Chapter 4
The cab driver sped through the iced over streets, just barley having enough traction to keep from sliding or rolling over and causing an accident. As they neared the hospital, both Roxas and the cab driver heard the blaring sirens of a police vehicle. The taxi pulled over, waiting for the officer to get to the cab.
"Hello sir." the cop said "Do you know how fast you were going?"
"Yes i do sir, but there's a reason. That girl back there is in need of medical attention." The taxi driver answered, pointing to the whimpering young woman.
"Oh!" the officer exclaimed "I'll escort you the rest of the way." he ran to his car as fast as he could and drove in front of the cab with sirens blasting. The taxi driver sped behind the cop car the rest of the way to the hospital. In the back of the taxi Roxas was trying to comfort Namine, but it wasn't working as well as he thought it would. It seemed that wherever he tried to touch her, she was burned. Her arms, face, stomach, chest, all of it was raw and painful. Everytime he would touch her she would bury her face deeper into his chest, let out a soft cry, and shiver. The sight was painful to watch, but not nearly as painful as Namine's burns.
The two cars entered the hospital parking lot, quickly pulling over. Roxas tried to reach into his pocket to grab his wallet, but the cab driver stopped his hand.
"No, the girl needed help. It's a free ride....this time." the generous taxi man said, refusing payment. He handed Roxas a card with his number. "I'm not a call in taxi, but if you ever need a ride just call. If I can I'll pick you up. But you'll need to pay next time. Oh, I forgot my name. It's Leon." he said with a small smile, which quickly turned into a frown as he looked down at Namine.
" Thank you so much, sir! Oh, and I'm Roxas." Roxas thanked him. He walked out of the cab carefully with Namine in his arms, bridal style. Walking slowly so he didn't slip, Roxas trudged through the snow storm that had just worsened. The officer walked behind him, making sure Roxas got there safetly and didn't collapse in the cold.
Roxas entered through the double doors of the hospital's emergency room and quickly ran to the front desk. He signed in and sat down in a chair, Namine clinging to him with her arms connected around his neck and her head in his chest. He was rubbing the top of her head when he saw the police officer talking to the woman in the front desk. The cop was talking to her and pointing at Roxas. After about a minute, he kissed the nurse quickly on the lips before heading out into the cold storm to walk to his heated car. Roxas didn't have time to process what had just happened because he was called to the examination room.
"Roxas, Namine" she called their names after looking at the sign-in sheet. Roxas picked Namine up again and headed to the room where the nurse would see what happened. once in there, he placed her gingerly on the only seat in the room.
"So, what happened?" the nurse questioned, starting to examine Namine.
" Well we were in a diner and someone we knew accidentally knocked into the mug of piping hot coffee she was tasting. It spilled down her throat and burned her mouth. After that she moved it from her mouth too quickly so it spilled all over her and down her shirt and everything. Then I was trying to wipe the coffee off of her and hit a cup of hot cocoa that burned her again." Roxas explained frantically.
"So, the problem is burns" the nurse wrote down on a paper on her clipboard. "Here, let me see." She wheeled her rolling stool over to the chair that Namine was sitting on. She held the front of her arm and started looking around it. The nurse traced her fingers lightly around the burns, a serious look on her face.
"Ow!" Namine moaned as fingers touched the tender spots that the coffee landed on and simmered the girl's skin. The nurse then checked Namine's face, doing the same procedure as she performed on her arms. This action got the same reaction as it did the first time. Roxas moved his hand to comfort her, but the nurse didn't allow it. Apearently the cofffee and hot cocoa were hot enough to have burned through her long-sleeved shirt.
"Sir, I have to check her chest and under her pants, so I'm going to move her behind this curtain. Don't go near it or look behind it." The nurse demanded, watching a blush quickly spread across Roxas' face.
"Okay." he answered, dispelling the blush as the memory of the accident crossed his mind. Namine stood up and the nurse told her to move farther from the door. When Namine walked to where the nurse directed, the nurse moved a curtain between Roxas and the two women.
"Namine, I'm going to need you to take off your pants and shirt so i can see the extent of your burns." the nurse told Namine. And she did as she was told while Roxas watched her silouete take off her clothes. He felt a familiar feeling in the lower half of his body but decided to ignore it because the nice nurse was about to see what the hot liquid actually did to Namine.
