jem carstairs will be the light at your side (mizpah) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-04-16 23:57:00
Who: Tessa Gray, Jem Carstairs and Martha Jones What: Tess rushes to a friend in need Where: Jem’s apartment then St. Joseph's Hospital When: April 7th Rating: Mostly Family Friendly Status: Complete
Tessa was worried. Had been as soon as she had received James’ text after which she had raced over to his apartment to help him. Hurrying up to the door she knocked. Upon hearing no response she knocked again and pressed her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything. She tried the door handle and it opened. She pushed it open without hesitation and entered his apartment. “James?” she called.
Ever since Jem had woken up from his dream, he’d been getting sicker and sicker. In the dream, a demon that wanted revenge had broken into the Institute and after feeding Jem it’s blood had killed both of his parents. The demon blood at poisoned him and from what they’d told him when he’d finally woken up, there was no cure. Only a drug that could prolong his life if taken in small doses. A drug that would slowly continue to kill him.
Upon waking up, it had begun slowly, coughing, which eventually led to coughing up blood, which was what had caused him to text Tessa. If his cousin was still in town he would have texted her, but Tessa was the closest thing he had to a friend now, aside from Will, but he knew Tessa better and had hoped she would still be awake. After hearing back from her, he’d slowly begun to hallucinate and had quickly unlocked the door incase he got worse by the time Tessa arrived. Once she did arrive, Jem was lying on the couch, delirious and running a fever, the sound of his mother’s voice from the dreams calling his name over and over, in his head.
"James!" Tessa rushed over to the couch and knelt down next to him. She leant over to brush some of his hair from his face then pressed the back of her hand to his forehead as she felt the heat radiating off him. "Jem? Can you hear me?" she dropped her hand to brush his cheek softly.
While the sound of his mother’s voice was quite persistent, somehow Tessa’s voice broke through. Whether it was because his mother had been repeating his name in Chinese and Tessa was calling him by his nickname, he didn’t know. All he knew was that when he opened his eyes, he saw Tessa there, but wasn’t entirely sure if she was real or not, “Tessa?” His voice was weak and he coughed as his eyes slid shut again.
"Yes Jem, I'm here, can you open your eyes for me again?" Tessa smiled in relief, cupping his cheek and trying to ignore the heat of his burning skin for now. "Please?" One step at a time, she thought to herself.
Somehow Jem did as Tessa asked, dark eyes opening, but not focusing on her, “Yanlou…” He murmured the name of the demon, which was sure to confuse Tessa even more. His eyes slid shut again and a pained look passed over his features. “..it was yanlou…”
“You mean you were attacked?” Tessa shook her head, confused by the name spilling from his lips. “Jem, I need you to try and sit up, we need to go to the hospital, ok?” she stroked his cheek gently, encouraging him to look at her.
Jem tried to shake his head, but he wasn’t even entirely sure what he was responding to. He knew that Tessa had asked him a question, but already, he couldn’t remember what it was, “Tessa?...” He said her name again, eyes closed. His brain felt like it was on fire as a result of the fever and all he could do was let out a low groan.
Pursing her lips together, Tessa decided a different tack was required. “Jem. Sit up,” she told him firmly, hoping the short commands would help him focus.
Jem’s eyes opened again, this time focusing on Tessa for a moment before he, slowly, began to push himself up into a sitting position. The movement caused him to groan and he closed to eyes once more when he was finally sitting up, dark hair stuck to his forehead and temples from the sweat caused by the fever.
“Good, thank you,” Tessa tried to smile at him, but it was a weak attempt at it. She reached up to brush his hair back from his face and smiled up at him as she locked eyes with him. “Now, put your arm over my shoulders and let’s go down to my car, ok?” She took hold of his right hand and squeezed it gently. He was burning up under her touch and it frightened her.
Jem’s eyes closed again as Tessa’s fingers brushed the hair away from his damp skin then reopened again when she spoke. He could still hear his mother’s voice, crying his name, but somehow he could also hear Tessa’s words and he nodded weakly as he lifted an arm out towards Tessa to try and wrap it around her shoulders.
She took hold of his hand and draped his arm over her shoulder, pulling him up with her as she stood up. The hem of her skirt caught under the toe of her shoe briefly but it freed itself and spared her any embarrassment. She rubbed the hand she held in hers with her thumb and wrapped her other arms around his waist, pulling him bodily to her. “All right, Jem, we’re going to get you some help ok? Just stay with me, one foot in front of the other,” she told him, trying her best to sound confident despite how scared she was for him. With him pressed up against her she could feel the heat of him almost burning through their clothes.
Jem was only vaguely aware of Tessa helping him up and leading him out of the apartment; all the while Church had been sitting on the top of the couch, watching the two and once Jem and Tessa left, the cat followed, stopping once the door was closed and sat down, waiting for Jem to return.
