Chapter Four
Once she has calmed down some, Micah had contacted a hospital in Esthar and they had agreed to meet them at the landing dock.
After landing the airship like a pro, Irvine shot back to the cabins and lifted the still unconscious Squall off the bed. The paramedics already had a gurney by where the ramp would come down. Irvine carefully set Squall down and stepped back while they whisked him away to the ambulance. Micah, however, followed them closely.
"I'm Doctor Micah Wright, Squall's doctor for the time being, and his friend. He has a serious wound on the back of his head and at least two fractured ribs if not more."
They allowed her onto the ambulance, but before she got on she shouted at Irvine, "Find a ride and follow us! Tell Quistis she's in charge!" After she was sure Irvine had heard her, she closed the ambulance doors and took a seat beside Squall.
Gosh, you better make it through this, Leonhart. I will never forgive you if you don't. I'll never forgive myself. She put her head in her hands as the ambulance sirens turned on.
As the ambulance sped away, sirens blaring, Irvine was frantically searching for a ride to the hospital. The press were everywhere, a buzz of excitement at the fact that an ambulance had drove off. They were all walking around and talking to each other, into cameras about the Ragnarok's early arrival.
Irvine stopped in front of an older man, asking him the same question he had asked many others in just a few seconds time. "Excuse me, can I borrow your car?" Most of the people he asked told him to bug off, or just ignored him.
"What? Why would I let you take my car?" The old man brought up the cane in his hand and hit Irvine over the head.
Irvine backed away a few steps, holding a hand to his head. "What was that for?" The man hit Irvine with his cane a second time. "Stop hitting me!" As an instinct, when the cane came rushing toward him again, Irvine grabbed it and yanked it out of the man's grasp, sending it skidding into the crowd. Irvine promptly walked away.
After about a million more times of asking the same question, Irvine gave up. He bent over at the far end of the landing pad, trying to catch his breath. The crowd was now agitated that no other SeeD had come off the airship. they wanted to know what was going on.
"Hey, are you alright?" Irvine heard a familiar voice ask.
He straightened up and came face to face with the President. "President Loire!"
Laguna waved a hand at him. "Just call me Laguna, seriously. So what happened? I got here on time but it looks like you were early. I saw an ambulance drive off." Laguna scratched the back of his head, looking very unprofessional.
Irvine was glad to have been help to Squall, but he missed his coat already. "Someone attacked Squall on the ship. I kinda took over and sped the airship back..." Irvine said, a bit embarrassed about hijacking the airship.
Laguna's eyebrows shot up halfway up his forehead. "Is he okay? Was he in the ambulance?" He didn't seem to care about the ship.
Irvine nodded. "I was looking for a ride because I can't get to Squall without a car."
"We can use my car!" Laguna shouted.
"You came here on your own?" Irvine asked. It seemed odd for the President to come without an escort. In fact, Irvine couldn't see anyone acting as a guard anywhere near. Knowing Laguna, he probably slipped away from security. He blended in with the crowd well enough not to be noticed anyways.
"Uh, not exactly... but nobody is in the car right now and I'm pretty sure we can get to it without anybody noticing. Eh, right away at least." Laguna answered, running off across the landing pad, motioning for Irvine to follow him. They took a flight of stairs down from the landing pad and into a parking garage. Laguna made a bee-line for a black van with tinted windows, running at a speed surprising for his age.
"You sure about this?" Irvine asked apprehensively.
"Yeah, we'll be fine." Laguna replied nonchalantly. Laguna produced a single key from his pocket -that made Irvine slightly suspicious of where it came from- started the car and took off from the landing pad and sped to the hospital.
Irvine gripped the arms of the seat as Laguna sped through traffic at speeds that should have not been possible. He figured the government licence plates were the only thing preventing them from being pulled over. "Do you think we could go a bit slower?" Irvine asked as Laguna maneuvered around the cars on the street.
