Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 64: Abandoned

The remainder of the day was spent walking on eggshells. After Veld let everyone else in on what was going on, no one seemed to want to broach the subject… least of all Reno. In fact, it had crossed his mind more than once that it was because of him. In spite of the fact that he’d been doing his best to put on a brave face… he had a feeling they all knew how much this was affecting him anyway.

And it didn’t help that the pain in his stomach refused to go away. In fact, though it still came relatively sporadically, it had steadily been growing more and more frequent all day, and seemed to be aggravated by movement. By the time the day was over, it was near-constant with sharp spikes every now and then, and all he wanted to do was try and get some sleep… but he turned down Rude’s offer of a ride home in favor of catching the train to Sector 1. If he wasn’t going to be seeing Tseng for fuck only knew how long… he wanted to at least say goodbye.

It took far longer than it should have. The trains all seemed to be running late, having to route around the mess in Sector 3. It was almost eight o’clock by the time Reno finally made it to Tseng’s apartment. And when he did, he discovered that he was too late. His car was there, but the apartment’s doors were locked, the windows dark. He wasn’t home. Dejected, the redhead sat down on the front porch and pulled his knees up to his chest, letting his head rest on his arms.

He’d missed his chance. But more than that, it hurt that Tseng had just… left… without so much as a word. In spite of understanding why… it still hurt. Badly. Headlights suddenly flashed across him as a car turned into the parking lot, and for a moment, he dared to hope that it was Tseng.

It wasn’t.

The driver did pull up next to Tseng’s car, however, and shut the engine off. Remy stepped out a moment later.

“I was afraid I might find you here,” she said, “Things happened so fast. I… wasn’t thinking. I should have made sure you knew. He left hours ago. Veld arranged transport for him and his sister this afternoon.”

The redhead let his gaze drop but said nothing. He didn’t trust his voice not to betray the whirlwind of emotions that seemed to assail him from every direction. He couldn’t decide if he was angry with Tseng for abandoning him without even a goodbye… disgusted with himself for being so selfish as to expect someone who’d just lost an actual family member to give a shit about the needs of the former slum rat he’d taken in… or devastated that all of this had happened at all. He finally settled on a feeling of general misery.

“Come on,” Remy prodded, “I’ll take you home.”

Resigned, he obediently followed her to her car, and climbed into the passenger seat.

“… Have you eaten yet?” the senior Turk asked after several blocks of driving in heavy silence. Reno shook his head. He didn’t have much of an appetite. To be honest, he’d been feeling a little queasy since lunch. That, and the now almost constant ache in his abdomen, didn’t leave him feeling especially hungry. “Do you want to stop somewhere?”

Another shake of the head. They stopped at a red light, and Remy turned to look at him for a moment.

“Reno… I want you to know that Tseng made me promise to look after you, and I’m not about to let him – or you – down. Alright?”

The rookie didn’t answer right away… and Remy didn’t push him. They continued on into Sector 3, turning towards his apartment building. It wasn’t until they were pulling into his parking lot that he finally spoke.

“Do you think he’s comin’ back?” he asked, cheeks flushing in minor humiliation at the way his voice cracked on that single question. She pulled into a parking space, and stared straight ahead, unable to make eye contact.

“I’d like to tell you yes,” said Remy, “But the truth is… I really don’t know.”

The redhead nodded.

“Thanks for not lyin’ to me, at least,” he sighed, “I’ll… um… see ya tomorrow.”

“Reno?” she called after him as he was climbing out of the car. He paused and looked back at her. “Call me if you need anything tonight, alright? Even if it’s just someone to talk to. I’ll… probably be up for awhile. I have a lot of Tseng’s notes and schedules I need to go over before tomorrow. But even if I’m not…”

“Thanks, Remy,” he said, managing a weak smile.

---

The following morning was brutal. Reno was exhausted. First, it had taken him for-fucking-ever to fall asleep. Then… what little sleep he had managed to get had been anything but restful. But the unpleasant dreams were very quickly forgotten once he was awake, their memory shoved aside by the sharp pain that lanced across his lower abdomen at irregular intervals – and just about every fucking time he tried to roll over. He finally found some relief by curling up on his left side… but by then, it was nearly six in the morning and he no choice but to just give up and haul his ass out of bed, or risk being late for work.

He groaned as he caught sight of his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He’d looked better hungover.

“Oh, wonderful…” he muttered, “Just when ya think shit can’t possibly get any worse, now I s’pose I’m gettin’ sick, too.”

