Future Quest
"Part Six"
by Montage

DISCLAIMER: I'm making absolutely NO money on this and the characters
('cept Jeremy) aren't mine!

Jessie came through the front door to find that no one else was home. 
She went to the kitchen and grabbed a handful of cookies and a glass of
milk.  She was about to go upstairs and start her homework when she
noticed the neatly folded piece of paper on he table.  Scrawled across
the front was her name.  She picked it up and unfolded it.

It was written on blue paper torn out of a hospital notepad; from Jonny.

She took her snack and the note into the living room and flopped down on
the couch to read it.  Bandit jumped up in her lap and looked at her
expectantly, "What, do you want me to read it out loud?  Okay...let me
see..."

"Jess,  

How are you doing?  I'm okay, I guess, but I'd really like to come
home.  It's so boring here, and I miss all of you.  The doctors won't
tell me a thing!  They talk about me behind my back, and whisper to
eachother.  I wish everyone would stop treating me like a little kid. 
If you find out anything about what's wrong with me, write and tell me,
okay?  

Anyway, I hope you're doing all right.  I really miss you, and I hope I
can be back soon.  Don't worry about me, I promise  I'll be fine.  And
don't you dare have any fun without me.  See ya soon.  Love, Jonny."

She smiled, "P.S. Take good care of Bandit for me!"

She patted the dog on the head, "How sweet, he's more worried about you
than himself."

She re-read it two times before running to put it in her jewelry box
where she kept things she didn't want to lose, or have people mess with.

Needless to say, her mind was *not* on her Algebra as she did her
homework.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Hey, Jess...you okay?" Jeremy sat up, rubbing his head.

"Yeah...I think so.  Or does the train running through my head count as
being unokay?"

"Must be a side effect; mine hurts, too," he looked around them.  "Where
are we?"

Jessie also searched their surroundings, "Way to go Hadji.  We're only
about a mile from town."

"And this is a good thing?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, we couldn't risk people watching us fall right into the middle of
Central Avenue, could we?" she inquired.

H muttered an expletive under his breath, "No, I guess not..." he agreed
reluctantly.

"Come on, it'll take us less than an hour to get to the hospital from
here," Jessie was on her feet and walking before Jeremy could try to
convince her to rest for a while.

He had to run to catch up with her, "Don't be in such a hurry, Quest. 
We still have to work out the details."

"Like...?" Jessie prompted him.

"How are we gonna get it into him?"

"With a syringe?" she quipped.

"Ha ha, I'm serious.  We can't just walk in and inject the kid with
something and walk out.  It might look a *little* bit suspicious." he
pointed out.

"So we need to make a quick stop on the way there.  Don't worry about
it," she said trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"Whatever you say, Jess."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Cute, real cute," Jeremy Surd was trying not to laugh.

"Well, it will get the job done," Jessie told him bitterly.

"I didn't mean it that way, Jess...you just don't strike me as the nurse
type."

"You were the one worried about looking conspicuous.  Why would a nurse
giving a patient a shot look out of place?" she queried.

He shrugged, "I guess it wouldn't."

"Exactly.  Now shut up, or I'm going to make *you* wear it."

He smirked, but didn't say a word.  He had no desire to wear the nurse's
uniform his friend was currently dressed in.

"Now, let's get over to the hospital," Jessie ordered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jessie and Jeremy walked down the hallway, the smell of alcohol and
hospital food invading their noses.

"Pleasant odor..." Jeremy mumbled.

Jessie smiled at a group of doctors who were gathered in the faculty
lounge as they passed.  "If you can't behave yourself and be quiet, I'll
have to leave you at home next time I decide to leave the decade," she
replied quietly.  She grabbed a syringe from a supply cart and quickly
pocketed it.

"Promise or threat?"

She exhaled deeply and stopped.  She turned and pretended to read the
bulletin board, grabbing Jeremy's arm and forcing him to do the same.

A few minutes later she turned and continued.

"What was that about?"

