Part 9:  One Too Many Mornings

Jade

He's so heavy.
But I have to take him with me. Not a chance that I'll leave him behind, not after all I've gone through to save him.

Not only is he heavy, but because he's a turtle, I'm forced to go the long way around, walk through alleys and so forth, so that people can't see us.
I look down at him from time to time, and he's looking so pale. He's still not breathing. I should perform some CPR or something. But, um...on a mutant turtle?

I sit down on my knees and lay his head in my lap. His chest isn't rising, and his mouth isn't stirring the tiniest bit. I touch his face, and it feels cold and clammy.
I sigh, hesitate, take a deep breath and put my mouth on his, transferring my air into his body. I lift my head, pump his chest once, twice...breathe into his mouth again, pump his chest, give him air, pump his chest, give him air...

The sky suddenly opens, and billions of merciless rain drops pour down, soaking my clothes and Leo's. I can feel my lip trembling, and I know I'm about to cry.
Can't I even have one tiny break? Don't cry now, Jade-- what good is that gonna do you? Though no one can see me crying in the rain...

As I feel my eyes start to water, I suppress a sob and try pumping his chest again. I bring my mouth to his and fill his lungs with air. Come on, Leo. Wake up! I can't drag you home...
Speaking of that...which home am I supposed to drag him to? To my own apartment? That's probably best...can't risk taking him to my sister's...surely they must be home by now.

I rest my head on his chest, halfly in defeat. I'm very tired now. But I'm set on trying once more.

"Come on...Leo!"

I cradle his head in my arms and shake it gently. "Wake up...Leo, wake up now...don't go dying on me after all I've been through, okay?"
I pump his chest rythmically and give of my breath yet again. He doesn't wake up.

"Dammit..."

I'm not giving in! I'm gonna watch him until he wakes up.

"Leeh-oh," I pant, out of breath, and bang on his chest. Can't the guy just wake up? Please...

He coughs.

"Leo! You're awake!"

He coughs, his eyes open a bit, and he smiles a very groggy, little smile at me. I could've kissed him for just having the decency to wake up and not leave me alone with a damn corpse.

"Leo..." I want to hug him for being back, and why shouldn't I?  "God, Leo...you made it...good to see you," I lift his upper body very carefully and hold him in my arms for a long while. He's alive and he's breathing. I close my eyes and praise life.

When I break the hug, I see he's unconscious again. Now I have to get him there myself. Guess life isn't as praiseworthy after all. But at least he's breathing now.

Only...one...more...step!
Why the hell didn't I choose an apartment on the ground floor? Well, because I didn't know I would have to drag 180 pounds of turtle up here, could be one reason why...

There's my door. I wipe the sweat off my forehead and pick up my key from my shoe. I hear someone coming, so I fumble nervously with the key against the lock, the door opens, and I barely get Leo and me inside before I hear the person walk past my door.

My heart is pounding. God, that was a close call. I lock the door, and pull Leo over to the couch.
I sit heavily down on my knees beside the couch, and wince when I feel how soare my body is after getting hits from highly trained ninjas.
I would really like Leo to wake up again now. I need someone to talk to, maybe even hold. I'm so damn tired, and so damn paranoid, and so damn confused about what's happened this last week.

"Oh, Leo...how can you stand being chased all the time? How can you stand this life?" I whisper, not sure if he can hear me or not. His chest is rasing with his breath, but he's not conscious. Or maybe he is?

I take off his trenchcoat, and poke his body gently. He's bruised everywhere, poor guy. He's not gonna have a good time when he wakes up.
I think I've never seen that many bruises on anybody before. I guess I should let him take my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch.
He needs a soft bed much greater than I do. He's taken more beating than he should handle.

"Jade...what are you doing?"

I quickly turn around, meeting the gaze of my sister.
The look she gives me is one of worry and fright. Next to her stands Jared. How long have they been here?

"What is that? Is it dangerous?" he asks, repulsion, yet massive fascination in his voice.

I look at Leo, lying there, breathing uneasily, his eyelids twitching slightly, and I know I'm not gonna let anything more happen to him. He's had enough.

"It's not an 'it', it's a he...he's Leo. His name is Leo. And what are you doing here, by the way? You scared me half to death."

"We scared you half to death?" my sister exclaims, "You've been gone for days, didn't answer your phone calls, and when you do show up, you're dragging some kind of alien with you! Where have you been?"