The temptation to call Remy and tell her he was staying home today was strong. But he quickly dismissed the idea. There was a lot of shit that still needed dealing with after the Sector 3 attack, and with Tseng on leave for the foreseeable future, they were a man down. Plus, she’d probably rat him out to Ward, and that would mean a demand from the doctor to pay her a visit at some point. He’d just have to slog through the day as best he could and hope it didn’t get any worse.

He showered and dressed, and ate a hurried breakfast… though he still wasn’t feeling much like eating. It was only the knowledge of how much crappier he’d feel later if he didn’t eat that convinced him to choke down some toast with peanut butter and a slightly over-ripe banana… though by the time his train pulled into the Sector 0 station, he was regretting it. The constant movement of the train car brought his stomach dangerously close to violently rejecting everything he’d just put in it.

Somehow, though, he managed to keep it together… and once his feet were back on solid ground again, he felt moderately better.

“Holy Hades… You look like hell, Reno…” Shay greeted him as he stepped off the elevator and into headquarters.

“Oh… good. It’s not just my bathroom mirror, then,” he replied.

“Er… Seriously. Are you alright?” the other Turk queried, no small amount of concern in his voice.

“Slept like shit last night. I’ll manage.”

Shay side-eyed him as he turned to resume his course toward Luca’s office. “Well… if you say so…”

Reno headed off in the opposite direction, making his way to his own office. Rude was already there, engrossed in the morning’s influx of reports from Sector 3. He didn’t look up right away… until the redhead sat down at his desk with a muffled groan.

“… Reno.”

“Don’t say it. I know. I look like a leftover chocobo turd that’s spent about five minutes too long in the microwave.”

“… I don’t even want to know why you think someone would have one of those just laying around, much less think to microwave it. But… yeah. You sort of do.”

“Tch… rough night,” he replied. Rude raised an eyebrow behind dark lenses.

“You sure that’s all it is? You weren’t feeling so great yesterday either…”

The redhead opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off as Kai unexpectedly poked her head into their office.

“Veld’s wanted upstairs. We’re doing the morning briefing now, and it’s going to have to be short and sweet, so move your butts.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re comin’…” Reno said. Kai had already moved on to the next office on her list by the time he’d forced himself upright again. The rookie sucked in a breath as a particularly sharp stab of pain in his belly caught him off-guard. He quickly shook it off and trailed his friend out into the hallway.

“… You should go down to Medical,” Rude stated as they started towards the briefing room.

“Ugh… Don’t say that. I’m fine. I’m not gettin’ sick. I fuckin’ refuse to get sick. Not now. We got too much shit to do.”

Rude frowned and shook his head, and then started off towards the briefing room with renewed determination. It took Reno all of two seconds to realize what he intended.

“Fuck… Rude! Don’t you dare!” he called after him, grimacing in pain as he did his best to hurry after him. By the time he caught up, Rude had already zeroed in on Remy, who was standing off to one side of the room, talking to Saya.

“Goddammit, Rude…” he hissed through clenched teeth, trying not to draw attention. He was pointedly ignored by the other rookie, who stopped directly in front of the team’s temporary second in command.

“Reno’s sick,” he stated, without preamble. Both Remy and Saya looked up in concern, their gaze immediately going from Rude to the notably pale redhead behind him. He quickly stood up as straight as he could manage, holding his hands up to wave them off.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, though even to his own ears, he didn’t sound particularly convincing. Remy immediately strode over to him, her hand flying toward him so fast he half thought she intended to smack him. Instead, the back of her fingers came to rest gently against his forehead.

“Fine? You’re burning up,” she declared, after a few seconds. “Medical Suite. Now. Rude… make sure he gets there, and don’t let him leave until he’s seen by someone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the other rookie replied, and the redhead caught sight of the smug look of triumph on his face before he physically turned Reno to face the door and marched him out, past the others who had begun to filter into the room.

“Asshole,” he muttered, annoyed, as he was escorted back to the elevator.

“It’s for your own good.”

---

Dr. Ward clucked her tongue in disapproval as she took in her patient’s obviously ill appearance.

“Open,” she commanded. Reno scowled. “Open, or I’ll have yer friend come back here and hold yeh down, and yeh’ll be getting one in the other end instead.”

Not willing to risk that indignity, the redhead grudgingly opened his mouth and allowed her to slip the thermometer under his tongue. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor retrieved it. She glared at it.

“A hundred and one point three,” she reported, “How long have yeh been feelin’ off?”

“Just… ya know… this mornin’…” he replied, hoping to salvage his day. Rude loudly cleared his throat from the other side of the privacy screen. “Tch… fine. I didn’t feel so great last night, either.”

