"No," was Rude's response, said rather evenly, considering the situation. He took Reno's hand in his, wrapping Reno's smaller, thinner hand in his. He wanted to ask how he could make it up to the redhead, how he could make everything right... but he knew it wasn't that simple.
"I. .. I don't know why I'd think you'd up n' go, you've been with me through it all. .but shit, I know I'm a burden sometimes, n' I do stuff ta get m'self hurt. ..an' I'm stubborn an' occasionally airheaded n' clumsy. . .just. ..I'm who I am an' I can't change that. .. don't mean I'm a bad person or that I can't take responsibility. ..I know what I need ta do, and I do it."
"I know." What more could he do other than let Reno work himself through this?
"An' I love you more'n my own life. ..if somethin' happened ta you I'd just die. .you're the other halfa me, yo. .sprobably why I get so afraid when I see ya lookin' at someone else. ..like the one or two times I seen ya lookin' at Tifa. ..an' I covered it with humor 'cause I didn't wanna seem silly. If you ever walked away. ..you'd take a good chunka me with ya. ..an' I hate feeling so fuckin' dependant, but I can't change how I feel. .."
All of it, everything that hid behind the manic humor and the easy smile. ..all of it suddenly began just pouring out, and he had no way to stop it right now.
Rude nodded. But he couldn't help himself from saying what came from him next. "It's human to look, Reno. And don't think I haven't seen you do it, too." He paused. He was about to dig himself in a little deeper, he could feel it. "And just because I look doesn't nessisarily mean I'm going to leave you for them. I appreciate beauty"
M
He nodded. "I'm bein' ir rational, don't gotta tell me that."
Wow. That went over a lot better than it did in Rude's head.
He went to sit up the rest of the way, and winced as it pulled at the materia healed incision. He then taps the side of his bed. "I know, I still look at the boss sometimes, but that'd create a hella mess, one I'm not willin' ta get into. .even if I wasn't comitted to YOU already...now, Laney said you wanted ta do somethin'. ..I think I can oblige ya nce I'm outta here."
Rude's face plainly said, 'I did?' What did he tell Elena he wanted to do...?
"About the one night stand thig. ..We can set up where ta meet n' shit once I'm outta this hellhole."
Oh... Oh! Rude's face pinked when he remembered that part of his conversation with Elena.
"I still got the power ta make ya blush, I'm flattered."
Rude smiled slightly. "Got the power to make me do lots of things... most of which I'd never do without your insistence."
He smiles. "Sometimes wonder how ya put up with me, I'm a stubborn pushy little shit sometimes. .."
"I put up with you BECAUSE you're a stubborn, pushy little shit," Rude replied, leaning forward to kiss the hand he still held.
He gulps. ..he knew he had a long way to go before he was fully healthy, both physically and mentally again, after the mess with Corneo. ..some of which he still didn't fully remember in the light of day, but had been haunting his sleep. "Jus' remember that when I'm screamin' my lungs out the next few weeks. .." he murmered. stress always caused nightmares anyway, and with all the shit his mind had buried, it was doubly so.
"I'll invest in earplugs," Rude said with a nod.
He taps the bed next to him, "don' worry 'bout jostlin' me, I jst need ta feel ya again."
Rude nodded, carefully removing his shoes before just as carefully climbing onto the bed next to Reno.
Reno's arms went instantly around him, the shakes intensifying for a moment then he felt that warmth and they eased. ..
Rude sighed, placing his chin on the top of Reno's head as he wrapped his arms around the redhead. He just inhaled and exhaled, smelling that scent that was decidedly Reno and closing his eyes.
"I love you. ..I promise ta be more careful. ."
"I love you, too," Rude mumbled, feeling sleep tugging at his senses. He was, in a word, exhausted. Still. It never really went away anymore, it seemed. Ah well. What was that saying? Better to burn out than fade away? Yeah. That's it.
Reno too felt sleep calling. .he heeded the call, curled up in this place he belonged.
Rude waited until he felt Reno's breathing even out, indicating that the redhead was fully asleep before he drifted off.
Awareness came very slowly. ..first ths sounds of people in the hallway. the feel of the muscular chest underneath his head. .the smell of the coffee at the nurses' station. ..then finally the dim senation of pain as the meds had worn off during the night.
m
Rude blinked. He had slept on and off throughout the night, choosing not to move so Reno could get a good night's sleep for once. When he felt the redhead stir, he whispered, "Good morning."
