Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine nodded faintly, looking from Roxas' outstretched hand to her own hurt hand. She hesitated for only half a second, knowing that the treatment would hurt. But it had to be be done, so she ignored her previous thoughts about pain and set her hand in Roxas', her palm facing upward.

 

Roxas gently held Namine's injured hand in his own, bringing the cloth toward it. Before he cleaned the wound, he figured he would remove the drying blood from around the cut. He worked at it slowly, being careful not to make contact with Namine's cut yet.

 

Namine looked down at her hand in Roxas', seeing and feeling just how gentle he was being. He was avoiding the cut. For now. They both knew that he eventually had to clean the cut itself, and that would be painful. That was just how real life worked.

 

Roxas focused on what he was doing, pushing any thoughts aside that had to deal with Jeff and what he did. Right now, he needed to concentrate on fixing Namine up and taking care of her. After that, he would take care of Jeff.

 

Namine bit her lip lightly, feeling Roxas lightly touch the cut. She knew he would try to make this as painless as possible, but some things couldn't be avoided. And she wasn't just referring to the pain of the cut; she was thinking about life. You couldn't avoid pain in life, either. Not completely.

 

Roxas had cleaned up the blood around the cut, but that didn't mean it alone was done bleeding. He set the cloth down now that he was done with it and leaned in a little closer to Namine's hand, bringing it up slightly as well. Taking a look at it, Roxas could see that the cut was pretty deep. He had experienced some injuries like this himself while he was away, but Cure spells and potions easily took care of that. Here, neither would work.

 

Namine stopped biting down on her lip, following Roxas' gaze to her cut. "...How bad is it?" she asked, somehow finding the courage to ask the question she didn't really want an answer to. But whether she wanted the answer or not, she had to know how deep Jeff had cut her.

 

"It's pretty deep," Roxas said after a few more seconds of inspection. He had also taken those small seconds to calm down at the thought of Jeff doing this to her. "I'm sure I can fix it up, though. But I have to admit, it would be a lot easier with a spare potion." Roxas looked up at her and smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood a little. He could tell by Namine's voice that she was hurting.

 

Namine lifted her gaze to Roxas at his last sentence, her eyes finding his immediately. She saw his smile and she gave him a weak one in return, appreciating that he wasn't acting upset. She had heard him earlier when he was yelling at Jeff, and she knew that he had been furious at the time. It was a bit of a relief to have him calm and composed now.

 

Roxas let his gaze fall from Namine's after a brief period, his eyes landing on the cleanser sitting on the bed. He set Namine's hand down on his leg before reaching for the supplies. Once he opened it, he took Namine's hand once more and looked up at her. "This is going to sting," he warned her. It wasn't going to be "a little", because the cut was too deep for that. It was probably going to do more than sting.

 

Namine's faint smile faded completely, being replaced with a frown. She and Roxas knew that it would feel much worse than a normal "sting", but neither of them wanted to say that verbally. She turned her head to the side slightly, preparing herself for what was about to come.

 

Roxas looked down at Namine's hand when she looked away. He knew what she was doing. He took in a breath, preparing himself for the pain this was surely going to cause her. Slowly, he began pouring the cleanser into Namine's wound to get the infection out.

 

Namine bit down hard on her lip and turned her head further away, eyebrows furrowing as she shut her eyes. The string when it first hit her wound was bad, but it kept intensifying over time. That must have been because the cut was pretty deep; they would need a lot of disinfectant to clean it properly.

 

Roxas glanced up at the small movement, frowning slightly and feeling a little guilty. "Sorry." He set the cleanser down after pouring a little more, believing that was enough to disinfect Namine's injury.

 

"'Kay," Namine whispered, keeping her eyes shut as the stinging continued. She almost felt as if her hand were throbbing in Roxas', though she wasn't sure if that was her own sensation of pain or it that was reality. Either way, it didn't really matter, since this had to be done.

 

Roxas kept hold of Namine's hand, his grip gentle. They had to wait another short moment before he could remove the disinfectant; Roxas had to be sure the cut was cleaned. He didn't want to risk infection.

 

After a moment or two of silence, Namine opened her moist eyes, turning her head back in the direction of her hand. She looked down at it in silence, trying to control the pained expression on her face.

 

Roxas waited a few more seconds before grabbing the damp washcloth and wiping up the disinfectant that was escaping the cut and trickling down Namine's arm. Once he wiped it up, he looked up at her. "You can wash out the disinfectant in the bathroom now," he told her. "Then we'll bandage you up."

 

Namine nodded, briefly looking up at Roxas' eyes when he spoke. But she diverted her gaze because she didn't want him to see that she was in pain. She set her free hand on the bed beside her, using it to help her push herself onto her feet.

 

Roxas released Namine's hand from his grasp and trailed her with his eyes. He felt bad for everything she had gone through lately. Most of it was his fault, after all.