Chapter 3: Trauma

Wake up. Shower. Food. Infirmary. Lunch. Library.

That was Irvine's routine for the next three days. He would comb through books about sudden comas for clues to explain Selphie's condition. After 1800 hours, Squall would join him until 2100 when he would duck out to prepare for the next day. Irvine stayed until the Library until the library closed at 2300 hours.

No one else joined them. No one else even asked what they were doing. Irvine tried not to take it personally but it was hard when the one person who made time to investigate this mystery was busier than anyone else.

"How's Selphie doing?"

The sudden question made Irvine look up. He'd tried to read the same paragraph for the last hour with no success. "'Bout tha same. Doc's keepin' her on IV drip. Doesn't wanna add dehydration or starvation ta her condition. Ya been in ta see her yet?"

"Not since yesterday." Squall's eyes did not leave the book in front of him. He turned a page. "Rinoa went with me. Says she feels bad for being so busy."

"It's alright." It wasn't. Of everyone, Rinoa had the most free time and it shouldn't have been guilt that made her check in on a friend. But he couldn't say any of this. When it came to Rinoa, Squall could be blind and it was not fair to force him to defend the girl when he already had to on a daily basis. If the students were uncomfortable with a Sorceress under their roof it was doubtful the administration felt any better.

And the only person the anger would hurt was himself.

Irvine sighed in frustration as he leaned back in his chair. "Damn! Would be a helluva lot easier if we could just borrow these dang books."

"Xu and Cid would figure out what we were doing. If our check out habits from the Library change too much too quickly..."

"Yeah yeah I hear ya." Irvine had heard the same argument before. Part of him knew Squall was right, the other remembered just how paranoid Squall was. "Just sayin' is all."

Aside from a flutter of pages on Squall's side of the table, Irvine felt no progress at all. He was stuck on the same page, words failed to process in his mind no matter how much he tried to force them in.

"You look tired."

When Irvine looked up he saw Squall watching. His left hand held down two pages, while his right held a pencil against a notebook. "You've been at this all afternoon. Go visit with Selphie and call it a night. I'll stay here and keep looking."

"Ya gotta be in tomorrow, doncha?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday. I can stay until the Library closes tonight."

Irvine was tempted. He couldn't concentrate and while it would accomplish nothing else, being at Selphie's side would at least make him feel better. But he wanted to be productive, so shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."

"You've been on that same page for the last hour."

Irvine tilted his head. "Ya got eyes on tha top o' yer head, Leonhart?"

"No I just pay attention. Go. Sleep. I can handle this."

"I'm alright," Irvine declared.

"Don't make me drag you out of the Library, Kinneas." The look on Squall's face betrayed that this was not an idle threat. His shoulders were squared to push up from the table at a moment's notice. All Irvine needed to do was provide the reason.

With a weary sigh, the sharpshooter slammed the book shut and rose to stand. He didn't miss the smug little smirk that arose on Squall's features as he wished Irvine a good night.

He hadn't realized he was so tired. He changed once his dorm was closed and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Too tired to dream, he was shocked awake hours later by dull thumps.

At first he thought he was still asleep and ignored it but when the sound persisted he rolled out of bed and stumbled to answer it. "I'm comin', I'm comin'..."

He unlocked the door to reveal Lieutenant-Commander Xu with arms crossed and a sour expression.

The pair did not get along. She was too by-the-book for his tastes and had a stick crammed so far up her ass it likely impeded her ability to slouch. Irvine was more laid back and liked to follow the road at his own leisure. To see her at his room was unprecedented and would normally garner some witty response on his part... if it wasn't so damned early in the morning.

"Come with me. Now."

"Can I get dressed first?"

The question caused Xu's eyes to darken. She flicked her gaze down and then back up before her lips formed a fine line. "You have two minutes."

It was more than enough time to grab anything even remotely clean and soon he fell into step with the elder woman. "Wha-?"

"Don't talk." Her tone was brisk with an underlying fury. He knew he wasn't her favourite person but she had always at least been civil with him. That was how she operated; she kept things professional. He'd never seen her so hostile or angry before and it put him on edge.

As they entered the hall Irvine noted through the windows along the upper walls that it was still dark out. He couldn't tell for how much longer, hell he'd barely even looked at the time as he'd gotten changed. Whenever he tried to speak she would snap back at him, like a dog at the end of a leash. Quiet. Stop Talking. Shut up.

