As I sat there I leant my head back until it was resting on Berto's shoulder, sighing as he continued to kiss my neck. Trying not to laugh at the smile on my face, he asked how I was feeling. "Pretty good." I muttered and I heard him chuckle. After a few minutes he stopped kissing me, noticing that I was wincing a bit and I lifted my head.
"How are you feeling? You did get thrown around a lot in the training room." He said to me and I told him that my shoulders hurt. A lot. "Is it both shoulders or just one?" He said and I told him both. With a grin he set his hands down on my shoulders and started massaging them. At first I winced and he apologized, making me apologize for being pathetic. Rolling his eyes Berto pointed out that a 'wimp' was the last thing I was.
"Yeah then what am I?" I asked him as he continued rubbing my shoulders and after considering the question he answered.
"Let's see…stubborn, hotheaded, and impatient…" He said and I narrowed my eyes at him, making him laugh "cute, kind, strong." He added and I ended up laughing. Then he leaned over to kiss me and I forgot about the first three as I kissed him back. When he resumed rubbing my shoulders it didn't hurt as bad and after a while I began to enjoy the feel of his fingers. "Feel better?" He asked me and when I didn't answer he asked if I was okay.
"Hmm…fine…" I mumbled as I shifted, getting comfortable and he smiled. As he continued to massage my shoulders I tilted my head back and then I started to make a noise in my throat. "A little lower…yeah right there…uhhh." I mumbled and Berto raised an eyebrow, wondering why I was acting like this.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked me again but I didn't answer him. Instead I groaned, completely focused on his fingers currently rubbing my shoulders. Sitting there completely shocked, Berto tried to work out what was going on and for a moment he stopped moving his hands.
"Huh…why'd you stop?" I muttered and he stared at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked and he sighed, shaking his head at me.
"You're acting really strange." He commented and I rolled my eyes. "Well stranger then you were a couple of hours ago."
"That's not very nice. My shoulders hurt and you don't care." I complained as I stood before Berto placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Alright fine. Sit there and I'll do what I can to help." Berto finally told me and I nodded, instantly happy. Sitting back on the bed I waited for him to put his hands on my shoulders again and once he did, I grinned. After a full minute I tilted my head back again as he rubbed the ache out of my shoulders.
"Much better." I muttered and he couldn't help cracking a smile. "Keep going." Soon I closed my eyes and for a while I sat there, enjoying the attention until I heard him say something to me. When I didn't answer he spoke again but I barely registered what he had just asked. Taking his hands off my shoulders he stood and walked around until he was face to face with me.
"Jessie are you okay? Can you hear me?" Berto asked and I nodded, blinking up at him. "What's wrong with you?"
"What…are you going…on about?" I mumbled, feeling light-headed. "Why'd you stop…?" I added before I began to fall forward and Berto caught me. "Kinda…sleepy." I mumbled as he held me upright. Dizzy I didn't hear him call for help. Less than five minutes later someone started asking if I was feeling okay. Still feeling sleepy I complained that my shoulders still ached.
"Is she okay? She's not making any sense." Berto asked Kat, hovering over me.
"She definitely has a concussion. She needs to stay awake so I can check her vitals." Kat told him as I wondered why I was suddenly the center of attention. Sitting beside me, Berto put an arm around my shoulders to keep me upright as Kat shined a light in my eyes. Blinking I complained that the light was too bright. That made Max and Steel laugh while Forge rolled his eyes, trying not to.
"Man she complains a lot." Shock commented. "I never really noticed that."
"I don't…complain." I muttered and that made everyone laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation. "Well I don't."
"She just needs to rest." Kat told her friends and Berto looked relieved. "If you need me, I'll be in the Com Room." Once everyone, except Berto and Shock left, I rubbed at my eyes.
"Why's everyone…so worried about me? I'm just a little sleepy." I mumbled as Berto sat beside me.
"Because you're their friend of course." He answered as he resumed rubbing my shoulders. Noticing this I sighed and tilted my head back. "How do you feel?"
"A little better." I said and as he continued massaging my shoulders I began to feel sleepy again. "Feels…nice." I muttered as I closed my eyes. Soon I started to get drowsy so I leant my head back until it was resting against Berto's shoulder. Noticing that I was fighting to stay awake Berto started to dig his fingers into my shoulders a little more. "Hmmm…wanna sleep…wanna stay awake though." I mumbled and Berto chuckled as he rubbed circles around my shoulders and back. After a few more minutes of this I found myself lying down and, laying my head on his lap, I yawned. After almost a full minute more I dozed off and Berto smiled down at me.
"I knew that would work." Berto said and Shock asked what he meant. "Jessie needed to rest but she kept fighting so that was the best idea." He added as he managed to move out from under my head without waking me.