"mornin'. ..ugh. ..whole body's sore."
"Can understand why," Rude grunted, sliding as gently as he could out from under Reno. The smell of the coffee was making his mouth water.
"get me somea that, wouldja? the swill they give us tastes like jailhouse coffee."
Rude nodded, putting his shoes back on and straightening himself out before he went towards the nurse's station. He was going to grin at the girl, however, she seemed too busy staring at the brewing coffee and muttering 'come on, come on' at the slow-working machine. Instead, he just waited for it to finish with her.
Reno, on the other hamd, was eagerly awaiting his drugs.
Without a word, the nurse poured both herself and Rude a cup of coffee. She handed him the sugar and creamer, smiled, then downed her entire mug, black. Rude raised an eyebrow, adding his customary large quantities of sugar and cream.
"Wuss," the nurse teased, pouring herself another cup before looking at what appeared to be Reno's chart. "He up yet?"
Rude nodded, taking his first sip of the scalding hot brew. It was, to put it bluntly, heaven in a styrofoam cup.
"Pain meds," she muttered, wandering off and muttering to herself.
"An' there's my favorite nurse" He was teasing "I see ya came just in time to get the damn dragon offa my chest."
"Of course I'm your favourite," she said with a large grin. "I give you this." She held up a bottle filled with morphine.
Rude just leaned against the wall by the door, watching as the nurse went through the motions of administering the powerful pain medication.
His eyes fluttered slightly as it kicked in. .relieving the enourmous pressure from the injury" Thanks, yo. .much better...feel almost HUMAN again"
m
"Don't get too dependant on it," the nurse said as she quickly checked Reno's wounds. "They're cutting you back tomorrow morning. Don't need you turning junkie on us, now, do we?"
As the girl laughed to herself, Rude stood quietly. If only she knew...
He nods solemnly, yes, if only she knew.
"Okay, everything seems ship shape," she paused, laughing to herself again. "Well, as ship shape as you CAN be." With that, the girl took her leave.
"There is something seriously wrong with her," Rude muttered quietly, moving back over to sit in the chair by Reno's bed.
"Yeah...they're cuttin' me back in preperation for springin' me day after tomorrow. .you don't know HOW happy I'm gonna be to be outta here."
Rude grunted in acknowledgement. "Yeah, but I mean, there really must be something REALLY wrong with that girl. She's... too happy." In Rude's opinion, people that were too happy either had something like a body to hide or were too doped up to realize what was going on.
"Maybe she's takin' somea Elena's happy drugs. .we all know THAT girl's too fuckin' happy ta be a Turk"
m
"Elena's just happy she isn't in her sister's shadow anymore," Rude said, offering Reno a sip of his coffee before leaning back in the chair.
He sipped, his face screwing up into this semblance of a man in the middle of a very good three-way.
Yes. Thus was the power of coffee. If Rude didn't know first hand, he'd almost wager that coffee was an excellent substitute for any painkiller out there.
Oh, but even better was the feel of Rude's hard body. . .he cut himself off, right there . those were NOT thoughts he needed to entertain when he couldn't DO it.
Rude smiled, wondering how much paperwork THIS was going to generate. That thought was directly followed by wondering if paperwork was even nessisary anymore, what with ShinRa needing to be rebuilt.
Unfortunatly. ..something had already stirred. ..creating a little dancing tent. ..he put both hands over it, blushing furiously.
"Whatever you were thinking about must've been far more interesting than what I was thinking about," Rude pointed out with a teasing smile.
"Was thinkin' about you, yo.. .
"Definitely more interesting than what I was thinking about," Rude mentioned. He leaned forward in the chair, placing his hand next to Reno's side on the bed. "So... want to share?"
"Thinkin' about the first night we. ..we were together. .ya had me up against the tile wall in your apartment an'. .."He blushes crimson. "I was rememberin' how good it felt and how I wondered if you were ever gonna do that again."
"DEFINITELY more interesting," Rude said, leaning a little further forward, even going so far as to scoot his chair up a little bit. Reno wasn't the only one who could be a tease; Rude just chose not to broadcast it so frequently. "Now, refresh my memory... how much did we have to drink that night?"
"A fifth of Jim Beam, a case of beer, an' a couple o' joints, too. ..we were pretty thoroughly trashed, might notta had so good a time if not for the Mary Jane, it reverse the LESS than nice side effects o' the liquor."
