By RobertDogwood@aol.com
Edited by Vick330
Chapter Six
Like Sunlight Through Dark Clouds...
After two days, there had been no change in Rinoa's condition or in Squall's. He stubbornly refused to leave her bedside, and also refused to eat or even drink. It was obvious to the doctor, and to everyone else, that he wanted to die. In his every waking moment, the dark-haired man blamed himself, and sometimes in his dreams too when he passed out from sheer exhaustion.
Selphie, Quistis, Zell, Irvine and many others had come to visit, their pain and concern obvious in their demeanor. But that afternoon, Ashley Wentworth came by, unsure of the greeting he would receive. Upon reading in the press about the incident at Balamb Garden, and being unable to reach Rinoa, he had finally gotten in touch with Selphie and hearing of the bad news had come to inquire.
The nurse thought it better to inform Squall of the blond man's presence. In view of their last encounter, Ashley was somewhat intimidated when the Commander came to meet him.
"Please tell me, how is she?" pleaded Ashley.
"We don't know if she'll make it, Mr. Wentworth."
"Mr. Leonhart," began the blond man.
"Please, call me Squall. And I'm sorry for the way I acted when I first met you."
Ashley immediately recognized that he was facing a broken, and tortured man. Holding grudges was not part of his personality, and so he offered, "No need to apologize, Squall. I guess I would have reacted the same way, had I seen my girlfriend with another man."
Still feeling horribly guilty, the dark-haired man stated, "I don't think she'll ever want to see me again, if she makes it. I can't hold it against her if she looks for happiness elsewhere."
"You're misunderstanding the situation," said Ashley. "Oh, I admit that I hoped to win her love, especially since at first I didn't know who she was."
Faced with Squall's stare, he continued. "When you yelled at her that day, I tried to comfort her. Do you know what she told me?"
"What?" asked Squall in a whisper.
"That she loved you, and suffered that your relationship was asunder." Ashley took a deep breath before continuing. "I love her, Squall, but as a friend, for her heart belongs to you. You have an amazing woman there, and I know that she'll pull through, but she needs you and I think that you need her."
The dark-haired man couldn't reply, never in his life had he felt so inadequate, or so helpless. Noticing the flowers in Ashley's hands, he managed to inquire, "Do you want to see her?"
The blond man breathed deeply. "I don't think it's my place, but please give her these. Lilies are her favorite." And putting the bouquet in the other man's hands, he said, "Please, let me know if her condition changes."
"I will," promised the Commander.
Squall had much to ponder. He realized that he didn't even know what were Rinoa's favorite flowers, or color, or music. He had just taken too many things for granted, whereas Ashley had evidently not. Sweet Hyne, please give me another chance - or give her another chance, he prayed silently.
After another day without any form of sustenance, he was totally detached, unable to relate to the real world. All that mattered was Rinoa, all his attention was drawn to any sign that she would recover. He didn't even feel Dr. Kadowaki hooking an I.V. onto his arm, in an effort to keep him alive, even if he had lost all will to survive. The doctor had already decided that the hero of the free world was not going to die in her clinic, not if she could help it.
Five and then six days slowly passed and there was still no change in Rinoa's medical condition. Phony press releases were sent out from the Garden intimating that Squall had been sent out on yet another secret assignment. The leaders from Dollet were quite miffed, when it was explained to them that Squall wasn't available and they would have to settle for Xu. They had wanted his autograph and were disappointed.
Day seven passed - and then day eight, and there still was no sign of awareness from the ebony-haired woman. Despite the I.V. hooked to his arm, Squall had continued to lose weight. His face was gaunt, his cheeks sunken in, and his eyes were empty.
On the morning of the ninth day, Squall found he could barely lift his head to glance blearily around the room. He found himself wishing his miserable life would just end, and release him from the pain of his guilt.
"Oh, Rinoa," he moaned.
"What?" she asked faintly.
In his weakened condition, it took Squall a matter of seconds to realize that he hadn't hallucinated her voice. By this time Rinoa asked, "Squall, are you ok?"
Squall lifted his head from the side of the bed. He saw his beloved, with her long black hair spread across the white pillow, appearing extremely pale, but with a smile on her beautiful face.
"Rinoa," Squall spoke, his voice breaking from the emotions overwhelming him, "I...I love you."
"I must still be dreaming," Rinoa replied.
"Don't joke," Squall cautioned with gentleness in his tone. "I'm serious."
"I know you are, Gunblade boy. You're always serious," Rinoa declared, while reaching out with her right hand and rumpling his already disarrayed hair.
"You need a haircut," Rinoa explained. "And by the way, I love you too. What day is it?"
"It's Wednesday," was Squall's laconic response.
"Oh, Great Hyne!" Rinoa exclaimed. "I've been asleep two whole days!"
Squall's reply astonished her. "Of the next week," he explained.
As Rinoa lay silently attempting to assimilate this amazing information, Squall declared, "Here," while holding out his right hand.
Rinoa accepted the offering, and when she saw it was the golden Griever tears began slipping from her eyes. Squall must have been holding it in his hand the entire time she was in the coma, she realized.
Squall tried to rise to his feet, but in his weakened condition had to hold on to the bed. He leaned over, kissed Rinoa's soft lips, and then called out for Doctor Kadowaki.
"Come quick!!" Squall shouted, and then promptly passed out on the floor.
The doctor, fearing the worst, hustled into Rinoa's room and was overjoyed to see her patient sitting up wide awake in her bed. After checking all of her vitals and discovering everything to be okay, she ordered Squall to be also placed in a bed.
In the ensuing days Rinoa's rehabilitation progressed in leaps and bounds, while Squall mostly slept. He had been unconscious initially for twenty-four hours straight, then woke up and ate a large meal just to fall back asleep immediately.
The Commander slept another forty-eight hours, waking up late in the afternoon on the fourth day following Rinoa's miraculous awakening. Feeling his strength coming back, Squall slipped out of his clinic bed, left his room and immediately made his way to Rinoa's side.
She was sitting up with many pillows purloined from everywhere behind her back, so she could read comfortably - which was the only activity Dr. Kadowaki had allowed.
Setting her book face down on the bed, she greeted her companion, "You're awake," and smiled at him.
"How are you feeling?" Squall asked, the compassion quite evident in his voice.
As Rinoa gazed upon her once again lover, she realized with a jolt that Squall's features had completely softened, and there was no tension present in the way that he stood - unlike the way it had been for the last few months.
"I'm fine," she smiled.
As he turned to look for a chair, the back of his extremely short hospital gown flew open completely, revealing his back side to Rinoa's amusement.
"If I were you," the young woman suggested, "I wouldn't bend over in that gown you are wearing," and laughed when Squall immediately whirled back to her, while moving his right hand behind him to hold the gown shut.
"You're so cute," Rinoa exclaimed. "You're blushing again."
"Rinoa," Squall asked seriously, "with the hateful way I was treating you, why did you risk your life to save mine?"
"If the situation had been reversed, could you have just stood by and watched as the three of them mowed me down?" Rinoa wondered.
Sudden comprehension flooded Squall's eyes and he silently shook his head.
"The love between us is for all time, Squall...through joy and sorrow...and beyond life and death," Rinoa affirmed.
Squall leaned over and filled her up with his embrace.
That was all the reply she would ever need.
Coming soon - 7th and final chapter.
