Chapter 23: Homeward Bound

Being with Vincent all night made the time go by a lot quicker. I was ecstatic to wake up, sun in my eyes. Glancing slowly over to my right, I realized Vincent was still asleep. He was probably exhausted from staying up the past couple of days to watch over me. His arms were coiled around my waist, making it nearly impossible to move anywhere. Every so often, the grip would tighten, as if he were afraid I wasn’t there anymore. Being trapped within his arms, I decided the only option I had was to fall asleep again. It didn’t take long for that to happen; I was still exhausted.

I woke up to a sudden pain in my throat. When I looked to my left, I noticed my nurse, Kyle, holding the tube that was once lodged in my throat.
“No talking for about a half an hour,” he smiled at me, and looked past me to my right. Vincent was no longer lying next to me; he was sitting in the chair near the window. “Make sure she doesn’t, okay? And Dr. Baron is going to be bringing in the portable machine for you shortly. It was nice meeting you both. Take care.”
“Thanks, same to you,” Vincent calmly replied, and stood from where he sat to shake his hand. “Are you feeling better now that you’ve slept for 16 hours?”
I nodded my head in a response, and was surprised by how long I had actually been sleeping. It didn’t take long for Dr. Baron to arrive after Kyle stepped out. He passed over the machine basics with Vincent, and then wished us both good health and joyous days. We decided then to make Dr. Baron our permanent doctor. The distance didn’t matter at this point; he was a great man, and a great physician.

With extra medication and a new piece of machinery, Vincent and I were heading out of the main entrance and back into the world again. As soon as we were outside, I inhaled the air around me. The hospital stench grew quite annoying. Inhaling a little too deeply, I coughed. Vincent panicked of course, so I laughed a little.
“I’m fine…” I still had to pause between my words; especially now without the machine supporting my lungs. The one Dr. Baron gave us wouldn’t be set up until we got home. “Where did you… park the car? I don’t know… if I should be walking this much.”

Vincent responded immediately by slinging the machine equipment and my belongings over his shoulder. Then, without a moment to spare, he was hoisting me off my feet.
“There wasn’t an open spot near the front, so I ended up parking pretty far back,” he shifted his shoulder a little so the machine would stop hitting his side. “I guess the hospital is pretty busy.”
“When we get home… we’ve got to call Cloud,” I moved a strand of hair out of his eyes. “I’m sure he’s… pretty worried about… us after all.”
“Everyone came to visit you, you know,” Vincent smiled as we continued to walk towards our car. “You weren’t exactly with us at the time.”
“Everyone… what do you mean… by everyone?”
“Reno, Elena, Cloud, Cid, Tifa, even Mia and Rude,” he laughed in his throat. “Yuffie’s terrified of needles and tubes so I’m sure that’s why she didn’t show.”
“I can understand… how she feels,” I sighed a little. “I have my fears… of the hospital too.”
“You were handling yourself pretty well, then,” Vincent moved his shoulder again. “You didn’t complain once.”
“That’s because you were there… Otherwise I would have been… throwing a fit,” I smiled up at him.
“They probably would have thrown you into a padded room…” Vincent grinned at the thought. “That’s a funny thing to imagine; you being insane.”
I didn’t say anything else. I rested my head against his chest as we continued to walk down the parking lot. A few minutes later, I was being set in the back seat of the car.
“They gave me a pillow and blankets for you in the car,” he tucked the sheets around me. “Just stay down so we don’t get yelled at for you being back here like this. And I promise I won’t go too fast, okay?”

The ride home was surprisingly pleasant considering the circumstances. Vincent was mumbling on about what we’d do to pass the time at home, but I was dozing in and out, so nothing really got through my ears. Not much later, I was snoozing all over again. The next time I heard Vincent’s voice, we were parked in our driveway. He was struggling to get me up and moving.
“Hun, we need to get you in bed,” Vincent had his arm looped around my waist with everything else around his shoulder again. “Dr. Baron said to get you on this machine as soon as possible.”
His arm reached out for the door handle, but it suddenly opened; behind it stood Cid.
“Here, Vince… Let me grab something from ya,” Cid took hold of the machine and my small bag of belongings.
“Thanks, Cid,” Vincent’s smile was small, but very sincere.
“No problem. I’ll do anything to help out...”