Re-W: Can't be Happening
Info: a Re-Write of my One-Shot, made into a short chapter story.
Summary: Cloud doesn't want to believe it, but he has to face the truth. How can he go on without the one person he ever loved, ever trusted? Angst. ZackxCloud S.
Birthdays.
They were a time for celebrating, a time to look back and wonder how you survived those three-hundred sixty-five days. Sometimes the most anticipated, and the most exciting day of someone's life. For others… it was merely another Monday, Tuesday… or whenever.
Birthdays to Cloud, well… birthdays to his mom were big occasions. Cloud got to see the people he loved, got to have cake, and then open gifts he probably didn't need. That was just how his mother planned them, every year, no matter how old Cloud was or how mature. She always took it upon herself to throw him a party.
Cloud's phone buzzed wildly on the pillow next to him, but he lay there, trying to ignore it the best he could. Who ever was calling, surely wasn't willing to drop it and leave him alone.
Whatever it was.
Cloud slipped out of his kip, and stretched his aching arms above his head reluctantly. The floor was cold beneath Cloud's feet, making chills crawl up his skin and then back down. His stomach churned in circles, and a nauseating feeling rose high in his throat, but he didn't feel sick. Not hardly.
Something felt terribly off all of a sudden, and Cloud couldn't figure out what it was.
When Cloud got out of the bed, he stumbled, and lost his balance against the closet door. He grasped the door knob for leverage, hoping that he wouldn't fall.
Cloud never lost his balance.
"Cloud, are you okay up there?" Mrs. Strife asked from the bottom of the stairs.
Cloud turned his head, and inhaled a breath.
"Yeah. I tripped. I'll be down in a minute."
"Okay, dear." She said to her son, before he pushed himself into the bathroom and closed the door.
He stood in front of the mirror for at least three minutes, trying to blink the exhaustion from his eyes. The boy became bewildered by the anxiousness that was creeping inside of his bones. It pulsated, ached, and made him itch.
What could be so wrong tonight?
Cloud shook his head and turned on the sink. The running water drowned out the sound of rain by only a little. Cloud stared at it for a moment, then delved in and closed his blue eyes. With his hands, he threw cold water over rosy red cheeks. It felt so icy cold, and it took the breath from Cloud's lungs.
Not shortly after, did he hear the constant buzzing occur once more.
Cloud groaned out of annoyance, and went to the phone without even attempting to dry his face.
Fifteen voicemails. Five texts.
The worry in his stomach increased as Cloud read each text. Something was more than off… something was completely and utterly wrong.
New Text Message
From: Yuffie Kisaragi
You need to call me back now.
Sent: 7: 45pm
New Text Message:
From: Aerith Gainsborough
He has to see you…
Sent: 7: 30pm
New Text Message
From: Aerith Gainsborough
Cloud? Are you OK?
Sent: 7: 06pm
New Text Message
From: Yuffie Kisaragi
Cloud fucking Strife, this is no time to avoid your phone!
Sent: 7: 03pm
New Text Message
From: Yuffie
Emergency.
Sent: 6: 50pm
The clock on the wall read 8:30. Cloud swallowed hard the lump that formed in his throat, and he hesitated listening to the voicemails.
The first one was from Zack, who could barely be heard from all the static and wind around him. Figures he would be driving down the road while trying to call. The message was normal, from what Cloud did get to hear, but in the middle of a sentence, Cloud heard an indescribable noise, followed by the sound of something screeching.
The message cut off then.
I don't guess I need to worry about that… He could have been anywhere.
By the time Cloud went to listen to the others, his phone vibrated in his palm. He pulled it away from his ear, and saw Yuffie's name flash across the screen.
If she had any more right to yell at the blonde, it would have to be now.
"Yuf-"
/Do you have any fucking idea how pissed off I am?/ She interrupted, her voice worn out and scratchy.
Cloud flinched, "Is everything okay? I was listening to my voicemails, and-"
/Oh, were you?/ She hesitate, took a breath and sobbed a little, /Cloud… I don't have time to scream at you. You need to come to the hospital. Now./
"What happened?"
/It's Zack…/
The pounding coming from his chest went to his ears and then further into his temples. Cloud felt a tighter knot forming in his stomach. Zack…
/He was in a really bad accident, Cloud… You have to get here… Fast./
After that, Cloud's whole body was numb.
He dropped the phone at his feet, and stood for moments, thinking about it. Zack… Zack was in the hospital, and Yuffie was urging him to get there fast.
In reality, that could only mean one thing.
That he didn't have long before…
I didn't answer the phone… I could have already been there. Cloud screamed in his head.
He snapped back to his senses then, and rushed over to the dresser to pull out a pair of black jeans. He had no time for anything else, and he slipped his boots on the wrong feet before dashing down the stairs quicker than he could ever imagine.
Cloud couldn't remember the last time he'd ever driven as fast as he had on the way to the hospital.
Mrs. Strife had rode with him, sitting in the passenger's seat without any complaint towards how reckless the blonde was being. Especially after Cloud explained to her the situation.
Zack was dying.
At the Emergency Room entrance, she told the nurses that she was Zack's mother, and that they needed to get in Intensive Care Unit to see him.
They asked no further, but Cloud had already pushed through the double doors and buzzed himself in.
At the sitting area, Cloud ran into Yuffie, Aerith, and Sephiroth. They were sitting together, Aerith leaning against the silver-haired man for comfort. Yuffie turned her head at the sound of the doors, and then jumped up looking at her friend.
She greeted him with tears, and a sad smile.
Cloud hoped he hadn't been too late.
"I'm so glad you're here, Cloud… he's been asking for you…" Yuffie told the blonde.
Cloud shuddered, "Is he still…"
"He said he wasn't going anywhere until he saw you first."
"Where…?"
Yuffie pointed to the room across from the hallway bench.
The doors opened again, and Mrs. Strife walked in and called out to her son, pleading with the boy not to go anywhere else without her.
It had been too late, though.
Cloud opened the door to Zack's ICU stay, and walked briskly to the blue-tinted gray curtains. With a shaking hand, Cloud pulled back those curtains, and looked upon his best friend.
"Cl…Cloud."