Saturday, March 24th 2001
Tyra woke up earlier than James did, and when she realised this, she had to distract herself away from the notion of him naked lying next to her to concentrate on her mission. She knew that she had only half-completed it as her job had been to seduce him and find out where he lived from the tracker, but that wouldn't work now they'd slept together in her apartment. She was afraid of going near his home anyway, as it would involve telling both Giovanni and her partner where it was, and if they knew that, it immediately endangered his life. It was risky enough as it was as she'd revealed where he worked, and she felt like she was betraying her heart as well as her friend, and in spite of her living most of her later life in guilt, it didn't make it any easier for her to cope with it. She felt his hand twitching against her back slightly and she fought to suppress the giggle that surged into her mouth when she felt it; it made her feel complete somehow, in the knowledge that she'd slept with him twice, and one of those times had been after he learned of her previous job. She ran her hand along his body until he woke up, and without saying a word against her actions, he took her into a tight embrace and kissed her passionately. When they finally broke the kiss, she revealed that she didn't think it had been real as she felt like she could never get anywhere near him after all she had done to him. She noticed that his muscles hardened to some extent as she mentioned what she had done, but they relaxed after a second or two when he replied that he saw her as the woman he used to love, not the one who'd tried to kill him, and before she could bring up any more bad memories, he kissed her again. She could find no flaw with his method of silencing her, especially when the passion sparked between them again, and she was almost disappointed when he pulled back to clear his throat. He quietly explained that his throat was becoming sore and that he probably wouldn't be able to talk properly until he took some more medicine, which he didn't have with him. She reluctantly answered that she wouldn't mind if he left to get it, as she hadn't expected to spend even this amount of time with him so it wouldn't matter too much if their time got cut short. He felt culpable when he heard her tone and he held her against his body as a way of showing her that he had no intentions of leaving her anytime soon. Tyra suddenly burst into tears for a reason completely unknown to James, and when he asked her what was wrong she just cried harder. He ran his hand through her hair to soothe her, and when she was sufficiently calmed down, she decided to summon enough courage to break a lie she'd told him.
"I'm not pregnant"
"WHAT did you just say?"
"You heard me. Remember how I said I would have raised my baby away from you?"
"Yes, but how could you do this to me?"
"Just hear me out, okay? I was pregnant, and I would never have told you about it except I think you should know. Two months ago, I had a miscarriage in a sense. I went for a check-up as I was running a high fever all the time, and they told me that my baby had choked on my umbilical cord, and my placenta was absorbing the contaminated amniotic fluid. I still had to have the child, but I never gave birth. That's the truth, and you can take it however way you want. If you think I'm lying, that's fine because I'm…"
"I don't think you'd lie about something like that, but if you are it's a terrible thing to choose"
"I haven't told anybody else about it, but then again I don't know anyone else I could tell. If you still think I'm a bitch for lying to you, just think of what happened. You asked was I pregnant, and at a time I was. It brought back all those memories when you said it, you caught me off my guard and I wasn't thinking straight"
"It's fine, it's a shock to me as well and I really wished I hadn't overreacted right now. Jessie's pregnant and not talking to me, so I just felt like I turned my back on my child for no reason. Trust me, I don't feel that way, it was the first thing that went into my head"
"I know, let's call it quits. Are you positive she's pregnant?"
"Without a doubt, and I know it's mine. Let's not talk about that now though, okay?"
"Fine. You're not mad at me, are you?"
"Not really, I can understand how you accidentally made me think it. And I'd still have gone through with last night if you'd told me when we were in the back of the pub"
"Really?"
"Yes, but last night didn't bring back any bad memories of it happening, did it?"
"No. I'm almost over the shock of it all, and the only thing I felt was bliss. I didn't think you'd still be here when I woke up"
"I can handle seeing you in the morning, I've done it before remember? And how did you manage to wake up with your make-up looking as good as it did last night?"
"Shoot I forgot to take it off!" "At least I helped you take other things off…"
"Like I'll forget that in a hurry. It's weird but I can still feel you touching me like you did last night, and I don't mean where your hands are now"
"Do you mean here?"
