Now standing in his apartment, Rude moved into the spacious living room and checked his phone for messages. There was one from Elena informing him that they had left for Junon and to make sure that Reno got to work on time tomorrow, which was her subtle way of telling Rude to drag him out of bed in the morning. In all honesty, Rude felt a small sense of worry for his friend. It wasn't everyday that Reno had upped and left in such a bad mood. Well, it did happen on occasion, but never with Reno's temper as short as it had been today. Rude moved into his bathroom and began to run the shower. He shrugged his jacket off and neatly folded it, placing the garment on the side unit. He then proceeded to undress and stepped into the shower, savouring the relaxing sensation of falling water. As a part of his regular routine, he switched his shower radio on, listening to the loud booming music over the pattering water.
xxxxxxxxxx
Reno was dumped unceremoniously down a back street alley situated away from the hustle and bustle of the Midgar nightlife. He was still unconscious when the gang left laughing and boasting about their victory against ShinRa. As daybreak hit the city morning showers followed, torrents of rain pelting the bloodied Turk lying face down behind a few trashcans. At one point during the early morning Reno had awoken. He cracked the eye, which hadn't been punched shut open and gasped a few times, trying to roll over to avoid drowning in the growing puddle of water and blood. He successfully moved onto his back before passing out soon after.
This was how Tifa found him. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed. His flaming hair stuck to his battered face. One arm was draped limply over his midsection and his ripped suit was torn in so many places. She noticed the steady flow of blood dripping from his shoulder and the many bruises adorning his face and body. She would not have recognised him if it were not for his distinctive hair.
"Reno?" she gasped in disbelief and she moved to his side to check his pulse for any sign of life. There was a weak beat and his breathing albeit shallow and irregular was noticeable. She shouted his name again close to his ear but he didn't respond, and so with a great sigh Tifa grabbed the Turk under the arm careful of his wounds and began to drag him out of the alley. It worried her that the man didn't even flinch as she yanked on his bleeding shoulder or even as she dropped him accidentally at her doorstep.
As she entered the bar that she worked in (now closed due to the mid morning hours) Reno made a soft sound, almost too quiet to hear. Tifa checked him over again and wiped the matted hair out of his face. He seemed to be halfway between unconsciousness and reality.
"What have you got yourself into now you stupid Turk!" Tifa moaned, running her hands through her wet long hair irritably.
xxxxxxxxxx
There was no answer when Rude had knocked on Reno's apartment door. He really didn't expect an answer anyway. Rude had an accurate image in his head; Reno was sleeping off one big hangover most likely. That or his work partner had gotten 'lucky' last night and still had company. The second idea was unlikely, as he knew Reno never stayed around long enough for the morning chats one might have after spending the night with someone. It was something Rude did not quite understand and he found it harsh on the women that Reno did it too, however the red-head himself often appeared quite indifferent about it, claiming that he had left the girl enough milk in the fridge for a cup of coffee and that was good enough.
Either way Rude had to go in and drag him out of bed. He used the key Reno had given him for when he himself was too drunk to work the door and took a step into the Turk's domain. It was the complete opposite to Rude's own apartment- messy and unorganised. Rude stepped over the numerous take-a-way boxes and toward the room at the back of the apartment.
Being polite, Rude knocked on Reno's bedroom door. Again no answer.
"Reno," Rude ventured knocking again. After a whole two minutes of nothing, not even the odd angry retort, Rude opened the door cringing at the loud creak of the hinges. The bed, even though crumpled and dishevelled had obviously not been slept in last night and on further inspection Rude had gathered that Reno hadn't even been back to the apartment last night.
A slight pang of worry flickered within Rude before he pushed it out of his mind. "He may have surprised us all and turned up early for work," Rude reasoned to himself, though in his head he was very extremely doubtful.
xxxxxxxxxx
There he slept, her apparent enemy. Tifa perched on the stool opposite the bed watching the man worriedly. Cloud was away at the moment with Denzel and Marlene, visiting Barret, but she could imagine his expression as if he was in the same room. He would be scowling at the thought of a Turk (especially Reno) being in their house, but she remembered that the Turk's had helped them a short while ago, effectively saving her and Cloud from the run in that she had with Loz. Reno and Rude had even tracked down the missing children. Tifa also suspected that they had something to do with the flashy explosion (wounding Loz and Yazoo in the process) that had occurred during the fight between Cloud and Sephiroth. Nobody had really noticed it but Vincent and herself. They had acknowledged it. They were the only ones.
In any case Cloud was not here to protest and Tifa had felt compelled to help him, even with the issue of him dropping the sector 7 plate killing some of her friends and a whole lot of people in the process. The battered and bleeding form of Reno, the almost innocent face he wore whilst sleeping, was making it hard for Tifa to hate him. She busied herself with the task of dressing his wounds.
