"Wufei, damn it." Heero snarled, and after a minute, released Wufei's chin. Wufei's expression did not change, and with a snarl again, Heero raised his hand.
Wufei found his face snapped sideways and the right side of his face tingling. And everything seemed clearer at that moment.
"… You didn't have to slap him!" Wufei could hear Quatre protesting.
"It gave him something to anchor to, and look, it worked." Heero replied, tilting his head at Wufei.
"You slap like a girl, Heero." Wufei found himself saying, touching the side of his face. He looked up at his friends, suddenly very grateful for their presence.
"Can you walk?" Heero asked, standing and extending a hand down to Wufei. Wufei snorted and rose on his own, he was not some invalid that needed toting around.
"I'm not going to fall apart from a little shock." He muttered, glaring at Heero. Heero just gave a light chuckle and led them on. Wufei found Heero leading them to Sally's office, their apparent go-to place to wait on news. He supposed it was a good place, but he was getting sick of seeing the office in such a bad light. He found Heero steering him to a seat, and he could not bring himself to care. They sat quietly for a few moments, and Wufei found himself under scrutiny. He supposed they were expecting him to break down or something, but he had his head on right, now. He was steady. It took a few minutes, but it seemed, finally, the general consensus was that he was fine.
"Quatre, what happened?" Wufei heard Heero ask. The Chinese agent was not sure why Quatre had entered the room with Sally, or how the other pilots had arrived so soon. Either he had not been asleep very long or the others had stuck around longer than they had said they would. Wufei glanced to the side to find the blond shaking his head.
"I don't know, Sally told me to get Wufei out of there, so I did." The blond said quietly, ducking his head in an apologetic way. Trowa laid a hand on Quatre's shoulder and turn his gaze to Wufei. Wufei could feel the others turn to him as well, and he was not sure he would be able to give them an idea as to what happened. He was not sure himself.
"I … " Wufei began, unsure how to phrase what he had seen. He found he just could not dredge up the words. He looked downward, still feeling the gazes of the other pilots on him. He was the only one who could tell them, and they had a right to know.
"It looked like … it looked like a seizure." He found himself saying, and he was unsure how he had found the words for that. The images kept flashing by in his mind, he probably would never be able to forget the grotesque picture that had played out before his eyes. He looked up a bit too late to catch the others initial expressions, but worry was clearly evident on all of their faces. Wufei slumped in his seat, exhausted from the entire ordeal. There was silence, none of the other pilots knew what to say, he supposed. They sat like that for some time, or so it seemed to Wufei.
Finally, the door opened, and all four heads swiveled to face the door. They were greeted with a solemn Sally, her expression was enough to tell them that it was not as drastic as they feared, but not as good as they had hoped. At least, that is how it seemed to Wufei. He tracked her as she moved to her desk and her chair there. None of them spoke, too afraid to breach the subject, too afraid of the answers. They all watched her sit down and look at them in turn, before she slumped in her seat and pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand. It was a few moments before she spoke.
"Well, it's what I feared, but honestly hoped would not come to pass." She began, vaguely, and they all waited with bated breath for her to elaborate. They sat in silence for another few moments. Wufei, and the others, could clearly tell Sally was trying to find the right words. She lifted her head and looked Wufei over, and clearly satisfied, she locked gazes with him.
"What happened was he had a seizure. When he didn't exhibit signs of cognitive damage, I was afraid of this. He had a seizure when he was initially brought in after the accident, but that could have been easily attributed to trauma. The one just now could also be an isolated incident, but I'm afraid at this point, that's quite unlikely." She said, turning to look each of them over.
"Post traumatic seizures are not uncommon when a person has suffered a traumatic brain injury. But more than one can mean post traumatic epilepsy, which is what I'm afraid may happen with Duo. If he has another seizure, that will confirm it." She continued, finally looking down at her desk.
"Epilepsy?" Quatre asked, and Wufei could detect the fear in his voice. The fear, he could tell, they all shared. Sally nodded.
"Yes. But it can be managed with medication, given time." She answered, and while that allayed some of their fears, it did not allay all of them. Duo would not take such news well, Wufei knew. It would take all of them to see Duo through this, and Wufei had no doubt he had the support of the other agents.
