Disclaimer: None mine

Author's notes: Purely Reno/Elena chapter (except for a few bits) to reward my patient readers!

Thanks for your support so far. Enjoy!

Elena hated hospitals, she really did. There is just something about them that really puts her off. Perhaps it is the smell of anaesthetic or the horrid food or maybe it was the knowledge that death is just around the corner.

Life is just too short, she mused. As clichéd as it sounds, she knows that it is true.

She was alone in the room when she woke up. Not seeing Reno on the chair beside her evoked mixed emotions; half-relieved and half lonely.

The last thought surprised her as she couldn't remember a time when she actually missed his company. In fact, she wasn't sure when she had started to have Reno in her mind for a period that lasted this long.

"Look at what I've got!" Reno announced triumphantly as he entered the room, hiding something behind his back.

"Sure," Elena muttered sarcastically, still slightly annoyed that he had woken her up from her afternoon nap, "It's not like I have anything better to do."

Grinning at her, he retorted, "Of course you don't."

He pulled out a large brown paper bag from behind and rested it on the table in front of her.

Now her interests were piqued. She peered into the bag but all she could see were containers and a bottle wrapped in yet another brown bag.

"What is this?" she asked, holding the bottle up gingerly with two fingers.

Reno had a gleeful grin on his face as he asked her to open it. She suddenly grew very wary about the bottle in her hands.

"This isn't a prank is it?" her voice raising, "Because I am not in a mood for one."

He rolled her eyes and snatched the bottle from her. Unwrapping it quickly, he pushed it back into her hands.

"Wine?"

"Yup," he answered proudly, "Apparently it is very good."

She stared disbelievingly at the dark bottle and turned to Reno with the same look.

"You snuck alcohol into a hospital?" she hissed angrily, eyes darting to the door to make sure no one caught a glimpse of the bottle.

"Yup."

"And you don't see anything wrong with that?"

"Yup."

Elena sighed resignedly and started going through the rest of the bag. "What else do you have in here? Drugs? Bombs?"

Reno did not reply her but watched her unwrap the bag intently.

"What the…?" said Elena as she opened the first container, completely taken aback by the contents.

The cheeky smile on Reno's face grew large when he saw her reaction.

"Is that a steak dinner?" she asked, eyes opened so wide she was sure it could pop out anytime.

"Yup, you have been bitching and moaning about the food here so I bought it over to shut it up."

She eyed him critically, "Gee, Reno, you sure know how to ruin a moment."

Taking out the rest of the containers, she arranged them neatly on the table. She noticed that Reno even managed to snuggle in some proper steak knives and metal forks.

"Hang on a sec," said Elena, "There are more than one set of knife and fork here."

"Yeah, so?" Reno retorted as he took the seat on the opposite side of the table on her bed, "You think I am going to sit around and watch you eat?"

Touché.

"Well at least take off your shoes. You are getting dirt all over the bed."

It felt like forever since she'd had real food, so even though the steak of a bit overcooked and the mash potatoes were lumpy, it tasted like heaven.

"Oh wow," she exclaimed after swallowing her first bite, "This is quite possibly the best steak I have ever had."

"Really?" Reno said thoughtfully as he chewed on his food slowly, "I think the steak is overcooked and the potatoes look kind of lumpy."

"I don't really care. It's better than the crap they serve us here," she said, one side of her mouth bulging with food.

When she'd finish, she stared longingly at the empty container and sighed. Looking across her, she saw that Reno was still halfway through his steak so he turned her attention to him instead.

Her staring did not go unnoticed. Reno finally looked up from his food and at her. He cut off a piece of steak and dangled it with a fork in front of her. He almost laughed out loud at the intent look that she was giving the meat; she reminded him of a hungry dog.

"Here," he ordered suddenly, "Open up."

And when she did it, he placed the steak into her mouth. He repeated the same sequence until his container was cleaned out.

"Man," breathed Elena, "that was satisfying."

