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It was a long night that seemed to drag on forever. Jax could never get a good night’s rest no matter how hard he tried. Something about the circus made it difficult. That and his pink room. Why did Caine give him this room? He hated it, but just has to deal with it. Not like he has a choice.
Jax was laying flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His expression was blank. Well aside from the pure exhaustion. He had bags forming under his eyes. Time didn’t even feel like it was passing anymore. What time is it? Eh doesn’t matter. He’s too tired to care right now.
Without thinking, he turned his head towards the pictures on the wall. God he misses Ribbit and Kaufmo. But, it’s his fault in the first place. He pushed them away. He caused them to abstract. And now, he has to live with that regret. There’s so much he wishes he could take back. All the pain and guilt has been slowly building up inside. Probably not much longer before it comes bursting out. No matter how much he doesn’t want it to.
Not wanting to be consumed by these thoughts anymore, he sat up on the edge of the bed. He hung his head down low and stared at his feet. His body was moving on autopilot at this point. His head gradually emptied and the fog in his mind took over.
Automatically, he stood up and went to his desk. He sat still for a moment, then opened a drawer down below. Inside, he found a MP3 player. He grabbed it and fiddled with it. He put on different songs throughout the night. Eventually, he rested his head on the desk. As the playlist he put on continued to play, Jax finally drifted to sleep.
A few hours later, the sun rose. Jax still had his face pressed into the desk. He was completely knocked out.
There was suddenly a knock on his door, startling him awake. He jumped up, still disorientated. He groaned as he rubbed his forehead. “Ugh, god my head…” The person knocked again. He groaned again. “Coming!” He stood up and opened the door. His body felt strangely heavy.
On the other side of the door stood Pomni, with that same gentle smile of hers. “Hey Jax. How are you?”
He stared at her with an annoyed expression. “I’m fine. Can you leave me alone?” He said bluntly.
Pomni’s smile dropped. She suddenly got worried. “Are you sure? You can talk to me if you need to.”
Jax sighed. “Pomni, I said I’m-” He got cut off by a sudden sneeze.
“Are you getting sick?” She asked.
He sniffed. “Don’t worry about it. Just go.” Hearing just enough, she pushed past Jax and shut the door. “Wh-! What are you doing?!”
“I’m not leaving. You clearly aren’t feeling well.” She stated firmly.
“Pomni just go-” He got cut off by another sneeze. To be honest, he was starting to feel worse by the minute. His body felt weak and he fought to stay standing.
“Bed. Now.” She demanded as she pointed at the bed.
Jax sighed in defeat and walked over to lay down. It actually felt pretty nice, but he wasn’t going to admit it.
“I’m gonna get you food. Be right back.” Pomni walked out of the room.
Now alone, he tried to relax as much as he could. He exhaled and closed his eyes. The bed was actually very comfortable. Maybe it was because he wasn’t feeling well or he was so exhausted. But he didn’t care right now. He could probably fall asleep within a few minutes.
But before he could, Pomni came back with a tray of food. “Alright, I got you a bowl of soup.” She sat by the bedside and put it in his lap. “Eat up.” She encouraged.
Jax looked down and stared at the soup. He’d rather just sleep right now, but if Pomni insists. He picked up the spoon and began eating reluctantly. After twenty minutes, he finished the bowl. He forcefully shoved it back to Pomni. “There. Happy?”
She took it back. “If it helps you feel better, yes it does.” She put the tray on the floor for now. “Anything else you need?”
“Nah. Just don’t bother me and let me sleep.” He said, clearly irritated.
“Alright, fine. I’ll be here if you need anything.”
Jax sighed and rolled over, facing away from her. He layed there for a few minutes, unable to relax. But once he did, he easily fell asleep. Pomni soon heard him snoring. Though because he was sick, it sounded congested.
Later on, Jax woke up from body aches and sneezing. He sneezed roughly and whined. “Pomniiii!” He was feeling worse than before.
“I'm right here, Jax. What do you need?” She replied. He just shrugged and whined again. Pomni sighed. “Jax, I can’t help if you don't tell me.” He whined even more. She groaned. “Alright, scoot over.” She decided to crawl into bed with him. She sat up against the wall and had him rest his head on her chest. “Is this better?” He nodded and she chuckled. “Good. Now try to rest.”
Jax wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face. Pomni went ahead and pulled the blanket further over him. It wasn’t long until Jax fell asleep once again. Pomni was pretty trapped for the rest of the day. She eventually rested herself.
The next day came without warning. Pomni woke up first though. She lifted her head and yawned. Then she looked down and saw Jax still asleep on her chest. Though he left behind a small stain of drool on her outfit. But Pomni didn’t mind. She looked down and gently petted his head. “Jaaaax. Wake up.” The bunny groaned and slowly opened his eyes, feeling disorientated. “Goodmorning. How do you feel?”
He reached up and rubbed his eyes. “I dunno. Still tired.” He mumbled. Then he layed his head back down. “Going back to sleep…” He said as he closed his eyes once again.
Pomni decided to not bother him anymore. Though Jax did feel warm to her. So she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. And sure enough, he was getting a fever. She lightly shook him. “Jax, wait. Don’t get comfortable yet. I need to get you a wet towel.” He whined in response. “I’m sorry, but I need to get up real quick. I’ll be right back.” She shifted him over and got out of the bed, leaving Jax laying on his stomach. She quickly left to grab a small towel and run it under cold water. After a minute, she came back with the wet towel in her hand. She crawled back into bed and let Jax lay his head on her chest again. Once he got settled, she layed the towel across his forehead on his hot skin.
