The Accident chapter 3

The Accident Chapter 3

"Hey, guys!" Aelita shouted when she ran hastily into the cafeteria during lunch time, waving with her cell phone.
Odd, Yumi and Ulrich had already started eating their meals. Aelita was too excited to even think about eating at that moment. She did not care that people at the cafeteria were staring at her in confusion.
"What happened?" Yumi asked immediately. Aelita did not even take her seat, but merely leaned on the edge of the table.
"Guess what! Jeremie's woken up! His parents just called me!" she gasped.
She saw her friends' faces lit up with wide smiles as they processed this information.
"Oh God, that's awesome!" Yumi exclaimed and hugged Aelita above the table.
Aelita finally settled down and started to cry and it was the cry of pure happiness. Odd and Ulrich did not hide their happiness, either.
"So Aelita, when will we be able to pay him a visit?" Odd asked.
"Well... the access to him is still limited. But I'm going to see him tomorrow anyway!" she said, still shaking from emotion.
"Lucky you", Odd said, "just don't forget to greet him for us!"
"Of course, of course," Aelita replied. "Oh my God, I already can't wait."
"And what are we supposed to say?" Ulrich said.
Their table caught the attention of other students, some of them came over to them and asked about the cause of their excitement. One of them was Sissi, who also burst into tears when she found out. Soon, it appeared as if Aelita had infected the entire cafeteria with her joy. It was uplifting to see that although several days passed since the accident, people, most of them being complete strangers, still had the most injured in their hearts and thoughts.

Twenty four hours later, Aelita was leaving school grounds to meet Jeremie's parents at the gate. She hadn't been in such a good mood for ages. She was so full of energy that she pranced joyfully all the way to the gate, where Jeremie's parents waited for her in the car. Soon they arrived at the hospital.
Aelita could not take away her sight off Jeremie, who looked noticeably better. His unbroken arm was placed on his chest as if he had laid it there by himself. His face was turned towards the door as if he already looked in that direction.
When they entered the room, he reacted immediately. He opened his eyes and smiled. Aelita was touched by his look, she hardly restrained tears.
"Hi, son," Mr. Belpois said quietly when they came closer to his bed.
With his eyes half opened Jeremie took a look at them.
"Hi Mom, hi Dad..." he muttered in a sleepy voice as he recognized his parents.
He opened his eyes wider as he looked in Aelita's direction.
"Oh hi, Aelita! Mom, please don't say I'm making things up again..."
"Don't worry, painkillers work on him like that," Mrs. Belpois assured Aelita. They both laughed.
"I'm here, stupid!" said Aelita, laughing in spite of tears that streamed down her cheeks.
"Glasses...?" muttered Jeremie. He stretched out his arm as if he was looking for something. Aelita caught his hand in the air. Meanwhile Mrs. Belpois placed the glasses on Jeremie's face.
"Thanks, Mom. Hi, Aelita", he greeted her, smiling widely.
Aelita felt her cheeks reddened on the realization that they never held each other's hands in the presence of his parents. Thankfully it looked like Jeremie did not care about that. He looked very happy to be able to hold her hand.
"We'll leave you two alone as we step out for a while, okay?" Mrs. Belpois whispered to Aelita after a short chat. Soon, Aelita watched as Mrs. Belpois and her husband left the room.
"Uh... how do you feel?" It was the only question that came to her mind when they were left alone.
"Good. The painkillers work... nothing to worry about there," he answered. So like him, she thought. "I'm so glad to see you unharmed. That car, you know, it was going straight at you..."
"Please don't think about that for now", she protested and squeezed his hand tight. She was mad at him for his decision beyond his realization, but she would rather not remind it to him, taking his state into account.
"How are the others doing?" Jeremie's question woke her up from her reflective mood.
"They're worried about you, but fine. I almost forgot to say: they greet you warmly," she said.
"Tell them that I can't wait to see them again."
"I sure will," she answered.
She felt as if she came back to life. That feeling kept her warm and would not let her stop smiling. She could not believe it! She could talk with him, hold his hand... She would never expect that such little things could bring her so much happiness. She rose her sight to the window and noticed Jeremie's parents, who were standing outside. She was pretty sure that they had been observing them for some time. She noticed that they came back to being their usual selves. They both smiled and again looked like the happy parents Aelita had always known.
The saddest part for her was leaving Jeremie that day. She swore she would sit with him as much as she could, until he stood up and left the hospital on his own.

