Ch 4
Nami POV
The days went by slowly, and Cloud enrolled me in a local high school somehow. I didn't ask and he didn't tell how, because I was pretty sure that it involved pulling a few strings. After he enrolled me I had to get a few vaccinations. Uugh.
A few days later I whined to Cloud "My legs hurt." Apparently he was completely past the whole 'I can't do enough for you' thing that he'd done for the first few days (the worrywart had thought I couldn't do things for myself), because he told me to go and get some medicine. I stuck out my tongue and walked over and took the maximum dose of the things. I ached. And it wasn't even my arm, which you might expect would ache. Nope. It had to be my legs.
The meds didn't help much; I waited for over an hour hoping they would kick in before I finally gave up. I walked over to grab a heating pad it would help, but my legs felt weak.

Maybe it's the flu? But… it's not flu season. Uugh, whatever it is I hope it goes by quickly.
I managed to finally go to bed that night even though my legs protested.
When I woke up my legs still ached, but I decided to ignore it as best I could. Cloud was working so I was alone. I walked over to grab my sketchbook and it took more effort than it should have, but I got it, stumbling some as I went.
I drew for a few hours lying comfortably on a couch. I began drawing one picture before I even knew what it was. I was midway through before I realized it was a picture of Axel.

I should call; maybe see how he's doing. But maybe he's already forgotten about me. I mean I'm just some stray runaway he took in, after all. Nothing special certainly.

Feeling depressed, sick, and exhausted for no apparent reason, I clutched the sketchpad to my chest. There was no-one to comfort me now, no shoulder to cry on.
It was just me.

I wished more than anything that Kairi was still here, always so cheery and bubbly, but yet always there to talk to when I needed her. One of my closest confidants. In her I had a sister and a best friend and with her death I'd lost both of those. I entered the guest room with small halting steps and I frowned because I'd never been this sick before. I reached the end of the guest room and held Axel's note, locked in a fierce internal debate. I couldn't call him. Feeling very cowardly I sat the paper down by my bed. Maybe I could work up the courage tomorrow. I doubted it, but there's always a chance.
I walked slowly to my room and fell once, but got up pretty quickly. I must be sicker than I thought if it's affecting my balance I thought as I slipped into bed, relieved that tomorrow was a weekend, so Cloud would have off.