She pursed her lips, "Dr. Quest and my father were at the nurses
station."

"Oh..."

"Just our luck, there's no one there," Jessie said.  She moved to the
back of the desk and began to go through some of the patient files.

"Jessie...big, mean looking nurse heading this way..." Jeremy warned
her.

"Got it...room 219," she took the folder and they headed in the
direction of Jonny's room.

Jessie paused nervously outside the door, "Are you sure this is right?"

"No," he admitted, "but I know what will happen if we don't do it..."

She gave a slight nod as if to justify her actions to herself and then
opened the door.

She stopped, looking at the teenage boy on the bed before her.  The
scene reminded her of the night Jonny had died.  She could feel tears
begin to form.

Jeremy could tell she was about to lose it and laid a hand on her
shoulder, "Come on, Jess...let's get it over with.  I'll stay out here
to make sure no one comes in."

As she approached the bed, Jonny turned to look at her.  She nearly died
inside; his blue eyes were filled with pain and unshed tears.  

"If you brought pain-killers, I'll love you for life," he said weakly.

*You will anyway,* she thought to herself.

She finally found her voice, "Sorry, just something to make you feel
better."

"Pain-killers would *definitely* make me feel better," he said.

"Are you in a lot of pain?"

He nodded as he shifted, "But it only hurts when I'm conscious," he
joked mildly.

"I'll see what I can do," she told him, after all, she *was* supposed to
be a nurse.

She pulled out the syringe and the vile that contained the antidote for
the virus.  She filled the syringe and, before she could have any *more*
second thoughts, injected it into his the vein in his arm.  She saw him
wince in pain and seriously doubted it was from the needle.

*No wonder they never let me visit...he looks terrible!  And I'll bet he
feels even worse.*

"I'll see what I can do about those pain-killers," she told him.

"Thanks..." his voice faded as he fell asleep...or unconscious.

Jeremy could tell it had been hard for her to see Jonny like that, "He
was in constant pain, you know.  The whole time he was sick as a kid and
then again as an adult."

Jessie frowned, "He never said anything..."

"He didn't want you to worry, he loved you."

Jessie choked back her tears, "I need to get some morphine before we
go."

Jeremy nodded and followed her down the hall.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jessie closed the door to Jonny's hospital room softly and found Jeremy
in the waiting room.  She cound Jeremy in the waiting room.  The two of
them didn't get the chance to say a word before they were dropped in the
middle of the room they'd left in their own time hours before.

"That was fast," Hadji Singh said as he helped Jessie off of the floor.

"Fast?  We were gone for nearly four hours," Jessie said.

Hadji frowned, "You were not gone more than five minutes, my friend. 
And I'm sorry to say nothing has changed."

"Then it didn't even prevent it from becoming incurable?"

"It was never incurable; Jessie, are you all right?"

"I'm fine.  Jeremy, can I talk to you for a minute," Jessie asked,
heading for the door.

"*What* is going on here," she asked him once they were in the hallway.

"I don't know, but at least we changed *something*."

"Yeah, but he's still dead!" she cried.  "And why aren't we gone?  Or
there should at least be alternate versions of us from this time."

"We still went back in time, I guess we just get to come back to the
other reality since it hasn't changed *that* much," he shrugged
uncertainly.
"We'll have to figure out a way to help him after he realizes he's sick
the second time around," Jeremy said decisively.

"Okay, how?"

He pondered for a moment, "Easy, we give him the cure!"

"We tried that, remember?"

"No, the real cure, undiluted."

"But that would change the entire past!" 

"Haven't you been listening to me?  We give it to him right after he
gets sick the second time.  That's almost eight months before he took it
originally in our time, it might be enough time for it to work!" 

Jessie let the idea sink in for a while before she said anything, "We
can try it, I guess.  I just hope it works."

"I'll go get it, you tell Hadji we're gonna try again."

She nodded and re-entered the room to speak to Hadji.

Montage
montage@geocities.com