Some weeks later

It's been almost a week since Jeremie came back to school, but he still did not catch up with all the schoolwork. Aelita had to admit there was quite a lot of it, even for him, who never had problems at school. In addition, however, he still did not fully recover. He was getting tired much faster than he used to and therefore was forced to slow down.
Aelita helped him as much as she could. He always was too stubborn to ask for help, so the help had to come to him instead. Thankfully Aelita was already immune to Jeremie's explanations that he could manage on his own and she should have focused on her own work instead of wasting time supervising him. But she did not want to leave him; her will was to spend as much time with him as possible. She still remembered advice William gave her a few weeks ago. Since then she had plenty of time to think William's words over; she also discussed her concerns with Yumi, though not mentioning who sowed them. Just like William expected, she was given even more support from Yumi. Aelita was ready to go for it, just had to find the right time.
One afternoon Aelita was prancing joyfully along the corridor towards Jeremie's room, exactly for the purpose of checking how he handled catching up with his delayed homework.  She knocked on the door, but no response came from the inside. She tapped the handle to find out that the door was not locked. She edged herself in the room and closed the door with one strong pull.
The room was empty; Aelita concluded that she must have missed Jeremie. She decided to wait for him. She sat on his chair and spun slowly around, glancing at the mess. On the bed, the most recent issues of computer magazines and notes lay. On his computer laid an opened book. It was a mess, but a lovely one.
She turned to the computer screen. The desktop was clean, but Aelita noticed several minimized windows on the taskbar. She found that quite unusual, as minimizing the programs never was Jeremie's habit.  An icon of a video player caught her attention. The file was described as myjournal234. Intrigued, she decided to maximize the window. What she saw in the window was the top of Jeremie's head. She knew she perhaps shouldn't watch that, but the curiosity took over. Besides, she had previous bad experience with Jeremie's video journal. She clicked Play button. The image moved as Jeremie tried to adjust the camera. When his face could be seen in the frame, he began to speak.
"I stopped recording a video journal a long time ago. Ever since the Lyoko adventure was over, I did not feel the urge to do that. Nothing in particular happened since then, just normal school life, weekends, nothing special. But today I feel like I have to spit something out. I had an accident a few weeks ago...
...I hardly remember what happened. Just a car, which was running straight at us. Then the decision came. I made it in a split of a second... like beyond conscience. It was more like an instinct perhaps. What happened afterwards is a black hole. I woke up in the hospital and was told that I'd been in a coma for over a week. It's just crazy to think that I've been unconscious for so long. Well, maybe not completely.
I'm sure I had some kind of a dream or a vision during that period. Today it's a very vague memory. I recall talking to someone. It must've been a woman, because she had so calm voice. Then something heavy jumped on the top of me and I started to suffocate.
I was falling into darkness. I was so afraid. Afraid that it was all over for me. But then I saw a flash of light in the darkness and I desperately tried to get closer to it. I made it. The light saved me. I felt peace.
Since then I wondered what that could possibly be. At first I thought it was Mom who spoke. But the other day she brought Aelita to the hospital with her and then I was sure. That voice in my dream... it was Aelita's voice.
Shortly after I left the hospital I started collecting information about dreams. I really was curious what exactly I dreamt of. And based on what I found I drew a conclusion. I was in a state of clinical death. But it was unexplainable for me to survive my own death. It must have been some sort of miracle. No, it escapes any attempt to describe it. It was a victory... my victory... and her. I... I couldn't make it without her. She somehow saved me. She didn't want me to follow in her father's footsteps. He died without saying goodbye and left her only sadness and emptiness. I don't want her to suffer anymore."
He leaned against the back of his chair and touched his once broken arm.
"...I did a crazy thing. A stupid thing. But I know I had to do it. It didn't turn out the way I'd want it to, though, but... I don't regret any single thing I did for her. Because, if not that... would she still be there?"
As the recording ended, Aelita felt her breathe speed up and her eyes wet. She could not believe in what she just heard. How was it possible for them to have so similar dreams? Jeremie really balanced on the line between life and death that day, and she somehow made him come back to life.
A realization hit her. He managed to get over his injuries physically, but deep down he still was broken. She could see it in his eyes, how he was shaking whenever he mentioned her. She could hear it in his voice, whenever he stumbled upon his own words. He seemed so confused and lost. She immediately knew she could not hesitate and wait any longer.  
