As Jesse and James stood on the battler's podium in the Viridian City gym, they knew they were as good as beaten. Still, they weren't about to go out without a fight. Weezing was exhausted, but they'd already used Arbok and Lickitung, whilst the twerps still had Pikachu and a reasonably healthy Bulbasoar to battle with.
"Bulbasoar, Vine whip, now! Cried Ash. The attack strangled Weezing, but James persevered
"Weezing, smog attack!" he yelled. Bulbasoar choked and rolled over onto it's back
"Bulbasoar return!" called the twerp "Oh, now I'm really mad!"
"What're you going to do now kid? Use that Pikachu?" Jesse sounded mocking, but it was obvious she knew they didn't stand a chance to win.
"Pikachu, c'mon, give it everything you've got!! Thundershock now!" screamed Ash. Pikachu did just that; he launched his most powerful attack yet, sending Jesse, James and their Pokemon flying. As they were launched into the distance, they called out
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaiiinn!"
Jesse landed first, rolling over on her ankle "Dammit! I should be getting used to that by now!"
Meowth landed next, holding the pokeballs containing Arbok, Weezing and Lickitung. "Good job cats always land on their feet!"
James landed last. As he fell, he hit his head on a tree. HARD. He lay on the ground, unmoving and unconscious. Jesse noticed him and shuffled over to him "James? James?" she called again, louder "James, can you hear me?" she noticed the wound on his head, oozing blood onto his sleek hair, panic stricken, she rocked his shoulder gently. His head rolled over to face her. "Oh my God! James!" A look of absolute terror spread across her face. Never, in the countless times they'd been blasted off, had anything like this happened. Occasionally, well, frequently, they'd had a sprained wrist or a headache, but never had anything really serious happened. Meowth slipped the pokeballs inside Jesse's jacket and spoke
"He don't look too good. You betta get him to a hospital."
"Gee, you think?" snapped Jesse. She continued, "Make yourself useful, go and tell Giovanni what's happened."
"What! But that'll take days!" retorted the cat
"I don't care, just do it! Jesse screamed. Meowth held up his front paws in submission, and ran off into the distance. Jesse broke down
"Oh my God James! Be alright, please, please!" Tears rolling down her face, she clasped his hand to her cheek, praying that he would come to. Suddenly, sense washed over her again. She tried to pick him up, but failed. Summoning every ounce of strength in her body, she hoisted James into a fireman's lift and slowly, painfully, began to stagger back towards the main city.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, Jesse arrived at the hospital, her top blood-stained from the oozing laceration on James's head. "Please…..Help" she gasped
"What happened?" Questioned an attractive female doctor with brown hair.
"He hit his head on a tree, hard!" replied Jesse as she helped to lay him down on a trolley. "Please! You have to help him!" she cried desperately.
"We'll do what we can," said the nurse. Then, in a pleasant but firm voice "You stay in the waiting room until we call you in to see him. I'll have someone come out and take a look at your ankle."
Jesse glanced down at her leg. Her skin-tight boot was ripped, and it was obvious that her ankle was dramatically swollen. However, she had more important things to think about. "No, please, let me come in with him."
"How are you related?" asked the nurse
Jesse thought fast "We're engaged." She replied, resolutely. She sounded convincing, but why had she said engaged? She should've said sister or something, she wanted to kick herself, but the idea of being James's fiancée was such an appealing thought…
"So you're not an immediate blood relative? Then I cannot let you in. I'm sorry, it's hospital regulations. Kindly remain in the waiting room, someone will bandage your ankle, and I'll tell you how he's doing as and when we have a development"
Jesse didn't want to argue any more. She slumped down on a chair with her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. "No" She said to herself. "I've got to keep strong, not just for James, but for myself. We'll get through this, I know we will." Jesse had always prided herself on being a strong woman. A setback like this was not going to bring out the weakness in her. James would be OK. He HAD to be Ok. They'd been together since their first day at Pokemon Tech, they'd failed the final exam after partying together, and they'd joined the bicycle gang together, and had finally joined Team Rocket together. They would be together forever.
Jesse took in her surroundings. In the waiting room, there were six chairs, a coffee machine, a candy machine and a videophone. The silence rang in her ears until it was punctuated by the sound of steps, and she looked hopefully towards the double doors where James had been taken, but nobody was forthcoming. Instead, a short, fat nurse with curly blonde hair and pink cheeks approached her from the left.
"Hello! I've come to fix up your ankle. This won't take a minute"
So Jesse sat and waited whilst the nurse iced and bandaged her ankle. She ignored the advice of resting up for a few days, James needed her, she couldn't just sit about and do nothing!
Finally the nurse left. Five minutes later, the double doors swung open and the doctor came out, with a grave expression on her face. "How is he?" Jesse nervously asked, previously unaware of how violently she was trembling.
"He's not very good I'm afraid. He's in a coma and there's a blood clot on his brain. We've given him drugs to deal with the clot but we cannot say whether he'll pull through. Basically, I'm sorry to say you should prepare for the worst"
Jesse collapsed heavily back into her chair. "Can I at least see him?"
"No, I'm sorry, as I said, next of kin only!"
"But he's all I have!"
"It's hospital regulations. The answer is no!"
Jesse then did something she had never done before. She knelt down in front of the doctor. "This man is all I have. I am begging you to let me see him. Please understand me, I need to see him"
Taken aback by this display of emotion, the doctor gave in, "Well. All right, but only for five minutes. He really is very sick and…"
But Jesse didn't hear all that the nurse had to say, she charged through the double doors to the best of her ability, considering that her ankle was causing her immense pain, and following her instinct entered room 562. She took a deep breath and stepped slowly inside. Tears stung the back of her big, blue eyes as her gaze fell upon the unconscious James. He was hooked up to a respirator and a heart monitor, and there was a drip sticking into his left arm. His hair, usually so sleek and beautiful, was messy and there was a dark patch protruding from underneath the bandages where the blood had stained it.
