The Forgotten Hero

Chapter 32

                “Verna!” Yuffie cried as she ran over to the girl sitting on the ground. “What happened?”

                “Scarlet and Heidegger is what happened,” Verna shifted slightly. “I’m not exactly sure how my bone broke like this, but it is what it is.” She closed an eye as she concentrated on getting up.

                “Hold still, kid,” Cid pulled a cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it to the ground before stepping on it. “Your leg ain’t in any condition to be walkin’ on it.”

                Verna glanced at him and went against his words. The newspaper girl stood up, though was mostly balancing on one leg. She accepted an arm around her as Yuffie allowed her to lean on her for support.

                “Let’s just go,” Verna scowled. “The bone has already started to heal.”

                “How the hell does it heal already?” Barrett question as he supported her on the other side.

                “It’s just how bones work. When you break it, it starts healing right away,” Verna winced as they began walking. “That’s why it’s important to get it set in placed right away, so it heals properly.”

                “Well, we’ll find a doctor,” Cid said as he led the way, holding his pike close in the case anyone at Shin-Ra attempted to attack.

                Verna kept her eyes opened. She was looking for a specific doctor. She was looking for a specific truck. Dark Nation growled lowly as he ran ahead. Verna watched him and her eyes lit up at the sight of a familiar pickup truck.

                “Over there,” She motioned with her head. “That truck belongs to someone I’ve hitchhiked with a couple of times. He’s a doctor from Kalm.”

                “Ya sure?” Cid questioned as he eyed it. He walked over and peered into the window. “There’s no one in there. There ain’t any keys. Who knows when he’ll be back. We need to find you a doctor now. We can’t just wait all day.”

                “The hell are you doing with my truck?” Someone questioned from behind the duo supporting Verna. Upon turning around the doctor raised an eyebrow, “The hell happened to you?”

                “Can you fix it?” Verna questioned.

                “I’ll give it a shot,” He pulled out a cigarette and lit it as he walked over to the truck. “You’re lucky I just picked up some more medical supplies.” He placed down a couple of bags and pulled out a blanket from the truck and laid it down. “Sit down on it.”

                Yuffie and Barrett placed Verna down onto the blanket. The doctor pulled out some antibacterial soap and disinfected his hands before placing a pair of disposable gloves on. The first rule of medicine was to make sure the wound wasn’t expose to any germs that would come from the doctor.

                The doctor took out a pair of tweezers and cotton balls before putting some alcohol on it. He then began to dab away the excess amount of blood from the wound. Verna hissed at the stinging sensation that it caused.

                The doctor licked his lips as he focused and examined the area. He gently massaged Verna’s leg and slowly began to elevate it. The swelling slowly went down in about 15 minutes. Looking up he frowned.

                “I’m gonna have to take you either to the hospital or back to my place in Kalm. I’ll have to perform a minor surgery and have to insert some screws to keep in place.  It’ll take at least 18 months for your leg to completely heal. It’s a good thing you’re done growing, otherwise we’d have some more issues.” He took off his gloves, “So what do you want to do?”

                Verna winced as her adrenaline started to go away, “Whatever, just hurry.”

                “To the hospital it is,” He packed up his supplies and motioned towards Barrett to pick Verna up. “I’ll take her to the hospital.”

                Verna glanced at Barrett as he placed her into the truck, “You go and help Cloud stop Hojo, you hear me? And stop Sephiroth. With Rufus dead there’s hardly anyone that will be able to do it.”

                “What are you going to do?” He questioned quietly as he looked at the newspaper girl.

                “I’m going to go searching for someone that’s been missing for a while,” Verna closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. “I’ll have to hack into Shin-Ra’s computer system, but I’ll find a way.”

                “Alright,” Barrett backed up, “Good luck.”

                “You too,” Verna smiled slightly. Dark Nation jumped into the truck and the door shut.

                “So Rufus is really dead?” The doctor questioned as he started the truck and began to speed off towards the hospital. “Hard to think that’s actually true.”

                “He was in the tower when it blew up,” Verna responded as tears formed in her eyes – they could easily be dismissed at the pain from her leg, but they really weren’t. “There’s pretty much no way someone could survive an explosion like that.”

                “I suppose you’re right,” The doctor dodged some flaming debris. He looked into the rearview mirror, “And now you’re stuck with his pet?”

                “Looks like it,” Verna shifted as she tried to find a position to help with the pain.

                “Massage the area around it,” The doctor spoke. “That will help with the pain. Gate theory, ya know?”

                “I’m afraid I don’t know,” Verna tried what he told her and began to relax. “Will I be able to travel around while my leg is healing?”

                “Probably not,” The man pulled into the hospital’s parking lot. “You’ll be confined to crutches at best. They might have you put weight on it as soon as possible, but you won’t be able to walk on it for a long time, that’s for sure.” The doctor stopped and jumped out of the truck while coming to the other side, “Wait here while I get a wheel chair.”

                Verna watched as he ran off. Dark Nation placed his chin onto Verna’s shoulder. She barely noticed it as she bit her lip from screaming at the pain her leg was causing her. Blood trickled down her chin. She barely registered what was going on. Then, everything went black as the doctors placed her under.

--A/N—

Oh my Shiva! So I was adding all of the chapters for this story into one document. After formatting it correctly (Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double spaced), it’s 183 pages long with 48144 words, and this isn’t including author notes. Well, I guess this means that this fan fiction is a little more than half way done. My goal is to end it around 80000 words – novel length work.