‘Squall … where are you? I need to find you. Irvine’s asked for you … yet I don’t know why. Where would you be? Your dorm I guess that or your office. Why do they seem so far away when I want to get with them quickly? I don’t like the fact that I have left Irvine alone as it is, I’m worried about him, he means the world to me, yet I’ve left him alone, and I wish I hadn’t.’

Selphie skids round the corner of the corridor and runs smack bang into the person walking round the corner towards her.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m just in such a rush … I”
“Selphie what’s wrong?”
“S-Squall?”

Selphie looks up from her position on the floor. Squall is standing over her similar to when she first arrived at Balamb Garden. Tears start to stream down her face.

“Selphie, what is wrong?”
“Squall, i-it’s Ir-Irvine. I-I don’t know w-what’s w-wrong with h-him. But h-he asked m-me to g-get you.”
“Why what’s happened?”
“Just p-please come.”

She gets up from her position on the floor, not waiting for an answer; she grabs his hand and pulls him towards her dorm. Squall puts up some resistance, and Selphie shouts at his desperately,

“Please Squall.”

Squall gives in and follows her to her dorm and what is ready for him within. She is pulling desperately on his arm but he won’t give in to her pulling.

“Please hurry Squall, I don’t like the fact that I have left him alone as it is, I’m really worried.”
“Calm down Selphie. Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll see if I can help.”
“He asked for you, so you must be able to help.”
“But what’s wrong?”
“You’ll see, now come on.”

*~*~*~*~

‘I’m sorry Rinoa, I want to spend time with you, I really do, but things are getting in the way. I will get to see you, I’ve just got to see what’s wrong with Irvine, and possibly sort it out, then I’m coming to your dorm. I want to spend time with you, and you alone. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms, and wake up that way. I want … Oh Hyne …’

Selphie runs over to Irvine’s side and talks to him, trying to get him to wake up.

“Irvine … Irvine … wake up. Why won’t you wake up Irvine … you’re not normally a heavy sleeper … so why won’t you wake up?”
“It’s no use Selphie. He probably won’t wake up for a while now.”
“A while? I know he probably feels closer to you and all-”
“I’m sure that’s not the case Selphie, he really loves you.”
“… Squall do you know what’s … what’s happened to him?”
“I only know what he’s told me.”
“Tell me … please … why was he in so much pain? And why is he now unconscious?”

‘Pain? I know nothing about pain.’

“I only know what he’s told me about why he keeps fainting. I don’t know about any pain though. He never mentioned that.”
“What did he tell you?”
“I found out this afternoon, when I found him in the Training Centre after I left you in the Cafeteria. I found him unconscious with a large Granaldo trying to eat him. I disposed of it and many other monsters before returning to my dorm with him. I learnt about his fear of the Infirmary while we were away on that bonding mission thing you lot roped me into. Well I put him on my bed and was about to go get Dr. Kadowaki when he regained consciousness. I wanted to get Dr. Kadowaki but he refused to let me, and told me what was wrong. Only obviously not all of it …”
“What … what did he tell you? Hang on …”

Selphie runs and grabs a chair for Squall, and a floor cushion for herself, and places the chair next to the sofa. The cushion she dumps on the floor at the end of the sofa near Irvine’s head and sits on it. She keels on the cushion so she can gently stroke Irvine’s hair, which she does as she listens to Squall talking. She releases his hair and gently strokes both his hair and his face, not willing to loose contact with him.