The nurse ran her hands across Namine's body, seeing big red blotches of burned flesh in almost every direction. The worst places were closer to Namine's neck and breasts because that was where the coffee had spilled the most. The short, black-haired nurse wouldn't lightly touch that for the fear of Namine going hysterical. Using her professionally trained eyes, and her knowledge of the burns and what caused them, she deducted that Namine had lighter, first degree burns on most of her body: her arms, legs, cheeks (from the splash), and stomach. She also noted that Namine had second degree burns on her upper chest and in her throat and mouth, all of which could be healed over about a week with special burn creams. As for her mouth and throat, she needed to drink plenty of water and eat colder foods, like ice cream. Aside from that, though, her taste buds would grow back slowly and her throat would be back to normal eventually in about a month. The nurse covered Namine with her first dose of the cream, and then ordered her to get dressed again. She walked out from behind the curtain with her clothes on and stood next to Roxas, who was being careful not to touch her. The nurse wrote out a prescription for the special burn cream and grabbed a coupon for free ice cream from a grocery store.
"Here." she handed them to Roxas. "Be sure to get this filled out as soon as possible."
"I sure will!" Roxas told the nurse, his gravity-defying brown spikes moving along with his head as he nodded. "Hey, why did you kiss the police officer before." he asked as he remembered the little embrace between the nurse and the police man.
"Oh!" she blushed as she realized that Roxas had seen that. "He's my husband. By the way, my name is Yuffie. And the officer was Vincent."
Roxas smiled "Well that makes sense." he looked down at Namine "Come on, we should go." he put his hand around her shoulders lightly and walked her out of the room, now wondering how he was going to get back to their apartment. He didn't have his car. "Shit!" he whispered under his breath, loud enough only for him to hear. The storm outside was getting worse and worse each minute.
"Why don't you call Leon?" Namine asked, cringing as the pain in her throat shot through her body when she talked.
"You heard that?" he asked, surprised "I thought you were blocking everything out."
She struggled to answer "No, I heard."
Roxas took out his cell phone and the card Leon had given him with his number. He programmed it into his phone for future use and then called the number.
"Hello?" Leon answered, not knowing the number.
"Hi Leon, This is Roxas, the kid with the injured girl." He added the last part to try to remind Leon of who was calling
"Oh, hey kid. What'd you need?" he asked after remembering who Roxas was.
"Well I was hoping you could pick us up from the hospital."
"I thought the girl would need to stay, well you can tell me about it when I get you. I just have to drop off one customer. Be ready for when I get there." Leon demanded.
"Okay, we will. Thank you!" Roxas was relieved. Leon hung up and Roxas herded Namine to a seat she could rest in until Leon arrived. There were no more seats after Namine sat down, so Roxas stood next to her chair. He looked around at the various patients; some were coughing from the flu, others were bleeding or passed out. There was even a a police officer with a shooting victim who had a bullet wound in her arm. Waiting for Leon seemed to take an eternity for Namine. She was hurting all over and despite all of Roxas efforts to be gentle, he made the pain explode throughout her body with every touch. She just wanted to go home and go to sleep.
HONK HONK! Both the blonde-haired boy and the pale, burnt girl heard the taxi's horn as Leon sounded it off. Very carefully, Roxas grabbed Namine's hand and pulled her up out of her seat. Keeping his hand in hers, Roxas walked into the snowstorm and towards Leon's waiting cab.
When they got in, Leon commented sarcastically "Nice day, huh." Namine just grimaced as she slid in the cab, followed by Roxas. "So, where to?" asked Leon. Roxas told him the address of their apartment building. "So what's the girl's name?" Leon asked a separate question.
"My name is," Namine winced from pain "Namine."
"She has bad burns, both inside and outside, so it's hard for her to talk." Roxas explained quickly.
"Can you explain?" Leon inquired.
"Well at the dinner you picked us up from, an ex-girlfriend of mine accidently knocked over a mug of really hot coffeet that Namine was trying to take a sip from. It spilled down her throat and when she moved it, it spilled down her shirt and burned her there. And to make matters worse, as I was trying to clean her up, I spilled a mug of hot cocoa on her which spilled on to her pants and burned her skin through them." Roxas told the story to the kind, but serious looking cab driver.
"Let me get this straight, your ex 'accidently'," Leon made air quotes when he took his hand off the wheel, but quickly put them back on, "burned your current girlfriend with hot coffee, but you can't find anything suspicious about that?"
"No, I seriously doubt that Olette would do anything like that. She's not that type of girl." Roxas found himself defending Olette. But Leon's comment got Namine thinkning, what if it wasn't an accident? However, her thoughts were soon interupted by Leon's next assumption. He looked into the mirorr to face Namine and Roxas.
" Roxas, it's your ex-girlfriend. Use common sense! I'm not saying thats she definatley did it on purpose, but just watch out."
