Time for another chapter of this.
Chapter 2:
Frowning as she closed the newspaper in her hands, Lightning took a deep inhale as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn't believe that this was how her return after a weekend off was going. But this was how it was going to go it would seem.
'When I get in, I swear I'm hanging Trey by his toes unless he has a decent reason for talking to the press about that case.' Lightning hissed as she tossed the folded up newspaper onto the counter as she took a deep breath before she downed the now cold coffee.
Hearing her phone start to ring, Lightning took another deep breath and prayed that it wasn't going to be the principle calling her again because Lumina had managed to break her record and get in trouble in the ten minutes since her day officially started.
Staring at her phone with a raised eyebrow at the sight of Serah's name coming up on the screen. Swiping her thumb across the screen, she just rested it against her ear as she let out a sigh. "Serah, is this actually important? I have an officer I need to slam with so much desk duty that his great great grandchildren will be doing desk duty for their entire career." Lightning said as she picked her boots up before slumping into the chair.
Wincing from the ear piercing whistle Lightning had to resist the urge to toss her phone at a wall because of how much hearing she lost in her ear. But she knew that Serah had to have a reason for causing the ear violation.
"Class calm down." Serah said causing Lightning to raise an eyebrow at that statement once again. Sliding her feet into her boots, Lightning took a few minutes to just hope it was a pocket dial that her sister hadn't noticed. "Claire, you still there? Vanille passed out and smacked her head against a desk and the ground... get over here as fast as you can because Van needs to go to the hospital at the very least to check to see if she is concussed or at the very least to your place. I'm going to be with her but you seriously may want to hurry up."
Not even waiting for her sister to continue, Lightning hung up her phone before and ran out as fast as she could with her boot laces still being loose. This was something that was a lot more important to her than her simply being late to work, or even tying the lengths of lace.
Blinking her eyes, Vanille winced as she could see a bright light filling her eyes, Vanille just brushed the offending object away from her causing another wince as she could see her pink haired friend standing behind the nurse. Just causing her to wince almost as much as the pain from the back of her head.
"Serah. Back up. I'm fine." Vanille said as she started to sit up. She could almost feel like she was being dragged to sit against the front of her desk. Just groaning a little as she raised her hand to just rub her head.
"Van, your head is bleeding. There is no way you are staying in work. Claire is I'm assuming on her way. She just hung up on me." Serah said as she bent down and took the pen light from the nurse and batted Vanille's hand away from the bleeding wound. "Your class is being taken care of. They are being split up amongst my morning class and the second grade room."
Wincing from the light filling her eyes again Vanille just nudged Serah's hand out of the way as she took a few more minutes to compose herself. "What is with everyone and the shining lights in my eyes? I'm fine. Just my head is killing me and I'm not sure if it is from falling down or just a headache." Vanille said as Serah rolled her eyes before quickly walking around the desk to pick up Vanille's bag. Quickly dumping the contents onto the table, she could see the nurse raising an eyebrow at the gesture until she could see the item in Serah's hand.
"Nah, Serah. It's cool. If you want mints you could just dump the it-" Vanille spoke before freezing as she could see her reflection in the mirror. The small amount of red liquid starting to spill from a small wound. "What the..."
"You smacked your head against one of the tables. It isn't deep... but again Claire is on her way. And despite how much I would rather... the very least you need to do is go home and rest... but it is ultimately up to Claire to decide." Serah said as she gestured for the nurse to go out of the room, she just couldn't help but want to try and stem her sister's anger that would spring forth, a type of anger that she knew had few things that can be compared to.
Tilting the mirror up a bit more so she could get a decent look, Vanille frown deepened before she rested it on her lap. "Serah, it already is starting to clot. And it is just a scrape. I'm going to be fine." Vanille said as she frowned as she could hear the heavy foot falls of boots jogging down the hallway, Vanille just took a deep breath as she knew what it meant.
"Why did you have to call her?" Vanille asked rhetorically as she could see the pink haired police chief bursting through the open door before quickly navigating the small obstacle course that was desks and chairs from her students before she came to a stop next to Vanille nearly shoving her own sister out of the way.
Before Vanille could even register the feeling she felt Lightning's arms quickly wrap around her and pull her tight against herself. Something that only slightly dampened the sound of hearing some of the worse news she had received all day. "We are heading to the hospital Van."
