*PART 3
“I’ll bring your things in the morning,” Ulrich said, kissing Aelita’s forehead. I hated seeing someone treat her like that, but I knew I had my chance. Ulrich and Odd left the room, not bothering to wait for me. I didn’t mind. I wanted to talk to Aelita anyways.
“So,” I started, rubbing the back of my head. “Are you really happy with him?”
Aelita shrugged. “I don’t really want to talk about this right now.”
“I have to know, though,” I tried to keep calm, but I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. “If you want me to leave, I will.”
“Please don’t!” Aelita looked like she was about to jump out of the bed and I grew scared. The last thing I wanted was to upset her.
“Aelita, just tell me what you want.” I sat down on the bed next to her and took her hands in mine.
“I don’t know.” She was close to tears. “I love you, Jeremie, but sometimes you’re just so—”
I closed my eyes, not sure if I wanted to hear anymore. “Aelita, I know I’m not the perfect guy, but I can be anything you want.”
“I want to be put before your computer,” she answered quietly. “Any time I want to do something, it’s like I have to break your arm to do it. When I had my concerts, you were always working on something.”
“Aelita, Lyoko is gone now. I can make more time for you.”
“You never tried until you realized that I wasn’t just going to stay with you because you saved me from Lyoko. Ulrich tries. I know it’s not the best relationship, honestly it’s a little awkward sometimes, but it’s more than what you gave me.”
I brushed my hair from my face, not sure how to explain what was going through my mind. “I’ve never loved anyone before. I never really understood what I was supposed to do. I know we fight, we never really see eye-to-eye on some things and I guess I do tend to get caught up in my work, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you and want to try and make this work.”
Aelita shrugged. “You had almost two years.”
“Please, just give me another chance. Maybe not right now, but don’t just settle with Ulrich. He’s just using you to get over Yumi.”
The look of hurt on Aelita’s face broke my heart. She suddenly rolled over, facing away from me. “Just go.”
I shrugged and got up, not entirely sure what I had done wrong this time but not wanting to make it any worse. Odd and Ulrich stood talking quietly in the hallway, and almost immediately I could feel the tension between them. “Let’s go guys, before we get in trouble.”
*PART 4
(Aelita’s POV)
Hospitals were boring. I could only remember being in the hospital when the supercomputer battery was dying, and even then I had been bored unless someone was around. It was past midnight now, so the place was fairly quiet other than the occasional scream of pain or a child’s cry. I wrapped the pillow around my head, hoping to drown out the noise, but to no avail. I groaned loudly in frustration, already missing my dorm room. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to at least relax since sleep was nearly impossible.
“What about when she gets older?”
“She’ll be fine, Dear. Medical science is advancing quickly, by the time this affects her there will already be a way to cure it.”
“Mommy?” I called out to the darkness. “Daddy?”
I knew the voices were in my mind, but something made me call out. What was that memory? I closed my eyes again but the memory wasn’t going to come back. My heart shuddered in my chest, causing me to curl up into a ball of pain and setting of an alarm from one of the machines. There was a rush of footsteps and someone shouting, but I was too focused on trying not to cry. Someone was trying to pull me from my position, two people pinning my legs to the bed and two people pinning my arms. A mask was forced over my mouth and the air tasted funny. There was a pinch in my arm and within seconds, I felt relaxed, almost dizzy.
“Aelita? Can you hear me?” Someone shined a light in my eye. I wanted to push their hand away but I couldn’t move.
“I want my mommy,” I muttered mindlessly.
“I’m here, Lita darling.”
I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, and the fact that I couldn’t lift my head to try and find it was enough to send a couple tears from my eyes. As quickly as it came, I was able to move again, though I felt different. It hadn’t passed in a mere few minutes, however, but almost two hours. I looked around the room, tired but my chest no longer hurting. A doctor sat in a chair in the corner, scribbling on a clipboard, his eyes practically glued to the machines connected to me.
“I’m hungry,” I mumbled. The man jumped, staring at me for a moment before smiling.
“Welcome back!”
I frowned. “I didn’t go anywhere.”
He shrugged. “I guess to you you didn’t. But to me it looked like you were stoned out of your mind, sleeping with your eyes open or something of the sort. Kind of like being hypnotized. It took the pain away though, didn’t it?”
I stared at him, not sure what I was hearing. The man was completely insane. “Can I get something to eat?”
“Sorry, kiddo. Not until that stuff leaves your system. Don’t need you zoning back out and choking.” He walked over to me, shining a light in my eye. I swatted his hand away, glaring at him. “Feisty little thing, aren’t you? Matches your hair.”
“My hair is pink.”
“Really? Looks red in this light.” He held my wrist in his hand, staring at his watch. “So how long has your heart been hurting?”
“It’s nothing. Can I go home soon?” The lack of sleep and explanations was starting to get to me and I was growing incredibly irritated with this man.
“Why are you so angry?”
I stared at my hands. I wasn’t angry really, I was just scared. Jeremie had pointed out before that when I got scared I lashed out or ran away. I never really noticed until someone pointed it out though. I shrugged, curling up under my blankets, not wanting to talk anymore. “Can I just go to sleep?”
“Sure.”
“What’s your name again?” I asked with a yawn.
“I’m Dr. Schroeder.”
I giggled, thinking how similar Schroeder and Schaeffer sounded in my drugged mind. I could feel myself falling into a deep sleep, unsure if it was the drugs or if I was actually that tired. Whatever it was, though, it felt great.
Codelyokocodelyokocodelyoko
“Here, Aelita!” Jeremie handed me a box wrapped in metallic pink paper, a large maroon bow on the top.
“What is it?” I asked, though I knew all I had to do was open it to find out.
“It’s a present. You’ve lived on Earth for a year now. Think of it like a birthday.” He smiled at me, blushing a little.
I opened the gift, Jeremie using his dorm key to cut the tape on the box. Inside was a series of small gifts, ranging from a cute keychain to an iPod touch. Movies, my favorite candy, a stuffed bear. “Thank you Jeremie!” I laughed, hugging him.
“I didn’t know what to get you, so I got a little of everything.” He hugged me back.
Suddenly, things started shifting. It wasn’t Jeremie anymore, but Ulrich. I stepped back, not sure what I should do, or if I could do anything at all. I was glad Ulrich was here, but I wanted Jeremie back.
Codelyokocodelyokocodelyoko
“Aelita?”
I forced my eyes opened, blinking back the sleep. Jeremie and Ulrich both stood over me, odd looks on their faces. “Hey guys,” I smiled sleepily at them. “What’s going on?”
“Here, Aelita,” Jeremie grabbed a napkin from my breakfast tray. “Your nose is bleeding.”
“Really?” I grabbed the napkin, wiping at my nose. There wasn’t much, but it still made me feel ill.
“I brought the things you asked for,” Ulrich said, holding up my maroon satchel. I smiled beneath the napkin, though my mind was elsewhere. “Do you want anything else?”
I shook my head, ignoring the growing pain in my heart. I couldn’t look at Ulrich, because I didn’t know what I would feel, and I didn’t want to look at Jeremie because I knew how exactly I would feel. I loved Ulrich, he had opened up a whole new world that Jeremie was too preoccupied to show me, but it didn’t change anything that had already happened.