When I woke up I felt… tingly. Did I sleep wrong? I wasn't sure.
I got up slowly and walked out of the room to the bathroom. Cloud was in the living room and watched me as I tried to go by, I moved slowly, like an old woman, and he stared with concern. "You okay?" he questioned.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I flashed a smile. "Just not feeling so hot. And I think maybe I slept wrong." I finally made it to the bathroom and decided a bath was in order; the way I was feeling I didn't want to stand. The warm water lapping against my skin felt so good. I just leaned back and relaxed, the throbbing in my legs calming slightly. It was with much regret that I finally clambered out of the tub before I became a prune. I had to lean heavily against the wall when changing so as not to fall. I was clumsy, but not that clumsy usually. My movements all seemed slower, and my balance was suffering. Quickly changing I decided to tell Cloud I needed another doctor's visit if this didn't go away soon. I walked out and my legs felt wobbly, unstable. I probably look like a drunk. I frowned.
Finally I walked over to take a seat by Cloud; I felt his eyes on me rather than whatever show he was watching and felt extremely uneasy under his intense scrutiny. I nearly stumbled at one point and he began to rise, but I quickly caught my footing, continuing the battle to the couch. The whole way should have taken like 20 seconds tops and well under 10 steps, but I was already well over a minute in getting there.
I was nearly to the couch when my legs gave out and I collapsed on my knees. Cloud jumped over, supporting me as I got up. Or attempted to. I tried to walk again and made a few steps largely unassisted before collapsing once again. Cloud carried me over to the couch and I tried walking while leaning on the couch I made it farther, but then fell again. I nearly cried out in frustration and fear. What is wrong with me?
I looked fearfully up at Cloud and could tell he was at as much of a loss as I was. It wasn't reassuring. He was in the military some years back; he should know about freaky stuff like this if anyone would.
He gently placed me on the couch so he could call some people and look online to see if he saw anything resembling my condition.
I think he must have found something because he asked me a few questions before he announced, "I'm taking you to the hospital."
I didn't like the sound of that but I could barely move and nothing was worth the effort at this point. And now I was scared. He hated hospitals nearly as much as I did…if he was taking me to one…. Then it was likely that something was very, very wrong.
He began apologizing for something and I was very confused until he lifted me up bodily off of the couch. His hand was uncomfortably close to my bum. I knew it was probably the most secure way to hold me but that didn't make the situation any better. I looked up and saw his face burning. At least I wasn't the only one. "What's the matter? Never been this close to a woman before?" I teased, attempting to keep the panic and fear at bay. But I didn't succeed completely because those words were slightly slurred and had taken much more effort to produce than they should have.
"Woman? What woman?" He raised an eyebrow and looked around dramatically, before turning back to me "I see a girl, but no women around sadly." He retorted. I smiled as his face relaxed.
"Meanie!" I croaked out and faked a pout and he laughed. I felt a little better now. Somehow his laughter and seeing him at ease helped put me at ease. Weird. At least it took my mind off everything. He gently sat me down in the car and I could barely move my arms to try and buckle the seatbelt, they felt so heavy as though filled with lead weights. Cloud quickly took over, hurriedly buckling me in before hauling himself into the driver's seat. He drove like a madman. Terrified the whole ride down, I sat, unable to make a sound.
When we arrived miraculously in one peace and without getting pulled over, he hauled me outta the car and slung me over his shoulder. I felt like I was gonna puke. He sat me on a chair and went on to talk to one of the staff. After talking briefly and in a hushed yet urgent and forceful voice to several people I was taken immediately to be seen. They did a reflex test; my leg didn't so much as twitch in the slightest. I knew that was… ominous as I began to feel a sense of sudden foreboding I wasn't a doctor or anything but no reflexes… that was a sure sign that something had went seriously wrong…at least in all those doctor shows…I'd stopped watching them after Kairi died, my faith in doctors gone; they hadn't ever even figured out what was wrong with her, what was I supposed to think?! At the time I'd naively assumed everything would be fine; it always was on TV, after all. But… real life is different: people die and those around them don't always get that warning feeling, that unease, and the doctors certainly don't always swoop in at the last moment with a cure. So I sat in silence, barely paying attention to these people who hadn't been able to save my sister and why should I expect my situation to be any different? So I sat apathetic, practically lethargic as they did some other tests arriving at some conclusion. And then I heard the words "spinal tap". Though incapable of movement my voice still worked at least a little. I began whimpering and moaning breathing erratically, panicking, I hated needles and they were going to stick a huge one into my spine! I began hyperventilating.
Cloud's POV
As soon as I heard those words I knew she would not be happy, I turned toward her as one of the machines around her began beeping loudly. Alarmed the doctors turned to her, afraid this was another sign of the disease. She was hyperventilating now. I reached out over to her to help her when she collapsed, the beeping and the gasping stopped and she was surrounded by doctors. I stood in shock, unable to comprehend what was going on. "Get him out of here," a voice shouted over the cacophony around us and I was ushered out of the room.

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A/N: sorry for the shortness and if nami seems ooc withb the teasing but i have a semisimilar personality and some similar experiences and this is how i reacted so yeah.

important notes: okay updates may be a while for 3 main reasons 1)i was stuck in the hospital for 3 days (unable to write or have computer acess) and have more dr visits coming up plus other commitments and 2) i am making the chapters longer so guess what? that means it takes longer to type them up funny eh? and 3) i have other fics i'm working on 'kay?

review incentives (limited time offer if i get too overloaded it'll be suspended temporarily): okay how's this for the 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th, etc reviews (and if i get anywhere near 50 i'll die of shock) anyway i'll give you several choices for what i'll do: 1) dedicate a fic to you 2) write a oneshot for you (there will be some guidelines for this) 3) i'll give you a cameo appearance in one of my fics if i can work it in 4) let you choose some OC names, and their appearance, and maybe some character treaits and other stuff (i do wanna have some say in this but it'll be left to you)