Dr. Paine sipped her coffee and watched Seymour as he bandaged his arm.
His eyes kept flickering back to her, watching and waiting for something.
Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t like him and there was too little time for Yuna to have done anything. He wasn’t the simple little boy she had taken him for.
"I didn’t take you for this smart," she finally said. For her, coffee took too long to work.
He didn’t react. If he cared, only he knew.
"You were trying to get yourself killed, weren’t you?"
He looked up and paused in wrapping the bandage.
"Neither of us is leaving here until you either answer me or the trial starts."
He nodded and finished off the bandage.
Where had he learned to do that to himself? Most abuse victims had no idea how to hide their scars.
"Of all my patients, you’ve been my favorite," she said.
He narrowed his eyes and backed away in the chair he was sitting in, taking the first aid kit on his lap with him.
"I always wanted to figure you out and send you back into the rest of the world. If I could get away with it, I’d kill every last person who wanted this trial. But it’s too late, now… it’s too late. You knew it was too late. You knew everything all along, didn’t you? Everything about this place."
Seymour rooted around in the kit for something.
"Well?"
Seymour turned to her and stuck his tongue out.
"Thought so," she said. "You were never afraid of being hurt, were you? Not in comparison to whatever the hell you’re trying to escape by doing all this, are you?"
Seymour ignored her.
"I’ll take that as a yes," she said. "Unless you tell me otherwise."
He didn’t.
"Whatever you’re afraid of, you’re not going to tell anyone, are you? Not even with the trial later today."
He looked up, and surprised her again. "I’ll tell Tidus… if I can."
Dr. Paine nearly dropped her coffee on her lap, but didn’t let her surprise show… much.
"They won’t get me." He pulled a splint of the box and fixed it to himself with more than normal skill and Dr. Paine watched, just watched. He was so calm… so damn calm.
"Go see Tidus," she said, watching him tie a knot in the sling with one hand. "Tell Lulu I gave you permission and that if she wants to argue, she can do it with me. Then get some sleep, the trial’s in a few hours."
"I want to speak to him alone."
"Tell her I said you could."
Seymour got up and set the first aid kit on the desk, he left, walking around her to keep his space and then he was gone. Dr. Paine didn’t want to contemplate for how long or by how much. There were others in here that deserved trial. There were murderers, rapists, arsonists… Auron and Jecht themselves deserved to be thrown in prison to fight with people just as angry and violent, not tossed in here with people who screamed at noises in their heads.
Why did it have to be him? And why would he never trust her?
She shook her head and gulped down the rest of her coffee. She’d never get to sleep with all the thoughts in here head, and the last thing he needed was her being a zombie in the courtroom.
She looked at the first aid kit, as if it were going to give her an answer. Her gaze traveled to her miniature basket for holding pens, and she didn’t know why at first. Something was missing.
She stood up and pushed the pens to one side, then the other. Indeed, her pen was gone, and she’d never have noticed it if it weren’t for the fact that it was the only thing from the police force she’d happily taken with her.
Where the hell did it go? And why now?
More bad luck and more unanswerable thoughts. She was going to need more coffee.
But there was something else she’d have to do.
* * * * *
"Huh?" Yuna answered, picking up the phone.
"Guess what Romeo just did."
"Oh god…" She groaned, turning the receiver the right way around. "What’s the body count?"
"Just him."
"Huh?"
"He planned this whole elaborate thing; he locked the guards in a room and let Auron out."
"Are we talking about the same guy?"
"What, you think I mistook you for Rikku and I’m talking about Tidus?"
"It’d make more sense… I think. What time is it?"
"4:47. Welcome to the land of caffeine."
"Start over, what happened?"
"Seymour escaped in the middle of the night to steal a broom and lock Lulu and Wakka in the cafeteria with it."
"He locked them in a room with a broom?" Yuna asked. "How’s that work?"
"He put it through the bars, pretty smart, actually."
"Yeah, great, then what’d the genius do?"
"He’d taken the keys to the whole place somewhere in the whole mess and he went down to pay Auron a visit."
"What’d he do to Auron?"
"He let him out."
"After that."
"Nothing. He thought Auron would kill him."
"Yeah, I heard," Yuna said, and yawned. "He was so afraid, he didn’t like Tidus."
"Well he does now. You tell him something or what?"
"I told him if he couldn’t talk to me, he could talk to Tidus."
"Well, I have no clue what he’s doing, but he’s putting a lot of faith in him."
"So he tried to get himself killed again by thinking up something that takes an hour to explain. What else?" Yuna asked, almost falling asleep after she had finished her sentence, which had been a difficult task to do.
"He didn’t hurt anyone. That’s damn rare for him. I had the security guards right outside the room when you talked to him. I couldn’t take chances with a loose cannon like him."
"Right. Look, I don’t know."
"I’m not calling about that. I just thought you’d like to know. I’m calling because I have to tell you I know."
"Know what?"
"Yuna, he’s nineteen. Find someone your own age. And your own size. He’s practically Frankenstein."
"Yeah, the scars match."
"I’m serious."
"Well I’m… I’m…"
"Yuna?"
"I’m not sure."
"Give up now. Stop thinking about him. Doctor’s orders."
"I’m not nuts, I don’t have to listen to you!"
"Well he is, and I’m telling you about him. Don’t hurt yourself. I made that mistake with him."
"You can’t replace his mother," Yuna said. "And you can’t be another one for him."
"I know that. I’d have settled for him talking to me… more."
"Paine—"
"DR. Paine."
"Yeah, whatever," Yuna said, this time not yawning. "You can be Dr. Dolittle for all I care. Trust me. Something’s going to happen. We can help him. We just need to get him through the trial without him grabbing any chairs or brooms."
"Fat chance."
"You don’t trust him."
"Not really. I think he’s too much of a wreck still."
"Look, I trust him. And I told him so. And I’m only twenty-three, that’s like… um…"
"Five years."
"Exactly. It's not like I’m picking out a ring."
"If you won’t give up, then do me a favor: be careful."
"No problem."
"The trial starts at ten. You got a call from the lawyer, right?"
"Yeah. I’m going to be a witness whether or not anyone likes it. Rikku’s going to be there, she was asked to be a character witness."
"Tell her to pick up Tidus first."
"Why?"
"She didn’t tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"He’s out. He’s sane. You can take him home."
"You sure?"
"Why? Is there something you don’t think I considered in the assessment?"
"He complained when I brought up work, you know… kids with bad families."
"Tough. He’s yours."
"Great. I’m hanging up now."
"Good night."
Yuna’s vision was too blurry to see right, so she dropped the receiver on the floor and curled up and went back to get what sleep she could."