(A/N: Okay, as you may or may not know, this is the beginning of the second half of this story. I know right? This is where things get interesting. Anyway, I actually have two songs here, but once again, they're just part of the soundtrack. The first one is "Enjoy The Unknown" (Yeah, I'm putting this song in a better scene) by And One, and the other is "Already Over" by Red, which is another theme to this story. As you can tell, both songs are rather sad and depressing.)
Chapter 10: A Shattered Heart
"So it's really safe now to be in the city?" Pikette asked as she and Sadie, who were in her Jeep, were driving towards Sunyshore City.
"For the most part," Sadie said. "Zena has been driven out of the city for now, but who knows what their next strategy will be."
"I just hope Chris is alright," Pikette said. "I haven't heard from him in hours."
"Well, you know Chris," Sadie said. "Once he's focused on a mission, he can't let anything distract him. Not that he doesn't want to talk to you-"
"I know," Pikette said. "Ugh, I remember back then when things seemed a lot easier."
"Yeah," Sadie said. The only reason she was here in the first place was because of Zena. If it had not been the case, she knew she would've still been with Chris in their own world, at least that's how they saw it as. And despite what she said or thought, there was no denying that she still had feelings for him. She always did, and leaving him was the one thing she totally regretted. "I think we all wish that..."
"Sadie, there something wrong?" Pikette asked.
"Nah, just thinking of someone," Sadie said as she pressed down a little harder on the pedal, causing the Jeep to accelerate as it continued it's way towards the city.
They then finally reached the city, and weren't surprised to see the damage done to it. Everything seemed calm as SIP soldiers guided their way. Soon, they parked right outside the hospital. "The hospital?" Pikette asked.
"It's our temporary base of operations until we can actually find a good place to set up," Sadie explained. "Plus, there's a chance Chris might be here."
They then got out of the car and headed towards the hospital. Once getting inside, they immediately saw a doctor who was talking to some of the soldiers. "Excuse me doctor," Sadie then said, coming up to him. "I was wondering if Chris Johnson has shown up here?"
"Johnson?" the doctor asked. "Oh, you mean Sergeant Johnson. Yes, he arrived here about four hours ago."
"Oh, that's good," Sadie said. "Where is he right now? We wish to see him."
The doctor then hesitated. "Well... the thing is..."
"What's wrong?" Sadie asked. "He's okay, isn't he?"
"Well yes," the doctor said quickly. "He's just... not in the best shape right now."
"Why?" Sadie asked. "Please, tell us doctor."
The doctor then sighed. "Alright," he said. "The truth is, he was brought in four hours ago unconscious. The soldiers who brought him said that they found him in the middle of nowhere. But, that's not the worse part."
"The worse part?" Sadie said fearfully.
"We can't exactly explain what may have happened, but Johnson had lacerations around his neck and blood on his hands," the doctor said. "We could be wrong, but it looked like he was trying to commit suicide."
"What!?" Pikette cried out suddenly. "No way! Chris would never do anything like that!"
"Okay, well if that was what he was trying to do, why do it in the first place?" Sadie asked.
The doctor looked in both directions to make sure they weren't being overheard and then said quietly, "Well, from what I've heard, Johnson was in a group with other people, and I guess from what it sounds like he was the only one left to make it out alive." Once Pikette heard this, a pang of sadness and sympathy hit her. She had a feeling Chris would take it hard if such a case happened, but suicide seemed out of the picture.
"Perhaps we should go see him?" Sadie suggested.
"I don't think it'll make a difference," the doctor said. "He just sits in his room. Hasn't moved for four hours straight and hasn't made a response to anyone."
"Trust me, I know he'll open up to us," Pikette said.
"Very well, I'll show you to his room," the doctor said. They then followed him down the hallway until they reached one of the final doors on the left.
"Hang on," Sadie said. "Maybe it might be best we do this one at a time, just for Chris' sake. Pikette, you go in first. I'll wait until you're done."
"Alright," Pikette said. The doctor then opened up the door and she went inside. She instantly saw Chris lying on the bed, his back towards her. "Chris?" she then said. "Hey, it's me." However, Chris didn't move nor respond. Was he asleep? No, Pikette could tell he was awake and he wasn't even responding to her. She then went over and got on top of the bed, next to him. "Chris, please don't shut me out!" she begged. "I know what you're feeling right now but please just tell me what happened?"
"You want to know what happened?" Chris all of a sudden said. He then turned to face her and she almost jumped back in shock. He looked like he went to hell and back. His face looked sunken in and she could see there were lacerations around his neck. But it was his eyes that scared her. They were bloodshot and showed a fury she had never seen before, and it shook her to her core. "Before my very eyes, I saw each of the closest friends I had die just like that. And what did I do? Nothing. Nothing at all. Because of my lack of action, they're all dead."
He then turned back around to face the same way as before and Pikette knew there was no point in trying to engage him in conversation and with a deep sigh, headed towards the door. He then noticed the door didn't seem to close but didn't bother turning around. Once it did, however, it wasn't long before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He then turned around again to see a familiar face. "Sadie!?" he said quickly.
"Hey," she then said, smiling at him. "Is it a bad time to say you look absolutely terrible?"
"Not really," Chris said. "I'd be completely bullshitting you if I said I looked fine."
