"Hey, Vince?" Cid whispered in case Vincent was asleep.
He wasn’t. He was wide-awake and silent, even for Vincent, as he read the label of a bottle of one of his pills.
"If you want something to read, I could pick up some comics for you," Cid offered, hating how pathetic he sounded.
Vincent didn’t answer, he just put the bottled down on the nightstand.
"You pissed at me or you just go deaf?"
"You don’t want me to leave, do you, Cid?" Vincent whispered, wrapping his hand around the bottle and closing his eyes. He sighed, as if he expected a ‘yes.’
"What? Hell no, you’re not going anywhere, sick or not. When did that get in your head?"
"I just…" Vincent trailed off and went silent again. His hand left the bottle and he didn't look at Cid.
"Hey, what’d I do?" Cid asked, sitting on the bed next to Vincent. "Go back to talking to me. Come on, you’re off those weird sleeping pills tomorrow and there’s only three more days of the antibiotics. Both of them." Cid put his hand around Vincent’s waist, but Vincent didn’t seem to notice.
"And then there are the rest of the pills. The vitamins, the calcium, the antidepressants, the Gabba pills."
"So?"
"So it won’t stop you two from yelling at each other. And you’ll still be on the couch."
"I just thought you wanted to be alone. You almost screamed your head off that one time I kissed you before I went to sleep."
"I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m so scared… and so sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"For making you and Shera so unhappy. I hate being such a nuisance."
"We’re not mad at you. Especially not me. It’s just so frustrating not knowing how to make you happier. And then you stopped talking to me altogether. You know I fucking suck at this emotional stuff.
Vince, do you have any idea how much worse we’d feel if you came back to us dead?"
"That’s… That’s what scares me. I don’t want to go back there. I really don’t want them to put me away, ever. I’m just…" Again Vincent trailed off into silence. He sniffled and put a hand on his stomach, feeling a wave of nausea ripple through him.
"It’s okay," Cid said, pulling Vincent closer.
"That’s just it. I don’t want to make you two upset. Ever. But I’ve just been taken over by Jenova. She’s trying to kill me and all the doctors could do was give me pills that make me vomit. She’s still out there. It’s been two weeks, not including the one I spent in the hospital."
Cid couldn’t really promise Jenova was gone forever and would stay that way. He couldn’t really promise there’d be anything to do if it showed up again. He couldn’t even promise it wouldn’t come and find him. He couldn’t say anything, but he didn’t want to lose Vincent. He’d finally learned that there was often nothing to say when he talked to Vincent. Testing a theory of his, he pulled Vincent close and gently pressed his lips to Vincent’s forehead.
"Cid…"
"Shit, I really wish I knew what to say, Vince. But you can’t just hide from it, remember Vince?"
"I can’t fight her, Cid. Not this time. And I don’t want you fighting her either. I… Please, don’t go after her, Cid."
"I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’m not leaving you. Please, just keep talking to me. I’ll even move back in. Fuck, I miss you so much."
"I’m not sure what to say."
"Doesn’t matter. Just keep talking to me."