Oh yeah. Now he remembered. Man, were they SMASHED that night. "So... who kissed who first again?" Rude loved this game... the one where he got Reno's side of their various coming togethers.
"Not sure, think it was pretty much mutual, your chair fell over and we kinda crashed into each mouths first
Rude nodded, still smiling. "And you apologized for accidentally kissing me, and I just kissed you again..."
"An' I thought for sure you were gonna haul off n' hit me, but when you kissed me, I felt that you were as interested in me as I was you. ..and I felt. .shit, felt like I was on topa the world."
"I felt like you were on top of me," Rude said with a chuckle.
He laughs. "I'd wanted you fer so damn long. .an' ta have ya finally show some interest. ..how come you hadn't before? Aside from not being sure if I was serious or just gonna flake ya off?"
"You had quiet the reputation, Reno," Rude said. "Besides, I tried not to mix business with pleasure."
"I was searchin'. ..I felt so damn empty then. ..couldn't find anyone until you...that made me feel whole."
Rude leaned closer, pressing a small kiss to Reno's lips. "That's not what you told me before you swallowed my damn cock."
"I didn't tell anyone mucha anything then. .but damned did you taste good."
"Now, this is where my memory gets a little fuzzy," Rude said carefully. "HOW was it you got me to fuck you against the bathroom wall?"
"I'd thrown up an' was takin' a shower, you started kissin' me. .it moved from there."
Oh yeah. That's what had happened. And the redhead never did clean up his spillage, leaving Rude to scrub at dried vomit the next day. Eww.
"I never regretted getiin' you loaded 'cause it gave me you."
"I do regret that killer hangover the next day," Rude said offhandedly. And he did. And every hangover after that.
"Then the mess with the plate. ..That was. .I regret more'n anything not tellin' you what was goin' on."
Rude shrugged. He had no regrets in his life, or at least tried not to... with the exception of the recent Tifa thing.
He kissed him again.
Rude, after a moment, pushed Reno away. "You need to focus on recovering, not on getting in my pants." He was serious this time. Really. He meant it and everything.
Reno nodded, looking a bit chastened. "I love you. never forget it."
Rude nodded. "Ditto," he said, reaching out to run his fingertip over Reno's cheekbone.
"Meds makin' me sleepy. .forgot about that." His eyes blinked slowly.
Rude nodded again. "Then sleep. I'll be right here." Or, at least rather close to right there, as he was fairly certain he would have to step outside for a cigarette at least once that day.
When he awakened again it was after dark, his eyes adjusting slowly to the lower light level, he heard the TV in the background, softly playing the news. ..more kids infected. ..he shook his head. .life wasn't fair when the kids got the shaft, they'd done nothing wrong.
Rude was going into and out of a very light sleep. He'd started off watching cartoons, then flipped over to the science channel for a documentary on the history of cheese. It was rather amusing... However, he'd finally decided on the news, which usually sent him into the Land of Nod without fail. He snorted a little, shifting slightly in the uncomfortable chair.
Reno smiled, watching him. ..he never tired of watching his partner, in whatever way, shape or form that entailed. ..including watching him do some rather. .personal things, but that was a different story.
Rude mumbled something in his sleep about a purple sock, shifting again. That chair was going to give him one hell of a backache when he woke up.
Happy Drug Nurse came in with his tray, jostling the chair a little.
"Wha--what?" Rude snorted, twitching as he woke, eyes blinking quickly in the darkness.
"I just came in his supper tray. sorry to wake you."
"Ah... thank you," Rude said, which was punctuated with his stomach growling. Rude's stomach NEVER growled. He blushed, dropping his gaze. "Guess I should go find something..."
"I can bring a tray in for you, as well.
Rude glanced at Reno's tray, then back at the overly happy nurse, then back at the tray again. "If you don't mind, miss, I think I'll take my chances in the cafeteria." The fact that Rude couldn't identify a single thing on that tray spoke thousands of words as to what the hospital considered 'an appropriate meal.'
She nods, heading back out.
When he was certain the nurse couldn't hear him, Rude bent over to lay a chaste kiss on Reno's forehead. "Want me to pick you up something?"
"I heard that!" came the nurse's voice from the hallway. Damn, she had good ears.
"Please, ANYTHING but what they call food."
"I heard that, too!" Holy hell, she had really good ears.
"Cafeteria or fast food? There's a pizza place a block away..." Rude asked. He was hoping for the pizza place. It'd been a while since he'd had pizza, and the thought of it brought on a craving that made his mouth water.
