Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 nor any of it's characters.

Zack Fair is a newly appointed SOLDIER First. He is unlike any of the others I have seen before. The others were calm very business-like. Zack, however, is not. He bounces through the door, waving to someone outside. He is also very loud. It causes me to stop shuffling through documents on the desk and turn to look at him.

He spots me too.

"Hey!" He greets me "I'm Zack!" His face is split into a wide grin.

"Hello Zack." I reply "I will be administering your Mako shot today."

"Okay." He jumps onto the medical bed before I ask him to and sits there staring around the room. Really, it is a bare room. Nothing on the walls and spotlessly clean. The only exciting thing about it is the desk which I am currently still searching for Zack's folder.

"So, uh, you work here now?" He asks.

"Not exactly. I'm just a runner for the science department, but professor Hojo has me doing the mako shots today."

"Mmhmm, mmhmm" He nods. I finally find his folder.

"Okay, Zack. I have a few questions for you."

"Fire away!" He bounces on the bed.

"Have you experienced any blood loss in the last fortnight?" I ask.

"Yeah. A death claw scratched me real bad a few days ago."

"Right, how much –"

"And I was bitten by a gargoyle. That kinda hurt."

"Okay –"

"Oh! And I cut my finger trying to skin a potato."

Zack Fair is an injury prone person I decide.

"How long ago was all this and how much blood do you think you lost?"

I note everything down as Zack explains. He even shows me the cut on his finger. A jagged scar is visible, looking slightly like a thunder bolt.

Finally, we reach the next question: "Have you been ill in the last week?"

Zack's face brightens up. His grin gets even wider and his bouncing gets faster.

"Oh, yeah! Remember the gargoyle? Yeah, it was trying to use poison breath or something, but then I shoved my fist into its mouth to stop it..."

So he was bitten and poisoned. I listened to his account as he described his "heroic" battle.

"Er, sir, we don't have much time–"

"–And I finally swerved behind it and killed it with one stroke." Zack finishes. He has an eager look in his eyes, as if he is expecting praise.

"Well, that was daringly fought" I say awkwardly. He laughs and thanks me, brushing off my praise, although I can tell he has taken it to heart.

"Final question, Sir –"

"Aw, don't call me sir" He interrupts. He really is a vocal child I find myself thinking.

"Final question, Zack" I correct myself "Are you currently injured in any way for suffering from sickness?"

"I think I may have gotten a bit of food poisoning from the potato." He admits.

Right then, I find it very hard not to sigh. Indeed I find it very hard not to simply dismiss the SOLDIER First Class and reschedule his mako treatment. But if I did that, I would be in trouble.

Instead, I ask him for his hand and he offers me both, pulling off the gloves in haste. I only take one and prick him on the finger.

"Ah! That hurts!" He says.

I look at him quizzically, "You were bitten by a gargoyle, scratched by a death claw and you say this hurts?" This man is fascinating to say the least. He is optimistic and childish and eager. Almost like a puppy. I have never met anybody like him.

"Well, those injuries hurt more, but this hurts too."

I must refrain from smiling at his comment, but that is very hard to do.

A small drop of blood oozes out and I dab it onto the Reader. Zack takes back his hand and puts his finger in his mouth. He sits there sucking.

"Hey, that's the thing that reads your mako-blood concentration!" He leans over to see it taking his finger from his mouth.

I simply nod.

"How does it work?"

"It compares the ratio of blood to mako then divides the ratio in half and gives a percentage" I reply.

"Yeah, but how does it do that?"

"I don't know..." He is also curious I note.

"What happens if you have too much mako in your system?" He asks. He has begun swinging forward and backwards/

"Your cells will start disintegrating."

"And too little?"

"You'll lose your SOLDIER abilities"

"What if..." And he continues until the Reader beeps.

"What percentage did I get?" He leans over again and almost falls off.

"Twenty-six percent." I say, alarmed at the sudden motion.

"Is that low?"

"Lower than is ideal, yes. But that is to be expected." Due to his recent blood loss and poisoning, Zack's mako-blood concentration has gone very low.

"Hmm. Okay"

Once again, I calculate the amount of mako needed and fill the syringe. It is a lot.

"Do I need all that?" He asks nervously.

I nod. "Please remove your pauldrons."

He takes them off. His swinging becomes faster and his eyes dart about. Only then do I realise: he is extremely nervous. No wonder he was talking so much. He must have been trying to release the anxiety.

"Please calm down, si-Zack" I say soothingly. "This will be over momentarily."

"Uh, yeah".

I wipe his arm with antiseptic and insert the needle. He whimpers, just like a puppy.

"Tell me about how you defeated that death claw" I say, trying to make him feel better.

"I didn't." He admits "Angeal had to do it for me."

"Oh" That was a bad question for me to ask. I regret it.

Once the shot has been administered, I pull the needle out as fast as I dare without causing Zack further discomfort.

"All done Zack!" I say as cheerily as I can, pressing a fresh cotton ball against the small needle hole.

He nods gingerly and lightly slides off the bed, swaying as he does so.

"Will you be alright?"

He nods. Pressing his hand over the cotton. I let go and turn back to the table.

There is a heavy thump and I whirl around.

Zack is unconscious on the floor.

My eyes widen and I fall to my knees trying to wake him.

He groans and rolls over. He seems okay.

I decide then and there, that I will never do mako shots again.