“He told me, when he woke up, that he had been experiencing the black outs for six months now …”
“Six months? But that’s how long it’s been since you …”
“I know, and I feel so bad that this could be down to me. Anyway, he said they started off as short periods of time, the black outs I mean, holes of about 10 minutes in his memory, and didn’t happened that often. As time went on though, they’ve been becoming more and more regular, and longer. Now I think he’s been blacking out for hours at a time, and quite regularly too, I’m guessing from the fact he only woke up from the last one about …” he glances at his watch, “three hour ago.”
“How has he managed to hide this from us?”
“I don’t know, but I guess he knows when it will happen, possibly from the pain he experiences, so he makes sure no one is around.”
“Why didn’t he come to one of us?”
“To be honest Selphie, I don’t know. I knew something was wrong last night when he came to my dorm.”
“He came to see you last night, but I came to see you and you said …”
“I know Selphie, and I’m really sorry I lied to you, but he had been crying in my arms for two hours and had fallen asleep. I didn’t want to disturb him, and I was worried. I wanted to talk to him again before he left.”
“Oh … ok. He was crying?”
“Yeah, apparently he has been nearly every night, for a few months now.”
“A … few … months?”
“Yeah. And now I don’t care what he wants, I’m going to get Dr. Kadowaki. She needs to help him, and I don’t care what he thinks or wants, it is for his own good. I know he is scared of the Infirmary, I don’t know why though, but he needs help.”

With that he gets up to leave.

“Squall is there anything I can do for him?”
“I don’t know Selphie, just be here for him I guess. He is going to need help getting through this as I think he is probably going to have to go into hospital.”
“Squall, can I tell him you’ll be here for him too?”
“… Yeah, I’ll always be here for him …”
“You two really bonded on that ‘mission’ didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I trust him, and I think he trusts me.”
“He trusts you Squall, he trusts you a lot.”
“Possible.”
“Squall you’re a good friend to him you know that?”

Squall doesn’t say anything, just turns a little red, before he leaves for the Infirmary.

*~*~*~*~

Once he has left Selphie gets up from her position on the floor. She pushes Irvine over on the sofa slightly, so that there is space for her to lie down next to him. She gets onto the sofa and rests her head and her hand on his chest.

‘Irvine … Irvine, what’s going on? Why didn’t you come and see me or Squall sooner. We both care for you greatly, and it feels as if you were trying to push us away. What are you trying to hide from us? Are you trying to hurt me … or are you trying to protect me from something? Irvine, I love you so much, and after all those memories I’ve seen you relive I worry, so why won’t you trust me?’

She lies on his chest listening to his heart beat and his breathing. A single tear escapes her eye and splashes down onto his purple top as she lies there, waiting for Squall and Dr. Kadowaki’s imminent return.

*~*~*~*~

Squall hurries to the Infirmary, anxious for Dr. Kadowaki to see Irvine and also because he wants to see Rinoa and get everything sorted.

‘I’m worried about Irvine. Ever since we went on that ‘mission’ I’ve cared about him deeply. I opened up to him then, let him in, so why won’t he let me in? I mean I had to open up to him. They stranded me on the Serengetti Plains with Irvine and told us to talk. I eventually did, eventually … though it took me a while.’

Squall arrives at the Infirmary at this point in time. Upon arriving he finds Dr. Kadowaki’s assistant in the Infirmary and asks her,

“Where’s Dr Kadowaki?”
“She’s in her office …” Squall starts to walk past her and she says, “… but she said no-one was to disturb her. I can help instead … I am fully trained to handle most emergencies …”
“Whatever,” Squall says as he continues past her into Dr Kadowaki’s office.

Dr. Kadowaki is sat in her office typing on her on her laptop. She looks up at Squall as he enters and asks;

“Squall, what can I do for you?”
“There’s a problem.”
“Ok, sit down and tell me about it.”
“Not with me, with Irvine.”
“Oh is he ill?”
“Seriously I think.”
“So why isn’t he here?”
“Well he’s afraid of here and also he isn’t able to be here. He is unconscious in Selphie’s dorm.”
“Selphie’s dorm, but why …”
“I don’t know the full details, but I’d appreciate it if you’d come and see him.”
“No problem. Let me just get my bag.”

She walks over and gets her bag from the corner of the room then follows Squall out of the Infirmary towards Selphie’s dorm.

They arrive after a few minutes and Squall presses the call button on the Key pad. After a few moments the door opens and they go inside.

*~*~*~*~