Chapter 49
Stable
The helicopter descended, painfully slow to Vincent's mind, fluttering like a bird feather without urgency. All eyes turned to him within the cabin as he gave a growl, then unbuckled Tifa from the gurney, gathered her in his arms and leaped from the helicopter before it landed, dropping to his feet on the helipad at least 60 feet below. He sprinted for the building with an echo of combat boots pursuing him. Vincent didn't look over his shoulder. He'd memorized Cloud's thundering footsteps long ago while he slept in his crypt.
They teleported through the hallways. WRO workers gasped as they dodged and whispered their shock at the sight of Tifa when Vincent slowed to round a corner or stopped to avoid crashing into the pedestrian traffic. "What's happened to her?" "Did you see her arm?" "Is she dead?"
He ran all the faster, Tifa weighing nothing in arms. He knew she still breathed because he could feel it through his skin and hear her shallow gurgles with keen ears, weak and unconscious, and every time he glanced down at her arm, it looked nearer a shade of necrotic flesh.
A crowd at the elevator parted for him, probably expecting him to climb into the carriage for a quicker ascent, but Vincent dodged past them and charged into the stairwell. He jumped from landing to landing until he reached the lab floor, Cloud ever on his heels. They barged through the door. Cloud helped a startled Dr. Bernard to his feet as he tumbled out of the way, only to drag the good doctor along with him as he followed Vincent.
Another obstacle stood between the workstations. One Dr. Sybil Shepard.
"Hey! What are you..? You can't just bring her in here like this! There's a proper admitting procedure at the emergency entrance, Mr. Valentine! Aaargh!" The doctor dove as Vincent barreled through the labs, not slowing for a moment at her complaints. Sybil slammed her papers onto a desk as she whined and huffed. "Someone call security!"
Cloud released Bernard with a push toward Vincent before turning to grab Sybil by the lapels, then dragged the woman out of the labs. "Don't need you," he growled.
"Get your hands off me! This isn't ShinRa! The Commissioner will hear of this and you'll be out of a job!"
Vincent would have to thank Cloud later.
Simon appeared from his office with brows drawn together. He spared a momentary glance at Sybil's shrieking face behind the glass door to the corridor—where Cloud stood firm and unmoving as he barred her entry into the lab—before motioning Vincent into a patient room, Dr. Bernard following close behind. Vincent glanced around him, chills shivering down his spine as the room resembled those not unlike Hojo's from long ago. The ones he'd designed to watch unwilling victims. Beyond an interior window opposite the bed was an observation room, filled with lab equipment and conference tables, one with a microphone jutting from the center. Vincent wasn't sure how he'd missed this room before, except maybe he'd assumed it was storage for their equipment between Simon's office and the conference room he'd spent hours listening to the lab doctors discuss pregnancies, SOLDIERs and their old colleagues.
"Here, Vincent," Simon said and helped Vincent straighten Tifa's sleeping form onto the bed a second later. He removed his stethoscope and placed it against her chest, while scrutinizing her arm. "She's breathing. Heart beat accelerated with the fever. That's not surprising given this wound. What bit her?" Simon asked.
Vincent shook his head. "I wouldn't guess. Though it was an abomination Hojo would have been impressed to see. I suspect the venom the same as the Heg snakes Samuels and Strife encountered," he explained, tossing his head toward Cloud, who still barred Shelley from entering the laboratory.
The doctor nodded and began working on her without further communication, Carlos appearing to assist only. That explanation would have to do for now. The doctors had treated this bite before, only in SOLDIERs…and Cloud.
Simon lobbed few instructions to Bernard as he attached heart monitor wires to her chest. They worked seamlessly together, nearly wordless as their fingers gently pressed sensors and electrodes to vital points on her head, neck and chest. Vincent felt his throat constrict when Carlos affixed an oxygen mask to her delicate face. His knees weakened, the sudden loss of muscle control catching him off guard, and he swayed a moment before bracing a hand against the wall to steady himself.
Vincent tried to hide his waning strength behind a worried frown when Simon glanced up at his swaying form. "How…how is she?" Vincent asked.
Simon attached a catheter and IV drip to Tifa's good arm. "Her body is in shock. My cursory examination leads me to believe her unconscious state is the body preserving vital functions as it figures out how to fight off infection."