"PIZZA, gods yes."
Pizza it was. "Keep your phone on," Rude said, straightening his attire before he walked out of the room. He wasn't sure how much Reno could eat in his condition, but he figured a single pie with half what Reno liked and half what Rude liked on it would suffice. It's not like the place wasn't going to be there if they had to get another one.
He shot the happy drug nurse a look. "I'm not gonna have a heart attack from a few slices of pizza, so stop givin' me that luck."
"Heart attack? No. End up obese and boyfriendless? Possibly," she grinned, winking once before stepping out of the room, leaving Reno alone.
Rude jogged towards the pizza place. It'd been weeks since he'd made it to the gym. He needed to keep his training up, otherwise he'd end up a pile of useless goo.
"I got the metabolism of a fuckin' gerbil, no way I'm gonna get fat,"
Rude stepped into the parlor, smiling slightly and nodding at the young teenage girl behind the counter. She was pretty, would blossom into a lovely flower once she grew into herself in a few years. He gave her his order, and decided that, instead of wait inside the full 20 minutes it would take for his order to be completed, he would at the very least jog around the block, maybe shadow box a little if he had a few minutes.
A few ladies gave him appreciative whistles as he went by. ..then. .a very familiar looking head of short, messy blond hair atop a very fat body. ..though he was trying to remain low profile. Probably still messed up from the building exploding.
Rude blushed slightly at the women; he wasn't used to being the one that was whistled at. However, he stopped short as he saw the man. "Bastard," he said quietly, cracking his knuckles. A quick glance showed that no one else was really around, at least, no one of significance. With a roar, Rude ran at him, barrelling him over as he tackled Corneo. He had a score to settle with the fat fuck.
Corneo sneered, he'd come prepared this time. ..a green flash from the materia on his bracer amd Rude would feel the effects of a third level bolt spell. "I'm not stupid you know, boy." He slapped the blood away from his mouth.
The way his muscles seized caused a few of the blood vessels in Rude's eyes to pop, flooding his vision briefly with red. He rolled, shoulder first, and finally stopped at the brick building of the pizza place. "Fuck!" was all Rude really could say.
"You know, some people do like them big and muscular..makes it that much more satisfying when they're finally broken. .." His grin became almost frightening.
Roaring like an animal, Rude pulled his electro-mag rod from inside his jacket pocket. He wasn't the most proficient with the weapon, but he held his own quite well. That, and a quick mental command at the materia in the handle had a reflect spell covering his ass from any other magical attacks the fat bastard wanted to throw at him.
Three more figures melted from the shadows around Corneo. ..one of them with a Despell materia...the third one was quite large. ..larger than a human shadow could be, and larger than a full-grown cuahl as well...it had a horn-shaped shadow. ..
Rude felt his reflect spell dissolve around him and swore under his breath. He couldn't take them all on by himself. No way, no how. And with no help in sight, he had a quick decision to make. Corneo, his men, and the monster on the leash all stood between him and the hospital. There had to be some way to get past them and back to the hospital. Reno had more materia on him, more than just the status ones Rude usually carried... That was it! It might not work on the Behemoth, but at least it would give him a chance around Corneo and his men. He sucked in a breath, hoping against hope it would work when he activated the slow spell hidden in the Time materia of his weapon.
The men all had their speed halved, making their movements clumsy and easily telegraphed, but the beast. .now that was going to be a problem. ..It roared, diving at him with it's head down in a very fast charge. if it managed to spear him with it, Rude would be in a WORLD of huirt, before being very, very dead, because once a behamoth smelled blood. ..well things got extremely messy, and the one bleeding normally got regarded as prey.
Three down, one charging death beast to go. He quickly put his weapon back into his jacket, reaching instead for the holstered handgun he carried as well. He made it a point to dress fully that morning, something he usually didn't do. Maybe Reno's feelings were rubbing off on him. Or maybe he was getting careful in his old age. Either way, Rude waited, rolling quickly to the side when he was certain the beast wouldn't be able to change its path. He finished rolling to his feet, holding the weapon out and firing two shots at each of Corneo's men, the fat man included. He needed to distract the beast before it came back around.
The two men dropped like a stone, Corneo of course being the coward that he is had hidden behind the beast.