Jesse walked slowly over to him, her breath coming in uneven starts. When she reached his bedside, she knelt down and grasped his left hand, bowing her head as if in prayer. "James, please be alright," she whispered in a gentle, pleading voice. "I have nothing without you."
But the man was unresponsive.
"He will be fine won't he?" She quietly asked the doctor.
"I'm afraid I cannot promise anything" the doctor curtly replied, "He is in a critical condition. We've done all we can for the time being. It's up to him now. You've had five minutes, why don't you go home?"
Jesse didn't bother to mention that she didn't have a home. She pushed past the doctor and ran out of the room, casting one final look of longing back at James. She felt the next wave of hot, salty tears begin to trickle down her face. She stumbled out of the hospital, wandered into a park and collapsed onto a bench. She quickly dried her eyes and remembered that she had resolved to stay strong, for James. She closed her eyes and cast her mind back once again over all the times they'd spent together. She recalled how badly she'd treated him most of the time. What she had never done however, was told him how much she truly loved, adored and worshipped him. She cursed herself for never mentioning it. She stood up and began to wander aimlessly through the park, her arms folded protectively across her stomach. On her own, she was frighteningly aware of her exposed midriff and legs, her own vulnerability in the big, wide world. It was never like this when James was with her, when they had each other as a "security blanket", someone to face the world with, someone to fall out with, someone to laugh with and ultimately someone to care about and be cared about by. Jesse continued to stagger along the path, past caring about maintaining a confident image.
Lying in the hospital bed, James was unaware of his condition. As far as he was aware, he was only dreaming. Dreaming of a young blue-haired boy, his pet growlithe and his rich parents. Dreaming, about a young teenager who still used stabilisers even though he was part of a bicycle gang. Dreaming, about a young man whose parents tried to force him into marriage. Dreaming, about a beautiful, red-haired woman. A woman who had been with the blue-haired man throughout all of this, such a huge part of his life for such a long time. Meanwhile, the doctors looked on, unsure of whether he'd pull through.
Jesse had found a small cave on the outskirts of town that she was using as a place to sleep as most of the hotels were full and she couldn't afford the ones that weren't. As she curled up for the night, a horrible thought crept into her mind; What if he dies? She ran the question over and over in her brain. She would never be able to live without him, she would remember every day that for the sake of three small words, she could have confessed how she truly felt for him. She finally fell asleep much later, completely worn out by the day's events.
Jesse woke with the sunrise, still exhausted. She slowly made her way back through the city to the hospital. She ignored the receptionist and made her way to room 562. James had no doctors surrounding him this time, he just lay in bed, alone. Jesse quietly sat down on a stool at the side of the bed and gazed at her partner. He looked so fragile, so susceptible to the awful things that lay in the outside world. Jesse had never seen him look like that. She stroked the back of his hand as she softly whispered
"I love you James"
Jesse cast her eyes upon his face. Could he hear what she was saying? Had she just imagined his eye fluttering? Was it just the irregularity of his breath or had he just whispered her name?
Jesse snapped back to reality. This man was in a coma, he couldn't possibly respond to her, could he?
The door swung open, it was the brown-haired doctor. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"I…I…I'm sorry, I just needed to see him!"
Then, to Jesse's surprise, the nurse smiled. "You obviously care deeply about him. You'll be relieved to know that he's out of danger for the time being. However, he is still very ill, we cannot say when he'll come round, and when he does how badly affected he will be. This wasn't the first time he's received a serious blow to the head was it?" The nurse looked stern "Anyway, you know he's very lucky to be alive. But so far he hasn't shown any sign of response to most stimuli."
"Is there anything I can do?" asked Jesse. She really, really hated feeling helpless.
"I think the best you can do is come and talk to him every day. Even though the tests show him to be unresponsive, nobody can really say for sure what he's aware of."
So Jesse did just that. Every day, for eight days, she sat with James, his hand clasped in hers, telling him about their time together. Each night she took leftover food from the hospital cafeteria back to the cave, and every night she spent hours trying to coax herself into sleep. Every morning she returned and began again. She told James all about when they first met at Pokemon Tech, all about having different friends and hating each other at first, all about coming together and failing the final exam and subsequently joining the bicycle gang and then she told him all about Team Rocket.
On day nine, Jesse was halfway through describing Giovanni, when James's hand feebly squeezed hers. Jesse gasped and said "James?" -He squeezed again- "can you hear me?"-Another squeeze- "Squeeze once for yeas, twice for no, OK?"-One squeeze- "Is your name James?"-One squeeze- "Do you have a pet Pikachu?"-Two squeezes- "Are you a member of Team Rocket?" –One squeeze. Jesse released his hand and ran to the door "Nurse!!" She screamed "Nurse!! Come quickly!"
"What's the matter? Is he getting worse?" asked a blonde-haired nurse whom Jesse hadn't seen before
"No, no, he can hear me!! He responded to me!" Squealed Jesse, unable to contain her elation
"Calm down, calm down" replied the nurse "How did he react to you speaking?"
"He squeezed my hand when I asked him questions, to answer yes or no! He's going to be Ok isn't he? He's going to be fine!"
The nurse regarded Jesse for a moment, as if humouring a child "So you're telling me, that if I hold his hand and you ask him questions, he'll understand and squeeze my hand to give me an answer?"
"Yes, Yes!" said Jesse enthusiastically
"OK, it's worth a try," replied the nurse, sceptically, taking up James's hand. "Ask him something"
"Is your name James?" Asked Jesse. Then, "Did he do anything?"
"He squeezed my hand once. Try something else. It could just be an involuntary muscle spasm"
Jesse looked annoyed, but continued, "Is your name Ash?"
