Chapter 50: The Climb
Tseng gently helped Elena off the couch.
The stairs were in the dining-room, so Elena immediately began to waddle there.
Tseng, who was behind, was prepared to help her, but she simply reached out her hand for him to take.
"Follow my lead, babe," she said as she led him through the dining-room and to the stairwell next to the hutch.
There were only twelve steps; Elena didn't think there would be a problem.
She placed her left foot on the first step.
She then placed her right foot on the second step.
And then, she groaned in pain and dropped to her knees.
"Ow! Shit!" she exclaimed. "That was dumb!"
She knelt up straight, and looked back at Tseng.
"Seriously," she began, "this is so painful I think I'm going to cry!"
She looked up at the ceiling; her eyes were wet.
"Maybe we should-" Tseng began.
"No," Elena interrupted. "I can do this."
"You sure?" he asked.
"I'm sure….oh!"
Another contraction hit, and Elena squeezed the carpet of the stairs.
"Why is my butt supposed to hurt like this?!" Elena exclaimed.
"Um…" Tseng began.
He couldn't come up with an answer for that.
I can; she had a clotting disorder. It was not smart to give birth outside of a hospital with one.
"Tseng," she began, "if…if it's not too much trouble, can you put your hand on my lower back?"
Tseng put his hand on the small of Elena's back and pressed it down.
"That feels better a little better," she said.
He held that there for a few moments.
"Feels really good when a contraction ends!" she laughed.
She then stood up.
"Okay," she sighed. "Super baby steps."
Elena continued to climb the steps, with one foot on each step at a time.
She put her left foot on the third step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the fourth step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the fifth step, then her right.
"How are you doing?" Tseng asked.
"Making it," Elena said.
She put her left foot on the sixth step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the seventh step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the eighth step, then her right.
"You're doing a really good job, by the way," she complimented.
"With this?" he asked.
Elena turned around.
"With being a husband," she replied as she sat down.
Tseng knelt down to her level.
"And I thought I never wanted to get married," she continued. "Thanks for twisting my arm about it."
She kissed him softly.
She then sat back and stroked his hair.
And then, she groaned, and gripped her knees.
"Fuck!" she hissed as her whole body tensed up.
A minute later, it was over.
"Okay," she announced. "Let's finish this before the next one comes."
Tseng stood up and helped Elena to her feet.
She put her left foot on the ninth step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the tenth step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the eleventh step, then her right.
She put her left foot on the twelfth step, then her right.
"We did it!" she exclaimed as she hugged him.
Tseng then led the waddling Elena over to the bed, and helped her climb on. On her knees, she turned to face Tseng, and gently stroked his hair with sadness in her eyes.
"Listen," she began, "there's a chance I won't make it through this."
It was an elephant in the room she had to address; there was a chance that, without a doctor, her situation would prove fatal.
It was a risk, for sure, but she felt going to a hospital was even riskier.
"If I don't survive this," she began, "I want you to take care of our boy."
Tseng, of course, wanted to tell her to think positive, but he knew he needed to reassure her.
"I will," he promised.
"Give me a hug," she commanded.
Tseng wrapped his arms around his wife and held her close.
Elena squeezed him as tightly as she could.
"Don't ever forget how much I loved you," she whispered.
"I won't," he assured her. "And I love you."
She pressed her lips against his, and gave him a long, loving look.
"Okay," she said, as she took a deep breath. "Let's meet our son."
She then gripped the bottom of her tank top.
"Before we meet our son, I think I'll take this stupid shirt off," she said as she pulled her tank top over her head and crumpled it into a ball.
The now-naked Elena then aimed for the open hamper.
"She shoots," she began as she threw the shirt.
It landed in the hamper perfectly.
"Woot!" she exclaimed as she raised her hand. "High-five!"
Tseng high-fived her.
A moment later, a more painful contraction came along, causing Elena to double over on the bed, groaning.
MEANWHILE….
Zack had finished his last two-liter when Romina Ronkin entered the room, carrying a metal bucket.
"What now?" he asked, wondering what irrelevant task she was going to ask of him now.
"I'm going to turn up the heat in here," she announced as she placed the metal bucket next to him.
Zack noticed the bucket had an engraving of a rifle and displayed the word "Chekhov" below it.
"Strip," Romina suddenly commanded.
"Strip?!" Zack replied.
"You're going to sweat," she informed him as she turned and walked back toward the door. "Big time."
"How far?" he asked.
"Buck naked," she replied. "Down to your bare ass."
With that, she walked out the door.
Somewhat confused, Zack did as he was told and placed his clothes in a pile nearby. Now naked, he sat on the floor.