Two completely down, two to go. While Rude wasn't completely confident enough to believe he could take out a raging behemoth by himself -- he knew when to run, after all -- he knew that if he could take down at least Corneo, he'd feel so much more golden. And he knew Reno would, too. It was just a matter of nailing the fat man while avoiding the beast.
Corneo let out a dark laugh. ..then pegged the Behemoth with a 1st level bolt spell. ..not enough to hurt it but certainly enough to piss it off. He hit it with another one in a place that would put it charging Rude. ..and at that short a distance it would be hard to escape being either gored or trampled.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. There was no WAY he could avoid it that time. And his original idea of the blood from Corneo's men distracting it wasn't working nearly as well as he originally expected. Fuck. He pocketed his handgun, holding his hands out as if he could honestly grab the behemoth by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. Yeah. Not in this lifetime... but it was either that or get trampled, regardless of if he were standing or running away. The monster was too fast, too strong, and Rude was silently wishing cafeteria food would have sufficed.
At the last minute it raised its head, turning on the man who'd hit it. ..effectively breaking every bone in Corneo's lover body, though it's rear legs lashed out and punted Rude right in the chest and gut.
The breath Rude didn't know he was holding was pushed from his forcefully, first from the kick, secondly from his landing on the ground. His mind worked far faster than his body, deciding that it was better to run and live than finish the job and die. IF Corneo survived again, Rude knew he could -- would -- find the man. Knowing it was his only chance, Rude touched his electro-mag rod and activated the haste spell, feeling everything around his slow down in comparison to himself.
"Rude's late, yo. .." he mused, then tried to call him.
Rude jumped when his phone rang, deciding it was the best time to turn tail and run. He glanced at the caller ID, noting it was Reno. "Troubleonthestreet," Rude said, his words blending together as they usually did under the influence of the speedy spell. "Onmywayback. Don'tworry."
"Not gonna ask."
"Probablythebestbet," Rude said, finishing with, "Bethereshortly." He hung up, chancing a glance behind him to make sure the damn behemoth wasn't going to follow him into the hospital. Wouldn't that just beat all?
Reno set his phone on the nightstand, thinking how odd it was for Rude ot have to make use of his materia on a pizza run.
No, the creature wasn't following him, but he couldn't make out if it was chewing on Corneo or Corneo's men. Either way, Rude was happy he got out alive. He burst into the hospital, the automatic dispel at the door cutting his adrenaline short from the haste. He straightened himself out, then jogged towards Reno's room. So much for pizza.
"You look like stomped shit" was the only comment he made.
Rude took a deep breath, responding with a "Better than being behemoth dinner."
"Shit, behemoth in the city? WTF?"
Rude took another deep breath, stepping to stand between the door and the redhead. "Corneo," was all he said, waiting to stop Reno from running out the door to wreak his revenge on the fat man.
Reno's face turned the most brilliant shade of red as he dragged himself out of the bed, but was immediatly floored by a hot, sharp flare of agony that ripped through his entire torso and made it feel like someone had suddenly put his heart in a vice.
"Reno." Rude's tone indicated that the redhead was to listen and follow whatever his partner said, or there would be hell to pay. Rude would not have him go out and get himself killed just to get his revenge. Besides, for all he knew, Corneo was behemoth feed. "Lay down." He gently pushed Reno back onto the bed.
Reno obeyed, simply because he didn't have a choice. ..the pain had left him half-blind and totally breathless. "shit. ." he muttered.
"Look, he could be playing cards in the damn thing's intestines right now," Rude said carefully. "He pissed off his own pet and it turned on him."
Without being summoned, as if having a sixth sense about such things, the night nurse came in, muttering something about people needing to be strapped into their beds to recover fully. She took stock of Reno's injuries before leaving to get the required pain killers.
"Good fucking riddance. .."
The nurse returned, administering the morphine to Reno. Without anything more than a reminder that he'd be dropped to either oxys or vicadins in the morning, she left.
"Remind me not to do that again, yo. ..FUK that hurt."
Rude nodded, sitting down. His stomach chose that moment to growl. "Damn... no pizza." He paused. "And I'm not having that girl deliver it with a behemoth on the loose."
"Just hit the cafeteria, yo. .I'll call Tseng and have a few grunts sent to clean up the mess."
Rude nodded, then left for the cafeteria. Damn. And he was really looking forward to that pizza.
Of a sudden several startled cries followed by a sharp scream rang out, then a yelled "Rude! I thought you said that thing was busy chewin' on Corneo and his goons! It's standin' in the door o' my room with an arm danglin' from it's jaws!"
