Chapter 10
It had been a rough night. Reno slipped in and out of unconsciousness, and his normal sleep was haunted by memories of what had happened in his life so far. He didn't even know why; nothing had happened that day that could have possibly triggered off these memories, but as he opened his eyes in the morning, covered in cold sweat, he could still see all of his nightmares clearly in his head.
Reno tried to sit up, but the pain in his stomach told him there wasn't a chance. He sighed and lay back down. He was alone, not even Carrie had returned. He wondered vaguely what would happen to him now he had effectively agreed to become a Turk, albeit unwillingly. He still wasn't quite sure why Tseng had tried so hard to get him on their team, but he was sure there had to be a reason. Sure, he was a good fighter, but growing up the way he did, he had to be. There had to be people better than him out there, so why was there so few Turks? Was there some sort of special quality they needed, instead of just pure physical strength? All these thoughts were mixed up inside Reno's head, and he wanted desperately to get rid of the concerns at the back of his mind, and know exactly what was going to happen to him.
"Reno?" the red-head looked over to the doorway where Carrie was standing. She looked better than what she had yesterday.
"Hey…" he said huskily.
"Can you still not sit up?" she asked him, walking over. Reno shook his head. "Let me help you…"
She placed a cold hand on the back of his neck and the other on his stomach, just below his injury. What surprised Reno most was that this sudden contact didn't hurt him at all.
"This might hurt…" she said. Then she lifted his head up quickly while keeping the pressure down on his stomach. Reno ignored the pain and felt a wave of relief wash over him. If there was one thing he hated, it was having to lie down doing nothing.
"Ok?" she asked, her hand still on his neck. "It's just 'cause you've been in the same position for so long; your body didn't want to move."
"Yeah…" Reno sighed. "Thanks."
"It's nothing." She smiled. "So how are you feeling? You look exhausted."
"I didn't sleep well." Reno muttered quickly. He didn't really want to talk about it.
"Well, I guess you'd prefer to keep it to yourself." She said warmly, as though reading his mind. "Tseng's been asking about you. I don't know when he's expecting you to actually work… You think you can stand?"
"I damn well hope so." He said, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. The pain had been reduced to a dull ache, and he could cope with it fine. He was pleased to find that when he stood up, putting all his weight on his feet, the pain only increased a little bit. His legs ached, and obviously didn't want to handle walking, but Reno didn't want to lie in that hospital bed any longer.
"You okay?" Carrie asked, her hand on his back.
"Yeah…" Reno said.
"Umm… I hope I don't get it from Tseng now." Carrie said awkwardly. Reno looked at her, confused. "He had this thing about people getting hurt having exactly the right amount of bed-rest."
"Well, he'll have to get over it… 'cause I ain't stayin' there any longer." Reno said. He flexed his ankles, and everything seemed to be in working order.
"Yeah, but it won't be any good if you keel over in the middle of a mission." Carrie said. She looked slightly concerned.
"I'm fine." He said bluntly. He took a step forward and looked at Carrie. "So what now?"
"Well…" Carrie said, wringing her hands, "I guess you ought to go and see Tseng. He'll give you an assignment or whatever… or tell you to get your ass back to hospital."
"It's his fault I was in there in the first place. The least he could do is grant me the dignity of lettin' me out when I want out." Reno sighed, and left the room in search of Tseng.