"Ohhhh yeahhhh"
He smiled to himself momentarily as he knew that as long as he pleased her in this format, he wouldn't need to strain his voice through talking. He was also glad that she wanted to have sex with him, not only because he benefited greatly from it, but also because it showed him that she was no longer afraid of him taking advantage of or hurting her like she was the last time. His mind was in a conundrum at the moment; he had denied Jessie sex when she'd begged him, yet he'd succumbed to his instincts when Tyra was involved--did this mean she was someone he could mess around with, or was she worth more to him than Jessie was? He waited until he'd given her full satisfaction before telling her that he really needed something to moisten his throat and he asked her if she wanted a drink of coffee or anything, and she accepted just to have his company for a while longer. She watched him as he left the bedroom, and when he was out of her view she did something that she regretted almost instantly; she took the still inactivated tracker off her boot before putting it under the tongue of his shoe and activated it. To hide her guilt she went out of the room and held him as he fixed her drink, and she knew that if that move was ever found out, she'd never be allowed to speak to him, never mind sleep with him.
Jessie woke up shivering and it took her a while to realise where she was, and why she was there. She was on the stone floor of her bathroom, and she vaguely remembered passing out there after her shower. She nearly shrieked when she caught sight of her reflection as it was so drastically different to the last time she'd seen it—her cheeks were swollen and a hideous purple where her employer had hit her roughly, not forgetting the bruising along her throat and neck from when she'd been lifted up and forced forward. She felt even worse about how she'd reacted towards James, and she knew that she'd need to contact him again as quickly as possible if she valued her child's life; the only problem she valued James' too highly to put that at risk, and she knew that she was being made to choose who she preferred. It seemed that whichever option she'd choose would result in the loss of someone very dear to her heart, yet there were no possible way for her to change the options of her instructions. She wished she'd never been sucked into this vicious world she now resided in, but it had seemed like the only option available to her after losing contact with James. She drew her gaze away from the cracked pathetic mirror (it even looked how she felt), and when she felt like she'd grasped a better version of reality, she fixed her appearance and set out to find James to apologise to him. Providing she took certain safety precautions to avoid being sighted, she might be able to talk to him without him lashing out at her for the way she'd treated him; the last thing she desired was another beating from her employer for even a hint of deceit on her part. The sharp breeze blowing throughout the town attacked her cuts without mercy due to the content of salt from the tidal river in the air, and she found that almost unbearable. Unfortunately for her, when she got to the block of apartments, she realised that she didn't know the code to open the outside door, and due to her present state of distress she would have readily smashed it open had it not been made of bullet-proof glass. It seemed to mock her as she could clearly see the stairs that she wanted to ascend through the transparent barrier, and she despised it being so near and yet so far. She released a deep growl and walked to the nearest phone booth to watch the door, as she didn't want to seem like a stalker to the general public. The small booth also offered her some much-needed protection from the cruel wind, which was something she required when she was determined to watch the one area for any given amount of time. Luckily, she was rewarded for her boring occupation within an hour when James opened the door from the outside, which was entirely unexpected, and what pained her more was that he was in his uniform from the night before. She shook herself out of her shock and took after him, praying that she made it to him before the door shut in front of her, and if it did, there was no predicting what she would do.
James was beginning to feel uneasy as he neared his room number, and even though he couldn't name what was unsettling his disposition, he still felt like he was being watched. He shrugged it off lightly and put it down to his conscience attacking him for sleeping with someone he shouldn't even trust enough to hold a conversation with her, yet he still battled with his senses as he pulled his keys out of his pocket. As he slid it into the lock, he distinctly heard someone coming up the steps and for a reason unknown to him, he tensed up and felt like he was going to be attacked, albeit he didn't live alone in the building. He decided to ignore it and opened the door to his room to collect the medicine he desired more than anything at that point of time, and his heart was pierced when he heard Jessie calling out his name. He chose to deny his true feelings and went to close the door behind him without performing any act of correspondence with her, but she caught up to him and stood in the doorway behind him. He still refused to face her as she held his forearm lightly, and he was torn between possibilities as he heard her crying bitterly without any prompt for her to do it on his behalf. He felt torn, but his hurt at being rejected stung in his memories and it lorded his following reactions; he quietly said to her 'I think these are yours' as he put the jewellery into her hand on his arm, and he closed her fingers over them before pushing her backwards and entered the apartment alone. Once he was certain that he couldn't be seen or heard by her, he downed his medicine as he began to cry at the state of betrayal she had left him feeling from her cruel actions, and he unsuccessfully tried convincing himself that it was like the time she'd locked him out of their hotel room after a similar argument when they were together. In spite of appearing like he didn't care about her, he was dreadfully glad that he hadn't taken Tyra back to his apartment with him like he had originally intended—it would have hurt her far more than his current show of disaffection did.
