Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I just own j00.
Author's Note: Sorry it took a lil bit of time for this chappie!! =)
~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~
Chapter Six: Bunny Ears
Quistis Trepe pushed herself to the limit on the Deling hospital 'walker'. The walker was a flat piece of continuously moving steel, about seven feet long, that Quistis was forced to walk quickly on to stay in one place. In front of her, behind her, and to her side were several doctors and nurses, carefully studying her movements. She hated the walker yet pushed herself. It was one of the final steps to her recovery. She had been quickly walking on the machine for about twenty minutes now; the longest time yet. The dull pain in her side was beginning to grow. It was such a familiar pain.
She ignored the pain and wiped a layer of sweat off her flushed face. Then letting out a gasp, she let herself sink to her knee's. The simple act of wiping her face that triggered the accustomed pain in her lower left side. She felt like she had been ignited in fire. Instantly, the rehabilitation machine stopped running and two nurses, one male and one female, were at her side, trying to lift her to her tired feet. Quistis managed to slide her hands over the cool metal of the railing and get a firm grip as she allowed herself to be stood up.
"What frequency was the pain?" asked a nearby doctor, whom which held a brown clipboard.
Quistis allowed the busy nurses to lift her shirt and check her wound on her lower left side. They poked at the bandages and Quistis once more ignored the pain.
"Less than normal," she said weakly
.
The doctor quickly scratched his pen onto the paper on his clipboard and glanced at her. "Good! We are making excellent progress, I see. If recovery continues at this rate, you should be out of here in less than a week."
A light shone in Quistis' eyes. Less than a week. Finally, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Thank you, Doctor Kenos."
The doctor left without a response and the nurses finally left her side.
"The Thinsulate room," said the female nurse. "Let's go Miss. Trepe."
Quistis followed the two nurses from the physical therapy room and into the hall. The two nurses were assigned to her specifically by Headmaster Cid himself to give her excellent care. The female nurse' name was Amie, and she was at the age of forty-two with fake, bright red hair and fake, bright green eyes. She had the most wild mood swings Quistis had ever encountered. Some days she was talkative and fresh, and others she was cold and bitter. Today was definitely a bitter day and Quistis hated it.
The male nurse, Celyn, was celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday the next day. He, in Quistis' point of view, was an extraordinarily attractive person. Dirty blonde hair slicked back with gel to avoid falling into his deep, ocean blue eyes, tall enough to reach the sun, there was no denying his beauty. He was a large man, but not fat. Quistis was thankful the instant she found he was her personal nurse. They had hit it off at once, becoming instant friends.
Quistis had woken from her three-month long coma nearly a month prior and had been doing rehabilitation techniques daily. The only reason she spent so much time in rehabilitation was because of the sharp piece of metal that had found its way into and through Quistis' body. Luckily, it had missed her major organs. The next step in her four hour long daily recovery process was indeed the Thinsulate room. In this room, she was to receive a medical massage on her impaled side. Why the unusual name, Quistis was still unsure.
The room was off-white, just like all the other rooms in the hospital. She knew the procedure, and when Amie and Celyn turned their backs, Quistis pulled the hospital shirt off from her, careful not to bump her side wound. She let the cotton shirt slip to the floor and laid down on the cold, hard table in the middle of the rather large room. She rested her head on the flat pillow and grabbed the white, thin piece of fabric that was under her back. She laid it across her breasts to mostly keep them from view.
"Done," she called out.
Both of the nurses turned back around and strode over to her. While Celyn worked on removing the bandages from her side, Amie was gathering different herbs and medical lotions.
"Cold in here today," Celyn told her as he took note of the goosebumps running over her skin.
"Just your hands are," Quistis remarked.
"Sorry," he said and adverted his eyes and hands, along with the bandages. Quistis let her eyes drift shut as she felt a cool yet itchy substance be rubbed gently onto her healing wound. She heard Amie whisper, "curaga", after the itchy substance had been wiped off.
