Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]

[notthistrain]

Cloud knew he should be taking the opportunity to check out the rec field during the day. The fresh air would be a welcome change from the crowded stuffiness the Institute usually provided, and he would have a chance to scope out the area when it wasn't all under the cover of darkness. When offered a choice, however, he remained in the sun room

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[ham_fisted]

"Days and days and days?" he echoed, his eyes wandering off to the side for a second. That sounded familiar. "Did they put you in the infirmary?" This girl had needed medical attention, so he couldn't argue with their decision. To be honest, he was surprised they hadn't taken her there immediately. He knew she had been treated beforehand--how could he forget, seeing that many bandages on one kid?--but nothing beat bed rest.

He sat down in the chair beside her--detectives needed to rest, too, sometimes--and smiled at her enthusiasm. "Now, listen up, pal!" he said, suddenly serious. "I never want to see you that banged up again, so the next time you go out at night, make sure you travel with friends, alright?" At least, he assumed that was why her injuries had been so bad. The possibility that she would go it alone anyway bothered him.

"Me?" Pretty sad to think she was the first person to ask him that all week. "Not too bad," he lied with a frown. "Lately, I've been trying to catch up on what I've missed. A week in the infirmary will do that to you."

[kingdomless]

Kairi nodded her head. “My nurse said only four or five days, but … I have a feeling she’s lying. By a lot.” A sigh, and the once princess pulled her knees up onto the chair she was sitting on and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on a knee. “I’ll have to ask my friend when I see him …” a pause, and she continued. “And I think I woke up in just a normal room again. I don’t know, it didn’t look any different.”

When Gumshoe moved to sit next to her, Kairi blinked her large blue-violet eyes at him and nodded her head, listening intently as he told her what to do when it came to nightfall. Despite the seriousness of what he was saying, she couldn’t help but smile and rest her cheek against her knee, nodding her head. “Okay, I promise I’ll try not to get hurt again. And the same goes for you too!”

Except her smile faded when he mentioned the infirmary again, and instantly Kairi became concerned, her head tilting to the side as she looked up at him. “The infirmary? You were hurt? What happened?”

[ham_fisted]

"Me too!" he exclaimed. "It's strange. You'd think we'd remember a trip like that. Did they change your room number, too?" He hoped they did. That way he wouldn't need to feel so alone in this.

"Good," he replied brightly. "It's a deal, then!" One way or another, they were all going to get hurt, as long as they remained in here. It didn't seem like a reasonable thing to say when he was aiming to cheer her up.

He couldn't help but chuckle at her questions; her concern flattered him. "No no no no. I can't remember why they threw me in there, but it seems like I came down with something. From what little I remember of the place, and from what my nurse has been telling me, I was so out of it..." He leaned on the right arm of his chair and tapped his finger against it. "Maybe it was better that they kept me in there." That would suggest the nurses were on their side, or at the very least, were making an active effort to protect them. This case looked more complicated each day.

[kingdomless]

“My room number? Oh, I didn’t even think of that!” Kairi exclaimed, surprise coloring her features. “I wonder if they did … I guess I’ll see when it’s dinner time.”

She hadn’t even thought of such a thing. If her room had changed, did that mean that … Rukia was no longer there as well? Would she open the door to her room and find somewhere completely different sitting on the bed that used to be claimed by her friend?

It hurt to think about, but … well, she’d see what happened when the time came.

“Like ... maybe you were sick with something?” she asked, tilting her head to the side again. “Weird … I don’t think I was sick when I first fell asleep … I might have been a little hurt, but that’s it …”