The liquid in the drip bag glowed with the tell-tale signs of mako agent, though at a much lighter and subdued color than the version given to SOLDIERs and Cloud or Vincent. Dr. Bernard covered her from the waist down with a blanket as Simon rifled through cabinetry and pulled more medicines from the shelf. Vincent couldn't read the tiny writing on the vile Simon plunged with a needle tip, suspecting it some sort of drug to induce arousal. The doctor filled the needle tube, then inserted it into the secondary tube attached to the catheter and injected the serum at once.
Simon grabbed Tifa's hand and patted it gently. "Ms. Lockhart? Tifa?" He called out, louder each time as they all waited, holding their breath for her to open her eyes.
But her eyes remained closed as the heart monitor filled the silent room with a constant beep…beep…beep. Whatever concoction of drugs they'd given her seemed to stabilize her heart rate. The accelerated thrum slowed to a more natural sounding beat that seemed slow Vincent's own worried panting.
"Tifa!" The door crashed into the wall as Yuffie barged her way in, knocking past Cloud who was just coming through the door so she could get a look at Tifa laying sick on the bed. "I heard you were bitten by a snake man or some weird Hojo monster! Are you ok?"
"Agent Kisaragi, I know you're worried, but I really must insist you clear the room. All of you, please." Simon leveled a sympathetic gaze on Vincent, then motioned them out the door.
"Did she wake up?" Cloud asked.
Vincent turned away without a word, leaving Yuffie to gape. The adjoining observation lab was the only place he could think to go and his feet found him there with mechanical steps, Yuffie at his heels, peppering him with questions about what happened to Tifa. He ignored her, left it to Cloud to explain and watched Simon bend over Tifa's arm with steel medical tools while Bernard shined lights into her eyes. Tifa remained motionless, pale and small in a bed reserved for SOLDIERs. Vincent guessed the room usually served those who were in advanced stages of degeneration.
The minutes slowed as Vincent watched. Time ticked into an agonizing hour. She still didn't wake. The three of them said no words as the doctors worked over Tifa, even Yuffie keeping silent for the duration until Bernard spoke into a microphone just beyond the observation window, waving at them.
"Her condition is stable," Bernard assured them. "We're giving the anti-venom time to work before we try to wake her again."
"Stable?" Vincent's throat constricted, realizing he'd spoken aloud. He wiped his forearm against his mouth and stared around the room.
Cloud lowered his head between his knees where he sat and poured all his hatred into glaring at the tiled floor. Vincent thought Cloud strange suddenly. Shouldn't he hit something? Get up? Stomp around and growl?
What should I do?
Vincent curled his gauntleted hand into a fist, then the other. Shouldn't there be…something? It was at that moment he realized the silence in his sternum, the quieted state of his corruptions that would usually be spinning in a frenzy at a time like this.
It was Yuffie who spoke first.
"So, hey. I know you might not want to talk about this now. But we had some action here, too." Yuffie's expression was one of reluctance, her face even blanching as Vincent met her eyes. "Yeah, so…the pharmacy storage was broken into early this morning."
Vincent turned back toward the view of Tifa as Dr. Berry joined his colleagues and squinted over her. Though the answer seemed certain, Vincent asked the question. "What was taken?"
"A few small boxes of that serum infused with SOLDIER mako platelets or whatever you call it. At least that's what Penelo confirmed when I took her statement. The labs make that stuff here and store it onsite. Um…and that's not all."
"Tell me."
"While we were investigating—like literally at the same time—there was an incident in the brig." Yuffie sounded fearful, voice trembling. "Parran escaped."
The air sucked from the room as Vincent turned his head toward her again. He pulled in a breath through his nose to lessen his rising anger, his fingers in a fist, nails driving into this palms as his stress skyrocketed and the corrupted cells suddenly remembered what they were supposed to do. "How?" he asked with a slow, guttural growl.
Yuffie gulped, eyes widening as her eyes darted to Cloud, who only stared up at her with a customary scowl pinching his features. "Well," she began. "It was during his exercise hour. The guards had taken him out to the prison yard when the alarms sounded. I guess a few of them went to check it out. They clearly weren't following their protocol. But when they got back, the guard left behind was knocked out cold. And the outside gate was wide open, no scientist in sight."
"Convenient. Cameras?"
"There's some footage that shows guys dressed in all black coming in through the eastern parking lot a minute preceding. But they disappeared. Seems the cameras surrounding the yard were all having technical difficulties."
He turned back and watched Tifa through the window a moment longer before Reeve finally arrived.
The debrief with the commissioner was nothing more than a backdrop in his mind. Vincent could barely concentrate on any one thing that didn't lead back to thoughts of Tifa's deadening arm and sleeping form.
