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Note: Hey guys, another chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Shallow Sleep

/just saw you/Beyond the course of time/A room that we once shared /But my memory's a haze/Forgetting what was said /I gently held out my hand /And in that perfect moment /You disappeared I lost you over again /In a shallow sleep I dreamt I was seeing you /Just how I remembered /Brimming with tenderness /And somewhere in the caim /A feeling that nothing had ever changed /Your presence close beside me till I wake /I just saw you /A moment far too brief /Before the daylight came /But my heart is beating fast /Perhaps we'll meet again /In a shallow sleep I dreamt I was seeing you /Just how I remembered /Brimming with tenderness/And somewhere in the calm /A feeling that nothing had ever changed /Your presence close beside me till I wake /I see you until I wake from shallow sleep/An artist without a brush /Can't paint upon the canvas /Without you here there is no colour /A colourless landscape /In a shallow sleep I dreamt I was seeing you/Just how I remembered /Brimming with tendrness /And somewhere in the calm /A feeling that nothing had ever changed /Your presence close beside me till I wake /I see you shallow sleep/ -hyde

He paced the living room of the mansion for the hundredth time that night. He seemed to himself so out of character, but he'd been this way since she'd come to stay with him. He could hear every sound that went on in his house at the moment. The clinking of metal on metal as it hit together in a black leather bag, the dripping of his faucet in the kitchen, the air being moved about by the ceiling fan above his head. Nothing seemed to calm his nerves as he remained in the small, dark room against his will.

He could be doing something much more productive. He could be helping in some way. He couldn't just stand here and allow her lose her life. If she wasn't going to fight, he would do it for her. He wanted her to wake up, he wanted her to be healthy, he wanted her to live again, live through this. Hell, he needed her to live through this. She was always the perfect example of how things could get better after they were devastating. She was living proof that the world wasn't as cruel as it seemed, and she was throwing his reassurance to the wind. She was his reassurance. He needed her to remember why he was still here.

He didn't remember the exact time that he realized he loved her. Maybe it was that first night she came up on deck to talk to him after a long day with Cloud and the rest of the group. She had talked to him all night, not caring that he said precious few words to her in return. They had spent many nights on the deck of the Highwind talking. Eventually he did come around, and the two formed a strong friendship. He had never really spoken to anyone. Hell, he still didn't talk to anyone just for fun. But she had somehow forced his words out of him, and he didn't hold back from her any longer. She had treated him like a human, something he hadn't felt like in such a long time.

He needed her more than she realized.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard someone walking down the stairs. He raced to the foyer to see the doctor coming down. He waited as patiently as he could for the doctor to get to his level, but the suspense was enough to drive him mad.

"How is she?" He asked, surprised that his voice was as steady as it sounded. The look given to him wasn't very encouraging. The doctor sigh heavily.

"I'm sorry." He already didn't like the sound of this. "She's not doing well. I have to say, I'll be surprised if she makes it through tomorrow."

"There's nothing you can do?" Vincent asked desperately.

"I'm afraid not," The doctor said, "It would be helpful if I had some materia. The wounds on her arm are infected. We'd need something to heal them for her to have any chance of survival."

Vincent hung his head. There was no materia left in the world. The people had destroyed it in an attempt to forget the past mistakes of Shinra. No one thought they would ever need it again. Wanting to live life without the aid of magic was proving difficult though. For some it was all they'd ever known. They didn't remember what it was like to have to watch a loved one die without any means of help at all. Now they were feeling it wasn't such a good idea to get rid of it all.

"Thank you doctor." Was all he said as the old man walked out of his house with desolate steps.

He turned his head to the stairs, the only thing separating him from her. He took to them silently, he'd been treading his house this way for the past hour. He wasn't one to break habit.

He'd called for the doctor only moments after she had gone under. She had stopped talking abruptly and had fallen into him, breathing heavily. He'd laid her down on the bed and watched as her condition grew steadily worse. Eventually he couldn't watch her suffer anymore and called the doctor. Something about her inner struggle was harder to watch than anything he'd ever seen. It brought back memories of his own nightmares and he was almost glad when the doorbell had startled him out of his reverie. Then he became angry when the doctor wouldn't let him stay with her. He was just a bundle of confusion today.

He walked into his room to find her just as he'd left her. She looked somewhat like a doll, with her arms down at her sides and her body in a strait line on his bed. It was odd for her to sleep like this. He could recall one time when he'd had to wake her one morning on the Highwind. She had been so spralled across the bed he was afraid she'd slept through a tornado that had jumbled her body so. What a weird sight she was then.

Sitting down cautiously on the bed as not to wake her, he brushed a few locks of her chocolate hair off her face. Her lips were turned up at the corners. An almost peaceful smile gracing her features, as if she was content where she was.

Maybe it was for the best she stay there. She wouldn't have the torture that was the voices she heard in her head. He knew that torture all too well. His own was almost enough to drive him to the same drastic measures she had put herself through. He knew she would do anything to stay sane, or as sane as she could be. And if that meant to leave him here alone, he could nothing to stop her.

Even with her laying right beside him, he felt so alone. Tears threatened to overtake him and he admitted it to himself. There was no living for him if she were to die now. He wouldn't be able to let himself go on without her. It was selfish and he would be punished for it in time, but that didn't matter to him now. She wasn't fighting, it was clear as day. He would have to fight for her.

But how?

The doctor said she probably wouldn't make it through tomorrow without materia. The wounds on her arms would need to be healed and he'd have to have some way to get to her.

He had neither of these things. No one did in Nibelheim or any other place in the world. Unless…

Grabbing his PHS off the nightstand beside the bed he dialed the number. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He hadn't used his phone since meteor, and today he'd used it twice on Tifa's behalf.

When he heard the familiar voice answer the other line he said the one thing that came to mind.

"I need your help."

Note: Did you like it? I wanted to update this story so badly, I hope nothing seemed to rushed. If so let me know. I do enjoy reviews as well as appreciate constructive criticism.