"Two squeezes! I think you were right; he is going to be all right! I'll have a doctor examine him, and we'll keep you updated. I'm afraid it's time for you to leave now"
Jesse was ecstatic. She should have wanted to jump up and down, to scream and shout, to vent her happiness and yet she was oddly sedate. If he had heard her today, had he heard her when she'd said she loved him? That could make a mess of pretty much everything. Did he feel the same way? If he didn't, would it affect their relationship? HAD he heard? Only time would tell…
Jesse walked through the park feeling generally confused. Then she caught sight of three familiar, unwanted faces.
"Oh my gosh, it's Team Rocket!" cried Misty.
"Hey, where's James?" called Ash, whilst Brock just sloped along in between the other two. "Has he finally realised that what you're doing is wrong?"
Jesse ignored them and walked defiantly past with her nose in the air.
"Well, don't just ignore me! That's not at all like you! What's happened, really?" the twerp persisted.
"None of your business brat! Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"Is he hurt?"
"As I said, none of your business!"
"Well…OK…at least you're not trying to capture Pikachu. Or do you need James to give you ideas on how to do it?" Ash laughed, "At least you don't have to do the stupid motto now!"
That touched a nerve with Jesse. The kid was right, in a way. She did need James, not just to say the motto, but he did also help her come up with ideas. Resisting the urge to thwack him to kingdom come, she remained composed and replied "Unlike you and your, ahem, 'friends', I can cope on my own. The whereabouts of James are none of your business and even if you needed to know, I certainly wouldn't tell you!" and with that, she stalked arrogantly away with her head held high, leaving the twerps staring in amazement.
Jesse finally decided to get in touch with The Boss herself as Meowth hadn't bothered to return. She found a public videophone and called the operator to reverse the charges. She dialled Giovanni's number and waited for him to answer.
"Dear Gods Jesse, you look awful!"
Not the opening she had hoped for. Jesse was more than a little taken aback, but then again, she had neglected her appearance while James had been in hospital.
"Erm… Hi Boss." She began. "Has Meowth reached you yet?"
"He has. He's keeping me company whilst Persian's in the Pokemon centre. He's got a broken paw."
Jesse glanced at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and sure enough, Meowth was proudly sitting in Persian's usual spot being petted by Giovanni. That two faced little rat! When she got her hands on him, she'd…
"Jesse" the boss interrupted her train of thought "Where's James? Meowth told me he was hurt, but I assumed he would have recovered somewhat by now. You two do seem to have a habit of bouncing back…" he rolled his eyes. Jesse tried to disguise her annoyance. "Anyway, how is he?" Jesse covered up her inner turmoil and soberly replied
"Oh, he's doing fine. The doctors say he should have recovered in a few days."
"Ah, good." Replied Giovanni. "As it happens, the Veridian city Rocket Cabin , just around the corner from the hospital, is vacant at the moment. Butch and Cassidy have just left it, they caught seventeen Pokemon whilst they were there!" Jesse scowled at the names of Butch and Cassidy, the Boss's pets! "You can stay there, get cleaned up and have a good night's rest. You certainly look like you could do with it!"
Jesse ignored the blatant dig at her appearance and gasped. She now had somewhere decent to stay! The rocket Cabins were well-equipped homes situated in the main cities throughout the world, offering a place to stay for TR members who couldn't afford a hotel, or needed accommodation at short notice. They had a bathroom and three comfortable bedrooms. The Veridian one even had a fireplace in the living room. The cabins also kept spare, clean uniforms.
"Thank you Boss" she replied in tones unusually grateful for her.
"Not a problem. Do keep me updated on his progress won't you?"
"Will do" and she hung up. Jesse walked the 300 yards to the cabin. It was tidy, but smelled suspiciously of Gin. Butch and Cassidy obviously weren't THAT perfect after all. The living room had two couches and a fireplace, and led into the kitchen. Surprisingly, the fridge was fully stocked. Jesse cooked herself some rice and sat down at the small table in the study to eat. She then made a beeline for the bathroom and ran a hot bubble bath, with aromatherapy oils. As the water was running, she glanced into the mirror and battled to restrain a scream as she saw her face, her perfection! Her eyes were sunken and had huge dark circles around them, her skin was a similar hue to compacted snow and her cheeks were covered in grime from sleeping in the cave. It was a wonder she'd been allowed into the hospital at all! She curtly turned away from the mirror in disgust. She turned off the taps, peeled off her filthy clothes, and slowly, blissfully, sank into the hot, bubbly water. A huge, world-weary sigh emanated from within her as she slowly began to relax.
Back at the hospital, James continued to dream. He dreamt once again about the red-haired woman. He noticed that although she was often mean to the blue-haired man, it was only when he'd done something stupid. James could tell that these two people, whoever they were, cared deeply about each other. In his comatose state, he didn't understand why these two people had hidden their true feelings from each other. Recently however, his dreams had been infiltrated by the sound of the red-haired woman speaking, saying "I love you James". Suddenly, it all made sense, HE was James, he was the blue-haired man, and the red-haired woman was called Jesse, she loved him and he loved her more than words could express. "Jesse!" he cried out. "JESSE! JESSE! JESSE!"
The doctors stared on as he frantically tossed and turned in his state of delirium, drifting in and out of consciousness. They had given him the highest dose of the most powerful sedative they had, they had no other way of helping him.
Jesse slipped into a clean, cotton nightshirt she had found in a wardrobe and sat by the fire in order to dry her hair. Something, however, didn't feel right. She had an awful, gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with the rice. She went to the clothes closet and pulled out a clean uniform. She fastened her jacket, adjusted her skirt and pulled on her boots before leaving the cabin. The air was silent and freezing, the sky was cloudless and the stars were shining. It was a beautiful, peaceful winter's night. Jesse's mind however was far from peaceful as she walked round to the hospital. Without hesitation, she approached the hospital and pushed open the doors. She sprinted up the stairs to room 562. This time, there were doctors surrounding James. "What's happened? Is he OK?" Jesse asked, panicked, even though she knew the answer
"He's taken a turn for the worse, I'm afraid. I dreadfully sorry to be so blunt with you, but we doubt he's going to see the break of dawn."