"How many SOLDIERs were killed?" Reeve turned to Vincent. "You said there were at least six, but only four are in the brig with the scientist."
"Six were present at the time of infiltration," Vincent replied, voice mechanical. "Two were killed during extraction. One suffered fatal injuries from the Turks' attempt to apprehend. The other was…swarmed…while trying to aid Professor Brukho."
"Swarmed?" Reeve asked, confusion in his tone. He looked around the table, expecting clarification, but the room had quieted. "Anyone?"
Pete cleared his throat and raised his still-discolored arm at Reeve. "Sir, the swarm was Brukho's creations. The fiends were—"
Vincent traded a glance with Pete, knowing his thoughts the same. The swarm was filled with creatures like the one that had so grievously wounded Tifa. And her arm had turned a blackened, necrotic color.
"They were…like a swarm," Pete continued. "Coming from everywhere, too many to get a proper count. But they came at us like mindless bees or…ants." He paused a moment and swallowed hard. "Sir, I'd be more than happy to donate additional blood to Simon's team. Tifa is my wife's best friend, sir. Anything I can do—"
"Yes, of course, Samuels. Of course." Reeve leaned over the table and gave Cloud his attention. "Can you describe what bit her?"
"She wasn't bit."
Vincent cocked his head at Cloud, the revelation a surprise. He'd assumed another Heg hybrid had bitten her. The holes in her arm were consistent with the bite, though he now admitted to himself that many venomous animals leave similar exit wounds on their target. Red streaks, puncture wounds, swelling could mean a snake, spider, lizard, fish, or…
"Scorpion sting," Cloud supplied as the thought materialized in Vincent's head. He hadn't seen that kind of creature in the lab, but there were so many variations of different predators, it was hard to give words to what he saw. "The fiend was part lion. Part scorpion."
"Sick fuck," Frank said under his breath and Dan nodded. "Wish we'd gotten in there sooner."
"Hm, yes." The commissioner dragged his gaze back to Vincent. "We'll need to prepare a full report describing how Tifa was injured. Though she volunteered for the mission, we still need to give a detailed accounting to the board. There's significant hesitancy from our directors every time I allow unofficial WRO security to assist on these missions."
"It's my fault," Vincent answered low. "Brukho's SOLDIERs opened the cages before they fled. We were overrun with his abominations while extracting the scientist. Cloud and Tifa were infiltrating from the warehouse entrance to divert attention with Lieutenant Samuels. When his team was swarmed, Tifa was bitten," he explained, glaring at Cloud. "Her safety became top priority. You have my assurance on that point."
Reeve clasped his hands in front of his face, seeming to accept the situation at hand. "Fine. That's the circumstances then." He stood from his seat at the front of the table. "Let's get some information from Brukho, then we can all meet back here to see how Tifa is doing."
The room around him erupted into movement, though Vincent couldn't seem to make his feet respond. The need to stay near Tifa rooted him in place, overriding any other obligation.
The commissioner slowed in front of Vincent and gestured toward the door. "After you, Vincent."
After a moment of indecision, seeing Cloud settle against the wall outside of Tifa's room, Vincent exited the labs in a daze, his sabatons dragging noisily on the floor. He mulled over Tifa in silence, while Reeve walked next to him with sighs of frustration.
The brig rarely housed more than two to three criminals at a time from what Vincent understood, and until Parran, wasn't used as a permanent prison facility. Reeve never intended to use the WRO as a punitive arm, so the organization never installed checkpoints into the jail, no holding area or multiple interior security areas through which to gain entry. A risk, as far as Vincent was concerned, that didn't seem to have crossed Reeve's bleeding heart mind.
Luxiere sat at the sentinel desk before the metal gate, surrounded by monitors that beamed low grade visuals into each holding cell. "Commissioner," he said, monotone as he flicked the switch for entry. The gate swung open and as Vincent passed, he noted the absence of Luxiere's usual smirk, replaced by an odd humility the SOLDIER had never shown anyone.
As the gate slammed closed behind them, Vincent thought he discerned a mumbled word. 'Freak.' Over his shoulder, he saw the SOLDIER-turned-security guard slide his gaze away from Vincent, a faint snarl disappearing before he feigned interest in the surveillance monitors.
A well lit hallway stretched beyond a four way intersection and past a dozen cells. Vincent wondered who Reeve expected to normally fill these cells. All were empty except those holding the four enhanced warriors they'd arrested in Modeoheim, each housed separately down opposite corridors, along with a man Vincent abhorred almost as much as Hojo.
