Fic: The Dreamkeeper (Part II)
Mar. 14th, 2015 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
boxxsaltzTitle: The Dreamkeeper
Author: Boxxsaltz
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Jessica Jung/TIffany Hwang
Summary: Before there was anything there was a dream
AN: Beta credit to Doucette/Douismain
Part II
Beep, beep, beep!
Jessica’s arm emerged from the covers, slapping her alarm clock off before her head peeked from beneath the comforter. She rolled along the mattress, blinking past the sleep in her eyes. There was a hollow feeling in her chest, one that weighed her down in the covers and each of her steps as she finally got up.
She moved through her morning routine as usual: pot of coffee, quick shower, bowl of oatmeal, clothes. She hardly saw the inside of her apartment, mind on things like empty rooms and first assignments terminated quickly.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth that she rid of with a gulp of coffee. She’d learn to become immune to it. She’d learn to do better.
Lifting her badge off her night table, Jessica stared at it:
Jessica Jung
Dreamologist
Special Care Sector
All Access Granted
Slipping it on, she grabbed her bag and went.
She didn’t think she’d be seeing the inside of her home very much anymore.
-/-/-/-
It should've taken her by no surprise Tiffany wasn't in her room, and with Seunghyun not in yet it was her duty to find her.
Pushing out heavy gray doors, her instincts told her to check Sooyoung’s room first. All Jessica found were a couple of custodians sterilizing the place and a thick wave of nervous anxiety.
Rounding to the other side of the unit, Jessica passed then doubled back to the Recreation Room.
There she was. Sitting at the piano. Tiffany.
She swayed slightly as her hands moved expertly over the keys. The other Dreamkeepers in the room seemingly paid no attention to her, used to her playing by now.
Walking closer, Jessica could hear Tiffany humming along as she played. Jessica stood by listening. The melody had a slight familiarity. It resonated in her chest something painful and old. She felt a swell in her chest and swallowed it down.
“That was for Sooyoung.” Tiffany turned to look at Jessica after the last chord dissolved into the air. Her eyes had less of a gloss and more of a sharpness around the edges but no less piercing. “Do you play?”
“No.”
“I didn’t either.” Tiffany slid over, patting the empty space on the bench. “I’ll teach you?”
Jessica teetered on the balls of her feet. The time on her watch told her Tiffany should be in her room asleep. That if she didn’t get at least three hours in between every four daily extractions, she would miss a schedule. Or worse.
"You shouldn't be in here."
“Are you a fast learner? You look like a fast learner.” Tiffany ignored her, turning back to the keys, tinkering aimlessly.
Jessica sighed. "Tiffany-”
"Sit." Tiffany patted the spot again. "I'll teach you, too."
Reluctantly, Jessica sank down onto the bench. She stared at the keys, chipped on their edges and browned with age. “I was never good at music.”
“Everyone’s good at music.” Tiffany scrunched up her face. The way she said it made it sound like Jessica had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Watch. I’ll only show you once.”
The pedal creaked as it was pressed down under Tiffany’s foot and curved fingers sank into the ivories. She played it effortlessly, eyes moving behind closed lids as if she were seeing the sheet music on them. Lashes fluttering open, her gaze found Jessica’s locking on as she banged out the climax of the song. Her lips peeled back, pastel pink framing a milky white smile.
It was with its last ring that Jessica felt herself relax the tension she wasn’t aware she had wound up in her ribs that reverberated with heavy chords. Beside her Tiffany beamed, hand coming up to comb her fallen hair out of her face.
“Your turn.”
Jessica blinked. “I couldn't keep up.”
“Try.”
Jessica shook her head. Enough humoring for the day. “We need to get you back to your-"
“Try.” Tiffany gripped her wrist and Jessica jerked it back. Tiffany dropped her hand, face falling. “I’m sorry.”
Anyone outside of this place, she wouldn’t have done it. But rules were rules and they had been wonderfully drilled into her skull. Personal boundaries were very important.
Jessica sighed.
“Like this?” She hovered her hands over the keys. Tiffany perked up.
“No, like,” she went to position Jessica’s fingers then stopped, letting her hands drop into her lap. “Move them up. There.”
“Here?” Jessica curved her fingers, glancing up at Tiffany who nodded. “Okay.”
Easing a foot onto the pedal, Jessica pressed down creating a disgusting clash of notes.
Tiffany burst into laughter.
Jessica’s face went hot with embarrassment. “It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it is.”
“You didn’t really teach me.”
“Maybe you’re a bad learner.”
“Maybe you’re a bad teacher.” It was out of Jessica’s mouth before she could stop herself.
Tiffany cocked an appalled eyebrow, short spats of laughter turning into one boisterous one. It was loud - infectious. Her laugh made Jessica want to take it into her hands and save it in her pocket for later.
“Be quiet.”
As if it were snatched from her, Tiffany’s laugh ended.
Jessica stood up quickly, bowing to Seunghyun who had entered the room.
“Is this how they do it in the Care Unit?”
“I apologize.” Jessica bowed again, eyes on the floor. “I was just about to take her back to her room.”
“Were you?”
Jessica remained silent. Seunghyun kept his gaze fixed on her as he spoke.
“Back to your room, Tiffany.”
The bench creaked with Tiffany getting up. Jessica watched the tail of her black hair sway out the door along with the slap of her bare feet on the linoleum.
“You really know how to make a first impression.”
“You too.” She slithered out evenly. Seunghyun’s eyebrows lifted at the remark. Jessica cleared her throat. “Should we get started?”
-/-/-/-
Tiffany’s room was homey.
The blankets and pillows on her bed, the tiny trinkets splayed all over her desk in perfect organization. Drawn pictures, magazine clippings, and worn pieces of sheet music decorated one of the white walls in a collage of artistic disarray.
A set of transparent drawers held neatly folded clothes tucked just beneath the foot of her bed next to a line of shoes void of any scuffs or wearing. A lamp lit up the room in a bluish tint of seafoam green serving as the only means to see when the stark fluorescent overhead turned off.
Seunghyun pulled the door too, closing them off from a sleeping Tiffany. The cardreader beeped indicating the door had locked. Tiffany wasn’t going anywhere.
“She’s allowed in the Rec Room but not outside of her schedule. Did you receive it?” Seunghyun glanced over to Jessica as they walked through the hall.
“It was in her file.”
He held the door open for her, leading them into the main Care Unit. “Memorise it. It’ll make things easier. Because of how many Extractions she has a day, too many stimulants could mess up the process.”
“How?”
“You were Sooyoung’s Caretaker, weren’t you?” His voice dripped with accusation.
