Ghost - Elmax

Chapter 22 : Another morning

- "Jane!? Where are you going!?"

Max was back in her apartment. It was dark outside and inside, she couldn't find the light. And Jane kept taking her stuff, wearing these army clothes.

- "Jane! Answer me!" insisted the redhead.

- "I have to do it," answered Jane.

- "No you don't! Stay with me! It's dangerous out there!"

- "It'll be okay, I'm karate kid, remember?"

- "I don't want you to be hurt..."

Max began to cry and ran to her girlfriend, trying to keep her with her. She wrapped her arms around her body and tightened as much as she could.

- "I'll be okay," reassured Jane.

- "You won't, you don't have to, I don't want you to leave...I love you, please, stay with me..."

Jane didn't answer. Her body began to become cold, and Max could feel a hot liquid flowing on her. Max slowly stepped back and realized it was blood. Jane was bleeding from her entire body, and her face was pale and cold, with no life on it.

- "Jane? JANE!"

- "I'm gonna be okay..."

Max brutally started and straightened, opening her eyes. Her breathing was fast and heavy, and she was sweating more than usual. She looked around her and noticed Jane on the ground, looking at the window.

- "Fucking nightmare..." whispered the redhead, rubbing her face.

It was the first time she had had such a brutal nightmare. She didn't know how Jane could do it almost every night! It was certainly why she was always so tired and avoiding the nights, it was awful to have nightmares.

She took a moment to calm her racing heart before going to the bathroom to clean a bit her face. The sun was getting up. Trying to sleep would be useless, and they had another confrontation session today. She was fearing it and, at the same time, she was looking forward to it, wanting to know what happened to heal their opened wounds. And they seemed determined to feel better too, well, Bev and Lucas seemed determined to feel better too, but Jane, she was sure that this story of cheating totally desperate her and gave her a reason to give up.

- "Get ready, we're going to have breakfast!" told the redhead.

- "I'm not hungry!"

- "And I don't give a fuck! You get ready or I force you to follow me, ready or not!"

- "You're fucking annoying, I hope you know that!"

- "I get used to the person I'm talking to."

- "Fuck you," grumbled Jane, still on the floor.

Max sighed with her mouth. Jane was more than mad at her, and she hated it. She was still in love with her, but she doubted it was reciprocal anymore. But after this nightmare, she wanted to hug her so much, to be sure she was still alive, still there with her.

- "Did you sleep?" asked Max, in the bathroom with Jane next to her.

- "Why you fucking care!?" mumbled Jane.

- "Because...I still care about you."

- "(sighs with her nose of annoyance) No, I didn't."

- "I'm sorry to hear that...You were stressing?"

- "Yeah. I don't wanna do that, I wanna leave."

- "I know, but you won't, because you're smart and you know it can't keep going like that," stated Max.

- "Why do you care!? You'll leave me anyway!"

- "Is that what you want?"

- "What!?"

- "You want me to leave you? You want to break up?"

Jane didn't answer. She even stopped moving. She didn't know. She was feeling anything. Her expression changed, she was angry but now, she was just lost.

- "I...I don't know..." answered Jane.

- "Okay, don't blame me for kissing another girl whereas you don't even know if you still love me. I can stay with you to help you to get better, but it doesn't mean we have to stay as a couple. But we don't have to talk about it now, just focus on your session, you need to get this out of your chest, to free yourself from this mission."

- "I know...it's just, it's hard...and it hurts..."

- "I know. That's why I'm here. Come on, let's have breakfast."

Max made a movement with head to invite Jane to follow her. They arrived at the cafeteria where Max took some food on her tray while Jane was still behind with her hands in her pockets. The redhead knew Jane wouldn't take anything, it was why she took for both of them. They sat at a table, facing each other, and Max placed what she took for Jane in front of her.

- "You took me coffee!" stated Jane with a surprised tone.

- "Yeah, I'm sure you'll drink something at least."

Jane grabbed her cup of coffee and put it close to her face. The meal was quiet. Jane kept looking around, watching out for a potential danger while Max could just look at her, unable to reassure her.

The three couples were now in front of the confrontation room. Lucas was tapping on his wheelchair with his fingers, making a constant noise, Bev was eating her nails and shaking, and Jane was pacing with worried eyes, shaking and sweating.

- "You think they'll talk?" murmured Max.

- "I don't know, they're really stressed, like if they knew it would happen," answered Gabrielle.

- "Let's hope," told Moussa.

The psychologist opened the room, enabling them to enter. Well, Moussa, Max, and Gabrielle began to enter but none of the others followed. Bev and Lucas were both looking at Jane who went farther, in a corner, looking at the room with wet eyes.

- "Go inside, I'm gonna talk to her," said Max.

They nodded and went inside. Max slowly approached Jane, noticing she was fidgeting a lot. She took support on the wall next to her and just looked at her, waiting for her to talk.

- "I, I can't do this..." told Jane.

- "Why not?"

- "I'm not ready..."

- "How much are you involved in the next part of the story?"

- "Too much...I don't wanna talk about it..."

- "You don't have to, but, they'll certainly do it for you, and I think it's important for you to be here, they need you," said softly Max.

- "No, no, they don't...they never did..."

- "What about you? You don't think you need them?"

- "I, I don't know...I don't know what I need..."

- "What if I tell you that I know what you need?"

- "You can't know that..."

- "You need help, Jane. We're here for this, you don't need to participate, but, maybe hearing what happened to you will help you to realize that you need that help. And for us, knowing what happened to you will help us to help you feeling better faster, you don't think?"

- "Maybe..."

- "Come on, let us take care of you for once."

- "I, I don't wanna do this..."

- "I know."

Max was going to put her hand on Jane's arm, but the brunette stepped back. The redhead pinched her lips together and raised her hands to apologize. She made a movement with head and began to walk away, knowing that Jane was following.