"I'm fine. My head is already healing." Vanille spoke softly as she could see her wife quickly tying her boots, something that just made her feel a bit worse about the situation because she knew that it meant she could have injured herself, but she also knew that there was going to be no way she could really get out of this situation. Even when she really wanted to. "I mean you have work. You are meant to keep everyone safe. I'll just get a cab or something home."
Before Vanille could even really register it, she could feel herself being lifted up in the strong arms of the pink haired goddess that barged into the room. "I radioed ahead and got an emergency day off." Lightning began as she carefully looked into the small trickle of blood on her forehead. "As for Lumina." Lightning began as she looked towards Serah who just smiled at her nodding her head as though she was letting Light know it was okay. "Serah is going to take care of that." Lightning said as she started to carry Serah out of the room.
Normally she would have laughed at the way Vanille was trying to fight her but she knew that this wasn't going to be something that she could exactly take a lax stance with. Not when it was something that clearly was wrong with Vanille and she had the stubbornness to never get checked out if it didn't kill her instantly. A quality that most of the time Lightning wouldn't mind she had and even did in most situations because it really was her making a mountain out of a molehill, but right now. It was different. Something clearly was wrong.
"Van, I don't want to have to fireman carry you out, but I will. This is happening." Lightning scolded as she could see the fighting and squirming in her arms start to die down before fully dissipating. Something that just made Lightning relax a lot easier because she knew that this would make what was to come even easier. All she really had to do was get Vanille into her car and then when they got to the hospital out of the car. Both things she was thankfully trained in. She just never wanted to need to put into practice what she learned with her family.
Even when said family some times probably deserved it. But right now she knew that she could keep Vanille focused. If not she also knew that she could play a lot dirtier that would guarantee Vanille's cooperation. She just didn't want to have to use that either.
"I'm going to fight the entire time if you drag me there. Just take me home Light. All those quacks will say is I need some more rest. So let's cut out the middle man." Vanille said as Lightning shouldered the door tossing it open as she continued to walk down the path.
"I'd rather a to quote you 'quack' mention that. Van, your head was and probably is still bleeding. You could be concussed, or worse this could be connected to the headaches you've been having and there could be something extremely wrong." Lightning said calmly as she could see an almost defiant look in Vanille's eyes still glinting. "I mean if you don't want to do it for me, at least do it for Lumina. Because if you try and sleep with a concussion especially because you clearly can't walk and I'm positive that you can't hold anything properly if this is a continuation of what is going on." Lightning scolded as she quickly shifted Vanille around in her arms, she was about to open the door when she could see out of the corner of her eye to see her sister opening the door.
Gently lowering Vanille down, Lightning just smiled as the sulking continued as she turned to face her sister. "Serah, this best be important." Lightning snapped at her sister who she knew was probably meaning best, but she just couldn't afford this time sink.
"Don't get snappy with me Claire she is my sister in law, mother of my niece and a best friend, I'm just reminding you to call the highschool. I can't pick up Lumina otherwise. Just make sure it doesn't get back to Lumina because she is just as much of a worrier as you are and would intentionally be sent home just so she can be there with you two. And call me when you get the chance." Serah demanded as she could see her sister letting out an annoyed sigh.
"Fine. Just. Can I leave? Kind of panicking here." Lightning said as she took a few steps back to close the door. Just glad that at least she didn't need to worry about even more, just because she knew that this was going to be an uphill battle.
"Go. And seriously don't forget that you need to make two phone calls. I need to go explain to a bunch of children why they aren't going to be in Mrs Farron's class for a while." Serah said as she smiled faintly at the sight of her sister practically jumping over the hood and in through the open door before driving off.
'Claire is totally going to forget to call the highschool... I just know it... I'll just need to call her at nap time to remind her.' Serah though calmly as she walked back into the building, just hoping that Vanille was going to be alright. Even if it was some strange complication from a pregnancy, she just knew that it would be a lot better than anything else that could be wrong with her.
As she walked in, Serah couldn't help but just take a deep breath as she walked slowly past the door that contained the other half of Vanille's class. Biting her lip, she just knew that this would be the right time to at least inform the teacher of the situation.
Playing with the latch lightly, Vanille just took a deep breath as she contemplated if she could break the glass, but she also just knew that there had to be something or some way to get her out of this situation.
"Play with the door all you want Vanille, this is my work car. The doors are reinforced, glass is bulletproof and that door specifically has an extra lock I flicked when I put you in the car because I know how much you don't want to do this." Lightning said as she contemplated if she should turn on the siren but knew how easily it would be for people to link a false siren to her and she already had some minor public relations nightmares she had to handle.
