YAY CHAPTER 30! HAHA, CHAPTER 30 IN BOOK 1 WAS VERY DEPRESSING, SO I DECIDED TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER 30 NOT SO DEPRESSING. M'KAY?
~Yuffie's POV~
The sound of the hospital room door opening wakes me up, making my head lift off the mattress and turn to see the intruder. Tifa and Barret. And then Vincent follows behind. Lovely. Because I totally wanted company at eight in the morning while at my husband's bedside. I'm kinda hungry, actually, but it can wait. Tifa and Barret sit down quietly, brownish eyes observing me. Vincent just stands in the back corner and surprises me by being the first to speak up for once.
"He woke up yet?"
"Not really," I yawn, sitting up straight. "He did move and kinda respond to me and Cid though." Three pairs of eyes and a raised eyebrow look at me expectantly. "Like when we asked if he could hear us, he kept using his hand as a response kind of thing."
"Hmm," Vince glances over at the unconscious man.
"Oh, happy birthday by the way," Tifa grins at me.
"Thanks," I reply flatly, watching Cloud's face while he sleeps. He looks so peaceful, no stress or worries etched on his face.
"How old are you now, twenty three?" She presses.
"Yeah." Same I don't care tone.
"Seems like yesterday you were an annoying teenager," Barret leans back into his seat. "Now you're an annoying woman."
"Thanks," I break in a sarcastic smile. All is quiet for a moment before Tifa sighs.
"I'm sorry that we left you two behind. This wouldn't have happened if I had just..."
"It's not your fault. I made you leave me," I remind her.
"But..."
"No."
The door opens again and my annoying nurse enters, clip board in hand.
"Miss Yuffie? I just need you for a moment."
"Fine," I mutter, standing and following her out of the room.
"So I have your breakfast over here and your medication..."
"I'm not hungry," I say, turning to walk back.
"Yuffie," she sighs. "You have to eat, especially in your current state. You do realize your about fifty pounds underweight? Probably more."
"So?"
"So you need to eat this. If you do I'll... I'll let you skip lunch," she says reluctantly, knowing that she probably shouldn't do that. I think about her offer for a moment.
"I'm fine." And I make my escape before she can bug me again.
"We're heading out for breakfast," Tifa says when I enter the room. "Want us to get you anything?"
"No." Why is everyone bothering me about eating? I really don't feel good right now, especially not in the morning.
"Alright..."
I get one last pitying look from Tifa before the small group leaves. And the minute they do, I run to the connecting bathroom and lose my dinner from last night. Ugh... Puking is the worst... After that, I force myself to go back to Cloud's bedside. The door swings open right when my butt meets the chair, but I ignore them, laying my cheek against the mattress. I'm so tired.... I just want him to wake up for real, open those bright eyes. They said the left side had the mako removed from it just in case, so I might get to see what color his eyes were before Hojo drenched him in the stuff.
"He still asleep?" I look up to see Shera smiling down at me.
"Yeah. Where's Cid?"
"On the phone. Why?"
"Just wondering. He doesn't seem to let you be alone these days."
"He hasn't since he came back from working with the WRO," she shakes her head with a grin.
"I hate clingy guys," I roll my eyes. "It drives me nuts when Cloud goes all 'protective husband mode'." Long fingers wrap around mine and make me smirk. "That's right. You heard me, Cloud." The smallest noise possible comes from his throat, making me cringe for him. That must hurt.
"Dang animal wants to go runnin around in the wild," Cid grumbles, walking over to me.
"He probably misses his family," Shera reasons. "He does have all those adorable cubs and all."
"So? Dang thing's insane!"
"And so you're allowing him to leave the Shinra building?"
".... Lucky guess," the pilot mutters, leaning against the wall. "You been thinkin about that name yet, Sher?"
"What name?" I ask mostly for Cloud's sake.
"He wants to name the baby Cid," Shera rolls her eyes. "Personally, I like Everett better."
"So why don't you just use both?"
"Cuz I hate the name Everett," Cid explains with a shrug. "And I don't want to end the Cids at just Junior."
"I almost forgot that your dad's name was Cid," she laughs.
The conversation seems to last forever, subjects taking random turns, and making me face palm multiple times. Finally, the couple decide to leave me alone and I'm left with unconscious Cloud and my lunch tray. Maybe I should just eat it. Nodding to myself, I swallow the food as if I've never eaten before and take the stupid pills that I'm forced to take. Somewhere along the line, I fall asleep curled up in the chair I've been sitting in. I only wake up when two arms lift me into the air, my eye lids too heavy to open but the smell of cigarettes strong enough to know who's making me leave the room. And I'm too sleepy to mind.
"Teef," Cid hisses. "Can you open that door for me?"
Soon I feel the comfort of a bed under me, heavy blankets being tossed over my shoulders and the light flicking off. And I'm out again, drafting off into pleasant dreams and horrible nightmares that make me toss and turn. I won't be getting any sleep tonight. So I force my eyes to open, standing and stretching while I observe my surroundings. Avalanche must've been staying at the nearby inn, because this is definitely not the Highwind.
