Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

SIX

I pulled up at the house less than ten minutes later and parked the Gust alongside the Hardy. Then, holding onto Jessie, I carefully got off the bike and took her in my arms. The door opened almost as soon as I reached it, and Elmyra ushered me inside.

"Good, you found her," she said. "I'm glad. Go ahead and bring her upstairs, Cloud. Marlene's asleep in Aerith's bed, so take your friend to the guest room. I've got it all ready for her."

Hurrying across the room, I carried Jessie upstairs and took her to the same bedroom I had slept in earlier. Elmyra followed me, and I saw she'd been busy. The bed was all neat, with the blankets pulled aside so I could lay Jessie right into it. Stacks of towels and bandages stood in a row on the dresser along with a set of clean clothes.

"Let's go ahead and get her boots off," Elmyra suggested. "She'll be more comfortable that way. I'll get her changed later once I've gotten a good look at her and seen to her injuries."

That made sense to me, so after gently setting Jessie onto the bed, I helped unfasten her ruined shin guards and take them off. Between me and Elmyra, we got them and the boots off and set them off to the side in one corner of the room. Then we carefully covered Jessie up and left her arms laying on top of the blankets, the right one still in the ragged sling I'd made for her in the pillar.

Elmyra turned to me. "Alright, we've got her settled in. Now I need you to hurry over to the clinic and pick up a few things for me. I made a list while you were gone."

"What sort of things?" I wondered.

"Medical supplies, that sort of thing," she explained. "Certain items and equipment. I'll need them to help your friend."

I nodded. "You'll have them."

Elmyra turned toward the door. "Then let's go downstairs. The list is right on the table."

I followed her into the hall and back to the first floor. There was, as she'd said, a sheet of plain paper laying flat on the round table. I picked it up and scanned the handwritten list. There was a lot there, probably more than I could take in a single trip. But I'd get it back here as fast as I could, one way or another.

"Just ask for Dr. Morris," Elmyra said. "He's an old friend, and he'll get you set up. I've worked with him for years, and Aerith often brings him herbs to help treat his patients."

I put the list in my pocket. "Got it. I'll be—"

Just then, the front door opened and the others hurried inside, Tifa at the head of the pack. I sighed in relief when I saw her and the rest of my friends, glad they'd made it back safely. And then I knew how I was going to get all the supplies and equipment here from the clinic in one trip. The answer was right in front of me.

"Cloud, you're here!" Tifa said. "I was worried about you."

I walked over to her. "Good to see you, too."

"Jessie upstairs?" Barret asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "Just got her settled in a few minutes ago. She's still with us, but... she's getting weaker."

Wedge blinked. "What do we do, Cloud?"

"We're gonna go to the clinic and pick up the stuff Elmyra needs to help her. I've got the list, so let's get to it."

"You heard him!" Barret told the others. "Move out!"

The clinic was just a short ways down the road and across from the Leaf House. It was the same one we'd met Marissa at earlier, and we all hurried inside. It was, just as she'd told us, packed with wounded from the plate collapse, sitting or standing wherever they could. Nurses and a few doctors went back and forth between them, tending to who they could and slipped into the few patient rooms the place had to check on the injured who were in them.