Jessica clenched her jaw, sinking into a chair at a table on the far side of the break room. Taking out her clipboard, she listened closely as he spoke, drilling every detail of Tiffany’s schedule and charts into her brain.
Numbers became muddled and Jessica become less interested in fine details and more so in why Tiffany of all the Dreamkeepers was kept contained like a prisoner than a normal human being.
“Why does she she have four Extractions a day?” She asked, stopping Seunghyun mid-sentence. “The standard procedure is two.”
“You’ve never been injected have you?” When Jessica shook her head he laughed at her like some poor, unfortunate soul. “People don’t come here every day for nothing. Dreams, they’re like a drug to them. Some people have better ones than others, but we haven’t had anyone like Tiffany in years.”
“Not even Sooyoung?”
He smirked, leaning forward with elbows on the table. The friendliness in his expression faded, eyes focusing straight on Jessica’s as his voice dropped. “You’re in charge of millions of dollars, Nurse Jung. Take this one seriously.”
“I do, Doctor Choi.” Jessica met his stare. She did her best to not to show that her stomach was churning in nervous anticipation. “Is there anything I need to know about Tiffany that I can’t find in her files?”
Seunghyun sat back, closing his folder on the table. “Whatever she says? Don’t believe it.”
“Why not?”
“She’s a dreamer.” He let out a breath, collecting his things to go. “Do you really think they know the difference between that and reality?”
Jessica’s brow pulled in, watching Seunghyun rise from his seat.
“If I may ask, doctor, why are you leaving?”
“When you remember this is a business, sometimes the corporate ladder works in your favor.” He gave a haughty smile. “You’re on your own the rest of the day.”
With that, he left.
-/-/-/-
Jessica stepped back, letting the Extractor take Tiffany into the room.
"Nurse?" He called back noting she hadn't followed in.
"Don't I stay out here?"
He shook his head and Jessica walked in.
"I'm Woobin." He offered a hand.
Jessica shook it. "Jessica."
"I know." He flashed a charming smile, squeezing her hand for added measure.
Jessica felt eyes on her. From the Extraction Chair, Tiffany watched the two of them. It was impossible to read her face. It was blank, empty, cold. So different from the Tiffany she had woken up with flakes of pink in her cheeks and a smile when her hazy vision found Jessica at the side of her bed.
“Stand over here.”
Jessica moved to the wall. Tiffany’s stare was ripped away from her when thick hands took hold of her face, turning it so the back of her head fit snug in the hole in the middle of the headrest. Buckled straps were wrapped around her wrists, bolting them to the armrest while the same was done to her thighs and ankles.
Jessica found herself holding her breath as she watched Woobin stick needles into the never healing, pricked bruises in Tiffany’s arms. She remained perfectly still, chest rising and falling steadily.
“Relax for me, Tiffany.” Woobin cooed, his voice warm and melodic standing next to her. “Relax.”
Tiffany shut her eyes, balled fists opening on the metal armrest. Jessica’s eyes fixed on the set of needles Woobin held in his hands. They were long and thick, each connected to two separate tubes that ended in two large, cylindrical vials placed in the machine.
“Deep breath,” Woobin instructed, but Tiffany had already done so.
Jessica found herself clenching as the needles were placed into position.
“Let it out.”
Tiffany’s chest deflated and Woobin’s arm jerked sending them through the back of her neck.
Tiffany’s mouth fell open, gaping in a silent scream choked off deep in her throat. On the armrests, her fingers twitched, chest heaving up and down, up and down, up and down until her eyes rolled back and her entire body went limp.
Woobin worked in silence, checking machines, IVs and charts. His movements became the background as Jessica’s attention was drawn to the two vials in the machine.
Time ticked by, one minute, five, thirty until anything happened.
Milky, white liquid began to spill into the vials. Its consistency thick and color a fluorescent sort of translucent. It almost looked to glow in the lights as it filled up, seeping through the tubes slowly.
The sight was surreal. Dreams filled up glass in tiny streams like ribbons. Jessica felt excitement course through her, curiosity clouding her mind. How many were in there? Two, three, ten? And what could they be about?
A murmur came from her chair and Jessica flicked her eyes to Tiffany’s face. Her eyes moved rapidly behind their lids, veins turning from deep pink to rugged blue in spiderweb like designs across her face and down her neck.
They spread along her arms in crisscrossing patterns as her lips moved quickly, mumbling unintelligibly things only she could see or decipher.
That was until one word stuck out. Woobin snapped his neck to her at the same time she looked to him.
It was unmistakable. They both heard it.
“Jessica.”
-/-/-/-
Hours.
It took hours before the needles and tubes were taken out of Tiffany’s skin.
Woobin padded out of the room, taking the vials filled with dreams and left out the door. Jessica moved to stand beside the chair.
Dark eyes were open just barely, glossiness like tears glazing over red veins swirling nastily along the whites and hazing her pupils drawn straight up at the ceiling. Her breathing came in elongated inhales and exhales, filling her up to full capacity before they leaked out in a painful wheeze.
“You have to go back to your room now.”
No response.
“Can you walk?”
Silence inhibited by stale breathing. Tiffany’s eyes didn’t blink. Her body remained still, reminding Jessica of those days sitting next to Sooyoung, listening to her machine and watching her breathe.
“Tiffany,” Jessica lifted a hand.
Eyes snapped to it and Tiffany drew away. Her body coiled up, pushing back against the chair as if trying to get away from Jessica. Her eyes were wide with tangles of wild hair fallen in her face. Her teeth bared.
She looked dangerous, primal, terrified.
“Tiffany, it’s me. It’s Jessica.” She tried to speak as calmly as she could, remembering all Seunghyun told her.
“She’s not herself after Extractions. She doesn’t remember reality.”
“Tiffany.” Jessica put her hands up in a surrendering gesture. Tiffany’s eyes flashed around the room, body quivering. The straps around her wrists dug into her skin and chafed her ankles the more she struggled. “Tiffany. Relax. I’m your doctor, Tiffany. I’m Jessica.”
“Jessica?”
“Right. Jessica.”
“Jessica…” Recognition slowly came to Tiffany’s face. Her body slid back down in the chair as if all the energy she had used trying to get away had left her. “Jessica, it’s her. It’s Jessica. Just Jessica. Only Jessica…”
Jessica approached slowly. “Can I take off your restraints? Is that okay?”
Tiffany nodded, still muttering under her breath.
Jessica fingered at the buckles letting the ones on her ankles and legs clink against the metal of the chair before she undid the ones on her wrists. The skin beneath looked nasty red, streaked with welts from her tugging.
