Scrub It Off.
In his lifetime Roxas never really expected to consider a group of mentally unstable patients as his friends. In the three weeks that he had spent at the psych ward so far he had grown closer with all of them, Naminé in particular. The small blonde was intriguing to him, and she seemed to be fond of his company. She would draw pictures for him every day; the walls of his room at home were mottled with them, and whenever Larxene decided to be her ruthless, sadistic self he would always stand up for her - with the help of Axel and Demyx, of course.
Ansem was so pleased with Naminé's progress that he even informed the other two heads, Xehanort and Xemnas, of Roxas and his remarkable relationship with the young girl. Now, whenever Roxas had to come in for his weekly report all three doctors would be present.
"She's opening up more," The blond beamed as the three doctors busily scribbled on their clipboards, "She seems to be showing more emotion, even when Larxene's around. She likes Axel's jokes, and she's always asking Demyx to sing that same song over and over again."
"She really likes that song, doesn't she?" Xehanort smirked, "She's been asking him to sing it to her ever since they first met."
"It might be of some importance," His nearly identical brother, Xemnas, suggested, "Maybe it's some sort of connection to something in her past."
"Do you know anything of her past at all?" Roxas asked curiously; he frowned when all three doctors shook their heads.
"Absolutely nothing," Ansem frowned, "Like I told you she won't tell us anything."
"Or maybe she's forgotten," Xemnas insinuated, "Remember how traumatized she was on the day we found her? She could be suppressing a few things."
"That's one of our theories," Ansem replied, "But we're not certain yet." He looked over towards the youngest in the group and gestured towards the door. "You're free to go, Roxas - you're doing a splendid job so far."
"Thanks." He smiled before leaving the office, but the moment he turned his back on the three doctors his expression darkened. He was frowning the entire way to his car, and on the drive home all he could think about was the conversation the three doctors were having amongst themselves; for some reason he felt like there was something they weren't telling him. Did they really not know anything about Naminé besides her name?
He sighed as he opened the door to the house; he made a beeline for the kitchen, where he grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down with ease.
"Oh," Sora suddenly appeared by the doorway, "You're home."
"Yeah," Roxas shrugged as he refilled his glass, "Where's Mom?"
"Out - it's Wednesday, remember? She's got game night with the neighbours or whatever." The brunet chuckled and ruffled his spiky hair. "I hope I'm not that lame when I'm older."
When Roxas turned around he found both Xion and Sora sitting by the table - how the heck did his sister get down here without him even noticing? He really needed to learn how to sleep properly. "Heya brother," The raven-haired girl waved, "How's working with the crazies?"
"Not bad, not bad," The blond shrugged as he moved to sit in between his siblings, "Not much is happening."
"What about that Naminé girl?" Sora gave his brother a suggestive look, "How's she coming along?"
"Yeah," Xion giggled, "Did you ask her out yet, or is she too busy talking to her imaginary friends?"
"She doesn't have imaginary friends," Roxas retorted as he sipped from his glass, "And why the hell would I ask her out? I wouldn't be able to take her anywhere."
"You said she was the most unstable out of all your patients, right?" Sora asked, and he continued when the blond nodded, "So, like, does she get electric shock treatment and stuff? Did they remove a part of her brain?"
Roxas' face was beginning to redden from the temper he'd been trying to suppress. "Shut up, Sora-" He shoved his brother off his chair, "-she's not like that."
"Sorry, sorry," Sora muttered as he scrambled back onto his seat, "I was just curious, that's all."
"Lobotomies aren't even practiced anymore, Sora," Xion was rolling her eyes, "But I can't say much about the shock treatment."
"She doesn't get shock treatment!" Roxas slammed his glass on the table, startling his brother and sister; he blinked for a few minutes and slowly sat back down. "Sorry."
"Someone's defensive," Sora was acting up again, and the blond's eye began to twitch, "Does someone have a likkle cwush?"
"Sora…"
"Stop teasing him," Xion lectured, though at the same time she was grinning, "Can't you see he's embarrassed? He's all red."