As they turned towards the Infirmary, his thoughts turned south. Had Selphie taken a turn for the worse? But then how was that his fault? And why did Xu see fit to take it out on him?

The elder woman knocked on the Infirmary door three times, the sharp raps echoed against the quiet night. The door slid open and the doctor looked between the pair before she stood aside and allowed them access. She locked the door behind them.

"Is Sefie okay?" Irvine managed to get out.

Xu shot him another look as she stalked down the path of cubicles. Dr. Kadowaki reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Selphie's condition hasn't changed. We called you here for something else."

The doctor inclined her head in the direction of the Lieutenant-Commander who waited impatiently near the other end of the room. He was a foot away before she threw open the curtain and inclined her head beyond. When Irvine looked inside his blood ran cold and he heard the woman shift behind him.

"Now you can start talking," said Xu as she indicated the unconscious form of Squall Leonhart.

It did not take long for him to recant all that happened over the last eight days. The longer he talked, the darker her expression grew until he had run out of things to tell her.

"Damn him. Damn you both."

"Y'all weren't doin' nuthin'! What else did ya expect us ta do?"

"To do as you were told! But clearly that was asking too much." Xu rubbed the bridge of her nose. "If you two hadn't stuck your noses in..."

"Then what? We'd be right back ta where we were before, with Selphie layin' here unresponsive."

"But at least we'd have a semi-functioning Commander. What neither one of you seem to realize is SeeD must be prepared for anything. Just because it didn't seem contagious at first doesn't mean it couldn't change. How likely is it that a woman from the future tries to influence the past by compressing time?!"

Whatever argument Irvine had died in his throat.

"I told the Headmaster that he'd pull something like this," Xu vented. "He did it before in Centra. Why wouldn't he do something now?"

But tha Headmaster wouldn't let ya freeze him out this time. The thought crossed his mind unbidden but he did not argue the truth of it. When Rinoa had been in her coma Squall had managed to track down the one person who might have been able to help uncover what had happened to her. But before he could act on the information, Xu had organized a coup with the rest of the faculty. She'd judged the youth's capacity to lead had been compromised by the events and had stripped him of his rank and file, everything but name. "So then why didn't ya'll do sumthan ta stop him?"

Both the Doctor and the Lieutenant-Commander looked surprised. He would not just stand here and let her do this. When neither woman said a word he shook his head with a mirthless laugh. "Now I know ya'll hate that we went behind yer backs, but I ain't gonna just stand around and let ya blame him for endin' up like this."

"I don't need your permission to do anything, Kinneas." Xu's eyes were hard and her jaw clenched.

"Enough!" It was Dr. Kadowaki who threw up her hands and stepped between the two. "If all you're gonna do is point the finger at each other I'll have to ask you both to leave. My priority is to my patients, doesn't matter who they are or if they put themselves in here. Do I make myself clear?"

On any other occasion Irvine might have found it ridiculous that the plump doctor was making demands specifically out of Garden's Lieutenant-Commander, but her point was sound. They were in the Infirmary where she lay down the law with an iron fist and was not afraid to show to the door those who would not abide by them.

Irvine forced himself to calm down. He noted without satisfaction that Xu did the same. But her eyes were still hard and fierce as she said, "Regardless that he was acting on his own, you exacerbated the situation when you went and had your little tantrum. Because of what you both did Garden now has an epidemic and is on lock-down effective immediately. No one goes in or out until we can contain the spread."

Her words hit home and as the first threads of doubt formed in his gut he swallowed hard. The only person he'd thought of at all was Selphie. Regardless of whatever safety measures Squall had in place, clearly neither of them had considered the consequences of their actions. "But what about Squall and Sefie?"

"They're not going anywhere," Dr. Kadowaki assured. "We'll keep them here under constant observation."

"Though now we're going to have to come out with everything we know about the situation," Xu picked up. "And it isn't much."

It sounded like the Lieutenant-Commander had her work cut out for her this time. A part of him felt guilty. Another part considered that with the outcry she would face there was very little she would get accomplished. "Anythang I can do ta help?"

The look Xu fixed him cut him so sharply he took a step back. "Say out of the way. Garden took care of its own long before you showed up. And if I find out you've so much as placed one toe out of line I will personally see you shipped back to Galbadia with no hope of ever coming back. You'll be lucky if Martine even wants you after the stunt you pulled. Now get out of my sight."

He needed no further encouragement and hightailed it out of there.