"Okay, sure. I will." Roxas answered with an annoyed look on his face
Leon turned to Namine "What about you? What do you think about my theory?"
"Well, um," she swallowed hard in preparation for the upcoming pain, "it didn't look like it was on purpose...but she didn't try to help or offer any asistance when I was burning."
"Nami," Roxas used her nickname "you can't really believe that. You met Olette. You saw she was a nice person."
"Yeah, but...I don't have a good feeling when I'm around her. It could be that it was because of her I can't move without pain shooting through my body." Namine countered. Roxas cringed, aknowledging that she had a valid point.
"Here's your stop." Leon anounced " And please, be careful." he said that out loud towards both of them, but it seemed he directed it at the pretty, petite girl because he looked directly at her while saying this.
"Thank you." Namine said, pure appreciation showing on her reddened features.
"Yeah, thanks." Roxas agreed, although he was still a bit mad from the discussion about ex-girlfriend. But he wondered why. She was his ex and they had broken up long ago. He decided to put the thoughts behind him, only wanting to focus on his damaged angel. Roxas got out of his seat and walked around to the other side of the taxi. He opened Namine's door and lightly grabbed her hand, pulling her up towards him. He shut her door and moved her away from the curb. From there he led her through the doors and into the lobby of their apartment complex. Roxas picked her up bridal-style and walked to the elevator. The dirty-blonde hit the up button and waited for the elevator to come to the lobby. Namine hooked her hands behind his neck so that she could hold her face closer to his comfortable shoulder and rested like that. Roxas looked down at her, mesmerized by her pure beauty. And although her normally snow white skin was a shade of red he didn't care, she looked good anyway. Any lingering thought of Olette was pushed to the back of his mind, not coming up anywhere in his conscious thoughts. Namine felt his gaze on her and turned her face towards his, there eyes locking in place. Time seemed to slow down as they acknowledged each other as the only people on the world....
Bing! The couple heard the sound of the elevator reaching the lobby. Annoyed by the sudden interruption, Roxas walked into the elevator , still holding Namine.
"What do you want me to do when we get in? I can make you an early dinner, I can-" Namine interrupted
"Did we get my special burn cream?"
"Damn it! I forgot! Ok, new plan! I'll drop you off in the apartment, make sure you're all set, and then I'll run out and get your burn medicine and some ice cream. What flavor do you want?" He talked quickly after they exited the elevator. He quickly headed to their apartment and opened the door. He put Namine down, allowing her to stand while he fetched a small pillow and blanket and laid them down on the couch. Roxas walked Namine over to the makeshift bed and made sure she was comfortable after she laid down.
Namine finally got a chance to speak. "If you could, could you get the Ben&Jerry's Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream flavor?"
"Sure, I'll get a few to make sure you have some in the house."
"Thank you Roxas." Namine smiled.
"You're all set?" he asked her, wanting to make sure she didn't need anything while he was gone.
"Well, a glass of water would be nice but that's about it." she admitted. The water would feel good going down her throat. Roxas went to their water cooler in the kitchen to fill up a glass of water for her and he also got her a straw. When he had given it to her, she took a sip and set it aside on a reachable coffee table.
Roxas leaned down and kissed her on the forehead "I'll be back soon."
She smiled at his kiss and closed her eyes contently. He walked to the door, opened it and then looked back at Namine, her bright blue eyes closed for the moment. Smiling to himself, he walked out, closed the door, and locked it. When he got in his car (which was located around the block from the apartment) his cell phone rang. It was Olette. He answered.
After listening to what she had to say, he explained it back to her, making sure he got everything right. "So in three days you want to get together for coffee so I could pay you back for breakfast? Sure, that sounds good." He hung up, the thoughts he pushed to the back of his head coming back now. He would think them through during his errands.
An hour later, Roxas entered the apartment again, holding a small bag of groceries and Namine's medicine. "Nami! I'm back!" he called into the apartment. He walked into it and towards the couch that Namine was resting on. Hearing a small noise coming from somewhere close to Namine, he leaned down. After listening to the noise, he figured out what it was and laughed. It was Namine's low snoring! The snoring was small and cute, a perfect sound for Namine, who herself was small and cute. Not wanting to wake her to put the cream on her body herself, Roxas decided he was going to do it. Slowly, he lifted her into a sitting position. First, he rolled up her sleeves to get to the burns on her arms. He squirted a little bit of the cream on his hands and started rubbing her left arm, especially focusing on the burned areas. He then switched over to the right arm and did the same thing. When both arms were done, he moved unto her face. As he moved his hand to apply the ointment, she stirred a little, causing Roxas to move his hand back quickly. Soon after, she went back to being sound asleep and Roxas continued. He moved his hand along her soft cheeks and her chin, rubbing the cream where he was supposed to on her face. Now came the hard decision. Would he leave her chest area and her legs for her to do? Or would he, in a non-sexual, no touching for pleasure way, do it himself so he wouldn't wake her up? Roxas decided on not waking the peaceful girl up and doing it himself. He lifted her shirt up slowly so he didn't wake her and noticed her cute white bra. The shirt wasn't completely over her head.