"Alright, I'm heading upstairs." Roxas placed his glass in the sink before angrily making his way out of the kitchen. His temper flared up again when he heard his brother and sister snickering, and he gritted his teeth together as he stomped up the stairs and into his room. He slammed the door so hard the various drawings Naminé made for him trembled a little from the impact. He forced himself to sit on the edge of his bed, and he sighed and pulled his fingers through his hair.
Their words shouldn't get to him like that; they didn't know anything about her.
But what makes you think you do?
Great, now his conscience was against him.
Roxas groaned and reached for his bag, figuring that a bit of homework would be a good enough distraction from himself. When he pulled out his textbooks the drawing Naminé made for him today managed to wedge itself into one of the books' pages; he smiled when he flattened it against the desk, remembering what she told him earlier:
"When I was little I always used to think of myself as a princess," She explained when she finished her drawing; it was of a castle and a girl standing at the top with a crown, and at the bottom there was a boy with a crown and a head of messy, spiky hair on top of a horse holding a sword above his head, "And that one day I'll have a sweet, handsome prince who'll sweep me off my feet and take me to a better place - a place where I'll be loved and appreciated."
Her words were admirable and sad at the same time; he grabbed some tape and scoured his walls for an available space, and when he found one just above the headboard of his bed he stuck tape to the four corners of the drawing and pressed it there. He stepped back, admiring his work, and smiled to himself as he spun around to begin his homework.
After an hour of attempting a few math problems fatigue seeped into his system and he was nodding off; rubbing his eyes he stumbled out of his seat and made his way towards the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he crawled underneath the sheets his eyes drifted towards his window, and he cringed when he realized that the sun was still out; he shook it off, however, and fell asleep in seconds.
Like he expected he was still quite exhausted when he woke up the next morning. He had no idea how he was able to sleep for so long and not benefit from it; school dragged by like always, and when it finally ended he dropped his siblings off at home before driving to the psychiatric ward.
"You really need some sleep, bro," Sora said worriedly as he stepped out of the car, "You look like a zombie."
"Maybe you can steal a few of your patients' medication and see if it'll help you sleep." Xion suggested teasingly, and the brunet laughed alongside her.
"Very funny." Roxas shifted gears and proceeded to back out of the driveway. "I'll see you idiots later."
When the blond arrived in the usual lounge room his friends were there to greet him like always. They were all sitting by the far table, watching Naminé draw yet another picture.
"Are you sure you're sleeping, Roxas?" Demyx asked worriedly as the boy took his accustomed seat next to the flaxen-haired girl, "You're looking worse every time I see you."
"I don't even know anymore," The blond groaned as he leaned over Naminé's shoulder to see what she was drawing; it was the town's clock tower, "I swear I remember falling asleep…"
"I have a feeling you're sleepwalking," Axel shrugged, "I mean, what other explanation is there?"
"But you're asleep when you're sleepwalking, or whatever," Larxene countered, "So you'd still be fully energized when you wake up."
"I dunno," Roxas groaned, "Maybe I should just get it over with and admit myself into this place." He smiled grimly when everyone except Naminé laughed.
"I'm pretty sure you're not going insane," Demyx chuckled, "You'd be in a far worse condition than you are now. Maybe Ansem's right - you're probably just stressed over the volunteer hour thing."
"Ah," Naminé gasped, and everyone turned to look at her; she had backed away from her picture and her usually half-open eyes were wide with what looked like fear, "W-what-" She stuttered, and her eyes widened even more.
"Speaking of going insane…" Larxene leaned into her palm and rolled her green eyes.
"Naminé?" Roxas raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?" Worry began to tickle his insides when he noticed the tears rimming her eyelids.
"I-it's-" She stammered, pushing herself farther and farther away from the table, "-it's everywhere-" She raised her hands to stare at them, and she let out a high, ear-piercing shrill, "-it's…i-it's on my hands! Oh God-" She sprang to her feet, knocking over her chair, "-My hands, m-my hands!" Roxas stood up and tried to reach towards her, but she shook her head frantically and shrunk away from him. "D-don't touch me! You're gonna get it all over you!"
