Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or X-Men, titles or characters. Evie is my
character.
Chapter 4 - A Cry for Help
The next morning only brought frustration as every idea they had was met with disappointment. It began when Shalimar went to check on Jesse. He was still wearing the same clothes from the day before and had not moved from his bed. "Jess," Shalimar whispered. "Jess, won't you come down and have some breakfast?" She was met with silence. "Please, Jess, you have to eat something." As she sat on the bed next to him she reached for his hand. She was glad when she felt him grasp hers in return.
He turned his head and only met her eyes for a moment before turning over. "Leave me alone, Shal." He didn't respond to anything else that she said. Brennan and Evie also tried to get him to come down but were met with the same treatment, caring but silent.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Brennan yelled as he slammed his fists on the table.
"We need help." Evie told them as she got up to leave. "I'm going to call Charles. God willing, the X-Men can help." She left and went into Adam's office.
A few moments later she took a deep breath as she waited for the call to be answered.
"Ada---Evie? Hello, my dear. I'm sorry. My screen read Adam's name and---"
"Charles, I need your help." Evie interrupted.
"Anything, Evie, you know that. What's wrong?" Charles could see the anguish on her face and tried to keep his voice soothing.
"Adam'sgoneandtherewasanexplosionandJesseishurtingsomuch---" Evie began to cry.
"My dear, please take a deep breath and try to slow down."
"I'm sorry, Charles, it's just that---" She stopped. Then Charles saw her eyes open wide with an idea. "Charles, read me. You'll understand better that way."
"Are you sure, Evie?" In the three years they had known each other, they had utilized the professor's abilities to telepathically speak to one another on occasion but he had never had reason to enter her mind in such an extreme manner.
"Yes, please?" Evie's voice was full of desperation.
"Very well. Try to relax." They both closed their eyes as Charles began seeing the events of the last four days unfold from Evie's perspective. He was able to understand the mission and the computer readings of the explosion. He was also privy then, to Evie's dream. As his reading came to a close, he slowly opened his eyes. "Emma," he whispered sadly as a tear fell from one eye. "I am so sorry. My condolences, my dear Evie."
"To all of us. I know how close she was to you and your family."
"I will inform the others."
"Charles," Evie's voice suddenly took on a wholly determined tone, "Adam is NOT dead. I can't explain how I know but I do know with every fiber of my being that he is alive. I need you to help me find him. Please say you will."
"I will gather as many of the team as is available and we will be there before nightfall. Set the Sanctuary computer to expect the Blackbird and admit us when we signal."
Looking relieved and letting out a held breath she sighed, "Thank you."
"You need never have doubted my help, Evie. There is nothing that could keep us apart at a time like this. Tell everyone we will see them shortly. Xavier out."
Evie looked at the picture that was just beside the monitor on Adam's desk. It was a wedding picture. She smiled as she remembered how happy they were that day. Running her fingertip over Adam's image she whispered, "Don't worry sweetheart, we're coming."
Right after dinner Brennan got a call from the mansion. He smiled as he saw Jubilee's face appear on his screen. "Hey, firecracker." He saw her try to smile but her teary eyes betrayed her strong resolve.
"Brennan, I am so sorry. I don't know what to say. I wanted to come but the professor asked me to stay for the children." A very beautiful young lady now wiped the tears that fell.
"Thank you, Jubes. I know you where your heart is." Brennan smiled at her.
"He also asked me to tell you when I called that Marie, Remy, Ororo, Logan and Kitty are with him. Jean is due to have her baby any day and Hank had to stay for her. The Blackbird has all Sanctuary's access codes so they should be able to land without disturbing you."
"Thanks, and tell Jean we wish her the best. Right now we could all use some good news. Make sure you call us when the little Summers make his or her appearance."
"Sure thing. Kiss Shal, Evie and Jess for me." Chuckling slightly when his eyebrows raised she added, "Well, you know what I mean. Let me know if I can do anything from here."
"Right. Bye, Jubes."
"Bye, Brenn."