Soon, the room became hot and humid, and, sure enough, he began to sweat.
"It'll purge you of most of the virus," Romina's voice suddenly announced over the loudspeaker.
Zack gasped.
"You're not watching me on camera, are you?" he asked.
"You bet!" Romina affirmed.
Zack covered himself as best he could.
"I've never heard of anything like this," he grumbled.
"Are you kidding?" Romina sighed. "Private parts are my life! On my last show before social distancing started, I made two guys take their pants off and have a dick fight."
"How could I forget," he sighed.
"Something is off with you," Romina then said. "I think everyone's starting to notice this, so I doubt it's news to you."
"Now what?" Zack groaned.
"I saw a picture of you back in 0007, right before your ill-fated visit to the Island Gulag," she continued. "And you don't look a day older. You should have aged a bit since it's been three years, but you haven't. Not a day."
Zack felt his stomach tighten. He was sorely hoping nobody would figure this out for years.
"Only two others don't seem to be growing any older," Romina continued. "Vincent Valentine, and President Strife. So what do you three have in common?"
Zack was now sweating more, and it was not due to the heat.
He, Vincent, and Tifa had a discussion about it shortly before the shutdown.
All three of them had been suspicious of it.
"You were dipped to save your life," Romina continued. "But tell me about the side effects. You didn't learn about those until later."
Zack knew he was found out, but also that it was inevitable. Yuffie, being his girlfriend, found out pretty quickly. So did the rest of his friends.
"Being dipped in the Lifestream all but stops your aging process," Zack finally replied. "I'll have the body of a twenty-four-year-old for the rest of my life."
"You're immortal, then," Romina deduced.
"I'm not immortal," Zack corrected. "I can still be killed. And I can still get sick."
"But you could live hundreds of years," Romina pointed out.
"Thousands," Zack clarified. "But something will get me eventually. If not the Geostigma."
"I've heard rumors about those cracks in the surface," Romina said. "Tobin was very careful not to reveal the location in his book."
She's right; he was. And for a good reason: everybody would want to use it.
"I also heard," she continued, that if it's used too often, it'll close up. But it'll reappear after several centuries."
"That's right," Zack said as his body became drenched in sweat.
"Well," she continued, "I won't tell anyone about it if you don't tell anyone about this."
"You have my word," Zack assured her.
A few moments later, Zack began to twitch.
"And now, you know why I made you drink all that soda," Romina announced.
"Where's the bathroom?" Zack demanded.
He obviously had to piss like a racehorse.
"Use the bucket," Romina ordered.
"The fuck?!" he exclaimed. "Can I at least have some privacy?"
"You've never had a conversation with another guy while at the urinal?" Romina asked sarcastically.
"You're a chick!" Zack pointed out.
"Fine," Romina groaned. "Piss in the bucket and then shower your sweat off."
The intercom cut off, and Zack stood up, wondering why there was a shower but not a toilet.
MEANWHILE….
Tobin soon appeared at the patio.
I was facing him, giving him a view of my full glory.
Before he could say anything, I practically marched over to him, the sound of my boots hitting the floor.
Following Aerith's advice, I immediately placed my hands on his cheeks and kissed him hard.
"Cissnei," he began.
But my name was all he could say before I silenced him with another kiss, again with my hands on his cheeks.
I kept kissing him this way, taking breaks only to slip off his shirt and yank off his pants and boxers.
"Sit down," I told him.
Tobin complied without any further prompting.
I wasn't expecting it, but tonight, I was going to be in charge.
I bent down and kissed him one more time before turning around and sitting on his lap.
"Hold me," I commanded.
Tobin gently wrapped his arms around my bare midriff.
Aerith was right again; the feeling of his skin on my butt and his hands around my torso was already starting to work its magic.
He kissed up and down my bare back before kissing my cheek once again.
This was too much.
I was ready to go, and could tell he was, too.
I slowly stood up, teasing him with a view of my bare butt. I then turned around, placed my hands on his bare shoulders, and pinned him to his chair.
An hour later, we were finally eating our dinner. Our hair (and my makeup) was a mess, and we were still sweaty from our lovemaking.
We were also tipsy from the champagne.
After another hour, our dinner was finished, but, at this point, we were too drunk to clean it up. We had even stumbled on the way to our bed, and we were now sitting naked on the floor, kissing each other and making small talk.
And then, without warning, I confessed it.
I don't know what made be blurt it out, but I just did it.
"Aerith's been appearing to me," I slurred.
I was too drunk to regret telling him.
Fortunately, Tobin was too drunk to worry.
Strangely, we both laughed.
And that was the last I remembered.