"Naminé," Roxas' voice was growing higher from the concern building up inside of him, "There's nothing on your hands." He glanced over his shoulder and noticed with surprise that the three young adults weren't doing anything to help. "What are you guys doing? She's having an episode!"
"Like there's anything we can do." Larxene rolled her eyes again, and Roxas pursed his lips together to prevent himself from cussing at her.
"I n-need to wash this off-" Naminé rushed out of the lounge, and the blond jogged after her. He could hear her nearly nonsensical blabbering as she tore down the hallways, "-g-get clean, need to get clean - oh God, it's everywhere, everywhere - she's everywhere!"
The blonde turned into a random room and Roxas dashed in after her. The room they were in was a small employee's bathroom; Naminé had cranked the hot water to nearly full blast and was frantically scrubbing her hands with soap and a rag. Roxas approached her slowly and tried to turn the water off, but she aggressively shoved him away.
"Can't you see?" She glared at him, and the intensity in her stare threw him off somewhat, "Can't you see I'm trying to get this off? All this blood, all of it-" She began to mutter to herself as she continued scrubbing off the invisible blood, "-all of her blood, all of it - it has to get off, has to disappear. Must be clean, must be clean!" The tears were making their way down her pallid cheeks, and her small hands were raw and red from all the scrubbing and hot water. "Why won't it come off?" She sobbed as she began to scrub harder, "It's not coming off! Her blood's not coming off!"
Roxas swallowed the lump in his throat and leaned forward to turn the water off, sighing in relief when she did not push him away this time. She gaped at him as he gently took the soap and rag from her hands and tossed them into the sink. He felt another painful lump growing in his throat when he took her reddened hands in his. "Naminé," He said slowly, "There's no blood. You're totally clean."
She jerked away from him and backed up against the wall. "Y-you can't see it? How can you not see it?" She brought her hands up again, "It's everywhere! Dripping, staining, dirtying - everywhere!" She tugged at the hem of her dress, "It's on my clothes, it's in my hair-" She reached upwards and began pulling at her white-blonde strands so hard he feared she was going to rip some off her scalp, "-and I can't get any of it off!" She began to calm down somewhat, sinking to the floor and drawing her fists to her heaving chest. "She's not coming off…"
Roxas did the first thing that came to mind; he lowered himself beside her and pulled her in for a hug. She squirmed a little at first, struggling to break free from his grasp but then she gave in and eased herself against him, though her fists were still pressed against her chest. She continued to cry into his shoulder as he rubbed her back comfortingly; there was an uncomfortable ache pulsating in the centre of his chest and with every passing moment he spent with the crying girl the worse the pain was getting.
For some reason he felt like he was at fault; why wasn't he able to prevent this?
"Roxas?" He glanced upwards and found Axel standing by the doorway with a disappointed look on his face. "How is she?"
"Catatonic," The blond replied as he continued to massage her back, "She won't stop talking about how she can't get this blood off of her-" He nodded towards her; she was still talking, though her voice was muffled against the fabric of his shirt. He shook his head and pressed his cheek against her hair, "-was she like this the last time she had an episode?"
"Kind of," The pyromaniac frowned and rubbed the back of his head, "But this is probably the first time she's never actually reached out to anyone, let alone hugged someone."
"Er," Roxas blushed and stared down at Naminé's white-blonde head, "I was the one that hugged her first, actually."
The redhead smirked. "Even better." There were footsteps approaching them, and he glanced down the hallway to see who it was. "Mm, looks like we're gonna have company."
A couple of nurses rushed in, carelessly shoving Axel to the side. They tried to pry Naminé away from Roxas, but much to his surprise the smaller blonde wrapped her tiny arms around his waist and stayed put. "Naminé," One of the nurses chided with feign kindness, "We have to get you to your room." The woman's voice was impatient and somewhat uncouth, and it grated against Roxas' nerves.
"Let go of her," The other nurse instructed austerely, "She needs to come with us."
Roxas reluctantly began to unwind his arms from the blonde's waist, but when she shook her head against his neck he stopped. "No," Her voice was still slightly muted from his shirt, "I don't...I don't want him to go."
