Her Own World
Chapter: 6
Purgatio
..~**~..
It was surprising to get such a phone call. He had just finished his report to the headmaster and now he had just found out that Rinoa, who had previously been in her apartment, was now in hospital.
He sat in the waiting room in ward 17 almost falling asleep. It was tough to stay awake. He had intended on getting more sleep…but things didn't always go his way. It was freezing cold and there were very few nurses walking around. It was a quiet evening. Slowly, his eyelids closed. He made sure he didn't fall asleep though. If it was humanly possible. Footsteps made their way over to him and he instantly flicked his eyes open.
" Mr. Leonheart?"
He regarded the young, female nurse with a nod and stood up. " Rinoa's in room 19, just down the hall to your left. She asked to see you" He nodded again and smiled gratefully at the nurse, thankful for helping him to stay awake.
Rinoa was lying down, pale faced and weary in the bed. She smiled slightly. He pulled a chair out and sat down next to her. " Hey Rin…" She tried to sit up, but he held out his hand and gently placed it on her shoulder. Signaling her to lie down. She did this then motioned over to the door. " Zone just went to get some coffee"
" Zone?"
She nodded wearily and yawned. " Yeah…Zone was the one who took me here when he…" She yawned once more, "…took me here"
"Oh…"
At that moment the man himself walked in and brightened upon seeing Squall there. " Oh hey! You made it" Squall looked up at him. " You brang her here?" Zone nodded.
" She was in the back alley behind the bar, near the city hall" At this she frowned. " I can't really remember what happened" She croaked. " I'll answer that" Zone said softly. He pulled out a second chair and began explaining.
" Some people some said that you ran out of the city hall in a bit of hurry. You ran down the pathway and a few said you were acting like a loony" She rolled her eyes. He grinned slightly and continued. " Everyone thought you were gonna faint. But you ran into the alleyway. I had heard all the commotion and saw you run in. I pushed past everyone and when I found you, you were unconscious on the ground"
She brought her hand up and rubbed her temples. She let out a muffled, "ouch" and laid her head down again. " Thanks for looking out for her Zone" Squall said. Zone was about to say something but bent over, holding his hands over his gut whimpering, " Ooooooh, my stomach…" He smiled slightly and left the room. The two left in the room both looked at each other and smiled.
" Hey Squall…maybe you should give the others a call"
Oh damn…forgot " Yeah sure" He got up from his chair and took out his mobile. He slowly walked out of the room and into the corridor while dialing. Selphie answered.
" He- Zell! Stop it! You're getting it all over me! Yuuuuuck…oh! Um, hello?"
" Selphie its me…what are you guys doing?"
He heard a muffled yell then some pots clattering. Selphie walked into another room and slammed the door. " Oh, Zell's attempting to make hotdogs with his new 'sauce-o-matic' machine" She said this with an extreme hint of laughing. The as an afterthought she added, " And he's getting aaalll over the room"
Squall rolled his eyes and turned back to the matter at hand. " Hey listen I'm at the hospital. Rinoa had an accident and-"
" Rinny! What happened is she ok is she-"
" Selphie calm down, she just hit her head. She's probably just got a bit of concussion. All I need you and Zell to do, is make sure all your gear is packed and give Cid a call. Tell him that our trip to Balamb will be delayed for about another day. Can you do that?"
"Sure thing Squall! Tell Rinoa we said HI"
" Alright…and make sure Zell cleans up too" With that he hung up. He placed the phone back into his jacket and walked into Rinoa's room. She had her eyes closed and her head tilted back slightly. Her breathing was slow and had a familiar rhythm to it.
He left her to sleep and sat down, looking to the side. He saw a young girl, sitting up in bed. Both her parents were sitting beside her with her mother holding her hand. The nurse was explaining something to them, he couldn't hear what though.
The girl was sprawled on the hospital bed, a plastic strap on her wrist and a tube coming from her arm to a plastic pouch of liquid hanging on a stand. Other small wires attached her to a machine that slowly measured her heartbeat in green computer lines. Her face was a muddy gray colour, but she looked relaxed. He couldn't help but stare at the many machines and electrodes.
The nurse checked her chart. He felt his heart sink when he saw the nurse take the parents aside to speak with them.
