A/N The end of Jessica's story with a time hop. The mean engines are punished and Jessica recovers from her depression, but dies from an accident, so this is a sort of prequel to my older fic, No More Steam.
Jessica woke up with the saddest look on her face. Her crew came and she said, "Can you dry my tears, Driver?" as her eyes grew moist as she began to cry, sobbing softly and sniffling. Her face was wet with tears.
Jessica's driver climbed onto her buffers to comfort her. "There, there, Jessica," he said, softly drying her tears with a cloth. "Let it all out. I wish I could wipe your sadness, so I shall wipe your eyes. I've got your cotton waffle hanky, so sob away.". He listened attentively, aiming to understand how she felt as he gently rubbed her sodden cheeks and wiped the tears from her wet eyes.
The cruelest engine said, "Cry-engine! Just get over it, as I'm tired of your tears. Can't you be anything other than sad for more than seconds?"
Jessica went on sobbing, not loud, but a great many tears dripping and pouring from her eyes. She sniffled again hard, coughed as she choked on her sobs and hiccupped. She gasped and gulped, her streaming torrent of tears not once stopping and let her driver comfort her.
He said, as he continued to wipe her tears away, "Cry it out, Jessica. He just doesn't understand you're dealing with depression and are overwhelmed with sadness all the time. I love to wipe your eyes, because I care so much about you. I'm here for you, to dry your eyes and comfort you as long as your uncontrollable sobbing lasts.". He pressed the cloth to her eyes and wiped all her tears away as best he could, reassuring her and trying not to be overbearing, just a comforting presence patiently listening and supporting her in her pain, offering his empathy and compassion without being pushy and overly-intrusive.
Jessica sobbed and sobbed, her tears endlessly streaming until she had no more left to shed. Her driver dried her last tears away, wiping the huge water droplets from her cheeks and eyes until they were dry, then went to the cab with the sodden cloth. She smiled, feeling better after crying, though her face was dreadfully red and her sore and swollen eyes were flame-red. Her crew gave her a drink after Thomas shunted her to the water column. I love crying, she thought. Nothing like a good cry to bring calmness, clarity and a brief comfort from my sadness. So much relief in sobbing.
Jessica, as she was waiting for her first train to be ready, said to her driver, "I love to sob into my really soft cotton waffle hanky, because sobbing and having my tears wiped makes me feel better."
Her driver replied, "A good cry makes me feel better when I hurt in my heart."
Because Jessica's train was a slow freight with a very long route, from terminus to terminus of the main line, her crew went on lunch break after the train. She sat on the siding in Knapford where she spent their break time, looking very sad and eventually began to cry, sobbing quietly and sniffling, long and loud.
Lady Hatt came to help her husband with a gala that was happening later and found Jessica, her face tear-stained and wet with fresh tears pouring from her eyes. "There, there, Jessica", she said, in a soft, compassionate voice, as she climbed on Jessica's buffers, then pulled out her handkerchief to dry her husband's engine's tears. "Cry, Jessica. Let it all out. You can rely on me to wipe away your tears. I wish I could fix whatever's hurting you, so I shall dry your weeping eyes with my hanky. I know you're so sad and I just want you to feel better, find comfort in your sobs and me wiping the tears streaming from your eyes." She looked compassionately at Jessica, gently rubbing her sodden cheeks and wiping her tear-wet eyes.
Jessica sobbed some more, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. She was sniffling hard, coughing, choking on her tears and hiccupping. She gasped and gulped, shaking with heartfelt sobs as she wept non-stop, great tears dripping and pouring from her eyes endlessly and let Lady Hatt comfort her.
She said, as she continued to wipe the tears away, "I know these tears come from your heart, so go ahead and cry. You've got my support and comfort until your eyes are dry. I care deeply about how you feel and want you to feel safe and appreciated, so you've got my understanding and help.". She held her big, white handkerchief to Jessica's eyes, letting her sob into it and wiped all her tears away as best she could.
Sir Topham Hatt came and said, "Jessica, I know you're depressed, but, though I'm not good with feelings, I love steam engines. Because of that, you can depend on me to meet your needs.", patting her buffers.