"Good plan." Shock said as he hovered over me, prodding my shoulder. When I didn't respond he rolled his eye. "So now what?"
"Well we leave her to get some rest. Plus I'm curious about why she keeps generating so much Turbo energy at once." Berto said, making up his mind to figure out some way of controlling it. Heading to his lab Berto soon forgot about Jessie who woke up a few hours later.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called out, still lying on my back. When no one responded I opened my eyes to find myself completely alone. Annoyed at being left alone I climbed to my feet, still feeling a little woozy. Standing I wandered out of the Medical Bay and started down the corridor. Eventually I found Berto and Shock working on something. Curious I wandered over to the computer and just as I reached it I began to feel lightheaded again. Purely on instinct I reached out and grabbed whatever was nearby to keep myself upright. Unfortunately I ended up grabbing the keyboard of Berto's computer and I cringed inwardly as it sparked before there was a loud bang and it shorted out.
"Oops." I muttered as Berto and Shock turned around, giving me annoyed looks. "Sorry."
"Sorry?! We almost had it your Turbo energy output problem solved and you just destroyed hours of work by being clumsy." Berto growled and I took a step back, shocked at the expression on his face.
"I didn't mean to." I said feeling awful but he continued to glare at me and I sighed. "Maybe I can…" I started to say, taking a step forward until he pushed me back.
"Just go away. You're nothing but a nuisance. You're nothing like your mom. At least she was smart." He growled, pushing me with his hand and I flinched. Then I started to back away and that's when Shock spoke.
"That's a bit harsh." He said, noticing my eyes welling up as I kept backing away. Finally Berto noticed too and he sighed, feeling guilty. But when he tried to apologize I snapped at him.
"Leave me alone!" I shouted at him. "I made a mistake and you attack me for it. Just…keep away from me." I added as I felt tears running down my face. Hurt I raced away, tapping into my Speed mode as I ran. Wanting to get as far away from N-Tek as I could I ended up running outside and into the canyon. When I finally stopped running, tired, I burst into tears. Back in the lab Berto put his head in his hands, ashamed at lashing out like that.
"We have to go after her." Shock said and Berto looked up. "I know you didn't mean to hurt her."
"Maybe but after what I said…she'll never speak to me again." Berto answered and Shock hovered in front of him.
"I know what she's like. She doesn't hate you. "Shock said and Berto finally sighed. "The problem is where would she go?" Thinking about this Berto realized that she couldn't have gotten far.
"She can't change modes so I'm guessing she's nearby, outside of N-Tek but not too far away." Berto said and that's when he started to the hangar.
"Hey where we going?" Shock asked flying after him and after a moment Berto stopped. "It'll take too long on foot to find her."
"Then do you have any suggestions?" Berto asked and that's when they both got the same idea. "A motorcycle." When they found Max's Turbo cycle they 'borrowed' it and headed for the canyon. It didn't take long to find my tracks and as they followed them, they found me walking along the dirt floor. Rubbing at my eyes I pretended not to notice them, even though the Turbo cycle is kind of hard to miss.
"Go away." I sniffed as I kept walking and apparently ignoring me they followed me. "I said leave me alone." Shaking his head Berto stopped the cycle and walked over to me. "Back off!" I shouted as my eyes started to glow.
"She's unstable. Be careful Berto." Shock warned him and I laughed for a moment before I began to sob.
"Unstable?" I sobbed as I turned and fired a blast of Turbo energy at the nearby canyon wall. "You hurt me, everyone keeps hurting me and I'm sick of it. I thought you cared about me and you attack me. You pushed me away and now I'm doing the same to you." I shouted, my voice echoing. Then I turned around and started to walk away. Before Shock could warn him, Berto rushed forward and grabbed my arm. Furious I whirled on him and he looked shocked to see the energy building up again. "I said back off!" I growled and he shook his head, refusing to let go. As the Turbo energy built up inside me again I cried out before I unleashed it on the surrounding canyon. Completely missing Berto and Shock it ripped through the desert floor and cliffs, tearing them apart. Within seconds it was all over and the energy build up vanished, leaving me worn out. Standing there, swaying, I tried to glare at my friends but it took too much out of me and my legs gave out. Falling to the ground I saw Berto rush to my side and I sighed before I started to blackout.
"Jessie can you hear me? Hey!" Berto shouted and when Jessie didn't answer he began to panic.
"Hang on, let me scan her." Shock said as he rushed over. Bringing up a visual of her vitals he studied them for a moment. "Her heart rates really low. Oh no." He said and Berto paled looking down at his girlfriend's face.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked and Shock told him that her heart was failing. "What!" He shouted and that's when he realized that Jessie wasn't breathing. "Hey don't you dare leave me!" He shouted as he felt for a pulse, only to realize that she didn't have one. Quickly he laid her motionless body on the ground and started giving her CPR. "Jessie!" He yelled.