"Vincent, please, I said I was sorry," Shera said. "Come on. Please, stop crying."
Vincent didn’t answer. He just kept sobbing. He refused to cooperate as Shera struggled to pull Vincent’s clothes off.
"I didn’t think this would happen. The pain pills were supposed to be mild. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Stand up, Vince, I can’t carry you."
Shera dragged Vincent into the bathroom connected to his and Cid’s bedroom.
"Come on, get in. Vince, it’s over. Please, calm down," she said, turning the shower on and adjusting the temperature.
Vincent just kept crying, he didn’t seem to notice Shera’s attempts to calm him down.
"Please, Vincent. Please forgive me. I’m so sorry. I just thought you were in so much pain. Come on, stop crying Vincent. They were supposed to be mild. I had no idea… Here, keep your face out of the water. Vincent, please. It’s okay now. Everything will be okay. Please, calm down."
"I’m so scared," he managed through his sobs.
"I know. I’m so sorry. It’s over, now Vincent."
Vincent shook his head. "Jenova… I don’t wanna go anywhere. I don’ wanna die. Don’t let Cid hate me. Please."
"Calm down. It’s okay. Come on, stop crying. Vincent, please. There, it’s okay. Shh…"
Vincent was still scared and upset, but by now he’d cried himself out.
"Here, use this and get yourself clean," she said, handing him a washcloth. "I’m going to call the doctors about this. Keep your head out of the water, okay? If you feel tired still, just take a nap, it’s okay. I’m just going to tell them about Jenova and then I’m going to wash everything. I’ll be back, Vincent, okay?"
Vincent nodded weakly, his hand wrapping around the washcloth. He didn’t really want her calling the doctors. They’d want him to go back to the hospital. He’d be throwing up again, and there’d be more machines, and he’d be scared. And Cid wouldn’t be there. But he’d already pissed off enough doctors; he sure as hell didn’t feel like making any more of them mad at him.
"Hello? Yes, I’m calling about Vincent Valentine. Valentine. Can you put someone else on the phone please? Hello. Oh, God. He hurt his knee and I gave him some of his pills, but he didn’t know it, because I gave them to him in milk and then he was fine until he started screaming and he…"
"Ma’am, please. Calm down. Now, how is he?"
"He’s fine. He’s really scared."
"How’s his breathing?"
"A bit labored from crying a lot."
"Okay, what happened, then?"
"He had a panic attack and Jenova showed up. I knew you wanted to know if—"
"What happened?"
"I told you."
"No, what happened during the attack?"
"Nothing, really. He just… he just… he stained the mattress. And he threw up. Oh, God, he was so scared. He was holding his arm and crying."
"What did you do after he had the attack, ma’am?"
"He’s in the shower now."
"Is his head out of the water?"
"Yeah. And it’s not too hot."
"Okay. Thank you for telling us."
"You’re not going to ask him to go back to the hospital, are you?"
"As long as he’s taking his medications, there’s nothing we can do. Keep and eye on him and we recommend not giving him any more pain pills. Keep him off his knee if he got hurt. Now, Dr. Hayes wants to talk to him. Is that possible?"
"Yeah, this is on his PHS in case he needed me. Here."
Shera went back into the bathroom and handed the phone to Vincent, promising she’d be there if he needed anything and saying that she was going to go do the laundry.
"Mr. Valentine? Mr. Valentine, are you there?"
Vincent made a small scared sound.
"It’s all right, Mr. Valentine. You’re friend said you had a panic attack. Is this true?"
"… Yes," he whispered.
"Did you practice the breathing exercises from the pamphlets I gave you?"
"Yes."
"Did it help?"
"I don’t know."
"All right. Can you describe what happened with Jenova?"
"She just showed up in the middle of it. There was this weird dream. I don’t really remember what it was, but when she left I had my arm in my mouth. It was just like before. I… she pulled the dream out of my head. She gave me the night terror from before. I puked and wet myself and had my arm in my mouth!"
"Calm down. It’s all right. Thank you for telling me. Were you using your watch?"
"Yes. I’m not sure if it helped, though."
"Do you know how long the Jenova dream lasted?"
"The watch said seven seconds. It felt a lot longer than that."
"The last one lasted a total of forty six seconds, Mr. Valentine. Now, as frightening as today’s attack was, I think you’re safe. The authorities are looking for Jenova; you don’t have to worry about it. I recommend you just try to relax for the rest of the day, maybe talk with one of your friends. You’re doing very well, Mr. Valentine."
"So, I’m not insane?"
"No, Mr. Valentine. You are not insane. You’re fine."
"Thank you."