"He's my friend!" I yell, then calm myself, "Look, now you know I'm okay, so can you please come back another time? I can't handle much company right now, cause I need to calm down a little...and rest."

"No! I want an explanation," Cindy protests.

"We're not leaving you alone with this animal! We should get him to a zoo or somethi--" Jared starts.

"A zoo?! Jared, you have no idea what you're talking about! And I've just worked my ass off to save this guy, so I'm not handing him over to a bunch of sadistic little scientists, if that's what you think!"

"Jade, why are you so hysterical?  You're never--" Cindy says worriedly.

"I've had a rough week, okay?" I scowl at them. "Please come back later...he just needs some rest, and then I'm sure he can answer any questions you might have at the ti--"

"It talks?" Jared raises his eyebrows.

"He talks, yes. He's very nice. You should get to know him."  Not that I've had that much time to do that, either...

"I don't believe it," Jared shakes his head, "you've gone mad,"

"Jared...maybe we should-- I mean, looks at his hands-- his feet-- everything! He does look human, don't you think?" Cindy points out.

Jared opens his mouth, but closes it and cocks his head to one side, regarding Leo. "Hmm...you might be right,"  he nods after a while. "This is amazing...we should get in touch with some people who might be able to figure--"

"Don't you have enough money, Jared?" I reply dryly.

"Hmm?"

"You're only trying to make money off of him. Besides, I already know why he's like this. Leo told me himself."

"He did?"

"Yeah. Didn't you hear when I told you he can talk?" I say ironically.

"Yeah, yeah..." he says impatiently, "Jade, you got to understand what this could mean to--"

"Your vallet?"

He looks at me irritably. "...the scientific progress-- the world."

I've had enough. "Go. Please. I'm too tired to listen to this bullshit." I wipe a hand over my eyes.

"Jade...we'll come back later." Cindy says. I blink, confused. When did she suddenly become so considerate? She looks at me, and I nod greatfully.

"Cindy..."

"Please."

"No."

"Jared..."

"No."

"Jared," I break them off, "this is my place. So I'm allowed to kick you out whenever I want. In stead I'm now asking you quite politely to leave. You know perfectly well that I'm capable of beating you up, so can you please go? I appologize."

"What does she think sh--"

"She's right. Jade, I'm not too keen on leaving you alone with uh... Leo, but I can see that you just don't need this right now..."

"Hey, I can tie him up if you want, but I doubt he'll do anything to me. He's not hostile towards me...besides, can't you see he's hurt?"

Jared lets out a big sigh. "Alright...if you want to stay with Lizard Man here, go ahead. We'll be here first thing tomorrow."

I give a sugary smile. "You'll like him, Jared..."

"Sure."

They start leaving.

"And Jared...he's a turtle, not a lizard." I grin.

Jared slams the door on his way out.

I look at the time. 11:15 am. Lunchtime. Leo's sleeping in my big, comfy bed, and I'm walking around aimlessly in my apartment. I'm so tired, but I just can't go to sleep. How did I get to this point?
A big turtle-man is sleeping in my bed, I'm exhausted, physically-- and I'm not surprised if I'm perhaps even mentally-- hurt, and I just kicked my sister and her husband out the door. I chose an injured mutant turtle over them. He's not going to hurt me, I doubt that, but maybe I should've let them stay anyway...

It's just that I don't trust that Jared, and never have, really. I know he loves my sister, but he's too obsessed with money.
I should be alert. I know he's gonna try something. That's obvious because of the way he suddenly changed his mind.
Maybe Cindy will talk him out of it, but that's most unlikely.
There's always the fact that she doesn't want me to be alone with Leo either. Perhaps I should move myself and Leo to a safer location?
On the other hand, just thinking of dragging that heavy turtle after me one more time, makes my knees buckle with exhaustion.

I go over to the couch and sit down. I need some rest. Exhaling, I lean back on the cushions.
So, what will I do about Leo? I'll have to clean his wounds at least, but there's nothing to do about the bruises, they'll have to heal themselves. God, poor Leo.
He's gonna feel those bruises with every move he makes. Hope he's used to it.

I'm so tired, but still restless and as worried as always. Some soup. I should make some soup. If not for Leo, then for me. Haven't eaten much the past few days, what with my little stakeout and everything.
In fact, the last time I ate properly, or more than properly, was when Leo and I were stuffing our faces at my sister's place.