Apparantly it had come in from the other side of the hallway, undetected because it was between shifts. and the nursing station had been empty. .which explained WHY Rude hadn't seen it.
God dammit could the day get ANY better? Rude spun on his heels, changing direction to go back towards Reno's room.
Reno had once more gotten out of bed, not like he had much of a choice. ..holding his chest as if to try to stem the at least dulled pain back while backed up against the wall, the beast just staring at him as if to size up whether he was threat or food.
Rude had his handgun in, well, hand, certain that there were only two bullets left in his modified clip. Damn. Were two bullets enought to take out a behemoth? He'd have to find out.
He ran at the creature, jumping onto its back. He used his legs to keep himself on the behemoth, then, taking a two handed grip, Rude fired both shots into the back of the monster's head.
The beast roared for a moment, then fell over.. .dead. .crushing Rude against the wall on it's way down for a few moments. the arm was clad in a rainbow colored sleeve.
As soon as he realized the behemoth wasn't going to make any more moves, Rude collapsed, the strain of pushing himself too hard finally catching up with him. His eyes flittered once, twice, then closed as he passed out.
Reno tried to push himself off the wall to get to the nurse call button, but when he tried a hissing gasp was drawn from him, even with a fair amount of morphine running in his veins, moving HURT. ..then adrenaline kicked in and he stumbled over, pushing the button before blackness began gathering at the edges of his vision.
"What the...?" The nurse started, only to have her sentence cut off by her own scream. What the hell was a behemoth doing in there? How did it get past everyone?
"It came in in between shifts..." Reno spoke between hitching gulps of air as he wavered on his feet. "Backed me into a wall."
The nurse carefully stepped around the beast, only to see Rude laying on the floor. In an instant she dropped to her knees, checking the man for a pulse.
Reno's eyes fluttered closed and he fell backwards into the wall the beast had had him pinned against. ..
The nurse pounded the call button on the wall. She needed some help. The tall, bald man was breathing, but he was quite deeply unconscious The other one, the redhead, just passed out. She needed more than just herself there.
A doctor and two more nurses came in, looking at the wreck with wide eyes for amoment before setting the big man up in the other bed inside the room and getting Reno up in his again. .they then called in a few local grunts to take care of the beast's body.
When Rude awoke, he was laying on a bed with an IV in his left arm. He was feeling a little giddy, a sign he'd been given quite the powerful painkiller. Just what had happened... yesterday...? Nevermind. It all came back to him: the pizza run, Corneo, the behemoth.
Reno on the other hand was still out. ..hard...the pain and exertion had thrown his barely recovering body for a loop.
Rude looked around, blinking since everything seemed to have a halo of light around it. "Reno?" he asked, not seeing the redhead.
"He's in the bed next to you, we thought it best to keep him sedated until he's recovered a bit."
Rude nodded, the motion causing stars to accompany the halos of light. He groaned slightly and decided sleep would be good right about... now.
When Rude awakened again the quite amused face of Elena would be hovering over him. "So. ..you guys just seem to ATTRACT bad luck."
"Don't remind me," Rude groaned, trying to sit up, feeling the world go all shakey on him, and deciding that laying back was his best bet.
A soft groan sounded over to his right, and soft green eyes opened...they were blurry with the sedatives. "Rude?"
"Reno?" Rude asked, watching as Elena stepped aside so he could see his partner.
"Hurts...wha happened?"
"Behemoth got in here..." he said, pausing for a moment to wait for the world to stop spinning. "Had to save you."
"Save?" Elena laughed. "You put two shots through the back of its head. Two low caliber shots, I might add. You, Rude, did the impossible."
"Saw you fall. ..had ta get to the call button."
Rude nodded. His head was still a little swimming.
"You two, I swear. .." Elena shook her head. "You, Reno will stay in a prone position until you are cleared to get out of bed. .."
Rude raised an eyebrow, which made the world tilt a little funny. Whatever they had him on, it was some seriously good shit. "You really think he's going to listen?" he asked.
"If he doesn't he's going to kill himself!"
Rude raised the other eyebrow. "Oh?" Was there something about Reno's injuries the redhead wasn't telling him?
"They found him completely passed out against the wall, he'd torn his incision partway open with that little stunt!"
"Reno." Rude's voice held a warning tone. Regardless of how bad the world was spinning and how much he wanted to get off, if his partner so much as moved he was going to get something thrown at him.
