“Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
Jessie, James and Meowth landed hard. They were silent for a few seconds, but once the shock had worn off the complaining and yelling was not far behind.
"Geez! Dat was harsh!"
"No kidding Einstein! And thanks alot James for successfully getting us hurt once again!" Any idiot could tell that Jessie was really mad. Most people would have run for their lives when she got like this but right now Jesse's partner was as mad as she was.
"ME?!! HOW IS THIS MY FAULT? THAT PLAN WAS YOUR IDEA!" "IT MAY HAVE BEEN MY IDEA, BUT YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SCREWED IT UP!"
James usually stood back and let her abuse him but enough was enough. That last comment had pushed him over the edge and now he was madder than he had ever been before. His face was turning the same colour as Jessie's hair and his fists were clenched so tightly the knuckles were white.
"THAT'S IT JESSIE, I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! YOU'RE ALWAYS HITTING ME AND YELLING AT ME AND BLAMING ME WHEN THINGS GO WRONG! YOU CAN BE A REAL BITCH SOMETMES, YOU KNOW THAT? SOMETIMES I HATE YOU SO MUCH THAT I WANT TO QUIT TEAM ROCKET JUST TO GET AWAY FROM YOU! DO YOU WANT ME TO DO THAT JESS?! HUH?!"
The reaction James and Meowth had been expecting was a lot of yelling and probably hitting James into orbit but what happened was the complete opposite. She just stared at him, her mouth open just a little bit, not saying a word. James could see her eyes filling up with tears. He and Meowth watched as she turned and walked away.
"Well dat was a new experience." Meowth said quietly.
James didn't say anything. He was completely stunned. Jessie had never acted that way before.
****Jessie stumbled along the narrow path, crying silent tears. She knew that James was right. She treated him terribly.
'Why do I do that?' she thought angrily 'Why do I have to be such a bitch all the time? If I was nicer, it would be easier to tell him that I love him and I might just have a chance of him loving me back. But he's not likely to now.' She continued to wander, deeply involved in her thoughts, not taking any notice of where she was going.
She didn't notice when she got out of the woods. She didn't notice when she stepped onto the road. She didn't notice the truck until it hit her.
****It didn't take long after Jessie had left for James to head off after her. He felt terrible about what he had said and hoped Jessie knew that he didn't really mean it.
"C'mon James slow down! Why are you goin' so fast?"
"I have to find Jessie!"
"Yeah, but what's with da hurry?"
"You saw how upset she was. Who knows where she's going to go? We have to find her now or we might never find her!"
They walked in silence for a few minutes before they reached the road. A very stressed looking driver was leaning on his truck. Paramedics jumped out of an ambulance with a stretcher, heading towards...
"JESSIE!" James ran to her , Meowth following close behind. They watched as the men loaded her limp, fragile body onto the stretcher. Her clothes were stained with blood.
"What happened?!" James asked the driver
"She got hit by my truck. It wad an accident I swear, she just appeared out of nowhere! Do you know who she is?"
"Yeah, she's my friend Jessie. Is she okay?!"
"I'm not sure. They're taking her to the nearest hospital. I could give you a lift if you like"
"Would ya?" Meowth asked hopefully
"Yeah I'll do anything I can to help, I feel really bad. Hey you know we better get going if we're going to keep up with that ambula..." He trailed off, realizing that James and Meowth were already climbing into the truck.
"C'mon! Hurry up!" Meowth yelled as the driver made his way into the truck.
"Ok!" he said as he got in. "We're off!" They sped off with the ambulance, although the ambulance was going faster.
"Can't ya make dis ting go any faster?!" Meowth asked.
"Are you kidding?! If I was driving a car I'd go as fast as you wanted. But I'm driving a truck. The last thing I need is to get into another accident!"
That seemed to make everyone quiet. It was awkward to say the least.
****James had many trains of thought speeding around his brain He would start to think that he was sitting in a truck chasing an ambulance. That would seem kind of exciting but then he would remember that Jessie was lying in the back of that ambulance and he was riding in the truck that had hit her. That thought was almost enough to make him jump out and run to the hospital but he knew he wouldn't get there quick enough if he did that.
