Note: I'm SO sorry that this took so long to do. I had writers block, and then it went away, and then it came back, and finally it went away again and I had prom, and a band trip, and graduation and work and blaaaahhh. So yeah. I'm finally done with chapter three which is dedicated completely to SESSHOMARUHASAFLUFFYTAIL (which he does, by the way) The theme to this story as far as titles and chapters go, is Frank Sinatra, thus forth a million kudos to you, Sessh and here's the newest chapter.

Chapter 3: Luck Be a Lady

Roxas learned many things about his surroundings within the first week of living there. First of all, Axel was weird. That was a topic all its own. Second, Riku and Sora were best friends in every sense of the phrase. Third, Demyx was a lot better of a therapist than the woman at the hospital. Lastly, the clinic was an okay place to live.

Axel was weird for many reasons. One reason being, that no matter what he was talking about–biscuits, his dog, his neighbor's car–every lesson was clear as crystal by the time he left and Roxas would lay motionless in his bed wondering how a moldy biscuit was the perfect example of the American Revolution.

Another thing Axel did, which in all honesty annoyed Roxas, was he woke the paralyzed blonde in such odd manners. One morning Roxas woke up to being nose to nose with the red-head, who at the time was straddling his legs. Roxas ended up almost head-butting the tutor until Axel dodged out of the way. It was moment like that Roxas wished he could lift his arm and punch his teacher square in the nose. Riku and Sora would always lay laughing in their beds at the scene.

Sora was sickly. Roxas figured that out on his second day at the clinic. Of all the patients at the center, Sora was one of the sicker ones. He could move only from the waist up, he had to stay on an oxygen mask when he slept, and he took what could be called a cocktail of pain and treatment medications. Sora would have an episode every other day where he'd have to take a nap in the middle of the day and lie in what the doctors called an iron lung in order for his lungs to learn how to breath again. Every time Sora was put inside the large metal tube, Riku sat next to him in his wheelchair all day.

Roxas had also come to find that no matter what, Sora and Riku were inseparable. And neither of them would have it any other way. Riku was the one to write Sora's homework for him when he was in the iron lung or when he was too tired to move on his own. Often times Riku did his homework all together, then he would get scolded by Axel the next day because somehow Axel always knew. Neither of the boys were ever angry at the other. It seemed to Roxas that Riku could barbecue Sora's left leg only to be asked for him to share with the boy the leg originally belonged to.

Roxas's legs were massaged every day by a man named Demyx. He was the hydrotherapist of the clinic. Every day after Axel left, Demyx would come in with a hotplate, a pot of water, and four rags. He'd plug in the hotplate, heat the water to a certain temperature that was the hottest Roxas could stand and no hotter, and let the rags soak. After that he'd lay two rags on each leg and let them sit until they almost cooled and he'd let them soak again as he massaged Roxas's legs carefully. This procedure was followed by a similar method used on his arms.

Demyx was odd in a similar way to Axel, only less obnoxious. He was always happy and optimistic, like Sora, and he was always eager and hyper. He always seemed like he was in a hurry, as if he was in a race against someone to have Roxas walk before someone else. Even so, he did it in an unimaginably happy manner. When Demyx was around, it was as if the whole world was forced to smile just because Demyx was.

Still, the most interesting thing to keep an eye on at the clinic, the one that kept Roxas entertained the most was Axel. Even though Roxas was annoyed by Axel every day in every way, Roxas couldn't help but like him. It was...unexplainable. He hated Axel so much for all the pestering the red-head did every day, but he could help but laugh at his antics. He still wanted to hit him though.

"So your homework tonight is to do math problems 31-51 on page 237 and do the four review questions in your history book for section 4-2. And Riku, do NOT do Sora's work this time, understand?"

"Yeah yeah." Riku shrugged off the last comment in what Axel had said and continued writing the assignment down on a piece of paper and stuffed it into his history book without further thought.

Sora saluted weakly at Axel. "Bye bye Axel."

Axel waved back. "Roxas. Do your homework tonight. You are getting graded, you know?"

Roxas yawned. "Yeah I know. I will."

"Bye guys!" Axel waved again, rolling his portable desk–also known as a rolling bookshelf–out of the room.