In what seemed to be no time at all, Sanctuary's computers signaled the arrival of their expected guests. As the professor made his way down the hall and into the center of their home, he saw Evie come running down the steps toward him. She immediately knelt in front of him as he embraced her. "Charles, thank you so much." She looked up to the rest of his team behind him. "Thanks to all of you. I didn't know what else to do. We need your help, desperately."
"We're here now. Don't worry. If Adam is alive, we will find him and bring him home." Charles' smile seemed to calm her.
Just then Brennan and Shalimar came down the steps and the two teams greeted each other and shared their feelings.
"After only a few moments Kitty took Evie's hand. "How's Jesse?" Everyone immediately fell silent.
"I don't know," Evie said sadly.
"He realizes what happened but he just doesn't want to do anything," Brennan added.
Shalimar entered the conversation. "He hasn't eaten in two days. He won't speak or come out of his room."
All waited as the professor lowered his head. ~~Jesse? We're here to help. Will you not come down?~ Jesse mentally shut the door on the professor's approach. Opening his eyes Charles just shook his head.
"I would like to go up. May I?" Kitty pleaded.
"Sure, Kitty. Maybe he'll open up to you a little," Shalimar hoped.
"Brennan, why don't you show us the read outs of what happened? Then tomorrow we can go back to NAXCON and see if we can find anymore clues." Logan knew that nothing was hopeless.
Kitty walked into Jesse's room. It was completely dark. She closed the door behind her and waited for her eyes to adjust. In the darkness she could hear the sound of her own heart pounding and the shallow breathing of the man she was searching for. 'There,' she thought as she was finally able to see a little through the darkness. "Jesse?" she whispered. "Jesse, it's Kitty." She heard him turn and rustle the sheets. Moving toward the bed she continued. "I came up to see how you were doing." She could see him now. His back was to her as he lay on his bed. Sitting by him she gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Jesse," her voice was barely audible.
"Go away, Kitty. Leave me alone." His voice was broken and scratchy from crying.
"Please don't send me away," she pleaded. "I came to see you. I wanted to be able to help you, even if all I can do for you is sit here, please let me do that." She got nothing but silence in return. That was enough for her. She just needed him to know that when he needed her, she would be there. She moved to a nearby chair and waited.
Brennan showed Logan, Remy and the Professor all they had so far. Marie and Ororo got the girls to tell them everything that happened. Both perspectives gave them a pretty clear picture of what they were dealing with.
"Kitty has been up there for a while now. Has she come down at all yet?" The professor asked as they rejoined the girls.
"No, but I can go check on them," offered Shalimar.
"That's ok, my dear. I'll do it." The professor lowered his head. ~~Kitty,~~
~~Yes, Professor.~~
~~Is everything all right?~~
~~He agreed to let me sit with him but he hasn't spoken to me yet.~~
~~Please come down, now. We need to discuss a few things.~~
~~I'll be right there.~~
"Kitty will be joining us momentarily. We need to discuss what our next move will be."
The professor knew this discussion would be hard for all involved. "The first thing we need to do is have a funeral for Emma. If no one claims her body, the state will take matters into their own hands. Adam would not want that," the professor stated. "I can make the contacts and arrangements in the morning. We can have the service in the afternoon." Everyone seemed in agreement so far. "While Evie and I do that, the rest of you will go to the scene and look for anything that might help us locate Adam. For now let us all rest. We will need it."
"Professor, may I stay with Jesse?" Kitty asked.
Evie took her hand. "Do you feel that you may be able to get him to come to the funeral? He'll need that closure and I don't want him to feel disregarded," she asked, hoping Kitty could break through where the rest had failed.
"I think I can get him to open up to me. I'll just keep talking until he does. You said that he hasn't eaten anything in two days. I think I'll start by talking to his stomach." She saw the professor nod, then smiling brightly with her new idea, Kitty headed for the kitchen.
The rest turned in for the night as Kitty made something for Jesse to eat. After about 30 minutes of preparing both the meal and what she would say, Kitty made her way up to Jesse's room with her tray. Jesse lay motionless as she walked into the room and placed the tray on his desk. Seeing he was not asleep, she turned on the desk lamp, which gave the room a soft light. "Jesse, won't you talk to me now?"
