Chapter 36

"I want to see Sora."

"I don't think that's a very good idea Roxas." Armand told him gently.

"Why?" Roxas demanded, sitting up in bed. He winced slightly as the stitches on his wrist stretched painfully.

"You're body still hasn't recovered completely from the other night. You've only been in here for two days. Normally that would have been plenty of time. But with the leukemia your body is using the resources it would have used to help you recover to fight the disease. You're still in no condition to be moved."

"I'm fine. I want to see Sora." Roxas insisted angrily. He was tired of being kept here in the dark while Cloud, Aerith, Paine and Demyx sat down with Sora.

"Roxas, I'm sorry, but-"

He stopped as a knock came from the door and a man poked his head inside the room.

"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to interrupt." He said politely.

"It's no problem Doctor Taylor, come in."

"So how are you feeling, Roxas?" Dr. Taylor asked. He was a tall man, thin; with light blond hair which looked almost white. He was nice enough but Roxas wasn't in the mood today.

"Fine," he said, crossing his arms and looking away pointedly. He knew he was acting like a brat but he didn't care at that point. After a day and a half of begging to see his brother, each time being told no, he was pissed. And he didn't care who knew it.

"Good, good." Dr. Taylor said absently, smiling as he looked at Roxas' charts.

"Says here you woke up with a fever today. It still hasn't gone away, has it?"

Roxas shook his head and Taylor tsked. "That's not good. We'll have to keep a close eye on that and make sure it doesn't get any worse. You're bodies already got enough stress on it without having to deal with a fever. Now," he said, setting the beside Roxas' bed. "Lets see those stitches real quick. Make sure you haven't popped a stitch or gotten an infection."

Reluctantly Roxas offered his arm, not watching as Taylor gently unwrapped his bandages. Roxas felt as the man lifted his arm, twisting it and examining it.

"Well the stitches look fine. But the area is still swollen and looks a little red. It could be the start of an infection. I'll tell the nurses to keep a close eye on that. With the leukemia you won't be able to defend yourself very well against an infection."

Roxas said nothing as Taylor rewrapped his wrist, setting his arm gently on the bed beside him when he was done.

"I think that's all for now, Roxas. I'll check up on you again in a few hours. Alright?"

Roxas said nothing and Taylor just smiled kindly, nodding to Armand before heading to the door.

"I want to see my brother."

"I'm sorry?" Taylor stopped; hand on the door as he turned back toward Roxas.

"I want to see my brother." Roxas demanded again, staring at the doctor.

Beside the bed Armand sighed softly. "

"I'm sorry Doctor. He's been asking to see his brother all day. I keep telling him his body can't handle it yet but he keeps demanding it. What do you think?"

Taylor thought about it for a moment.

"Armand's right Roxas. Your body needs all the rest it can get right now. I don't think going to see your brother would be a very good idea at the moment."

"Then when can I see him?"

Taylor sighed and though about it. "How 'bout I do think for you Roxas. Let me go down and talk to your brother's doctor. See how he feels about the whole thing. If he's okay with it then you can go visit him in the morning. On one condition though."

"Okay?" Roxas asked, shifting higher in the bed, happy that someone was finally listening to him.

"You can go as long as there's no infection and your fevers gone. Those are my only conditions. If either of them are still here then all deals are off. We got a deal?"

Roxas nodded vigorously. "Deal!"

Taylor chuckled, "Alright then. I'll see you later, Roxas.

"You still haven't told Axel you're here, have you?" Demyx asked. It had already been a few hours since Roxas visit with Doctor Taylor. The brunette had decided to pay a visit to Roxas when the nurses kicked them from Sora's room. Claiming that visiting hours were over. Luckily though, Armand hadn't set visiting hours for Roxas in his private room so Demyx and Paine were currently waiting there until Armand could have Sora moved to the private room down the hall from Roxas, into another one of the hospitals special private rooms.

"No…" Roxas sighed. He still hadn't worked up the courage to call the red head and tell him what had happened. "If I tell him what I did he'll flip. I promised him I wouldn't do it again. And if I tell him he'll ask why… I still don't want him to know about… you know…yet…"

"Roxas. You have to tell him." Demyx said. "He's worried. You haven't called him in two days, Roxas. You owe it to him to tell him."