As Roxas was lifting Namine's shirt above her head, she woke up, feeling the colder air of the apartment attack her once warm-from-her-shirt chest.
"ROXAS!" she screamed, the pain in her raw, burnt, throat rise to a new level, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
The scream surprised Roxas, making him jump back in fright. The blonde girl's eyes were wide in fear and the thought that she was being raped.
"I-I was just trying to help you! I didn't want to wake you to put the cream on yourself because you looked so peaceful and you went through a lot today. I promise I wasn't thinking of doing anything! I swear!" He explained in fear. Instantly her eyes welled up with tears. She pulled her shirt down quickly and hugged him, realizing her misunderstanding and wanting to make it up to him.
"Thanks for the thought, but you could've woken me up!" The blue-eyed girl was blushing intensely. She kept thinking of Roxas looking at her breasts. Sure, they were covered with a bra, but it was just the thought that he was going to touch her there...
"I'm sorry; I guess I should've just let you do it yourself. You just looked so…so peaceful. It seemed like a crime to wake you." He apologized
"Oh, it's okay. Did you get the ice cream? We could share it." She asked
"Yeah." He showed her a carton that he took out of the bag. He placed it on the table and then walked into the kitchen to put the other ice creams away. He grabbed a spoon and walked back to Namine. She had moved into a sitting position and made room for Roxas.
"Here." He handed her the spoon and sat down close to her. Roxas held the container while Namine tried to get the ice cream out but it was too frozen. They put it on the table, hoping the heat running through their apartment would be enough to thaw it out. Namine leaned her head against Roxas, but sadly remembered he hadn't finished putting the cream on. Gingerly the girl got up and took the cream. She walked to the bathroom and closed the door as she walked in. The burn victim slowly and gently peeled her shirt of and removed her bra so she could get any places the coffee might have slid into, like under her bra, a place that wouldn't show the burns. She rubbed the cream on all the red burn spots on her chest and stomach and when she finished she put her bra and shirt back on. Next, Namine pulled down her jeans and gasped at the burns covering her shins and thighs. They were deep red and raw patches all over. Carefully, she spread the cream on the burned spots on her skin, wincing every time the cold ointment touched the hot areas of burned skin for the first time. After a few minutes, she finished her legs. Then she realized that she couldn't but on the tight jeans that she was wearing that day, but she also couldn't rush out of the bathroom in her underwear when Roxas was in the living room.
"Roxas." She called from inside the bathroom. He got up and headed to the bathroom.
"What's up?" he asked Namine when he reached the closed door of the bathroom.
"Would you mind getting me a pair of loose sweatpants and a big loose t-shirt?" she asked him, wanting light, loose clothing for comfort and for the cream she had just applied.
"Yeah, sure." Roxas walked from the outside of the bathroom to the bedroom He and Namine shared. Once he reached the dressers he quickly pulled open the shirt drawer looking for a light shirt. When he found one he closed the first drawer he opened and opened a second drawer. This one had sweatpants and they were easy to find. He grabbed the first pair he found and closed the drawer. "Coming Nami!" he called to her. He walked to the bathroom door and knocked.
Namine opened the door slightly and grabbed the clothes. She shut the door and quickly and got dressed. She put the white t-shirt over her white bra. She then pulled her sweats over her matching white panties and opened the bathroom door to find Roxas patiently waiting for her.
"Are you feelin' any better?" he asked her.
"Not really, I just want to go to sleep and not feel pain for a few hours." She admitted, her small frame shaking a bit because of the intense pain shooting from her throat. They walked side by side into the small living room where the only couch resided. Roxas sat down first, followed by Namine. She sat down next to him while he reached for the ice cream. He took a spoonful of the softened up ice cream and then offered a refilled spoon to Namine. She took it from his hand slowly and had a taste of the ice cream. It tasted great but more importantly it soothed her raw throat. The ice cream easily slid down her throat, coating it in a thin layer of cold. She moaned a little of how good it tasted while Roxas was playing with her long ponytail that always ended up resting on her right shoulder. She took another spoonful, then another then another until she was full because it had such a soothing effect.