"No" whispered Jesse, shaking her head with her voice trembling almost as much as her body "NO!" she screamed "You can't let him die! You have to help him!"
"I'm sorry, we've done all we can." Replied the doctor, practically devoid of emotion
"No, you bastard! Help him, please! He's all I have!" by this point, Jesse was hysterical. She had tears streaming down her red face and she was shaking even more violently than before.
"There's no more we can do. You can stay with him tonight if you wish. The other doctors and I will check on him every two hours throughout the night. But I must warn you, he may be delirious." With that, the doctors left Jesse alone with the man she loved. She pulled up an armchair next to his bed and sat in silence, clasping his hand, mentally urging him to be all right. The doctors came and went three times before Jesse finally fell into an uneasy slumber as the night sky began to pale into dawn.
The following morning, the bright winter sun dancing on her eyelids awakened Jesse. It took her a few seconds to realise where she was, and a further few seconds to notice somebody stroking her hair.
"You've got three seconds to get your hands off me!" she threatened.
"Well, good morning sunshine!" a very croaky but very familiar voice replied.
"James?" Jesse optimistically questioned as she turned to face him and saw her partner, still hooked up to the various machines, smiling benignly. "Oh my God! James!" she squealed, unable to control herself, her eyes brimming with tears, she threw her arms around him.
"Ooohh, be gentle!" James croaked, hugging her back as best he could, with tubes sticking out of his arms. His eyes filled with tears as he whispered "I love you Jesse"
Jesse pulled slightly away, shocked. "Did you…"
"…hear every word that you said? Yes, I did" He smiled knowingly "Thank you. I don't know exactly what happened to me, or what was going on around me, all I know is that you were always there for me. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to you for that. I love you Jesse, every part of me loves every part of you. You are the reason I live and I just hope you feel the same way.
Jesse, unable to speak, simply nodded. As she composed herself, she placed James's hand gently on her chest and whispered "Even my heart beats for you. I adore you. You mean more than the world to me, you are my world."
The two sat in a beautiful, loving silence until a doctor came to check on James. "Amazing" breathed the doctor "it's like a miracle, he's made a fantastic recovery. We'll keep him overnight for observation, but he should be able to go home tomorrow." The doctor smiled at James and left. A nurse entered with a tray. It had on it some sort of nondescript green mush on a plate with white rice.
"What is that?" Asked James, wrinkling his nose in disgust
"Vegetable casserole. Now eat up, you need to get some strength back.
"I'd rather be in a coma" James muttered to Jesse, who giggled. The nurse set the tray down on James's lap, rolled her eyes, and left. James prodded the rice with a fork. "You know, I'm not sure that this is dead!" He grinned at Jesse, who announced
"I'm going out for a minute, enjoy your breakfast, if you can call that food" she kissed him on the forehead and walked out, ignoring his words of protest.
Jesse returned 20 minutes later, to find James with an uneaten pile of slop still on the tray. She was carrying a bunch of roses and a plastic bag.
"Oh, you came back to me then?" huffed James in mock anger.
"I thought the room needed brightening up" she replied, arranging the flowers in a vase on his bedside cabinet. She then turned around and caught James trying to peek into the bag. "No looking!"she teased.
"Please" James looked at her through big, clear, emerald eyes.
"Well…"
"Go on!"
"OK then. Ta daa!" she exclaimed, pulling out a box of 6 jelly donuts.
"Oh yes! Thank you!" cried James as she handed the box to him, grinning wickedly. James demolished five donuts in as many minutes, Jesse ate one and the box was empty. "That was so good!" James breathed, licking his fingers. "Now can you please tell me how I came to be here? I'd like to know why I ended up in hospital…"
So Jesse recounted the battle with the twerps. They then spent the rest of the day reminiscing about their past together, until a nurse came in and announced the end of visiting hours. Jesse kissed James tenderly and promised to return first thing tomorrow so that they could leave.
She skipped back to the cabin like a carefree five year old, which was just how she felt. She went straight to bed and for the first time in two weeks, she slept soundly for the night.
Jesse awoke at 7am, dressed and went to the hospital. However, room 562 was empty. James was gone. The roses were gone, the bed linen had been changed. She ran back to reception, confused. "Where is he?" she demanded
"Who?" the receptionist asked
"The patient, James, from room 562!"
"Oh, he was discharged about 45 minutes ago"
"Did you see which was he went?"
"No, he just walked out, carrying a bunch of roses."
"Right. Thanks." And then, inaudibly, "for nothing"
Jesse turned her back on the receptionist and left the building. There was no one else outside. Jesse looked around, panicked. Then she noticed a rose petal on the floor. She walked over to it, glanced briefly at it, then caught sight of another one 2 metres ahead of it. She had a hunch about how to find James…
She followed the roses past the hospital, round the block and up the driveway of the Rocket Cabin. She opened the door and noticed a single rose lying in the living area. The fire was roaring, even though she hadn't left it burning. Tongue firmly in cheek, she followed the petals down the hallway into the biggest bedroom where she found James (fully clothed) sat on the bed, a single red rose held to his cheek.
"The doctors said I was fine to leave" his innocently explained.
"Idiot! I was worried to death!" Jesse attempted to appear angry and failed miserably. James grinned devilishly and Jesse knew immediately what they were going to do. She walked over to him and sat on his knee, giggling.
"The doctors say I should avoid strenuous exercise for a few days, so be gentle!" he pleaded, having removed his gloves. He moved on to unfastening Jesse's jacket, and she did the same to him. They both grinned, devilish grins, with obvious carnal longing behind them.
