[Author's Quickie: Oh, geez, it's been a long while, hasn't it. I haven't updated since school got out…Ugh. But I've decided to begin again, start writing fan fiction again, so…you lucky reader, you! As promised, this fic does get darker, but how dark you'll just have to wait and see…]

::Add-a-disclaimer--here!::

A Week in Devil's Paradise

Chapter Two:

When you least expect it…

"Ah," Aerith sighed thankfully as she sunk into the warmth of her bed, "Thank god the day's almost over." Wait a minute. That was funny; didn't she come here for a vacation? Why in the world was she counting down the days when she would return to reality, then?

From one cage to another, she supposed rather cynically, sitting up in the ample excuse for a bed. With angry pats she whacked the side of her pillow, watching askance as spare goose feathers fluttered out of it. "What is this?" she muttered, heaving the pillow across the room, "K-mart pillows?"

Evenings were always a bad time. Not only did she feel restless in the night, after having become accustomed to a late shift back home, but there were the dreams that plagued her. Always.

Don't think, don't think, Aerith chanted to herself, pressing her hands over her ears to shut out her thoughts, striding briskly out of her room towards the dining hall. Vacation. Think vacation. Think white sand, palm trees, coconuts with paper umbrellas, think beaches and blue waves, think green flora and printed swimsuits, think of Kairi's blood-red hair…

She froze, her hand clenching irregularly into the linen fabric of her white skirt. No, no, no. She had to stop thinking. She had to get away from the emergency room. Get away from the scream of the sirens, away from the crusted blood on her hands, away from the blank stare of death…

Her neck went slack, her eyes glazed over, and suddenly her whole body dropped to the floor in a tumbled heap. She never made it to the dining room.

* * *

Wearily he rubbed his eyes with hand, sure that, by now, his pupils were bloodshot. That was not the problem. The problem, he supposed reflexively, was how to solve the case, board a plane back towards the States the next morning, and not have a full fledged crisis on his hands.

He had been told the woman he was tracking down was very young, fair-skinned, and introverted. Well, Christ, that gave him a lot to work with, didn't it?

Leon sighed, running a hand over his thick brown hair, wishing he had the gusto to quit his job. There was nothing wrong with being a bum and living out on the streets, was there? There was only so much mental exhaustion and bodily pain a person could take, after all. But his promise would haunt him if he did. Nevertheless, he promised himself that he would take a look at retirement status after this case was over.

Right. The problem. Suspected second degree manslaughter and perjury. He could handle this, he reflected as he walked down the hallway towards his room. A simple manslaughter case. Right. Leon turned a corner, his hands digging deep into his pockets in frustration. Who was he kidding?

Reports had filtered in, deeply disturbing in nature that hinted of a bigger scheme, some bigger picture that had yet to be seen. How Dr. Gainsborough figured into this mess remained a mystery.

Whatever it was, Leon thought grimly as he rounded another corner, he sure it was trouble. His instincts never failed. But he sure as hell wasn't expecting to find the body of a girl lying in the middle of the hall, limbs splayed crookedly beneath her as if she was dead. He stopped.

"Oh, Christ."

* * *

Before he in good sense knew what he was doing, Leon had already ran over and knelt down by the body, pressing two fingers onto the warm underside of the neck, feeling frantically for a pulse. The body was still warm. Christ.

She was still alive. He finally found the pulse, weak but still there. Letting out a partial sigh of relief, Leon searched in his mind for what to do next. There was no blood, a good sign. CPR? No, she hadn't drowned. Hospital. Yeah, like there was one. Doctor. There had to be a doctor somewhere on this damn island. Scooping the girl's fragile body into his arms, which felt light enough to float away, he ran.

His feet sunk into the soft grass as he cut around the outhouse, heading for the dining hall, which he hoped would still be occupied. It was 9:00 P.M. Jet lag would still be in effect. He glanced down quickly, recognizing the girl as the person who had fell upon him earlier in the day, and groaned. Christ, this was bad.

The door of the cafeteria grew closer and closer as he ran, and, throwing his weight against the door, it swung open and almost discarded them neatly on the floor. A loud shuffling sound was heard as several metal chairs were slid back, consecutive gasps echoing around the room. Vaguely he was aware of a bright red-haired girl and a brown-haired boy approaching them in a run. "Doctor--" Leon panted, on the verge of fainting himself from sheer mental exhaustion, "we need a doctor!"

"What happened?!" the red-headed girl asked worriedly, kneeling down to face them. "Is she okay?"

"Get a doctor," Leon bit out, gritting his teeth. Didn't these people listen, instead of ogling?

"Kairi, is Nurse Asaka here yet?" the brown-haired boy asked, his brow creasing.

Kairi shook her head helplessly, answering in a forlorn voice, "She's taken a later flight…she won't arrive at the island until three hours later."

"Shit," Leon said plainly.

"We can get her on a boat to the mainland," Kairi suggested.

"It'll take too long," the boy argued. "By then, she might…die…" His voice trailed off, and the two of them fell silent. After a tense moment, he spoke up again. "Hey, Kairi, wasn't there a doctor who came here on vacation in your group?"

Kairi brightened immediately. "Yeah! She's in room 112. Hurry, Sora, go and get her! I think her name was Dr. Gainsborough." The look on Leon's face soured instantly as he heard her words. Great, he thought, we're going to get help from the one person he came here to arrest. Could life get any crazier? As the boy named Sora left, Kairi leaned closer and started to dig in the unconscious girl's pockets.

"What are you doing?" Leon snapped, his eyebrows raised.

"I'm searching for her ID," Kairi said plaintively, "So we know who she is, and then we can see if she takes medication, that kind of thing." She reached into the front pocket of her dress, and brought out a white laminated plastic card with a clip attached to it. "Found something!" Kairi said joyfully, and then her voice immediately sobered as she saw what it was. "Oh my god."

"Well?" Leon prompted, feeling impatience swarm him.

Kairi swallowed, and showed him the card she had in her hand. Leon recognized it as a hospital ID card, the one staff would wear on their lab coats. Oh, damn. That meant… "We've found our doctor."