“Who is she?” Selphie Tilmitt bent over the scraggly, wet girl laying unconscious on the infirmary cot. Her dark green eyes were wide and sparkling with concern, as she took in the cuts and bruises covering the visible parts of the girl’s body.
“No one knows,” Edea Kramer said softly, stroking the girl’s wet hair off her face, before looking up at her husband. Cid adjusted his round glasses and surveyed the room. Squall, Seifer, and Quistis were still missing. Irvine Kinneas leaned against the wall, cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes, but anyone who knew him knew that those eyes were watching the spunky brunette in the yellow dress. Zell shadowboxed in the corner, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Rinoa Heartilly sat on an unused cot, chin in hands, frowning as she stared at the figure on the bed.
“And you’re sure that she said Balamb Garden?” Selphie asked.
Cid nodded. “Thomson,” he referred to the man who watched the gate,” is positive on that account. Said that she spoke as she was fainting and figured that she was a relative to someone here.”
“Is she?” Irvine spoke up.
“We don’t even know who she is, cowboy, how could we know if she’s related to anyone?” the martial artist retorted from the corner. Irvine said nothing.
“What is it? What’s wrong?!” The two blondes’ simultaneous cries made everyone in the room look up. Both were dirty, with sweat and grime and it was obvious that they had been training. Cid held up a hand, but Squall entered right behind them, and quickly Cid lowered it.
Commander Leonhart swept his light blue gaze over the room, pausing on Rinoa, before completing the round. “We’re all here.” It was more a statement than a question, and Cid took it as his cue.
“This girl was found unconscious outside our gates-“
“Found? By who?” Squall stepped further into the room.
Cid stumbled on his words. “Well, not found, more like she collapsed there. Thomson said that she mentioned Garden before she went unconscious.”
“And?”
Edea held up a hand. “And we don’t know anything yet, Squall. The girl is still asleep.” Her dark eyes trailed over the girl’s body and her hand went to hover above the girl’s forehead. Then she met Rinoa’s own dark eyes and both nodded. “It seems that she’s exhausted herself somehow.”
“Physically,” Doctor Kadowaki announced from the doorway. “She has exhausted herself physically. Seems she was under great pressure to get here.” The doctor strode forward. “I don’t know about the state of her mentality or her emotions, so we must keep her here for awhile, even after she wakes up.”
The young sorceress spoke then. “She’s exhausted emotionally as well. Fear. Her aura is full of fear and desperation.” Rinoa smiled sheepishly at her cryptic words. “I don’t think this was her original destination, but something scared her enough to change her plans.” Her fingers tightened on her elbows as if she was holding back a shiver and immediately Squall was at her side. She smiled reassuringly at him, shaking her head.
Quistis watched the exchange with little interest, before turning her gaze to the figure on the bed. It was really quite impossible to determine what the girl looked like in her bedraggled state. The only thing Quistis could make out was the girl was very petite and had dark gray eyes. Dark gray…She blinked.
The girl lurched up, spitting water and blood, and coughing as though her lungs were being wrenched from her body. Her frame convulsed painfully as multiple waves of coughing erupted from her throat, punctuated by the desperate gasps for air in between. Immediately Doctor Kadowaki was at her side with an oxygen mask and a syringe to suck the fluid out.
During the time it took to get the strange girl situated, Quistis, Rinoa, and Selphie had found solace from the painful sounds in the arms of their men. Quistis opened one eye to find the girl breathing normally into the mask, interrupted by a cough every few seconds, and Seifer’s arms locked around her own waist. She had never heard such a sound and it still echoed in her ears.
The room was silent except for the girl’s raspy breathing, but her gray eyes moved wildly about the room, never focusing on one person for any length of time. Occasionally they unfocused and her body would sway before coming back to reality. Edea made soothing sounds in her low voice and reached out to stroke the girl’s back. She stiffened but didn’t move away from the contact, eyes continuing to dart around the room.
“Who are you?” Seifer suddenly barked out, his grip on Quistis tightening even more. The tension in his body had Quistis grasping his hands reassuringly, and some of it eased out. The girl paused in her surveying, opened her mouth to say something, then was quickly overtaken by a series of coughs. Doctor Kadowaki shook her head at the room.
“Something tells me this girl has been through a lot. She needs rest,” she said pointedly. “Maybe she will be ready to talk to SOME of you in a few days.” The group took the hint and those who were sitting rose to leave, but the sound of a door opening had all of their heads swinging around.
“Doctor Kadowaki, it’s me. I thought that I would…” Lila trailed off as she saw all of them staring at her, and she colored. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was interrupting anything,” she said, moving closer to the doorway and staring in curiosity at the figure on the bed. “I can come back-“
A rasping bloodcurdling shriek from the strange girl cut her off and the occupants stared at the girl as if she were insane…and she might have been. The girl’s gray eyes were wide, focused on Lila, and she was screaming as if the devil were after. “It’s you! YOU!” A crazed look entered her eyes. “GO! YOU! I…YOU…STOP…EYES…” The crazed look faded and confusion took it’s place on the girl’s face, as the screaming faded to nonsense mumbling. “Not…eyes no…you…but…swear…” Gradually the words turned into random sounds gurgled in the back of her throat, and the girl’s eyes rolled back into her head. She slumped forward, unconscious again. Zell and Irvine stepped forward, carefully lowering the girl back down, making sure the oxygen mask was in place.
There was a long pause and all eyes turned to Lila, who stood there, pale as death.
“Lila,” Edea beckoned to the young sorceress. “Do you know this girl?”
“No, I…I don’t think…” Lila stared at the girl on the bed. “I can’t…no…what…?”
Understanding, Edea smiled gently and rose, taking the young girl by the arm. “Come, let’s get some tea.”
“But…Doctor Kadowaki…”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine, you can come help her later…” The elder woman’s voice faded as she and Lila got farther away from the room.
“And on that note,” the doctor cut in. “Out.”
Recognizing the tone of command, no arguments were made, not even from Seifer, and they all exited the infirmary to leave Doctor Kadowaki to her ministrations.
No one spoke, except for Squall who had his arm tight around Rinoa, whose eyes were as large as saucers and she clung to his body as if it were a lifejacket. He spoke only three words.
“Cafeteria. Ten minutes.”
There was no disagreement.