Chapter 13.3

Jason opened his eyes and stared at the unfamiliar white ceiling. He groggily looked at his arm and noticed the IV needle attached to it and slowly the annoying beeps from the heart rate machine only served to muddle his confusion more.

"Ah, bien. You are awake," a voice nearby said. Jason turned to look at the person with his blurry vision. After a moment, his vision focused and he nearly stopped breathing as a lump formed in his throat. A girl with dirty blonde hair was dressed as a professional maid and her deadpan blue eyes stared back at him with a calm look.

"Katelyn," Jason whispered.

***

Elizabeth hummed 'Truly, Madly, Deeply' under her breath as she entered the private ward of Robbins Memorial. She used her stick and the hearing aid that informed her of important holograms to find herself a seat. [2]

Tilting her head, she noticed two people sitting opposite of her. Elizabeth judged both of them to be young teens from their size. One was a male which she deduced from his grumblings while the other was a girl, based on how feminine the cloudy shaped aura appeared to be in her eyes. The girl who was drifting between sleep and drowsiness jumped from the sound of her holo-watch and answered a call.

"Asami? Yeah, that's right … no Jason's okay," Elizabeth spun her head around sharply and focused on the girl as she spoke through a holo-call. "The idiot was stabbed but refused to be treated till he finally fainted. Alright, I'll wait for you."

At first, Elizabeth merely eavesdropped to hear if this was her Jason and whether he was badly wounded or not. From her perspective, he wouldn't have come to the hospital unless it was a fatal injury, hence the reason why she came to ascertain the truth. However, she eventually paid attention to the girl who was speaking and was stunned.

Helen? But how? Wasn't she…

"You okay, Jared?" the girl ended the call and turned to talk to the boy.

"Yes! I'm fine!" Jared straightened his back and answered nervously.

"You don't have to be so scared," the girl was amused at the boy's reaction. "Your sister is a good friend of mine. She really cares about you too, she told us about you."

"Yeah, sorry," Jared blushed and scratched his cheek. "I'm just nervous and worried. Worried about sis and nervous cause well, it's my first time meeting a high-level Esper."

"Ah, right. Well, I'm not like them," Alina said, realizing why Jared was nervous. Unlike her, Jared wasn't an Esper, he was a normal human. And it was not uncommon for high-level Espers to despise ordinary people. "You come across any trouble, let me know and I'll kick it in the ass."

Jared thanked her when Elizabeth arrived in front of them. The two stopped talking and watched her approach with some confusion.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear you," Elizabeth said. "Are you Helen?"

"No, sorry. Wrong person. I'm Alina," Alina replied perfunctorily. She was suspicious of Elizabeth and tried to keep her answers short.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I thought you were someone else," Elizabeth smiled wryly as though she knew she was mistaken but still held hope that it was Helen. "She was a good friend that died."

Alina felt pity for Elizabeth, thinking that the latter who was blind only heard a similar voice and came to check on her. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was thinking about how to check on Alina's appearance. She knew how Helen looked from the way Jason had bragged about her and now, she had an inkling on why Jason was living with this new sister of his.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me how you look?" Elizabeth asked before looking sideways at Jared. Intentionally, she was looking at the opposite direction of where Jared sat and began talking to him. "On second thought, you tell me how she looks."

"Uhh …" Jared looked at Alina wondering if it was alright and the latter nodded at him encouragingly. "Well, she's got bright eyes, black hair and light brown skin that's the perfect tan."

Huh, that … is quite similar to Helen. What the hell is he thinking? Elizabeth thought to herself.

"That's … just like her," Elizabeth muttered before turning to Alina. "Thank you for indulging in my curiosity."

Alina was about to reply when a nurse interrupted them.

"Excuse me, Ms. Hyde? Dr. Jones is waiting for you," the nurse told Elizabeth who nodded and turned to the two kids.

"Excuse me, it was nice meeting you," Elizabeth told them before she started following the nurse while tapping her white cane in front of her.

"Hyde? Could she be… no way," Alina muttered as Asami came rushing from the entrance.

"Alle!" Asami called out

.