Roxas waited. It'd be about ten minutes or so before Demyx was to show up. Sora and Riku continued a conversation that he didn't bother to be part of, the different people walked past the doorways, then a man Roxas had come to know as Luxord, the activities director, came in. Roxas concluded, Riku had more from his parents, which wasn't odd seeing as though Roxas had a package from them every other week of candy, a new book, or something they hoped would help him "get well soon."

"Roxas." Luxord said, walking towards him. "You have a phone call."

Roxas jumped in his skin at the sound of his name. "Who is it?"

"Your brother. Hold on I'll get the phone for you." Luxord walked next to him and picked up the bedside phone and placed it between a pillow and Roxas's ear so that it was propped upright. "Riku will you hang it up when he's done?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cloud?" Roxas said, testing to make sure his brother was on the phone.

"Hey." Cloud seemed as apathetic as ever. "How are you?"

"Same." Roxas replied. "I'm no worse though."

"That's good. How is the clinic?"

"I like it. I have some...interesting friends. My room mates are the only normal ones in this place. I can't wait until you three visit and you get to meet them."

Cloud laughed emptily. "Yeah...about that."

Roxas felt his heart sink at the uncertainty in Cloud's voice. "You can't come can you?"

"Well no that's not it. We are going to get to visit next month. We're taking a greyhound. It's just...well...bus tickets are expensive, you know that, right?"

"Yeah." Now Roxas was very confused.

"Well...umm...dad didn't have the heart to tell you himself but. Roxas...we had to sell your car."

There was silence on both ends of the line for several seconds before Roxas took a deep breath. "It's okay."

Cloud sat shocked for a few moments. "Really?"

With a forced strength in his voice, Roxas responded. "Yeah. I'd...probably never be able to drive it anyways."

"Don't talk like that Roxas. You're going to be good as new soon." Cloud said, sounding somewhat angry.

"Yeah." Roxas was silent for a second, letting the conversation settle in his head before he decided that there was nothing more to say. "Cloud, I have to go."

"Mom and Dad wanted to talk to you."

"I don't feel up to talking right now. I'm tired, and my physical therapist is here." He wasn't completely lying. Demyx was waiting for him, and he didn't feel like talking.

"Oh. Okay. Bye."

"Bye." And the other end was silent. Roxas heard the click, signaling that Cloud had hung up and he turned his head, letting the phone fall down and hang over the bed railing by its cord. Before he could ask Riku to get the phone and hang it up, Demyx had already gotten it.

"Anything wrong?" Demyx asked, plugging in his hotplate and getting the water ready.

"Nothing." And with that, Roxas plastered on a fake smile, hoping to fool his new companions.

Demyx smiled back. "Well, then lets get to it."

One month later, and Roxas still wasn't over the loss of his car.

"It's just a car. You can get a new one when you get out of here." Riku said, trying to calm the blonde boy.

"But it was my first car! I never got to drive it!"

"Would you rather they not ever come and visit you?" Sora looked at him with innocent eyes.

"No. I just...why couldn't they sell something else?"

"Tickets are expensive, the car probably isn't the only thing that they sold." The silver haired room mate yawned as he finished his statement. "It's 11 o'clock. Can we get to sleep? It's parent day tomorrow, I'd like to have a little energy."

"Yeah." Roxas said in defeat. "Good night." His words were harsher than he meant, but he didn't care.

"Night." Sora's voice was ever happy, despite Roxas's negativity. "Good night, Riku."

Riku waved. "Night." As Roxas turned his head to the wall and Sora covered himself up, Riku cut off the lamp beside his bed, causing the room to be enveloped in darkness.

For the first time since he'd arrived, Roxas woke up late. It was almost noon. He looked around the room. No Axel. Sora was awake and reading, Riku wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where's Axel?"

"He will come after visiting hours and give us a quick lesson today. At about 6-8. Then we go to bed. It's parent day." Roxas nodded. That's right. Parent day. When all the families would come and visit.

"Where's Riku?"

"His parents took him out for the day. They do that once month that way he's not cooped up in here all the time."

"Oh." Roxas was stilled for a moment more before asking, "Where are your parents?"

Sora was silent. His eyes stopped moving but he didn't put the book down, hoping Roxas would still think he was reading. "My parents won't be coming."

And that was the end of the conversation. Immediately Roxas assumed that Sora's parents were dead, but he didn't ask. It probably wasn't something Sora liked to talk about.