Tessa finally managed to guide him down the stairs and into the car, and by then was also questioning whether she should have called an ambulance instead. Regardless, she would berate herself later once Jem was being seen by a professional. She buckled his seatbelt then cupped his cheek and brushed her thumb over it, wincing internally at the temperature. Getting in herself, she drove her little car as fast as she dared to get him to the hospital, reaching over to take his hand in hers and comfort him. Or herself, she wasn't sure which or if it even mattered, until they were finally at the hospital.
Parking in the drop off area, she rushed around to his side of the car to encourage him out. She talked to him gently, reassuringly as she unbuckled his seatbelt and managed to get him out of the car and into the emergency room. She pulled him to the front desk and demanded he be seen immediately, but when the woman behind the counter starting arguing with her she could help but think a coughing fit right now would get the woman's attention.
Jem didn’t remember any of the car ride to the hospital and it wasn’t until they entered the emergency room and the bright fluorescent lights stung his eyes, did Jem make a noise. Dropping his head so that his hair would act as a shield, he groaned and leaned against the counter as Tessa argued with the woman behind it. As she argued, Jem started coughing, blood flecking his lips and shirt as he did, which certainly got the woman’s attention and she picked up her phone to page a doctor.
Getting the page, Martha Jones and a nurse came running. Seeing the young man and woman at the counter, she didn’t have to guess which patient she’d been paged for. “What happened?” She asked as she started to examine Jem while the nurse got a wheelchair for him. “Did he take something?”
"I don't think so," Tessa shook her head, resting her hand on Jem's back as the doctor spoke to them. She was loathe to give up any physical connection with him as it was affirming to feel the thrum of his heart beneath his skin. "He texted me for help and when I got there he was coughing, feverish and hallucinating," she told the doctor. "Please, he's burning up," she implored the woman, looking her directly in the eye.
Burning up was an understatement. Martha didn’t think she’d ever felt a fever quite this hot before. “Are you family?” Based solely on the young man’s asian features, she doubted it, but she had to ask anyway.
“No, I…” Tessa stopped herself, looking back at Jem and knowing what was coming next. “No, I’m not,” she told the doctor sadly, hand tightening against Jem’s side as she pulled him a little closer to her. “Does that mean I can’t...go with him?” she asked sadly.
Jem coughed, his eyes opening to look at Tessa then Martha, but not really focusing on either of them. Martha watched the two for a moment a sighed, “Let us get him stable. I’ll come out and get you then, okay?” It was obvious that it was important to the girl to be with her friend, but until they knew what was wrong with him, Martha couldn’t have the girl under foot, “Just answer one question, does Valarnet mean anything to you?” Martha had had at least two other patients who were dreamers and would have had a difficult time explaining their injuries to a doctor who wasn’t a dreamer.
"Thank you," Tessa smiled in thanks and relief at the other woman. A nurse with a wheelchair arrived and she helped them manoeuvre Jem into it. She brushed his hair back and pressed a kiss to his feverish cheek. "I'll be just out here, ok?" she told him, not even sure if he knew she had said anything. "Yes, I know of the Valarnet, why do you ask?" she said, stepping back from her friend as the nurse started to wheel him away.
The nurse wheeled Jem back to an examine room while Martha lingered with Tessa, “What do you know about his dreams? Is it possible that this could be related?” If it was then that would make trying to figure out what was wrong with him even more difficult, especially if it was something that wasn’t common in the waking world.
“I...I don’t know, I mean he’s never mentioned anything about them before,” Tessa shook her head, puzzled as she tried to think back. “He did mention something before I brought him here though, it sounded like a name...Yanlou I think it was, I don’t know if that’s any help?” she told the doctor.
It wasn’t, but Martha was pretty certain that this was a case of something that had happened to him in his dreams, but until they examined him, they wouldn’t know for sure. “Just wait here and I’ll come back out once he’s stable.” With that, Martha headed back to the room the nurse had taken the young man to.
Tessa wrapped her arms around herself as she watched the doctor walking away. As the other woman passed through the double doors, Tessa realised she hadn't asked the doctor's name. After getting it from the woman at the desk, she walked over to a seat and sat herself down to wait. She thought she should probably move the car, but she didn't know how long it would be until the doctor came out and she had to be here when she did. She'd move it afterwards and worry about any tickets later.
Once in a room, Martha had tests run on Jem, but everything came back inconclusive. Whatever was making him sick was not something from their world, which solidified her suspicions that this was dream related. All they could do in the long run was try to bring his fever down so it wouldn’t fry his brain and give him fluids. After what probably felt like hours, and probably actually was, Martha came out to the waiting room, searching for the young woman who had brought him in. When she spotted her, she approached, “He’s stable for now. We still don’t know what’s causing his illness, but you can see him, if you want.”
"Of course!" Tessa stood up quickly before catching herself. "I mean yes, please," she smiled at the doctor and waited for her to lead the way.