The sound repeated itself, insistently.

“Or… most of yesterday afternoon,” he added with an irritated glare in the general direction of his fellow rookie.

“Hmph… Well? Let’s have a list of symptoms, then. Besides the fever, how do yeh feel?”

“Tired as all fuckin’ hell… I didn’t sleep for shit last night.” At her disapproving frown, the redhead rolled his eyes. “Doc, I’ve had a really shitty couple of days, next to no sleep, and I feel like crap right now… so don’t bother tellin’ me to watch my goddamn language. You can keep the fuckin’ candy.”

“Symptoms,” the doctor demanded again.

“Tch… I don’t know. Like I said… I’m tired ’cause I couldn’t sleep… haven’t been feelin’ hungry like… at all… stomach’s kinda been hurtin’…” He winced slightly as the pain chose that moment to spike again, and instinctively pressed a hand against the point it seemed to radiate from… which, unfortunately only made it worse. When he looked up again, Ward’s frown had deepened.

“Hmm…” She patted the exam table beside her. “Climb up here, and lay down for me.”

The redhead grumbled, but did as he was told, hoisting himself onto the little platform and settling onto his back. Ward pulled on a pair of gloves, and reached for him, undoing his belt and unzipping his pants.

“Tch… what? Just ’cause I got no appetite you’re not even gonna offer to buy me dinner first?”

Ward shook her head in amusement. “Just try ta relax and tell me where it hurts the most.”

Her fingers pressed firmly against his belly, slowly shifting location as the doctor gauged how much discomfort her patient was in. It wasn’t until she moved a bit to his right side and applied pressure that Reno, quite literally, saw stars as white-hot pain blossomed. He yelped loudly and tried to curl in on himself to protect pain’s the point of origin.

“Fuck!” he groaned, arms now wrapped around himself, “The hell’d ya do to me?”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Ward responded, shaking her head as she stripped off the gloves. Her hand comfortingly squeezed his arm. “I hate ta be the bearer of bad news, my little headache… but I’d wager good money that yeh’ve come down with appendicitis. We’ll take yeh over ta Midgar General ta confirm, and ta get yeh inta surgery.”

At the mention of surgery, the redhead was immediately at attention.

“W-wait… surgery?” He vehemently shook his head. “Nuh uh… No way, Doc. The last time I had to do that shit, I was stuck on medical restriction for weeks and damn near drove myself nuts. Fuck that… It’s not that bad. I’ll just fuckin’ deal with it hurtin’ ’til it gets better.”

“No, yeh won’t. Because it’s not going ta get better on it’s own. That appendix needs ta come out before it ruptures,” Dr. Ward replied, but the redhead was already on his feet again and straightening his clothes as he made his way out into the waiting area. He glowered as he suddenly found his path blocked by Rude.

“Seriously?” he growled when the other rookie refused to let him by. Rude folded his arms over his chest.

“Yeh just sit yerself down. Yer not going anywhere,” Ward said. She looked at Rude. “I’ll see ta getting him ta the hospital. Yeh go and let that mentor of his know what going on.”

“Tch… good luck with that,” the redhead muttered petulantly, “Tseng’s on leave for awhile.”

The doctor cocked an eyebrow at the new information, and glanced over at Rude for confirmation. He nodded.

“… His sister died. The Sector 3 attack. He’s in Wutai for the funeral and then he’s taking some personal time. We’re not sure when he’ll be back.”

‘Or if he’ll be back,’ Reno couldn’t help but think for the umpteen millionth time in the last twenty four hours. He didn’t dare say so, though. That would require far too much explanation, and the Turks’ and Shinra’s involvement in the attack was supposed to be a secret.

“I see…” Ward replied, her tone softening slightly. “Well, that doesn’t change the fact that yer going ta need surgery. Rude, yeh go and tell Veld what’s going on. Leave this little troublemaker ta me.”

Reno groaned as Rude left to do Ward’s bidding and the doctor led him back to the examination area, and settled him in a chair behind the screen.

“Don’t yeh worry. I’ll stay with yeh until they put yeh under.”

The redhead snorted in contempt. “I don’t need you to fuckin’ babysit me.”

But he did have to admit that it wassomewhat less daunting to know that he wasn’t simply going to be left to his own devices. Still, though… why the hell did this shit have to happen now? Things didn’t suck enough at the moment? Life had to throw in a little emergency surgery, too?

“Yer going ta be in bed for a few days… and on medical restriction for a week or two after that while yeh heal. I can only assume that Tseng thought ta leave yeh under the care of one of the other Turks while he’s gone. Who’s supposed ta be looking after yeh?”

