Chapter 4
By frickangel
One
aspirin for one headache, two for a major headache; what do you take
when you've lost your mind then?
Emma
rubbed her temples as she battled with the urge to pop the entire
bottle of painkillers. That would be suicide. She scoffed, but
the offer was tempting. The small white container stood on the
dressing table, mocking her very existence and it just seemed so
peculiar. It looked so normal; it was almost strange in this hour.
Sitting
there in her own room, she sighed. "When you start thinking that
way DeLauro, you know you're cuckoo."
"When
you start talking to yourself, I know you're cuckoo."
Whipping
her head up, Emma smiled at the crumpled figure in the wheelchair.
"Jesse..."
Acknowledging
her with a nod, he looked at her open palm, two white pills cradled
within.
Instinctively,
she balled her hand into a fist, hiding the drugs away from his
sight.
"So
how'd it go?" he said, changing the subject. Unfortunately, it
was a subject Emma wasn't too clear what he was asking about.
"What?"
He
shrugged and leaned forward. "Adam."
"Well--
wait..." a sudden thought, "How'd you know?"
Scoffing
and giving his lop sided grin, Jesse replied, "Look Emm, when you
went out, I kinda knew. Not like we have any where to go right now,
especially not at three in the morning. Figured it would only be
Adam."
"You
were suppose to be asleep." She muttered and eyed him.
"It
comes, it goes. I'm afraid to sleep, who knows what I'll lose
when I wake up."
Emma
shook her head, "We all have serious problems."
"So
Adam...?"
She
took a moment to transfer the painkillers from her hand to the
dressing table, placing it next to its container. "Well... to say
his lost it would be an understatement."
Manually
giving the wheels of the chair momentum, Jesse made his way closer to
the Psionic with a concerned frown creased on his forehead, "What
do you mean?"
"He
started babbling something about parallel universes and said we
didn't belong here."
The
half scoff and half laugh of Jesse's escaped from his lips, "What?"
"You
should have seen him Jess, he was obsessed with the idea that
Shalimar was still alive."
She
noted Jesse wince at the mention of Shalimar's name, Emma softened
her voice a little and hesitated on continuing, but an awkward
silence would have been worse, so she carried on. "He had all this
notes lying around the place, kinda like a mad scientist's lab."
"Did
he say anything else, any questions?" Jesse reached over and picked
up the bottle of aspirin, Emma looked at him as he turned the object
in his hands over and over. The hope in his voice reminded her of a
small child's Christmas wish.
The
headache was beginning to feel like a sledgehammer whacking her
temples. "No."
Returning
the bottle back to its original position, the man fell back into the
chair and looked dejected. Emma's head was pounding further and
Jesse's emotions weren't helping her in anyway.
Slowly,
wheeling himself out of the room, he left Emma in silence and alone
again.
Picking
up the painkillers, Emma stared at it while pondering on Adam's
words.
Alternate
worlds.
Denial
was setting hard in Adam. And who could blame him? The man lost his
face, part of his family, his pride...
But
he didn't lose everything. A tiny voice told Emma.
No,
he still has us. She answered back. What's left of us...
Still,
the idea of getting back everything was something that Emma often
dreamed about.
"Here."
The
clear glass of water was held in front of her, and behind it, was
Jesse.
Accepting
the drink, Emma smiled gratefully. "Thanks..."
"It's
hard to swallow those things dry." He told. "I know."
Emma
watch as Jesse left the room once more. Twirling the liquid in the
glass a few times, she popped in both the pills, and took one big
gulp of water.
------
Sitting
there silently, Brennan adjusted himself to his surroundings. He
could tell where Emma had parked him in Sanctuary.
The
rec room.
The
couch was a big give away though. But Brennan sensed an object in
front of him, reaching out, at first a little too high, but he
lowered his hand and felt the smooth structure of the coffee table.
Behind him; the wall.
He
chuckled; of course it would be a wall.
If
he recalled correctly, there was a potted plant on his left. Using
his leg, Brennan shuffled it and felt it tap against something
porcelain like.
