The Boat That Rocked (Rocketshipping Fanfic)

Part Fourteen

James was leaning against the reception desk, silent, watching Jaime tell the receptionist about his injury. To his relief, it sounded like she was pulling together a believable story and description for his injury and the woman nodded, asking them to sit in the waiting area.

They sat in the furthest corner, away from the other waiting patients. An elderly woman was coughing, a child crying, and a group of teenage boys surrounding their friend who appeared to have broken his leg.

"Busy hospital for a small island." Jaime commented.

"It's the largest building." He replied, biting his lip after he said it.

She looked up at him. "Oh?"

The two fell into a comfortable silence and James closed his eyes. Time passed and a nurse came for the coughing woman. More time passed and he became more and more aware of the pulsing pain in his side.

"James Cathcart?" A familiar voice called and he rose from his seat. The nurse's searching gaze fell on him and a smile spread across her lips. She strode over and pulled him into a hug.

He could feel Jaime's shock as she gaped openly at them.

The nurse stepped back and beckoned them, leading them down a corridor and into the elevator. "When I saw your name, I couldn't believe it. How have you been?"

James couldn't look in Jaime's direction and kept his eyes trained on the nurse. "I've been fine."

The nurse looked accusingly at him. "Are you sure? Even without your checkups? I doubt you went to another hospital for them – there's nothing on the database."

He laughed nervously. "I've been alright, even without the checkups."

The nurse paused, looking at him until he began to feel incredibly uncomfortable under her scrutiny. "Have you been able to remember anything?" she asked, softly, quietly, gently, the words echoing in the small elevator and resounding in his ears like a hand reaching from his own shadow to pull him down and whisper the question.

He heard Jaime move, her clothes making a slight noise as she shifted.

He looked away from the nurse and met the gaze of his own distorted reflection in the metal door. "No, I haven't." He answered.

"I see."

The elevator doors opened and the three stepped out. The nurse led them down the corridor where a doctor waited at the end, a gentle smile on his face, a glint of happiness in his eyes.

"James!" He moved towards them slapping his shoulder, hard. "It's so nice to see you again!"

As pain shot down his side, James winced.

Noticing James' expression, the doctor's smile fell. "Let's get you onto a bed and I'll have a look at you."

James soon sat atop one of the hospital beds, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his bandaged side. The nurse was carefully cutting the bandage away and once finished, the doctor placed his fingers on the wound.

James hissed through clenched teeth at the pain and the doctor immediately removed his hand. "Looks nasty, James," he straightened, looking down at him. "Looks really nasty."

There was a strange edge to his words and James stared at his knees. He knows that Jaime's story is a lie. He knows exactly what kind of wound this is.

The man sighed. "Well, let's just get you sorted out and then you can go home."

James had to stay the night so the doctor could keep an eye on him, but he could leave in the morning. He reached for his watch that he had propped on the bedside table – 4.08am? Ergh, I can't get to sleep at all.

Jaime was sat in a chair beside the bed, her head resting on her shoulder, fast asleep. She hadn't spoken a word to him and he knew that the moment they stepped out of the hospital, she would question him, demand an explanation.

But what scared him most was Lisa. The expression she had when their eyes met was one of recognition, surprise…disappointment?

Will she tell Jessie? They're friends, right?

James closed his eyes. This is a mess. A complete mess.

-#-

As predicted, the moment they exited the hospital Jaime spun around and grabbed hold of his arm, halting him.

"James…" her expression scared him. "James, tell me what that was all about?"

He looked away, his hand on his newly-dressed wound, the pain dulled from all the painkillers.

"Answer me." She demanded, her face moving closer to his.

James sighed. "Let's get home first. I'll tell you then."

After a slight hesitation, Jaime turned and started walking along the pavement, her strides long and purposeful. She didn't look back once and soon they were making their way up the stairs to the apartment.

A shot of dread hit him when James saw Lisa leaning against her apartment door. She glanced up, a smile of welcome on her lips.

Jaime returned the smile but her patience was spread thin and she moved past the girl with a nod, keys in hand.

James slowed and met the girl's piercing gaze. He stepped past her. Maybe…just ma-

"It is you, isn't it?"

He froze.

That was all she needed. James heard her apartment door open and close and when he looked over his shoulder, Lisa was gone.

"James!"

Jaime was waiting, one foot inside the door, her hand beckoning him.

Once inside and seated at the kitchen table, Jaime repeated her question. "What was all that about? How do they know you?"

"Are you angry?" How childish that sounded.

She sighed. "I'm not angry," she rubbed her temple. "I just want to understand."

James watched her and then started to speak, describing all that he remembered and what he had been told of how he had arrived at the island.

However, he omitted the fact that the woman he had been with had visited him every day at the hospital and all descriptions of Jessie and the fact she lived upstairs were left out of his explanation. How could I explain that?

"So…this woman was a colleague?"

He nodded.

"And you don't even know what Team Rocket is?"

"I didn't lie to Alphonse. I didn't understand why he reacted like that."

Jaime looked away, tapping the table with a finger. "Team Rocket is well known. It's darker than anything. It's the shadow hiding behind every corner, watching you, waiting for you to trip up. The police can't even touch them."

"Worse than the things in the city?"

"Alphonse and the other main guys are mere pebbles underfoot to Team Rocket. They run the underworld. They have a contact in every single organisation and in the government. They're on every continent."

James looked down at his hands, remembering how a gun had felt so natural to him. "I don't think my group were that scary."

Jaime laughed. "That's because you can't remember."

But the image of him, Jessie and Meowth terrorising the world seemed hilarious to him. They weren't untouchable shadows, haunting others and whispering threats in the ears of politicians.

Jaime raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

James looked up, a questioning expression on his face.

"You're smiling."

He reached up to touch his lips and found that he was indeed smiling. Why? Why do I feel like this? Why does it feel like the darkness of Team Rocket hangs over me rather than that I'm part of it?

"Maybe we were failures." He said softly. It doesn't feel false.

Jaime remained quiet. She rose from her seat. "I'm going shopping – we need some more clothes and stuff. You stay here, okay?"

James nodded.

He heard the door close and lock, the apartment falling into a suffocating silence. Team Rocket scares me. The fact I could use a gun scares me. The fact I'm alone scares me.

"I'm pathetic."

A/N::::

Am so sorry for the massive delay! I am alive!

A short chapter - life happened and I also had a bit of writer's block. I know what happens next, but there's a bit of a run up to it that I can't seem to get around :S

Anyway - the Jessie and James moments will come, just have patience and you shall be rewarded! :D