"I'll see what I can do" she whispered, as they united two people within their nation for the first time…
TO BE CONTINUED…
"Bulbasoar, Vine whip, now! Cried Ash. The attack strangled Weezing, but James persevered
"Weezing, smog attack!" he yelled. Bulbasoar choked and rolled over onto it's back
"Bulbasoar return!" called the twerp "Oh, now I'm really mad!"
"What're you going to do now kid? Use that Pikachu?" Jesse sounded mocking, but it was obvious she knew they didn't stand a chance to win.
"Pikachu, c'mon, give it everything you've got!! Thundershock now!" screamed Ash. Pikachu did just that; he launched his most powerful attack yet, sending Jesse, James and their Pokemon flying. As they were launched into the distance, they called out
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaiiinn!"
Jesse landed first, rolling over on her ankle "Dammit! I should be getting used to that by now!"
Meowth landed next, holding the pokeballs containing Arbok, Weezing and Lickitung. "Good job cats always land on their feet!"
James landed last. As he fell, he hit his head on a tree. HARD. He lay on the ground, unmoving and unconscious. Jesse noticed him and shuffled over to him "James? James?" she called again, louder "James, can you hear me?" she noticed the wound on his head, oozing blood onto his sleek hair, panic stricken, she rocked his shoulder gently. His head rolled over to face her. "Oh my God! James!" A look of absolute terror spread across her face. Never, in the countless times they'd been blasted off, had anything like this happened. Occasionally, well, frequently, they'd had a sprained wrist or a headache, but never had anything really serious happened. Meowth slipped the pokeballs inside Jesse's jacket and spoke
"He don't look too good. You betta get him to a hospital."
"Gee, you think?" snapped Jesse. She continued, "Make yourself useful, go and tell Giovanni what's happened."
"What! But that'll take days!" retorted the cat
"I don't care, just do it! Jesse screamed. Meowth held up his front paws in submission, and ran off into the distance. Jesse broke down
"Oh my God James! Be alright, please, please!" Tears rolling down her face, she clasped his hand to her cheek, praying that he would come to. Suddenly, sense washed over her again. She tried to pick him up, but failed. Summoning every ounce of strength in her body, she hoisted James into a fireman's lift and slowly, painfully, began to stagger back towards the main city.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, Jesse arrived at the hospital, her top blood-stained from the oozing laceration on James's head. "Please…..Help" she gasped
"What happened?" Questioned an attractive female doctor with brown hair.
"He hit his head on a tree, hard!" replied Jesse as she helped to lay him down on a trolley. "Please! You have to help him!" she cried desperately.
"We'll do what we can," said the nurse. Then, in a pleasant but firm voice "You stay in the waiting room until we call you in to see him. I'll have someone come out and take a look at your ankle."
Jesse glanced down at her leg. Her skin-tight boot was ripped, and it was obvious that her ankle was dramatically swollen. However, she had more important things to think about. "No, please, let me come in with him."
"How are you related?" asked the nurse
Jesse thought fast "We're engaged." She replied, resolutely. She sounded convincing, but why had she said engaged? She should've said sister or something, she wanted to kick herself, but the idea of being James's fiancée was such an appealing thought…
"So you're not an immediate blood relative? Then I cannot let you in. I'm sorry, it's hospital regulations. Kindly remain in the waiting room, someone will bandage your ankle, and I'll tell you how he's doing as and when we have a development"
Jesse didn't want to argue any more. She slumped down on a chair with her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. "No" She said to herself. "I've got to keep strong, not just for James, but for myself. We'll get through this, I know we will." Jesse had always prided herself on being a strong woman. A setback like this was not going to bring out the weakness in her. James would be OK. He HAD to be Ok. They'd been together since their first day at Pokemon Tech, they'd failed the final exam after partying together, and they'd joined the bicycle gang together, and had finally joined Team Rocket together. They would be together forever.
Jesse took in her surroundings. In the waiting room, there were six chairs, a coffee machine, a candy machine and a videophone. The silence rang in her ears until it was punctuated by the sound of steps, and she looked hopefully towards the double doors where James had been taken, but nobody was forthcoming. Instead, a short, fat nurse with curly blonde hair and pink cheeks approached her from the left.
"Hello! I've come to fix up your ankle. This won't take a minute"
So Jesse sat and waited whilst the nurse iced and bandaged her ankle. She ignored the advice of resting up for a few days, James needed her, she couldn't just sit about and do nothing!
Finally the nurse left. Five minutes later, the double doors swung open and the doctor came out, with a grave expression on her face. "How is he?" Jesse nervously asked, previously unaware of how violently she was trembling.
"He's not very good I'm afraid. He's in a coma and there's a blood clot on his brain. We've given him drugs to deal with the clot but we cannot say whether he'll pull through. Basically, I'm sorry to say you should prepare for the worst"
Jesse collapsed heavily back into her chair. "Can I at least see him?"
"No, I'm sorry, as I said, next of kin only!"
"But he's all I have!"
"It's hospital regulations. The answer is no!"
Jesse then did something she had never done before. She knelt down in front of the doctor. "This man is all I have. I am begging you to let me see him. Please understand me, I need to see him"
Taken aback by this display of emotion, the doctor gave in, "Well. All right, but only for five minutes. He really is very sick and…"
But Jesse didn't hear all that the nurse had to say, she charged through the double doors to the best of her ability, considering that her ankle was causing her immense pain, and following her instinct entered room 562. She took a deep breath and stepped slowly inside. Tears stung the back of her big, blue eyes as her gaze fell upon the unconscious James. He was hooked up to a respirator and a heart monitor, and there was a drip sticking into his left arm. His hair, usually so sleek and beautiful, was messy and there was a dark patch protruding from underneath the bandages where the blood had stained it.