Laguna laughed, almost like a giggle. Laguna was such a kid. "Relax! I do this all the time! It's not really all that fun to be boxed in by security guards all the time, so I just borrow the car and drive off to where ever for a little while." Sure it was dangerous. Sure he terrorized the people he sped around, but sometimes he needed to get away. Kiros wasn't always happy when he did though. The ever-silent Ward seemed to think it was funny. Both when Laguna got in trouble and when he stole- borrowed the car.
Irvine simply nodded and tried to keep his mind off the cars that Laguna almost ran into. There was so much Irvine wanted to do. He wanted to get married, buy a house or something. But no, he wasn't going to be allowed to do those things. Laguna was going to kill him.
Laguna caught sight of the ambulance up ahead and fist-pumped, the car swerving with the action. Laguna weaved through traffic more to get right behind the ambulance. It pulled into the hospital parking lot and went to the Emergency Room entrance, while Laguna swerved right into the parking spot.
The ambulance screeched to a stop and the paramedics quickly unloaded their patient. Micah jumped off after they unloaded Squall.
"Wait," Micah was stopped by the receptionist, a young woman that was taller than her. "you can't go back there. I'm sorry, I assure you they'll do everything to take care of your friend."
Micah stood on her tip toes, trying to see around the nurse, but it was no use. The doors had already swung shut. They took Squall around a corner and that was that. Micah took a step back, tears stinging her eyes. "Please, tell me if anything happens." She said in a frail voice.
"Of course." The nurse said kindly, waiting to move until she was sure Micah wasn't going to try to follow him.
Micah collapsed in a chair in the waiting room and sighed. She was a doctor sitting in the waiting room. Now she knew how the family and friends of people she had cared for in emergency situations had felt. Patience was not one of her strongest suits, either. She groaned and put her head in her hands just as Irvine flew through the front door of the hospital.
He closed the distance between them with a few long strides and crouched down beside Micah. "Is he gonna be okay?"
"I don't know yet. He just went into the ER and they wouldn't let me follow." Micah snapped.
"Oh, sorry." Irvine said sheepishly and sat down beside Micah.
Seconds after Irvine sat down, another person burst in through the doors. They caught sight of Irvine and walked over quickly. "How's Squall? Who's that?" He asked, frowning at Micah.
"He's in the ER, we don't know yet!" Micah snapped, she was getting agitated at having to answer the same question twice. "And who are you?" She asked suspiciously.
"Um... I'm the- uh, President of Esthar. And Squall's father..." Laguna answered in confusion.
She gave him a deadly glare. "Squall's an orphan. Common knowledge, Mister. Now would you mind telling me who you really are or should I have Irvine shoot you out of here?"
Laguna raised an eyebrow. "I'm not kidding." He said.
Micah jumped to her feet and stood on her tiptoes to get into the stranger's face. Even then she stood a few inches shorter than him. "My friend just nearly died and I really don't feel like dealing with some poser. Please get out." She growled.
Irvine felt he should intervene now before she pulled a gun on him or something. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of Laguna's stunned face. "Micah, he's actually the president. And Squall's father, though Squall will deny it..."
Micah bit her lip and sat back down. "I-I'm so sorry... Mr. President... Oh Hyne, I'm so sorry." She wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. "I had no idea..." She said shakily.
Laguna stuttered, trying to find something to say. She was crying, for Hyne's sake! "Uh, I'm not mad. Really, it's fine." He smiled at her apologetically.
"Excuse me?" It was the nurse from before.
Micah jumped to her feet and quickly erased all traces of tears from her face. "Is he okay?" She asked hurriedly.
"Are they with you?" She asked, referring to Irvine and Laguna. Micah nodded and the woman continued. "He's fine. He has three fractured ribs, and they had to put five stitches on that cut on his head. We admitted him and he's in a room on the second floor now. You can visit him now if you want, only two at a time." She smiled and walked away.
