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Fifty Days

Chapter 15: Watcher

"Oh, come on Irvy Pleeease!"

"Hey, she needs to sleep, she doesn't need us jumping around her."

"Meanie!"

"It's OK guys," Quistis said as loudly as she could. She smiled as she heard a 'Yay!' from somewhere to her left, and quick footsteps running into the infirmary. They stopped dead when they got close however, and a small gasp, followed by; "Quisty!"

"Hi Selphie," Quistis said, opening her eyes and seeing the girl in her traditional yellow dress staring at her with her hands over her mouth.

"Ohmygod! Quisty! Are you OK?"

She heard vague whispers she recognised as belonging to Seifer from beyond the girl, probably on the lines of 'what d you think?'. "Not so good," she answered.

Selphie quickly drew up a seat as Irvine finally fought his way past Selphie and looked down at her. "Hi there," he said quietly. Then; "You look like hell."

"Thanks for the encouragement," she said dryly.

Irvine looked taken aback. "No! That isn't- I mean, I never-"

"You look so cute when you're confused Irvine, don't worry about it," she said with a smile.

Irvine breathed a sigh of relief and elbowed Selphie from her chair. She squeaked in surprise as she fell off, then dusted herself down and sat on Irvine's lap. "You've got everyone worried you know. Cid announced that you had withdrawn from teaching. Really?"

Quistis nodded weakly. "Yes, it is."

Irvine nodded understandingly. "We'll do whatever we can to help. What- What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's a…" She stopped for a few seconds, and then went on. "It's a disease, from Ultimecia. She explained on for a couple of seconds, and then Selphie lunged forwards and hugged her fiercely and she started to cry.

"That bitch!" she shouted in a completely un-Selphie-like outburst. "I'm s-s-so sorr-rry! Quistis! You can't die! I won't let you!" she shouted.

"Selphie…"

Selphie looked up. "Yeah?" she asked, still crying.

"Crushing… Can't… breathe…" Quisty gasped, and Selphie jumped back as if shocked.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She seemed even more frantic than when she had came in. "I didn't mean to-"

Quistis sighed. "Please, Selphie, don't' cry, it's OK," she said gently, tying to reassure the younger girl.

Irvine pulled Selphie back onto his lap, much calmer. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" he asked, and his tone was almost accusatory.

Quistis shrugged. After all this time, she had forgotten why she had decided to hide it herself. She told Irvine this, and a worried look appeared across his face for a few moments before he started talking again. "Seifer has an idea," he said.

Quistis sat up in the infirmary bed to get a better look at his face, and see whether he was joking. She already knew the answer of course; Irvine wouldn't kid about life and death, but after Odine she wasn't taking any chances. "What about?" he asked.

"It makes sense now, after what you told me. He said he needed to find Rinoa and Ellone to try something, and-"

Quistis nodded. Even in her dilapidated state, she caught the significance instantly. Apparently so had Irvine. "-they both have connections to sorceresses. Or are one," she finished.

Irvine nodded and smiled. Selphie looked from one to the other. "What? What is it?" she asked.

Quistis lay back down and stared up at the ceiling as Irvine explained. Selphie shrieked and then Quistis had the breath knocked out of her again as Selphie hugged her fiercely. "Selphie!" Irvine said in warning, but Selphie wasn't listening.

"Seifer's gonna find something that's gonna work, and then you'll be OK!" she said enthusiastically. Quistis smacked her shoulder lightly, and then let go. She was smiling again, and Quistis didn't have the heart to tell her not to get her hopes up. "I'm gonna go and help!" she said happily, and literally skipped from the infirmary, leaving Irvine and Quistis staring at each other, and a lack of Selphie's almost contagious enthusiasm in the air.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Pray, maybe," Quistis replied quietly.

Irvine stood. "Don't give up hope Quistis, if there's anything we can do, anything at all, just call us. We'll be here." he looked around. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" he asked.

Quistis shook her head. "It's OK. I'll be all right."

Irvine hesitated for a second, but then Quistis nodded again, and he turned and walked off, stealing a backward glance at her as he did, and left her alone again in the infirmary. She sat back down and tried to get some rest, but she kept tossing and turning under the sheets, thinking about what Irvine had said about Seifer.

Why are you doing this for me? Before the Sorceress War you wouldn't have lifted a finger. Hell, you'd probably have clapped. What changed? Is it your romantic dream again Seifer? That earned a small laugh, before she became short of breath and had to stop. He always was the one to fight for love, not obligations or money. Is he in love?

She stared up at the ceiling again and smiled slightly as she thought over that.

"White doesn't suit you much you know," a voice said from the direction of the doorway. "Where's Kadowski?" Seifer asked.

"She needed to go to an accident in the Training Centre. I'm fine by myself."

"That was stupid. Something could happen and here would be no-one here." He stood over Quistis' bed, but did not sit down. "You can't afford to take chances."

