Authors Note. I don't own any of the characters. Started a new story. Also working on my others. My computer passed away quite a while back and I had to save for a new one. I plan on posting regularly again. I hope you like this. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Exiled Mind
Chapter Four
"I have him sedated for now but we need to find someone who knows more about this type of condition." Said Dr. Kadawaki as she sat down wearily in her chair. Looking down at the reports she had gathered on Squalls condition she sat quietly for a moment before looking back up at the young girl sitting across from her. "Rinoa, I am going to call a specialist in Esther and see if they have any ideas."
Rinoa took in this new information and decided to mention something to the doctor. Squall had told her about it and asked her to keep it a secret but under the current circumstances she didn't feel like she had any other options left. "Doctor, let me call. I can talk to the president and see if he can help."
"The president of Esther?" Asked Dr. Kadawaki. "Rinoa I don't think the president of a large nation will be willing to help in this case. He may have hired us to help with the recent events but this isn't his problem."
Rinoa cut her off with a wave of her hand before continuing. "You don't understand. I am going to break a promise and I hope you will keep what I tell you a secret." She paused to consider how to word her next statement. "The president has a unique relationship to Squall."
"I don't understand what you mean, Rinoa?"
"President Laguna Loire is Squall's father. He told Squall shortly after we defeated Ultimecia."
The doctor sat in stunned silence for some time before going on. "He's Squall's father? How did Squall take that bit of news?"
Despite everything going on, Rinoa felt a small smile creeping across her face. "He dove across the presidents desk and tried to throttle him. Once Laguna's advisors Kiros and Ward managed to pry Squall off the president he finally calmed down enough to listen to why Laguna had waited so long to tell him. Laguna told him that he didn't know about it until he returned to Winhill only to find Raine had passed away giving birth to Squall. The towns folk had never liked Laguna very much and told him that the child had died shortly after birth. It was only a few years ago when Ellone turned up in Esther that he found out about Squall and what had really happened. He spent the last two years tracking him down." Rinoa paused a moment before continuing on and took a drink of water.
"He found out that Squall had become a member of SeeD. That's why he asked specifically for Squall when he hired SeeD to destroy Ultimecia." Rinoa finished and sat silently while the doctor decided how to best use this new information.
"Ok, if you say he is Squall's father then let's call him. Maybe he can find a specialist who can help us." The doctor slid the phone across her desk and within moments Rinoa was on hold waiting to be connected to the presidents private residents. Rinoa found herself relieved that Squall had given her the necessary codes to allow her access to the president.
After several rings a sleepy voice answered the phone. "Hello? Kiros if this is you telling me that I have to come to another late night meeting then I am quitting and I am going to kick your butt."
"Laguna? No this is Rinoa. Squall's girlfriend, we need your help."
"Rinoa! Of course, sorry about that I thought it was Kiros again. What can I help you with? Is every thing ok with you and Squall? He didn't do something mean to you did he? Want me to talk to him and set him straight? I can, and I would be more than happy to do it."
Rinoa had learned from experience that you had to jump in and stop Laguna from talking for hours on end. "No it's about Squall but not that, something happened to him we were on vacation and he collapsed." She heard a sudden intake of breath and guessed that her last statement had completely woken up the president. Giving him a second she went on to tell him everything that had happened up to Squall's current condition.
"So he need's a specialist. Can you move him?"
"I don't know? Let me find out?"
Laguna replied quickly to her question. "Ok, you find out if he can be moved and I will check with my people here. If he can be moved bring him here and I will have a room and a team of specialist's ready for him by the time he arrives. If he can't be moved then I will bring the specialist's to Balamb Garden instead."
"Ok, I'll check and call you back." Said Rinoa before disconnecting and relating everything Laguna had said to the doctor. "Do you think it's safe to move him to Esther?"
Doctor Kadawaki sat silently for a moment before responding. "It should be if we're careful about it. We can talk to Cid and see if we can use the Ragnarok. Also, I can have Xu fill in for me so that I can travel along with him in case any thing should happen while we are airborne."
An hour later and they had all the arrangements made. The Doctor and Rinoa would head to Esther with Squall. Quistis and Zell would stay at Garden to run everything in place of Squall, Selphie to fly the Ragnarok and Irvine to help protect everyone from any monsters still loose inside of Esther.
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As the sun began to rise over Balamb, Squall was wheeled aboard the Ragnarok along with the others who were set to go with him. Quistis and Zell also came to see them off and to see Squall before he left.
Quistis stood next to Rinoa and put her arm around the girl's shoulder. "You take care of him and remember that if you need anything don't be afraid to call me." Seeing Rinoa's nod of ascent she then stepped to where Squall lay upon his bed and knelt down to whisper in his ear. "And you get better, that's an order. Rinoa needs you and so do the rest of us. We've all been through too much already to have anything happen to you now." She then kissed him lightly on the forehead before turning and waving to Selphie and Irvine as she left the ship.