Curaga?
Quistis opened her eyes quickly, jerking her head upwards at Amie as she worked the spell on Quistis.
"Curaga?" Quistis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right," Amie said with a nod. She finished the spell and cast it again.
"I thought curative spells were illegal when dealing with rehabilitation," Quistis said suspiciously.
"They are," the older woman said as she dusted her hands on the white of her uniform. "But don't you want to get out of here?"
"Yes, but..." Quistis started to say. She sat on her elbows, careful that the fabric didn't leave her chest region. "It's illegal."
Amie gave the blonde an angry look over her shoulder as she fiddled to place the unused substances back on the counters. Quistis understood; Amie was sick and tired of waiting on Quistis' every need. It had been quite a while; four months to be exact. Amie and Celyn both had lives they probably wanted to return to.
Celyn looked nervous as Amie fussed about. "If we're caught, we're fired."
She ignored his information. "I will," she corrected. "Just pretend you didn't see it."
"I can't--"
"Do it," Amie commanded, her tone smart. She dusted her hands off once more and left the room in a hurry. Celyn, without a word, turned his back. Quistis let the fabric drop to the floor as she pulled her hospital cotton shirt back on.
Celyn gave her a gorgeous smile. He patted her right shoulder and said, "You know what this means, don't you?"
"Hmm?"
"Go home, Quis," he said with another dashing grin. Quis was his nickname for her. He was the only person there who called her by her first name. "Get out of this hell hole. Get some sun on your face."
"I'm... done?" Quistis asked, bewildered.
"Yes madam!" Celyn said, excited for her. "The two curaga's finished curing you up. Your free to go. I'll talk to Doctor Kenos and somehow explain. Don't worry about it."
A smile lit up Quistis' somber face. Her poster grew straighter. She was so elated.
As she went to leave the room, and when her hand was on the doorknob, she turned back around.
"Oh, but Celyn," she said as he faced her as well. "I'll miss you so."
He smiled faintly. "Ditto, Quis."
He walked over to her and wrapped her in his arms for a huge, bear like hug. He smelled good, despite the disgusting hospital air. "Do me a favor," he commanded. "Go out with me tomorrow night. For my birthday."
She glanced at him, pulling away from his hug, curious. "Why?"
He laughed at her discomfort. "As friends, silly."
She gave him a genuine smile. "...Sure. Where am I meeting you?"
"Balamb Garden, front entrance." he winked at her. "I know your going home. I'll just meet you there."
"Are you sure?" It was a long way from Deling.
"I'm sure," he told her.
"What time?"
He opened the door for her and said, "Seven at night. We'll catch some dinner."
"Don't you mean, 'eat some dinner'?" she asked with a chuckle. "Its, 'catch a movie.'"
"Oh whatever," Celyn rolled his eyes, pushing her playfully from the Thinsulate room. "I'll be there then. Not a minute late."
"Bye," she called back, hurrying to her revolting room to gather her few belongings.
She needed a ride somewhere, at it wasn't back to Balamb Garden. And as soon as she got to her room, she dialed up Squall.
* * * * * * * * * *
Seifer Almasy sighed as he stared at the front page of the newspaper. He had purchased it at the nearest town, and the first thing that caught his eye was on the front page.
SORCERESS HERO STILL MISSING.
Yup, that was the title of the big article. Catching his eye, he glanced at the picture that it showed. From left to right, it showed Irvine who had an arm around Rinoa, Squall, Quistis, Selphie, then Zell giving Selphie bunny ears.
Bunny ears, Seifer thought with a laugh. Very like Zell to make bunny ears.
Each had a smile on their face- including Squall. Seifer let his eyes fall on Quistis who, much to his great surprise, had the biggest smile on her face. She was leaning over slightly, placing her hands on her knees.
The black and white of the photo did her grand beauty no justice.