Team Rocket Headquarters, 11:35 hours…
Tyra showed up in uniform at the building she no longer felt afraid of approaching, and she waited patiently in the elite staff room. For some unknown reason, the secretary had giggled as she accepted Tyra's identification number and incoherently said that they'd both had excellent nights. She suddenly remembered the tracker would obviously transmit to somewhere in the building, and that the secretary had probably been the one to screen what went on for the hours she was bugged. She groaned to herself at what an uninteresting job it must be for her to carry out, but then she remembered that if she was stuck listening to it the night before, it wouldn't be quite so boring as she initially thought. Due to the close bond they once shared, Tyra felt quite comfortable talking to Lindsey about the level of intimacy she'd reached with James the night before, as when she thought realistically on the matter, there was nobody else she could tell her conquests to due to her non-existent social life. She was glad that there was at least one person she could talk to who knew about her occupation as well as her shadowed past without judging her, as she knew that she'd lose all contact with James if she ever revealed that she was recording every moment they spent together, and that she had bugged him. It rang with too many similarities of Deryck spoiling their first time in September, and even now she couldn't see herself forgiving him for his larceny of her virginity. Without showing a strand of worry on her face, she inwardly fretted at meeting her partner in Giovanni's office again; she still thought that it was like talking to the dead even though she knew the exact details of the experiment. Her cool exterior didn't falter as she was given an order to go to Giovanni's office at once, and for the second time in succession, she didn't even shake slightly as she strode down the formidable corridor, alone. As feared, her partner was present in the office, and she noticed that Giovanni's Persian cowered in the corner furthest away from him. She couldn't figure out what emotion was the most visibly strongest in her employer's eyes whilst she ignored her partner scratching at a small shell of skin over where a needle had been inserted into his exposed pelvis; it was a combination of his usual self-confident arrogance, but it was the other ingredient of the concoction that she couldn't place. He smirked at her perplexed expression and tossed her an envelope that she didn't look at; she knew that if she broke eye contact with him, it would kill her self-confidence and he'd gain an advantage. She didn't pass any comment on his action, and she stood in a defiant stance in silence until he ordered her to read it. Perspiration broke out across the back of her neck as she slid her right index nail under the seal of the envelope, yet when she read it, it wasn't half as worrying as she had expected—it was a heavy bonus for her successful mission, and on a separate piece of paper, it gave her permission to withdraw from her present duty. She was stunned and blurted out a question regarding his generosity, and he gave her a genuine smile as he replied:
"It was simply ingenious for you to disobey my orders by not triggering the contrivance immediately, but your insubordination can be excused by you transferring it to the very person we want you to follow. And you did complete yesterday's assignment, even if the location was not learned, but that's already been discovered through your idea. Your new partnership has also been dissolved for now, as he has confided in me that he holds no interest in working with you. You haul around too much emotional baggage with you wherever you go, and not only is that impractical for any line of business, but it also shows that you may allow matters long past to cloud your thoughts of cooperation. It might be worthwhile for you to note this as a once off, and that any partner I assign you to will be permanent unless I state otherwise. Report back here in three days for your next assignment"
"Thank you for your extensive bounteousness, but sir? I have one small question, do you grant me permission to ask it?"
"Quickly, now what do you want?"
"Have you granted me permission to remove the devices?"
"Yes, but you'll regret it if it's done incorrectly"
"Sir?"
"What now?"
"How do I remove it correctly?"
