Guilt’s Cost: Part CVI

Update

Vincent awoke a little after seven in the morning. When his eyes opened, he found himself staring up at the nurse who was looming over him.

Kyle smiled. "So, decided to come back for a second round, huh?"

Vincent turned his head to the side for a moment to look at the clock before responding. "It’s morning?"

"Yes." The nurse said. "You slept like the dead. I was starting to think that you weren’t going to wake up."

Vincent closed his eyes again for a second, trying to ward off the remainder of his drowsiness. "Well, I’m awake."

"You want me to go get Tseng now?" Kyle asked.

Casting his gaze to the side, Vincent felt himself blush. His inability to move his body was going to cause him to die of embarrassment if something didn’t change soon. "I have to go to the bathroom first."

"Sure." Kyle said, reaching down with his incredibly strong arms and scooping Vincent up.

Once that was taken care of, Kyle placed Vincent into his wheelchair and strapped him in. "Can I go get Tseng now?"

Vincent sighed, knowing that the nurse was growing impatient. "Okay."

"Good." Kyle at once turned at walked from the room, leaving Vincent alone with his thoughts for a moment.

He hoped that Tifa had gotten to Rocket all right, but was stung by the fact that she was gone. She’ll be back soon though, and she did need a break from all of this. I just wish I had been able to tell her goodbye.

The door to his room burst open and he looked up to see Tseng run right over to his side and kneel down before him. "Hey Tseng."

Tseng leaned forward and threw his arms around his brother. Tears of relief at once were let from his eyes. "Tsuvati, I thought you were never going to get better!"

Vincent closed his eyes for a second, reveling in the familiarity of his brother’s embrace. "I’m fine now, Tseng."

Tseng eventually managed to pull himself back a bit and he inspected Vincent. "When did this happen?"

"Last night, right after Tifa left." He replied simply.

"Why was I not informed of this until now?" Tseng spat, turning to look at Kyle who just shrugged in response.

"Don’t be angry with him, it was my order that kept him from telling you." Vincent said. "I wanted to make certain that I would still be all right come morning."

Tseng turned back to face his brother. "What finally changed that caused you to do this?"

Vincent hung his head for a moment, not wishing to admit what he suspected to be the reason for his recovery. "When I realized that Tifa really was leaving last night, I started to fight to come back more desperately than before. The thought of remaining helpless without her to watch over me was too much. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to speak until after she had left the room."

Tseng reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "I will call her right now. She will want to come back to be with you at once."

Vincent just sat and watched in silence as Tseng dialed Cid’s phone number, which he had at some point committed to memory. Once the phone was ringing, Tseng held it out to his brother’s ear.

Cid and Tifa were sitting in the kitchen again, having put the recently fed baby down for a nap. She had cooked him breakfast and sat staring at him as he barely touched the food. Tifa knew that Cid was by far too upset to really want to eat, but he needed to in order to keep up his strength. Taking care of a newborn was a tough enough job as it was and without a mate to help him through it, Cid would need every bit of energy he could muster.

When the phone rang it caused both of them jump. Tifa smiled at Cid and got up motioning to him to stay put while she answered it. She picked up the phone on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Tifa?" Vincent whispered, overwhelmed at the mere sound of her voice.

Tifa at once fell to her knees on the kitchen floor, beginning to shake uncontrollably. Cid watched her collapse and immediately filled with worry. He flew from his seat and put his arms around her. "Tifa? Are you okay?"

She turned and looked at Cid. "It’s… it’s Vincent." Tifa caught her breath and then placed the receiver back to her ear. "Vincent?"

"Yeah." He replied, able to feel her disbelief through her voice. "It’s me."

"Oh my God." Her voice trembled. "When..?"

"Right after you left." Vincent smiled, pleased to know that she was so overcome with emotion. "I’m fine now, except for the not being able to move bit."

Tears ran freely down Tifa’s cheeks as Cid continued to hold her. "I was so scared…"

"I’m sorry." Vincent felt terrible for having made her worry. "How is everything there?"

Tifa sighed and turned slightly within Cid’s embrace so she could look him in the eye. "Not good."

"Why? What happened?" He asked.

"Oh Vincent!" Tifa felt her heart break again as she related the sad news. "Shera passed away this morning."

Vincent was speechless for a moment. "And the baby?"

"The baby is fine." She whispered, watching as Cid started to move away from her, not wishing for Tifa to see him begin to cry again. "It’s a little boy."

"God, tell Cid I’m really sorry." Vincent couldn’t fathom what Cid was going to do as a single father. "Is he doing all right?"

"He’s trying to be strong but it’s awful." She had to wipe her own eyes with the back of her hand. "I’ve never seen him like this before and I can’t stand it. Poor Cid…"

Vincent thought for a few seconds. "Is there anything we can do?"

Tifa slowly stood back up and looked over to see Cid again at the kitchen table. "No, I don’t think so. But I need to stay here for a few days until I know he’s going to be all right, even though I really want to come home and see you."

Vincent produced a faint smile. "Yes, he needs you right now. Of all people, I think you’ve always been Cid’s favorite. I’m sure he appreciates you being there."

"Yeah, I can’t imagine leaving him like this." Tifa sighed. "Maybe Tseng can have you sent out here."

"No, Tifa." Vincent said, losing his smile. "The last thing that you need right now while taking care of Cid and a baby is an invalid in a wheelchair. I would just be in the way and you know it."

Tifa knew that his words were true, no matter how much they hurt. "Okay. Call me everyday though, all right?"

"Certainly." Vincent’s grin returned. "I will. You take care of Cid and that baby, okay?"

"You got it." Tifa giggled just a little. "He’s just adorable, I can’t wait for you to see him!"

Vincent’s mind didn’t miss a step. "Cid? I’ve seen him before, when did you get all hot for him?"

Tifa outright laughed despite the day she’d had. "No, stupid, the baby."

"Oh okay." His smile widened. "I’ll call you tomorrow then."

"Okay, I’ll be waiting." Tifa lowered her voice. "Vincent, I love you."

"I love you too, Tifa." Vincent said in return. "Goodbye."

"Bye." She replied.

Tseng, seeing that the conversation was over pulled the phone away from Vincent and turned it off before dropping it back into his pocket. He had gathered that something terrible had happened by the way the Vincent had reacted. "What’s wrong?"

Vincent sighed. "Shera died but the baby is fine."

"Oh dear God!" Tseng said, covering his mouth with his hands. After the shock passed, he dropped his hands back to his lap and asked, "how is Cid handling it?"

"He’s taking it hard I guess but with Tifa there he’ll be all right. She can get him through it." Vincent said, proud of how she was able to help the pilot. She had always been the only one Cid had ever seemed to become emotionally involved in. "I told her I’d call back tomorrow."

Tseng nodded. "Well, are you ready to go try and eat something? You had us all very worried you know."

"Yeah, I know." Vincent looked down and inspected his body. "Do you think you can get me something to wear first?"

With Vincent’s now asexual anatomy no one had really seemed to care about getting him clothed as it didn’t appear that he needed to be. Tseng knew his brother to be a modest man even under the best of circumstances and gave in to his wish. "Okay, I’ll go get something first."

"Thanks." Vincent smiled as he watched Tseng move toward the door. The fact that he wouldn’t be seeing Tifa again right away tore at his heart but he knew full well that with things the way they were at the moment that Cid was by far more needy than he.