Jesse walked slowly over to him, her breath coming in uneven starts. When she reached his bedside, she knelt down and grasped his left hand, bowing her head as if in prayer. "James, please be alright," she whispered in a gentle, pleading voice. "I have nothing without you."
But the man was unresponsive.
"He will be fine won't he?" She quietly asked the doctor.
"I'm afraid I cannot promise anything" the doctor curtly replied, "He is in a critical condition. We've done all we can for the time being. It's up to him now. You've had five minutes, why don't you go home?"
Jesse didn't bother to mention that she didn't have a home. She pushed past the doctor and ran out of the room, casting one final look of longing back at James. She felt the next wave of hot, salty tears begin to trickle down her face. She stumbled out of the hospital, wandered into a park and collapsed onto a bench. She quickly dried her eyes and remembered that she had resolved to stay strong, for James. She closed her eyes and cast her mind back once again over all the times they'd spent together. She recalled how badly she'd treated him most of the time. What she had never done however, was told him how much she truly loved, adored and worshipped him. She cursed herself for never mentioning it. She stood up and began to wander aimlessly through the park, her arms folded protectively across her stomach. On her own, she was frighteningly aware of her exposed midriff and legs, her own vulnerability in the big, wide world. It was never like this when James was with her, when they had each other as a "security blanket", someone to face the world with, someone to fall out with, someone to laugh with and ultimately someone to care about and be cared about by. Jesse continued to stagger along the path, past caring about maintaining a confident image.
Lying in the hospital bed, James was unaware of his condition. As far as he was aware, he was only dreaming. Dreaming of a young blue-haired boy, his pet growlithe and his rich parents. Dreaming, about a young teenager who still used stabilisers even though he was part of a bicycle gang. Dreaming, about a young man whose parents tried to force him into marriage. Dreaming, about a beautiful, red-haired woman. A woman who had been with the blue-haired man throughout all of this, such a huge part of his life for such a long time. Meanwhile, the doctors looked on, unsure of whether he'd pull through.
Jesse had found a small cave on the outskirts of town that she was using as a place to sleep as most of the hotels were full and she couldn't afford the ones that weren't. As she curled up for the night, a horrible thought crept into her mind; What if he dies? She ran the question over and over in her brain. She would never be able to live without him, she would remember every day that for the sake of three small words, she could have confessed how she truly felt for him. She finally fell asleep much later, completely worn out by the day's events.
Jesse woke with the sunrise, still exhausted. She slowly made her way back through the city to the hospital. She ignored the receptionist and made her way to room 562. James had no doctors surrounding him this time, he just lay in bed, alone. Jesse quietly sat down on a stool at the side of the bed and gazed at her partner. He looked so fragile, so susceptible to the awful things that lay in the outside world. Jesse had never seen him look like that. She stroked the back of his hand as she softly whispered
"I love you James"
Jesse cast her eyes upon his face. Could he hear what she was saying? Had she just imagined his eye fluttering? Was it just the irregularity of his breath or had he just whispered her name?
Jesse snapped back to reality. This man was in a coma, he couldn't possibly respond to her, could he?
The door swung open, it was the brown-haired doctor. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"I…I…I'm sorry, I just needed to see him!"
Then, to Jesse's surprise, the nurse smiled. "You obviously care deeply about him. You'll be relieved to know that he's out of danger for the time being. However, he is still very ill, we cannot say when he'll come round, and when he does how badly affected he will be. This wasn't the first time he's received a serious blow to the head was it?" The nurse looked stern "Anyway, you know he's very lucky to be alive. But so far he hasn't shown any sign of response to most stimuli."
"Is there anything I can do?" asked Jesse. She really, really hated feeling helpless.
"I think the best you can do is come and talk to him every day. Even though the tests show him to be unresponsive, nobody can really say for sure what he's aware of."
So Jesse did just that. Every day, for eight days, she sat with James, his hand clasped in hers, telling him about their time together. Each night she took leftover food from the hospital cafeteria back to the cave, and every night she spent hours trying to coax herself into sleep. Every morning she returned and began again. She told James all about when they first met at Pokemon Tech, all about having different friends and hating each other at first, all about coming together and failing the final exam and subsequently joining the bicycle gang and then she told him all about Team Rocket.
On day nine, Jesse was halfway through describing Giovanni, when James's hand feebly squeezed hers. Jesse gasped and said "James?" -He squeezed again- "can you hear me?"-Another squeeze- "Squeeze once for yeas, twice for no, OK?"-One squeeze- "Is your name James?"-One squeeze- "Do you have a pet Pikachu?"-Two squeezes- "Are you a member of Team Rocket?" –One squeeze. Jesse released his hand and ran to the door "Nurse!!" She screamed "Nurse!! Come quickly!"
"What's the matter? Is he getting worse?" asked a blonde-haired nurse whom Jesse hadn't seen before
"No, no, he can hear me!! He responded to me!" Squealed Jesse, unable to contain her elation
"Calm down, calm down" replied the nurse "How did he react to you speaking?"
"He squeezed my hand when I asked him questions, to answer yes or no! He's going to be Ok isn't he? He's going to be fine!"
The nurse regarded Jesse for a moment, as if humouring a child "So you're telling me, that if I hold his hand and you ask him questions, he'll understand and squeeze my hand to give me an answer?"
"Yes, Yes!" said Jesse enthusiastically
"OK, it's worth a try," replied the nurse, sceptically, taking up James's hand. "Ask him something"
"Is your name James?" Asked Jesse. Then, "Did he do anything?"
"He squeezed my hand once. Try something else. It could just be an involuntary muscle spasm"
Jesse looked annoyed, but continued, "Is your name Ash?"
