Pairings: Shounen Ai(3+4)
Warnings: Major Angst, Possible Deathfic
Author's Note: This is for all of those people who don't realize what they have until it's gone.
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Memories of Ours
By Patty
"Hey Duo! Bring a few beers down here won't ya?" Heero called out into the kitchen from the living room. It was the day of the big game and all of the boys had gathered at Duo's place to watch it on Duo's big screen, everyone else except for Quatre of course. Quatre was stuck at work, as always, taking caring of the family business. Just as Duo was about to leave the kitchen, the phone rang and he stretched out his hand to get it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Duo, who is it?" Trowa asked as he stood up.
Duo waved his hand to silence them as he listened intently to the person on the other line. The room was hushed as Duo's facial expression went from cheery to solemn in a flash. "Duo, what's wrong?" Heero mouthed to Duo.
Duo hung up the phone and turned to face his friends. "Guys, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Quatre just had a stroke. He's in the hospital on L4 where Iria works."
Trowa's knees went weak as his heart sank into his stomach and he nearly collapsed to the floor if it weren't for Heero's quick reflexes. "Duo, did they say how this happened?" Wufei asked calmly.
"He was at work in the middle of a business deal when all of a sudden he fell out of his chair. Apparently, from what Iria told me, the overwhelming stress of his job has taken a toll on his fragile body. And get this, she also told me that Quatre had a heart attack a few years back making the severity of his stroke even worse."
"What's his current condition?" Heero asked.
"Well since the stroke occurred near a hospital, the doctors were able to give him a shot to reduce the effects of the stroke. I guess if they give him the shot within a certain time window after the stroke, it will ease the damage of the initial stroke somewhat. So as of right now, he's stable and resting," Duo stated to his comrades who were listening intently to what he had to say.
Trowa, who had finally managed to stand up on his own two feet, started to tremble. The look in his eyes was almost too painful to see. All of them were close friends but the bond that Quatre and Trowa had was incomprehensible. They had shared a lot during the wars and the ties between them only grew over the years, this was the last thing that Trowa wanted to hear. "Well what are all of you waiting for?" Duo said as he grabbed his jacket and walked out the door, the rest of them following soon after. They climbed aboard Wufei's Preventers shuttle and took off towards L4.
There was an uneasy silence on the way to the hospital; most of them were still in shock. Wufei broke every speed limit possible as he flew madly through space to get the L4 hospital. It seemed as if they couldn't get there soon enough, time was very valuable to them as worry hung heavy over each of their hearts. As soon as Wufei touched down in the docking bay, an ambulance was awaiting them, their driver, Sally. "Get in boys, you have a friend who needs you all," Sally said as Heero slammed the door shut. Sally floored it to the hospital, her sirens roaring loudly as she sped down streets of L4 to the hospital.
Sally didn't even have time to stop the ambulance completely as the boys jumped out and ran through the emergency room doors. "Where's the ICU?" Duo said to the lady at the front desk as he tried to catch his breath.
"Down stairs to your left," the nurse said pointing down the hall towards the elevator.
Duo just nodded a thank you and the four of them raced to the elevator. Their stomachs twisted into billions of knots as the anticipation of watching the elevator go done level by level toyed with their minds. The door slid open and the chill of the hospital air hit them and sent chills down their spines. They walked quickly down the hall to the Intensive Care Unit where they met up with Iria. "Glad you all could make it," she said upon their arrival.
"How is he?" Heero asked and Iria's eyes softened with a slight glistening of tears.
"Well he is stable now thanks to our immediate care but we are still not certain of the overall effect the stroke had on him. Right now all we can do is wait. If you would like to go see him, you are welcomed to, but only two are allowed to go in at a time. Please be quiet though, he's resting and we don't want to get him riled up," Iria said softly as the door to the ICU opened up. "Just press the intercom when you are ready to come in," she said just as the doors shut behind her.
"Duo, you and Heero go in first," Trowa spoke up softly. "Wufei and I will wait in the waiting room."
Duo nodded and Heero pressed the intercom. "Here to see Quatre Winner please." The doors swung open and the two walked in. Trowa and Wufei went towards the lobby to wait.