He turned his attention to the article:
"Selphie Tilmit, eighteen, is still reported missing. Tilmit was one of the six hero's that defeated Sorceress Ultimicia, hense saving the world. While friends refuse to give the search for her up, police have been requested to stop the quest. No traces of Tilmit have been found.
"'I refuse to give her up for gone,' comments Rinoa Heartilly, eighteen and also an Ultimicia hero. 'I know she's out there. I know she's alive.' Others could not be reached for comment. While Tilmit is (see page 6)"
Seifer grumbled, annoyed he had to use his effort of turning a few pages. As he fought with the paper, he heard a knock on the orphanage front door. He jumped to his feet, startled, and grabbed for Hyperion.
Who the FUCK knows about this place, Seifer thought.
He walked cautiously to the door, holding his gunblade steady. Touching the doorknob, then grabbing it tightly, he quickly swung it open as fast as he could and shoved the gunblade through the door way at the person on the other side.
A flash of pink and blonde flew backwards along with a startled cry.
...The instructor?
Withdrawing the gunblade and glad to see it without blood, he stepped from his new home. Quistis Trepe was there all right, sitting on her butt, rubbing her left forearm. She glared up at him. "Ass hole. Do you try and harm everyone who comes to your door?"
"Well," he said with a frown. "Yeah."
She climbed to her feet, dusting off her butt and smoothing her blonde locks back into place.
"What are you doing here," he demanded.
She ignored his question. "How come every time I see you, you try and kill me?"
"Hey," he said defensively. "When you fell down the elevator shaft, that wasn't me. You did that yourself."
She glanced at him and a frightened look passed across her face. "I feel down an elevator shaft?"
Seifer froze. He didn't know she didn't remember. How was he supposed to know!?
"What are you doing here?" he asked again, meekly.
"Can I come in?"
He stared at her as she waited for an answer. "What happened to you these last four months?"
"Hospital," she said dryly.
How does she know I'm here?
"What happened to Selphie?"
She looked at him, serious. "That's what I need to talk to you about."
He stepped back and opened the battered door wider. "Come in."
~*~
Author's Note: Sorry it took a lil bit of time for this chappie!! =)
~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~
Chapter Six: Bunny Ears
Quistis Trepe pushed herself to the limit on the Deling hospital 'walker'. The walker was a flat piece of continuously moving steel, about seven feet long, that Quistis was forced to walk quickly on to stay in one place. In front of her, behind her, and to her side were several doctors and nurses, carefully studying her movements. She hated the walker yet pushed herself. It was one of the final steps to her recovery. She had been quickly walking on the machine for about twenty minutes now; the longest time yet. The dull pain in her side was beginning to grow. It was such a familiar pain.
She ignored the pain and wiped a layer of sweat off her flushed face. Then letting out a gasp, she let herself sink to her knee's. The simple act of wiping her face that triggered the accustomed pain in her lower left side. She felt like she had been ignited in fire. Instantly, the rehabilitation machine stopped running and two nurses, one male and one female, were at her side, trying to lift her to her tired feet. Quistis managed to slide her hands over the cool metal of the railing and get a firm grip as she allowed herself to be stood up.
"What frequency was the pain?" asked a nearby doctor, whom which held a brown clipboard.
Quistis allowed the busy nurses to lift her shirt and check her wound on her lower left side. They poked at the bandages and Quistis once more ignored the pain.
"Less than normal," she said weakly
.
The doctor quickly scratched his pen onto the paper on his clipboard and glanced at her. "Good! We are making excellent progress, I see. If recovery continues at this rate, you should be out of here in less than a week."
A light shone in Quistis' eyes. Less than a week. Finally, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Thank you, Doctor Kenos."
The doctor left without a response and the nurses finally left her side.
"The Thinsulate room," said the female nurse. "Let's go Miss. Trepe."
Quistis followed the two nurses from the physical therapy room and into the hall. The two nurses were assigned to her specifically by Headmaster Cid himself to give her excellent care. The female nurse' name was Amie, and she was at the age of forty-two with fake, bright red hair and fake, bright green eyes. She had the most wild mood swings Quistis had ever encountered. Some days she was talkative and fresh, and others she was cold and bitter. Today was definitely a bitter day and Quistis hated it.