Tomato soup. Get the flour, boullion, salt, tomatoes, tomato puree, water, milk...
And the cooking pot.
Geez, I can't do this. I have to go see if he's woke up.

Who did I get my worry from? My mother never was like this, or my father... but then, of course, we didn't see much of them. They had to work to keep us on our feet. God, we were so young, and they just...they weren't there, they...I had to take care of Cindy...alone...

That's why I'm so worried about Leo? I don't want to lose any more people?

I shake my head and silently sneak into my bedroom. Leo is still lying there, and now he's even snoring quietly. I smile at the sight of him. He does look a little more peaceful now, but he's still not fully relaxed. Weird...he looks alert even in his sleep!
There's something about him that gives me the urge to hold him and protect him, which is odd, since he's obviously more capable of protecting himself than I am. Well, maybe he's not right now, but...
He makes me want to make him relax, to take him some place safe. But where would that be? Heh, when my maternal instincts finally kick in, why's it gotta be towards a 27 year old mutant turtle?

"Leo..." I touch his face, which thankfully isn't cold and clammy anymore. It feels lukewarm and the skin is rougher than I expected. "Leo?"

"Mmmhh," he mumbles, still asleep.

Kicking my shoes off, I gently push him aside, just so much that there's enough room for me, and I crawl into the bed with all my clothes on, hesitantly snuggling beside him.
I can't sleep on the couch, it'll kill my back. And besides, in here I can watch him and take care of him.
Taking one of his hands, I can feel that it's still cold. Or wait-- doesn't turtles have a different body temperature than humans?
I start rubbing it anyway, to get the blood flowing. There are red marks around his wrist, where the shackles were digging into his skin. I blow softly on the marks and make a mental note on getting him some ice packs later.
Leo sighs and puts his other arm around me, slowly scooting closer. I hold my breath, eyes wide, and wonder if he's awake or not. When he goes back to his barely audible snoring, I assume the latter.

My eyelids are getting heavier, and the bed is getting comfortably and drousily warm with our combined body heat. This can easily be jugded as the single most relaxed moment of my life. If only I could stop thinking about what that Jared might do, that is...

New York, 10:14 am, July 7th, 1999

Leo

Strange...I don't remember getting into this bed last night...not even this place!

A big bookshelf is lining the wall on my left, and a large picture of a sunset is hanging on the wall facing me. On the third wall, there's-- Jade?
She's not on the wall, of course. What she is doing, however, is snuggling next to me in the bed.
She sighs contendedly, and I'm beginning to seriously wonder what happened yesterday. When she digs her nose into my shoulder, I wince in pain and look down at it. A purple bruise is covering most of it.

Jade is resting her head on my arm, which I have tucked neatly around her, at some point. She looks so exhausted, yet still sort of happy, that I don't know if I ought to wake her up.
But I do know that I have to find out what has been going on. Here I am, all bruised and in bed with a beautiful woman in a strange place. One does begin to wonder...

"Jade?" I ignore the pain in my battered arm and try to move her head from it. "Jade, wake up...wake up..."

"Hmmm?" she finally wakes up, and smiles sleepily at me. "Leo, you're okay!" she hugs me lightly and looks at me. "Does it hurt?"

"It...?"

"Yeah-- the bruises?"

"Oh, no, not at all..." I reply. Not really more than if a tractor trailer hit me over my foot continiously. "But, ah, what's happened here, Jade? Why are you, uh, we, why--"

"God! Jade!"

We both turn our heads, and see a woman and a man standing in the doorway. The woman's got a frightened look on her face, and she's covering her mouth with her hand.

"Uh, hi..." I mumble.

The woman lets out a strangled little shriek behind her hand as she stares at me. I want to tell them I'm not dangerous, but I can already see it's no use.

"Jade...! What have you been doing? What are you doing?!" She whispers, turning her head to Jade.

Jade clears her throat. "It's not what it seems like." She pulls the sheets aside. "Look, I've got all my clothes on."

So we didn't do anything? Okay, now that that's cleared up, maybe we could get out of here?

"Why are you in bed with this creature then?" Jared exclaims.

She glances at me. "I-I was only w-watching him, I wanted to take care of him. He's been kidnapped, he nearly died,  and I was worried that-- hey, who says I have to explain everything to you, anyway?" she's suddenly changed her mood, seems to get irritated. She gets up from the bed, steps out onto the floor.

Nearly died? Did she say that I nearly died?

"This is a special situation, and it requiers--" Jared goes on.

