I am so sorry. This has taken forever to do and that's why it's so late. But here it is so enjoy!

Chapter 9: - Can it be worse?

The next morning arrived painfully slow. No-one had slept. Cloud and Tifa had tended to Vincent during the night to make sure he survived it, Cid remained outside on the deck, leaving the Sierra on autopilot and going through at least five packs of cigarettes, and the rest of Avalanche were too restless to sleep. Barret and Yuffie had stuck themselves in a corner, sitting with their arms around their legs, fearing what would become of Vincent. A dull atmosphere lingered in the Sierra but on a brighter note they were finally nearing Midgar. Reeve snapped out of his brooding trance and tore his gaze away from the window. His hand dived into his pocket and pulled out a mobile phone. After dialling the number for the hospital, he pressed it to his ear and waited for an answer.

"Midgar Hospital, emergency department, how may I help you?" answered a soft female voice.

"Hello, this is Reeve, president of Shinra." Reeve replied.

"President Reeve! It's an honour to hear from you." The nurse chirped before Reeve could continue, "What can I do for you?"

"A friend of mine has been severely injured. I fear he hasn't much time left," Reeve explained, his voice heavily filled with sorrow, "my friends and I are taking him to Midgar Hospital by air as we speak but we haven't a moment to lose. Could I ask of you to send a team of doctors to the air pad and be ready to help him upon our arrival?" He asked.

"Sure!" the nurse replied, "will that be all?'

"Yes and give the doctors my thanks in advance." Then Reeve hung up. His gaze returned to the window. The city of Midgar could be seen just ahead, maybe fifteen minutes away. But before he could be transfixed in brooding again, the sound of footsteps came from behind him. His attention turned to sees Cid coming from the hallway and position himself in the pilot's seat once more. Cad's eyes were red and puffy and he smelt heavily of cigarette. But even from these obvious signs, Reeve already knew why he was this way. He had heard him crying all night and it even brought himself to tears. He knew Cid would be in a bad mood right now so he didn't mention it. Cid had a strange way of showing emotion; this was just another way of showing sorrow and guilt.

"Oi, Barret! Get off ya' lazy ass and go tell Cloud we'll be landing soon!" Cid snapped, breaking the silence in the room. Without argument, Barret stood up and hastily set off. Yuffie realised she was alone and moved closer to Nanaki for company.

"Cid?" Yuffie's voice was a mere squeak. It was because her throat was tight. Cid looked up from the controls.

"You saw him, right?"

Cid only nodded. A disturbing thought filled Yuffie's mind.

"Is... he…is he still…alive?" This was one of those questions where you wouldn't be satisfied until you knew the answer, but also feared it. Cid nodded again. Yuffie felt slightly relived.

"How is he?"

Cid stayed quiet. Cloud's words came back into his mind; "Do not tell any of the others of this." He would keep his word; Cloud would tell them when the time is right. Yuffie didn't pressure Cid on the question, which Cid was thankful for, but she did ask one last one.

"He'll be okay, won't he?"

Cid thought for a minute. At first he thought he shouldn't answer, but Yuffie was a girl who liked to be reassured.

"Yeah, he'll be okay."

----------

"This tank is empty," Cloud said, studying the gauge on the oxygen tank, "is there another one around?"

Tifa shook her head, "No, I was lucky to even find that one." She answered with a sigh. Cloud gently pulled off the mask covering Vincent's face and tossed it onto a pile of blood-stained towels. Vincent stirred slightly when Cloud's hand accidentally brushed against his wounds, but it wasn't enough to wake him. Cloud slumped back into his chair beside Tifa.

"I can't believe Vincent didn't tell us about the stigma." Cloud said.

"He probably had good reason not to." Tifa replied though she felt Avalanche had a right to know. Then again, Vincent never really said much, only what he thought was needed, and that's why nobody really knew what was on his mind or how he felt. In a way, Vincent isolated himself from others and never opened up. Maybe he was always like that. Maybe he used to be an open guy, always smiling and laughing with his friends back in his generation thirty-two years ago before he was used as a tool for twisted science and thrown away like a failure. Or maybe it was because of Lucrecia. Tifa didn't know about her but she heard Vincent mention her a few times and every time that name escape his mouth Tifa could always see mix of emotions. Sadness, hurt and some kind of longing, like he didn't feel whole without her. Maybe she did something to him, or maybe something happened to her, and that's what had changed him. A knock on the door made Tifa return from her thoughts as Cloud moved to answer it. It was Barret and an immediate scowl appeared on Cloud's face, causing Barret to flinch and back away slightly.

