Invisible (Updated Version)

Part 1

"I just slept in, Dad. It won't happen again."

"That line is getting old, Jason, especially when it keeps happening." Jace couldn't even look at his father. He knew that his dad just wanted him to be the absolute best at whatever he did but sometimes that was a lot of pressure for an eighteen year old. Jace really wasn't sure where he would fit in at the Academy once he finished his studies at the end of the year.

"I think it's time we tried some old fashioned punishment with you, son. Up to your room you go. No electronics or practicing with your powers. Maybe if you call it an early night you won't have such a hard time getting up tomorrow."

"Sure, Dad" Jace slid from the stool at the bar in his family's kitchen. He fell onto his back on his bed and covered his eyes with his long tan forearm. Jace had always been tall for his age. He'd spent the better part of his life with his friends literally looking up to him. His sandy blond hair, blue eyes and a sinewy body gave him a classical pretty boy look. But he had neither appreciation nor distaste for his appearance, it had always simply been him.

After what seemed like hours Jace looked at the time - eight o'clock. By now his mother would be bathing his little sister, Paige, and his father would be holed up in his office at the back of the unit. Everything in his life ran like clockwork and while most of the time that made life incredibly dull it also made it predictable. The thing about living in the Academy was there were no bedroom windows to sneak out of. The Academy was one enormous building sectioned off for its various purposes. It also contained hundreds of family units, like Jace's own, and smaller one or two people units. If he was quiet, Jace thought, he might be able to sneak out and visit Jane Doe once more before the injection in the morning. Just the thought of it made his stomach roll.

Walking on his toes Jace made it down the staircases, narrowly missing the squeaky spot on the fourth one from the bottom and sprinted for the door. Once outside the unit he ran for all he was worth knowing sooner or later his father would come upstairs to say goodnight like he always did before heading to the bedroom he shared with Jace's mother three doors down the hall.

Jane looked the same as always when he arrived at her room sweaty and out of breath. Jace began to wonder how much more weight could settle in his uneasy stomach. Settling into the chair beside her bed he once again marvelled at how young she was. It didn't look like she was any older than Jace himself and yet she would die all alone the very next morning. Trying his best to convince himself he was trying to comfort her not looking for comfort himself, he slowly wrapped his fingers around her warm hand. Hopefully, if she was even a little bit aware she would know someone was there.

His head jerked back as Jace shook himself awake. He must have fallen asleep next to Jane Doe for a while. Realizing that it was time to leave Jace let his hands drop from Jane's to his knees, pushing himself to his feet. It was in that moment that it happened. Jane's fingers slowly uncurled from where Jace had held her hand and moved across the sheet towards him. It was exactly like she was reaching for him. Like she had known he was there.

It took exactly three minutes to reach the doctor's office.

Dr. Jones looked up from his old oak desk when Jace entered the room and then looked at the brightly glowing clock sitting on its surface. "Jason! What are you doing here so late?" The doctor had a very small square office. He sat in a black leather chair behind his desk. The wall opposite him was littered with books resting on floor to ceiling shelves and the remaining wall opposite the door had wall to wall windows that at this point were covered by deep purple curtains. Normally, Jace loved this room. Normally, he could sit here quietly all day and just breath in the smell of old books and relaxation. Tonight was not normal.

"Doc, she moved."

He squinted up at Jace. "Who?"

"Jane Doe. She still looked asleep but she moved. She reached for me. That's got to mean she's aware on some level that she wasn't before, right? We can't kill her now."

The doctor's face filled with sympathy only serving to frustrate Jace further. "It's called a reach response. Actually, I suppose most people know it as soul mate response now after that horrid documentary."

"You mean that movie on TV about sensing when your true love is near? That's kind of insane and not really relevant here, Doc."

"No, they got it all wrong. In some of the few recorded cases of power drainage the victim has been involved with another person. Even when consciousness leaves them permanently there's something in the evolved form of the human race that makes them reach out to what is referred to as their true match. Most scientists believe, however, that any old human will do. The core temperatures connect and the sick can sense a presence"

"Are you trying to tell me Jane Doe is, like, supposed to be my soul mate or something? I don't even know her name." Jace asked sceptically.

"Maybe," the doctor sighed, "maybe not. Frankly there aren't enough cases of drainage to really examine the link and the fact that one of the two is always dying makes it hard to measure the possible longevity of the relationship. What is more likely is that Jane understands on some level that you were there.

"Okay...so what's your point here, Doc?" Jace tapped his foot on the floor, once again growing frustrated.

"It's not a sign, Jason."

Jace's stare was flat. "You're kidding me."

"I'm sorry but just because her body responds to the presence of yours doesn't mean she is about to wake up. The injection will go ahead tomorrow as scheduled."

Jace walked away feeling an odd sense of defeat.

He awoke the next morning feeling like he was trapped in a bad dream. He kept trying to convince himself all he had to do was wake up but every time he tried he realized there was no way out of his situation. If he seriously wanted to be in the medical profession then he would have to watch someone die in an hour.

After a shower and breakfast cooked by his mother, which Jace threw in the garbage as soon as she wasn't looking, he dragged himself to room 103 in the hospital wing. Doctor Jones was waiting for him there with a tight lipped expression.

"Good morning, Jason. I see you're on time." Jace could tell the doctor was trying to make it seem like any other day but that almost made it feel worse. He couldn't help thinking that the girl lying in the bed before them deserved so much more that what she was getting.

Without replying Jace moved around to the head of the bed to collect the clipboard. They would have to run through the four normal vital signs to ensure there was no change before the doctor would go and prepare the injection.

"How's her heart rate? No spikes?" The doctor asked. Jace was disgusted at the false curiosity the doctor infused in his voice. Checking the vitals was a formality and they both knew it. Nothing short of her opening her eyes was going to be miraculous enough to convince the doctor that after a month she was about to wake up. Jane Doe was as good as dead.

"Same."

"Okay. Breathing rate?"

"Same."

"Any changes to blood pressure or temperature at all?"

"Nope. Everything's exactly the same."

The doctor pressed his lips into a thin line once again and then said, "Alright. I guess I have to go get the injection. I won't be but a minute. Wait here, Jason." The doctor left the room to get the injections from the medical supply room that Jace knew was twelve doors down on the right.

Acting without his command it was like his knees gave out and Jace fell to the floor next to the bed. He grabbed one of Jane Does hands in his own and rested his forehead on their clasped hands. "Please don't do this. Don't go out like this. I-I've never seen this. My life is good. I don't want to watch you die." Jace lifted his eyes to scan her face, "You're so much stronger than this, Please...just wake up." he begged.

And she did.