"There's nothing to talk about." He made no effort to move.
"I brought you some food. Shalimar told me you haven't eaten in a while." She brought the sandwich plate and glass to his bedside and placed them on his nightstand.
"I'm not hungry," he whispered.
Sitting on the bed next to him, she reached and moved a stray lock of hair from his closed eyes. She hesitated for a moment then let her hand gently fall across his face. "Jesse, please. You look so tired and worn out. Please let me help you. I know you're hurting." Her voice began to crack and her heart broke as she saw how distant he was from her at that moment. She wanted nothing more than to see him smile. His smile always dazzled her. "I just want to help."
Hearing the trembling in her voice pulled Jesse's thoughts from himself for the moment and focused them on the young lady sitting next to him. He had always cared for Kitty. She was a sweet kid and during his visits to the mansion they had bonded because of their similar mutation. He slowly rolled over and looked into her tear filled eyes. Seeing her like this gave him motivation to move. He slowly sat up in his bed and leaned back against the headboard. He reached out and hesitantly took her hands in his. "Thanks," was all he could get out before giving into the urge to fall against her and bury his face into her shoulder. Crying again he whispered, "Kitty, she's gone. Emma's gone. What am I gonna do?"
Feeling thankful that he was finally opening up to her, she wrapped her arms around him and rocked him for as long as he needed. "I know, Jess. I'm not sure what to do, but I do know that I'm gonna stay right here for you. I won't leave you." She rocked as he cried for about 15 minutes before she felt him stop and begin to sit back. "I brought you some soup and a sandwich. Please let me give you some. You have to keep up your strength."
Nodding slightly, he sat up straighter and watched as she brought him the food she had prepared. After he had finished eating he watched her clean up and wondered, "Why?"
"Why, what?" she smiled as she returned to sit by him.
"Why are you here?"
"Evie called and asked us to come and help find Adam."
"No, why are YOU here?" He seemed to be looking very intently at her.
Feeling very self-conscious she hesitated. "The professor asked who wanted to come and---well---," looking away and back toward the door she tried to continue as nonchalantly as possible. "I knew you would be hurting and--- well---I thought maybe I could try to ---I don't know---be here---for you. I was hoping I could---help." Now what did he think? Would he think she was just an immature child with a crush or would he begin to see her as a friend who truly wanted to be there for him? She was wringing her hands as she finished and wondered what he would say next.
Reaching a gentle hand to her face he turned her to look at him. "Having you here is helping. Thank you." For the first time since he went to NAXCON he smiled.
Kitty was thrilled to see it. Tears of joy filled her eyes as she hugged him. "I'm so glad to see you smile." She whispered and relaxed in his arms until she felt him pull her over him so that she was sitting against the headboard next to him.
"Will you stay and talk to me?" Jesse voice cracked as he spoke.
"Of course," feeling more confident, she continued, "I told you I'll be here for you. We'll deal with this together."
They stayed like that for most of the night, sometimes talking about Emma and sometimes sitting in silence. After a while, Jesse slid down and put his head on his pillow. Soon he was asleep. Kitty could sense him relax. She just sat there, afraid to move and disturb the peaceful sleep he so very much needed. Eventually sleep carried her away. A few hours later Jesse began to toss in his sleep, as his dreams seemed to turn into nightmares. Kitty was startled awake by his calling out. "No, no, Emma!"
Kitty sat facing him on the bed and took his head in her hands. "Jesse,--- Jesse, come on, wake up." She felt him struggling and trying to pull away from her.
Crying in his sleep he yelled, "No, Emma, don't leave me. Emma, don't, please! Come back! Come back!"
With fresh tears in her eyes, Kitty continued, "Jesse, it's ok. Wake up. Come on, now. Wake up."
Reaching out he grabbed the arms that held him. In desperation and confusion he massed his hands trying to hold onto the vision that was quickly fading in front of his eyes.
