The first thing that she noticed was the putrid smell of disinfectant. The smell overwhelmed to the point where it awakened her from the remaining slumber that consumed her. A small moan escaped her lips as she began to allow the light to force its way through her eyes. She blinked once and then twice as she became used to the light. Slowly sitting up she glanced down at her leg – which was itching to an annoying degree.
"It's broken," She spoke simply, stating the obvious. "At least Heidegger and Scarlet are gone."
The girl shot her head to towards the sound of a door opening. A frown etched its way onto her face. It was her uncle, not who she really wanted it to be. The fatter man managed to sit in a small chair by the bed. In his hands he had two glasses of water. One of which he handed to Verna.
Verna quickly gulped down the liquid to try and sooth her dry and scratchy throat. Gasping for air she looked at her uncle, he had yet to say something. There was something wrong, she could tell.
"What is it?" Verna narrowed her eyes at her uncle's silence.
He took a moment and then opened his mouth to speak, "Three of the managers of Shin-Ra died last night. Not to mention Rufus Shin-Ra is now missing."
"Missing?" Verna's eyes opened wide, "They don't think he's dead?"
"They're not declaring anything until they can find his body," her uncle shifted and crossed on leg over another. "I know you were a part of two of the deaths, Verna." Verna cast her eyes down. "And you do realize there might be some consequences with that; don't you?"
"I-," Verna started, but paused for a second or two. "They attacked me. If I didn't do something I would have been dead."
"Will Shin-Ra really see it that way? The Turks' boss was Heidegger, they could go after you and—."
"The Turks won't do anything," Verna shook her head. "They've helped me in the past, even against Heidegger's orders."
"That's because Rufus was alive," Her uncle crossed his arms. "He's not here anymore, so the Turks might see things differently. They will find you and they will kill you, Verna."
"But…" Verna trailed off.
At that moment a door managed to open against the tension that was in the room. A nurse walked in and glanced at Verna. The nurse gulped from the tense atmosphere of the room.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but the doctor wants you to start using your leg. He says it's important for you to exercise it, so you won't experience atrophy in your legs. You'll probably only start by putting a little weight on it."
"I'll walk on it," Verna shifted so she could get out of bed.
"No," The nurse tried to place her hands on Verna's shoulders. "If you do that you could cause more damage."
"If I don't I'll cause more damage to the world," Verna shot back and forced the nurse's hands off of her shoulders. "My body doesn't matter. Besides, we need everyone to evacuate Midgar before it's too late." She looked over to her uncle, "What did your friend say?"
"He's working on it," Her uncle stood up, "But Shin-Ra's low on man power to do it, we'll need volunteers and people are already stealing from the company, particularly the weapon's unit."
Verna cussed under her breath and looked at her uncle, "What are you still doing here? You need to get people out of Midgar." She then looked at the nurse, "I need you to get the entire hospital to transport all of the patients out of this city and somewhere else."
"Why?" She narrowed her eyes.
"If I'm right Meteor will fall on Midgar, this is going to be the place of impact which means this is where people will die. With the sectors it'd be easy for them to collapse, which means everyone in the city might die. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
The nurse hesitated, but nodded after seeing the sternness in Verna's face, "I'll see what I can do."
She hurried out of the room. Verna's uncle handed her a suitcase that was sitting in the corner and walked out without a word. Narrowing her eyes, Verna unzipped it and glanced inside. A few changes of outfits were in the main compartment along with her laptop. She then looked at the mesh pocket; a few wigs, a makeup kit, and a few fake . Her uncle really did think she was in trouble, didn't he?
Sighing, Verna used the wall nearby as she painfully made her way to the door and locked it. Turning around, Verna's heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Something was under her bed.
"Shi—!" She clamped a hand over her mouth as the thing started to move. A paw stuck out and then a head, "Dark Nation!" She shouted furiously. "You scared me half to death." The panther looked at her and slowly walked over. "Don't do that again."
Verna slowly sat next to the panther and stroked its head. Her hair covered her face as she looked down at the ground. Streams of liquid made their way down her face and landed onto her dressing gown that the hospital provided.
"I miss him," She suddenly gripped the panther into a hug and spoke into his fur. "I really miss him."
The panther got out of her grasp and grabbed the suitcase with its teeth before dragging it back over to her. It placed a paw on it and looked up at her with determination. Verna watched slightly shocked. It was really an intelligent creature.
"You're right," she nodded. "Nothing good will come from crying and doing nothing. We have to make sure he really doesn't die."
Verna grasped her clothes and quickly changed – with some struggle due to her leg. Glancing down, she took out her laptop and quickly began typing. She was placing the death on the deceased department managers. Shin-Ra Electric Power Company would not die. No, it would survive.
An hour or so later, Verna sent the news article and placed her laptop into her suit case. Standing up, she dragged the suit case behind her. Dark Nation followed his new limping master. The pair hurried out of the hospital before anyone noticed. Though, it was easy, seeing as it was being evacuated at the present moment.
As Verna walked outside, she shielded herself from the strong wind and rain. She muttered a curse as she continued outside. She didn't have time to wait for the weather to become calmer. There was something she had to do, and she had to do it before Meteor hits Gaia.
Suddenly, Dark Nation ran ahead of her. Verna reached a hand out towards him and tried to catch up with the panther, but she couldn't run. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a figure stop walking as Dark Nation ran up to it. The panther seemed to jump on the figure, knocking it down.
"Hey!" Verna huffed irritated with the panther. "Don't do that!"
As she neared the person, she realized that Dark Nation wasn't attacking, but merely smelling the person. A small gasp escaped her lips as she realized who it was.
"Rude?!" Verna managed to pull Dark Nation off. "What are you doing here?"
"Taking care of some things," He stood up and placed his dark shades back over his eyes. "Your leg?"
"It's nothing," Verna looked away, her uncle's warning was replaying in her head. "I'm sorry about Dark Nation. I have to go."
Just as Verna was walking away Rude spoke more than he usually does, "You shouldn't leave Midgar so soon. The President isn't dead."
Verna shook her head, "He's not dead until you find a body, I know."
Rude said something that Verna didn't catch over the howling wind and an ambulance siren that just zoomed by her. The ambulance carried him.