The scientist lounged as much as he could shackled to a bed designed to limit his chance of escape as he was looked over by Dr. Bernard. He remained well-guarded by Reeve's security team, who saluted the commissioner as he and Vincent entered the cell. Reeve waved them away and they took up post in the hallway. Dr. Bernard nodded after the commissioner thanked him for his assistance, and offered a polite greeting to Vincent before the door closed behind him.
A rattling laugh left the scientist's throat as he caught sight of Vincent. "Heh heh, haha. There you are." Brukho smiled with blood coagulated against his bottom lip, looking the part of a crazed madman caught in a straitjacket. "Hojo and Lucrecia together created the ultimate monsters. And here stands one. Back from his grave and bent on revenge. Hahahaha! Tell me…how's the girl's arm?"
"I think this might go easier for you," Reeve replied and looked over his shoulder at Vincent before he continued, "if you give us more information about the venomous hybrid that bit our colleague."
Vincent slowly moved closer to Brukho, leaning against a wall near the table the prisoner was cuffed to, and folded his arms across his chest. He lowered his head and let his hair drape across his face, casting it into shadow so his eyes couldn't be discerned in the single light hanging from the cell's stone ceiling. But his action wasn't a tactic. His corruptions had started to roil in his sternum; the buzzing cells awakened, due to this stress, Vincent was certain.
Quelling the shaking of his arms as much as he could, Vincent pulled a gun from the holster at his thigh, raised it in his right hand, and pointed the explosive end at Brukho's head.
"Now, Vincent—" Reeve began and took a halting step toward Vincent with his hand raised. "That's not who we are."
Brukho turned his head and spit blood and saliva onto the floor near Reeve's feet before facing Vincent again. "I'm not afraid of you, Valentine. I know what you are down to the cell."
Vincent wanted to morph, gripped the gun tighter as he tried, and failed, to will Galean to life. But his corruptions faded the harder he breathed deep, flexing his abdomen and chest to awaken the beast, until they quieted completely.
The doctor's evil smile widened when Vincent lowered his weapon. "But tell you what I'll do. How about a deal."
"A deal?" Reeve asked.
"Yes," the doctor said, nodding. "I just want…a book."
"What book would that be?"
"Oh, any book will do." He rattled his cuffs, trying to shift his body. "I'd just like something to read for what I'm sure will be a long stay at your…accommodations."
Reeve traded a glance with Vincent before nodding, unaware of the turmoil Vincent fought within his body as the commissioner negotiated with the scientist. "Alright. I'll see that you get a book. Now. How about you give us information. Starting with the means to cure this poison you've created. And secondly, we'd like to know where your colleague has escaped to."
Brukho laughed and fought against the restraints as he tried to sit up. "What makes you think I know where any of my former colleagues are."
"Dr. Brukho," Reeve replied, anger coating his tone. "This will only work one way. There's only so much I can do here to see to your comfort—"
"Bah! Hahahaha!" The doctor struggled to breathe as he cackled at Reeve's intimidation tactics. "Come now, Commissioner. You're not the type. We both know you'll play nice. But my old friend here," he continued. "I wonder what type he'll be when he stops playing nice."
At the taunt, Vincent felt the corruption surge to life from his sternum into his throat; his eyes flashed gold and out of habit, he clenched every muscle to reign the process to his demands, only wanting the Galean and not another, more uncontrollable demon to appear. He retreated to a wall, leaned into its support as he fought within himself, calling to Galean. As sweat began to bead at his temples and forehead, Vincent moved behind Brukho's bed where the scientist couldn't see him, thinking the advantage might ease his struggle.
Brukho jerked against his restraints again, seeming desperate as he tossed his head back to try to view Vincent from an upside down angle. He gave up after a moment and relaxed back into the restraints. "Tell dear old Berry to use the formula we created while in Nibelheim. He should remember." He tried again to toss Vincent a glance, smiling as he taunted with the past. "ShinRa's antidotes back then slowed the corruptions. We were trying to use everything we could get our hands on from the Lifestream, had to have a way to study it. Right, Valentine? You don't look so good yourself. Maybe Berry could prescribe you something for your…affliction."
The room charged with sudden chaos. Vincent lunged at Brukho with a growl, the sound amplified as he finally lost himself, the corruptions bursting from his control as the transformation billowed in his veins. He panted on the floor when it was done, finally lifting his head level with Brukho's and meeting the doctor's eyes through the Galean Beast's razor sharp gaze. Brukho scrambled against his restraints, whimpering as he tried to escape.