"Two squeezes! I think you were right; he is going to be all right! I'll have a doctor examine him, and we'll keep you updated. I'm afraid it's time for you to leave now"
Jesse was ecstatic. She should have wanted to jump up and down, to scream and shout, to vent her happiness and yet she was oddly sedate. If he had heard her today, had he heard her when she'd said she loved him? That could make a mess of pretty much everything. Did he feel the same way? If he didn't, would it affect their relationship? HAD he heard? Only time would tell…
Jesse walked through the park feeling generally confused. Then she caught sight of three familiar, unwanted faces.
"Oh my gosh, it's Team Rocket!" cried Misty.
"Hey, where's James?" called Ash, whilst Brock just sloped along in between the other two. "Has he finally realised that what you're doing is wrong?"
Jesse ignored them and walked defiantly past with her nose in the air.
"Well, don't just ignore me! That's not at all like you! What's happened, really?" the twerp persisted.
"None of your business brat! Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"Is he hurt?"
"As I said, none of your business!"
"Well…OK…at least you're not trying to capture Pikachu. Or do you need James to give you ideas on how to do it?" Ash laughed, "At least you don't have to do the stupid motto now!"
That touched a nerve with Jesse. The kid was right, in a way. She did need James, not just to say the motto, but he did also help her come up with ideas. Resisting the urge to thwack him to kingdom come, she remained composed and replied "Unlike you and your, ahem, 'friends', I can cope on my own. The whereabouts of James are none of your business and even if you needed to know, I certainly wouldn't tell you!" and with that, she stalked arrogantly away with her head held high, leaving the twerps staring in amazement.
Jesse finally decided to get in touch with The Boss herself as Meowth hadn't bothered to return. She found a public videophone and called the operator to reverse the charges. She dialled Giovanni's number and waited for him to answer.
"Dear Gods Jesse, you look awful!"
Not the opening she had hoped for. Jesse was more than a little taken aback, but then again, she had neglected her appearance while James had been in hospital.
"Erm… Hi Boss." She began. "Has Meowth reached you yet?"
"He has. He's keeping me company whilst Persian's in the Pokemon centre. He's got a broken paw."
Jesse glanced at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and sure enough, Meowth was proudly sitting in Persian's usual spot being petted by Giovanni. That two faced little rat! When she got her hands on him, she'd…
"Jesse" the boss interrupted her train of thought "Where's James? Meowth told me he was hurt, but I assumed he would have recovered somewhat by now. You two do seem to have a habit of bouncing back…" he rolled his eyes. Jesse tried to disguise her annoyance. "Anyway, how is he?" Jesse covered up her inner turmoil and soberly replied
"Oh, he's doing fine. The doctors say he should have recovered in a few days."
"Ah, good." Replied Giovanni. "As it happens, the Veridian city Rocket Cabin , just around the corner from the hospital, is vacant at the moment. Butch and Cassidy have just left it, they caught seventeen Pokemon whilst they were there!" Jesse scowled at the names of Butch and Cassidy, the Boss's pets! "You can stay there, get cleaned up and have a good night's rest. You certainly look like you could do with it!"
Jesse ignored the blatant dig at her appearance and gasped. She now had somewhere decent to stay! The rocket Cabins were well-equipped homes situated in the main cities throughout the world, offering a place to stay for TR members who couldn't afford a hotel, or needed accommodation at short notice. They had a bathroom and three comfortable bedrooms. The Veridian one even had a fireplace in the living room. The cabins also kept spare, clean uniforms.
"Thank you Boss" she replied in tones unusually grateful for her.
"Not a problem. Do keep me updated on his progress won't you?"
"Will do" and she hung up. Jesse walked the 300 yards to the cabin. It was tidy, but smelled suspiciously of Gin. Butch and Cassidy obviously weren't THAT perfect after all. The living room had two couches and a fireplace, and led into the kitchen. Surprisingly, the fridge was fully stocked. Jesse cooked herself some rice and sat down at the small table in the study to eat. She then made a beeline for the bathroom and ran a hot bubble bath, with aromatherapy oils. As the water was running, she glanced into the mirror and battled to restrain a scream as she saw her face, her perfection! Her eyes were sunken and had huge dark circles around them, her skin was a similar hue to compacted snow and her cheeks were covered in grime from sleeping in the cave. It was a wonder she'd been allowed into the hospital at all! She curtly turned away from the mirror in disgust. She turned off the taps, peeled off her filthy clothes, and slowly, blissfully, sank into the hot, bubbly water. A huge, world-weary sigh emanated from within her as she slowly began to relax.
Back at the hospital, James continued to dream. He dreamt once again about the red-haired woman. He noticed that although she was often mean to the blue-haired man, it was only when he'd done something stupid. James could tell that these two people, whoever they were, cared deeply about each other. In his comatose state, he didn't understand why these two people had hidden their true feelings from each other. Recently however, his dreams had been infiltrated by the sound of the red-haired woman speaking, saying "I love you James". Suddenly, it all made sense, HE was James, he was the blue-haired man, and the red-haired woman was called Jesse, she loved him and he loved her more than words could express. "Jesse!" he cried out. "JESSE! JESSE! JESSE!"
The doctors stared on as he frantically tossed and turned in his state of delirium, drifting in and out of consciousness. They had given him the highest dose of the most powerful sedative they had, they had no other way of helping him.
Jesse slipped into a clean, cotton nightshirt she had found in a wardrobe and sat by the fire in order to dry her hair. Something, however, didn't feel right. She had an awful, gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with the rice. She went to the clothes closet and pulled out a clean uniform. She fastened her jacket, adjusted her skirt and pulled on her boots before leaving the cabin. The air was silent and freezing, the sky was cloudless and the stars were shining. It was a beautiful, peaceful winter's night. Jesse's mind however was far from peaceful as she walked round to the hospital. Without hesitation, she approached the hospital and pushed open the doors. She sprinted up the stairs to room 562. This time, there were doctors surrounding James. "What's happened? Is he OK?" Jesse asked, panicked, even though she knew the answer
"He's taken a turn for the worse, I'm afraid. I dreadfully sorry to be so blunt with you, but we doubt he's going to see the break of dawn."
