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By: General Quistis Trepe (generalquistis@yahoo.com)

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FIVE: Her Wounded Hands

Elena turned to Dark Nation, then to Tifa, then to the nurse. "It's okay, sir. I'll be the one to feed her." she said with a sweet smile on her face.

The nurse nodded. "Alright. I'll leave the two of you here for a while. Shall I leave this door open?" he asked.

Elena thought for a while then frowned slightly. "Yeah, leave it open. I might need your help… but wait a minute," she said as she got the nurse's hand and pulled him by the door. "Are you sure it's only amnesia? Like she's not crazy or anything?" she asked.

"What made you think of that?" he asked.

"The way she's acting…" she replied, keeping a cautious eye on Tifa, whose head just bowed down again, making some of her hair fall in front of her face, covering it.

The nurse sighed heavily. "Actually, she needs to undergo some special treatment or therapy, but we don't know anyone who could help her because it would require more than 20,000,000 Gil." He explained in a whispery tone.

Elena's eyes grew wide as she turned back to the nurse. "20 Million?! You gotta be kidding me!" she said in disbelief.

"Yep. That's how expensive things are right now. She also needs medicines to drink and consultations and check-ups… plus x-rays to make sure that her brain and lungs are okay." He explained.

"Why, what's wrong with her brain and lungs?" she asked as she crossed her arms.

"She had more than a gallon of water in her lungs when we found her and we had to take it out immediately. She wasn't able to breathe and… there could be some serious damages to her brain. You could ask her neurologist about it if you want. I only read some of the details from her file." He explained sadly.

Elena raised an eyebrow as she turned her gaze to Tifa. "Never mind… just hearing things from you made things worse…" she said glumly.

"Well, we could put her in the charity ward to lessen the expenses," he suggested.

"No one's putting her in the charity ward as long as I am here, okay? What makes you think that she can't pay her bills here?" she asked with a snobbish tone.

Dark Nation's ears twitched, sensing that Elena was planning something.

Elena just shut the door after she made the nurse go away, then she headed for Tifa and sat down on the other chair facing her. For a few seconds, she just stared at the poor girl.

Tifa was not saying anything; she just kept her head bowed down, her hair still covering her face and her hands placed on her lap.

Silence.

Elena was about to say something, but she stopped herself when she saw Tifa's head move up, and finally, the girl made eye contact with her.

Elena could barely see Tifa's crimson eyes through some hair strands, but she could clearly feel the need for questioning coming from her eyes. "Have you seen Rufus?" she asked softly, her voice sounded almost like a whisper.

Elena stared at her for a while, unbelievably. "She actually spoke up… and why is she asking for President Rufus?" she thought in panic.

Tifa slowly reached out for Elena's hands with her own trembling hands. Elena looked down at Tifa's hands and saw the wounds and scratches on it which made her cringe.

The brunette had tear-stained eyes. "Do you know his words? The words he had written for me? It's like… he spoke from the dead… and he's… he's alive and… I never thought that somebody like him could…could say those lovely words…" she said with a trembling voice and a weak smile.

Elena's eyes grew wide "Written for you?" she asked.

Tifa nodded, finally letting her tears fall, "I've seen your face from afar in a portrait of beauty and madness…" she cited. "That's what he wrote… those were the two lines… and they were very beautiful…" Tifa explained as she slowly let go of Elena's hands.

Elena looked down at her own hands where Tifa had held them and her eyes grew wide in surprise when she saw that there were traces of blood on them. Her mouth dropped open as she reached for Tifa's hands and examined the palms and the back of her hands.

There were wounds…

Tifa's crimson eyes finally released the tears and they fell uncontrollably.

Dark Nation bowed down her head and turned away, not being able to take the crying.

Elena got up and went to the door. Not even bothering to look back at Tifa, she got out of the room and shut the door. She leaned against the door and covered her mouth to stop herself from reacting. The nurse was still there, standing nearby.

Elena rushed to him and collared him. "Why are there wounds on her hands?" she demanded with a tough tone.

The nurse just looked at her. "Didn't you feel her pulse?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded angrily.

"Those wounds will not heal anymore." He told her.

She let go of him. "What do you mean?" she asked with wide eyes.

Then, the doctor arrived from the other hallway. It turned out that she was listening to the conversation. "Strangely, Tifa Lockheart is dead. But she is still here."

Elena's mouth dropped open and she felt goosebumps all over her body when she heard that.

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