There was a sigh of relief from all three of them as the nurse walked away. Laguna was the first to break the silence. "You two go see him first, I'll see him afterwards."
"Are you sure?" Micah asked.
"Yup, I can wait a minute." He would prefer to wait a minute.
She nodded hesitantly. "Okay, thanks." The two walked across the room to the elevator and rode up in comfortable silence, knowing that their friend was safe and in stable condition. They went to the second floor and opened the door to Squall's room.
He looked absolutely horrid. He was on an IV and there was a bandage wrapped around his head, much better than the makeshift ones Micah had to use. There was also a machine monitoring his brain waves. With a hit on the head like that, he was sure to have a concussion, and it was possible he could even slip into a coma. Micah assumed there weren't any issues with brain swelling, otherwise they probably wouldn't be in the room right now. He was pale from the blood loss. To sum it up, he looked like death warmed over.
At least he was alright. If he had been hit any harder he'd probably be dead. At least for the moment a coma was the worst they were dealing with.
Micah sat down in a chair next to Squall's bed. She slipped her hand into his. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. You didn't deserve it." She breathed, trying not to cry again.
Irvine put a hand on her shoulder. "He'll pull through. He's been through far too much crap to give in to some punk with a crowbar."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But, what did he do to deserve this?" Micah asked bitterly.
"Nothing." Irvine growled. Irvine wasn't going to say anything yet, but it was no small feat to get into SeeD. If someone managed to masquerade as a SeeD instructor, and fool even Cid, they were good. And there was no way the person behind all of it had been there. If it was someone that had been that good, they'd have brought a big gun with a silencer and he'd be dead. They would have also struck when he was still on the ground. Irvine was glad that the punk who'd attacked him was now stuck in the middle of nowhere.
The person that attacked him worked for someone with a lot of influence, or they were a renegade SeeD member. This is of course assuming there is such a person as one in charge of Squall's attacker.
Micah sniffled. "If he dies because of this, I am going to bring him back to life and kill him myself. You hear that, Leonhart?" Micah was only able to joke about that because she knew this wouldn't kill him. She frowned and tilted her head up to look at Irvine. "How did you know that Mr. Loire is Squall's father? Why does Squall let people think he's an orphan?"
Irvine shook his head. "He doesn't love the idea of Laguna as his dad, I guess. Any of the rest of us would give anything for a parent though." Irvine sighed. "He and Laguna tried to work it out once... but they haven't spoken since. Squall avoids him like the plague. One of the reasons I suppose he really didn't want to come to Esthar."
"Well I guess we should let his dad see him then..." Micah gave Squall's hand a squeeze and let it go. "I'll be back later." She murmured.
Micah stood and exited the room with Irvine following behind. "I really hope he wakes up soon."
"Me too." Irvine agreed.
They stepped onto the elevator once more and went down to the first floor. Laguna was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, much to the annoyance of just about everyone else. He stared at the ancient carpet intently and his hands were in his pockets. Micah and Irvine watched in horror as he about ran into someone, but stopped and sidestepped before continuing his pacing, never looking up.
Micah shook her head as she walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "They told you he was alright." she said with a small smile.
Laguna turned around quickly. "Yeah, but that doesn't keep me from worrying about him."
"Well, you can go see him now." Micah said.
"Thanks." Laguna smiled briefly and headed for the elevator. It seemed to take forever just for it to get up there. Laguna realized in the forty seconds he was in there that he didn't even know what happened. He didn't know what to expect. For all he knew Squall could have been stabbed or something. he hadn't heard anything the nurse said past "He's fine".
He bounced on his toes, waiting for the telltale ding of the elevator and the doors to open. Once they did, he shot out like a bullet and nearly plowed over another person coming in. He threw a quiet 'sorry' over his shoulder and snuck not-so-sneakily into Squall's room. All the while he prayed that there was nothing near Squall that he could throw. Even if there was, well, he was going in there. He was his son and he has a freaking right to be worried whether he hates him or not.
