Chapter 23: Transient
(Same tags apply as in Chapter 1)
Vincent looked up from his study of the Wutainese ninja's face as he heard a startled yelp from Tifa and demands to know what was happening from Barret and Cid. The door to Yuffie's room flew open as Xander and Salis darted in.
Salis locked the door and approached the pair on the bed. "What's happened, Mr. Valentine?" She asked quietly as Xander washed his hands in a nearby sink.
"She woke an hour ago and said she felt the beginnings of a migraine. We spoke for a short time before the others came in to visit. Outwardly, she seemed fine but migraine's intensity increased, she told the others that she needed to rest."
Vincent took a deep breath. "I was leaving to allow her to rest when she pulled me aside and told me that she could no longer see. It was gradual and she didn't want to concern our friends so she said nothing."
Yuffie's eyes slowly opened. Her eyes moved around the room but saw nothing.
"Yuffie, the healers are here to examine you." He said quietly.
"Does Vince have to leave?"
"I see no problem in Mr. Valentine staying." A female voice replied. "Miss Kisaragi, I'm Salis and Xander is my colleague. How are you feeling?"
"I have a splittin' headache and I feel like I'm going to throw up." She said as she pulled the oxygen mask away from her mouth.
Vincent quickly reached for the large emesis basin and managed to wrap Yuffie's hands around it. Her empty stomach rebelled and sent bile escaping from her mouth.
Yuffie's eyes began to tear as she began coughing heavily and her throat burned from the stomach acid. "Oh gods…" she managed weakly. The flow stopped but it wasn't over. Dry heaves racked her body making her abdominal muscles strain painfully. The pneumonia was making it hard for her to fill her lungs. It almost felt as if she had the wind knocked out of her as she began to panic.
She felt Vincent's hand nervously begin to rub soothing circles on her back and a hand pull the mask back over her nose and mouth as she tried to breathe. "Relax Yuffie, don't fight it."
Yuffie focused on Vincent's deep soothing voice as her breathing slowly returned to normal. Small tears still escaped her unseeing eyes as Xander drew up two syringes of medication from the vials he produced from the drawer. Salis popped the cap off of a dark bottle of pills and put one in her gloved hand.
"Yuffie, I know you don't feel the best right now but we need to run a few quick tests to find the cause of your blindness. We have something that will make you feel better, but it will also make you very tired." Xander explained, moving to Yuffie's IV and removed the cap from one of the syringes.
Yuffie nodded slightly.
He slowly injected the medication into her IV as Salis reached for Yuffie's mask and lifted it placing a cup of water to her lips. "Its water, go ahead and rinse your mouth." The auburn haired woman said gently. Yuffie swirled the water into her mouth and spit into the basin still in her hands.
"Good. Now I'm going to place a pill under your tongue, I need you to close your mouth and let it dissolve completely."
She replaced the mask as Yuffie grimaced as the pill dissolved leaving a horribly bitter taste in her mouth. "Eww…"
"The pill was to stop the migraine and the two IV meds Xander gave you are to help relieve your nausea, reduced the pain you're feeling and help reduce the swelling on you brain. I have an idea of what is causing the blindness but we need to do the tests. Are you ready Miss Kisaragi?" The female voice asked as she handed the emesis basin to Xander.
"Yes. Can ya please call 'e Yuffie, you're makin' me feel ol'." She joked, he speech heavily slurred.
Vincent smiled as Xander and Salis gave a chuckle. "Of course Yuffie. Let's get started then." Salis said as she produced a penlight from her pocket.
.::-o-::.
After an hour of testing, Yuffie was drifting in and out of consciousness as the medication became harder and harder to fight. As she sat with her eyes closed, still in Vincent's arms, Yuffie felt the pain diminishing as the exam wore on.
The healers were in the corner conferring with one another as a familiar rich, deep voice reached her ear.
"How do you feel?"
She fought to make her eyelids open as she replied through the mask. "It still hurts a lil' but it only feels like a headache." Finally she managed to open here eyes and felt her heart stop in her chest as she set out loud gasp.
The healers walked over at the sound and Vincent looked down at her concerned. His eyes widened to as they locked onto the stormy gray that he loved so much…she was staring directly into his eyes.
Xander looked at Yuffie's eyes as she gazed up at Vincent. "Well Salis, it looks like you were right. Yuffie, you're vision has returned, right?"
She looked over at the fuzzy image of a brown haired man confused. "Yeah but why am I able to see? I thought I was blind?"