He needed to see if Jessie was okay as quickly as possible. The thought of losing her was unbearable. He didn't know if the accident had really been that bad, but still just the thought of her injured made him feel nauseous. He knew that he needed her and cared about her, but he was just starting to realise how much he needed her and even more, how much he really cared about her.
****Meowth could see that James was obviously anxious about Jessie. He knew that he cared about her deeply and couldn't imagine what kind of thoughts he would be having at that moment. Actually, seeing how pale James was going he didn't really want to know.
Meowth decided that he didn't want to worry too much about James right now, it couldn't help anyone, so he concentrated on watching the ambulance.
"Um, hey, we're kinda losin' 'em." He said meekly, not wanting to start a fight.
"I wouldn't worry too much, I know the way to the hospital and we don't have much further to go now."
"Oh. Dat's good den"
They continued the rest of the trip in awkward silence. James hadn't said anything the whole way, he was as lost in his thoughts as Jessie had been when... earlier that day. Meowth wondered if he would even see the hospital when they arrived.
Suddenly, James seemed to focus and he spoke for the first time since he's gotten into the truck."Hey is that the hospital?" Well, that answered Meowth's question.
****They arrived at the hospital about 5 minutes after the ambulance and when they stopped, James ran into the building at a speed that Meowth thought would surely have broken a few records. He was already asking about Jessie when Meowth got in.
"I'm sorry" he could hear the nurse say "you can't see her right now, the doctors are with her. You can wait in the waiting room if you like, but if I were you I'd take a walk. This may take awhile and walking often soothes peoples nerves."
Well, James did end up walking. If you count pacing up and down a hospital waiting room as walking. Like most people, James and Meowth didn't really enjoy the waiting room atmosphere. It was making them even more tense than they already were. They looked up hopefully every time a doctor entered the room, wondering if it was Jessie's doctor.
They waited for what seemed like hours until a doctor came in and after talking to the nurse for a few minutes, headed over to them.
"Are you Jessie's doctor?" James asked her anxiously.
"Yes I am. You must be her friends." As soon as she said that she was Jessie's doctor, both James and Meowth fired a million questions at her, all at once.
"Is she okay?"
"Is it bad?"
"Is she unconscious?"
"Is she badly broken?"
"If she's badly broken, can you fix her?"
"She's gunna be fine right?"
"Can we see her?"
"Yeah, can we see her?"
The doctor seemed flustered, probably from all the questions and also from the fact that half of them came from a Meowth.
"Well, to be completely honest with you we're not positive that she's going to be 100% okay. She has quite a serious head injury, quite a few broken bones and she lost alot of blood. She's been unconscious since we brought her in, but I guess you could see her if you really want."
"Let's go" James answered quickly.
"So you still want to see her?"
"I have to see her. She's my best friend. Where's her room?"
"Come with me and I'll show you where it is."
****James knew that seeing Jessie in that condition would be very painful but he just wanted to see her, conscious or unconscious. He saw the doctor stop infront of a door and held his breath. This was it.
"Is dis Jessie's room?"
"Yes dis, er, this is it"
"Can we go in?"
"Yes just be very careful"
She opened the door and showed them in. Pain tore through James's heart when he saw Jessie. She was just lying there, motionless. She looked so weak and fragile, almost like a different person. He slowly walked across the room towards her and knelt down beside her.
Meowth just stood at the door, not really able to even enter the room.
James took Jessie's hand and just held it. He remained silent for awhile, knowing that if he so much as opened his mouth to speak he would start crying. But after a few minutes of just looking at her, being near her, he felt that he had to say something.
"Hi." he whispered "Can you hear me Jess?" He didn't really expect an answer, although for some reason, it felt like she was listening.
"Jessica, I-I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it. It... I..." He was having a hard time holding back tears. This was painful as hell, but he knew he had to get through it. He took a deep breath and continued."I feel so terrible knowing that if I hadn't said those things you wouldn't have ended up... here. I-I feel worse than I ever have before. Please Jess. Forgive me. I know I probably don't deserve your forgiveness, I feel like I don't, but I-I need it. I need you."
He paused and gazed at her lifeless face, still clutching her hand. The tears he had been holding back since he got to the hospital came bursting out.