"No" whispered Jesse, shaking her head with her voice trembling almost as much as her body "NO!" she screamed "You can't let him die! You have to help him!"
"I'm sorry, we've done all we can." Replied the doctor, practically devoid of emotion
"No, you bastard! Help him, please! He's all I have!" by this point, Jesse was hysterical. She had tears streaming down her red face and she was shaking even more violently than before.
"There's no more we can do. You can stay with him tonight if you wish. The other doctors and I will check on him every two hours throughout the night. But I must warn you, he may be delirious." With that, the doctors left Jesse alone with the man she loved. She pulled up an armchair next to his bed and sat in silence, clasping his hand, mentally urging him to be all right. The doctors came and went three times before Jesse finally fell into an uneasy slumber as the night sky began to pale into dawn.
The following morning, the bright winter sun dancing on her eyelids awakened Jesse. It took her a few seconds to realise where she was, and a further few seconds to notice somebody stroking her hair.
"You've got three seconds to get your hands off me!" she threatened.
"Well, good morning sunshine!" a very croaky but very familiar voice replied.
"James?" Jesse optimistically questioned as she turned to face him and saw her partner, still hooked up to the various machines, smiling benignly. "Oh my God! James!" she squealed, unable to control herself, her eyes brimming with tears, she threw her arms around him.
"Ooohh, be gentle!" James croaked, hugging her back as best he could, with tubes sticking out of his arms. His eyes filled with tears as he whispered "I love you Jesse"
Jesse pulled slightly away, shocked. "Did you…"
"…hear every word that you said? Yes, I did" He smiled knowingly "Thank you. I don't know exactly what happened to me, or what was going on around me, all I know is that you were always there for me. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to you for that. I love you Jesse, every part of me loves every part of you. You are the reason I live and I just hope you feel the same way.
Jesse, unable to speak, simply nodded. As she composed herself, she placed James's hand gently on her chest and whispered "Even my heart beats for you. I adore you. You mean more than the world to me, you are my world."
The two sat in a beautiful, loving silence until a doctor came to check on James. "Amazing" breathed the doctor "it's like a miracle, he's made a fantastic recovery. We'll keep him overnight for observation, but he should be able to go home tomorrow." The doctor smiled at James and left. A nurse entered with a tray. It had on it some sort of nondescript green mush on a plate with white rice.
"What is that?" Asked James, wrinkling his nose in disgust
"Vegetable casserole. Now eat up, you need to get some strength back.
"I'd rather be in a coma" James muttered to Jesse, who giggled. The nurse set the tray down on James's lap, rolled her eyes, and left. James prodded the rice with a fork. "You know, I'm not sure that this is dead!" He grinned at Jesse, who announced
"I'm going out for a minute, enjoy your breakfast, if you can call that food" she kissed him on the forehead and walked out, ignoring his words of protest.
Jesse returned 20 minutes later, to find James with an uneaten pile of slop still on the tray. She was carrying a bunch of roses and a plastic bag.
"Oh, you came back to me then?" huffed James in mock anger.
"I thought the room needed brightening up" she replied, arranging the flowers in a vase on his bedside cabinet. She then turned around and caught James trying to peek into the bag. "No looking!"she teased.
"Please" James looked at her through big, clear, emerald eyes.
"Well…"
"Go on!"
"OK then. Ta daa!" she exclaimed, pulling out a box of 6 jelly donuts.
"Oh yes! Thank you!" cried James as she handed the box to him, grinning wickedly. James demolished five donuts in as many minutes, Jesse ate one and the box was empty. "That was so good!" James breathed, licking his fingers. "Now can you please tell me how I came to be here? I'd like to know why I ended up in hospital…"
So Jesse recounted the battle with the twerps. They then spent the rest of the day reminiscing about their past together, until a nurse came in and announced the end of visiting hours. Jesse kissed James tenderly and promised to return first thing tomorrow so that they could leave.
She skipped back to the cabin like a carefree five year old, which was just how she felt. She went straight to bed and for the first time in two weeks, she slept soundly for the night.
Jesse awoke at 7am, dressed and went to the hospital. However, room 562 was empty. James was gone. The roses were gone, the bed linen had been changed. She ran back to reception, confused. "Where is he?" she demanded
"Who?" the receptionist asked
"The patient, James, from room 562!"
"Oh, he was discharged about 45 minutes ago"
"Did you see which was he went?"
"No, he just walked out, carrying a bunch of roses."
"Right. Thanks." And then, inaudibly, "for nothing"
Jesse turned her back on the receptionist and left the building. There was no one else outside. Jesse looked around, panicked. Then she noticed a rose petal on the floor. She walked over to it, glanced briefly at it, then caught sight of another one 2 metres ahead of it. She had a hunch about how to find James…
She followed the roses past the hospital, round the block and up the driveway of the Rocket Cabin. She opened the door and noticed a single rose lying in the living area. The fire was roaring, even though she hadn't left it burning. Tongue firmly in cheek, she followed the petals down the hallway into the biggest bedroom where she found James (fully clothed) sat on the bed, a single red rose held to his cheek.
"The doctors said I was fine to leave" his innocently explained.
"Idiot! I was worried to death!" Jesse attempted to appear angry and failed miserably. James grinned devilishly and Jesse knew immediately what they were going to do. She walked over to him and sat on his knee, giggling.
"The doctors say I should avoid strenuous exercise for a few days, so be gentle!" he pleaded, having removed his gloves. He moved on to unfastening Jesse's jacket, and she did the same to him. They both grinned, devilish grins, with obvious carnal longing behind them.
"I'll see what I can do" she whispered, as they united two people within their nation for the first time…
TO BE CONTINUED…