CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lightning's Accident

Cloud was lying on the couch, feeling absolutely spurned. Hmph… Where does she get off? he thought. Thank goodness the kids were playing on the carpeted floor behind him, or else he probably would've made known his severe disgust toward Lightning right now. At the moment, she was away making a delivery to Cosmo Canyon by herself; she was gone before Cloud even woke up that morning.

That was three days ago. Long trip.

In the time she had been gone, Cloud began to wonder if this whole "secret girlfriend" thing had been a mistake. Thank goodness he realized this now, before their relationship had the chance to go too far. And yet, given all the trials he had faced in his lifetime-trials that might've altered a normal person's psyche for the rest of their lives-it was a relief to know that he wasn't totally lost within his own guilt. For a brief moment, he was able to come out of himself in order to recognize the beauty of a women like her. He almost wanted to thank her for that.

With an exhale, he was calm and his mind was settled. He would tell her that their affair was over when she got back.

He was startled when the phone rang, and Tifa answered it. "Hello, Strife's Deliver Service. You name it, we deliver… May I ask who's calling? Oh, no. Is she alright?"

On that note, Cloud sat up and peered into the office. Tifa's face was overtaken with concern.

"Is she stable, though?… Oh, thank goodness… Yes, I'll send someone right away to pick her up right away. Thanks for calling us." After hanging up, she turned to face Cloud with a sober look on her face. "Lightning was in a car accident."

Cloud silently inhaled. "How bad?"

"Bad enough to completely total the front of her car. She was trying to drive at night, and ran into a huge tree. The medics at Cosmo Canyon have her stable in their medical center, but she was drifting in and out of consciousness for the first twenty-four hours. They think she's stable enough to come back, though."

"Any physical injuries?" Cloud asked. Gaia forbid that Lightning should have and cuts or bruises on her lovely face.

Marlene and Denzel came around from behind the couch. "Is Lightning gonna be alright?" Marlene asked.

"Yes, she'll be fine," Tifa replied, smiling at them. "She only hit her head on the steering wheel. They think she might've had a concussion, but other than that, no injuries."

Cloud immediately stood up and marched toward the front door, grabbing his sunglasses from the desk. "I'll be back in a few days. Keep all deliveries on hold until then." Then he got on his bike and revved the engine.

As he took off down the road at a speed that exceeded the legal limit, Cloud couldn't believe how much of an eye opener the last few moments had been. First, he was going to dump this women because she was too high-strong. Then, his emotions were jarred by the idea of almost loosing her forever! If he had to loose one more woman in his life that he cared about, it wasn't going to be Lightning.

No, not this women… Not his girl.