Then she heard footsteps outside, getting even closer to the room. Certain sounds echoing from behind the door indicated clearly who was coming. Aelita minimized the window quickly and quickly trying to hide her emotions, turned on the chair towards the door. It opened and in came Jeremie. He looked quite normal, except for his leg, which still had not heal properly and he had to use a cane to support himself during walking.
"Hi Aelita, what's up?" he asked in a surprised, but unenthusiastic tone. "Did you wait long for me?"
"Not much, I just came in," Aelita replied in the most casual tone she could produce. "I wanted to check how you're doing. I see that you did quite a lot of Maths and Physics."
"Yeah, I'm almost done with these. Thankfully Mrs Meyer let me just write the test on quadratic functions and not bother about the homework. But I did it anyway." Aelita frowned mentally at his attempt to work at full speed. "Then I have to write that paper for French for tomorrow, but I'm totally out of ideas… And you? Have you done it yet?"
He'll never change, Aelita thought. "In fact, not a single sentence. But I have an idea, how about taking a walk in the park? Some fresh air will help both of us clear our minds. You okay with that?"  she proposed.
Jeremie hesitated; Aelita realized that perhaps it was not a good idea since he had trouble walking. But she knew from experience that contact with nature worked on Jeremie like a charm.
"Hmm… Sure, why not?" he replied. "You know, the doctor said I need to take walks from time to time, to make my muscles stronger."
"Great, let's go then." Aelita brightened up and stood up vigorously from the chair.
They went out of the room and slowly walked towards the park in the campus.
Due to Jeremie's condition it took them some time before they walked downstairs and made it outside. The weather was sunny, but a cool breeze reminded Aelita that she underestimated the temperature. However, she did not complain. Neither did Jeremie, but he rarely complained, even now, when he had to take his every step carefully. Aelita had crisis of conscience, noticing that she could have spared him that extra effort. But he already agreed on their little trip. He makes sacrifices even now, Aelita realized.
They walked past the stadium where some kids were playing basketball and took a turn between the trees and into a long alley.
"You remember? We used to walk there and you would show me the wonders of changing nature," she said.
"Of course I do, it wasn't that long ago after all," he replied.
She noticed that Jeremie's face changed when she reminded him of times which were long gone; times before she regained her earthly memories and he was her guide through the marvels of earthly life. Just like back then, he smiled and his blue eyes were not so watery, so sad and tired. He was regaining strength every day since the accident, but Aelita had an impression as if in a few moments he was completely healed.  
"These were fun times. I really liked these trips," Aelita sighed as she felt slightly nostalgic. At the same time she wanted Jeremie to stay in his high spirits.  
"Yeah, me too," he said. "In fact, we still can do it. Do you hear that bird chirping? I'm pretty sure it's a blackbird."
They walked for a while in silence, listening to a bird's song coming from somewhere above them. Jeremie stopped at the end of the alley they were walking and took her by her arm, making her stop too. Jeremie focused on the bird's song and nodded. "Yes, it is a blackbird," he said, very content.
"What a lovely song," Aelita admitted. Then she noticed that Jeremie's face looked tired again.
"Can we sit down? I think I could use some rest," he admitted. Aelita nodded in agreement and with her support he came over and sat down on the bench. Jeremie leaned the cane against the bench and straightened up his legs. Aelita sat next to him.
"Does it hurt a lot?" she asked with concern.
"No, it's just tired," Jeremie answered. However, Aelita could see that he frowned a little, then leaned on the bench and started to breathe slowly with his eyes closed. It was quite obvious for her that he was in pain.
"Maybe we shouldn't have gone that far," she said, feeling badly about dragging him out of the dorm.
"It's really no big deal," he tried to convince her, with no result.
"I don't want you to feel pain, Jeremie," she said quietly.
"It won't hurt for long, it'll heal soon-"
"It hurts to see you like that! " Aelita interrupted him. "It hurt when you lay unconscious on the street, then in the hospital… Now ever since you came back, I see that your every step is a great effort. I don't want you to suffer anymore."    
"I… I didn't want it to end up like this," Jeremie said. "I-I know it was stupid, but I couldn't stand there and do nothing! It-it was like an instinct, I can't explain it, I'd really love to, but… I can't..." He struggled, stumbling upon his words. He spoke fast, as if he was afraid she would interrupt him again. She already knew it all from the recording, but she listened anyway. "Aelita, I know one thing for sure. I did not want you to crash with this car… at any cost."  