The blond gave the nurses an apologetic look, and the latter sighed in annoyance. "You're not going to get any cleaner if you stay here, Naminé," One of the women tutted, and Roxas' heart stuttered when he felt the small blonde twitch against him, "Don't you want to get all of that yucky stuff off of you?"
After a few minutes of silence the small blonde turned to face the nurse; she sniffled and raised one hand to rub her eyes. "C-can…" She mumbled quietly, "Can Roxas come with me?"
The nurses exchanged dismal looks before nodding slowly. "Well, it looks like we don't have much of a choice." They stood up and gestured for Roxas to do the same. "C'mon, we need to take her back to her room so she can take her medication."
"Er, okay." He glanced downwards and Naminé looked up to meet eyes with him. "Up we go, Naminé." He stood up slowly, pulling her with him, and he hugged her against his side as he followed the nurses out of the small bathroom. Axel smirked at him before walking back towards the lounge.
"Way to go, Prince Charming." He laughed, and Roxas felt a blush invade his face. He continued to follow the nurses down a few more hallways, and they rode the elevator up a floor or two before zigzagging another few hallways. They finally stopped in front of a white door, and when one of the nurses opened it they revealed a plain white room with nothing in it but a small white bed pushed up against the white wall. A small barred window was on the wall facing them.
"Make sure she lies on the bed," One of the nurses instructed, "We'll be back with her meds."
Roxas' arms tightened around the small girl's waist. "What are you going to do to her?" He asked worriedly.
"We need to put her to sleep," The other nurse explained, "It's the only way to end manic behaviour." She could have been referring to an animal with the way her voice sounded.
"Uh, okay." When the nurses left Roxas guided the blonde, who was trembling quite violently, over to her bed. "Lie down, Naminé." He instructed kindly.
"B-but I'm gonna get the bed dirty," She stuttered, "And look - I already got it all over your clothes-" She began to cry again, "-I'm sorry, R-Roxas - you're all dirty because of m-me-"
"It's fine," He assured her, "I'll be sure to clean myself up once you get some sleep, okay?" He gently pressed down on her shoulders and he inwardly sighed in relief when she began to lower herself onto the mattress. He noticed that there were leather restraints attached to the edges, and he gulped. "Just relax - get some rest, and when you wake up you'll be all clean. I promise."
She sniffled and nodded through her tears. "O-okay." She reached for his hand, and he sucked in a breath when she weaved their fingers together. "Stay with me, please?"
He squeezed her hand and smiled his best for her. "I will, don't worry."
The nurses rushed in soon afterward; one of them was flicking a needle with her index finger. When Naminé's eyes fell over the small syringe she began to writhe around the bed. "W-what-" Her pale blue eyes grew wide and the tears returned, "-Roxas, what are they-"
"Hold her still." The nurse with the needle commanded, and Roxas couldn't do anything but bite his tongue and nod as he pinned the blonde's wrists to the mattress. The aching in his chest amplified when Naminé began to cry even louder.
"I'm sorry," He apologized over and over again as the nurse with the needle approached the bedside; another lump formed in his throat and his eyes began to sting, "It'll only hurt for a little bit, Naminé, and then you'll be fast asleep." The other nurse began to buckle the restraints around the girl's wrists and ankles, and when she had them securely fastened Roxas let go but he returned his hand to hers. "I'm sorry, Naminé..." He apologized again, though he had no idea why he was even doing it in the first place. The tears were beginning to fall now, and he quickly wiped them away with his free hand.
"R-Roxas-" She whimpered just before the nurse stabbed the underside of her elbow with the needle; in a few seconds her eyelids were beginning to flutter to a close, and her hand grew limp in his. In seconds she was out cold.
"She'll be out for the rest of the day," The nurse with the needle explained stoically, "So it's best you head back to your assigned lounge."
"No," He shook his head firmly as a few more tears trickled down his cheeks, "I told her I'd stay with her, so this is where I'm gonna be."
The second nurse tutted in disapproval. "You shouldn't grow so attached to the patients, you know." She shook her head before leaving the room with the first nurse, leaving Roxas to mull over her words.