Last buckle off, Jessica nearly jumped as a hand gripped tightly onto her arm. But Jessica didn’t know what surprised her more, the boney look of those fingers almost inhuman against her fleshy skin or how dastardly cold Tiffany felt.
“Let me go.” Jessica ordered, cooly.
Tiffany’s entire body quivered, her parted lips cracking when she spoke. “They took her away.”
“Tiffany, let me go.”
“Don’t let them take Sooyoung away!"
Jessica’s jaw flexed. Tiffany’s grip on her was painful, but the lock of her eyes was suffocating.
“Don’t, please don’t, don’t…” Tiffany went inside of herself again.
Jessica glanced around the room for anything to sedate her, calm her down, get her back into the right state of mind. She knew where she needed to take her for that, but to leave this room she needed…
“Tiffany, look,” Jessica pulled her free hand from her pocket. The colors in her rubik’s cube were radiantly brilliant under the stark lights. “Here.”
Twitching fingers took the cube and immediately went to work.
Jessica rubbed the sore place on her wrist indented with Tiffany’s fingers and stood back. The sections of cube spun quickly in Tiffany’s determined grip. Legs pulling up in the chair, she crossed them in the seat and hunched her back over, all focus going into trying to crack the puzzle.
Leaning back against the wall, Jessica let out a long breath.
She’d wait.
-/-/-/-
“How’s she doing?”
Jessica angled her head up at the sky, watching the spring clouds roll through the misty blue expanse. Beside her Seohyun crunched along the gravel walkway of the Dream Bank courtyard. Her moments outdoors had become rare and ones at home nearly nonexistent. She’d take the chance she got while Tiffany was asleep to leave the confines of those white walls.
“Worn out.” Jessica dropped her gaze to look at the flowers that flanked the graveled walkway.
“Tiffany often tries to avoid her naps. We had her on a sleeping medication, but it tampered with her dream patterns.”
“How long has she been here?”
"Since before I was in charge."
Jessica looked over at her. That had to be longer than Sooyoung. Over six years.
"Do you know what makes Tiffany's dreams so special?"
Jessica shook her head as Seohyun stopped by a small birdbath. She watched as a bird shook out damp feathers.
"You know how dreams work when injected, right?"
Jessica had studied the process for years. The dream serum was injected right into the bloodstream like a shot. One injection held the ability to have dreams every night for up to one month. The serum worked as a stimulant activating the inactive part of the brain once used for dreaming. The more vivid a Dreamkeeper’s dream, the stronger the dream sedation.
Though it gave the ability to create original dreams, remnants of the Dreamkeeper’s dream would still be present. If Tiffany dreamt of flowers blowing in the wind, the person injected would see those same flowers while under. Whether those flower be in a pot on a desk amidst a work dream or held in the hands of a lover at the climax of a wedding proposal dream.
"Most Dreamkeepers see things in a haze like a memory so those injected have dreams in much the same fashion.” Seohyun went on to explain. “But Tiffany is different. It's like she's awake in her dreams and you yourself would feel awake on the receiving end."
Tiffany’s dreams were in sharp focus, bright, detailed, seemingly tangible. Jessica finally understood Seunghyun's warning as to why Tiffany blurred reality with surreal creation. To Tiffany, they were no different.
"You could say it's HD compared to standard definition,” Seohyun laughed a bit. ”and she creates them at alarming speed. Ten to twenty dreams in one cycle as opposed to the five to eight of the average Dreamekeeper."
Jessica’s eyes followed the bird as it flew away. "Why can she do this but not the others?"
"Genetics, perhaps? They’re rare cases." Seohyun looked over at her, eyes examining Jessica up and down. "Have you ever had a dream? On your own I mean."
"No." Her father never liked the idea of her and her sister going to Dream Banks. His argument was to make your reality into your dream.
Seohyun started walking again. Jessica quickly fell into step with her. “You should try bringing her out to the courtyards. Outside stimulation is good for dream development. She enjoys picnics.”
“Picnics?”
“That wouldn't be too hard for you to put together, would it?” Seohyun smiled. “Keep the patients happy, Nurse Jung. That’s when the best dreams are made.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jessica’s pager beeped. She looked at the time. Another extraction.
-/-/-/-
Jessica breathed in the misty steam of the Shower Rooms. The humidity clung into her pores, sticking her clothes to her skin and frizzing her hair so strands stuck to her cheeks.
In the hollowed space, she could hear Tiffany humming from the inside of one of the tub stalls. The hot water was the only way Tiffany ever came too after the Extractions. It got rid of the bone-chilling cold of her skin and thawed out the shock done to her mind with the procedure.
She went in one person and came out completely new.
"What does a kiss taste like?"
Jessica blinked.
Tiffany stood in front of the shower mirror, finger tracing the outline of her lips in the fogged glass. They stood out rosy from her white skin.
"What do you think it tastes like?"
"They must taste delicious if people always want them," Tiffany said matter-of-factly. "The doctors sneak into the extraction rooms at night, you know."
Jessica didn't think to ask how Tiffany knew this information. If she had gotten out of her sector before, there was no question about how she ended up on the third floor after hours.
"You've never been kissed?"
Tiffany shook her head, turning to Jessica. Her cheeks had gone as pink as her lips. That was all of Tiffany's color scheme: pink, black and white. Such purity in every shade that was intensified by her wide open eyes and innocent words.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?" Tiffany pulled a face. Jessica lifted an eyebrow. "I don't look like that."
"You do!" Tiffany turned back to the mirror. She rubbed her towel through her hair, muttering under her breath. "It always makes me feel embarrassed. Like I'm naked."
Jessica kept to herself that Tiffany was standing there naked. She figured if she pretended she wasn't her eyes would remain up instead of tempted to dip down to curvy, snowy skin.
"What's that face for?"
Jessica sucked in a breath, blinking at Tiffany who now stood directly in front of her. The scent of her tangy shampoo filled Jessica’s nose, making her chest feel more weightless than it already had.
Tiffany's head tilted, eyes washing over every bit of Jessica's face. Her gaze lingered on her parted lips before they flickered up at the same time a finger taped against the tip of Jessica's nose.
"You're not allowed to make that face either."
"Why not?" Jessica asked, letting herself relax now that Tiffany wasn't standing in front of her anymore.
"Because," Tiffany picked up her clothes and began pulling them on. "It makes me think about what kisses must taste like. Coming?"
Jessica had to pry herself from where she stood, following Tiffany out.
-/-/-/-
“Jessica?”
Stepping into the hall, she turned around catching sight of Seohyun and Seunghyun down a ways. Seohyun waved her over and she padded over quickly, passing by the Rec Room. Inside Tiffany motioned for her from where she sat at the piano. Jessica gave her a smile, finger held up to give her a moment.
