A/N Frequent, unexplainable crying spells are a mild depression symptom, so keep that in mind new readers. Jessica's depressed from an abusive driver as a baby engine and this story's her recovery.
Jessica's day had begun. Another dreadful day, she thought. Why was I built? I belong in the scrapyard. She began to cry, wailing loudly due to feeling worthless and hopeless. She sniffled loudly, her face covered in thick tears.
Jessica's driver went to offer comfort to his unhappy engine. "There, there, Jessica. Just cry. Feel how you feel. I wish I could wipe your unhappiness, so I shall wipe your eyes. Let it all out," he said, pulling a cloth from pocket to dry her tears. He rubbed her sodden cheeks and wiped her streaming eyes, listening attentively and trying to understand how she was feeling.
Jessica cried in a torrent, wailing sobs coming from her. She sniffled again, hard, coughed as she choked on her tears and hiccupped. She gasped and gulped, shaking as huge water droplets poured from her eyes, not once stopping as her driver comforted her.
He said, as he continued to wipe her tears away, "I just want to be supportive and understanding. I'm here for you in this. My emotions overwhelm me sometimes, because I feel very deeply." He did his best to reassure her without being overbearing as he pressed the cloth to her eyes and wiped all her tears away as best he could.
Jessica wept and wailed, hard and loud, until she had no more tears left. Her driver dried her last tears away, wiping her cheeks and eyes dry of tears, then went back to the cab with the sodden cloth. Her face was all red and her eyes were flame-red and puffy, sore from her crying spell. Poor Jessica, he thought. You've got your hanky dripping wet, but it's always really wet when you've cried. You're just so dreadfully unhappy. Her crew gave her a drink and she took her first train.
Jessica pulled her train to Knapford, then began to cry and wail loudly. Her face was wet with tears and she kept sniffling.
Thomas gave her a buffer press. "Jessica, I just heard you wail and thought you could use a hug."
Jessica's driver comforted her. "There, there, Jessica. Let it all out," he said, drying her tears with a cloth. "Remember what I said before." He gently rubbed her cheeks and softly wiped the tears in her eyes away, doing as he did when she had her other crying spell.
Jessica cried some more. She sniffled again, hard, coughed as she choked on her wailing sobs and hiccupped. She gasped and gulped, shaking as she wept non-stop with her driver doing his best to comfort her.
He said, as he continued to wipe her tears away, "I'm here for you, just to dry your eyes and comfort you as long as you cry." He held the cloth to her eyes and wiped all her tears away as best he could, offering empathy in his attentive practical way as was his way when she was in tears.
Jessica's tears flowed in torrents until she could cry no more. Her driver dried her last tears away, patting them from her cheeks and dapping tears in her eyes away until they were dry, then went back to the cab with the sodden cloth. Her face was red and her eyes were sore and swollen, flame-red from how hard she cried. Thomas shunted her to the water column and her crew gave her a drink.
Jessica's fireman said, "Jessica's pain soaked the cloth with her tears. It shows your willingness to wipe her pain away." and they went on with their day.
Jessica's session with Dr. Tom came and he asked, "What's the worst part of depression?"
Jessica said, "To be unable to feel anything but so sad, worthless and hopeless all the time, I can't enjoy anything, so I can't find a reason to live and my hobby's crying. But I've got trouble concentrating and making decisions as well. I allow people to dry my burning eyes, but I don't understand why they care about me enough to wipe my tear-wet eyes when I'm so useless. If I had any worth, I'd have been treated better when I was a young engine.". She began to cry, wailing so hard her face was wet with tears.
Dr. Tom said, "If you need to let floods of tears out of your eyes, you've got to just cry. I can hear the hurt in your heart come out."
Jessica's driver said, taking a cloth from his pocket to dry her tears, "I shall never deny you a good cry.", while wiping away her tears.
Jessica's tears flowed until she had no more to shed. Her driver dried her last tears away and the session went on. She had a drink afterwards.
Jessica, when it was time for her last train, had to take on coal. As she went along, she began to feel stuffed up, which led to her sneezing as she went along. "ACHOO-SHOO!". She got ashes all over, but had to keep going, so her train would maybe get to the destination on time. Then, there was trouble.
One of the diesels, who was a dreamy engine, ran a red signal and caused an accident. Jessica's crew jumped clear.
Jessica said, "Just scrap me. I've got no reason to live.", and began to cry, wailing loudly, her large, dark eyes, black as her coal, pouring with great tears. She sniffled, long and loud.
Jessica's driver, after he recovered from having his wind knocked out, comforted her. "There, there, Jessica," he said, softly drying her tears with a cloth. "You shall go to the Steamworks for repairs.". He gently rubbed her sodden cheeks and wiped her tear-filled eyes.
Jessica went on with her wailing sobs. She was sniffling hard, coughing as she was choking on her tears and hiccupping. She gasped and gulped, shaking with wailing sobs, as huge tears came out of her eyes not once stopping as her driver offered his comfort.
He said, as he continued to wipe her tears away, "Maybe you aren't sure if you deserve to have someone wipe your tears, but I don't agree. You deserve to have tears wiped from your eyes and face and also you told me your first fireman didn't want you to rust.". He pressed the cloth to her eyes and wiped all her tears away as best he could, offering his comfort.
Jessica's wailing sobs went on and on, until she could no longer cry. Her driver dried her last tears away, wiping her cheeks and eyes dry of tears, then joined the fireman with the sodden cloth in his hand as they waited for Thomas to come and shunt Jessica to the Steamworks. Her face was red and her eyes were flame-red and puffy from her crying.
Thomas came and gave Jessica a buffer press, because she looked so sad and it was clear how weepy she'd been, then shunted her to the Steamworks. Dr. Tom was notified of Jessica's bad coal and accident.
Jessica was repaired and returned to her friends, her work and her therapy.
A/N Jessica's driver's got a cotton waffle hanky for her comfort cloth because she cries so much from her depression. I think she's maybe just mild enough to cry. If she was human, she might be like a person I read about once, who was previously depressed and wept non-stop for a number of (maybe 3) days. Only the engine's crew are allowed and if it's group therapy, all the group members and their respective crew, if on duty, are allowed to know, regarding engine therapy.