Sadie laughed slightly. "Well, I see not all of your humor has left you." Her face then turned serious. "Listen Chris, I've heard what people said, and all I'm saying is that I just hope you're doing alright, inside and out."
"You think I was trying to kill myself?" Chris asked. "It doesn't surprise me if you do, since it practically looks like I tried."
"No," Sadie said. "I know you're hurting inside, but I know you well enough that you don't go so far to do something like that."
"This is true," Chris said. "You'd like to sit down?"
"Sure," Sadie said, and she then took off her shoes and landed right on top of the bed Chris was lying on.
"Um, Sadie? What are you doing?" Chris asked.
"You know, at one point you didn't mind me being so close to you," Sadie reminded him. "Besides, I just made a long drive here from Jubilife so I'm just the littlest bit tired."
"Fair enough," Chris said. He then sighed. "Listen Sadie, I know I've said this before, but I'm just glad you aren't really... well, dead. Everyday I had been praying for you, thinking you were looking down on me. And well... although I was a bit upset to have found you alive, I had never felt any happier."
"I know, I'm sorry too, for leaving you like that," Sadie said. She then placed her head right on his shoulder. "I wish I had never gotten involved with what I did, nor did I want any of this to happen. We could've lived simpler, much happier lives."
"Yeah, I miss that too," Chris said. He then noticed her hand was right next to his.
"You know, me and my boyfriend broke up a couple of weeks ago," Sadie said.
Chris then looked to her, surprised. "What!? Sadie, I'm so sorry. But why?"
"Well, there's a good reason for that," Sadie said. She then took a deep breath, ready to say what she had to say. "The thing is, despite leaving you for so long and eventually finding someone else, I still had feelings for you. I just couldn't tell you before because I had never thought I was going to see you again."
"Sadie..." Chris then said quietly. "I... I was starting to feel the same, once I saw you again. But I feel terrible even saying that."
"Don't be," Sadie said. "I know, Pikette told me about Emily. I can understand, because she was like you in so many ways. And I'm really sorry about her death and the others with you."
"Thanks," Chris said. He then looked to her and she saw sadness etched all over his face. "Sadie? Sometimes... have you ever not want to get attached to someone, because you're afraid to feel pain if you lose them?"
Sadie gasped suddenly. She then looked down slightly as a tear escaped her eyes. "Yes," she said. She then grasped Chris' hand and held it tightly. "Ever since this began, I had been worried about you every hour, every minute, and every second, because I could never possibly know if you would still be alive or not. That's how much I care about you." She suddenly gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing both of them to blush instantly. Despite that, they suddenly both felt like they did six years ago.
Chris then suddenly smiled slightly. "Hey, you remember back then what I said the day your dog Buster died?"
Sadie giggled slightly. "How could I forget?" she said. "I believe what you said was, "Buster isn't gone for good. He's up in heaven, and heaven is only a doorway away." That made me feel so better that day. Thanks for that."
"Of course, that's what friends are for, but then again, we were dating at the time," Chris said.
Sadie smiled. "You remember the time you were at my house and were both sixteen? We were upstairs in my room making out. We were going to end up doing it until my dad practically came barging into my room."
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Chris said, laughing. "If we had gone any farther than we did or if your dad didn't like me as much as he did, I would've been dead."
"Aww no," Sadie said, giggling. "Daddy knew you wouldn't do something like that."
Chris then decided to put an arm around her. "You know, once this is all over, you think maybe... we could start over?" But even as Chris said this, his thoughts went back to before he passed. He had been coughing up blood, which could only mean one thing. The mutation from the nanomachines was shutting down his body slowly, but even though it was slow, Chris knew at some point he was going to truly meet his fate. He just couldn't tell anyone about it right now.
"We could," Sadie said. "Or, we could start over right now?"
"Well, the thing is, I don't think a hospital is one of the best places to do this," Chris said.
"Yeah, there's a thing called "lock the door,"" a voice then said. They both looked to see Pikette standing in the doorway.
"Pikette!" Chris said angrily. "Have you been listening in on us!?"
"Well... kind of," Pikette said.
Chris sighed. He then smiled slightly. "Guess some things never change, huh Pikette?"
Pikette then smiled. "Yep, that sounds like the Chris I know."
"Yeah, it does," Chris said, laughing. "Alright, alright, you win. I know what you two were trying to do. By the way, I'm sorry about before, Pikette."
"Apology accepted," Pikette said. "Except, you'll have to earn it first." She then closed the door.
"Huh?" Chris said, real confused.
"Ready Sadie?" Pikette asked.
"You bet," Sadie said. "GET HIM!"
They then attacked Chris right on his bed, holding him down and tormenting him, but it was all out of love. It was a good thing the door was closed or else anyone passing by wouldn't have known what the hell they were doing.
(A/N: Well, that turned out to be a happy ending. Although, like the old saying goes, all good things don't last forever. Oh, that was a bit of foreshadowing there, wasn't it? Pretty much, things are gonna get interesting from here on out and pretty much you'll end up seeing a side of Chris not seen before, and one you may not like. ANYWAY.... I'm just gonna stop there so hope you enjoyed the chapter and hope all of you had a good amount of turkey today.)
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