He peeked in and saw that Squall was asleep. He walked in and quietly shut the door behind him. He edged closer to the bed nervously. Squall didn't seem to have any injuries other than a bandage that was wrapped around his head. His hair was pushed up by the bandage and sticking out every which way.
Laguna sighed. He wished he could get half this close to Squall when he was conscious. He really loved Squall. In a father-son kinda way of course. He looked so much like Raine it was scary. He wondered how he hadn't identified him long before. Where else could someone get awesome good looks like that unless they were related to Laguna anyways?
Laguna really hoped he would be okay. He had been near ecstatic when Cid said he would do his best to con Squall into going. Cid had secretly given Laguna the chance to choose a few SeeDs that he approved of to be sent to the new Garden. Laguna had requested Squall, Quistis, Irvine and that Selphie girl. He found that Selphie was stuck to Trabia Garden, but Cid could send everyone else. Cid had told him how difficult it had been getting Squall to even listen to the idea. Laguna was immensely grateful though. He felt a bit bad about it, but if Squall wasn't going to do anything himself, Laguna was going to take matters into his own hands.
Laguna could be sneaky. He could also be clever.
Even if the idea had been Kiros's...
All of a sudden, his phone started ringing with that loud and annoying ringtone he had yet to change.
"Dang it!" He hissed as he quickly pulled the phone out of his pocket. He glanced up at Squall, who had thankfully had not woken up. He pushed random buttons until, finally, he managed to press the correct button and answer the phone. "What?" He whisper-shouted.
Laguna held the phone away from his ear as Kiros shouted, "Where are you, Laguna?"
"I'm in the hospital." Laguna answered.
"What? What are you doing there?" Kiros asked worriedly.
"Squall was attacked on the Ragnarok and they had to get him to the hospital, so I took the car and came here to make sure he was okay." Laguna explained quietly, hoping not to disturb Squall.
"You could have said something!"
"Sorry, I was a bit worried about my only son." Laguna snapped.
Kiros sighed. "I'm sorry." He apologized.
"Nah, it's alright." Laguna said. He almost never got upset at people, and when he did, it was always short-lived anger.
"How is Squall doing?" Kiros asked.
"He's stable. He has three broken ribs though. And a big gash on his head." Laguna replied.
"I guess I'll let you go then. I'll clear your schedule for the next few days, okay? Talk to you later."
"Okay, bye." Laguna hung up and returned his attention to Squall.
He sighed after a while. "You've gotta make it through this, kiddo. I didn't bring you here just to die on me." Laguna sighed again and glanced at the door. He had things to do; minivans to return. "When I come back you better be well enough to at least glare at me. Maybe you could not throw things at me for a while though? Okay? Okay."
Author's Notes
WayToDawn: Squall's alive! Yay! I feel bad for almost killing him, but I'll get over it. I always knew Laguna was a crazy driver... Lartovio, down there thinks Laguna is better than Squall, PROVE HER WRONG! But, I will admit Laguna is a good father while Squall isn't a very good son. Please, send us them reviews, I feel so neglected... (cries in corner) AND I'LL KEEP CRYING UNLESS YOU SEND US REVIEWS AND THEN SEND MY HOMICIDAL SELF OUT ON ALL OF YOU! Anyway, enjoy!
Lartovio: (No, I am not a heartless.) Oh how I love Laguna. Like, so much.. WayToDawn here thinks Squall is more amazinger though, can you please set her straight? Send us reviews! Who's better? Father or son? ;D I'll warn you all now, the next chapter made me cry. It made ME. CRY. Dawn didn't cry, because she's cold and heartless. The next chapter will make the title make sense. :) (Dawn won't really send her homicidal side after you... we keep her locked up.)
Way to Dawn: (^ I did too cry! ON the inside, my heart was shattering.)