“… Remy.”

“I’ll be sure she’s kept up ta date, then,” Dr. Ward said with a nod. “Alright… let’s get yeh bundled off ta Midgar General.”

---

Rude road the elevator back upstairs in silence, ignoring the other passengers who occasionally boarded or disembarked on the way. They ignored him right back. A part of him was still vaguely in disbelief. He’d had appendicitis when he was twelve. It had hurt so much that he could barely stand up at the time. How Reno was still walking around, much less insisting that he’d just work through the pain, was beyond him.

The elevator chimed, announcing his arrival at headquarters and he stepped out… only to be nearly bowled over by Shay as he dashed past.

“Sorry!” the other Turk, called over his shoulder… before running headlong into Luca while his attention was focused on Rude. The collision sent both men to the floor in a shower of paper as the bundle of files Shay had been carrying went flying.

“For Odin’s sake, Shay…” Luca muttered, picking himself back up.

“Sorry… these kind of got put on hold last week, and they need to be turned in by this afternoon,” he replied, scrambling to retrieve the files. Rude snorted a soft laugh and edged around the pair without offering to help. He’d been told to speak to Veld… but he suspected the Turk leader was still busy upstairs. Which meant he needed to commandeer a few minutes with Remy, instead… before the woman became utterly absorbed in her assignments for the day.

He found her in Tseng’s office, looking over the rookies’ training schedules.

“Oh… Good. I was just going to come looking for you. Tseng has you scheduled for your pilot’s certification this afternoon. If you don’t have any objections, I’d actually like to do it before lunch and then have you working with Rodney this afternoon instead. He and Reno were supposed to be with Luca for armed sparring, but I assume Reno has been sidelined for the day and sent home by now.”

“… Not exactly.”

The senior Turk looked up in surprise. “He can’t possibly have been cleared…”

Rude shook his head. “He’s on his way to Midgar General with Dr. Ward.”

“H-he’s what?!” Remy sputtered.

“Appendicitis.”

“… Appendi – Oh, for Leviathan’s sake. What else can go wrong today?!”

“Um… Is this a bad time?” a new voice queried, and Rude turned to see Cissnei peering around him from the doorway. He silently shuffled out of her way. Remy sighed.

“No… No, of course not. What did you need?”

“Saya sent me to tell you that Security has decided to take over the firing range for their personnel’s firearm recertification. They said they notified Tseng last week that it wouldn’t be available.”

Remy glanced down at the schedule in her hands. “There’s no note of that…”

Before she had time to flip through more than a page or two of the information, Shay elbowed his way into the room as well.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, somewhat breathlessly, brandishing a haphazardly stacked bundle of papers.

“What are those?” Remy hesitantly queried.

“The requisition forms for the month. Well, most of them, I think. Er… long story. They need to be approved, signed and turned in by three today,” he replied, setting them on the desk.

“And you’re bringing them to me because… ?”

“Well… because Tseng usually takes care of it now. Veld assigned it to him. I just assumed that since you were taking over his other duties…”

Remy held up a hand, silencing the other Turk, and took a deep breath. She slowly released it.

“Just… leave them there. I’ll deal with them later.”

Shay set the stack down. It immediately teetered, and the pile slumped over, sending papers cascading across Tseng’s desk. “Uh… Okay, there ya go!” he said, quickly, and beat a hasty retreat.

“Cissnei, tell Saya that I’ll speak with Security as soon as I have a free moment, and find out when range practice can resume. I’m sure she can find something to keep you rookies busy for awhile.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cissnei replied. She cast Rude a friendly smile before retreating from the office as well. Remy lowered herself into the chair behind the desk and shook her head.

“How in the nine hells does he keep this all straight?” she groaned to herself. She glanced up at Rude again. “Appendicitis?”

The rookie nodded.

“Alright,” Remy sighed, “You go on and catch up to Saya and the other rookies. I’ll… let Veld know about Reno as soon as his meeting with the executive board is finished, and then I’ll check in with… you said Ward was looking after him?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll check in with Ward, and see how he’d doing.”

“… I could stay and help you with that,” Rude offered, nodding towards the mass of paperwork that had been dropped on her, but Remy shook her head.

“I can handle it,” she replied… though Rude was almost certain he heard a note of uncertainty in the senior Turk’s voice.