Smiling slyly, Vanille reached over to gently paw at Lightning's leg. "Are you sure there is nothing I can do to change your mind?" Vanille asked in the same sultry tone that she knew worked every time they were alone. A tone that worked so well that she still remembered the awkward conversations they had because they got caught in one of the holding cells.
Glancing over Lightning reached down and gently moved the hand. "Yes Van I'm sure. And even if I wasn't, the bleeding head is enough of a turn off that would make me not want to have sex again."
"If you make me go in that may be a thing that will happen. At least until your birthday." Vanille pouted crossing her arms as Lightning shook her head. "Bad enough I let you convince me to let those quacks shoot that crap into Lumina when she was a baby. Now you two don't get along." Vanille continued to sulk as Lightning took a deep breath.
"You mean when we vaccinated her? That has nothing to do with her attitude. That is just her being a teen. My family always goes the opposite of our parents in our teen years. I mean I joined the military to protest my hippie parents. The vaccines is just to stop preventable things so we don't give big baby coffin our business because Lumina caught something." Lightning said quickly looking around as she started to spin the wheel just enjoying how traffic had thinned out considerably since she left earlier.
Pouting again as she started to look out the window, Vanille just took a deep breath as she imagined what it would be like pain wise to just attempt to punch the window out. She knew that it would be pretty bad, but the only major thing that was stopping her was the fact that she knew that then she would need to go to mend her hand.
"Van, just do this for Lumina. You could seriously die, I mean you grew up without a parent. Could you imagine how much that would destroy her? How much that would destroy me?" Lightning asked knowing that she was fighting dirty, but she just had to stick with it. She had to make sure Vanille got checked out and tested.
"I don't want to do this. If anything this is keeping me against my will." Vanille continued as she could see the building coming up in the distance. She just knew her window for getting out of this was becoming slimmer and slimmer.
Deciding to just go for broke, Vanille quickly leaned over the centre console and started to paw gently at Lightning's pants just so she could get out of this situation. That was until she felt a strong hand against her head just moving her up. "Van, seriously. You could have had a stroke, you could have died. And again, the blood is a turn off. I just want to make sure you are alright." Lightning said calmly as she started to pull into the parking lot for the emergency room section.
Twisting the key, Lightning took a deep breath as she looked towards Vanille sitting across from her. "Are you going to come in willingly? Or am I going to need to get physical with you?" Lightning asked as she opened her door before sliding her keys into her pocket. As she spoke she frowned internally at the sight of Vanille crossing her arms pouting the entire time.
Sighing, Lightning leaned over and pressed the button to unbuckle Vanille as she climbed out and closed her door. She couldn't help but remember some of the check ups she had to drag Vanille to when she was pregnant with Lumina but this time they just had something far more pressing. At least she knew of a baseline to how hard this was going to be.
Opening the door, Lightning just couldn't help but groan very vocally as she could see Vanille having at maintained her stance of not going to come willingly but at least knocked the seatbelt back into its home. As she slid an arm under Vanille's legs and used her other arm just behind Vanille's back, she just laughed a little as she could see Vanille start to let her body going limp.
"Van, I frequently lift twice your weight. Ragdolling isn't going to work." Lightning said as she quickly kicked the door closed as she started to walk towards the building.
"I wish you weren't so strong." Vanille sulked as she continued to keep her body limp just so she could make this as difficult as possible. She didn't want to be called a quitter, but she also didn't want to be there. Especially when it was over something as silly as a bit of blood coming from her head. She knew that a bit of dirt would be enough to heal her head quickly and even help build up her immune system for winter.
"I'll remember that." Lightning sarcastically said as the door's parted and she quickly walked over towards the nurse's station and placed the red head down onto the counter. Just laughing internally at the sight of Vanille pouting further. "You had a chance to come in willingly."
"You so are never having sex with me again." Vanille said crossing her arms throwing her head up in protest as she looked away. Trying her hardest to ignore Lightning while contemplating how far she could get if she tried to run away from the pink haired woman who was standing next to her.
Patting the counter letting her displeasure of what was taking so long, Lightning smiled as she could see one of the nurses finally making her way towards them. Placing a hand on Vanille's knee to prevent her from running while she talked to the nurse, Lightning couldn't help but roll her eyes as she could see the woman holding up a clipboard.
