Revealing

Rick furrows his brow as Katie speaks, unsure if this is believable or not. But he had witnessed this with his own eyes. Jason had been fine…he and Katie had conversed….Jason had been thrown into an attack…Katie had gone to him…Jason was okay again. It wasn’t medical…there was no logical explanation that Rick could see. Jason was physically fine. He should not have been suffocating. But something in his mind had told him he was….something had deprived him of energy and the will to extract oxygen. But…what did all this mean?

He says nothing, but waits for more.

Jason finally opens his eyes, moving his free hand to rake his fingers through Katie’s hair, trying to soothe her. This was no one’s fault…she didn’t deserve this kind of pain.

He glances to Rick as his breathing continues to level out. “We don’t know what’s happening, Rick…neither of us can…” He stops, dreading his own words. He had hoped there was a solution, but right now there seemed to be none. “Apparently we can’t…can’t survive without each other.”

He thinks for a moment, trying to sort it out in his own mind. “Until this morning, I thought it was a one way street…that Katie could feel me, and when she couldn’t…when I would block her out…that it affected her quite negatively. But now…it’s more. It works the other way too.”

Rick takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He wanders to the door and shuts it quietly to avoid disturbances, then comes closer and sits in the chair, remaining calm and logical. “Can you feel her like she feels you?”

Jason shakes his head. “No. It’s almost like…like I transmit feelings and she receives them. If I stop transmitting she…” He tries to think of some way to explain it. “I guess she starves almost. And now…if she stops receiving, it’s like everything is thrown back in my face and I can’t handle it.”

“And your emotional and mental state…both of yours…when extreme it affects you physically.” Rick absorbs the information. “Fascinating.”

Jason quirks an eyebrow. “To you. To us it’s been a nightmare.”

“How long have you known?”

“Katie’s been able to sense me from the getgo. It just got stronger and stronger ‘til whenever I’d have an emotional spike, good or bad, she knew about it and based on what I’m feeling, she can tell what’s going on around me or where I am. Me…I didn’t know it was too much more until I started manipulating my own feelings to block her out…while I was in prison I did that, and learned to shift emotions around quite easily.” Jason pauses. “But it was just recently that it got more severe. Katie feels everything…anything if my emotions rise above normal.”

“Wow.” Rick shakes his head, amazed at all of this, and intrigued. “So you’ve been trying to block things so she can’t feel you all the time, right?”

“Yeah. Then last night I forgot, and…” Jason can feel his face redden again. “Well I was here with Camryn and…” A nod from Rick signals he need not elaborate. “I guess Katie so badly didn’t want to be feeling it that she shut me off, which is why I had that attack.”

“Then this morning just now…?”

“I relived those same emotions to see if she’d do the same thing.” Jason squeezes her hand. “And she did.”

“So…basically you two have to be working together, even when you’re apart.” Rick rubs his chin, his mind trying to wrap around this. “What are you going to do?”

Jason lowers his eyes. “We don’t know. I was hoping…that we could get rid of it.”

Rick lets out a long sigh. “Can you…communicate when you’re not together?”

Jason furrows his brow. “Kind of…it’s not like telepathy, like words, it’s just…feelings. Its like the emotions have their own language. Katie feels me differently than I feel her. With her, she can sense everything about me. With me, I seem to be able to sense when she’s near because of her pull on my feelings. But we both can kind of…tell what we’re thinking by our emotional responses…I guess…sort of…” He sighs with frustration. “This is crazy.”

Rick raises his eyebrows. “Yes, kind of. But what else can you say? I know you’re not lying, and I can’t deny what I saw.”

“You don’t think we’re crazy?”

“You have two of the most level heads I know. No, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think you got your work cut out for you…and I’m afraid if you two can’t figure things out, that it will cause some permanent harm…but not crazy.” Rick leans forward, trying to see Katie’s face. “Hun, are you okay?”