She began by peeling off his work jacket. The white shirt underneath was soaked in sweat, alcohol, blood and rain. A large gash was running from his collarbone to his stomach, the bullet wound created a hole in the flimsy material. As the shirt was discarded, she actually gave an audible gasp. His lean but toned body was patterned in cuts, bruises, a gun wound… She saw the bruising around his ribs and knew at once that one or more of them were broken. Thankfully the rain had washed away the majority of the dried blood from his hair and face and so there was little to clean. She applied the bandages to his ribs tightly; she did so easily; he was so light! His face was also cleaned up although he didn't appear to have improved much. Her attention was drawn to the dirty suit trousers that he was wearing. Hesitating and slightly embarrassed, Tifa hoped that he didn't choose to wake up and she rid him of them. Reno's legs were bruised, a long gash outlining the calf muscle on his left leg was also patched up, but other than that Tifa decided that he was ok.
There was however the gruesome task of removing the bullet from his shoulder. It was lodged deep into the flesh, close to the bone in fact. Using a pair of sterile tweezers she skilfully removed it without much hassle. Only once did Reno wince in his sleep, but he didn't so much as move an inch. Tifa, now aware that he would probably come to soon, swiftly stitched up the gaping wound. Taking a brief observation of her handiwork, she pulled the thick blanket over the wounded man and left with his clothes.
Reno awoke to the sun on his face, warming it. Blurred vision through his one good eye made it difficult to determine where he was; the pain was also distracting him from his normal train of thoughts. His vision began to clear and a dull greyish room came into view. Its furnishings were basic, a small bed, a drawer for clothes and a basic table in the corner with medical supplies and a bowl of water sitting on it. It all seemed vaguely familiar, somehow. He tried to sit up and yelped at the fiery pain shooting threw him. He fell back, his head falling against the soft pillow. It was then he noticed the tight feeling about his chest. He managed to move his good arm to lift the blanket and take a look at what was causing it. He discovered that he had been stripped down to his boxers and all of his wounds had been bound. Pain still erupted in his shoulder when he moved it but was no longer unbearable.
As if suddenly hit with the idea, Reno once again shot up. This time too fast. He leaned too far right and found himself falling clumsily out of the bed, getting tangled in the bed sheets in the process. A hoarse scream of pain left his lips and he cursed himself for letting the person who had treated him know he was awake. He recognised this place, he had been here before and it made his stomach knot uncomfortably. The voice confirmed it for him.
"You're not meant to be out of bed." It was the chiding voice of Tifa, hands on her hips, a serious look upon her face.
" I need…I need to get to work, yo," Reno panted through gritted teeth. He would rather be back in that alley dead than face this lot of misfits. His lack of clothing also made him blush uncharacteristically. If it wasn't Tifa that had dressed his wounds (which was bad enough) it must've been Cloud. Reno groaned inwardly at the thought.
"If you think you can get up and go to work in your state then you must have hit your head a bit too hard." Tifa watched as he attempted to get up but as he put weight on his injured arm he cried out in pain and fell back down. She glided over to him gracefully and knelt down so she was eye level with him.
"I don't think you'll be going today Reno," she ordered. Reno felt extremely stupid and nauseous. Apparently he couldn't get away with the pain of being battered, he had to have the hangover as well. He mumbled something incoherent and then proceeded to retch, forcing himself onto his side. Tifa rushed to his side and felt his forehead. He scowled, breathing deeply.
"Ok then, back into bed. You have a fever," Tifa said more softly. She picked him up easily earning a hiss of pain from the redhead. Once settled on the bed, Tifa untangled the sheets and draped them over his sweating body, she kept her gaze firmly on a spot on the wall. Reno began to feel hot under the confines of the thick blanket and he protested weakly. Tifa ignored the pathetic ramblings and placed a cool cloth soaked in the water from the bowl on the table on his head. His eyes were glazed, his breathing still deep.
Tifa's large brown eyes appeared to be concerned for the ill man. She smiled half heartedly dabbing his head, wetting his crazy fringe. She gave him a drink spiked with sleeping tablets, hoping that he would sleep off the temperature. He drank it willingly, though obviously annoyed at Tifa's hand keeping his head pressed to the glass.
"Where's chocobo head then?" Reno mumbled sleepily. Tifa almost laughed at the name.
"You mean Cloud?"
"Mhm," Reno confirmed half asleep.
"He's away with the kids at the moment," she answered quietly.
Reno half laughed and half coughed, "happy families," he slurred closing his eyes. The way Reno said it caused Tifa to stop dabbing his head, he sounded sad and tired, but not how you would think. She went to reply but he had fallen asleep. The encounter left Tifa thoughtful and eerily empty, but she got up and left the room to clean the bar ready for opening.