Suddenly, Jesse shot up in bed. Trying to blink away the daze of the sudden scene change, he remembered where he was. The whimpering of the woman his hands had massed on now sounded in his ears. Shocked as realization struck, he relaxed his hands but not before he saw her phase from his grip. "Kitty," he whispered. Afraid to touch her again, he watched as the pain, reflected in her face, faded. "Kitty, I'm sorry. I didn't---"
"It's ok, Jess. I know." She began to rub one arm then the other.
Hesitantly, he reached out and as gently as he could, touched one arm. "They aren't---broken---are they?" His face revealed the horror of knowing he hurt his friend.
"No, I phased in time. They're just a little sore." After only a moment's silence she continued. "I was trying to wake you up. You were yelling in your sleep." She didn't say what she heard hoping that he would trust her enough to tell her about the dream, himself.
He sat back and ran his hands through his hair. "It was Emma," he began. "She was standing with me, telling me that she loved me and---" he stopped and took a deep breath to avoid the tears again. "She was telling me---good bye."
Kitty was relieved to hear that he was actually improving, though he probably didn't realize it. "She loved you very much."
"I tried to grab her and not let her go. I was desperate to hold on. I guess that's when I---massed." He looked up to see Kitty smiling at him as she rubbed one arm.
"I know which hand is stronger," she quipped.
That's when it happened. He laughed. She knew, now that she had broken though and that he was ready to face the situation life had presented him. She would help him.
He reached out and pulled her close to him as he leaned back. They sat there quietly as he gently massaged her arms.
Feeling the time was right she began to tell him about what the professor was going to do and what the day would bring. The thought of a funeral wasn't new to him. It had come to mind, but each time he pushed it away, hoping that if he didn't think about it, it wouldn't have to happen. Now, though, he could accept it. "You won't be alone, Jess. We'll all be there, together."
"I know."
"Try to get a little more rest before morning." Kitty began to move away when she felt him refuse to let her go. When she turned to look at him she saw a mix of emotions on his face, but she expected as much.
When he saw he had her attention again, he moved his hands from around her and took both her hands in his. "Thank you, Kitty." He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them both. "I'm glad you're here."
She just smiled as she got off the bed and watched him lie down and close his eyes. She curled up on the chair with her blanket and rested her cheek on her hands as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
TBC
Chapter 4 - A Cry for Help
The next morning only brought frustration as every idea they had was met with disappointment. It began when Shalimar went to check on Jesse. He was still wearing the same clothes from the day before and had not moved from his bed. "Jess," Shalimar whispered. "Jess, won't you come down and have some breakfast?" She was met with silence. "Please, Jess, you have to eat something." As she sat on the bed next to him she reached for his hand. She was glad when she felt him grasp hers in return.
He turned his head and only met her eyes for a moment before turning over. "Leave me alone, Shal." He didn't respond to anything else that she said. Brennan and Evie also tried to get him to come down but were met with the same treatment, caring but silent.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Brennan yelled as he slammed his fists on the table.
"We need help." Evie told them as she got up to leave. "I'm going to call Charles. God willing, the X-Men can help." She left and went into Adam's office.
A few moments later she took a deep breath as she waited for the call to be answered.
"Ada---Evie? Hello, my dear. I'm sorry. My screen read Adam's name and---"
"Charles, I need your help." Evie interrupted.
"Anything, Evie, you know that. What's wrong?" Charles could see the anguish on her face and tried to keep his voice soothing.
"Adam'sgoneandtherewasanexplosionandJesseishurtingsomuch---" Evie began to cry.
"My dear, please take a deep breath and try to slow down."
"I'm sorry, Charles, it's just that---" She stopped. Then Charles saw her eyes open wide with an idea. "Charles, read me. You'll understand better that way."
"Are you sure, Evie?" In the three years they had known each other, they had utilized the professor's abilities to telepathically speak to one another on occasion but he had never had reason to enter her mind in such an extreme manner.
"Yes, please?" Evie's voice was full of desperation.
"Very well. Try to relax." They both closed their eyes as Charles began seeing the events of the last four days unfold from Evie's perspective. He was able to understand the mission and the computer readings of the explosion. He was also privy then, to Evie's dream. As his reading came to a close, he slowly opened his eyes. "Emma," he whispered sadly as a tear fell from one eye. "I am so sorry. My condolences, my dear Evie."
