I awoke to the sound of voices. Voices that I recognized.
"Will he be alright, Heero?" Quatre asked in an anxious voice.
"I'm not sure of the full extent of his injuries. He may have internal bleeding and need hospital care, but he won't be mobile for a few days" Heero said in his usual monotone voice, although there was something else in his voice. Something different. Concern? Heero, concerned? Naw.
"What happened?" Trowa asked in his deep voice.
"His mission was a trap and I couldn't locate him for 6 hours after his capture" Heero replied.
The voices started blurring as I drifted off once again, when all of the sudden, I was brought back to consciousness by a sharp pain in my forearm. Despite my best efforts, I cried out from the intense pain. When I finally opened my eyes, I could see Heero was wrapping my right arm, that was currently throbbing, in a sling, Trowa was examining the gunshot wound in my side, and Quatre was watching him intently. I couldn't remember ever having felt so weak.
Slowly I rolled my eyes around the room, afraid that if I moved my head too quickly, then I would loose the contents of my stomach from nausea. I discovered that I was lying in a bed in a room that I presume was the safe house.
My eyes slowly rolled back to Heero. I decided to concentrate on watching him to distract my mind from thinking about other things…like pain for instance. His eyes were focused intently on mending the broken arm that, judging from the pain I was feeling, he had apparently just set himself. I could have sworn that I saw a look of concern in his expression, but I was probably delusional. Heero show human emotions like disgust or concern? Ha, the Sahara desert would freeze over before that happened.
He glanced up and caught me watching him. Damn, well it was inevitable; I swear this guy's got eyes everywhere.
"Duo, how are you feeling?" Stupidest question ever.
I closed my eyes taking a deep breath. When I opened my eyes again, Quatre, Trowa, and Heero were all bent over me with worried expressions.
"Ugh…like I was hit by a freakin semi" I was surprised at how groggy and weak my voice sounded.
Trowa and Heero met eyes from either side of me and proceeded to have a silent conversation with their eyes. I hated when they did that. Trowa's eyes quickly darted to my side and then back up to Heero. Heero then turned to me and said, "Duo, we have to remove the bullets in your side and leg." Damn, I had completely forgotten about that part.
They decided to do my leg first. Trowa got on one side of my and braced my leg above and below the wound. Quatre stood next to me and offered me his hand to hold, which I took gratefully. Did I mention that I don't deal with pain very well. Heero, meanwhile was busy sterilizing whatever instrument he was going to use to literally dig the bullet out from my leg.
I really hope that I don't get a glimpse of that instrument cuz if I do, then whatever's left in my stomach is not going to be in my stomach anymore. Screw being the strong, proud soldier. You try getting shot and let's see how you deal with it.
Heero turned to look at me again with what looked like regret in his expression. Almost like he was apologizing for being about to cause me a shit-load of pain. Nah. It was probably pity for getting myself into this mess and having to pay the consequences. I gave him a slight nod and he bent over my leg.
And then the pain started. No doctors, no hospitals, no painkillers, no anesthesia and no regrets. That's how we Gundam pilots work. But Holy Shit did it hurt. I tried to bite my tongue at first, but gave into the pain and just screamed.
Trowa had to put his whole weight on my leg to prevent it from moving but even that didn't prevent my entire body from thrashing in pain. I squeezed Quatre's hand like it was a lifeline and I guess in some ways, it was. I felt bad for him though because through the haze of pain, I could feel the bones in his hand grinding together.
There was one more sharp stab of pain and then Heero finally pulled the bullet out and dropped it into a metal pan with a small 'clank' sound. The pain slowly lessened but I could feel my leg throb with my heartbeats. I took deep breaths as the feeling of nausea slowly rose from my stomach, but it was causing my ribs to scream out in agony. This day just keeps getting better and better.
Once Heero had finished wrapping up my leg, he caught my eye again and said, "Now we have to do your side, Duo. Are you ready?" I responded with a nod again afraid that my voice would betray how much pain I was actually in.
Again Trowa braced my body with his weight and Quatre grabbed my hand. I told myself that I was going to handle it like a man this time, but the moment Heero started digging in my side, I lost it and screamed bloody murder.
I started feeling very dizzy and my vision blurred. The nauseous feeling rose from my stomach again, but I clamped my mouth shut. I was not going to lose the contents of my stomach in front of these guys. Whatever was left in it.
My vision darkened around the edges until it was just a small point through which I focused on Heero's face, trying to stay conscious as long as I could. Finally after what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes later, Heero pulled the bullet out of my side.
And that's what did it. I was already too tired to fight a losing battle against unconsciousness, but the moment I saw the blood covered bullet, I was gone. Once again, I fell into darkness to the sound of Heero's voice.