Salis stepped forward. "Yes you were blind. You have what is called transient blindness. As your brain continues to heal over the next few weeks, the pressure and swelling go down. Unfortunately, it is a common occurrence that during that recovery, they experience frequent migraines.
"Under certain circumstances, those migraines increase the blood pressure in the artery that flows to the eyes and that compresses the nerve leading to the eye. It causes temporary blindness in one or both eyes, which is what happened to you."
Vincent processed the information that they were given. "Does that mean that each time she has a migraine she will lose her sight? Will this continue after the swelling has gone down?"
Xander thought about it for a moment and looked back to the pair. "There is a good chance that this will occur often with the migraines until she is healed. After that point, she should have no vision impairments caused by her migraines, but there's a small chance that it would happen. She will need someone to stay with her at all times incase her vision becomes impaired again."
-bang-
The four looked to the door as a muffled curse came through the door. "What in the hell is goin' on in there!"
"Cid." Yuffie laughed but quickly stopped when her abdominal muscles began to ache and her chest continued to hurt.
Salis placed her hand on the ninja's forehead feeling his cool clammy state. "Yuffie, we still need to give you a through exam to see how the antibiotics are doing for your pneumonia. Mr. Valentine, I think they want an explanation out there, Xander will go with you." She said pointing to the door.
He propped Yuffie, who was falling asleep again, back on the pillows, making sure she was comfortable. "I will come check on you later."
Her eyes drifted shut as the two men left the room. "Kay, bye Vinnie."
.::-o-::.
Vincent walked back into the waiting room with Xander in tow and saw the worried faces as he waited for the questions to start.
Cid looked up from the floor and stared at the two with a slightly haggard look on his face. The blond pilot was clearly worried. "Vincent, would you guys like to tell us what the hell is going on?"
Vincent sighed and ran his hand through his hair before beginning. He did not enjoy the role of the bearer of bad news. "I will be frank. Do you all recall when I informed you that she had a headache before you saw her?" They nodded. "While you were all visiting Yuffie, that headache turned into a migraine." Barret cut in before he continued.
"Well it was jus' a migraine right? That kinda thing's expected right wit her injury an' all, ain't it?
Vincent glanced over and looked at the gun-armed man. "Normally yes, but as it became worse, she lost her sight and-"
"Yuffie's blind?!" Tifa yelled.
"Son of a bitch! Cid punched is leg.
Barret simply buried his head in his hands.
Cloud massaged his temples.
"I wasn't finished." They looked up with sadness clearly on their faces, expecting more bad news. "Yuffie was blind however, her sight has returned."
Xander stepped forward. "I know that you are all quite confused about what's going on with your friend. I will do my best to explain it all to you."
He explained her condition for them and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Silence permeated the room as the members thought about their little ninja until Barret spoke.
"So how much longer is she gotta be here? I know she's gonna crazy if she's starin' at thos' walls for too long.
"She still has four more days of antibiotic treatment remaining." Xander said. "However, we may be able to allow her to leave the clinic for short periods of time, preferably around mealtimes and a mask will have to be worn when she's outdoors because of the dust particles in the air. She is still ill and requires rest.
"Someone will need to be with her at all times when she is not in the clinic. If she has any trouble at all breathing, you're to bring her back here immediately." They all nodded to Xander as Salis entered the waiting room.
Nanaki's turned to the short woman. "Salis, how is she doing?"
"She is asleep. The x-ray shows that there is some improvement in the amount of fluid in her lung. I think when she had that nausea spell before you both left," she looked at Vincent and Xander. "she managed to cough up some of the fluid. So she's doing quite well considering all that she's been through."
"Will we be able to come take her out of here for a while when she wakes?" Tifa asked.
The two healers exchanged a glance and shrugged. "I don't see why not." Salis said. "She hasn't had anything to eat since she's been here. The poor dear is probably starving." She looked over to Tifa. "Would it be possible for you to bring her some clothing? Her clothing was badly soiled so we had to toss them. I doubt young Yuffie is the type who would like to walk around in a hospital gown."
Tifa's face lit up. "Of course! Reeve, Marlene and Elmyra are on their way…Yuffie will be able to meet them finally. They should be here by then so maybe..." She trailed off, already making plans for the evening.
Cloud stepped forward and shook the healers' hands. "We want to thank you for everything that you've done for us. Yuffs is very important to all of us."
"It was our pleasure. We only wish we could do more." Xander said as he returned the handshake.
.::-o-::.
Cloud sat up slowly on his bed at the inn and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really couldn't decide where he was going or what he was going to do after they left the Canyon. Now that Sephiroth was gone, and the planet was saved, there was really nothing left for him to do.