"We moved the date to next week. Vincent already had me email everyone about the moved time and they've all been asking if we got in a huge fight or something," I can hear Tifa laugh. Must be talking about the wedding.
"Watch people show up today," Barret chuckles. The lobby door swings open and Vincent walks in, shaking the rain from his long hair and closing it behind him.
"Everything's fine at the bar. One of the people was actually out there waiting and asked when we were opening again."
"What did you say?" Tifa raises an eyebrow.
"I ignored him," he shrugs, unhooking the cape from his shoulders, the collar falling off with it.
"And the vampire reveals his face," I tease, finally exposing my presence.
"The princess has shown herself," he smirks back. One strand of his dark hair gets stuck on a mantle buckle and he winces, pulling it free. "I seriously need a hair cut."
"Yes. Yes you do," I sigh, leaning into one of the soft lounge chairs. Having nowhere else to have a seat besides the couch that Cid and Red are hogging, he sits on the edge of the piano bench, facing the group.
"So how's Cloud holding up?" Cid asks, laying his head back on his folded hands.
"Haven't asked," I shrug. "Not that he would've answered."
"Poor kid," he mutters to himself. Then he looks at Vincent. "Hey Vinnie, you play that thing?"
"A little," the dark haired man cocks his head to the side. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason, just curious."
"I don't believe you," Barret shakes his head. "You couldn't possibly remember after being locked in a coffin for three decades."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Vincent shrugs, spins around, and eyes the black and white keys for a moment before starting up a familiar song on the instrument. Tifa grins at Barret as the big man rolls his eyes and grumbles "Showoff". My mother used to hum this around the house all the time, and I find myself absent mindedly humming too. When he finally reaches the end, he over dramatically bows before plopping back down.
"How's that after thirty years?"
"Whatever."
"You're no fun," he laughs, shaking his head.
"Hey Vince?" I cock my head to the side. "Got any Wutain in you?"
"Some, why?"
"I dunno. Just kinda recognized the eye shape and stuff finally."
"Took you that long?" He smiles. "Wow. I would've thought you'd got it when you looked in the mirror."
"Nah, I'm not that observant," I wave him off.
"Whatever," he rolls his crimson eyes before looking back at Tifa. "Turns out, the only person that actually showed up was that guy that's always at the bar, and he doesn't have an email, so I kinda feel bad now."
"Why?" His fiancé eyes him.
"He had to walk all the way from the outer part of the Edge to the Slum Church in the rain."
"Aw... Poor guy," she makes a pouty face.
"How far is the hospital from here?" I look at Cid.
"Couple blocks. But you'll wait for the rain to stop, right?"
"Nah. I'll be fine," I shake my head and stand, heading toward the door.
"I'll come with you!" Tifa chirps and follows behind me. I want to be left alone... Great, now I feel like Vincent. Just great.
We walk in silence until we near the hospital, where Tifa announces loudly that she has to pee. After she leaves the bathroom, we ride the elevators up to the fifth floor, where the hospital area is. Then I search for Cloud's room, pushing past the heavy door without knocking or anything. Not much he could do in response. Sitting down in my usual spot, I sigh and watch Tifa sit beside me. She eyes him carefully before speaking up.
"Have you told him yet?"
"No, and there's a couple reasons. One: I told him to wait until he was feeling way better. Two: he'd go totally berserk in trying to kill Casper. Three: he'd treat me like a disabled person."
"Dang right he would," Tifa giggles. "Hmm... So what if he could hear you right now?"
"Sucks for you, Cloud," I tease loudly.
"It does," he croaks. My eyes widen as his slide open a small smile on his lips. "Happy birthday, Yuff."
"Stop talking!" I command. "You'll make it worse."
"I'll try." That must really hurt.
"I can't believe it! Your eyes were actually gray!" I squeal, observing the left side where his iris has turned a gray with a blueish hue, a lively sparkle flashing with amusement.
"It's been awhile since I've seen those eyes," Tifa laughs.
"Mako," he mumbles. "So when and what..." He swallows hard with a pained grimace. "Were you gonna tell me?"
"Just wait, buddy," I grin happily and lean over to kiss his cheek. He turns his face so that I capture his lips instead, the feeling I've missed filling me again. How long has it been? Two freaking weeks?! Jesus... How did I not die from lack of Cloud kisses?
"Been awhile," he chuckles when I pull away.
"A long while," I agree and sit back in my seat.
"You gonna stay?"
"Of course," I smile and he returns it. His heavy eye lids droop until they shut.
"Good," he says, sliding sleepy. "Stay forever." I will buddy, don't you worry. "Oh, and happy birthday," he adds, bluer eye opening and then shutting again.
REALLY, SHORT, I KNOW... BLESS MY POOR TIRED SOUL... I'M JUST SO SLEEPY! IT'S NOT FAIR!
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