Alina was about to respond when she heard a small clatter coming from the room where Jason was resting. The two exchanged glances and, thinking it might be an attack, barged into the room while Jared hesitated for a moment.

"Jason?! Non, non, I'm not ready for this!" Michelle cried.

After waking up, she had checked herself out and decided to visit Jason to see how he was. Seeing how vulnerable he was while sleeping, she couldn't help but stay and look after him. This however led to the current situation that had her panicking.

As soon as Jason woke up, he grabbed her and pulled her into the bed before rolling to the top and pinning her down. His blurry vision had seen her as someone else and his drug-addled mind failed to realize that she was speaking with a French accent.

"Oh? The rape play? Not really a fan of that one, Katelyn," Jason slurred, his voice slow and heavy from the anesthetics. He grabbed Michelle's arms and pinned them over her head with one hand while another gently stroked her cheeks. "Oh right, it's Katie, eh? Always used to make you shiver when I'd call you that."

"Jason, Arrêtez! Wake up!" Michelle urged while squirming before falling silent. The hand that was brushing her cheeks moved to her lips silencing her.

"I lied you know," Jason muttered as he traced her lips. "That night, I lied. You weren't nothing to me. You … I lied when I said you were just a fuck-toy ... you were the second woman to reach my heart. But I was scared and angry, so I pushed you away."

Michelle froze as she saw guilt and sadness engulf Jason's face. She had never seen him look so fragile before, and she realized that the Jason she knew was just a facade that he showed everyone else.

"And then you betrayed me. And I had to choose," Jason continued. "Maybe it could have been different. Maybe if ... instead of abandoning you I took your hand … if I tried … maybe you would be here with me and Allie … maybe you'd still be alive …"

Michelle was unable to look away from Jason's teary eyes as he slowly leaned forward to kiss her. When his lips almost grazed hers she came back to reality and pulled back while struggling to free herself from him. Her movements caused the nearby tray to fall onto the ground.

Soon after, Alina and Asami burst through the door but stopped in utter shock when they saw what was happening. Jason, with his askew hospital gown, was on top of Michelle who was frozen in horror when she saw the two.

"You womanizing dick!" Alina growled through gritted teeth before exploding. She kicked Jason off Michelle and onto the ground.

"Moshi, moshi? Officer, there's a pervert lusting after a minor here," Asami said to her phone. It was impossible to tell if she really called the police or not.

Alina grabbed the fallen Jason by the front of his gown and was about to punch him when she saw his face. That broken and feeble smile he gave stopped her in her tracks.

"Hey, Allie," he said in a crushed voice. "I deserved that, didn't I? For killing Katelyn ... for destroying your life."

"What happened to him?" Asami asked seriously when she realized something was wrong.

"He thought I was someone else," Michelle added. "A Katelyn, je pense."

"He's delirious from medication," Silvia walked in with a nurse who began checking Jason while the former used her SEC device to levitate him back into bed. "Quite normal for some but especially in his case. They had to administer a strong one to keep him sedated while they repaired his cephalic vein."

Silvia laid Jason to bed and stroked his hair as she spoke to the others and the nurse prepared to inject the solution bag's needle into him when Silvia stopped her with a shake of her head.

"Let's leave him to rest some more shall we?" Silvia said to the others, gesturing at them to leave.

"Rest assured, I'll keep an eye on him and make sure nothing happens again."

Silvia ushered them all of them, including the nurse, out of the door before closing it. She then grabbed a chair and pulled up to Jason's bed and studied his face. She had a feeling that he would answer any question she asked while in this state.

"Silvie," Jason smiled. "You know, I tried to be like you? I tried to be a good brother to them but it didn't work."

Them? Silvia thought before shaking her head. That's not important, focus on the issue at hand, Silvia.

"Jason …" Silvia paused as she gathered her thoughts, wondering how to ask the question that was in her mind. Looking at Jason, she took a deep breath and continued. "Are you … are you killing yourself by using your Esper power?"

[1] Same flashback as the one from Chapter 2

[2] Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden (Although I prefer the cover by Cascada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daM3_rHxRik)