Opal 77: Skewed Space (Jerrie)

Part 18

"I really am fine." Jesy slurs from her hospital bed, Leigh-Anne clinging to her hand like if she squeezed harder that statement would become true. Jesy tried to pull off the heart monitors connected to her chest again, whining like a petulant child when her girlfriend brushed her hand away easily.

"For the last time, the doctors said you needed rest. You're body needs time to recover from the tissue regeneration treatment." Leigh sighs, running her fingers through the other girls hair in hopes of calming her down.

"If the whole point of the process is to heal me," Jesy starts, causing Leigh-Anne to roll her eyes about what's to come out next. "Why do I need to rest? It's literally regrowing my damaged muscles, tissue, whatever! Shouldn't I be fine now?"

"It's new technology love, it doesn't work like that."

"Yet." Norma Thirlwall says from the doorway with a smile. She has a tablet in one hand, and the sleeves of her white coat are rolled to the elbow. "Though this technology is new, we've been making steady advancements thanks to one of our top researchers. I suspect that by this time next year, anyone who has been affected to the extent that you have Ms. Nelson, will be fully healed within days."

"Remind me not to get stabbed anytime within the next year." Jesy murmurs to Leigh-Anne lazily. "Or shot."

"Is it time for more treatment?" Leigh-Anne asks, untangling her fingers from Jesy's.

"Almost, I was just..." Norma paused, looking to the floor before meeting Leigh-Anne's eyes. There was a softness in the older woman's expression that Leigh hadn't seen before. "I wanted to say thank you."

"You've already thanked me." Jesy exclaims with an exasperated expression.

"I was referring to Miss Pinnock, actually." Norma responds awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Though I am ever so grateful that you saved my daughters life."

"It's in the job description, she pays me now." Jesy says more so to herself with a smug grin.

"I didn't really do anything..." Leigh-Anne shrugs, rising to her feet to face the other woman.

"You became her friend."

"Oh." Leigh-Anne says with surprise. "That's not really-"

"I know how difficult Jade can be." Norma interrupts. "So I want to thank you for sticking by her side, and helping her. As a mother, I worry for her. She isolates herself too much... just like her father did."

It is Leigh-Anne's turn to awkwardly shift her weight, twiddling with her fingers uncertainly as she faced the mother of her boss. She never would have considered this woman that Jade had described so poorly to have such a big heart.

"Anyway, Karl also wanted me to deliver a personal message." The woman seems to snap back into her professional mode, the kindness dissolving from her eyes. "He says that considering the circumstances, you can have the rest of the week off, but are to be in the office on Monday morning."

And with that, she turned on her heels and left. The only residue that anything Mrs. Thirlwall had said was real were the memories now implanted in Leigh-Anne's mind.

"Did that really just happen?" Leigh-Anne wondered aloud.

"Did you see the fluffy unicorn too?" Jesy asked with a hopeful tone.

__________________________

"I don't understand!" Jade yells from the floor as she looks up at the information projected onto her bedroom ceiling. "I've run every kind of cross referencing software I have, and still nothing. No patterns."