"Finished?" Roxas asked jokingly when Namine put down the spoon. She blushed a bit, embarrassed, and smiled.
"Can I lie down?" the blonde girl asked.
"Sure, why would I say no?" he replied. Namine moved away from Roxas and repositioned herself. She moved her head to his lab and laid her body across the sofa. Her head was turned towards the TV, but she wasn't really watching; she was already drifting into sleep. Soon her breathing deepened and slowed, her body moving up and down slowly with each breath. Roxas rubbed her head lightly and slowly, loving the look of his angel sleeping. Suddenly she changed positions and Roxas thought she had woken up. Instead, still on her side, she moved he legs closer to her body and moved her hands: her right one coming up close near her face while her left one hung off the couch's edge. All together she looked as though she was spooning with an invisible person. Roxas looked down at her, continuing to brush through her hair with his fingers. He smiled at the sleeping figure, his love.
Three days had passed since the supposed accident and Roxas had to leave the house for a reason he didn't tell Namine. He did leave a note, though, saying that his friends had asked if he could go hang with them. He said yes but he left Namine home because of her burns. She smiled, thinking he was going to have a fun day with his friends Sora, Riku, Axel, and their funny gay friend Marluxia.
In reality, Roxas was meeting up with Olette to pay her back for the breakfast they all had together. They walked around to different places: diners, clothing stores, and even this odd leather shop they found. And although Roxas was having fun, his mind kept drifting to Namine, remembering that they were going out and that he was still in love with her so that he didn't try anything with Olette.
Back at the apartment, Namine was relaxing, a little pint of her favorite ice cream in her hands. At that point it was getting uncomfortable to sit down because her burns were hurting again. She put the ice cream down and headed to the bathroom for more cream. When she opened the cabinet, she reached for the cream and found that the tube with the cream was empty. She walked back into the living room and picked up her cell. She speed-dialed Roxas and waited for his answer.
RING! RING! RING! The phone kept ringing, but Roxas didn't answer.
"Hi, this is Roxas. I'm not available now, so leave your name and number and I'll get back to you…maybe! Just kidding, I'll get back to you." Roxas answering machine answered. Namine laughed at his answering machine, but she hung up and didn't leave a message. She thought it would be nice to get out of the house. After all, she only had to walk a few blocks to get to the pharmacy. So Namine put on her winter coat and her warm boots and headed out the door. The young artist bundled herself in her coat as she stepped outside. It wasn't snowing hard, but the temperature was only in the single digits. The cold, blustery wind whipped her cheeks, turning them a bright shade of red. She walked forward in the direction of the pharmacy.
She got there fifteen minutes later and walked into the store. She greeted the pharmacist while she pulled out the prescription.
"Hello. Would you kindly fill out my prescription?" Namine asked the nice woman and handed her the paper.
"Hi, I'm Arieth." The woman took the paper from Namine's hand. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Namine." Namine tilted her head and smiled.
Fifteen minuets later, Namine walked out of the store back into the cold afternoon. She turned around a little to get a better look of the city in the winter when she spotted something that broke her heart. Across the street was an out door ice skating rink and skating around holding onto each other were Roxas and Olette. Grief struck Namine almost to the point where she cried out in the middle of the sidewalk. She stood there, watching, when an even greater wave of grief washed over her. Olette turned towards Roxas and planted a big kiss on his lip. Namine's eyes widened and her heart missed a beat. The one thing that stopped her from screaming was seeing Roxas pushing Olette off of him, a disgusted look marking his features. Namine hung her head, a few tears escaping her eyes, and walked back to the house. He must have a good explanation. Roxas isn't a cheater. He'll tell me when he gets home. She thought to herself.
Two hours later, Roxas arrived home, no guilt showing on his face. Namine just stared at him, expecting him to just come out with the truth and apologize, expecting to be forgiven, and hr would have. If he would have said anything. But he didn't see Namine across the street, he still thought she didn't know.
"So, how was your day hanging out?" Namine asked Roxas, plastering a fake smile across her lips.
He walked over to the couch where Namine was and sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. "It was fun." He answered "And as usual, Marluxia was hitting on Axel." He added and laughed. Inside, Namine was in turmoil. He…he's lying to me. Why isn't he telling the truth?
Roxas rubbed Namine's shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked her, "You're quiet."
"Um…yeah, I'm okay. Just cold and tired." Namine answered, allowing a frown to cross her face.
"Do you want to go to bed?" he asked her, still concerned over her injuries.
"Yeah." Namine answered. I just want to let tomorrow come. I want to forget today. Namine thought to herself.