“Yes, Doctor? Doctor Choi.” She bowed to Seunghyun who returned it.
“Seunghyun wanted to say a few words before he goes.” Seohyun smiled up to Seunghyun. He looked completely different out of his scrubs, hair slick and sweater clinging to his form. “I can take those from you.”
Taking a binder from Seunghyun’s hands, Seohyun walked off.
“I’ll be one of the members of the board in downtown if you ever want a shoe in.”
Jessica ignored his offer. “Thank you for training me.”
“You were fine on your own.” His head turned away from her, hands burying in khaki pockets.
Jessica followed his gaze to Tiffany. She played softly, swaying slightly as her fingers moved along the keys.
“She trusts you.”
Jessica bit back the smile that threatened to come to her lips. She had been nervous in the beginning. Where with Sooyoung there had been no chats or check ins, Tiffany had been the complete opposite. She had grown fond of her over the weeks. Even during her training days she had hoped to be able to become close with her patients - build a bond with them. They taught her that was the most effective way to care for your Dreamkeeper.
“I think it’s good that patients know that you have their best interest in mind.”
“Don’t forget about yours.”
“I’m sorry?” She blinked up to his stoic face.
Seunghyun’s voice lowered. “You ask a lot of questions - stick your nose into things best left alone. If you want to keep this job, or better, follow the rules and only do as much as you’re asked.”
Her eyebrow lifted, eyes narrowing slightly at the implications in his tone. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“Keep it professional, Nurse Jung. Don’t let Tiffany get into your head. I almost did.”
There was something about the way he said it that made Jessica’s stomach tighten. Something about the way he gazed back at Tiffany, lips tight. She wondered if Seunghyun had ever felt the same draw Jessica did when TIffany would cast her those smiles from across the room.
She wondered if it had anything to do with his departure.
“Thank you for the advice, Doctor Choi, but I have to get back to work.”
He nodded stiffly, hand gesturing for her to proceed on. Reaching the piano, she sank down onto the bench. Tiffany grinned over to her, not missing a single note as she scooted over enough for Jessica to sink comfortably.
Glancing back over her shoulder, Jessica watched as Seohyun approached Seunghyun again. Receiving an envelope from her hands, Seunghyun tucked it into his pocket with a bow. Hushed words past from Seohyun’s lips into his ears and he nodded, gaze shifting over to Jessica.
She quickly turned around, busying her hands with wrinkled sheet music on the piano stand. “How about we go outside for a few hours?”
Tiffany stopped playing, disbelief in her wide eyes. “Really?”
“We could turn lunch into a picnic?”
TIffany’s face lit up. It warmed Jessica to the core, turning her stomach light and airy. She could’ve sworn she saw excited tears well up in Tiffany’s eyes as she bounced on the piano bench. Jessica had to look away. It was just too pure - too heartbreaking.
Tiffany clapped her hands. "Can we go now?"
“Yeah.” Jessica looked back over her shoulder to see Seohyun finally walk away. “Let’s go now.”
-/-/-/-
Tiffany loved the bird bath.
She watched it intently while Jessica smoothed a cloth over one of the courtyard stone picnic tables. She wondered if Tiffany wouldn't mind drinking juice boxes today and not the carton milk patients were given with their generic, Dream Bank meals.
"Tiffany?"
"Shh.”
Jessica looked on as Tiffany held out a finger, placing it on the edge of the birdbath. The little bird inside regarded her a moment with a twitching head before it bounced onto her finger. Tiffany's face lit up as she stroked it's little, brown head, beak picking about her palm. When it found no food, it flew away.
Tiffany waved it off, giggling into the wind. Jessica squelched the feathery lightness the sound of it brought to her stomach.
"Come and eat."
Skip in her step, Tiffany fell onto the bench opposite Jessica. She hadn't been able to pack for a real picnic. Tiffany, like the other Dreamkeepers, were under strict diet. However Tiffany didn't complain. She bit off a celery stick and speared a fork into the tender meat on her tray without a word.
"What's this?" She picked up the juice box.
"Try it. It's good." Peeling the straw from the back of the juice box, she stabbed it into the little piece of foil on top and sipped. "Like it?"
Her lips smacked. "It's really sweet."
"I brought a few extra." Jessica showed her the rest wrapped in plastic. "Don't let Seohyun know."
Finger over her lip, Tiffany nodded, finishing the first one. Jessica handed her another. They ate lunch in silence, Jessica biting off bits of peanut butter and jelly while Tiffany licked her fork clean.
“The piano teacher used to take me and Sooyoung out for picnics,” she said, legs crossing beneath her.
“Who was the piano teacher?”
Tiffany shrugged. “She never told us her name. My old Caretaker allowed us an hour in the courtyards together. Sometimes she’d bring candy for us, but Doctor Kim would get worried.”
Jessica paused a moment. “Doctor Kim? Your Caretaker before Seunghyun?”
“Yup.” Taking the straw from her juice, TIffany chewed it between her teeth. "She'd sing with me and Sooyoung sometimes."
Cleaning up the area, Jessica thought back to documents and files. She had gone through Tiffany’s information front and back more times than she could count. They had started with Seunghyun’s notes with only mentions to the ones taken from a previous doctor. There had been no records of a Doctor Kim.
“When Sooyoung got sick, I never saw Doctor Kim again.”
"When did Sooyoung go into her coma?"
Tiffany frowned. Jessica almost regretted bringing it up but she was curious. Curious as to who the patient she had never truly known had been in the past. Curious about the things she and Tiffany would get into together before one lay still while the other was left to play in silence.
"Three years ago."
It happened after an extraction, Jessica had been told but nothing more. Whatever Extractor had been on duty hadn't entered the needles properly. They pierced through sensitive tissue irreparably. Sooyoung wasn't the same since.
"I miss her." A chewed up straw fell onto the table with the drop of Tiffany’s head.
Jessica wished she could say the same, but her relationship with Sooyoung had been short and silent. Their connection was only forged by the obligation to care for the woman and nothing more. Where Jessica had known her through paper, Tiffany had known her in the flesh.
By the sadness that crossed Tiffany's face Jessica could gather Sooyoung was more dynamic than Jessica could imagine. She had probably been part of some of the few happy moments Tiffany had in this place for Jessica hadn't seen Tiffany smile as brightly as she did when she caught her in Sooyoung's room that night.
"I want to go to my room now."
Stacking the trays, Jessica got up with Tiffany at her side. She opened her mouth to protest when Tiffany clung onto her arm but let it go.
Only someone truly broken would cling that hard and Jessica wouldn’t deny her the comfort in grieving with someone to help her find her strength at her side.
