Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Du, Du hast, Du Hasst Mich ❯ Ten ( Chapter 10 )

Tifa was in the middle of brushing Vincent's hair when he woke up. Truly woke up. He had opened his eyes and blinked two times in the day, but had gone straight back to sleep after that. He had rattled off a few things, one sentence blurring into another and that one blurring into a third until he trailed off, never having made any sense.

She helped him sit up and went back to gently stroking the hairbrush through his hair, making little progress, but preferring that to accidentally pulling and hurting Vincent.

"She said no one's going anywhere for a while until she got to see you. Conscious, I mean," Cloud said, reading Vincent's comic.

"How are you feeling, Vincent?" Tifa asked, exchanging the brush for a wet washcloth.

"Woozy," Vincent answered, putting his hand on his face. Drool. Definitely not great, but better than having thrown up on himself, again. Especially while Cloud and Tifa were here.

Tifa handed him the washcloth.

"Thank you," he said, taking the washcloth and thoroughly wiped away sweat, bile and saliva.

"Here, try eating something," Tifa said, placing a tray in front of him and taking back the washcloth. "It'll make you feel better."

"I'll just throw it up."

"It'll still make you feel better. You're not getting out of here without eating something, Vincent."

Vincent took a while to look at the food in front of him. Cereal, tuna, broth, a melting popsicle, milk, a glass of water, a cookie that looked like it was made of compressed dust.

"You okay?" Cloud asked as Vincent put his hand on his head as if he were having a migraine.

Vincent's vision was swimming, as usual. Moving, wobbling food didn't look very appetizing. The smells were getting to him again. "I'll be fine. Give me a minute." Having something up his nose wasn't making him any hungrier.

He wouldn't be getting out of here without eating. If he kept being afraid and refusing the hospital's horrid food, they'd no doubt use a feeding tube. He'd had one of those. God, he wished he had been unconscious for it. He doubted Hojo would have wanted it that way. Soon after every operation, Hojo would stop the IVs without telling him, usually while he was asleep or too drugged to notice.

The next day-or something like that-he'd have a tray of mush and some water thrust in front of him, warned that it was either this or a feeding tube. Hojo wouldn't leave the room until Vincent started eating or shoved the tray away in disgust. He would never say anything as he left, leaving Vincent with the tray, whether he ate anything or not.

It was always some sort of mush that tasted like wet cardboard and paste, from the texture and color he might not have been too far off.

Vincent picked up the fork-Hojo had never given him utensils, he didn't want to give Vincent such a luxury, or he thought he'd try to kill himself with it-and stabbed the tuna with it. He lifted it up and kept trying to ignore his mind's warning that it had to have at least one drug, maybe two, in it.

He swallowed. At this rate, he'd be done in a week.

It was better than cardboard. It was better than pushing his hand into a pile of mush and licking it off his filthy, dirty fingers that were never washed unless they were bleeding. He still didn't feel like eating.

"Why does he get tuna?" Cloud asked, earning himself a jab in the ribs from Tifa with her elbow. "Ow. He wasn't doing anything with it. They were going to bring him a new one anyway."

Vincent managed another small bite.

"Hey, if you don't want that," Cloud started, flinching in anticipation of another hit. Tifa was ready to give him one, but waited for him to finish his sentence. "I have a candy bar in my pack."

Tifa punched him anyway. "Cloud, he can't have that. He's on a special diet."

"Why is Vincent on a diet? I thought he needed to gain weight."

Tifa was about to punch him again, but decided against it. "He can't have any chocolate. The doctors told you he wasn't going to be allowed any caffeine or alcohol."

"So no fun stuff. Ow! Tifa!"

Vincent set the fork down.

"I'm sorry," Cloud said pathetically.

"No. I'm fine. I just… I don't feel like eating at the moment. Could you guys do something for me?"