Quistis laughed grimly, the sound degenerating into coughs. "I don't think it would matter anyway," she said. Seifer opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "Why is Ellone coming down here?" she asked.

Seifer's eyes narrowed. "I told Irvine not to say anything. Guess he couldn't resist. I'll kill him." He looked down as Quistis' hand reached out and grabbed his own.

"Thank you again," she said.

Seifer quickly drew his hand away. "It's fine, I just thought-"

Quistis looked silently at him for a second, and Seifer found himself without words as pale eyes surrounded by paler skin looked up into his own, and then just; "I understand," she said quietly.

They both turned as the door slid open and the white-coated figure of Dr Kadowski walked back in. Her hands were covered in blood, and she quickly changed her coat before walking over to Quistis' area. "And how are we feeling?" she asked.

Seifer had always noticed how doctors said 'we', as if to create some kind of mutual feeling between doctor and patient, as if they both felt the same thing. He had laughed in scorn at a cheap psychological trick when he had first noticed it, but now he felt slight resentment that Kadowski was trying to act like she knew what Quistis was going through.

"I feel fine," Quistis said, and to prove it sat up.

"However, you still look like you've been dipped in white-wash," Kadowski retorted. Seifer again felt the stab of anger that she was trying to make light of it.

Quistis however, didn't seem to mind. "That's all it is doctor. I feel better, really-"

"-and can you be let out?" Kadowski finished her sentence for her. "No, absolutely not. You don't know what you're dealing with here. For all you know the drugs are the only things holding you together," she said with an air of finality.

Quistis shook her head, and then before either could stop her she had swung her legs out from under the sheets and stood up. "I can't stay in here for the rest of my life," she replied, just as determined.

Seifer phased out of the argument and took the opportunity to look at Quistis. Apart from her lack of colour and a few specks of blood where the IV leads had pierced her skin, she looked like she had always looked. She hadn't lost the power of argument either, it seemed, as Kadowski threw her hands up, and a satisfied look crossed Quistis' face for a second.

"Alright! Alright! Fine, you want to put your life at risk, then fine!" the doctor shouted in exasperation. She strode away and came back with Quistis' clothes. "I have to protest though," she said.

Quistis shook her head. "It's OK doctor, I know. Don't worry about me."

"On one condition."

"What's that?" Quistis asked.

"You can leave as long as someone stays near you. Otherwise you come right back in here, even if I have to get Squall to arrest you," Kadowski said stubbornly.

Quistis wanted to protest, but instead just nodded.

Kadowski crossed her arms and stared at her. "Quistis, I've known you since you first came in here with a broken arm after fighting a T-Rexaur. When you were ten. You're like a daughter. Just don't take any chances, please?" she pleaded quietly, and Seifer got the urge to be somewhere else. He pulled the curtains across Quistis' bed as she got dressed, and waited as she embraced Kadowski and turned to walk out.

"That care of yourself Quistis. I expect to see you here next year for a check-up," Kadowski said to her retreating back.

Seifer kept pace by Quistis as she walked through Garden, apart for any sign that she was going to fall or stumble.

"You know you still need to keep up with your work," she said as they walked.

Seifer shrugged. "I still need to be assigned it first."

"Touché. Well then- what?"

Seifer stopped walking for a second, and Quistis stopped a few paces after and tuned to face him. Well, here goes. I swear this is going to kill me, but- "Quistis, Kadowski said she wanted someone to stay near you," he said.

Quistis looked at him strangely. "I said it to get out of that damned infirmary. What, are you volunteering?"

"Well, yeah."

Silence. Neither said anything for a few seconds after the last word left Seifer's mouth, until Quistis broke the silence, and it wasn't the response he had expected. A flat-out are you kidding would have been more likely, but;

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Seifer stopped. He hadn't actually thought this far ahead. "Sure. I need you to teach me, so why not?"

Quistis laughed again. "Ah, so it's perfectly normal selfishness instead of some attempt at chivalry?" she asked.

Seifer shrugged. "Basically."

Quistis smiled at him warmly, and he felt a tingle run through him. "Well," she said. "If anyone asks, I shall protect your reputation as a hardass. Your secret is safe. I'd be honoured."

Seifer shrugged. "OK. So…"

"You didn't really think this out did you?"

"Not really," Seifer said, as cockily as he could whilst being totally clueless.

Quistis smiled at him. "You still have a problem thinking things through before you run off being brave, don't you?" she asked.

Seifer's eyes flared. "Hey, I offered this, but if you're going to insult me, then-"

Quistis shook her head quickly. "I wasn't insulting you. It's can be a good thing. You'll make a great SeeD when you pass," she said.

"If I pass."

"No. When." She turned on her heel and walked off.

"Hey, where're you going?"

She looked back at him, but did not stop walking. "We're going back to my dorm. It's bigger than you're, and it'll fit two easily enough."

Seifer tried to think up something to say in argument, but nothing would come, and he just walked after her, watching her every move, and wondering what he had let himself in for.

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