Later on, Lady Hatt said, "Can I have your handkerchief? Mine's sopping with her tears, drippy wet and she's still weepy.". Poor Jessica, she thought. Your eyes are so wet with tears and the only thing for me to do is endlessly wipe them.
Sir Topham Hatt pulled out his handkerchief and gave it to his wife, who went on wiping Jessica's moist with tears eyes.
Jessica's tears and sobs never stopped until she could cry no more. Lady Hatt dried her last tears away, wiping stray tears from her cheeks and her eyes dry of tears, then gave her husband his sodden handkerchief, wet with Jessica's tears. She smiled, feeling better after crying, though her face was red and her eyes were flame-red and puffy from crying. Her crew came back and gave her a drink from a mobile water tank.
Jessica had her therapy with Dr. Tom.
"How's Jessica today?" he asked.
"Extremely sad," she said. "I'm only able to be happy for a few seconds when I've been sobbing until I can't shed another tear. But I love the calmness, clarity and moments of relief and comfort sobbing with someone to wipe away my tears brings, so I love crying. I went so many years never feeling anything good other than the calm and clarity after a cry, so to find even a few seconds of relief and comfort before I get sad again feels better. I haven't had a bad day in many days, but I still hurt inside from the dreadful abuse." "Can you dry my tears, Driver?" she said, then she began to cry with small sobs and sniffles as she shed a great many tears.
Dr. Tom said, "Crying's useful in therapy, so you're just brilliant, Jessica. I love how you can cry so deeply. Let the pain in your heart out of those eyes. Your heartfelt sobs are the most splendid thing."
Her driver, on her buffer beam said, as he softly dried her teas with a cloth "There, there, Jessica. Let it all out. I've got your cotton waffle hanky, so go ahead and cry it out into it. This time's for you to feel how you feel". He rubbed her sodden cheeks and wiped her teary eyes.
Jessica sobbed endlessly, wracked as the tears flowed from her eyes, not once stopping until she could weep no more. Her driver dried her last tears away, patting any huge water droplets from her face and dapping tears in her eyes away until they were dry, then went back to the cab with the sodden cloth. She smiled, though her face was all red and her swollen eyes were flame-red, then the session went on, with Dr. Tom saying, "You can just have weekly therapy now, Jessica." at the end. Her crew gave her a drink, then they went on with the rest of the day.
Jessica sobbed herself to sleep in her shed with her driver's comfort and Thomas's buffers tight against hers. Her driver dried her last tears away, then left thinking about Jessica. I get a sense when I dry her tears and she cries some more, she's saying "Keep wiping", without a word. I know I shan't be able to drive her forever, but until I can't manage to climb into her cab, I shall help her and comfort her, wiping all the moisture I can from her cheeks and eyes.
In the days to come, the mean engines were sent back to their railways, traded for nicer siblings. Jessica's therapy was reduced to every 2 weeks, then monthly, then every few months, then just as needed as she recovered from her depression. Her personality apart from it was quiet, idealistic, dreamy, insightful, intuitive, extremely sensitive, yet also very cheeky. She could be so happy, but her eyes still were often moist, so her driver still needed a cloth to use as her hanky when she got teary, though her fireman needed only one cotton rag. She teared up more than she cried, but still, when she did cry, she was overwhelmed with extremely deep emotion, from the depths of her heart, an introspective place. She lived until she had a dreadful accident and went to ride The Big Railway In the Sky, which broke her friend Thomas's heart. He told her about the afterlife, once she was recovered enough from her depression and she believed in it, because she was told it was a happy place. Though he had a vision of her riding the golden railway, he missed her and all his other steam friends until he joined them on the heavenly rails.
A/N I'm not British, Jessica is, so if terminus was used wrong, tell me without flaming. I mean to say she went from one end of the main line to the other, so review respectfully. The punishment chapters for Charity's fireman who hit her with his shovel and Jessica's abusive first driver are next in this story, then probably just Autumn stuff and my other fics than this. This is a sort of prequel to my old No More Steam.