"But you almost killed yourself trying to save me!" she said, more angrily than she intended.   
"Aelita, I-" he wanted to explain himself again, but Aelita did not let him.
"No, listen. Some sort of unexplainable miracle saved you this time, but… what if you had less luck?"
Jeremie glanced at her, then looked downcast. He looked as if he was prepared to be punished. He seemed to wait for Aelita to shout at him and release her anger.
Noticing that, she moved closer to him and took his hand in hope that he would look at her. It was not until she twisted her head in his direction when he dared to do so.  He was quite confused when he realized she was not going to be mad at him.
"Jeremie, I really appreciate all you've done for me. But I don't want you to risk your life in such a stupid way. For me, your life is priceless," she said calmly.
She embraced his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. A single tear streamed down her face.
"I can't describe how happy I am that you're here with me, because just as well you would not be there. Please, Jeremie. Never hurt me like this again," she said in a shaky voice and started to sob.
Jeremie sat still as he let her calm down. Finally, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Aelita was trembling in his embrace; not only because of emotions, but also due to not-so-warm weather, which she became aware of when warmth of Jeremie's body surrounded her.
She was not the only one. Aelita noticed that Jeremie was trembling as well; his breath, which she was able to hear clearly as her head rested on his chest, was irregular.
"I'm sorry, Aelita. I… just wanted to do good," he whispered.
"I know," she assured him as she pulled away. "I know you always want the best for me. But this time you just… scared me to death. You can't imagine how afraid I was that I could lose you. That you would never wake up and leave me just like my father did, without saying goodbye…" Fearing that she would break down again, she put her hands in Jeremie's.
"I'm really sorry. I promise to never let you down again," he said, stroking her hands with his thin fingers. "But I also will never give up on protecting you..."
He fell silent; he squeezed her hands tight, as if he did not want her to run away from him. Through his shaky grip Aelita could feel that emotions were boiling inside him.
"Jeremie?" she called out to him softly. At the same time she felt heat rising to her wet and reddened cheeks and her pulse speed up. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Jeremie's blond fringe trembled as he fixed his gaze on her again. Suddenly, his glassy eyes blazed with happiness and a smile lit his face.
"Yes, Aelita," he sighed, "I want you to know that… you are important… very important to me. Even more than I thought you were before."
Aelita felt she was about to stop breathing when suddenly the distance between her face and Jeremie's suddenly became even smaller.  Jeremie lowered his voice to a soft almost-whisper.
"I survived the darkest moments of my life thanks to you. Because you were the light that showed me the way. I don't want it to fade. It keeps me alive…"
He let out a single sob, but did not cry. His breath was deep, as if he just got rid of a weight that kept on choking him.
Aelita was speechless. She had not seen him so joyful and relieved for a long time. But she was relieved and happy, too.
She lay her hands on his shoulders. Jeremie's eyes widened, seemingly surprised and scared by her sudden reaction, but instead of pulling him closer, she forced him to turn and lean the rest of his body against her chest. Jeremie hesitantly did so, he also lay his weaker leg on the bench. Then, Aelita embraced Jeremie's head and pulled it closer. He leaned back and their eyes met.
"Don't worry. After all, you mean just as much to me, Jeremie," she assured him, at the same time caressing his face with her hand. She gently stroked his jaw and scratched his ear. Jeremie closed his eyes and smiled, totally submitting himself to her touch.
She carefully rested her cheek on Jeremie's hair.
"How is your leg now?" she asked with concern.
"Better," he muttered shyly in response.
Perhaps under other circumstances he would demand that they come back to the dorm at that point, but to Aelita's delight he preferred to stay in her arms. He looked as if he was about to fall asleep, he lay so peaceful and relaxed.
Rest, Jeremie, you really need it, she thought.
The surroundings perfectly matched their peaceful states of mind. The sun was still shining and the park was silent, except for the song of a blackbird chirping somewhere high up on the tree and rustling leaves.
As they sat like that on the bench together, Aelita thought how paradoxical the situation was; one of the most dramatic and fearful events of her life led to its happiest moment. She smiled as she thought that it was going to be merely a beginning of a wonderful stage in their lives. She realized that although they knew each other so well, they still had a lot to learn about their feelings and needs. However she believed that now, when they finally spit out everything that was troubling them, things finally would fall into their place.