pretty excited to see you all."
"Excellent. I'll tell the others. Yumi's working on breakfast and Odd's sitting at the table ignoring both of us while texting Jane. We'll have food ready for you when you get here. Adios mate." Ulrich hangs up and Jeremie closes his phone. Aelita feels a slight wave of disappointment rise in her since Jeremie had to go. He squeezes her hand briefly, smiles, and then heads for the door.
"I'll be back in a little; hit the red button on the side of the bed to call for anything. " Jeremie says. Aelita smiles in return and waves. She turns to stare out the window and think about today's events while waiting. I still love him. Good to know.