A White Tomorrow [A Team Rocket Fanfiction]

Chapter 31

Jessie was admitted out of the hospital before James was. It was hard to camp out with the twerps without him, but she knew that it was for a reason and that when James was able to get out he'd be at his best. Well, as best as he could be in his current state. So when he was finally let out, Jessie was the first to get to his room and she forced herself to keep her excitement to a minimum.

"Get a lot of rest and stay off your feet as much as you can. Those ribs are going to bother you for a while, so don't do anything you wouldn't normally do that would make the damage even worse," a nurse said to James, who just absently nodded as he stood with his arms gingerly wrapped around his chest. His face had regained some color but he still looked so hollow, but once his eyes caught sight of Jessie at the doorframe his eyes warmed to a look that made Jessie give him a grin she couldn't hold back. The nurse eventually took note that he wouldn't pay attention to her anymore and she respectfully nodded and left the room.

Jessie hesitantly walked up to him and put gentle hands on his shoulders. She so badly wanted to hug him, as they had always done countless times in the past, but she didn't want to put him through any more pain.

"For someone who's been bedridden for the past week, you sure look exhausted. Either way, you're still attractive," she joked quietly, fingering his jagged hair that had grown a bit the past several months. Maybe sometime she could find the time to cut it for him. It didn't make the bruises or the black eye look any better on him either.

Apparently, he didn't have a retort ready. Instead he just rested his chin on her shoulder and hummed, probably the only way he could express the most affection without jabbing his insides. Jessie felt a sense of guilt now that the relief and happiness of seeing him faded away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Jessie carefully wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling the bandage beneath the new burgundy hoodie he sported. Maybe if he had focused more on himself instead of her he wouldn't have gotten so hurt.

"Don't be." He assured. "I don't regret anything."

Jessie felt her throat tighten and she pushed it away. She had cried too much in front of him lately. "I would punch you right now if I could."

"I know." She could hear the smile in his voice. "And how are you doing? You hadn't come by since the second day, I wasn't the only one trapped in that stadium, y'know."

"Oh, I'm good. Except this funny thing happened, I had a blood test taken and apparently we're having a baby. Crazy, right?" They both giggled at that.

"What a pleasant surprise." James took a moment to embrace her a little longer. The quietness of the hospital wasn't getting any more comfortable. "Let's get out of here, shall we? I've been smelling the same soapy fragrance every day and I miss the pine trees."

Jessie nodded, feeling better knowing he was happy. She grabbed his hand and together they walked out of the hospital, where the twerps and Meowth were waiting at the entrance,

"Nice to see you back on your feet, James," Brock said, but he was interrupted before James could say anything.

"I'm so sorry this all happened, " Ash blurted out in a panic, directing most of his apology to James since he had already seen Jessie. "I should have been more careful! I was supposed to prevent this from happening, that was the whole point of us traveling together, wasn't it? It all went so wrong and they still found you in the end, and you guys even got hurt..."

This wasn't the most ideal reuniting. Jessie and James gave speechless looks as Ash rambled on uncontrollably.

"It wasn't your fault," Jessie started, "We didn't get captured because of you. For the most part." Jessie scoffed at herself. It's partly because of me. "But we're back, James and I are fine, and I don't think we'll have to worry about Team Rocket for a while now, so I think it would be best for all of us if we just put it past us." She crossed her arms and smirked when she noticed him calm down.