jukeboxhound_backup | eir's tomorrow, ch.5.3

xxx

Elena might have a hard time with tact or keeping her mouth shut, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d noticed immediately, while standing out in the hall in her pajamas and trying not to freeze, that Cloud’s…fit or whatever had happened the same night he threatened her. And maybe it was just coincidence, but for him to wake up the whole room like that—well, she was no doctor, but she wasn’t stupid.

She could tell that Cloud was one fucked-up kid, albeit in a quiet way. Rather like a Turk, all solemn and unnoticed until everything went up in an explosion of napalm, and maybe that was why she let her curiosity get the better of her. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Elena waited with forced patience for Cloud to wake up. Technically she shouldn’t have been there, but iron stubbornness and a few judicious tears in front of the male orderlies had won her a hard chair at Cloud’s bedside. If he didn’t wake up soon, though, then she would be forced to take matters into her own hands.

Fortunately for the remaining shreds of Cloud’s sanity, he started waking up on his own before Elena made good on her private promise. A soft exhalation and then his eyes slit open, silently taking in the hospital room and Elena herself. She unconsciously lifted her chin under the weight of his stare.

“You had the whole medical staff flipping out, you know,” she told him. “They had to call a SOLDIER down and everything to help.”

Something indefinable passed over his expression, but he didn’t ask the question that was surely burning on his tongue. After a minute, Elena finally blurted out, “What the hell happened last night?”

That was definitely embarrassment she saw. “Nothing,” he muttered, turning his face to the side.

“Nothing? Fucking hell, Strife, if that’s what you call ‘nothing’ then I’d hate to see what you considered terrifying!”

The look he gave her was one that clearly said, Yes, you would, and his seriousness quelled her outburst. “Were you on something?” she asked, somewhat subdued but no less dogged. “The doc thought so, he took a blood test. You weren’t, were you? Because if you were, I sure as hell don’t want whatever you had.”

“I don’t know what happened,” he said after a pause, meeting her gaze without flinching. Even so, every nerve in Elena’s body was screaming Liar! Liar!

Lowering her head and twisting her fingers in her lap, she murmured, “You scared the hell out of me.”

The blanket rustled as his fingers tightened into a fist, and Elena knew she’d gotten him. It took all her self-control not to start smirking.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, “I…didn’t mean to do that. Scare anyone, I mean. But I really don’t know what happened.”

He sounded sincere, at least, and maybe Elena was just projecting her sister’s paranoia—it wasn’t like there was a single person on the Planet without a secret of some kind. But dear gods, waking up to someone screaming as though they were being torn apart by a dragon had nearly given her a stroke.

“Yeah, all right. But you’re going to get quizzed by the doctor, I hope you know. I’ll get your homework just this once, but only if you let me copy.”

“…What?”

“Don’t tell me you thought ShinRa would let you get out of classes for free just because you had a bit of a rough night.”

Cloud was staring at her with wide eyes, looking as though she’d proposed breaking into a General’s private quarters instead. She wasn’t really one for blonds (personally she found brunets more appealing), but she might be willing to make an exception if he stayed surprised and sleep-tousled all the time. Finally he managed, “No, but…why?”

“Because I don’t do things for free—“

“No, I mean, why offer at all?”

Elena blinked at him. “You’ve got a tight ass.”

He flushed, and Elena couldn’t help laughing her own ass off. Well, it was partially true, at any rate, but she wasn’t about to tell him that she was also a bit lonely, being surrounded by all these hormonal male assholes, and didn’t he realize how much of a relief it was to find one that wasn’t constantly trying to get into her panties? She wanted to claim it was because she’d blurted out a bit of sensitive information around him and any good Turk-to-be would want to keep a close eye on her enemies, but she didn’t think anyone would be fooled by that one.

The arrival of the doctor interrupted her giggles. He was a small, thin man with a permanent furrow between his dark brows from constant stress, and he looked over first Cloud and then Elena with tired eyes.

“Your visiting time is up, cadet. Please return to your barracks.”

“No.” She raised her chin stubbornly. “I’m staying here.”

The doctor sighed. “Cadet, please, I don’t want to have to report you to your commanding officer—“

“He already hates me, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“Cadet—“

“Elena,” Cloud broke in softly, “please, don’t make this more difficult.”