Reeve backed away to the door but didn't leave the room. "Guards!"
But Vincent couldn't hold the beast in its form. One moment he towered over the room and the next, he crumpled onto the floor, panting from the exertion the sudden reversal put on his body and energy. Then, all faded to black as the room echoed with Brukho's cruel laughter.
It seemed only moments had passed when Vincent came to, but he was no longer in the cell looking down at the mad scientist. He was in another room, adjacent to the sentry gate, laid out on a couch facing toward a TV mounted on the wall. Vending machines lined one side of the room and lockers the other.
He tried to ease himself to sitting when Reeve appeared before him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you feeling better, Vincent?" he asked, helping Vincent to right himself. "Dr. Simon is on his way down. We…uh…didn't want to move you through the building as you were…uh…well, you were sort of morphing in and out of—"
Vincent snapped his head up to look Reeve in the eye. "What? Morphing in and out of…what?"
"Well," Reeve replied. "I…don't really know. It looked like a…lesser…version of Galean, if I'm honest. Smaller. Significantly so."
Vincent shook his head against a feeling of vertigo. "It's fine. I'm fine," he said, ignoring any implication of Reeve's words and tried to stand. He'd had enough of scientists for one day, at least until he could talk to Simon about Tifa's condition. But before he made a single step, he fell forward. Reeve was quick enough to catch him and ease him back on the couch.
"Why don't you just wait here for Simon. He'll get this sorted out. And if we need, uh…we'll get Pete to help carry you up to the labs."
Vincent lost consciousness again as the walls rattled with Brukho's continued laughter.
Next when Vincent opened his eyes, Simon stared down at him with a pen light shining into his eyes. "How are you feeling?" The doctor asked, moving the light in a horizontal line in front of Vincent's face.
"My strength comes and goes," Vincent said as he propped up on his elbows and looked around the room, surprised to see an IV drip had been attached to his arm, the tube leading up to a bag filled with the glowing serum Simon had been developing for him. Night had fallen and he was back in the labs, lying on a bed in a room he knew was situated adjacent to the one Tifa slept.
Whatever Simon had given him worked at least well enough to have Vincent back to normal at the moment. His cells had returned to their habitual buzz and he could feel the enhanced strength coursing through his blood and muscles, deepening with every breath. Vincent jerked the IV from his arm, ignoring Simon's sudden protestations, though the good doctor quickly silenced his worry, likely knowing Vincent wouldn't rest long enough to receive whatever the doctor had in mind.
"Tell me, Vincent. What did you experience just before you collapsed? Did you notice anything in particular before your strength waned?"
Vincent shrugged. He thought the answer would be obvious but these doctors were still not accustomed to patients with his particular physiology. "My strength surged then faltered when the commissioner was…questioning the prisoner." He didn't know why, but he didn't want to mention he'd been trying to call Galean during the interrogation.
"Hmm," Simon said as he tapped the pen light to his mouth in contemplation. "I suspected as much. Well, we already knew the corrupted cells could be triggered by stress. So that part is not a surprise. Our previous V-serum worked to inhibit those stressors and calm the cells when you couldn't control them through your tried and tested means. However, our new counter-agent we've been testing was supposed to help dissolve those corrupted cells. But…what we've noticed with further testing is that this is another bandage approach. Your strength plummets because the corrupted cells fight the counter-agent faster in your blood stream than they did in our samples." He placed a hand on Vincent's shoulder, an apologetic look coming over his face. "I'm sorry, Vincent. The actual live results did not follow our tests. That's why I've got you on our new batch," he said, tapping the drip bag. "But I think the best answer now is for you to avoid stressful situations."
Vincent held his breath against an involuntary snort at the suggestion and simply nodded at the doctor. He looked out of the door and noticed Reeve waiting for him. "Thanks, Doc. I'll take it easy for now. I'm sure we'll figure this out, too."
"Good, good," Simon said, walking with Vincent to the door. "It's time for me to check on Ms. Lockhart."
He left the doctor with assurances that he would take it easy and keep his injectors on hand, the last couple he'd hidden inside his pockets. Barret had made it to the labs and raged in rare form in the observation room. He wagged a fist in Cloud's face as Yuffie stared blankly into Tifa's room.
"She don't need to accompany ya'll on everything you do." Barret turned his head as Vincent entered the room and pressed his lips together with a big inhale, as though readying himself to launch into a louder rant. "Need ya'll to take things slower. Not every problem has to fixed by us! Reeve's got his boys for this stuff. Leave Tifa out of it. You stay out of it and learn to live in peace. Move to the damn suburbs!"