'Well I am sure of one thing, wherever Tifa is, that's where I want to be. I need to talk to her…"
Cloud left his room in search of the beautiful martial artist. After they left the clinic, she had been in a frenzy trying to get everything prepared for their dinner tonight. 'Hopefully Yuffs feels better by then. It wouldn't be the same if we were to get together without her.' He thought as he walked to the nearby restaurant.
As he walked through the door, he saw the object of his search sitting at a table with the manager of the restaurant going over the menu. Cloud felt his heart skip a beat as he watched her toss her dark chocolate locks over her shoulder, raise a small hand and run her delicate fingers through its silken strands. Shaking his head to clear the mental pictures that were flying through his head, he approached the plotting pair.
Tifa pointed to something on the menu. "I think that this would be good for desert." The manager nodded. "Well, that about covers it."
"What would you like to choose for beverages?" The gray haired man asked.
Tifa noticed the approach of her blond love. "Hi Cloud! Come and sit, we're almost done."
He smiled at his love as he planted a quick kiss on her cheek and sat in the chair next to her, draping his arm over the back of her chair. "Thanks."
She smiled and gave a sigh of contentment as she continued to skim over the drink menu. "Cloud what do you think we should get for drinks? I can't decide." She handed him the menu.
He glanced over the list but couldn't decide either. He looked over to Tifa and then to balding man. "We'll have two bottles of the best Champagne you carry."
Tifa glanced up at him. "What about Yuffie? She won't be able to have alcohol in her condition."
Cloud thought about it for a moment. "Do you carry sparkling cider Mister…"
The man smiled and extended his hand. "Dennis Wolpert, it is nice to meet you Mr. Strife. We do carry it."
"Please, just call me Cloud." Cloud said as he shook the man's hand. "I think that would be best, I don't think that Elmyra drinks alcohol."
Mr. Wolpert picked up the menus and stood. "Well, that settles it then. Everything will be ready at 6:30 for a party of ten. Is there anything I can get for you for now?"
Tifa shook her head. "No, you've been a great help. Do you mind if we sit here and talk for a little while?"
"Of course not. I'll leave you both in peace." He said as he smiled at the couple and walked into the back.
Tifa and Cloud watched as Mr. Wolpert disappeared into the back of the elegant restaurant. Tifa gave him sweet kiss on the lips and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, everything is set up. There's nothing else to do now."
"Teef?"
"Yeah Cloud?"
"Um, where are you going after we leave the Canyon?"
She tilted her head to the side as she thought about the question. "I was thinking about returning to Nibelheim. I know that it's not the same town where we grew up, but it's the closest thing to home and the rebuilt version of my parents' house is all that I have. How 'bout you?"
"To tell the truth, I honestly didn't know, but now, I'm sure." He turned in his chair to face her and clasped her left hand in both of his. "I'll be returning to Nibelheim also."
"Tifa, I want to be with you. I love you. We have spent so much time apart, I don't want to be without you anymore, I want to live with you."
Cloud saw the tears shining in her eyes as she smiled at him. Her heart was pounding painfully against her ribcage as she tried to make herself produce coherent speech.
"Cloud…I uh…oh my gods…you really mean it? You want to live with me?"
He gave her a shy smile. "Only if you want me to. I still have my mother's home if you're not ready for that kind of thing."
She cupped he hand to his cheek, feeling the almost indiscernible stubble on the palm of her hand as she slowly moved forward. Their lips met as she put all the joy she was feeling into that one kiss.
They broke apart, panting slightly and gazing at each other with heavy lidded eyes. "Cloud, I would love to live with you."
.::-o-::.
Quick pre author notes note: I am now allowing anonymous reviews, please feel free to drop me a line. Lovely thing about that…I just saw that you can remove all the evil anonymous reviews…so if I get flamed by someone that doesn't have a log in, I will simply remove it. Especially if its stupid.
o-o-Author's Notes-o-o
Ahh, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…the breakfast of champions! -Chomps her sandwich and grins- It's against my better judgment that I'm posting this chapter…I wasn't suppose to put it up for another 3 days. There are some things that I am still working on with the later chaps of this story.
Did ya'll understand the explanation of her blindness?? Transient Blindness is real. Here is the official definition (from Tabers cyclopedic medical dictionary:)
Temporary blindness in one or both eyes. The onset is usually sudden. It may be caused in both eyes by any condition that temporarily interferes with the maintenance of blood pressure in the ophthalmic arteries, such as a migraine.
So I'm not just pulling this mumbo jumbo out of Hojo's ass.