With a familiar sadistic returned to his face, he pointed to the door, indicating it was time for her to leave as he added:
"You'll see it's done correctly or not, if you have any eyes to see with when you try"
Tyra's initial reaction was to panic at his words, but she knew it would be wise not to reveal anything that made her appear weak in any sense, so instead she genuflected and left whilst muttering another form of gratitude. Just before the door closed, she heard her now ex-partner shouting that the tracker had a sample of her DNA, so it would unhook itself from its location and follow her if she went more than five hundred yards away from it. When she entered the main foyer again, she decided to seek the secretary's advice on how to remove them to save her from panicking further than she already was, but she was already concentrating on something on the computer screen when she approached her. Lindsey flashed Tyra a grin and asked her what was the matter whilst trying to suppress the desire to laugh roaring inside her, and her friend noticed this almost straight away. Curiosity overcame her worried state and she turned the computer around so she could discover what her source of amusement was, and she almost wished she hadn't when she saw it. She discovered the tracker was more than a locater, but it seemed to also contain a camera somewhere on its tiny surface area, and Lindsey was watching what they had discussed earlier. Tyra decided that it somehow made it even for the time she'd watched the after-effects of giving James a few spiked drinks, and she mentally admitted that she'd easily relinquish watching the film if it meant she'd be in the same situation with him that night, but for the moment she was caught up in memories. She snapped out of it when she remembered the situation at hand regarding the evil devices lingering just above her skin, and she quietly asked the intelligent secretary for assistance in their removal, and she was more than willing to help with her technological abilities. They went into a room nearby that was empty, and for the simple reason it was simpler to gain access to, she chose to deactivate the one lower down on her body first. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to find the small piece of machinery seeing it was so well hidden due to its size, and she scrutinised it with a powerful pince-nez (causing Tyra to feel humiliated beyond belief) before snapping back one of the legs and a short fizzle as she put it down on a table alerted her that it had been deactivated successfully. She knew that it would have exploded if it wasn't, which wasn't unexpected as she had designed the prototype of that particular model. She wasn't given sufficient time to work on the last one as Giovanni's office door could be heard opening, and after fleeing to her original position, Lindsey opened a file that she should have been working at on the computer, and she felt relief when she saw that he was still at the doorway, talking to the subject. Tyra emerged from the room they had been in moments later, and she made arrangements to meet Lindsey in the pub where James worked at half nine or thereabouts (she knew before asking that it automatically involved her taking Anthony). She solidified her side of the arrangements and fulfilled Tyra's prophecy regarding her boyfriend, but then again it hadn't been too hard to figure it out since the young woman was clearly smitten with him.
Elsewhere…
"Tonight's the night"
"Are you positive it's what he wants?"
"That scum's avoided our grip for long enough, and if the bitch isn't going to help us like we hired her for, then she's being punished. Did you get the items on the list I gave you?"
"Naturally. I had some difficulty obtaining the nebulous thyroproxine, but it seems that our links with the legal medicinal world came in use once again"
'Personally I'm looking forward to the suffering tonight', he thought to himself, 'it's been too long since we've had anything that's got me as excited as this, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of surprises I have prepared for that bastard. He'll pay big time…'
Back in the hospital deep within Team Rocket Headquarters, extensive tests were being run on Cassidy to see if they could save her at all, and all the scientists, no matter how many years they'd held a profession in medicine, were alarmed at the little time they had before her brain slipped too deeply into a coma for them to pull her out of it. Paradoxically, she was the only one who was an expert in this area, and not only were her notes coded, but they were completely unreadable due to her blood covering them and making two words legible per page, and that was at the very most. She had required five units of blood to stabilise her condition, yet she was still paler than any other patient they had ever worked on, and that included those who'd lived in the dark cells for a few years with no access to sunlight. They had felt guilty as they performed cosmetic surgery on her front, but due to the widespread injuries that her attacker had caused they had no choice to do it. She'd required a double mastectomy to avoid certain infection, and they had needed to take some skin from her calves to lessen the deep grooves in her face the sharp weapons had left, and her top ribs had shards dangerously pointing inwards, so they'd need to be removed if her condition worsened in