Part III
-
Author: Boxxsaltz
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Jessica Jung/TIffany Hwang
Summary: Before there was anything there was a dream
AN: Beta credit to Doucette/Douismain
Part II
Beep, beep, beep!
Jessica’s arm emerged from the covers, slapping her alarm clock off before her head peeked from beneath the comforter. She rolled along the mattress, blinking past the sleep in her eyes. There was a hollow feeling in her chest, one that weighed her down in the covers and each of her steps as she finally got up.
She moved through her morning routine as usual: pot of coffee, quick shower, bowl of oatmeal, clothes. She hardly saw the inside of her apartment, mind on things like empty rooms and first assignments terminated quickly.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth that she rid of with a gulp of coffee. She’d learn to become immune to it. She’d learn to do better.
Lifting her badge off her night table, Jessica stared at it:
Jessica Jung
Dreamologist
Special Care Sector
All Access Granted
Slipping it on, she grabbed her bag and went.
She didn’t think she’d be seeing the inside of her home very much anymore.
-/-/-/-
It should've taken her by no surprise Tiffany wasn't in her room, and with Seunghyun not in yet it was her duty to find her.
Pushing out heavy gray doors, her instincts told her to check Sooyoung’s room first. All Jessica found were a couple of custodians sterilizing the place and a thick wave of nervous anxiety.
Rounding to the other side of the unit, Jessica passed then doubled back to the Recreation Room.
There she was. Sitting at the piano. Tiffany.
She swayed slightly as her hands moved expertly over the keys. The other Dreamkeepers in the room seemingly paid no attention to her, used to her playing by now.
Walking closer, Jessica could hear Tiffany humming along as she played. Jessica stood by listening. The melody had a slight familiarity. It resonated in her chest something painful and old. She felt a swell in her chest and swallowed it down.
“That was for Sooyoung.” Tiffany turned to look at Jessica after the last chord dissolved into the air. Her eyes had less of a gloss and more of a sharpness around the edges but no less piercing. “Do you play?”
“No.”
“I didn’t either.” Tiffany slid over, patting the empty space on the bench. “I’ll teach you?”
Jessica teetered on the balls of her feet. The time on her watch told her Tiffany should be in her room asleep. That if she didn’t get at least three hours in between every four daily extractions, she would miss a schedule. Or worse.
"You shouldn't be in here."
“Are you a fast learner? You look like a fast learner.” Tiffany ignored her, turning back to the keys, tinkering aimlessly.
Jessica sighed. "Tiffany-”
"Sit." Tiffany patted the spot again. "I'll teach you, too."
Reluctantly, Jessica sank down onto the bench. She stared at the keys, chipped on their edges and browned with age. “I was never good at music.”
“Everyone’s good at music.” Tiffany scrunched up her face. The way she said it made it sound like Jessica had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Watch. I’ll only show you once.”
The pedal creaked as it was pressed down under Tiffany’s foot and curved fingers sank into the ivories. She played it effortlessly, eyes moving behind closed lids as if she were seeing the sheet music on them. Lashes fluttering open, her gaze found Jessica’s locking on as she banged out the climax of the song. Her lips peeled back, pastel pink framing a milky white smile.
It was with its last ring that Jessica felt herself relax the tension she wasn’t aware she had wound up in her ribs that reverberated with heavy chords. Beside her Tiffany beamed, hand coming up to comb her fallen hair out of her face.
“Your turn.”
Jessica blinked. “I couldn't keep up.”
“Try.”
Jessica shook her head. Enough humoring for the day. “We need to get you back to your-"
“Try.” Tiffany gripped her wrist and Jessica jerked it back. Tiffany dropped her hand, face falling. “I’m sorry.”
Anyone outside of this place, she wouldn’t have done it. But rules were rules and they had been wonderfully drilled into her skull. Personal boundaries were very important.
Jessica sighed.
“Like this?” She hovered her hands over the keys. Tiffany perked up.
“No, like,” she went to position Jessica’s fingers then stopped, letting her hands drop into her lap. “Move them up. There.”
“Here?” Jessica curved her fingers, glancing up at Tiffany who nodded. “Okay.”
Easing a foot onto the pedal, Jessica pressed down creating a disgusting clash of notes.
Tiffany burst into laughter.
Jessica’s face went hot with embarrassment. “It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it is.”
“You didn’t really teach me.”
“Maybe you’re a bad learner.”
“Maybe you’re a bad teacher.” It was out of Jessica’s mouth before she could stop herself.
Tiffany cocked an appalled eyebrow, short spats of laughter turning into one boisterous one. It was loud - infectious. Her laugh made Jessica want to take it into her hands and save it in her pocket for later.
“Be quiet.”
As if it were snatched from her, Tiffany’s laugh ended.
Jessica stood up quickly, bowing to Seunghyun who had entered the room.
“Is this how they do it in the Care Unit?”
“I apologize.” Jessica bowed again, eyes on the floor. “I was just about to take her back to her room.”
“Were you?”
Jessica remained silent. Seunghyun kept his gaze fixed on her as he spoke.
“Back to your room, Tiffany.”
The bench creaked with Tiffany getting up. Jessica watched the tail of her black hair sway out the door along with the slap of her bare feet on the linoleum.
“You really know how to make a first impression.”
“You too.” She slithered out evenly. Seunghyun’s eyebrows lifted at the remark. Jessica cleared her throat. “Should we get started?”
-/-/-/-
Tiffany’s room was homey.
The blankets and pillows on her bed, the tiny trinkets splayed all over her desk in perfect organization. Drawn pictures, magazine clippings, and worn pieces of sheet music decorated one of the white walls in a collage of artistic disarray.
A set of transparent drawers held neatly folded clothes tucked just beneath the foot of her bed next to a line of shoes void of any scuffs or wearing. A lamp lit up the room in a bluish tint of seafoam green serving as the only means to see when the stark fluorescent overhead turned off.
Seunghyun pulled the door too, closing them off from a sleeping Tiffany. The cardreader beeped indicating the door had locked. Tiffany wasn’t going anywhere.
“She’s allowed in the Rec Room but not outside of her schedule. Did you receive it?” Seunghyun glanced over to Jessica as they walked through the hall.
“It was in her file.”
He held the door open for her, leading them into the main Care Unit. “Memorise it. It’ll make things easier. Because of how many Extractions she has a day, too many stimulants could mess up the process.”
“How?”
“You were Sooyoung’s Caretaker, weren’t you?” His voice dripped with accusation.
Jessica clenched her jaw, sinking into a chair at a table on the far side of the break room. Taking out her clipboard, she listened closely as he spoke, drilling every detail of Tiffany’s schedule and charts into her brain.