His expression very nearly made her change her mind, but then she remembered the strong hands gripping her arms and the sickness in her belly at what she was sure she couldn’t prevent.

“Cloud, stop being stupid,” she scolded, and said to the doctor, “I’m his friend, and therefore I have every right to be here. So spill.”

The doctor must have truly been too exhausted to argue, because after a loaded glance at Cloud he murmured, “Strife, do you know what caused your paroxysm last night?”

“No,” came the flat reply.

“Have you consumed any alcohol or drugs within the last seventy-two hours?”

“No.”

The doctor flipped through the pages on his clipboard. “We performed a blood-test and found several anomalies, including the presence of mako. Were you aware of this?”

Elena felt cold shock run down her spine like ice-water. Cloud, on the other hand, was suddenly inscrutable, his expression carefully neutral.

“…Yes, I was.”

“May I ask how it got there?” If the doctor’s voice was rather dry, well, Elena couldn’t exactly blame him. She was still staring at Cloud.

“I’m from Nibelheim, a reactor town. It’s been there for almost two decades, and some of the pipelines aren’t exactly…up to date. It’s pretty common for the kids there to get mako sickness, before they build up a tolerance, but I…” He paused, apparently to get what might be painful memories in order. “I got stupid one day, wandered off…I fell into one of the springs.”

The doctor’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he found his voice. “How are you not comatose?”

Cloud shrugged and turned away as though embarrassed.

“I’m going to have to make a report on this,” the man muttered, half to himself, as he flipped through several pages once more, “come up with some kind of control regimen, I can’t imagine what that much mako must have done to someone so young…”

At the doctor’s words Cloud’s head whipped around so fast Elena thought he might give himself whiplash. “What?”

“Your records say you’re applying for the SOLDIER program. We’ll need to develop some kind of medical procedure to make sure you haven’t been harmed or somehow left weaker from your accident that might cause—problems.”

That last word wasn’t what he was going to say, Elena noted with narrowed eyes. She had been all but forgotten by now, left to watch the doctor try to gather up the remains of his professional calm while Cloud seemed ready to break something.

“It happened years ago and nothing’s gone wrong yet,” Cloud said with an undertone of anger. “The only reason I had problems last night—“

“Two nights ago,” Elena chimed in before she could help herself. “You slept through a day of training.”

“—two night ago was because of a fight with another cadet in which things were said that shouldn’t be.”

“If an argument with one of your peers can cause you such stress, then it would be best to—“

“I’m fine.” Cloud’s tone gave Elena the urge to salute him. He was now sitting up, pinning the doctor in place with pure will. “I’m not the first person to have been so clumsy and the fact that I’m still alive and functioning should be more than enough proof for you.”

A staring contest ensued between the two that left Elena rather impressed at Cloud’s stubbornness. Most cadets had neither the guts nor the mental capacity to argue with a company doctor while still having a chance at winning, and without being dishonorably discharged in the process.

“Fine,” the doctor finally sighed, “on two conditions. I want you in here at least twice a month, for an abbreviated physical, and your company commander must be made aware of your situation.”

“I…would be more comfortable if it were Commander Gysahl that was informed,” Cloud admitted stiffly, referring to the man that supervised the squad sergeants. The furrow between the doctor’s brows deepened.

“Who’s your regular commander?”

“Sergeant Tokka.”

“…Ah.”

Elena burned with curiosity on why the doctor stopped arguing after that. He sighed again and ran a hand through messy dark hair before scribbling something on his clipboard. “I don’t need to tell you that I’m uncomfortable with this arrangement, but considering the uniqueness of your circumstances and the fact that this is the only incident to come of your mako sickness, I’ll make an exception. For now. The second I see something going wrong then I’m bringing this forward on an official level, got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ve already made a note to schedule an appointment for you exactly two weeks from today. My name is Doctor Libra—I’ll be handling your case directly.”

“Yes, sir.”

Now that Cloud had gotten his way, he was perfectly polite and contained. Elena had to raise her hand to cover the threat of a smile.

“Since you don’t seem to be suffering any ill effects, I’ll leave it up to you whether you rejoin your squad for the remainder of the day or head back to your barracks. Cadet, please make sure he doesn’t overexert himself.”

The temptation of a sexual innuendo was just barely resisted. “Yes, sir,” Elena agreed.

“Good. You’re free to go, Strife.”