even the smallest way. One thing was for certain: she'd never win any beauty pageants, even if requirements excluded the contestants of wearing a bikini as partial judgement. Her injuries were so vast that if she wasn't such a valuable asset to the team of elite scientists and a favourite of their employer's, they would have disregarded her as a patient and continued researching other matters. But seeing she was, they had no choice but to carry out the gruesome surgery on the nineteen-year-old girl, which proved a heartbreaking procedure for most of them. What was more heartbreaking was watching her partner, Butch, pace the corridor continuously, and he refused to sleep or leave the area in case news of her condition were available in his absence. The amount of coffee he'd drunk the night before to calm his nerves and to keep him awake simultaneously was beginning to affect his bladder stronger than it had before then, so he was forced to retreat to a chair and cross his legs. He'd readily divulge that he'd much rather have an accident on himself than leave Cassidy at a time like this, and due to the tense situation, he realised that things he'd usually occupy his time with were no more than trivial items. Although he wasn't even remotely a religious man (he'd broken most of the Ten Commandments in the last year, never mind his entire life) he prayed to any god that would listen and heed his call. The only problem was, he'd been living sans dieu for so long, he became frustrated at having to ask an invisible source for guidance whilst appearing like a lunatic to himself, and he was convinced they'd all abandoned him. 'Please let her be okay, I'll do anything if she lives…' Unbeknownst to the youth in deep thought, he'd committed himself to answering anything that anyone asked him and to act at his or her behest, and it was triggered within the instant after he thought it. A thirty-something doctor approached him and disclosed the information regarding her stability: she was reversing the direction her body had been heading in, and if she maintained this speed, she'd be awake within a month. Until the examinations were complete the following day, she would not be allowed any visitors so she suggested he went around the city for a while for some fresh air, knowing that he'd never leave the hospital longer than an hour at the most. He grinned in delight and held the doctor in a tight embrace to show the huge relief that he now felt, and when she disappeared the first thing he did was head to the nearest lavatory, almost doubled up as he did so to control his weakened urinary muscles.
Jessie stood at an overpass, looking at the countless speeding cars below her, contemplating jumping off to cease all the worry presently burning through her life, and tragically there seemed to be more advantages with suicide than with living. Fate seemed to help her decide whether or not she should live as in the following seconds, her baby kicked her severely and a speeding car skidded across the road into another. Although it was an accident, the drivers died the instant the cars collided and the road turned into total carnage and mayhem. Jessie released a fraught scream to vent the breeding anguish deep within her, and part of that contained jealousy at the dead drivers—their lives had been tragically cut short by an unwanted interception by Death, yet she had wanted to end hers and the cars had stopped to spite her wishes. She touched her stomach harshly, and if she had thought any use would have come of it, she would have smacked herself there sharply, to teach her child not to go against her in the future. She knew that it was futile and astringently wondered if her baby had psychic powers that had caused the crash for its own selfish reason of wanting to live. She began an onerous walk around the city to give her something to do whilst she contemplated how she could keep her employer happy without endangering her on/off fiancé's life, and the same results tolled up into her head: not applicable. She paused as she passed the Viridian City Gym, and she half-considered looking for a job just to leave the city, even if it meant living in poverty in a remote area, trying to perform a life-threatening stunt at least once each day. She hadn't set foot in that building since the day James had been beaten up after her near-infidelity, and she hadn't set eyes on Giovanni since the night he'd taken advantage of her at the formal dance. Even though she hated him with a fiery passion, she'd readily sleep with Giovanni if it guaranteed the safety of those she loved, but due to her numerous misgivings on that concept, she decided that it would be better to enter the building when she'd come to a rational decision from thinking over it properly. The sky began to darken again and she resumed her walk at a greater pace to avoid the temperamental firmament, as well as the people that came out from the dark with it…
The Silver Bullet, 21:27 hours…