Anyway…Guess what?!? This story has been accessed over 10,000 times!! I am so stoked!!! I know it doesn't mean much, but I am very pleased to see that so many people are interested in my story.
Oh yeah! Like I discussed with Angel and MystIc, My cloning machine is on the fritz so the plans to overthrow square are on hold...I got some blood samples from the wrong Sephiroth (Ya know, the one that the mad scientist alter to have his own DNA) and the damn machine is only producing low quality Hojo's...until I can find a pure Sephiroth from the Valentine bloodline (Seph, Sephy and Sephiroth fit that description, but their busy right now)...if there are any chores or other dirty work you need a Hojo to do? Just let me know and I'll send some you way.
Now, I'm gonna finish my sandwich before I gotta got. Reno, my precious, you can take over.
Reno: -Arches eyebrow at Ezri- I think you've seen Lord of the Rings too many times.
Ez: Actually Reno baby, I've never seen LOTR and have no desire to see it.
Reno: You're kidding me right?
Ez: Nope. My mom watches it all the time though. You have work to do you sexy Turk now hop to it or you won't have any fun later…no booze either.
Reno: O.O uh, yeah, lets get this over with.
Eerian: She is very happy that you are working on your stories. Sephy will be glad to help ya out in any way you need him too. She says since you need his help with the kitchen, you should have him wax the floor shirtless…
Ez: -Sighs- all those muscles flexing…hee hee…very nice! -takes another bite-
Angel: Ezzie is really glad that you had fun on your trip. I've been trying to get her to go outside but she only stays in her room with the AC turned on.
Ez: I can't help that all the people in my neighbor mow their grass like obsessive freaks, even if its brown! Reno, you've seen my sneezing fits.
Reno: True. Angel-baby, she also says don't apologize and to take time writing your fics.
Yuff: Ain't my Ez just full of surprises??
Night Crystal: -Snatches the chocolate while Ez goes to get some water- Umm…these are good, I might leave Ez one or two of these. She sends her thanks for her warm fuzzies. She's been walking around her house hugging them with an almost frightening grin on her face.
Ez: But I can do that and there's nothing you can do to make me stop! -snatches the list from Reno for a moment- Wow, I got a review form G. Zan! I love your Final fantasy stories, especially the sorceress stories. I'm glad that my characters are staying up to par…so far, that is. Continue Reno.
Reno: Kay.
Seph2021: Thank you so much for your kind review of chapter 20. She's honored to be your 100th review.
Ez: Hee hee! He called me miss Ezri….I like that! Hey Seph, is your hair still silver??
Reno: -rolls his eyes- anyway…
Torahiko: YUM! Sugar burgers!! Poor Yuffs, maybe you should just let Tora do everything for you. And look at this, more chocolate!! -hides the box behind his back- and roses!! -Reno catches the kiss Tora blew to him- Thanks Babe! -Winks and whispers- maybe I can come visit you and Yuffs soon.
Lone Gunmen: Thanks for sending my good buddy Rude back this way…I hope he has some booze with him…anyway, she says that she's read so many different head injury treatment options, its mind boggling and she hopes the explanation of the blindness makes sense.
Deplora: No problem, she's glad that you had fun with Vince. Since its not working for her right now, she's sending you her blue inspiration moogle.
Inspiration Moogle: Kupo!!
Ez: Hee Hee…he glows!
Kidbuux: She says thank you so much for the praise!
Konie Hime: Any ending that this story is gonna have looks to be at least 10-12 chapters away…but its not set in stone.
Shadowkeepre: Ez said she's heard of that movie, but has never seen it. Vinnie knows Yuff will go buck wild on him if he starts getting all angsty again.
Yuffie: -Yells from Torahiko's house- Damn Right!
Princess-starseed '87: umm..
Ezri -bumps Reno to the side with her hip and Cackles evilly- I like being evil!!
-Reno pulls himself up from the floor and glares at Ezri- Reno: She really can be evil…
NEW REVIEWER, Eien No Uta: She tried to make the injury as real as she could for this story…she has also read those kind of stories but she just wanted to do something a little different for this one.
Charlie: Welcome! You are Ez's first anonymous reviewer! She is trying it out to see how it goes. You wish is her command…hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Ez: -Snatches the box of chocolate that Reno hid and glares at him- Ya chocolate stealing bastard!
Reno: Sorry! I didn't mean it…I promise to make it up to you!
Ez: Okay, just don't do it again. Well, we better get going. Til the next chapter guys!
Edited 1/14/07
7/26/07
Edited because of change in formatting. Also re-numbering chapters. Minor content edits.