"She has external bleeding on a head injury, can't walk or hold things properly and has lost consciousness. Do we really need to fill out a form this exact second?" Lightning said exhausted as she could see the woman finally look up as Lightning gently nudged Vanille's head to show the injury as the woman continued to pout. "Now can she get in quickly before she tries and runs?" Lightning continued to ask as the nurse began to look over Vanille.
"She seems fine for now." The nurse stated as Lightning took a deep breath and contemplated if she should pull out her badge just so she could deal with this a lot faster. But also knew that she would need to decide how much of a PR nightmare she wanted to deal with.
"I know hospital procedures, and I know the fact she lost consciousness is more than enough by itself for her to be at the top of the list. The fact she is or at least was bleeding and has the possibility of further brain damage is more than enough to get some doctors to get their asses to her to start checking her out." Lightning bit a little harsher than she might have intended, but she knew more than enough to get Vanille to a doctor.
It was getting to the point where she wasn't even going to care about what it might look if she started to smack around her badge. Hell she would gladly give her badge number to the staff to report her. As long as Vanille was going to be looked after. Something that she knew she could at least pass off as the staff at the hospital not really doing their jobs and her just being emotional with the thought of her wife going to be injured and possibly brain damaged.
"Seriously, I get that you might be running on fumes, and I'm being emotional. But there is a fine line between getting ev-."
"See they can't have me. I'll just go wait by the car and I'll sleep this off." Vanille said as she moved Lightning's hand and jumped down. Taking a few steps, Vanille frowned as she could feel herself fall over.
Groaning internally at the feeling of herself barely being stopped from hitting the ground she just stared back up at Lightning. "This. Proves. Nothing." Vanille said as she allowed herself to be picked up by the pink haired wife.
Hoisting the woman up again, Lightning continued to hold her as she could see the nurse quickly picking up the phone causing Lightning to just smile that she had gotten her way and without needing to flash her badge and even possibly her gun.
As a wheelchair came out Lightning lowered Vanille down just enjoying the sulk that had maintained over Vanille's face. As she crossed her arms. Lightning just smiled faintly at her. "I won't be long. I'm going to fill out the forms and call the highschool." Lightning said softly as she just cupped Vanille's face.
It was the first time during this visit that Lightning could see the unmistakable look in Vanille's features. One that she knew was probably the real reason she didn't want to be here. The fear of this place that most of the time that Lightning was fine indulging in. But not after what she had just witnessed.
"Please... don't be long..." Vanille asked softly as Lightning just smiled at her.
"I'll be as fast as I can." Lightning said as she separated from Vanille and could almost feel a small amount of dread just from the simple fact that she knew her wife was going to be near tears in just fear from being here without Lightning being nearby.
Turning around, Lightning snapped up the clipboard and just practically wanted to scream at the fact that this had to be done, but she knew that in most circumstances that these kinds of forms did make her job a lot easier. She just didn't like the fact that right now it had to be done. Not to mention that it was only a small bit better because it would prevent her just a bit longer from needing to call Lumina's school and do further red tape work just to make sure Lumina was picked up by someone that wasn't her or Vanille.
Tapping on the paper, Lightning just took a deep breath as she just knew she had to sort out the entire thing. Pulling back a little, she just smiled at the form being filled and quickly handed it to one of the nurses.
"I need to go make a call to my daughter's school, she has already been let through." Lightning said as to not make their life any harder as she started to walk out of the waiting room. Fishing out her phone, Lightning pressed her back against the wall and slide down a little as she quickly dialed the number.
Taking a deep breath as she rested her phone to her ear, Lightning almost laughed at how this was starting to hurt her just as much as it had been hurting Vanille. Hearing the phone on the other end pick up, Lightning almost laughed at the rehearsed message.
"Hey Lulu, it is Lightning. Neither me nor my wife are able to collect Lumina after school today and we are sending my younger sister to do so. And don't inform her of this change. Because we all know what she would do given her history." Lightning said in an almost identical rehearsed message as she could hear a chuckle. A chuckle that was just enough to get Lightning to sigh internally but also made her just not want to poke that bear. It was just a headache that wasn't worth the trouble. Not while she was worrying about Vanille.
Author's Note:
And I have another chapter for you all. Hope you guys liked that. Twas fun to write.
RagnarokXIII: Believe me, I know of Prudence Chastity's works. Hell even had a cheeky 'Smoke and Mirror's' nod last chapter. But trust me, this is the kind of writing I do best. So buckle up. By the way Serah and Fang do come up frequently from the chapters I have done.