As Duo and Heero walked in, the faint sound of beeping echoed in their ears. Just a few curtains to their left, laid a very pale Quatre. He had tubes going in and out of his body and an oxygen mask to aid in his breathing. Duo and Heero watched the steady rhythm of the heart monitor as the line made it's way continuously across the screen. From the looks of it, Quatre was out cold and his face appeared to be tired and weary along with the slight sagging of his lip due to the stroke. Duo walked over to one side of the bed and gently placed his hand on Quatre's arm. "Hey there Quatre old buddy, it's me Duo, and Heero's right here beside me. Hang in there friend, we are all here for you," Duo said in a soothing manner.
"Hey Quatre, did anyone ever tell you you work too hard?" Heero said softly.
With those words, a crack of a smile formed on Quatre's lips. "Get some rest friend," Duo said as they walked out of his room. They pushed the button to open the doors and walked into the waiting room to get Trowa and Wufei. When they arrived, Trowa and Wufei were sitting there patiently, doing a very poor job of masking their worry. "You can go see him now," Duo told his stoic friends as he and Heero took a seat beside them.
Trowa got up slowly as well as Wufei and they both walked towards the ICU. "Quatre Winner please," Wufei said as he pressed the intercom.
As the two entered, the deathly silence sent eerie sensations coursing throughout their bodies. There, only a few curtains down, laid Quatre. Trowa froze where he stood, immediately clinging for something to hold himself up. He had never in all of his life seen Quatre so frail and helpless. He turned his head away, it pained him so much to see him this way. Wufei placed his hand on Trowa's arm to comfort him and told him, "Be strong Trowa, be strong for him."
Trowa nodded and let go of the chair he had used to support himself. He walked quietly over to Quatre's bedside and gently brushed his golden locks away from his face. Trowa's eyes glistened lightly and his voice wavered as he spoke. "Quatre, now look what you got yourself into. I told you not to work so hard." Trowa did his best as he put on a brave face, he didn't want to break down, he had to remain strong.
Wufei went on the other side of the bed and spoke very plainly. "You're a good man Quatre and a good friend. Don't you even think of leaving us now," a small smirk appearing on his face with his words.
Iria peered in and spoke ever so softly, "He needs his rest now, there's not much we can do now. Why don't you guys take a seat in the waiting room and we will update you as soon as we get a clearer understanding of his condition."
The two nodded and left the room quietly to rejoin their friends in the waiting room. They heard the low murmur of voices as they walked into the room. There was Duo and Heero sitting on the floor talking quietly amongst themselves. "Have a seat you two. Heero and I here are just remembering the good old days and our memories with Quatre. It will help all of us calm down a bit," Duo said as he patted the floor beside him.
Trowa and Wufei took a seat and Duo said, "I'll start it off. I can still remember the time when we all met for the first time. After the long battle against OZ, Quatre had me stay at his dessert palace with the Maguanac Corp until it was safe to go out. I nearly shit my pants when I found out who he was but the thing that struck me the most about him, was the fact that he didn't go around showboating with all of his money. He was kind and hospitable and if it weren't for OZ, we could have spent more time really getting to know each other since most of our time was spent on the battle field. I still remember how he was able to rally all of us together to fight and go back to outer space. It was unbelievable considering the group we were at the time. He may look frail, but he has a heart of a lion," Duo concluded as he casted his eyes downwards.
"Quatre may have been weak physically, but he was stronger than all of us when it came to the power of emotions. His emotions guided him throughout the war whereas myself, I could never do that. I tried to act on my emotions but I soon found out that I lacked the full range of emotions that a normal person would have. Quatre was the heart amongst the five of us, without him, we are not whole," Heero put it plainly. It was by far the most he has ever really said about a person.
"Sad to say that I didn't have much of an opportunity to get to know Quatre the way you all did. I was too stubborn and chose to fight on my own the whole time. It wasn't until the very end that I realized what a tremendous fighter he was. He was the only one of us that was complete as a Gundam pilot," Wufei stated firmly as he sat there with his arms crossed. Everyone then turned to Trowa, waiting for him to get a word in.
"If you don't want to say anything.." Duo began but Trowa interrupted him.
