Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Burn ❯ Chapter 25 Demyx ( Chapter 25 )

Burn

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy nor am I making any money by writing this.

Chapter 25 Demyx

I was extremely scared when Axel had his seizure, but it was nothing compared to what happened after one of Axel's sessions. I knew that Axel was going through hypnotherapy to try and help his memories resurface, but I never expected him to have a complete breakdown.

The first I knew about it was when Hannah and some other nurses brought him in. They carried him in between them, which was an incredible feat even though Axel was already pretty light.

“What's going on?” I asked, rising from my bed.

None of the nurses answered, focusing on getting Axel to his bed. About halfway there, Axel started screaming and thrashing around violently. It was only then that I realized that Axel was completely out of his mind.

It scared me that Axel was lost to some inner demon. He had been so normal, at least compared to some of the other patients. He could hold a normal conversation with people and as long as no one grabbed him by the arm, he was fine. Except for those outbursts, which started lessening after Axel's hypnotherapy sessions, it was hard to tell that Axel was mentally ill. Everyone in the ward thought he was going to be the first one to go home because it was clear that he was getting better. It gave us hope because if it happened to Axel, maybe it could happen to us too.

I backed away, trying to find a way out.

Aerith stepped forward. “Demyx, come on.” Her tone was gentle. “Let's go somewhere quieter, okay?”

I couldn't move. My feet seemed to be pinned to the ground and I couldn't breathe.

“Oh god. Oh god,” I whimpered.

I wrapped my arms around myself and sank to my knees.

“Demyx, breathe,” Aerith urged. She had come over to me at some point and was crouching down. “It's going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right.”

How could she say that? She didn't know for sure. It was possible that Axel would never recover and be completely out of his mind forever. Just like Saix.

Aerith's voice brought me back. “Can you bring me a sedative for Demyx? He's having a panic attack and it's the only way to get him to calm down.”

“All right,” a nurse replied.

I started sobbing, wrapping my arms tightly around my knees. Aerith gently touched my arm and I looked up at her.

“I'm going to give you a light sedative that'll help you sleep, okay Demyx?” she asked.

I nodded. Anything to help me escape from this was welcome. Aerith gently took my arm and dabbed at it with an alcohol swab. Then, she slid a needle in. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as the needle slid under my skin. Aerith pushed the sedative into my system and removed the needle.

She handed me a square of gauze that I pressed against the bleeding wound. Aerith wrapped some medical tape around the gauze and helped me to bed. Axel's tortured screams still rang in my ears as I slipped into unconsciousness.

When I woke up the next morning, Axel was silent. I crawled out of bed and walked over to his side of the room. I looked down at him. He was hooked up to many machines and his entire body was restrained.

I turned when the door opened. Aerith came in.

“Good morning Demyx,” she said cheerfully.

“Is Axel…?” I asked.

“He's being sedated and restrained for now so he won't hurt himself or others,” Aerith said.

“O…oh,” I managed to say.

“How are you feeling?” Aerith asked, peering anxiously at me.

“A bit groggy,” I answered.

Aerith nodded. “The sedative hasn't completely worn off yet, but it will with a bit of breakfast.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

“I'll wait outside for you until you're done changing,” Aerith said.

She left. Sighing softly, I changed into my regular outfit of sweatpants and a random shirt from my drawer. I didn't match, but around here, it didn't matter. No one matched.

I put my pajamas back in the drawer and opened the door. As she said, Aerith was waiting outside.

“Ready to go to breakfast?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded again.

We went to the cafeteria together. Breakfast was subdued—obviously everyone had heard about what happened to Axel. I slipped into the seat next to Roxas, which was usually occupied by Axel. Roxas looked up.

“How is Axel doing?” he asked. “I can't visit him right now, but you're his roommate.”

“They're keeping Axel sedated because he might hurt himself or others,” I answered.

Across the table, Zexion looked even more depressed than usual. He stared at his plate, apparently lost in thought. His food was untouched at the end of the meal.

After breakfast, we had a free period. Zexion left to have a special session with Dr. Wise, not at the usual time, so it was just Roxas and me. We sat in a corner away from all the others. My guitar lay on my lap. I didn't feel like playing today.

“Demyx?” Roxas asked softly. I looked up. “How is Axel really? Please tell me the truth. I can handle it.”

I sighed softly. “Axel isn't doing so great.” Roxas looked like he wanted to cry. I had to continue, though. Roxas wanted to know and he wanted to know the truth, no matter how hard it was to take. “He's completely out of his mind. He'll scream for no apparent reason as loud as he can and start violently writhing around like he's being hurt or something. It's hard to watch. He screams like Saix.”

As if on cue, Saix started screaming from his room. Today he was answered by someone. After a few moments, I realized the one screaming in response to Saix was Axel. I closed my eyes, willing myself not to be sick. A soft choking sound caused me to open my eyes. It was Roxas. He was…crying.

I carefully set my guitar aside and wrapped my arms around him comfortingly. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned against my chest. Tears leaked from my eyes and dropped into Roxas's hair. We clung to each other, able to share our grief. It was comforting to hold him and have him hold me.

Luxord started yelling and basically threw a temper tantrum. This set Xigbar off, who started throwing things—whatever he could get his hands on and actually lift. The girls started crying. Roxas and I just sat there, unsure of what we should do. Sitting there seemed to be our best option—we were out of the way and safe from harm. No one seemed to notice our presence here. Yes, we would just wait for the nurses to get everything under control.

“We'll just stay here, okay?” I whispered to Roxas. “We're safe here and out of the way.”

Roxas only nodded. The nurses dragged Luxord and Xigbar out of the room and back to their own rooms so they could be sedated and restrained until they calmed down. Luckily, the nurses and other general staff here were well-trained and they had a lot of practice, so it was easy for them to restore calm.

Yuffie corralled all of us into the arts and crafts room and got everyone calmed down and working on one project or another. Finally, it fell silent, but the silence was even worse.

To be continued…

A/N: My story isn't linear anymore. What happened? -starts whimpering pathetically- I'm not even sure I fully understand it. XD Okay, so Axel has a mental breakdown in chapter 24 and he's in and out of consciousness for a long time. He has a (really long) flashback. When he wakes up at the end of the chapter, a long period of time has passed. Chapter 25 starts to explore what happened to the others while Axel is out of it. That's what I get for writing a story from multiple POVs.