James was caught off his guard when Tyra walked into his workplace with two other people, but he quickly overcame his surprise with enjoyment as he gave her a quick kiss on her lips when Elora's back was facing them. He told them to sit down and he'd bring the drinks over; as a golden rule their level of business soared sky-high on a Saturday night, and this was no exception. He wished that there were less of the populace seeking alcohol to quench their thirsts for a few minutes to allow him a few minutes to talk to her, but he knew that it wasn't likely to happen for another few hours, and that would be when it was closing time. Still, Tyra didn't seem to mind this as it left her with some time to talk to an old friend, and when he did get off his shift, he'd be hers for however long she wanted him. Or so she thought. Whilst she talked to Lindsey and familiarised herself with her boyfriend, James asked Elora if he could spend a few minutes with her if things quietened down a bit. She asked him what did she hire him for if he didn't work, and he replied, in the same jovial manner, that if he left to work somewhere else, she'd lose all of her business. She laughed at his suggestion that he was responsible for all of her customers, and he cheekily added that he meant she'd lose her business because she'd follow him, and not because he gathered her female punters as she had initially thought. She shrugged and agreed with him, and she granted him permission to talk to his friend, mainly because he'd worked there without a single break for five months, and it was only fair that she allowed him some time now. He thanked her, and she regretted it five minutes later when the pub was just as full, but none of the customers needed their drinks refilled. He mixed a sachet of medicine into a glass of pineapple juice before joining them at the booth; since it was a busy night, it meant that there was more smoke in the air and it attacked his throat more ferociously than when it was quiet. His heart sank when he learned that Tyra's friends worked at Team Rocket; it meant that a minor slip-up could get Giovanni on his back again, and that was a most undesirable thought. He'd barely pulled back from another brief kiss when he saw something that stopped his body and sent his mind into a panic; he instantly recognised the back of Jessie's head at the bar, obviously engaged in a brief conversation with his boss, and in spite of wanting to hurt her earlier, he still didn't want to be caught near Tyra. He gathered the empty glasses in his vicinity as he excused himself from his friends, but he casually pointed Jessie out to Tyra, and she immediately understood the message involved with it. He deliberately walked around Jessie to behind the bar and he mentally refused to even face her, let alone talk to her. It was only when Elora said 'Did James do this to you?' that his attention was caught by their conversation, and he felt sorely tempted to scratch out that yes, he had knocked her up, but he was grateful he didn't when Jessie replied that he wasn't that heartless, or at least as far as she knew he wasn't. He served a few customers that now wanted some more drinks, and whilst doing this, he cast a casual glance over to the booth he'd just left and he noticed that Tyra had swapped seats with Lindsey so she could be in the shadowed corner. Much to his insides' disgust, Elora told him to talk to the girl who'd come looking for him, and since snarling out excuses why he didn't want to do it wasn't a highly mature reaction, he settled for demanding what she wanted as he turned to face her.
His initial reaction was to ask her what had happened to her for her face to be so badly bruised, but instead he settled for asking her if she had something she wanted to talk about. His lack of consideration hurt her far more than he could begin to imagine, and she began to wonder if her best option would be to retreat altogether and face her employer's wrath for her disobedience. He asked her if she wanted anything to drink, and when she requested a vodka and orange, he gave her a plain orange juice and told her that he wasn't going to let her kill their child over her lust for alcohol. He didn't accept her money and he saw the unmistakable look of hatred burning in her eyes as he put it on the bar top right in front of her. She spat out that he wasn't going to have anything to do with her child after the way he'd acted, and the only thing she'd let him have was copies of certificates he'd earn from his education. He shot back that the only way he'd acted carelessly had been in the past when she'd left to fail at a school, and it was her that had the attitude, not him. They began to gather an audience around them as the music had momentarily stopped (much to Elora's great disapproval), and in the heat of their harsh and unnecessary argument, and as a result neither of them noticed an old male emptying the nebulous thyroproxine into Jessie's drink before slinking out unnoticed. He flicked the residue crystals out from underneath his nails on his left hand; he always took particular care with them as he only had three digits on that hand, and he often felt that life would be simpler if he had the other two. He nodded at a group of men in their late teens to early twenties at the far side of the street to indicate that he had successfully spiked her drink, and they took their positions to await the next stage of their malicious plans, and that would only be activated once their toy left the safety of the public tavern. He was more than willing enough to wait, mainly because he was looking forward to sampling the tense atmosphere that such an occasion would undoubtedly cause, and what further satisfaction would he need when all of her disgust and hatred would be channelled solely in his direction for the duration of it all?