"You know, I hear that from girls all the time. Didn't expect it coming from you."

The satisfied smile on Elena's lips turned into a grimace of disgust when she processed his words.

This time, he was prepared to duck when she threw the steak knife past his head.

"Are you sure you don't want some?" Reno asked, sipping daintily on his wine, "It's really good."

Elena glanced at the dark red liquid and shook her head, "Remember the last time you have me alcohol?"

Reno shrugged and poured himself another glass.

"Why'd you bring it here anyway? You could get me into so much trouble!" Elena berated.

Silence filled the room.

"Well," began Reno tentatively as he tried to find the right words to say, "We can't have a date without some wine, can we?"

Elena promptly choked on her saliva. "Date? What date? This isn't a date!" she spluttered.

"We just had a nice dinner together with some wine," Reno said with a smirk.

"It was a TV dinner. You zapped it in a microwave and brought it here."

"Oh, and we even did the whole romantic thing that chics really dig."

"What thing?"

"I fed you food! That has to count for something," Reno said smugly and he knows he has won the argument when Elena had stopped talking.

"Hey!" she protested indignantly, "You can't trick me into a date!"

"I can and I already did," taunted Reno, "Hah!"

Elena howled in frustration.

"You know what chics usually do after a nice dinner like that?" Reno said suggestively.

Elena placed her head in her hands and muttered, "I don't want to know."

Naturally, Reno ignored her request. "They put out."

"Damn it, Reno!" Elena shouted angrily, "Stop assuming like I am like those other girls."

Reno was taken aback. He'd never seen her so insulted before. "Hey, hey. I was just kidding alright?" he said in the most soothing voice he could muster, "You don't have to put out if you don't want to."

She threw her hands up in the air at his reply. "That is not the point I was trying to make."

"What is it then?" he asked curiously, crossing his arms on his chest and leaning back to wait for her answer.

Elena bit her lip, taking on the look she always does when she is contemplating her next move. "Forget it," she finally said after a moment of silent thinking.

"Elena," Reno said, voice dangerously low, "You are doing that thing again."

She looked up at him, befuddled, "What thing?"

"The thing where you et all pissed off about something for no reason at all."

Glaring at him angrily, Elena said, "There is always a reason. You just don't give a rat's ass about it."

"Well, it's hard to give a rat's ass when I don't even know what the hell it is!" he yelled, temper kicking in.

"Fine!" she shouted back, face flushed with anger, "You want to know why?!"

He stared her down as if challenging her to tell him.

"Because I don't want to be like the other girls. I don't want to be another damn notch on your bedpost…"

Noticing his incredulous expression, she warned, "Oh don't give me that look, Reno, I have seen the notches."

"..I don't want to be just the 'blonde chic that you banged last night' and then brag to everyone in the Shinra building."

Her voice went down a notch as she finished her tirade. "I don't want to be like those girls."

He remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout her speech and when he did not say anything as the minutes passed, Elena got a bit worried.

"Do you understand now?" she asked softly (she notes that it is the first time that she had used that tone on him).

Reno's hands suddenly surged forward to hers and she felt her entire body tense up; more of fear than anticipation. But inches away, he pulled back quickly as if he had second thoughts about his actions. "Look," he said, tone apologetic (as apologetic as Reno could get), "I…"

Bang!

The door burst open and a doctor walked in.

The two Turks immediately move to hide the food containers and bottles. However, the doctor seem to have other things on his mind.

"Sir, Ma'am," he said, nervously wringing his hands, "There's been an emergency…"

"Come on, man. Speak up," Reno ordered impatiently, peeved that he did not get to finish what he had to say.

"We just received a call from Shinra headquarters. They reported that several explosives went off at levels sixty seven and sixty eight. It took off the entire top section of the building."

Reno and Elena shared a quick look before dashing out of the room; Elena not even changed out of her hospital robes. Whatever conversation that they had prior to the announcement was replaced by only one thought on their minds.

Reeve.