"To all of us. I know how close she was to you and your family."
"I will inform the others."
"Charles," Evie's voice suddenly took on a wholly determined tone, "Adam is NOT dead. I can't explain how I know but I do know with every fiber of my being that he is alive. I need you to help me find him. Please say you will."
"I will gather as many of the team as is available and we will be there before nightfall. Set the Sanctuary computer to expect the Blackbird and admit us when we signal."
Looking relieved and letting out a held breath she sighed, "Thank you."
"You need never have doubted my help, Evie. There is nothing that could keep us apart at a time like this. Tell everyone we will see them shortly. Xavier out."
Evie looked at the picture that was just beside the monitor on Adam's desk. It was a wedding picture. She smiled as she remembered how happy they were that day. Running her fingertip over Adam's image she whispered, "Don't worry sweetheart, we're coming."
Right after dinner Brennan got a call from the mansion. He smiled as he saw Jubilee's face appear on his screen. "Hey, firecracker." He saw her try to smile but her teary eyes betrayed her strong resolve.
"Brennan, I am so sorry. I don't know what to say. I wanted to come but the professor asked me to stay for the children." A very beautiful young lady now wiped the tears that fell.
"Thank you, Jubes. I know you where your heart is." Brennan smiled at her.
"He also asked me to tell you when I called that Marie, Remy, Ororo, Logan and Kitty are with him. Jean is due to have her baby any day and Hank had to stay for her. The Blackbird has all Sanctuary's access codes so they should be able to land without disturbing you."
"Thanks, and tell Jean we wish her the best. Right now we could all use some good news. Make sure you call us when the little Summers make his or her appearance."
"Sure thing. Kiss Shal, Evie and Jess for me." Chuckling slightly when his eyebrows raised she added, "Well, you know what I mean. Let me know if I can do anything from here."
"Right. Bye, Jubes."
"Bye, Brenn."
In what seemed to be no time at all, Sanctuary's computers signaled the arrival of their expected guests. As the professor made his way down the hall and into the center of their home, he saw Evie come running down the steps toward him. She immediately knelt in front of him as he embraced her. "Charles, thank you so much." She looked up to the rest of his team behind him. "Thanks to all of you. I didn't know what else to do. We need your help, desperately."
"We're here now. Don't worry. If Adam is alive, we will find him and bring him home." Charles' smile seemed to calm her.
Just then Brennan and Shalimar came down the steps and the two teams greeted each other and shared their feelings.
"After only a few moments Kitty took Evie's hand. "How's Jesse?" Everyone immediately fell silent.
"I don't know," Evie said sadly.
"He realizes what happened but he just doesn't want to do anything," Brennan added.
Shalimar entered the conversation. "He hasn't eaten in two days. He won't speak or come out of his room."
All waited as the professor lowered his head. ~~Jesse? We're here to help. Will you not come down?~ Jesse mentally shut the door on the professor's approach. Opening his eyes Charles just shook his head.
"I would like to go up. May I?" Kitty pleaded.
"Sure, Kitty. Maybe he'll open up to you a little," Shalimar hoped.
"Brennan, why don't you show us the read outs of what happened? Then tomorrow we can go back to NAXCON and see if we can find anymore clues." Logan knew that nothing was hopeless.
Kitty walked into Jesse's room. It was completely dark. She closed the door behind her and waited for her eyes to adjust. In the darkness she could hear the sound of her own heart pounding and the shallow breathing of the man she was searching for. 'There,' she thought as she was finally able to see a little through the darkness. "Jesse?" she whispered. "Jesse, it's Kitty." She heard him turn and rustle the sheets. Moving toward the bed she continued. "I came up to see how you were doing." She could see him now. His back was to her as he lay on his bed. Sitting by him she gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Jesse," her voice was barely audible.
"Go away, Kitty. Leave me alone." His voice was broken and scratchy from crying.
"Please don't send me away," she pleaded. "I came to see you. I wanted to be able to help you, even if all I can do for you is sit here, please let me do that." She got nothing but silence in return. That was enough for her. She just needed him to know that when he needed her, she would be there. She moved to a nearby chair and waited.
