Chapter
4
Janie
walked slowly back towards the waiting room, her eyes had a thick skin of tears
covering them coursing her sight to be blurred. She thought if what the nurse
had said,
“Don’t
get you hopes up, Jessica is not looking good, she has lost a lot of blood and
we are afraid that…”
“STOP!” Janie had
shouted, “I don’t want to hear anymore.”
She
quickened her pace towards the waiting room. She couldn’t tell James about
this, he had to concentrate on getting himself better.
She
heard a horribly familiar voice calling her name from behind her, she stopped
and looked down.
“Go
away Ash, this is not a good time.”
“I
heard about what happened to Jessie and James, I’m sorry.” He said slowly.
“What
do you care?”
“We
care about you Janie.” Ash’s friend Misty said stepping out from behind him,
along with Brock and Ash’s electric mouse pokemon Pikachu. Janie reluctantly burst into tears and fell on her
knees. Ash knelt beside her,
“We
really do care,” he whispered. Janie continued to cry, “you are so different
form those two, you’re nice and kind and funny, they’re evil, heartless and
care only for themselves…” at that moment, Janie reached out and slapped Ash
hard across the face and screamed through her tears,
“Don’t
EVER talk about my friends that way.” Ash put his hand to his face stared at
her in shock. “They are the only family I have, I bloody love them, you don’t
know what it’s like to be alone in the world, as far as I am concerned, they are family. So never slag Jessie and J off ever!” Misty
and Brock stood in silence as Ash knelt in shock. He couldn’t work out whether
he had dreamt her slapping him, or whether it really did happen. He looked into
her anger filled dark eyes, he tried to push an
apology out of his mouth,
“I’m…um…”
“Sorry?”
Janie finished sarcastically, “no you’re not.” She slowly pushed herself to her
feet and stumbled over to sit with Meowth. He
sympathetically put his paw on her hands to comfort her. It the past, her and Meowth hadn’t exactly been the best if friends, in fact, to
tell the truth they had been enemies. Fighting all the time
about anything and everything. He defensively gave Ash a cold stare,
feeling all the same things Janie was feeling he felt they could unite now. Ash
slowly got off the floor, his hand still on his cheek where she had slapped
him. He couldn’t believe himself, Janie was in bits, and he cared. (Misty and
Brock had long since retreated, they were no good at emotions, they had gone for a drink in the hospital’s café to get out
from the awkward moment.) Janie looked up, Ash was still there,
“I’m really sorry Janie” him
mumbled. Janie walked over to him and rested her hand lightly on his shoulder
as if to accept his apology and left.
“To protect the world from devastation!” Jessie
screamed at the top of her voice.
“To
unite all peoples within our nation,” James shouted back, but before Jessie
could sat the next part of the Team Rocket motto, Pikachu
gave them a strong electric shock.
“LOOKS
LIKE TEAM ROCKET’S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!” They cried in
unison, as they were thrown through the air. As they landed James lost site of
Jessie and was surrounded by smoke and fire.
“Jessie, Jessie don’t
leave me,” he called searching the ground as if for a precious stone.
James
jolted awake, tears in his eyes and running down his face. Janie was sitting at
the end of his bed, and was that, no, Ash Ketchem
standing there comforting the sobbing Janie. Trying to pull himself together,
he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He swallowed hard and pulled the
strongest, steadiest looking face he could.
“Janie,
what’s going on?” He said, stumbling over every word.
“James?”
Janie had started calling him by his full name now as in this devastating
situation, it just didn’t seem right to call him by his fun nic-name,
J. James’ strong slowly melted away leaving a weak distressed one.
“There’s
nothing to do accept sleep,” he groaned, “and that is just torture.”
“Don’t
let your dreams get to,” Janie sobbed sliding her arm behind his back and leant
her head on his hair. Ash stood at the end of the bed feeling uncomfortable. He
watched as Janie and James cried into each other’s arms. He felt he say
something, but he was giving himself a head ache trying to think of what. He
thought of Misty, his best friend, what if the same happened to her as to
Jessie, and she died. He felt his eye’s filling up at the thought.
James
dried his eyes, “I’m sorry,” he cried, “I haven’t exactly been myself lately.”
“I
know,” Janie agreed.
“I
– I just love her so much”
“I
know, I know,” Janie said before kissing him on the forehead, “so do I.”
“They
say I can go home tomorrow,” James stammered, trying to lighten the mood a
little.
“Good,”
she said firmly, “that’s brilliant.” That means you’re better and they might
tell you something about…” her voice trailed off.
“Jessie?”
Ash finished for her. James looked at him,
What
are you doing here, he wanted to say. He wanted to scream and shout, he had no right to be there, he didn’t care about any of
them, least of all for Jessie. Making an excuse, Ash walked out of the cubicle
and almost ran into a tall girl with the biggest ringlets he’d ever seen.
“Jessie…uh…is
that you?”
“I’m
Jessibelle,
everybody seems to be calling may Jessie these days…”
“JESSIBELLE,
uh, what are you doing here?” Ash screamed, suddenly feeling protective of the
scene he had just left, but why…why? He knew she was here for James as they had
met before but Ash didn’t care for him, did he?
“That
is not the right way to address a lady such as maself…”
“I
don’t have time for this OK, I’m meeting someone, err goodbye.” He walked off
feeling a rush of hatred through his veins, this was a
hospital not a marriage venue.
Eventually
he arrived in the hospital’s depressing café, he scanned the tables for Misty
and Brock finding them sleeping soundly on table by the window. He ran over to
them and shook them hard shouting their names loudly, gaining annoyed stares
from passer bys but not a stir from Misty or Brock. He shook them harder,
“Ash,
what’s the big deal,” Misty spat out.
“Jessibelle’s here!”
“Who?”
“You
know, James’ fiancee?”
“Oh, so? What’s that got to do with us?” Misty questioned.
Ash thought for a moment, she had a point, what did it have to do with them?
“It’s
the last thing they need right now,” Ash tried to say, but it came out as a
series of coughs.
“Are
you OK, Ash?” Misty asked.0
“I’m fine,” he coughed, “Where’s Pikachu?”
Pikachu was watching Jessie’s still form as it lay looking
so vulnerable on a bed. At once he thought he hated her, but now, he felt
nothing but sympathy for her. He sat motionless in the vent, wondering what to
say.
“Pika pi” (Jessie) he whispered, “pikachu”
(wake up) “Pikachu pika pika” (you have people who love you, fight, Jessie fight) “pika, pikachu…” (I know you may
not like me right now…) He stopped, why was he saying this, she couldn’t hear
him. Maybe he was trying to clear his conscience, after giving so many electric
shocks that they probably ran by electricity now! He wondered what would happen
to Janie, James and Meowth if she died, they might
stop trying to kidnap him from Ash but he would be over run with guilt, thought
he had no idea why. Not able to make sense of his thoughts, Pikachu
decided to go back to his trainer, Ash.
“Hey
Pikachu, where’d you get to?” He asked as Pikachu ran up to the table he was sitting at. He of course
he wasn’t going to hell him, he would be seen as a
traitor.