"You should go see to him now, he likely won't take the news well." Sally added, echoing his thoughts while she flicked on her computer. Wufei suspected she would not go home for some time, at least until Duo was in the clear. Quatre thanked Sally and stood, the rest of them following suit. They trudged along back to Duo's room as a unit, working like they used to in the war. Heero taking point, the rest of them fanning behind him. The door to Duo's room was open, but Heero, and the rest of them, paused at the entrance. They looked at each other for a moment before making the silent consensus to enter. They entered quietly, afraid to disturb Duo if he was resting. But Duo was awake, and he looked up and directly at Wufei. Wufei could read that expression, and he immediately broke away from the group and went to Duo's side. He frowned at the EKG having made a re-appearance, Duo hated the sticky pads and was prone to peeling them off in frustration. At least the sound was turned off, Wufei counted that as a positive.
"'Fei." Duo said quietly and Wufei knew exactly what the other man needed, even as Duo scooted over a little in the bed. Wufei climbed in behind his partner and wrapped his arms around Duo. Duo leaned up against him and Wufei just rubbed Duo's good arm.
"'Fei, what happened?" Duo asked, softly. Wufei could tell Duo was unsettled and confused, and he wanted nothing more than to take that away from him. He gently squeezed Duo and looked down at his partner. Partner, he was starting to refer to Duo that way, though, there had not been much more discussion about them together since the other day. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out how to word his answer.
"You … had a seizure." Wufei answered softly, and while the other pilots were in the room, it seemed to him it was just he and Duo. Duo's head jerked up and he stared up at Wufei. That had really caught Duo's attention, and in the brunette's eyes Wufei could see fear. Fear and a hint of something else, something Wufei could not quite figure out. Wufei did what he could to calm Duo down, because he could see the American start to work himself up. Wufei laced his fingers through Duo's hand and squeezed, keeping eye contact with his partner.
"Duo, calm down. It's going to be alright, Sally will figure this out." Wufei found himself saying, cupping the unbruised side of Duo's face with his other hand. The positioning was awkward, but Wufei made it work. He ran his thumb along Duo's cheek and waited for the American to calm down some before he continued.
"Are you ready to hear more?" The Chinese pilot asked, and Duo reluctantly nodded. Wufei gave Duo a reassuring smile, at least, he hoped it was. He could feel how tense Duo was, and he really wanted nothing more than to relieve that tension.
"Sally called it a post traumatic seizure, and she's unsure if there will be more. She said it may be what is called post traumatic epilepsy, but she also mentioned that it can be controlled with medication. No matter what, Duo, I am here for you. We are here for you. Never doubt that." He ended his statement with a kiss to the top of Duo's head. That rewarded him with a small smile and Wufei felt Duo nestle up close to him. Wufei finally looked up, unsurprised to find the rest of the group fanned out around the room. He caught Duo looking too.
"You guys should go home. I'm just gonna sleep anyway." Duo said with a wry grin, and a yawn to emphasize his point. Wufei found Heero looking him over and Wufei returned the look with a discreet nod. That seemed to satisfy Heero, and the rest of the group, because as Duo was nodding off in Wufei's arms, the rest of them were standing and quietly making an exit. As he left, Quatre placed Wufei's tablet next to him, within easy reach for the agent. Wufei watched them leave, then glanced back down at Duo, only to find the other asleep. A soft smile came over Wufei's face as he watched Duo rest. At least like this, he could attempt to protect Duo.
And while Duo slept, Wufei had homework. He knew Sally could inform him as much as he wanted about epilepsy and related topics, but why bother her when he had the Internet at his fingertips. For the next several hours he ended up reading several articles and journals on the topic, mostly about how to care for someone with it. Because he trusted Sally's judgment, and if that's what she believed it to be, then he would learn all he could on it. He ended up dozing off with the tablet in hand. Again, he was not sure how long he had been asleep, but he was swiftly awoken to Duo in the throes of a seizure. He hit the nurse call button and did his best to hold Duo. He wasn't sure he could extricate himself safely with Duo seizing against him, he was so focused on Duo, he did not notice Sally enter until had her hands on Duo. Wufei found himself almost lashing out, until he realized it was her.
"Don't move." She ordered him, and he nodded. It was not like he could, anyway. He let his focus become Duo and keeping Duo from hurting himself. He could see Sally moving around, along with another nurse he did not recognize, but his focus was Duo. And then, as quickly as it started, it ended. Wufei breathed a sigh of relief and just held Duo, much like he had wanted to but had been afraid to. He felt rather than saw Sally sit on the edge of the bed.