Brennan showed Logan, Remy and the Professor all they had so far. Marie and Ororo got the girls to tell them everything that happened. Both perspectives gave them a pretty clear picture of what they were dealing with.
"Kitty has been up there for a while now. Has she come down at all yet?" The professor asked as they rejoined the girls.
"No, but I can go check on them," offered Shalimar.
"That's ok, my dear. I'll do it." The professor lowered his head. ~~Kitty,~~
~~Yes, Professor.~~
~~Is everything all right?~~
~~He agreed to let me sit with him but he hasn't spoken to me yet.~~
~~Please come down, now. We need to discuss a few things.~~
~~I'll be right there.~~
"Kitty will be joining us momentarily. We need to discuss what our next move will be."
The professor knew this discussion would be hard for all involved. "The first thing we need to do is have a funeral for Emma. If no one claims her body, the state will take matters into their own hands. Adam would not want that," the professor stated. "I can make the contacts and arrangements in the morning. We can have the service in the afternoon." Everyone seemed in agreement so far. "While Evie and I do that, the rest of you will go to the scene and look for anything that might help us locate Adam. For now let us all rest. We will need it."
"Professor, may I stay with Jesse?" Kitty asked.
Evie took her hand. "Do you feel that you may be able to get him to come to the funeral? He'll need that closure and I don't want him to feel disregarded," she asked, hoping Kitty could break through where the rest had failed.
"I think I can get him to open up to me. I'll just keep talking until he does. You said that he hasn't eaten anything in two days. I think I'll start by talking to his stomach." She saw the professor nod, then smiling brightly with her new idea, Kitty headed for the kitchen.
The rest turned in for the night as Kitty made something for Jesse to eat. After about 30 minutes of preparing both the meal and what she would say, Kitty made her way up to Jesse's room with her tray. Jesse lay motionless as she walked into the room and placed the tray on his desk. Seeing he was not asleep, she turned on the desk lamp, which gave the room a soft light. "Jesse, won't you talk to me now?"
"There's nothing to talk about." He made no effort to move.
"I brought you some food. Shalimar told me you haven't eaten in a while." She brought the sandwich plate and glass to his bedside and placed them on his nightstand.
"I'm not hungry," he whispered.
Sitting on the bed next to him, she reached and moved a stray lock of hair from his closed eyes. She hesitated for a moment then let her hand gently fall across his face. "Jesse, please. You look so tired and worn out. Please let me help you. I know you're hurting." Her voice began to crack and her heart broke as she saw how distant he was from her at that moment. She wanted nothing more than to see him smile. His smile always dazzled her. "I just want to help."
Hearing the trembling in her voice pulled Jesse's thoughts from himself for the moment and focused them on the young lady sitting next to him. He had always cared for Kitty. She was a sweet kid and during his visits to the mansion they had bonded because of their similar mutation. He slowly rolled over and looked into her tear filled eyes. Seeing her like this gave him motivation to move. He slowly sat up in his bed and leaned back against the headboard. He reached out and hesitantly took her hands in his. "Thanks," was all he could get out before giving into the urge to fall against her and bury his face into her shoulder. Crying again he whispered, "Kitty, she's gone. Emma's gone. What am I gonna do?"
Feeling thankful that he was finally opening up to her, she wrapped her arms around him and rocked him for as long as he needed. "I know, Jess. I'm not sure what to do, but I do know that I'm gonna stay right here for you. I won't leave you." She rocked as he cried for about 15 minutes before she felt him stop and begin to sit back. "I brought you some soup and a sandwich. Please let me give you some. You have to keep up your strength."
Nodding slightly, he sat up straighter and watched as she brought him the food she had prepared. After he had finished eating he watched her clean up and wondered, "Why?"
"Why, what?" she smiled as she returned to sit by him.
"Why are you here?"
"Evie called and asked us to come and help find Adam."
"No, why are YOU here?" He seemed to be looking very intently at her.
