Beauty Sleep

Rufus stood by an empty row of chairs in a hospital waiting room. His hair and clothes were dishevelled. There were flecks of blood on his trousers and shirt. Clinically white walls, floors and chairs surrounded him but he barely registered his environment.

"Mr Shinra?" One of the nurses had appeared at his side. She wore a warm, sympathetic smile. "She's stable now, if you'd like to go see her?"

Rufus nodded and the nurse led the way. He passed a clock on the wall. It read 4 AM.

She led him into a private ward room. In the bed lay Tifa. She was unconscious. Her dark hair framed her peaceful face. The nurse watched Rufus begin to approach her bed. She exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Rufus sat down in a chair near the top of her bed. He looked up at a computer screen mounted on the wall that showed her heartbeat, breathing rate and brain activity. He didn't understand the moving graphs or the many numbers that populated the screen, but the rhythmic beeping that he intuitively knew corresponded to her heartbeat was mildly reassuring. He looked to her face.

After a few moments he put his head in his hands and his shoulders slumped low. The heartbeat monitor continued to beep…

Cloud wore a stern face as he approached Tifa's hospital room. Denzel and Marlene tailed him with anxious faces. Cloud paused in his tracks, and then turned to them. "Stay here in the waiting area until I come get you."

"But, Cloud…" Marlene began to protest with earnest, big brown eyes.

"Stay put, OK?" He said firmly.

Marlene sensed steeliness in his command. She swallowed down her protest and watched him walk towards Tifa's bedroom door.

Cloud opened the door briskly and shut it behind him. The lights in Tifa's room were dimmed. It was approaching dawn and grey shadows from half-closed blinds cast across Cloud's face. At the bed, Rufus sat in a chair, head still in his hands. After a few moments Rufus lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at Cloud.

"Morning, Cloud," Rufus greeted.

Cloud stared at him, not moving.

"She's stable but she's not woken up yet. I think they're keeping her drugged up to stop her from experiencing how much pain she's in."

Cloud moved. Rufus stood up suddenly to face him. Cloud grabbed him around his neck and hoisted him up in the air, feet dangling. Rufus gripped onto Cloud's tight fingers, trying to lessen the crushing power of his fist. Cloud eased his grip so that Rufus could breathe a little but kept him held up several inches in the air.

"What the hell happened, Rufus?" Cloud spat.

"Put me down and we can talk like reasonable men."

Cloud squeezed on his windpipe. Rufus winced. "Hurting her once wasn't enough? Your cancerous family had to bring her close to death just one more time?"

Rufus tried to speak but Cloud's grip was tightening in his rage. Rufus was close to choking. Cloud's eyes were steely and absent of empathy. He brought Rufus's face nose-to-nose with his.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage, Rufus? Enough damage to my family?"

"Cloud!" Marlene shouted. She stood in the doorway, looking frightened.

Cloud's mania melted immediately. He dropped Rufus and the Shinra president immediately sunk to his knees, holding his throat and coughing.

"Don't be like Sephiroth, Cloud!" Marlene cried, running up to his side. She took one of his hands in two of her own and squeezed. She looked up at him imploringly. "It might not be Rufus's fault."

Cloud looked down at Marlene wearing a complex expression.

Rufus recovered from coughing and got to his feet. He squared up to Cloud and looked him hard in the eyes. He said gruffly as he rubbed the front of his neck, "It was an assassination attempt. They were aiming for me but Tifa was caught in the crossfire, protecting me." He glanced at Tifa. "I owe her my life."

Cloud tensed at his last sentence, but then glanced at Tifa too. She looked peaceful. Her chest slowly rose and fell as she breathed.

"I'll leave you guys to be with her," Rufus said. He nodded at Cloud briskly and then exited the room, passing Denzel as the boy entered.

A few hours later, Cloud sat by Tifa's bedside watching her steadily breathing, studying her expressionless face. He was alone; Denzel and Marlene had gone to school despite protesting they didn't want to. Cloud had reminded them that Tifa would be mad when she woke up if they didn't. Begrudgingly, they had left.

When Cloud had spoken to the doctors they had said that Tifa would wake up naturally, when the drugs had made their way out of her system. So he had decided to wait at her bedside.

Cloud caught sight of the wolf emblem ring on Tifa's right hand that he had given to her a few years ago. It had swivelled slightly off-angle and he reached out to twiddle it straight. His fingertips accidentally grazed Tifa's skin and he felt a bolt of nervous energy travel up his arm and into his chest. In his chest it resided, swelling. He became aware of his breath and speeding heart rate.

His first instinct was to shy away from the rush and pretend he had felt nothing. But instead he pressed against his fear and anxiety and leaned into the nervous thrill. He touched her fingers again, more deliberate this time and slid his hand inside of hers. Tapping into a little more courage, he grasped her hand in his and squeezed a little. The wolf emblem ring glinted in his direction as it moved a little in turn.

Cloud felt the warmth of Tifa's hand and enjoyed the feel of her hand in his. Inside, he was melting. On the outside, he seemed cool as a cucumber, face near-expressionless.

Suddenly, Tifa squeezed back. "Hey," she croaked, her rufous eyes peeping out from beneath her heavy eyelids.

"Hey." Cloud's eyes went wide, his blond eyebrows lifted and he swivelled in his seat so that he could face her better. Their hands were still locked together. "How are you feeling?"

Tifa made a face. "Terrible." They both chuckled, easing some of the tension. But it hurt Tifa's side where she had been shot and she winced.

"Don't laugh," he said gently but intensely. Tifa looked up at her childhood friend and marvelled at how gentle and protective he was being.

Tifa wasn't sure if it was the drugs still in her system or if the circumstances were making her lose her inhibitions, but she suddenly said in a near hush, "You can be very intense, Cloud."

He appeared to blush. If he had, it had been slight and fleeting. But on the inside, his nervousness hit sky-high levels. Tifa, on the other hand, witnessed no discernible reaction to her comment and smiled warmly. "Where's Rufus? Is he OK?"

Cloud all at once frowned and made to withdraw his hand. Tifa held onto his hand tight so that he couldn't. He looked at her with a complex expression but didn't try again to escape her fingers. He then relaxed back into her hand. "Rufus was here with you when you were first brought in. He went a few hours ago. He's fine."

Tifa nodded, sensing that underneath Cloud's rock-hard exterior he wasn't happy about Rufus being mentioned.

Cloud made an excuse that he would go ask the doctor when she could be discharged, and pulled away from her. And her hand. She watched him walk out of the room. The touch of his palm and fingertips still lingered on her skin like static electricity.

Author's note: One more chapter to go!