Zell stood for a moment next to Squall before patting him lightly on the shoulder. He then gave the traditional SeeD salute and turned to leave after giving Rinoa a hug and whispering in her ear. "Take care of him Rinoa. And take care of yourself to. Well I gotta go. I'll see you both back here in no time."
She nodded as a tear ran down her cheek and waved good bye to everyone as the cargo doors slid closed and the Ragnarok rose up into the sky. Turning she walked over to her seat by Squall and noticed that Doctor Kadawaki was standing next to her. "Don't worry Rinoa, Squall has always been a fighter. This time won't be any different. Just have faith in him and that he will find a way back to you."
"I know but I'm scared because he's all alone again. I feel helpless when he needs me the most." Rinoa cried as the she held his hand and prayed that Laguna would be able to help.
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When the Ragnarok landed in Esther they found that Laguna, Kiros and Ward had already showed up as well as a team of doctors. They stood waiting for the Ragnarok to land. Once it did Squall was wheeled out and moved to the former site of the Odine Lab. Laguna had thrown Odine in jail a couple of months earlier when he discovered that Odine had been trying to run experiments on Ellone without her consent. Now the former lab was used to treat specialized cases such as Squall's. A scientist named Maddy Altec, who was the head of her class at Esther University and even believed to be as smart if not smarter than Odine currently held the position as lead doctor at the newly renamed Esther Clinic for Helping Others. Or ECHO Lab for short.
Once everyone had arrived at ECHO Lab, Squall was immediately placed in a diagnosis room and Maddy Altec asked that she and her team be given time to work on him. Rinoa had refused at first but finally seemed to realize she would only be in the way. So while they waited Laguna suggested that everyone return to the presidential mansion to await word.
When they arrived at his home they were greeted by Ellone. "Hello everyone, how are you doing?" She asked after giving everyone a hug. "How is Squall holding up?"
"His condition is stable at the moment but that's only due to the tranquilizers we gave him." Replied Dr. Kadawaki as everyone took seats around the living room and made him or herself comfortable.
Rinoa, who had been sitting quietly, lost in thought suddenly had an idea. "Hey Ellone, can you send me into Squall? Maybe it would help me to figure out what happened to him."
Ellone sat thoughtfully for a moment before responding. "I don't see why not. Ok just lay down on the couch and relax. Think about Squall and when you want to go." Ellone moved and sat next the Rinoa, placing her hands on Rinoa's temples.
Rinoa closed her eyes and soon felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness that accompanied Ellone's sending. She concentrated on the moments before Squall collapsed. The images began to take place in her head as she began to see through Squall's eyes.
Something was definitely wrong though. Normally you could see everything going on and to a certain extent communicate with the person you were linked to. This time though, all she could get were random flickers of images and thoughts. She tried to piece together some order to the chaos. As Rinoa looked around mentally for a clue she began to feel like she was being watched. Feeling uneasy she called out hoping that Squall would hear her but as she did she felt a shudder pass through her mind and then it felt as if she had ran into a brick wall at full speed.
Rinoa felt the connection shatter as she was forced into back into her own body. As she fell back she saw one last image flash by. A pair of eerie red eyes staring at her hungrily. Then the connection shut off and she felt herself back inside her own body. Rinoa sat up, feeling slightly disoriented and looked around.
Ellone was sprawled out on the floor with Laguna and Doctor Kadawaki crouching over her. Rinoa turned to Irvine and Selphie as they helped her stand up. "What happened?"
"I don't know? She was in her trance and then all of a sudden she cried out and collapsed." Replied Selphie as they walked over to Ellone.
Irvine turned to Rinoa and asked her. "We were hoping you would wake up soon so that you could tell us what happened."
Rinoa shot Irvine a confused look as they reached their other companions. "What do you mean by waiting for me to wake up? I was only out for a couple seconds."
"Nope sweetheart you have been out for over three hours." Said Irvine gently to her.
"But it only felt like seconds." Rinoa crouched down and turned to Laguna. "How is she?"
Laguna sat up and looked at Rinoa, "She appears to be coming out of it now." Sure enough, within a few minutes Ellone was sitting up and looking around. "You ok Ellone?"
"Yeah," she replied shakily, "It was strange, I couldn't connect to Squall like in the past. I felt like I ran into a wall. What about you Rinoa? Did you see anything?"
Rinoa nodded and related everything that she had seen. Laguna sat thoughtfully and looked at the doctor before beginnig to speak. Before he could say anything though the phone rang and interupted what he was about to say. "Hello? Yeah? Ok, we will be there shortly. Thank you Dr Altec. Uh-huh, Bye."
Laguna placed the phone back in its cradle and turned to everyone gathered. "They want us to return to the ECHO Lab. Dr. Altec says they might know what is wrong with him."
Rinoa immediately ran to his side. "What, what did they say?" she asked in a scared voice.
Laguna paled as he repeated what the doctor had said.
"He's dying."
To Be Continued.
This cliffhanger is dedicated to CelesteSpring and her hatred of cliffhangers. Sorry I couldn't resist that one. Se ya next time.