Feeling very self-conscious she hesitated. "The professor asked who wanted to come and---well---," looking away and back toward the door she tried to continue as nonchalantly as possible. "I knew you would be hurting and--- well---I thought maybe I could try to ---I don't know---be here---for you. I was hoping I could---help." Now what did he think? Would he think she was just an immature child with a crush or would he begin to see her as a friend who truly wanted to be there for him? She was wringing her hands as she finished and wondered what he would say next.
Reaching a gentle hand to her face he turned her to look at him. "Having you here is helping. Thank you." For the first time since he went to NAXCON he smiled.
Kitty was thrilled to see it. Tears of joy filled her eyes as she hugged him. "I'm so glad to see you smile." She whispered and relaxed in his arms until she felt him pull her over him so that she was sitting against the headboard next to him.
"Will you stay and talk to me?" Jesse voice cracked as he spoke.
"Of course," feeling more confident, she continued, "I told you I'll be here for you. We'll deal with this together."
They stayed like that for most of the night, sometimes talking about Emma and sometimes sitting in silence. After a while, Jesse slid down and put his head on his pillow. Soon he was asleep. Kitty could sense him relax. She just sat there, afraid to move and disturb the peaceful sleep he so very much needed. Eventually sleep carried her away. A few hours later Jesse began to toss in his sleep, as his dreams seemed to turn into nightmares. Kitty was startled awake by his calling out. "No, no, Emma!"
Kitty sat facing him on the bed and took his head in her hands. "Jesse,--- Jesse, come on, wake up." She felt him struggling and trying to pull away from her.
Crying in his sleep he yelled, "No, Emma, don't leave me. Emma, don't, please! Come back! Come back!"
With fresh tears in her eyes, Kitty continued, "Jesse, it's ok. Wake up. Come on, now. Wake up."
Reaching out he grabbed the arms that held him. In desperation and confusion he massed his hands trying to hold onto the vision that was quickly fading in front of his eyes.
Suddenly, Jesse shot up in bed. Trying to blink away the daze of the sudden scene change, he remembered where he was. The whimpering of the woman his hands had massed on now sounded in his ears. Shocked as realization struck, he relaxed his hands but not before he saw her phase from his grip. "Kitty," he whispered. Afraid to touch her again, he watched as the pain, reflected in her face, faded. "Kitty, I'm sorry. I didn't---"
"It's ok, Jess. I know." She began to rub one arm then the other.
Hesitantly, he reached out and as gently as he could, touched one arm. "They aren't---broken---are they?" His face revealed the horror of knowing he hurt his friend.
"No, I phased in time. They're just a little sore." After only a moment's silence she continued. "I was trying to wake you up. You were yelling in your sleep." She didn't say what she heard hoping that he would trust her enough to tell her about the dream, himself.
He sat back and ran his hands through his hair. "It was Emma," he began. "She was standing with me, telling me that she loved me and---" he stopped and took a deep breath to avoid the tears again. "She was telling me---good bye."
Kitty was relieved to hear that he was actually improving, though he probably didn't realize it. "She loved you very much."
"I tried to grab her and not let her go. I was desperate to hold on. I guess that's when I---massed." He looked up to see Kitty smiling at him as she rubbed one arm.
"I know which hand is stronger," she quipped.
That's when it happened. He laughed. She knew, now that she had broken though and that he was ready to face the situation life had presented him. She would help him.
He reached out and pulled her close to him as he leaned back. They sat there quietly as he gently massaged her arms.
Feeling the time was right she began to tell him about what the professor was going to do and what the day would bring. The thought of a funeral wasn't new to him. It had come to mind, but each time he pushed it away, hoping that if he didn't think about it, it wouldn't have to happen. Now, though, he could accept it. "You won't be alone, Jess. We'll all be there, together."
"I know."
"Try to get a little more rest before morning." Kitty began to move away when she felt him refuse to let her go. When she turned to look at him she saw a mix of emotions on his face, but she expected as much.
When he saw he had her attention again, he moved his hands from around her and took both her hands in his. "Thank you, Kitty." He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them both. "I'm glad you're here."
She just smiled as she got off the bed and watched him lie down and close his eyes. She curled up on the chair with her blanket and rested her cheek on her hands as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
TBC