The awkwardness in the air was thick and almost choked Roxas. He wanted to find something to say to break the silence, but his mind was in such a hurry that he couldn't bring his thoughts to words. Finally, Luxord came to the rescue.

"Your parents are here, Roxas." Luxord said, holding his arm out to prop the door open.

Roxas nodded and watched as his mother walked through the door. Immediately she ran to the bed, enveloping Roxas in a hug as his brother and father walked next to him, his father smiling warmly. Cloud patted Roxas on the shoulder as a silent acknowledgment of a hello. Roxas laughed lightly as his mother finally let go of him and broke the silence. "Hi, Mom."

"How are you feeling, baby?" She asked, holding his hand tightly in her own. "Are you any better?"

"I'm no worse." He laughed again. "Hi Dad. Cloud."

His father gave him a smile and Cloud sent him a nod. "Son, I'm sorry about your car." His father said, breaking an awkward silence that was about to occur.

"It's okay. It'd just be rusting in the driveway anyways." Roxas said, a smile forcefully plasterd on his lips.

"Nonsense. You'll be out of here before you know it, Rox." With that statement, his father slapped him encouragingly on the shoulder. Encouragement hurt.

"Dad. I can't even move and I've been here for over a month. Let's face it, I'm gonna be here for a while." Roxas laughed nervously.

"Roxas don't talk like that." His mother said, interrupting her husband before he had the chance to speak. "You have to think positive."

Roxas lost his grin. "What is there positive to think about?! I'm paralyzed, mom! I have a deadly virus, and annoying teacher that I can't even hit, and I can't even feed myself! I'm sixteen and wearing a diaper and the one thing I wanted to heal for is gone. So please...tell me something positive to think about."

The room was awkwardly silent. Roxas continued glaring at them all. His mother and father both looked away. Cloud only glared right back before breaking the silence with his own response. "You're alive."

Roxas glared for a moment longer. "Big whoop." He looked away muttering. "I kind of wish I wasn't."

"Roxas!" His mother and father gasped. All three family members were staring at him in awe now. His mother was speechless, father in shock, and brother enraged.

"Roxas." Cloud said with a town the younger had never heard. "You're alive. You're healing. Be grateful. Look around you, Rox. There are kids older, younger, and a lot worse off than you. You're alive when so many already have died. So many will die soon. You're lucky, Roxas. People here are fighting for their lives. What are you fighting for?"

Roxas couldn't bring himself to face his family. He knew what he'd said was immature and over the line. He'd been acting childish and treated them wrongly, but he'd suddenly once again lost his ability to speak.

Axel walked through the door at that moment in his ever so chipper mood. "Visiting hours are over, I'm sorry."

Out of the corner of his eye Roxas saw his parents nod. Cloud walked out while his mother leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and his father patted him on the shoulder once more. They both muttered their "I love you"s and goodbyes and Roxas watched them as they left.

"Have a good day, Roxy?" Axel asked, using the nickname he'd created for the boy. When Roxas only glared, he backed down. "Heh...well we have about two hours before the lesson starts, so take a nap if you want. It's been a big day, so I understand if you're tired."

Roxas nodded. He was tired. Just as the red head left, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Little did he know how angry he'd still be when he woke up...especially when Axel had smelling salts shoved up the blonde's nose.

Roxas coughed and sneezed and everything else when Axel and his roommates laughed. When all of the salts were out of his nose, he glared at the red head to his right. Axel leaned down until he was nose-to-nose with Roxas for the hundredth time. "Aww, don't pout at me like that, Roxy. It was just a joke."

The blond glared at him more, imagining himself punching the tutor in the nose, like he'd always wished he could do in reality.

Suddenly, Axel jumped back, holding his bloody nose in shock. Roxas looked at his stinging right hand, which was still raised in the air as a fist. He'd actually hit Axel. "I hit him." He whispered before laughing. "I hit him! Right in the nose! I hit him!" It seemed Roxas was more excited about hitting his teacher than he was with his ability to move.

"You hit me! You can move!" Axel said, strangely excited while holding his nose.

"I can move!" Roxas was even more eccentric now. "I can move! And I hit you!"

Note: So once again I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, please review, please pass this story around, and please love it. I worked really hard on this. So I hope you enjoyed it! Many hearts to you all

Meryl is so lucky...