Numbers became muddled and Jessica become less interested in fine details and more so in why Tiffany of all the Dreamkeepers was kept contained like a prisoner than a normal human being.
“Why does she she have four Extractions a day?” She asked, stopping Seunghyun mid-sentence. “The standard procedure is two.”
“You’ve never been injected have you?” When Jessica shook her head he laughed at her like some poor, unfortunate soul. “People don’t come here every day for nothing. Dreams, they’re like a drug to them. Some people have better ones than others, but we haven’t had anyone like Tiffany in years.”
“Not even Sooyoung?”
He smirked, leaning forward with elbows on the table. The friendliness in his expression faded, eyes focusing straight on Jessica’s as his voice dropped. “You’re in charge of millions of dollars, Nurse Jung. Take this one seriously.”
“I do, Doctor Choi.” Jessica met his stare. She did her best to not to show that her stomach was churning in nervous anticipation. “Is there anything I need to know about Tiffany that I can’t find in her files?”
Seunghyun sat back, closing his folder on the table. “Whatever she says? Don’t believe it.”
“Why not?”
“She’s a dreamer.” He let out a breath, collecting his things to go. “Do you really think they know the difference between that and reality?”
Jessica’s brow pulled in, watching Seunghyun rise from his seat.
“If I may ask, doctor, why are you leaving?”
“When you remember this is a business, sometimes the corporate ladder works in your favor.” He gave a haughty smile. “You’re on your own the rest of the day.”
With that, he left.
-/-/-/-
Jessica stepped back, letting the Extractor take Tiffany into the room.
"Nurse?" He called back noting she hadn't followed in.
"Don't I stay out here?"
He shook his head and Jessica walked in.
"I'm Woobin." He offered a hand.
Jessica shook it. "Jessica."
"I know." He flashed a charming smile, squeezing her hand for added measure.
Jessica felt eyes on her. From the Extraction Chair, Tiffany watched the two of them. It was impossible to read her face. It was blank, empty, cold. So different from the Tiffany she had woken up with flakes of pink in her cheeks and a smile when her hazy vision found Jessica at the side of her bed.
“Stand over here.”
Jessica moved to the wall. Tiffany’s stare was ripped away from her when thick hands took hold of her face, turning it so the back of her head fit snug in the hole in the middle of the headrest. Buckled straps were wrapped around her wrists, bolting them to the armrest while the same was done to her thighs and ankles.
Jessica found herself holding her breath as she watched Woobin stick needles into the never healing, pricked bruises in Tiffany’s arms. She remained perfectly still, chest rising and falling steadily.
“Relax for me, Tiffany.” Woobin cooed, his voice warm and melodic standing next to her. “Relax.”
Tiffany shut her eyes, balled fists opening on the metal armrest. Jessica’s eyes fixed on the set of needles Woobin held in his hands. They were long and thick, each connected to two separate tubes that ended in two large, cylindrical vials placed in the machine.
“Deep breath,” Woobin instructed, but Tiffany had already done so.
Jessica found herself clenching as the needles were placed into position.
“Let it out.”
Tiffany’s chest deflated and Woobin’s arm jerked sending them through the back of her neck.
Tiffany’s mouth fell open, gaping in a silent scream choked off deep in her throat. On the armrests, her fingers twitched, chest heaving up and down, up and down, up and down until her eyes rolled back and her entire body went limp.
Woobin worked in silence, checking machines, IVs and charts. His movements became the background as Jessica’s attention was drawn to the two vials in the machine.
Time ticked by, one minute, five, thirty until anything happened.
Milky, white liquid began to spill into the vials. Its consistency thick and color a fluorescent sort of translucent. It almost looked to glow in the lights as it filled up, seeping through the tubes slowly.
The sight was surreal. Dreams filled up glass in tiny streams like ribbons. Jessica felt excitement course through her, curiosity clouding her mind. How many were in there? Two, three, ten? And what could they be about?
A murmur came from her chair and Jessica flicked her eyes to Tiffany’s face. Her eyes moved rapidly behind their lids, veins turning from deep pink to rugged blue in spiderweb like designs across her face and down her neck.
They spread along her arms in crisscrossing patterns as her lips moved quickly, mumbling unintelligibly things only she could see or decipher.
That was until one word stuck out. Woobin snapped his neck to her at the same time she looked to him.
It was unmistakable. They both heard it.
“Jessica.”
-/-/-/-
Hours.
It took hours before the needles and tubes were taken out of Tiffany’s skin.
Woobin padded out of the room, taking the vials filled with dreams and left out the door. Jessica moved to stand beside the chair.
Dark eyes were open just barely, glossiness like tears glazing over red veins swirling nastily along the whites and hazing her pupils drawn straight up at the ceiling. Her breathing came in elongated inhales and exhales, filling her up to full capacity before they leaked out in a painful wheeze.
“You have to go back to your room now.”
No response.
“Can you walk?”
Silence inhibited by stale breathing. Tiffany’s eyes didn’t blink. Her body remained still, reminding Jessica of those days sitting next to Sooyoung, listening to her machine and watching her breathe.
“Tiffany,” Jessica lifted a hand.
Eyes snapped to it and Tiffany drew away. Her body coiled up, pushing back against the chair as if trying to get away from Jessica. Her eyes were wide with tangles of wild hair fallen in her face. Her teeth bared.
She looked dangerous, primal, terrified.
“Tiffany, it’s me. It’s Jessica.” She tried to speak as calmly as she could, remembering all Seunghyun told her.
“She’s not herself after Extractions. She doesn’t remember reality.”
“Tiffany.” Jessica put her hands up in a surrendering gesture. Tiffany’s eyes flashed around the room, body quivering. The straps around her wrists dug into her skin and chafed her ankles the more she struggled. “Tiffany. Relax. I’m your doctor, Tiffany. I’m Jessica.”
“Jessica?”
“Right. Jessica.”
“Jessica…” Recognition slowly came to Tiffany’s face. Her body slid back down in the chair as if all the energy she had used trying to get away had left her. “Jessica, it’s her. It’s Jessica. Just Jessica. Only Jessica…”
Jessica approached slowly. “Can I take off your restraints? Is that okay?”
Tiffany nodded, still muttering under her breath.
Jessica fingered at the buckles letting the ones on her ankles and legs clink against the metal of the chair before she undid the ones on her wrists. The skin beneath looked nasty red, streaked with welts from her tugging.
Last buckle off, Jessica nearly jumped as a hand gripped tightly onto her arm. But Jessica didn’t know what surprised her more, the boney look of those fingers almost inhuman against her fleshy skin or how dastardly cold Tiffany felt.