Tyra was becoming more and more afraid of being discovered by Jessie; their paths hadn't crossed since they shared a hospital room, and if she was careful, she could keep it that way. She'd seen her around Viridian City quite a number of times since that horrific occasion at James' abode, yet due to her incredibly judicious actions, she had remained in a non-existent state to the red-head. She didn't want to be seen there, mainly because she would be afraid of the vengeance involved if Lindsey accidentally mentioned she'd slept with him again—after all Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She avoided being sighted by the arguing (which wasn't exactly accurate: Jessie was hissing her remarks out venomously whilst James couldn't have raised his voice without it hurting him, and he was in enough pain as it was) teenagers as she surreptitiously stole out of the edifice, and when she made it out onto the street, Tyra came to a cruel realisation as a few tears escaped from her eyes and splashed onto the grey pavement below her. He'd always want Jessie like he always had when she'd dated him in the past, and when their argument was resolved as she knew it would be, she'd become his cheap regret once more. She loved him with all of her heart, and now that she'd seen the passion in his disagreement with Jessie, she knew immediately that the passion in their love must be double that at least. 'Love truly is the funeral of hearts', she thought bitterly to herself when she thought a harsh break-up buries a love that had previously been very much alive. She noticed a suspicious group of men loitering around with some girls at an alleyway behind the pub on her way back to her flat, but she thought nothing of it; the end of Deryck's life had showed her a brief insight into the world of narcotics and prostitution, so it didn't shock her as it would have done in the past. She knew that as she walked away from that pub, she'd left the part of her that held self-confidence in James' hands, and not necessarily in his heart, and it was knowing this that split her whole being right down the middle, only to be torn up into shreds. She'd lost her soul mate for good.
Jessie felt like she'd reached her limit at one point in the argument, and she swallowed a single mouthful of her drink before turning to leave, yet something about it didn't taste right. She called him stupid for the countless time in her life, and when he wanted to know what he was being accused of, she said that he'd given her sparkling orange juice when she'd asked for a still orange with vodka. He defended himself by stating that she'd seen him pour a normal orange juice, or at least that's what he would have said if he hadn't trailed off when he caught sight of the glass. He raced around the bar to catch up to her before she left the pub, and as suspected he saw people waiting in the areas where James knew they'd be; he knew their locations from two similar events when he was working for du Paor, and he became tremendously appreciative of the glass being reflective on the outside so he couldn't be seen saving her. He begged her to follow him to the back of the pub without a hint of anger or betrayal in his face; instead, she saw the child-like qualities she used to associate him with had returned, and there was also a worrying amount of panic in his tone as he asked her. Her pride got in her way and she tried to escape his grasp by shrugging violently, but he gripped her tighter and told her that it was important, and he'd explain it to her when they were in private. He was really beginning to frighten her so she nervously complied as a sweat broke out across her back, and though she assumed it was out of terror, it was due to a more serious factor. He snatched her glass off the bar when Jessie had complied with his order without trying to escape, and he explained to Elora to come in to them in a few minutes when things had calmed down at the bar, and he'd reveal his strong suspicions. She was too shocked by his behaviour to be angry regarding his dismissal of his work duties, and conversation broke out when he was out of view about how the other girl must have been venting her anger at him lashing her across the face like that, when they had no idea what had happened.
When James was guaranteed that they were safely alone together, he placed a strip of white paper over the top of the glass before tipping it over so the liquid ran through the paper, and he began shaking when he saw what he feared: the paper bore a faint shade of amethyst. Jessie thought he'd gone off his rocker when she saw him overreacting over what she thought was orange juice that had been stored too long, and she simply didn't see why he created such a great fuss over it. She declined from asking him when he returned, however, as he carried three heavy blankets and a basin with him, which perplexed her even further. He took his shirt off and told her to wrap herself up properly with them, and upon being asked what the basin was for; he explained the seriousness of the situation she was in regarding the drug she'd been given.