"And why are you two sneaking into my home again?"

Again? What exactly happened yesterday?

Jared blushes shamefully, but clears his throat, with an annoyed look on his face. "We told you we would visit today."

Jade crosses her arms over her chest. "I prefer people knocking on my door before they enter."

"We did."

"Ever heard of ringing the door bell?"

Looks like Jade isn't about to lose this argument.

Jared sighs.

"Jade?"

It isn't before everyone turns to me, that I realize I actually spoke.
Trying not to squirm under their probing looks, I cautiously get out of the bed and concentrate to stand up. I notice too late how weak I actually am right now, and fall forward towards Jared, grappling desperately for something to hold on to, which unfortunately turns out to be his legs.
He jumps back, immensely startled, and has undoubtedly mistaken my falling for an attack.

"Men! Get in here! We need backup!"

"Why am I so weak?" I whisper to Jade.

"You have been beat up several times this week, you've been starved...and you were choked-- lack of oxygen to the brain, you weren't far from dying..." Jade whispers softly back.

I look up to see the door get flung open, and feel Jade's arms around me, trying to help me up.
People in white uniforms and helmets start flowing in through the door. Oh no...there's no doubt about where they're going to take me.
I rub my eyes to see if I'm dreaming, and my heart sinks when I find I'm not.

"Jared...!" Jade's voice is menacing, "Don't you dare touch him! Oh, I just knew you'd do this...!"

"I won't touch him, Jade. We'll leave that to the experts. Don't worry, they won't hurt him."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" I mutter.

Jared stops and stares at me. "You can speak...you even have a sense of sarcasm....amazing!"

"Really amazing..." I repeat sarcastically.

Jade pulls me closer, and I wrap my arms around her, trying to cling on. "I'm here," she whispers into my ear, causing me to feel uncomfortable, helpless and unindependant, all at the same time. She shouldn't have to risk her neck-- especially not for me. I don't like feeling this weak. It's not honorable to let a woman save me all the time. I should be helping her. I feel like a burden.

"There's no need to take him to some lab. You can talk to him, don't you see? I'm not letting you cut him fucking open." Jade says.

"Ma'am, please do not attempt to resist," one of the white-clad men says. The embroidery on his shirt pocket says "Simmons".

"So, Simmons..." I look at him, "what are you people planning to do to me?"

Simmons looks surprised, I'm guessing both from the fact that he's talking to a turtle, and from the fact that I spoke his name.

"Simmons...?" he blinks, looks down at his shirt. "Oh yeah...that's how you knew...silly me..."

What did he think? That I've got some sort of phychic powers as well? Of course, to them I'm a remarkably strange creature, so why wouldn't they get thoughts like that? I feel like I'm trapped inside one of those sci-fi movies Don and Mike used to watch. I'm pretty sure Mike still does, but Don? Maybe once in a while. God, where are they now, anyway? I remember seeing them down in the--

"Yeah, yeah," Jade interrupts my thoughts, "bottom line is, Simmons, that you're not taking him."

"Please don't make this difficult."

"Too late." Jade slowly helps me up to my feet, supports my weight, holds on to me. "You're not taking him." she repeats, decision in her voice.

What is she planning to do? There's no way she's--

Blood gushes out of Simmons's nose as Jade's foot violently connects with it. The kick is over in a split second, and she manages to both regain balance and prevent me from falling, without even staggering one tiny bit.
I'm not amazing. She is. This is very good for someone who hasn't had a life-long training like us.

She starts to move us towards the door. Suddenly, Jade gets a very surprised look on her face, moans, then drops forward, taking me down with her.

"Jade!" several voices, including mine, yell.

Lifting my head, I can see that there's a dart in her backside. Let's hope it's only sedatives.

"Perhaps we should take the woman as well? She's the one who's been in contact with this creature, and might know a thing or two about it." Simmons suggests, painfully holding his bleeding nose.

The woman who came in the company of Jared, and whom I'm guessing is Jade's sister, Cindy, the one she's been telling me about, speaks for what seems like the first time today.

"What? Jade? Are you going to take Jade with you? Jared, this was not part of our agreement."

"I know, sweetie, but they might be right. She could be useful in figuring out this uh, turtle. And even if there's any doubt about the treatment of him," he points at me, and I glare angrily at him, "you can be certain they'll treat Jade perfectly well. She'll be in good hands."

"Well..."

I know what's coming now...first a dart, then off to the white room...

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