Life Finds a Way

Chapter 12

It took them another half hour to walk back to the Shinra building but the night was nice. Clarissa was a little sad that she couldn't see the stars, but the air was crisp. It was almost cold after the warm day, but the walk kept her from being bothered by it. Their walk back had been fairly silent. Clarissa had asked a few things about the city as they passed by things that caught her interest, but Genesis didn't push her for information. She hoped that meant that they were done with that for the night. She was already tired. Her emotions had been on such a see saw that she was already looking forward to going to sleep.

When he led her to the elevators she paused; she had just been thinking about getting ready to turn in when she realized there were a couple of important points of information she didn't have. She touched Genesis on the arm to get his attention when they boarded the elevator. "Um, I was wondering where exactly I'll be sleeping tonight?"

Genesis was taken by surprise. He hadn't really thought about it until she pointed it out, but it didn't take him long to answer. "You can use the room in the infirmary until something else is worked out. I can have a guard assigned to you when I'm not there to assist you with anything you might need."

"Ah, thanks." Clarissa knew the guard was not for her sake, but she appreciated the fact that Genesis was still trying to put her at ease. She had barely let that thought pass before another occurred to her. "Does the infirmary have a shower? It has been at least two days that I can figure and that would be wonderful."

Genesis was starting to feel like he was slipping. He had been so caught up in trying to unravel her mystery that he hadn't thought out the logistics very well. This one took him a little longer to figure out and, in the end, there was only one solution, even if it wasn't ideal. "No, that is the Soldier infirmary, so it rarely sees overnight stays. If a Soldier is hurt badly enough to require monitoring longer than a few hours, they are usually sent elsewhere. For tonight I can allow you to use my shower and we'll look into different arrangements tomorrow. It has been three days since I found you, so I can imagine a shower would be welcomed."

Clarissa wasn't thrilled with the idea but wasn't going to pass up the chance for a shower. "Thanks. I apologize if this is putting you out. I just wish... I wish I knew what was going on." The last part of her sentence had faded to a whisper, but Genesis heard it anyway. He looked over at her downturned head wondering exactly the same thing.

When they finally reached the 49th floor Genesis didn't take Clarissa back to the halls that she had finally started to work out earlier in the day. Instead he turned the opposite direction. This area had carpeted halls instead of the cold tile and there were numbers on the doors. Clarissa's suspicions were confirmed when Genesis went to the second to last door on the right and opened it to reveal the apartment that she vaguely remembered.

As she walked in this time, she had more of an opportunity to look around. She wasn't surprised to see several book shelves filled with neatly lined up books. Other than that, the décor was more spartan than she had anticipated for Genesis. There were a few small paintings that added a splash of color but nothing significant. The couch looked comfy though.

Her appraisal was interrupted by Genesis walking passed her to hang his coat up in a closet set back into the short hallway. She remembered his bedroom was at the end of that hallway, so the bathroom must have been the only other door. As she remembered her fight and attempted flight from this room when she first woke up here, her face burned red. If she ever had the chance to speak with Minerva again, she definitely planned on asking why she had to appear in his bed of all places.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Genesis once again. "The shower is the first door on the right. There are towels in the cupboard. Let me know if you need anything else."