"You've got a vile enemy, that's for certain. Your drink was spiked with nebulous thyroproxine, and I know that's what it was for a fact from its colour and characteristics. It'll spread through your body when your body temperature lessens three degrees from what it was when you took it, so please tell me if you're feeling anything from the draught caused by you opening the outside door"
"James I'm hot enough already. Look, I can show you the sweat on my back if you choose not to believe me…"
"SHIT! It's already in your system—sweat on your back and nowhere else is a symptom. Please tell me you're sweating in other places"
"N-not as far as I can t-tell. James what's it going to do to me?"
"Depends on how your body reacts to it. Jessie please vomit into the basin, I know it's an odd request, but I remember that being a way to get it out of your system. Please do it Jessie, or…"
"Finish that sentence now"
"Or-or I'll lose both of you"
"What?"
"Jessie just please do it. I know it's not the nicest thing to hear, but if you don't do it, you'll definitely lose the child you say I'll have nothing to do with, and you'll probably die"
"WHAT???"
"It's hard for me to do this Jessie, but you can't get any cooler and you can't keep it in your system. I can't give you salted water to drink in case it affects the thyroproxine; so you'll have to do it yourself I'm afraid. Think of anything that'll make you nauseous, like me touching you, or anything. I don't want to lose you"
"Why won't you ring some proper help for me? I can't do this to myself, and the last thing that would make me sick is you. Just hold me please"
"Jessie I'm serious get it out of your system or our baby will die"
"I can't James, I'm trying to make myself sick but I can't do it. I'm terrified"
"Damn it Jessie just try harder. It's hard facing a miscarriage, but it's harder losing both mother and child needlessly"
"Stop burying me already, I'm still here. Please call me an ambulance"
"I'm not leaving you, and the phone's upstairs. I'll get Elora to do it, okay?"
"James I'm frightened"
"I know you are honey, which is why I can't leave you"
"What if…"
"Shhhh, I'm here and I'll stay until you tell me to leave"
She complained of a parched throat and he sprung up the instant she said it—it was another symptom he'd been dreading, and he went out into the pub to tell Elora to call the paramedics immediately. He ignored the cheers from the crowd at seeing his upper body and he begged her to do it, and he quietly added that he genuinely thought Jessie was going to die. Elora's face lost every hue of colour and she instinctively ordered the other barman on duty to cover for both of them, and before he could protest, she offered him three times as much as he would normally earn for doing the same work. He returned to Jessie's side instantaneously and made sure that she was wrapped up warmly before holding her tightly against his body so she could obtain his heat. She cried continuously with her tears sliding down his abdomen, chilling his skin in their wake, and she gained a large amount of comfort by his movement of running his fingers through her hair. Her body began convulsing and she doubled up in fear and agony, and James fretted as he held the vibration of her trembling form, both of them equally afraid. When the ambulance arrived three minutes later, she was unable to straighten her body, never mind walk, so there were obvious difficulties as she was carried out, as there was when the nurse heard she was on nebulous thyroproxine when they were in the ambulance. James had to go into an uncomfortable depth of his past, and how he'd seen abortions carried out on unwilling women in his teenage years using that drug as an 'anaesthetic' (in reality it intensified the pain, and made the women's body more uncomfortable in the procedure, usually carried out with infected instruments). Regardless of the fact he said it in a very quiet tone, Jessie overheard him and went into hysterics, knowing that her employer was somehow involved with this, yet she didn't want to reveal to James what her job was. She was injected with a strong sedative and she fell into a dreamless sleep within minutes. He refused to let go of her hand until they reached the hospital and they commanded him to wait until she was released from the emergency room, otherwise he would be altogether denied access. He kissed Jessie on her forehead and told her that she loved him before they took her away, and even though he knew she couldn't hear him, he felt better knowing that he'd tried to tell her. He filled out a form containing her medical details, and he apologised to the secretary as he returned the clipboard for his almost illegible writing, but she knew that it was only like that because he was quivering with fear.
Five hours later, she was wheeled out of the emergency room on a gurney; she looked more fragile than he had ever known and twice as pale, even for her alabaster complexion. He was allowed to stay in a chair beside her overnight, and he openly cried when he was told of the results from their examinations. In spite of thinking of different possibilities for those five hours, he still wasn't expecting to hear it from their mouths, and it seemed like a cruel joke that someone had played on him to tear his life apart.