Chapter 6

So as the three walked back to Esthar he explained about Ellone and everything he knew about Laguna. He talked about his own personal experiences with Laguna. Once he was finished he answered Litta's questions.

"So is he a surgeon?"

"No."

"Then why are we going to see him?"

"He's a brilliant man and knows a lot about science. He's taken some classes and has some experience with surgery. He's the only person I can think of that would know how to get that thing out of you without going to Rufus himself." Litta shuttered at the mention of Rufus. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up."

"No, I need to learn to deal with him. I'm pretty sure I'll have to deal with him again in the future."

"You're probably right." Squall noticed the way Litta looked at the ground. "Hey, look up. Don't worry about Rufus. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"And if the river swallows us whole?" she asked continuing with the metaphor Squall had used.

"It won't. I won't let it swallow all of us." A silence fell on the group after that.

What does he mean he won't let it swallow all of us? Would he sacrifice himself to save Vincent and me? It won't come to that. I won't let that happen. She stopped thinking about that and about Esthar. When they got there, Squall led the way to Laguna and got them in with no problems.

"Squall, it's good to see you again."

"It's been a while, Laguna."

"So what brings you to me? Good news I hope?"

"I'm afraid not." He told Laguna about the tracking devise in Litta and what needed to be done.

"Hmmm, a dilemma indeed. Come here," he told Litta. She obeyed. He pulled out a machine and held it over each shoulder. "It appears that this tracer is in her left shoulder."

"How do you know that?" asked Litta.

"This machine tells me if there is any active machinery in your body. It turns red if no, and green if yes. On your left shoulder it turned green, see?" He put it over her shoulder and the light turned green. He put the machine away.

"So can you get it out of her?" Squall asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll need to run some tests and analyses of it, but I think I can probably do it. Why is this so important?" He looked at Squall.

"It's a long story. Maybe I can tell you later but for now just do it." Laguna left Squall and Vincent in the room and took Litta with him to another room. He set up some tests to run, and had her lie down on a table.

"This won't hurt. Just lie still." He ran the tests and, true to his word, they didn't hurt. She got up and he led her back to Squall and Vincent.

"Well, it seems simple enough to remove, but there is a defense mechanism. I'm going to need to play around with it for a little while before I operate. I want to make sure I know what I'm doing." He left the room again, leaving them to talk and wander around.

"So what now? We just wait until he comes back?" Litta wasn't fond of waiting.

"Wouldn't you rather have him know what he's doing than just operating?" Squall asked her. She nodded. "We'll just have to wait until he comes back."

"If it's all right with you Squall," Vincent asked, "I'm going to head out for a little while."

"That's fine." Squall had learned not to ask questions. Vincent knew what he was doing.

"Where is Vincent going?" Litta asked.

"I don't know, but Vincent knows what he's doing."

"So if Laguna can't operate on me, what then? Where will we go next?"

"Don't think like that. Laguna will be able to take that thing out of you, I'm sure of it."

"But if he can't?" If he can't then you don't know what we will do. You don't know where else to go.

"I said don't think about that. I don't know what we'll do if he can't get that thing out, so don't ask me." He walked out of the room and left Litta alone.

She walked around the office a little, looked at some of the books on the bookshelf, but decided to see where Squall went. She walked out the door and followed the hallway towards the elevator. She went to the first floor and looked around. Squall seemed to have left the building completely.

Wait, I can't leave. What if Laguna comes looking for us? He won't know where we went. But I don't know what to say, only Squall really knows what to do. Why did he have to leave? But maybe that's my fault. If I hadn't kept asking him about this then he wouldn't have gotten so riled up. But should I follow him or stay here? She decided to leave when Laguna came looking for her.

"I wondered where you had gone. Why did you leave?"

"I came out looking for Squall."

"Oh. Why did he leave?"

"I don't know."

"Well I guess I'll have to do this without him. Come on, I'm going to take that thing out of you."

"Shouldn't you tell Squall?" She really didn't want to do this without Squall.

"No. If he comes back I'll make sure someone tells him what we're doing. Now come on, don't you want that thing out of you?"

"Yes." She followed him back up into the operating room. He gave her a shot with some numbing medicine in it. Her left shoulder went numb and Laguna went to work. Nothing happened at first, but she suddenly started to feel weak. She noticed some of the bars on the computer screen monitor were moving down and others up.

"What's happening?" she asked.

"The devise is draining your energy for itself. Keep holding on." A few minutes went by and Squall entered the room. His face showed no emotion, yet.

"How is everything going?"

"Fine, for now. Her energy is being drained, but that's better than dealing with a defense mechanism."

"Can I help?"

"Not right now. Just stand by the wall for now. If I need you I'll let you know." He went back to work in silence. No one said anything to disrupt it. As if on cue, she started shaking. Then her legs started kicking and her arms jerked violently. Laguna called Squall over immediately.

"Hold her still. This is the defense mechanism. If I'm not careful," he didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to. They knew what would happen. Litta couldn't control herself and couldn't think straight. Squall was having a difficult time holding her still. He noticed some bars on the computer screen going down and others going up.

"What do these bars mean?" Laguna looked up.

"It means if I don't get this out of her soon, her lungs will shut down and then her heart. I don't think we want that to happen so just keep her still." Squall did as he was told, but keeping Litta still was no easy task. He was able to keep her under control for a little while and Laguna finally pulled out the devise.

"That little thing caused all this trouble?" Squall asked.

"Hard to believe isn't it. But if it's all right with you, I'd like to keep it and see how it works."

"You ought to destroy it. That's how Sephiroth found us, so if you want to invite him for tea be my guest and keep it. Otherwise, I suggest you get rid of it."

"You may be right." At that moment, the bars on the computer screen went blank.

"What's wrong?" He looked at Litta who didn't appear to be breathing.

"It looks like her lungs quit working. If we don't get them working again soon her heart will give out." He told Squall to leave the room and he stood in the hallway.

How is he going to get her lungs to work again? They've always had trouble with that in hospitals. How can he do it in a few minutes? What if he doesn't and her heart fails? I'll never get to tell her how I feel. I should have told her when she told me. Why am I so afraid of being attached to people? Laguna opened the door.

"You can come back in. She's unconscious, but alive."

"When will she wake up?"

"I don't know. But for now she needs to rest. Where are you staying?" Squall told him the hotel name. "Where's your friend?"

"He left. He'll be back though."

"For now, why don't you go back to the hotel and when your friend comes back I'll let him know. That way Litta can continue resting."

"Sounds good."

"You know what, I'll give you a ride over there. Not me personally, but I'll have one of my helpers give you a ride. That way you don't have to walk."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Wait downstairs and I'll send someone down." Squall left, with Litta in his arms. A few minutes later someone came down to give them a ride. Vincent arrived at that time and Squall filled him in on the way over to the hotel.