“Let me go.” Jessica ordered, cooly.
Tiffany’s entire body quivered, her parted lips cracking when she spoke. “They took her away.”
“Tiffany, let me go.”
“Don’t let them take Sooyoung away!"
Jessica’s jaw flexed. Tiffany’s grip on her was painful, but the lock of her eyes was suffocating.
“Don’t, please don’t, don’t…” Tiffany went inside of herself again.
Jessica glanced around the room for anything to sedate her, calm her down, get her back into the right state of mind. She knew where she needed to take her for that, but to leave this room she needed…
“Tiffany, look,” Jessica pulled her free hand from her pocket. The colors in her rubik’s cube were radiantly brilliant under the stark lights. “Here.”
Twitching fingers took the cube and immediately went to work.
Jessica rubbed the sore place on her wrist indented with Tiffany’s fingers and stood back. The sections of cube spun quickly in Tiffany’s determined grip. Legs pulling up in the chair, she crossed them in the seat and hunched her back over, all focus going into trying to crack the puzzle.
Leaning back against the wall, Jessica let out a long breath.
She’d wait.
-/-/-/-
“How’s she doing?”
Jessica angled her head up at the sky, watching the spring clouds roll through the misty blue expanse. Beside her Seohyun crunched along the gravel walkway of the Dream Bank courtyard. Her moments outdoors had become rare and ones at home nearly nonexistent. She’d take the chance she got while Tiffany was asleep to leave the confines of those white walls.
“Worn out.” Jessica dropped her gaze to look at the flowers that flanked the graveled walkway.
“Tiffany often tries to avoid her naps. We had her on a sleeping medication, but it tampered with her dream patterns.”
“How long has she been here?”
"Since before I was in charge."
Jessica looked over at her. That had to be longer than Sooyoung. Over six years.
"Do you know what makes Tiffany's dreams so special?"
Jessica shook her head as Seohyun stopped by a small birdbath. She watched as a bird shook out damp feathers.
"You know how dreams work when injected, right?"
Jessica had studied the process for years. The dream serum was injected right into the bloodstream like a shot. One injection held the ability to have dreams every night for up to one month. The serum worked as a stimulant activating the inactive part of the brain once used for dreaming. The more vivid a Dreamkeeper’s dream, the stronger the dream sedation.
Though it gave the ability to create original dreams, remnants of the Dreamkeeper’s dream would still be present. If Tiffany dreamt of flowers blowing in the wind, the person injected would see those same flowers while under. Whether those flower be in a pot on a desk amidst a work dream or held in the hands of a lover at the climax of a wedding proposal dream.
"Most Dreamkeepers see things in a haze like a memory so those injected have dreams in much the same fashion.” Seohyun went on to explain. “But Tiffany is different. It's like she's awake in her dreams and you yourself would feel awake on the receiving end."
Tiffany’s dreams were in sharp focus, bright, detailed, seemingly tangible. Jessica finally understood Seunghyun's warning as to why Tiffany blurred reality with surreal creation. To Tiffany, they were no different.
"You could say it's HD compared to standard definition,” Seohyun laughed a bit. ”and she creates them at alarming speed. Ten to twenty dreams in one cycle as opposed to the five to eight of the average Dreamekeeper."
Jessica’s eyes followed the bird as it flew away. "Why can she do this but not the others?"
"Genetics, perhaps? They’re rare cases." Seohyun looked over at her, eyes examining Jessica up and down. "Have you ever had a dream? On your own I mean."
"No." Her father never liked the idea of her and her sister going to Dream Banks. His argument was to make your reality into your dream.
Seohyun started walking again. Jessica quickly fell into step with her. “You should try bringing her out to the courtyards. Outside stimulation is good for dream development. She enjoys picnics.”
“Picnics?”
“That wouldn't be too hard for you to put together, would it?” Seohyun smiled. “Keep the patients happy, Nurse Jung. That’s when the best dreams are made.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jessica’s pager beeped. She looked at the time. Another extraction.
-/-/-/-
Jessica breathed in the misty steam of the Shower Rooms. The humidity clung into her pores, sticking her clothes to her skin and frizzing her hair so strands stuck to her cheeks.
In the hollowed space, she could hear Tiffany humming from the inside of one of the tub stalls. The hot water was the only way Tiffany ever came too after the Extractions. It got rid of the bone-chilling cold of her skin and thawed out the shock done to her mind with the procedure.
She went in one person and came out completely new.
"What does a kiss taste like?"
Jessica blinked.
Tiffany stood in front of the shower mirror, finger tracing the outline of her lips in the fogged glass. They stood out rosy from her white skin.
"What do you think it tastes like?"
"They must taste delicious if people always want them," Tiffany said matter-of-factly. "The doctors sneak into the extraction rooms at night, you know."
Jessica didn't think to ask how Tiffany knew this information. If she had gotten out of her sector before, there was no question about how she ended up on the third floor after hours.
"You've never been kissed?"
Tiffany shook her head, turning to Jessica. Her cheeks had gone as pink as her lips. That was all of Tiffany's color scheme: pink, black and white. Such purity in every shade that was intensified by her wide open eyes and innocent words.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?" Tiffany pulled a face. Jessica lifted an eyebrow. "I don't look like that."
"You do!" Tiffany turned back to the mirror. She rubbed her towel through her hair, muttering under her breath. "It always makes me feel embarrassed. Like I'm naked."
Jessica kept to herself that Tiffany was standing there naked. She figured if she pretended she wasn't her eyes would remain up instead of tempted to dip down to curvy, snowy skin.
"What's that face for?"
Jessica sucked in a breath, blinking at Tiffany who now stood directly in front of her. The scent of her tangy shampoo filled Jessica’s nose, making her chest feel more weightless than it already had.
Tiffany's head tilted, eyes washing over every bit of Jessica's face. Her gaze lingered on her parted lips before they flickered up at the same time a finger taped against the tip of Jessica's nose.
"You're not allowed to make that face either."
"Why not?" Jessica asked, letting herself relax now that Tiffany wasn't standing in front of her anymore.
"Because," Tiffany picked up her clothes and began pulling them on. "It makes me think about what kisses must taste like. Coming?"
Jessica had to pry herself from where she stood, following Tiffany out.
-/-/-/-
“Jessica?”
Stepping into the hall, she turned around catching sight of Seohyun and Seunghyun down a ways. Seohyun waved her over and she padded over quickly, passing by the Rec Room. Inside Tiffany motioned for her from where she sat at the piano. Jessica gave her a smile, finger held up to give her a moment.
“Yes, Doctor? Doctor Choi.” She bowed to Seunghyun who returned it.