The male nurse, Celyn, was celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday the next day. He, in Quistis' point of view, was an extraordinarily attractive person. Dirty blonde hair slicked back with gel to avoid falling into his deep, ocean blue eyes, tall enough to reach the sun, there was no denying his beauty. He was a large man, but not fat. Quistis was thankful the instant she found he was her personal nurse. They had hit it off at once, becoming instant friends.
Quistis had woken from her three-month long coma nearly a month prior and had been doing rehabilitation techniques daily. The only reason she spent so much time in rehabilitation was because of the sharp piece of metal that had found its way into and through Quistis' body. Luckily, it had missed her major organs. The next step in her four hour long daily recovery process was indeed the Thinsulate room. In this room, she was to receive a medical massage on her impaled side. Why the unusual name, Quistis was still unsure.
The room was off-white, just like all the other rooms in the hospital. She knew the procedure, and when Amie and Celyn turned their backs, Quistis pulled the hospital shirt off from her, careful not to bump her side wound. She let the cotton shirt slip to the floor and laid down on the cold, hard table in the middle of the rather large room. She rested her head on the flat pillow and grabbed the white, thin piece of fabric that was under her back. She laid it across her breasts to mostly keep them from view.
"Done," she called out.
Both of the nurses turned back around and strode over to her. While Celyn worked on removing the bandages from her side, Amie was gathering different herbs and medical lotions.
"Cold in here today," Celyn told her as he took note of the goosebumps running over her skin.
"Just your hands are," Quistis remarked.
"Sorry," he said and adverted his eyes and hands, along with the bandages. Quistis let her eyes drift shut as she felt a cool yet itchy substance be rubbed gently onto her healing wound. She heard Amie whisper, "curaga", after the itchy substance had been wiped off.
Curaga?
Quistis opened her eyes quickly, jerking her head upwards at Amie as she worked the spell on Quistis.
"Curaga?" Quistis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right," Amie said with a nod. She finished the spell and cast it again.
"I thought curative spells were illegal when dealing with rehabilitation," Quistis said suspiciously.
"They are," the older woman said as she dusted her hands on the white of her uniform. "But don't you want to get out of here?"
"Yes, but..." Quistis started to say. She sat on her elbows, careful that the fabric didn't leave her chest region. "It's illegal."
Amie gave the blonde an angry look over her shoulder as she fiddled to place the unused substances back on the counters. Quistis understood; Amie was sick and tired of waiting on Quistis' every need. It had been quite a while; four months to be exact. Amie and Celyn both had lives they probably wanted to return to.
Celyn looked nervous as Amie fussed about. "If we're caught, we're fired."
She ignored his information. "I will," she corrected. "Just pretend you didn't see it."
"I can't--"
"Do it," Amie commanded, her tone smart. She dusted her hands off once more and left the room in a hurry. Celyn, without a word, turned his back. Quistis let the fabric drop to the floor as she pulled her hospital cotton shirt back on.
Celyn gave her a gorgeous smile. He patted her right shoulder and said, "You know what this means, don't you?"
"Hmm?"
"Go home, Quis," he said with another dashing grin. Quis was his nickname for her. He was the only person there who called her by her first name. "Get out of this hell hole. Get some sun on your face."
"I'm... done?" Quistis asked, bewildered.
"Yes madam!" Celyn said, excited for her. "The two curaga's finished curing you up. Your free to go. I'll talk to Doctor Kenos and somehow explain. Don't worry about it."
A smile lit up Quistis' somber face. Her poster grew straighter. She was so elated.
As she went to leave the room, and when her hand was on the doorknob, she turned back around.
"Oh, but Celyn," she said as he faced her as well. "I'll miss you so."
He smiled faintly. "Ditto, Quis."