He hated hospitals. He didn't really know why…nothing bad ever happened to him in one. He just had a bad feeling toward them. All these machines only measured what was happening, it couldn't fix anything. He suddenly found the small white room unbearably hot and stuffy. The quiet voices, the smell of the polish, the cut flowers, the windows that didn't open…people died in here. People died in these little rooms all the time. Maybe even in that bed someone had died recently. People with machines all around them and wires on their chest…it was all so controlled. But it didn't stop people dying.
" Her parents came and spoke to me earlier…" He turned to Rinoa, who looked wide-awake now. " They're on holiday from Trabia. As soon as they got here…their daughter, Melanie, her appendix burst"
"Ouch…"
" They only planned to stay here a week then go home. But now they have to stay for another three days extra and they can't afford to continue their holiday. They're on a tight budget"
He looked down. " So they've missed out on their holiday pretty much"
" Yeah…"
He looked back over at the girl. She was asleep now and her parents were back by her side. He wanted to get his mind off the girl so he quickly changed the subject.
" Hey Rinoa…I think we should talk about what happened. How you got here"
She nodded and sat upright. " I can't remember much though"
" Just tell me what you can. Tell me what you did this morning, try to put as much detail as you can and only say what's necessary ok?"
"Alright" Squall…you sound like you interrogating me
" I left my room in the hotel at about nine. I walked to the city hall, stopping to see Zone on the way then I went in. Caraway was there and we talked…and…and…"
" Yes?"
She held a hand to her forehead. " Its all kinda fuzzy…" He held onto her hand reassuringly and looked up smiling. With a newfound strength she continued.
" I think I was speaking with someone and…he insulted me. Something about me being a sorceress…yeah that's it! I got angry and I ran out. Then I must have gone into the alleyway and…hit my head"
It didn't sound too realistic. To go into an alleyway and hit your head. " The person that insulted you…was it a man or woman?"
" A man"
" Can you recall anything about what he said to you? Try to take your mind back to the moment"
She took a deep breath. " He said that I was going to turn evil or something. That because my ancestors were dictators…or something…that I would be like that too. I think. He was yelling an awful lot and saying something about his father…oh! And his brother"
" Did he touch you at all? Did he try to attack you?"
" No, no. It was all verbal. I'm sorry if this all kinda sketchy"
He shook his head and looked to the door. The nurse came in. She smiled warmly at the two and picked up Rinoa's chart. " Your friend Zone said he had to return to work urgently" Rinoa nodded and shuffled a bit.
" Okay, you have a mild concussion so we'll need to keep you in overnight. You can go home tomorrow morning and we'll give you some strong painkillers to help with any headaches. For the next week or so we should warn you to settle down a bit and stay out of any activities involving sports, an enrolment in…"
She must have said speeches like these thousands of times. She sounds so rehearsed… Rinoa mused. She looked over at the girl again. Nothing had changed so she shifted her gaze back to the nurse.
"…and if anything should rise you'll need to let your doctor know or contact us" Squall said thankyou and the nurse left.
" Squall what about Balamb?"
" I told Selphie and Zell to pack and tell Cid that we'll be a day late. So don't worry"
" How did you know it would only be a day?" She said this with a hint amusement and curiosity. "Oh… I just did," He answered.
..~**~..
Scribbles: This chapter wasn't as long as the others, but hey, it's a chapter. And that's gotta be top of the lot eh?
…
damnit…
Thanks for everyone who reviewed, I took your comments into consideration and I re-edited the 3rd chapter. So thanks everyone! Please review again and feel free to post any comments, feedback, blah blah blah and even flames…
Just on a quick note, the girl with the burst appendix? She's actually real. I was in hospital for a while and there was a girl there on vacation. She missed out on her holiday…sniff. So yeah…I hope she's doing ok.
Okay…oh! Who else out there is from aust? I'm curious…
Thankyou to:
Billie The Kid, PrincessMercury, Cherry6214, Chichiri's-Girl, Drifting Moomba, Angeles Erare, GOD, The Angel Of The Lion, Billie The Wild Angel
Heh, this is like a really long Author's Scribbles.
I'm writing this in advance so I can update weekly or more often (hint hint) so if you have any feedback be sure to tell me and I can change it straight away. Thanx!