---

Reno eyed the tube that ran from his inner elbow up to a bag of clear fluid hanging from a pole beside his bed. He hadn’t actually watched them do it… but he still swore that the needle they’d shoved into him was absolutely massive. He shuddered thinking about it there… lodged under his skin and taped in place. Apparently, in addition to having an appendix that had decided that right this fucking second was a great time to keel over and die, he was also ‘slightly dehydrated’. The needle was supposed to fix that before they operated.

All in all, he supposed it could be worse. Ward had left him for the moment to see to some paperwork, but the nurse who came in to check on him while she was gone had been pretty. He was relatively comfortable, having been given something to dull the pain… which by now had shifted more to his right side… though Dr. Ward had been very particular about what they used on him, after his previous reaction to painkillers. And he had the room to himself, which, from what he’d heard anyway, was something of a luxury.

He would still rather have been just about anywhere else, though. The sheets on his bed were stiff and scratchy… and the stupid little gown that oh-so-conveniently opened in the back made him feel ridiculous. And, of course, there was that Ifrit-be-damned needle in his arm… not to mention that annoying as fuck thing nearby that was wired up to sticky pads on his chest and beeped constantly.

The fact that he was attached to various pieces of equipment, and thus couldn’t get up and move around, also made him want to move. Desperately.

The last time he’d been here hadn’t been nearly as bad. Of course, he really didn’t remember much of that visit, given that he’d been drugged out of his mind for half of it, and out cold for most of the remainder. All he really recalled was waking up to find Tseng sitting beside him.

“I could never simply abandon you.”

That was what Tseng had told him then… and the redhead had believed him. As it turned out, he was a gullible little idiot… because certainly felt like Tseng hadabandoned him now. The worst part was Reno couldn’t even be mad about it. Not really. Not after what had happened to Mayu. But that didn’t make him feel any better about the validation of his fear that – when it came right down to it – Tseng wasn’t his family. His mentor had his own family, and they would always matter more than he did.

And he knew damn well how selfish he was being about that, too… but goddammit, he was sick and he was scared, and he desperately wanted Tseng to be here right now! He didn’t like this place. He didn’t like the smell or the endless whiteness. He didn’t like all the tubes, and wires, and needles. And he sure as hell didn’t like the idea of being knocked out and cut open.

He suddenly realized just how worked up he was making himself, and forced himself to breathe before wiping away the moisture that had gathered in the corners of his eyes with the back of the one hand that wasn’t connected to something. Just in time, as it turned out, because a moment later, Dr. Ward returned, with the pretty nurse and another doctor in tow.

“I’m just going to give you a little something to make you sleepy,” the new doctor said, producing a syringe. The redhead cringed, and heard Ward chuckle quietly next to him.

“Relax, my little headache… No more shots for awhile. That’s what the IV is for,” she said. He breathed a faint sigh of relief when he saw that the man was injecting it into the bag of fluid rather than his arm. “Just lay back and let it go ta work. The next thing yeh know, it’ll all be over.”

“Hey, Doc? Can ya do me a favor?” he asked, as he settled back against the pillow. “Can ya maybe let Tseng know I’m okay?”

Ward patted him on the shoulder. “I spoke ta Remy a bit ago while I was filling out yer intake forms. She said she’d let him know what’s going on.”

“… ‘kay.” Whatever that shit they gave him was, it worked fast. He could already feel it taking hold. He didn’t bother trying to fight it. Instead, Reno closed his eyes and let the darkness claim him.

---

Tseng let his mind drift, eyes closed against the light that streamed through the little window beside him, and did his best to tune out the noise of the plane’s engines. It almost worked. But all too soon, his treasonous conscience reminded him of the fact that his sister was stowed below in the cargo compartment, and of his mother’s wails of grief and his father’s quiet fury when he’d called home to tell them.

He exhaled slowly and raised a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. He was holding himself together… but barely. How he was going to make it through the next few days, he wasn’t sure. Hopefully, it would be… easier… once he arrived. Though he doubted it. He had yet to tell his parents the whole story.

And he knew that he had to. His guilt would never again allow him a moment’s peace if he didn’t.

His phone suddenly vibrated in the inside breast pocket of his jacket and he instinctively reached for it. The screen displayed Remy’s name. Under normal circumstances, he would have answered it immediately… but these weren’t normal circumstances. For a moment, he simply stared it.

And then he realized… he didn’t want to answer it. He didn’t want to be beholden to anyone at the moment, least of all Shinra Company. Whatever she wanted, he simply couldn’t bring himself to care. It wasn’t his problem right now. He just wanted to be left in peace for awhile. So he let it ring.

Eventually, it stopped. When it did, he shut the phone off entirely and tucked it back into his pocket.

~end chapter 64~