"I know… I know… I'm just scared of how he'll react when he find out I've been hiding it from him…"

"You need to suck it up and get over it Roxas. Either that or you end it with him. You know your options. And the longer you wait to decide the harder it's going to be." Paine said roughly, crossing her arms and puffing from her cigarette. Over the last two days Paine had gotten over her loathing of him, though that didn't mean she wasn't still angry at him. She still wouldn't let him forget that part. But according to her he'd be punished enough once he saw what he had done to Sora.

"I know…" Roxas said again. "How is Axel?"

"He's fine. He was here visiting Sora earlier. He was asking about you. We said you've been upset about Sora that's why you hadn't called him. And that you wanted to be alone for a while. That's why you weren't there when he came around." Demyx informed him.

Roxas nodded slowly. "What are you telling everyone about Sora?"

"Dad came up with a story to tell people. You guys were visiting one of Clouds friends in another town when you guys saw someone commit suicide by jumping off the building as you were coming out. That triggered something in Sora and he went into shock." Paine said, her voice emotionless.

"It's not that far from the truth," Demyx shrugged sadly.

Roxas looked down at his hands folded in his lap, his eyes traveling to the white bandage wrapping around his wrist. He closed his eyes as he felt a wave of guilt was over him. He didn't feel guilty that he had tried to kill himself. He still felt that had been the right thing to do.

But he did feel guilty for letting Sora find him. If he had thought it out more. If he had been more careful he would have been able to make sure Sora wouldn't have to see him die or be the one to find him. If he had thought it through he would have been able to prevent anyone of the people he loved from being the one to find him.

But no, he wasn't thinking straight. He hadn't planned. He hadn't thought it through. If he had Sora would never be in the state he was in now. That's why he felt guilty.

"I was stupid…" He said softly.

"Yes you were." Paine said quickly.

***

"Okay. Well, Roxas. You held up your end of the deal, time for me to hold up mine."

"Really!? I can go see Sora?"

"Yep!" Dr. Taylor laughed. "Let me just go get a wheelchair and Armand and I will take you down there. Sora's doctor said that it could be good for him to see you. You might be the one who can break through his shell. Now let me go get that chair for you."

Roxas sat back and sighed as Taylor left the room. A moment later he came back, a nurse trailing behind him.

Roxas pushed the blanket off of him, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and standing.

"Wait Roxas!" Taylor said quickly.

Roxas felt his legs tremble for a moment before his knees gave out under him. He squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for the fall. But a split second later he felt as hands caught him, holding him off the ground. He opened his eyes so see Taylor and Armand holding him.

"You're still very weak, Roxas. Your legs probably can't support you just yet."

"I knew that…" Roxas said, embarrassed.

"Course you did," Taylor said with a smile as the two of them helped him over to the chair. Beside them the nurse wheeled his IV along, handing it to Roxas to hold after he was settled in the wheelchair.

"Okay, all set. Let's go," Taylor said, wheeling Roxas from the room.

Roxas felt his apprehension grow as they rode the elevator down. Armand still hadn't had Sora moved to a private room. According to Sora's doctor the move would be stressful for Sora, give it a few days and he would be fine to move, but for now the best thing for him would be to remain in the room he was in.

Roxas could feel his body start to shake as they neared his brother's room, passing through the rest of the psychiatric ward to reach his room.

Finally though the three of them came to a stop before a closed door. Gently he knocked before pushing it open, making sure to block Roxas from view.

Inside the room Cloud, Aerith, Demyx and woman Roxas didn't recognize stood.

"I've got Roxas here when ever you think it's a good time to bring him in, Dr. King."

"Alright. Let me just talk to Roxas real quick then we'll start." The woman Roxas hadn't recognized said, moving from the room. "Hi Roxas. I'm Dr. King, your brother's doctor." Roxas nodded. "What we're hoping for today is to break through to Sora. So far our attempts haven't worked. His body still refuses to acknowledge anything. We're hoping that by seeing you he will be able to break out of the shell he's formed around himself, so to speak. Alright?" Roxas nodded again. "Good. We have no idea what to expect from him if it does work. Sometime they just wake up, like nothing ever happened. But other times it's not so pleasant. So be prepared for which ever way Sora decides to go about this."

"O-okay…"

"Okay, well I guess we should get this started." With that she moved behind him. "Ready for this, Roxas?"

Roxas took a deep breath and closed his eyes, nodding to her that he was ready. Though whether or not he was he didn't know.

A/N: Man it was hard coming back to this, even after only a two day break. Well I hope you guys enjoy. I'm not exactly sure if I'll have another chapter for ya'll tomorrow. I'm planning on doing a whole movie marathon all day. But knowing me I'll get bored and end up writing xD