What if? (Greyster)

Work and Sleep

Gaster looked over at Jessica once again. In the five minutes she'd been passed out, he had laid her on the sofa, checked her signs, and covered her with a 'blanket' (his lab coat). She normally looked peaceful when sleeping- the only times that she looked remotely peaceful come to think of it. Now, however... he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. She looked so in pain. Why did I put so much emotional stress on her soul? I knew it was fractured.

He found himself wondering why he even cared so much. In all fairness, he told himself, he didn't know.

He sat back down on his chair and watched her intently, hoping for some sort of change. Her vitals had indicated that she was only unconscious, but he was worried nonetheless. She was very still, and only the slightest rise and fall of her chest indicated breathing. Her face was still twisted in a pained expression, though he now noticed faint tears glinting on her cheeks. He put his head in his hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid! You did this to her.

She stirred. Gaster looked over hopefully only to be dismayed even more. She was clearly having a nightmare. She turned over and was curled up, hiding from an attacker only she could see. Gaster was debating whether to reach out to comfort her when she began whimpering, at first incoherent. When she began to form words, however, that worried Gaster the most.

"No, no... me... not them... I deserve..." Her mumbling continued and she tossed and turned.

"NO!" Her sudden cry startled Gaster and he leapt back. She was sitting bolt upright, breathing heavily. "Nrrrgh!" she cried out as she bent over and clutched her chest.

"Miss Grey!" Gaster stood up and rushed towards her.

"No!" She held up her hand. "I'm fine." She took a deep breath and lowered her hand. "It's nothing."

"Miss Grey, you were passed out for ten minutes. I would hardly call that nothing."

She adopted a look of surprise and her hand lowered from her chest. "That's new. Usually, pain is the only effect."

"Let's go back to base and get you some rest."

"No, finish your work, Dr. Gaster. I'll wait."

After a short protest, Gaster indeed returned to his work, as she suggested. He kept glancing back to check on her as he worked, each time wondering why. This is the woman who killed Sans! Eventually, he stopped himself and focused fully on his work. After another few hours of working, it was dark outside.

"Alright, I'm done, we can-"

He cut off abruptly after realizing that Jessica was long past hearing him. She was curled up, catlike, on the sofa, sleeping peacefully. He shook his head, puzzled. She looked like it was the first good sleep she had in weeks. He turned back towards another project. When he thought about it, it probably was.

He got his phone out and notified the Dreemurs where they were, should Sans or Papyrus wake up while he was gone. He then began the arduous work of fine-tuning his third resistor.