"…Uh…w-we'll be landing soon." He stuttered, Cloud's scowl making him lose his cool. With a simple nod in reply, Cloud shut the door but not before Barret took an unwilling glance at Vincent. Cloud heard a thud from outside as Barret must have fallen to his knees or something but didn't take much notice of it. Instead, his attention turned back to Vincent. A small smirk grew on his face as a thought flickered in his mind. If Vincent was awake right now and able to speak he would surely be protesting the fact of going to a hospital. He could practically hear his voice now.

"There is no way I'm stepping foot in that hellhole!"

Loud knew he had a deep distrust of scientists and doctors of any kind and despised going anywhere near a lab or hospital. If you think the brave Vincent Valentine is afraid of nothing, put him near surgical tools and see what happens. Cloud's thoughts ended when a thud of the Sierra landing and the hum of the engines disappearing alarmed him. He slipped an arm under Vincent's knees and upper back and carried him out side with Tifa following behind. Even though Vincent was taller than Cloud, he was surprisingly light weight. The cub, realising the absence of warmth provided by resting close to Vincent, soon hurried after him. He tripped over a couple of times. It was not easy running with a broken paw. When Tifa noticed him she picked him up and cradled him in her arms. Though the cub didn't mind Tifa, he wanted to be with Vincent and protested by yelping and struggling. He only stopped when he saw the doctors hurriedly rush him to an operating theatre

Avalanche was left behind, looking completely confused on what to do. Reeve seemed to know where he was going though so they followed him and eventually found themselves in a small waiting room in the emergency department. Reeve motioned for them to sit before walking off to talk with the nurse behind the information counter.

"He'll make it, right Cloud?" Tifa asked, more of a statement tan a question. He turned to face her and found the whole Avalanche crew staring at him hopefully. Cloud remained silent though. He didn't know what lay in the future. He only knew it would be a tough battle to get there, whatever the outcome. Reeve returned soon after, breaking the awkward silence.

"The doctors are treating his wounds now. He should be okay in a few days." Reeve said, raising the spirits of some of the crew. But Cloud, Tifa and Cid had their doubts, knowing about the stigma. The doctors were in for a surprise.

"You'll need to give them a few hours to operate before you can see him." He added. Cloud nodded and returned his gaze to the floor.

"Yeah, thanks Reeve." Cloud said dully. Reeve frowned. He didn't understand why Cloud was acting this way.

"Are you alright, Cloud?" He asked. Before Cloud could answer, a small beeping was head. Reeve unclipped a pager from his belt and read the message.

"Hmmm. The doctors want me there for some reason. That'd odd." He said, but shrugged it off and clipped the pager back on his belt.

"I'll be back later. You guys have fun.' And with that he left. How someone could be that jovial at a time like this, Cloud didn't know. But Cloud sure didn't feel that way. He hated a crisis like this when a friend's life was at stake, he hated the feeling of helplessness and he hated how he felt it was his fault. He wished things could go back to normal. Wait, what was he thinking! What is normal these days? Calamities from the sky, using the planet's life for our own purposes, experiments on humans…that's not normal. When you think about it, nothing is normal.

"Uh…Cloud…"

Cloud looked up to meet Reeve. His face was pale and his jovial attitude long since gone. It was obvious he was bearing the burden of bad news.

"I…I think you should come with me." He said. Cloud and Tifa exchanged worried glances. Then Cloud stood up and followed Reeve through double doors marked "EMERGANCY" in red letter. They went past several patients on the way, some with serious burns, other badly wounded, and most unconscious. Eventually, Cloud and Reeve went down a corridor and through another pair of double doors, arriving in the operating theatre. Cloud cautiously followed Reeve to the centre of the room where Vincent was lying on an operating table. An oxygen mask was positioned over his face once more. The doctor's were just finishing cleaning his wounds but they were still gushing blood. Vincent's cloak and shirt had been taken off to allow the doctor's easy access to his wounds, but in doing so, revealed a much bigger problem. The geostigma that encased his right arm had also taken over Vincent's upper torso and right side. It was a much larger infection than Cloud had previously thought.

"Oh crap…" Cloud breathed out, "I didn't think the stigma was that bad."

"So you knew about Vincent's stigma?" Reeve questioned. He now realised why Cloud was so down even when he told him that Vincent was going to be okay. But now he too had his doubts.

"I thought he would survive at least eight days before, but now we'll be lucky if he makes it through three."

"It doesn't matter how long he's got, what can we do? There's no cure." Reeve asked glumly.

'We'll make one!' Cloud claimed, slamming his fist into his open palm. .Reeve was stunned by Cloud's solution but what choice did they have. This was the only way.

"You'll have to hurry Cloud," Reeve said, putting his hand on Cloud shoulder. "You've only got a matter of days. After that there's no stopping his death."