“Seunghyun wanted to say a few words before he goes.” Seohyun smiled up to Seunghyun. He looked completely different out of his scrubs, hair slick and sweater clinging to his form. “I can take those from you.”
Taking a binder from Seunghyun’s hands, Seohyun walked off.
“I’ll be one of the members of the board in downtown if you ever want a shoe in.”
Jessica ignored his offer. “Thank you for training me.”
“You were fine on your own.” His head turned away from her, hands burying in khaki pockets.
Jessica followed his gaze to Tiffany. She played softly, swaying slightly as her fingers moved along the keys.
“She trusts you.”
Jessica bit back the smile that threatened to come to her lips. She had been nervous in the beginning. Where with Sooyoung there had been no chats or check ins, Tiffany had been the complete opposite. She had grown fond of her over the weeks. Even during her training days she had hoped to be able to become close with her patients - build a bond with them. They taught her that was the most effective way to care for your Dreamkeeper.
“I think it’s good that patients know that you have their best interest in mind.”
“Don’t forget about yours.”
“I’m sorry?” She blinked up to his stoic face.
Seunghyun’s voice lowered. “You ask a lot of questions - stick your nose into things best left alone. If you want to keep this job, or better, follow the rules and only do as much as you’re asked.”
Her eyebrow lifted, eyes narrowing slightly at the implications in his tone. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“Keep it professional, Nurse Jung. Don’t let Tiffany get into your head. I almost did.”
There was something about the way he said it that made Jessica’s stomach tighten. Something about the way he gazed back at Tiffany, lips tight. She wondered if Seunghyun had ever felt the same draw Jessica did when TIffany would cast her those smiles from across the room.
She wondered if it had anything to do with his departure.
“Thank you for the advice, Doctor Choi, but I have to get back to work.”
He nodded stiffly, hand gesturing for her to proceed on. Reaching the piano, she sank down onto the bench. Tiffany grinned over to her, not missing a single note as she scooted over enough for Jessica to sink comfortably.
Glancing back over her shoulder, Jessica watched as Seohyun approached Seunghyun again. Receiving an envelope from her hands, Seunghyun tucked it into his pocket with a bow. Hushed words past from Seohyun’s lips into his ears and he nodded, gaze shifting over to Jessica.
She quickly turned around, busying her hands with wrinkled sheet music on the piano stand. “How about we go outside for a few hours?”
Tiffany stopped playing, disbelief in her wide eyes. “Really?”
“We could turn lunch into a picnic?”
TIffany’s face lit up. It warmed Jessica to the core, turning her stomach light and airy. She could’ve sworn she saw excited tears well up in Tiffany’s eyes as she bounced on the piano bench. Jessica had to look away. It was just too pure - too heartbreaking.
Tiffany clapped her hands. "Can we go now?"
“Yeah.” Jessica looked back over her shoulder to see Seohyun finally walk away. “Let’s go now.”
-/-/-/-
Tiffany loved the bird bath.
She watched it intently while Jessica smoothed a cloth over one of the courtyard stone picnic tables. She wondered if Tiffany wouldn't mind drinking juice boxes today and not the carton milk patients were given with their generic, Dream Bank meals.
"Tiffany?"
"Shh.”
Jessica looked on as Tiffany held out a finger, placing it on the edge of the birdbath. The little bird inside regarded her a moment with a twitching head before it bounced onto her finger. Tiffany's face lit up as she stroked it's little, brown head, beak picking about her palm. When it found no food, it flew away.
Tiffany waved it off, giggling into the wind. Jessica squelched the feathery lightness the sound of it brought to her stomach.
"Come and eat."
Skip in her step, Tiffany fell onto the bench opposite Jessica. She hadn't been able to pack for a real picnic. Tiffany, like the other Dreamkeepers, were under strict diet. However Tiffany didn't complain. She bit off a celery stick and speared a fork into the tender meat on her tray without a word.
"What's this?" She picked up the juice box.
"Try it. It's good." Peeling the straw from the back of the juice box, she stabbed it into the little piece of foil on top and sipped. "Like it?"
Her lips smacked. "It's really sweet."
"I brought a few extra." Jessica showed her the rest wrapped in plastic. "Don't let Seohyun know."
Finger over her lip, Tiffany nodded, finishing the first one. Jessica handed her another. They ate lunch in silence, Jessica biting off bits of peanut butter and jelly while Tiffany licked her fork clean.
“The piano teacher used to take me and Sooyoung out for picnics,” she said, legs crossing beneath her.
“Who was the piano teacher?”
Tiffany shrugged. “She never told us her name. My old Caretaker allowed us an hour in the courtyards together. Sometimes she’d bring candy for us, but Doctor Kim would get worried.”
Jessica paused a moment. “Doctor Kim? Your Caretaker before Seunghyun?”
“Yup.” Taking the straw from her juice, TIffany chewed it between her teeth. "She'd sing with me and Sooyoung sometimes."
Cleaning up the area, Jessica thought back to documents and files. She had gone through Tiffany’s information front and back more times than she could count. They had started with Seunghyun’s notes with only mentions to the ones taken from a previous doctor. There had been no records of a Doctor Kim.
“When Sooyoung got sick, I never saw Doctor Kim again.”
"When did Sooyoung go into her coma?"
Tiffany frowned. Jessica almost regretted bringing it up but she was curious. Curious as to who the patient she had never truly known had been in the past. Curious about the things she and Tiffany would get into together before one lay still while the other was left to play in silence.
"Three years ago."
It happened after an extraction, Jessica had been told but nothing more. Whatever Extractor had been on duty hadn't entered the needles properly. They pierced through sensitive tissue irreparably. Sooyoung wasn't the same since.
"I miss her." A chewed up straw fell onto the table with the drop of Tiffany’s head.
Jessica wished she could say the same, but her relationship with Sooyoung had been short and silent. Their connection was only forged by the obligation to care for the woman and nothing more. Where Jessica had known her through paper, Tiffany had known her in the flesh.
By the sadness that crossed Tiffany's face Jessica could gather Sooyoung was more dynamic than Jessica could imagine. She had probably been part of some of the few happy moments Tiffany had in this place for Jessica hadn't seen Tiffany smile as brightly as she did when she caught her in Sooyoung's room that night.
"I want to go to my room now."
Stacking the trays, Jessica got up with Tiffany at her side. She opened her mouth to protest when Tiffany clung onto her arm but let it go.
Only someone truly broken would cling that hard and Jessica wouldn’t deny her the comfort in grieving with someone to help her find her strength at her side.
Part III
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Date: 2016-01-19 10:36 pm (UTC)