"Quatre is a wonderful soul who doesn't deserve this at all. He was the only one who has ever really touched my heart deeply. No matter how quiet and rude I remained towards him, he still kept pressing me to say a few more words. He truly cared about everyone with a loving heart. But let's be brave now, we don't want to disappoint Quatre," Trowa said very quietly, he didn't want the pain and his true feelings to take control of him.
"Hey, I'm going to get some pillows and blankets from one of the nurses and we can camp out here in the waiting room," Duo said as he got up from his spot on the floor.
Heero put his hand on Trowa's shoulder to reassure him that everything was going to be all right. Trowa just cracked a slight smile but remained quiet from there on out. A minute later, Duo marched into the room with a stack of pillows and blankets. "Make yourself comfortable guys," Duo said as he threw each of them a pillow and a blanket.
The guys settled down on the floor and chatted softly about more fond memories of the days spent with their dear friend Quatre. Sleep overtook them after a few hours and they rested quietly in the silent hospital. Trowa couldn't sleep, he was too overcome with worry to even shut one eye. His stomach was queasy and he knew something just wasn't right. He sat up quietly and looked at all of his friends sleeping soundly. Then a gentle voice cried out in his head. "Trowa, come here."
"Quatre?" Trowa said in almost disbelieve.
"Come, I need to talk to you," the soft voice echoed in his mind once more.
Trowa got up quietly and walked out of the room and into the ICU. There he saw Quatre resting peacefully in the bed, a nurse checking his machines. "Trowa, come closer," the voice in his head replied.
Trowa inched his way closer to the bed and stood beside Quatre. "Put your hand on mine," the voice told him.
Trowa gently placed his hand on top of Quatre's and a sudden chill ran up his spine, just as if a ghost had passed through him.
"Dear friend, I am glad you came. I'm sorry that you must see me this way, I didn't mean to scare you. Whatever happens to me Trowa, please be brave. I love you dear Trowa," Quatre's voice whispered softly in Trowa's mind.
Tears began to flow down Trowa's cheeks as he stared down at the frail boy before him. "Don't cry Trowa, it's okay," the siren's voice replied.
"Please don't go Quatre, we need you, I need you. I need you because, because I love you too," Trowa said just above a whisper.
Without opening his eyes, Quatre slowly turned his head and Trowa placed a gentle kiss on his lips. Just then, the heart monitor went wild and Trowa immediately called Iria. The nurses rushed in as well as Iria and Trowa backed away, Quatre was slipping away from him. "Hang in there Quatre, please don't leave me," Trowa stammered out.
He watched in silence as the doctors stabilized him. It was then that Iria came out, her eyes downcast and solemn. "It doesn't look good Trowa. The blood is continuing to put pressure on the brain. He has already lost the use of his left side of the body. There is a procedure to reduce the pressure within his brain but afterwards, he will most likely be brain dead. There's nothing else we can really do now but wait, his body can't take much more of this I'm afraid. Go get your friends Trowa please."
Trowa staggered out of the room to inform his friends of the sudden turn of events. The look in his eyes as he walked in the room told the story. Everyone felt weak as their hearts dropped into their stomachs. "Come, Iria needs to talk to us."
The five walked back into the room where Iria was waiting for them in front of Quatre's bed. "Now I know I'm his family, but as I doctor, I cannot make this decision. If you choose to do the surgery, the outcome will most likely not benefit him and Quatre will probably become a vegetable for the rest of his life and will need constant care. He will not be able to be human any longer and it wouldn't be fair to do that to him, especially a person like him. You can either let us do the surgery or let him go peacefully, it is your choice."
The boys turned to each other, they didn't want to see their once fun loving friend be a soulless body for the rest of his life. After careful consideration, they all agreed to do what was best for him. "Iria, we want to let him die in peace, please put a do not recessitate order for him and take him off of life support. We don't want him to die with millions of tubes running in and out of his body," Duo spoke gravely.
Iria smiled through her sadness and replied, "Thank you, you are all good friends. Why don't you all say good-bye first, he would want to hear your voices."
The group of them gathered around Quatre's bed and said their final good-byes. Trowa gently took Quatre's hand in his and watched as the nurses removed his life support. The boys all stood there with tears in their eyes and watched as their dear friend slipped slowly into the afterlife. Quatre would never be forgotten.
~Owari~