"Not like I much had a choice with that thing hangin' over me" he mumbled.
Rude grunted, but once again, he felt sleep tugging at his senses. It was for the best, anyway. He nodded at Elena, then closed his eyes, drifting off.
When he awakened again it would be with senses undulled by drugs. ..Reno sitting up in bed with a tray across his lap. "'bout time ya woke up, yo.
"Coffee?" Rude asked groggily. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept for... how many days straight? However, most of the pain was gone, and from the looks of his IV bag, none of it was from painkillers. Hooray for modern medicine.
"Your tray's by your bed. .you've been out for three days. ..I'm just waitin' on 'em to pull the iv line. then they're sendin' us both home."
Three days? Three days? Rude sat up, just a hair dizzy from the blood going from his head quickly. "How is the President?" he asked, looking over his tray of what the hospital claimed was 'edible'.
"Tseng told me had an attack last night, but nothin' like the others. ..he's ok today.. .comin' with Tseng when he comes ta pick us up."
Rude nodded and grunted, pulling his tray onto his lap and poking at the mounds of 'food' with his fork. He looked over at Reno. "Tell me they're bringing real food?"
"Yeah, Wutain takeout."
Rude's mouth watered, and he couldn't help the sound that eeked past his lips. "Mmm... with lo mein?"
"uhm hm.. and General Tsao's chicken. .an' that chicken with chilis you like so much."
Oh, if Rude were a lesser man, he'd be drooling. In fact, he wiped the corner of his mouth with the napkin from the tray. Now all he had to do was get down this slop. "WHAT is this supposed to be?"
"Mideelian peppercorn chicken with noodles, I think."
"Where are the noodles?" he asked, poking at the mound of mush that didn't look like a possible mound of chicken. However, he couldn't be sure which mound was which.
"I know where there's a noodle." He giggles.
Rude missed it completely. "Where?" he asked, poking under the mounds of mush on his plate. "I don't see anything...?"
Reno rolled his eyes. "If I hafta explain the joke it loses the appeal."
Rude frowned, then realization dawned on his face with an "Oh." He blushed, feeling kind of dumb for missing the joke.
"anyway, they'll be here in an hour."
"Think I can survive until then?" he asked absently, poking at his two lumps of supposed food as his stomach growled.
"Yeah."
Rude took a deep breath, then took a small bite of the food from his plate. Ew. Just ew. He would NOT spit it out, even though that's just what his body was telling him to do. He swallowed it down, pushing the tray aside with an, "I think I'll wait for the President and Tseng."
"I'm in agreement, yo."
Rude leaned back, laying on his pillow again. After a moment of silence, he said, "I need a cigarette."
"Me, too, yo..they won't let me smoke until they do one last ekg." he grumbled over that. "Wanna make sure everything healed good."
Rude sighed. No decent food, no nicotine, not even a nice cocktail in his IV bag. Damn. He was getting bored.
Tseng stepped in then, Rufus being pushed by him." Well, I see you have awakened finally."
Rude's eyes brightened. Tseng! And the President! They were supposed to have food. "Sir," he said, eyeing Rufus' lap, where an assortment of carry out boxes sat.
"I thought you might appreciate this."
Rude's eyes widened as he smiled. Yes. Food. "Sir, I believe we have found a far better method of torture than any method we've previously used." With that, Rude pointed at the two piles of mush the hospital claimed as food.
Rufus let loose a low chuckle. "Blame my father, he created the menus."
Elena chose that moment to run in, closing the door quickly behind her. She had her jacket open, her hand inside it hiding something. She nodded to everyone in the room, then, with a giant grin, laughed, "Surprise!" as she pulled a bottle of champange from her jacket.
Reno's eyes lit up bright. "Alcohol. .."
"Figured you guys could use it," she said, picking up as many of the small styrofoam cups as she could from the room. She managed to find one for each of them, herself included. "Not as elegent as I'd like, but it'll do in a pinch." She poured the champagne into the cups, offering them first to Reno and Rude, then to Rufus and Tseng before finally pouring one for herself. "Toast?" she asked, raising her cup.
Reno lifted his glass " To the man that shot a Behemoth and lived ta tell about it."
"Here here!" Elena cheered, drinking from her cup.
Rude blushed. Okay, so it WAS quite a feat, but still... he was just doing what was expected of him. Really.
"Now c'n we get outta her?"
Tseng smiled slightly, holding up the release forms. "We need your signatures."