Page 55

Right as one of the biggest waves of the evening began to approach, Jamie kicked up off the water, and arched his back as he launched into a high, twisting flip.

As his body moved in the graceful arc of a fluid rotation, the wave changed its course.

In a stunning display of raw, uninhibited power, the massive wave rushed forth towards Jamie—cresting over him in a perfect barrel that, for a moment, took on the shape of a crescent moon.

When it crashed, it didn’t touch him. Rather, it seemed to break all around him, and then it joined the stage Jamie had crafted beneath his feet, and rushed up in several streams around him, before he spun fast on his heel and threw out his arms, the entire pillar of water bursting out in every direction like a fountain.

Jamie did not fall, though; he twisted and turned through the air as if gravity itself was owing him a favor, and landed upon the receding waters with a flourish .

There were no words to describe the way Jesse felt in that moment.

In wonderment, he stared, taken in by the majesty of what he saw.

And then the answer suddenly came to him, leaving him wondering how it had never dawned on him before.

Jamie wasn’t just ‘good at dancing.’ No, his talent was nothing more (and nothing less!) than a consequence of what he was doing here , an echo of something far deeper.

This was Jamie’s true self.

No matter how little Jamie remembered about himself, his body had always known. The way he moved, the way the waves responded as though they were an extension of him—this was who he was meant to be.

It was raw, breathtaking, and undeniably Jamie in his purest form.

After practicing for a very long time, Jamie seemed to decide it was enough.

He let himself drop into the waves. And although Jesse still felt a flicker of fear at the reminder of when Jamie fell through the ice at the lake, it had seemed pretty evident this time that it was done intentionally.

Jamie hadn’t seemed to be too tired, and he certainly hadn’t looked like he was close to passing out. He had just… dropped.

Also, he was an excellent swimmer, obviously, so Jesse was resolved not to let himself be worried.

After a few moments, Jamie reappeared. His head broke free of the water, seeming to dry almost as soon as the initial drops rolled off it.

Calmly, he walked up out of the deep, as if he were in no hurry to reach shore, and was taking his time to enjoy a well-deserved soak in the waves.

By now, the rain had long since stopped, and it was easy to see Jamie’s smile as he approached Jesse’s spot on the beach.

“Well?” he asked, panting a touch. “How did I look?”

“Amazing, breathtaking, stunning, and beautiful, as always,” Jesse told him, smiling back.

He moved to stand—but immediately gave it up as a pang shot through his heart.

He was barely able to stifle the groan as he settled to remain seated in the sand, wishing he could get up and meet Jamie halfway.

The sooner this power was withdrawn from his chest, the better.

“The seal is wearing off, then,” Jamie sighed, losing the smile and replacing it with a look of concern as he reached Jesse and knelt beside him on the beach. “I was watching you while I practiced, and I could sense that it was happening.”

Had he really been watching out for Jesse the whole time, despite working so hard on his practice? Somehow, Jesse felt deeply touched by the thought of it.

“I can manage,” Jesse promised, as Jamie put a hand against his chest to renew the seal. “And as long as you’re around, I’ll be alright.”

Jamie smiled at him again, but sobered after a moment, letting out another deep sigh as he looked out across the ocean.

“…What’s wrong?” Jesse asked.

“Nothing,” Jamie shook his head. “I’m just… thinking about how much I love you.”

The words carried such a sweet, tender message… so why did they sound so sad?

“I love you too,” Jesse said earnestly. Slowly, as Jamie locked up the powers in Jesse’s chest, the pain faded away. “And, how are you holding up? Not feeling too tired out yet?”

“Not quite yet,” Jamie said. “I could stand to practice for an hour or two more, I think, if you’re alright with that. But if you ought to go to the hotel now, I can call it a night.”

Jesse took hold of Jamie’s wrist, casually checking his pulse and noting that, while beating pretty quickly from the exercise, it seemed normal for now.

And, aside from the breathlessness and a slight sheen of sweat on Jamie’s brow—both within the normal levels of exercise as well—Jamie appeared to be fine.

“I think I could also stand another hour,” Jesse decided.

“I’m really not feeling too badly, and besides, I like to watch you work. ”

Jamie smiled, taking Jesse’s hands in his as he leaned in to give him a soft, gentle kiss. “Guess I’d better get back to it, then,” he whispered. “Give you something better to look at.”

Jesse smiled too and reached up to push a strand of white hair out of Jamie’s eyes, and then leaned forward to plant a kiss on his forehead in return. “Be careful.”

“I promise.”

The second round of practice went by much like the first. Jamie continued to perfect his dance, moving in sync with the rolling waves as if he was just as much a part of the ocean as it was a part of him.

At a certain point, it became impossible to tell how much of the tide was natural, versus how much of it happened because of Jamie.

And as darkness began to close in, it became harder and harder to see just about anything at all.

Finally, Jamie returned to the shore.

But… something was different this time. Almost as soon as Jamie reached him, Jesse noticed that his breathing had grown a lot heavier, while his face betrayed a flushed heat, and his eyes looked more exhausted than Jesse had expected.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Hmm?” Jamie blinked at him for a moment, and then seemed to realize what he’d said. “Oh, yes. I… I’m just tired.” He closed his eyes for a moment and got back into safe form.

“Alright, then, let’s get back to that hotel.”

They collected Jamie’s shoes and made their way up the sands back to the parking lot, Jesse’s concern growing when he realized Jamie was moving more slowly than usual, too.

But he didn’t want to fall back on any kind of paranoia, as he was really trying to be more trusting of Jamie and his ability to know his own limits.