"Oh Jessie, please wake up! Please! You have to wake up! I need you so much! I...I..." James paused, stunned by what he had finally figured out. He could see it now, finally, it was clear to him.
"I...I love you." He stayed by her side for hours, doing nothing but crying. The whole time he was there he held onto her hand, as if by holding her hand he could hold onto her life.
****Meowth was waiting outside the room, giving James some time alone with Jessie. He had heard him say that he loved her and thought it was only fair that he should be there in what could be her last moments Meowth was no doctor but he knew that this didn't look good. After awhile he heard James's crying stop. Looking into the room he could see that James had fallen asleep, still holding Jessie's hand.
****James looked around. 'Where am I?' he thought. He couldn't see very far, there was mist everywhere. He cautiously took a few steps forward, trying to figure things out.
"James?" He turned around as quickly as he could. He knew that voice anywhere.
"Jessie? Is it you?"
"Yes James. It's me." Her voice sounded different somehow. It was definatly her, but her voice seemed a lot softer, sadder.
But James didn't care about that. The only thing that mattered to him was that it was her voice, and hearing it made him happier than he had ever been before. He ran to her and pulled her close to him, burying his face in her hair.
"Oh Jessie, I was so worried! I missed you so, so much! You have no idea..." He trailed off and both of them were quiet, just enjoying being close to each other.
"James?"
"Yes Jessica?""About what you said a few hours ago..." James pulled his head up so he was face to face with her.
"You heard that?"
"Yes James I heard it. And James... I-I completly forgive you! It wan't really your fault anyway, I deserved what you said this morning. But if you feel bad about this or anything else than I will 100% forgive you and I'll forget that it ever happened."
"Thank you. That means alot to me." James paused, searching for words. What she had said did mean alot to him, but it wasn't all he wanted to hear.
"Is... is that all you wanted to say?" he asked nervously. She smiled.
"No, that's not all I wanted to say."She paused and gazed into his eyes."I love you too James. I've always loved you."
As she said that James was so happy he thought he was going to burst. Without saying another word he kissed her.Jessie didn't stop him, after all, this was the man she loved, this was what she had wanted for so long. They eventually came apart and looked deep into each others eyes.
"Oh Jessica, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Promise me that things will always be this good." He paused and put his arms around her."Promise me that we'll always be together. Always."
Jessie turned around abrubtly and took a step away from James. She was obviously very upset.
"Jessie what's wrong?" James was really worried. He had thought that what he said would make her happy, not sad.
"James... I don't know if I can make those promises."
"Why not?" James knew why she couldn't make those promises, but he pushed it away. He didn't want it to be true.
"James"
"Yes?"
"Hold me" He held her as tightly as he could and they just stood there, swaying back and forth slightly, both of them crying like they never had before.
"Oh Jessie please stay with me!" James eventually managed to say through a waterfall of tears.
"I can't James, I can't. I want to more than I've ever wanted anything before in my life but... I don't have a choice" Crying harder than ever she looked him in the eye. "Goodbye James"
He just cried and pulled her closer. He didn't say anything, partly because he was crying too hard but partly because saying goodbye made everything seem so definite, so real. He knew that it was stupid but part of him felt like if he said goodbye, she wouldn't go. Jessie was going. James could feel her disappearing in his arms.
"No! Jessie no! Please don't go! Please!" It didn't help.
She was gone.
****"Sir! Sir! Wake up sir!" James slowly opened his eyes to see the nurse standing above him. There were doctors rushing around and for a moment he heard a long beeping sound which soon stopped. The doctors stopped too and James knew what had happened.
He already knew.
He looked at Jessie. Her mane of hair was matted underneath her head and her face had lost all colour. 'And yet' James thought, 'she's still so incredibly beautiful'. He realized he was still holding her hand and he placed it gently by her side.
"Goodbye Jess" he whispered "I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you. I've loved you through everything we've been through and - well, lets just say I've always loved you. And you know what Jessica? Even if we are... separated, I will always love you. Always."
He kissed her on her pale cheek and stood up to leave the room. He walked slowly walked over to the door and before leaving, he paused, look ing at her one last time.
"Always"
THE END