Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Du, Du hast, Du Hasst Mich ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Cid nearly crashed through the hospital's automatic doors, which were barely fast enough to open for him.

"Can I help you, sir?" A very tired nurse asked at the information desk. She was propping her head up with her hand.

"Where is he?"

"Sir, visiting hours are from nine to two, nine to five on Sundays. Are you drunk?"

"The fuck I am! You called me half an hour ago that Vincent was here."

"Excuse me," a doctor asked. "Are you Cid Highwind?"

"Yeah, that's me, when do I get to see him?"

The doctor sighed. "Walk with me, sir."

Cid followed the doctor, uneasy about how unreadable the doctor's face was. There was a thud behind them as the nurse's face hit the counter and she started snoring.

"Sir, Vincent Valentine was rushed here from the hospital in the Snowy Village. An old man found him out in the snow before frostbite or hypothermia set in."

"What the fuck happened?"

"We… aren't sure. He was rushed here because his injuries were quite extensive and the emergency surgery couldn't be performed up there."

"Surgery?"

"We had to patch up a lot of holes in him. Thankfully, we have the technology to repair damaged muscles these days. We had to sew up part of his liver and diaphragm. His lung, however, will probably need to be taken out entirely."

The doctor opened the door to the room. Cid felt overwhelmed. He didn't remember how he got here and his mind reeled at the sight in front of him.

Vincent lay on a hospital bed, a thin blanket over him, hooked up to numerous machines. Some machines were zigzagging lines on paper. There was a mask over Vincent's face. Things were beeping monotonously. Vincent's right arm was full of IV needles. There were bandages everywhere.

"Vince?" Cid asked, his voice breaking.

"He's under heavy sedation, sir. He wouldn't be able to talk anyway with the respirator on. We plan to leave him sedated for a few days while he heals before operating on him again."

"Again?" Cid asked, his eyes never leaving Vincent. This couldn't be happening. This was impossible. This was Vincent. How the fuck had Vincent gotten himself into this situation?

"That lung of his has been too badly damaged and we need to remove it soon. He's lost his left kneecap; we managed to pull the bone shards out of his leg."

"He won't lose his leg or anything, will he?"

"No. There's no infection and a replacement joint is simple."

Shit. Another part of him replaced. That was going to be a serious blow.

"We ran a CT scan and there's no brain damage, just a minor concussion. However…"

"What do you mean 'however?'"

"Sir, he's been having spasms, nightmares, he's tried to get up, and he even woke up during the surgery and started choking. Sir, do you know what an EEG is?"

"No fucking clue," Cid said, brushing a piece of hair out of Vincent's face. Shit. And Vincent thought he felt useless.

"It monitors brain activity. Could you please take a look?"

Cid sighed and turned his attention away from Vincent. The doctor held a section of the read out towards Cid. "You run outta ink or something?"

"Sir, an EEG records brain activity. In the case of brain death, you'd see a straight line. But here the needle didn't even touch the paper. It's as if there was no brain to record activity from. We have no explanation for this and every one of his attacks has coincided with these blank marks. We had to put a tube down his throat with the respirator after he suddenly tried to swallow his tongue."

Cid said nothing. There was nothing to say. He didn't even know if he could manage to speak. He numbly fell into the chair next to the bed. For the first time in his life since he had been a young kid, he thought he was going to cry.

"Sir, there's something else I need to address. Has Mr. Valentine ever had a traumatic experience or does he have any severe phobias?"

"He kinda had a bad experience with… you could call it his last physician, I guess. Why?"

"As he was being rushed to this hospital, he woke up. He was awake for a total of seventeen minutes and managed to injure five people and destroy eighty three thousand gil worth of equipment before rolling into a fetal position, then screaming and crying. He had to be sedated."

"Shit."

"Two nurses learned the hard way that he hadn't lost any teeth. Sir, I can safely say this man suffers from anxiety."

"You're not putting him in the looney bin, if that's what you're talking about!"

"In no way did I say he was mentally disturbed. The skips in the EEG do not coincide with any part of his brain pattern, so there is no evidence it should be an indication of insanity. Besides, he's been unconscious the entire time he's had them. Now, I'm not going to rattle off a bunch of conditions at you, but I think you might want to look through some pamphlets."

"What are you going to do if he is freaky? Then what?"

"Then we'll probably just prescribe some medicines for him when he goes home. We may recommend therapy if it turns out to be serious. We'll be sure to inform you of any updates, Mr. Highwind. I'll be back with some pamphlets and his personal belongings."

"Can I borrow your phone, too?" Cid asked, sniffling.

"Of course. And sir, there's no smoking," the doctor said, and left the room.

There was nothing Cid could do. There certainly wasn't anything he could say. Feeling utterly helpless, he squeezed Vincent's arm, wishing he'd react.