So he said nothing; just climbed into the car with Jamie in the passenger seat, handed him a chocolate bar, and drove.

Their hotel was only a ten minute drive away, but by the time they got there, it was clear that something was actually wrong.

Jamie hadn’t said a word for the entire drive.

He hadn’t opened the chocolate bar or made any attempt to eat it, and when they pulled into the hotel parking lot, he didn’t even seem to register it, and didn’t get out of the car until Jesse told him to.

He was trembling, too, Jesse realized, as if he were cold, even though the summer breeze was still notably warm.

“You should lie down,” Jesse told him once they’d got into their room. “You’re not looking too well…”

“I didn’t… push too hard, though,” Jamie mumbled, running a hand down his flushed face as he obediently laid down on the bed. “I was bein’ so careful this time…”

“I know,” Jesse assured, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting a hand against Jamie’s forehead—and the hot skin under his palm confirmed what he had already feared.

Jamie had a fever.

Nothing that Jesse didn’t know how to handle though, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t expected any aftermath at all. Still, this was something new.

Maybe this was more than just a little worrying…

But, at least they weren’t in the middle of a frozen lake this time.

Suddenly, a shiver ran through Jamie’s body, and he began to switch back and forth; his hair and eyes turning white and blue before immediately fading back to dark, and then repeating the process twice, accompanied by more shivers and a faint moan as Jamie’s eyes fluttered shut.

It looked as if he’d lost control of his abilities entirely.

“Um, you’re not… trying to go Cruella de Vil on me again, are you?” Jesse tried for a joke, though feeling extremely tense as he did so.

“N-no,” Jamie muttered, starting to breathe heavily as he lay in bed, beads of sweat forming on his brow. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”

Jesse didn’t need more of an explanation than that. They had already been there before.

“Jamie, there’s no need for you to be in your safe form right now,” he tried, biting his lip as he checked Jamie’s pulse again—shocked to find that Jamie’s heart was now pounding hard in his chest.

The shaking and sweating increased even more, forcing Jamie to give up on trying. His hair settled into its usual state of white. He let out a slight groan, or rather more of a whimper, as he kept panting shallowly for breath. “I c-can’t do it…”

“That’s okay, really,” Jesse promised, swallowing hard at the way Jamie sounded.

This was taking such a sudden turn for the worse.

He put a hand against Jamie’s forehead again, wincing at how hot it was getting.

He needed to get Jamie’s temperature down, now.

Gently and carefully, he got Jamie’s pants off, to cool him off and make him more comfortable.

The fewer layers were trapping heat against Jamie’s body, the better.

Then he went into the bathroom and ran a washcloth and a few towels under lukewarm water, wringing them out just enough to keep them from dripping.

Back in the room, he draped the wet towels around Jamie’s legs, and pressed the washcloth against his forehead.

It didn’t seem to do almost anything at all.

Minutes crawled by, and Jamie’s condition only worsened.

Jesse sat on the edge of the bed, his hands clenched into fists as he stared at Jamie’s pale, sweat-drenched face. The towels had done little more than dampen his fevered skin, and his breathing still came in shallow, uneven gasps.

Damn it, if only Jesse had brought a thermometer!

He wanted to check and see what Jamie’s exact temperature was, so he could gauge exactly how worried he should be.

But he hadn’t brought much of anything medical except for a bottle of over-the-counter acetaminophen he’d packed (just in case Jamie was too busy for placing a new seal, and the stinging in his heart would get too intense).

So he couldn’t do anything but guess at Jamie’s condition.

Jamie shifted slightly on the bed, his breaths growing more rapid by the minute. A low, broken whimper slipped from his lips, and Jesse’s chest tightened. He brushed the damp white hair back from Jamie’s forehead, his hands trembling as he did so.

Then, he pushed himself back to his feet.

Going back into the bathroom, he began to fill the tub with water.

At first, he tried to make sure it wasn’t too cold, letting the water run over his fingers as he tried to find the right temperature to bring down a fever without being too much of a shock to the body.

But then he remembered that Jamie literally had control over ice .

Being ‘too cold’ might actually help him.

Once the tub was full, he grabbed a glass and filled it with water as well, to take back out to Jamie.

Returning to his side, he propped him up gently, and coaxed him into swallowing an acetaminophen tablet.

Jamie’s head lolled against Jesse’s chest, his lips barely parting to take the pill, but somehow he managed.

“Good,” Jesse whispered, brushing his thumb over Jamie’s clammy cheek.

“You’ve got this.” Without wasting another second, he lifted Jamie into his arms and carried him into the bathroom.

His body was limp and fever-hot, his weight pressing heavily against Jesse’s chest as he carefully lowered Jamie into the tub, shirt and all.

Jamie drew in a sharp gasp, his back arching as the cold enveloped him.

“Here, let me fix that,” Jesse muttered, though he knew Jamie likely couldn’t hear him much right now, if he was as delirious as he seemed. “Sorry if it’s too cold.”

He turned on the hot water, just to let the bath get a little bit warmer, but before it had the chance to make any difference at all, Jamie let out another gasp, sharp and ragged as he jerked in the bath, a sudden, uncontrolled motion that splashed water over the edge of the tub.

Jesse frowned, knowing that it shouldn’t be affecting him this much—but Jamie’s body jerked once more, before it began to flinch and twist uncontrollably, each movement more violent than the last. His jaw slacked open, his lips parting in a strained, erratic breath, and his eyes went vacant and wide, staring straight ahead as though seeing something far away .

The understanding of what was happening struck Jesse like a bolt of lightning, and the room seemed to tilt as panic roared in his chest.

Jamie was having a seizure!