"She's an asset and you know it," Cloud barked from his position nearer the window.
"I know she is," Barret growled back. "But that don't mean we ain't got other priorities now. None of these missions have anything to do with us anymore. You feel me?"
Vincent couldn't agree more but those dreams were meant for a future Vincent still hoped to share with her, when he could finally fix the past, help the WRO with their research. The corrupted cells pulsed between an intermittent frenzy and dull fade to nothing with each beat of his heart. And for the first time since he woke to find these friends standing around his sarcophagus, Vincent felt tired. It wasn't just the corruptions erratic behavior, but stress. Worry aggravated by these new treatments he'd insisted on to be more part of her world.
Inside Tifa's room, doctors surrounded her, a fierce debate between Simon and Berry, Rayleigh only looking between them and Tifa still lying unconscious on the bed, hooked up to more monitors than earlier in the day. Reeve stood behind Rayleigh, a hand up at the doctors, obviously attempting to calm them or help resolve their argument. Or whatever Reeve did in his constant drive for resolution.
Tifa's eyes remained closed. Vincent felt it pain his chest, as though his heart had shut off too.
"At least we get to look at her like a zoo animal," Yuffie grumbled with her nose and palms pressed to the window of the observation room. "Why won't she wake?"
Barret sighed. "All I'm sayin is—"
"They're leaving," Cloud said and stomped toward the door.
Yuffie dashed to be first, whining loudly when Simon didn't apologize for bumping into her as he left the room in as much haste. A look over his shoulder confirmed for Vincent that the doctor was indeed angry, his face red as he muttered under his breath until the door to his office slammed.
"So, someone tell me what the hell is going on here." Barret's frame filled the door. If any other doctor hoped to leave the room, they wouldn't get past him.
An awkward silence followed Barret's question with Reeve, Rayleigh and Berry only exchanging glances before the commissioner cleared his throat and donned his most diplomatic smile. "Oh, just some…reassignments is all, Barret." He gestured toward Berry with his hand. "Tifa will be in good hands with Dr. Berry taking over as her primary doctor."
Cloud's head jerked toward the old man. "Berry?" he snapped. "Why him?"
Vincent leaned against the wall next to Tifa's head, feeling his strength begin to wane again as his anxiety increased at the sight of her. His corruptions quieted, thankfully, laid dormant in his sternum, not even stirring with the usual low idle. He couldn't think on that now. His only thoughts were of Tifa, her sleeping form and why the WRO fought over who would treat her.
"Yeah," Barret said, taking a step toward the old doctor. "Thought that Simon was her doc, like he was for the merc when he got sick. Don't make sense to switch it up. Uh…no offense," he said to Berry.
"Dr Simon…uh…he's focused on," Berry paused between gasps, eyes finding Vincent's before he continued a little more breathless. "Other challenges."
"What the hell does that mean?" Barret asked. "Ain't y'all all got challenges? Look, I don't care who's looking after her. I just want my girl to get better and wake the hell up!"
Vincent let out a slow frustrated breath through his nose. Simon was so focused on his treatments they couldn't spare him for Tifa, too. He didn't want—couldn't allow—his condition to come before hers. With that resolve in mind, he left Tifa's room, ignoring Yuffie's whining question at him as to where and why he was leaving. Simon sat behind his desk, a scowl knotting his brows as he stared at his computer.
"Oh, Vincent," Simon said as he shut off his screen. "Is anything amiss? I don't think there's any more treatments to give today. Unless…there's a side effect you would like to report?"
Vincent placed two fingers on the desk to steady himself, the vertigo and weakness clouding him mind and leaving him feeling unbalanced. "No, I'm fine. But…I need you to focus on Tifa. All your efforts until she's better. I'm not important, doc. Got it?"
Simon slowly rose and walked around his desk to put steadying hands on Vincent's shoulders. "Of course, Vincent. I understand your worries. But, I assure you…my research into your condition will not slow our treatments for Ms. Lockhart. She's in good hands."
Vincent shook his head, almost violently. "No! You treat her first." He shrugged off Simon's hands just as his corruptions awoke in his sternum. The buzzing felt familiar and gave Vincent a boost of strength. He breathed deep and tamped down the thought that he'd never suffered so much volatility of his powers since his time in Hojo's labs. Either his condition was getting worse or this episode was finally abating.
He returned to Tifa's room without giving it another thought and tucked into a chair while the rest of her friends paced the room, all waiting anxiously for her to wake.