Jax let out a sigh of relief, enjoying the feeling of the cold water on his head. He soon settled down again and fell back asleep.
A few more hours passed until Jax woke up again. He groaned as he opened his eyes. His body felt unusually heavy. His head was pulsating from the intense pain. Though he realized he hadn’t moved the whole time as he found himself still on Pomni’s chest. However, the jester herself was asleep where she was sitting.
Jax attempted to push himself up. But all he could manage was getting himself on his back, sitting up next to Pomni. Once he was sitting up, he started feeling lightheaded. But he also started feeling hungry. Jax shook Pomni by the shoulder. “Pomni.”
A moment later, she raised her head and opened her eyes. “Jax. How are you feeling?”
“Hungry.” He said bluntly.
“Oh!” Pomni shot up. “I’ll go get you something. Be right back.” She got up off the bed and left the room to go get food.
Meanwhile, Jax layed still and stared up at the ceiling. Though he could feel himself start to lose his grip on reality. Everything was blurring together, to the point where he didn’t know what was going on anymore. Soon, a faint outline of Ribbit appeared in his vision. He weakly smiled. “Ribbit… You’re back…” He muttered.
Pomni soon came back with another bowl of soup. “Okay, I got your food.” When she looked up, she saw Jax still staring at the ceiling with a tired smile on his face. She felt very confused. “Uh Jax? What’s going on? Are you okay?” She carefully approached him.
“I’m fine, Pom. Just welcoming back my friend, Ribbit…” He responded.
She immediately froze in place, shock going through her body. She had heard Ragatha mention them before, and knew they ended up abstracting. So hearing this from Jax was baffling to say the least. She carefully approached him. “Wh-What do you mean?” She asked.
“She finally came back to me…” He muttered. His gaze continued to look at the ceiling, the outline of Ribbit getting clearer in his vision. It was like a haze or fog. He smiled up at the outline.
Pomni was getting very worried now. She carefully set down the tray she was holding and walked up to the bedside. She placed the back of her hand on Jax’s forehead. Just as she thought, his fever went up. He’s delirious now. She snatched the towel back and got it wet. Then she started wiping his face. “Jax, you should probably rest for now.” She said as she gently patted his face. She decided to pick up the bowl of soup and feed it to him, since he was clearly getting worse. With every spoonful she held up, Jax would automatically open his mouth. He eventually finished it.
When he was done, he started feeling drowsy. “Pomni…?” He mumbled.
She glanced at him. “Yeah?”
“Do you think…I’m a terrible person…?”
Pomni wasn’t sure how to respond. Moreso because she was caught off guard by the question. But she had made up her mind. “No. Yes you’ve done bad things, but it’s not too late to change.” She said as she gently rubbed his shoulder.
He lazily shook his head. “No…it’s too late. I’m too broken…” He muttered.
Pomni never realized Jax felt this way about himself. Then again, he never talked about himself to begin with. Regardless, she sympathized with him. “You’re not too broken. And I’ll be here for you.” She pulled a blanket over him and gently pet his head. “It’ll be okay, Jax.”
He shut his eyes. “I’m broken… It’s no use…” He continued mumbling to himself and it gradually became incoherent. Eventually, he quieted down and stopped as he fell asleep.
Pomni sighed and looked down. She wished she could do more to help Jax. Something to make him feel better about himself. In the meantime, she remained at his bedside, hoping he’ll feel better soon.
About an hour later, Jax turned his head from side to side. “Pomni…” He muttered.
The jester heard and glanced over. “Jax? Is something wrong?”
He lifted his arm a bit and patted at the air. “Where…?”
She quickly grabbed his hand and held it. “It’s okay! I’m right here.” She rubbed his hand gently.
In response, Jax smiled. “PomPom… Heh stupid jester…” He mumbled.
Pomni chuckled back. “Even when you’re sick, you still tease me.”
Jax remained still for a while as Pomni still held his hand. Then he softly groaned and finally opened his eyes. Pomni looked up at him and smiled. “Hey. You’re finally awake.”
“Pomni, what happened?” He asked.
“You had a high fever. Are you feeling better?”
“I think so. I feel a bit dizzy though.” He rubbed his head a bit.
“Do you want some water?” Jax nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”
Before Pomni walked away, he grabbed her arm. “Wait!” He shouted. She glanced over her shoulder. He hesitated for a moment. “I-I… I’m sorry. For everything.”
Pomni turned around in surprise. “Wait, what?”
Jax let go of her arm. “I’m sorry. For hurting you, pushing you away, messing with you, all of it. I’m not good at opening up to people. I was a complete jerk and shouldn’t have acted that way.” He started tearing up and clenched his fists. “I get it if you don’t forgive me. I’m just so so sor-”
Pomni cut him off. “Jax.” She placed a hand on his cheek and wiped away his tears. “I know you didn’t mean it. And I’m glad you apologized. It’s a step in the right direction. I forgive you.”
Jax started breaking down crying. “Why?” He said through his sobs.
Pomni sat down on the bed and hugged him. “As long as you’re willing to try, I’ll be right here. I care about you, Jax. And I always will.”
Jax returned the hug. “I don’t deserve this.”
“Heh, well accept it. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jax smiled and sniffed. “Thank you, Pomni.” He felt like he can finally breathe again.