Brennan
silently sighed, this wasn't something he liked, but he was getting
used to it.
Sometimes
he could imagine seeing something, some familiar object, then it'll
fade away and he was left back a vision of nothingness.
This
was something he definitely didn't like. At least he stopped
throwing and kicking things.
That's
a start.
------
"So
is this permanent?"
Jesse
shrugged, "I have no idea."
Jesse
turned his attention back to the distant figure sitting quietly in
the rec room, grasping at things around him. He figured he could use
the bigger space since both Brennan's condition and emotions
stabilise. Get him comfortable with the surroundings, while we stood
here under the staircase.
"Maybe
it'll return," Emma said hopefully.
"Maybe."
Jesse echoed her. A sudden memory invaded his mind and left a small
moment of amusement. He chuckled.
"What?"
The red head quizzed, eyebrows arched.
He
shook his head and looked up. "Just remembered how it was when you
and Brennan stepped in here for the first time."
This
time, Emma laughed along. The slits of light coming in between the
steps, danced across her faced. It's been a while since they had
laughed.
"Yeah,
I was so freaked out." She continued laughing. "The whole freak
incident."
"That
was one of those, eh?" he smiled, remembering how she had called
him a freak.
She
stopped mid laugh, "You do know I didn't mean it right?"
He
grinned and looked away, "No Emma, I've been a holding a grudge
since then." Giving her a mocked show of anger, Jesse let Emma read
the joy he was feeling. Sarcasm Emma, sarcasm. He thought as
Emma seemed to take a while to think.
"Yeah
right!" Using the back of his hand, she gave him a slight whack on
his shoulder. Those really were better days, "I even remember when
Shalimar told you, you had started crying when you reached
Sanctuary."
"What?"
Jesse tried to recall, but he was sure Emma wasn't there.
"You
know, when I walked in and Shalimar teased you with something about
crying."
"Yeah,
I remember that, but it was Brennan who was there, not you."
Her
eyebrows tangled in a frown. "No, it was me. When I first arrived,
Brennan wasn't even there yet."
Jesse
had begun wondering if Emma was pulling his leg, but she looked dead
serious and confused. "Nope, we brought Brennan in first, then
you." He shook his head. "Then he went after you and got caught
by Genomex."
The
laughs had stopped.
"That's
how it went Emm." The sick feeling of worry began to set in his
stomach, was Emma suffering from something else?
"Uh...
yeah!." Now I remember, she chuckled and smiled. "Just that, you
know all this headaches get to you." She rubbed her temples for the
effect. "Brennan told me Shalimar said something like that. What
was I thinking, huh?"
"You
sure you're ok?" Part of Jesse was glad that Emma having noticed
her memory mistake, but a part of him was worried it was more than
just a regular case of forgetfulness.
"Yep,
I'm fine." She smiled assuringly and looked at Brennan again.
"You think you can attend to Brennan?"
He
nodded, he may not be able to walk, but he was still useful. "Yeah,
sure."
"I'm
just gonna go out and get some fresh air. Maybe it'll help with the
current headache I have."
"Sure,
go ahead." Jesse moved out of the shadows and made his way to
Brennan. Glancing back, he saw Emma run down the corridor and
disappeared at the bend.
Shaking
his head, Jesse turned back towards Brennan. Emma was right, we
have serious problems, he snorted slightly. Now we're all
paranoid
------
Please,
God let this be a dream. Shalimar's not dead, Jesse's not
paralysed and Brennan isn't blind. Let me wake up in my bed, and
the others poke fun at such a stupid dream.
Please
God, why aren't you answering me?
Making
her way past all the mess, Emma carefully stepped over some trash and
looked ahead. Next to the couch, she bent down and gently pushed the
man lying there. "Adam..." she pleaded.
He
stirred, but didn't wake.
"Adam."
With
a start that made Emma fall on her behind, Adam bolted up. He looked
around and finally at the Psionic, "Emma? What are-."
She
silenced him with a stare and got up, "We need to get home Adam. We
don't belong here."
------
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