Jenlisa Drabbles

There Are Weirder Ways to Learn About Death II

AN: Guess this won't be a oneshot afterall. Lol.

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The next time she comes visiting is three days after as promised. 

Lisa’s shift has finished and she sees her kneeling beside the bench, carefully running her hands over and over the dog’s fur. She doesn’t want to intrude, the look on Jennie’s face is soft, soft eyes, soft smile and from where Lisa is standing she could hear her hum that curious sad tune she sometimes hums out of the blue. The dog’s breath was slowly getting weaker and weaker and Jennie’s whispering a lot of “good boy’s” and “You’ve been amazing, it’s time to go home.” in the dog's ear while she gently pats his stomach. 

Lisa’s breath hitches from unshed tears at the intimacy between death and the living. It’s when the dog’s body is still and Jennie’s eyes are closed shut as if in prayer that Lisa begins to take in the moment in front of her and wonders if Jennie offers the same comforting farewell and welcome between the living and the dead for people who die in accidents. 

For a brief moment, Lisa is afraid to ask, 

“Have you been waiting for long?” Jennie’s voice is gentle and a little amused. 

“Long enough to see you give him one of the gentlest farewells I’ve seen.” Lisa manages to tell her the truth. 

Jennie’s stroking the patch of fur behind the dog’s ear with a sad smile before she looks up at Lisa, “he deserves it, your people have been quite harsh towards him. He deserves nothing but the best.” 

Lisa nods and thinks about the many times she’d neglected to come give him a pat when she still had the opportunity. The smile on Jennie’s face is understanding and she stands up to offer her hand. 

“Don’t be harsh on yourself, it happens and the regret comes much much later.” 

Lisa reaches out of instinct, the cold is both a shock and a welcome relief but she honestly doesn’t pay too much attention to it the moment her body gets accustomed to the sensation and Jennie doesn’t say anything about it either. 

They walk in silence for a while before Jennie starts singing. It’s in a language that Lisa can’t identify, partly European she thinks. It has an uneven melody that’s hard to appreciate at the beginning but the more Jennie sings the more it begins to comfort her. 

“Winter will end soon.” Lisa says out of the blue, and Jennie doesn’t stop. Choosing to tighten her hold on Lisa’s hand instead and settles on almost whispering the song between them. 

Lisa is a little shy to ask but she figures Jennie has read her mind, she wasn’t really being subtle about the thought either. 

They pass by the more crowded streets into a quiet off road lane that leads to the metro station where Jennie usually waits in silence while she watches Lisa get on board. Leaving when Lisa thinks Jennie's satisfied that she’s out of visibility. 

“You’re wondering if I’ll stop visiting by then?” Lisa doesn’t realize she has stopped singing and was looking at her with a mix of hurt and amusement in her eyes. 

“Well… I uhhh…”

“You seriously thought that death is a seasonal thing?” Jennie laughs out loud and it sometimes registers a little late inside Lisa’s mind that she’s the only one who can hear that wonderful sound and it never fails to put a smile on her face, even if she knows she just did something stupid. “For a medic, you’re kinda dumb.” Jennie adds in teasingly.