He walked over to her and wrapped her in his arms for a huge, bear like hug. He smelled good, despite the disgusting hospital air. "Do me a favor," he commanded. "Go out with me tomorrow night. For my birthday."
She glanced at him, pulling away from his hug, curious. "Why?"
He laughed at her discomfort. "As friends, silly."
She gave him a genuine smile. "...Sure. Where am I meeting you?"
"Balamb Garden, front entrance." he winked at her. "I know your going home. I'll just meet you there."
"Are you sure?" It was a long way from Deling.
"I'm sure," he told her.
"What time?"
He opened the door for her and said, "Seven at night. We'll catch some dinner."
"Don't you mean, 'eat some dinner'?" she asked with a chuckle. "Its, 'catch a movie.'"
"Oh whatever," Celyn rolled his eyes, pushing her playfully from the Thinsulate room. "I'll be there then. Not a minute late."
"Bye," she called back, hurrying to her revolting room to gather her few belongings.
She needed a ride somewhere, at it wasn't back to Balamb Garden. And as soon as she got to her room, she dialed up Squall.
* * * * * * * * * *
Seifer Almasy sighed as he stared at the front page of the newspaper. He had purchased it at the nearest town, and the first thing that caught his eye was on the front page.
SORCERESS HERO STILL MISSING.
Yup, that was the title of the big article. Catching his eye, he glanced at the picture that it showed. From left to right, it showed Irvine who had an arm around Rinoa, Squall, Quistis, Selphie, then Zell giving Selphie bunny ears.
Bunny ears, Seifer thought with a laugh. Very like Zell to make bunny ears.
Each had a smile on their face- including Squall. Seifer let his eyes fall on Quistis who, much to his great surprise, had the biggest smile on her face. She was leaning over slightly, placing her hands on her knees.
The black and white of the photo did her grand beauty no justice.
He turned his attention to the article:
"Selphie Tilmit, eighteen, is still reported missing. Tilmit was one of the six hero's that defeated Sorceress Ultimicia, hense saving the world. While friends refuse to give the search for her up, police have been requested to stop the quest. No traces of Tilmit have been found.
"'I refuse to give her up for gone,' comments Rinoa Heartilly, eighteen and also an Ultimicia hero. 'I know she's out there. I know she's alive.' Others could not be reached for comment. While Tilmit is (see page 6)"
Seifer grumbled, annoyed he had to use his effort of turning a few pages. As he fought with the paper, he heard a knock on the orphanage front door. He jumped to his feet, startled, and grabbed for Hyperion.
Who the FUCK knows about this place, Seifer thought.
He walked cautiously to the door, holding his gunblade steady. Touching the doorknob, then grabbing it tightly, he quickly swung it open as fast as he could and shoved the gunblade through the door way at the person on the other side.
A flash of pink and blonde flew backwards along with a startled cry.
...The instructor?
Withdrawing the gunblade and glad to see it without blood, he stepped from his new home. Quistis Trepe was there all right, sitting on her butt, rubbing her left forearm. She glared up at him. "Ass hole. Do you try and harm everyone who comes to your door?"
"Well," he said with a frown. "Yeah."
She climbed to her feet, dusting off her butt and smoothing her blonde locks back into place.
"What are you doing here," he demanded.
She ignored his question. "How come every time I see you, you try and kill me?"
"Hey," he said defensively. "When you fell down the elevator shaft, that wasn't me. You did that yourself."
She glanced at him and a frightened look passed across her face. "I feel down an elevator shaft?"
Seifer froze. He didn't know she didn't remember. How was he supposed to know!?
"What are you doing here?" he asked again, meekly.
"Can I come in?"
He stared at her as she waited for an answer. "What happened to you these last four months?"
"Hospital," she said dryly.
How does she know I'm here?
"What happened to Selphie?"
She looked at him, serious. "That's what I need to talk to you about."
He stepped back and opened the battered door wider. "Come in."
~*~