What Am I?

No Time To Say Goodbye

        Jen stared at him before turning away from him. She didn’t believe him. “No more illusions.” She muttered.

        Mewtwo sat on the cot. “Jen, look at me. This is not an illusion. I promise you. Everything that I said to you…that was the machine talking.”

        “Liar. Stop…” Her hands reached up and covered her ears. “Just…stop.”

        “Jen, look at me.” Mewtwo said softly.

        She didn’t move. “Please…leave me be.”

        Mewtwo sighed. “I will not leave you. Now look at me, Jen.”

        Jen blinked and sat up. She had a tired look in her eyes.

        “I am sorry for everything that I said to you while I was under the machine’s control. You know that I did not mean anything that I said earlier.” He said, leaning closer to her.

        Jen didn’t reply. She just stared blankly at one of the walls.

        “Please, Jen, talk to me.”

        Jen shut her eyes and shook her head. “I-I’m…sorry.” She said quietly. Jen slowly moved from the cot and walked over to one of the desks that the scientists had been working at earlier. Her nose was bleeding again and she needed something to stop it.

        “Jen, what’s the matter?” Mewtwo asked as he watched her walk.

        Jen’s steps were wobbly and she was starting to lose her balance. She reached out to grab the edge of the desk, but her legs gave out before she could reach it, and she began to collapse onto the tiled floor.

        Mewtwo rushed over to her side and caught her before she landed on the ground.

        Jen groaned and tried to get up on her own, but her vision was still spinning. “I-I just need a…tissue. T-There should be some—Mewtwo?”

        Mewtwo was carrying her back to the cot. “You need to lie down until Colress arrives. We need to get the passcodes from him. We need to disconnect you from the machine as soon as we can.”

        “I-I’m fine. I just need some tissues.” The box of tissues drifted over to her. Jen began pulling handfuls out of the box and held the tissues to her nose. “Sorry.”

        “Jen, don’t lie to me. What is going on? What is wrong?” He asked, sounding a little more serious.

        “Nothing is wrong. Besides, why do you care?” Jen asked icily.

        “Because I love you.” Mewtwo replied without hesitating.

        Jen blinked. She stared at him for a moment before slowly shaking her head in disbelief. “W-Why? Why are you--” She began as she struggled out of his arms. She pulled the bloody tissues away from her no longer bleeding nose and looked back at Mewtwo. “You…said--”

        “Jen, I love you and you know it. Come here.” He said softly as he pulled her into a tight embrace. He lifted her chin up to face him. “I love you.”

        “I think I’m going to hate waking up from this illusion.” Jen looked at him sadly. “Can you…not wake me up from this one…please?”

        “Jen, this is not an illusion. I promise you. It’s not. You are awake and so am I.” He said holding her tighter. “Please, trust me. Believe me. This is real. Read my mind if you must.”