Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam Pilots or anything else that is
affiliated with them. Pretty much anything you recognize. =) I do own the
plot. The names I use that don't seem familiar, you can give the credit to
my best friends. I came up with the weird names for the Holy Ruins and
everything. Just picked letters, but I think I know how I wanna pronounce
them. *email me for pronunciation* Read, you'll see what I'm talkin' about.
~*~Chapter 6~*~
The Scheming and the Hospital
Hilde couldn't stand it any longer. She'd raced to her room and grabbed the vid-phone, then sprinted back down the hall and into the kitchen where she sat at the counter. Hilde'd called Duo first, telling him of her little confrontation with his brother, then her little idea.
"What!? You told Heero off and the guy sat there and took it?!?! WOW!!!!! Then he actually listened to you and went back to bed and didn't bother to argue about any of that. Man, you musta scared the crap out of him if he didn't even bother to defend himself. Man, you just...MAN how'd you do it?!?!?! I don't think anyone's been able to do something like that without having a death wish. Sounds like you straightened him out, man," Duo shook his head in disbelief. "Geeze, that'll be one for the record books," he gave a small laugh.
"Do you think we'll be able to, it's the only thing I can think of? I just can't stand to see them suffer like this. It had to be a misunderstanding when they talked. What do you think Duo?" Hilde called as she watched Duo look thoughtfully at her.
"Huh? Oh, ya, sorry Hilde. I was just tryin' to imagine you tellin' Heero off like that. Man, I still don't believe it. But ya, go ahead, sounds like the best chance we've got."
"Hey, ya coming home for lunch, or is it still too early to tell?"
"Ya, I should be home." He looked back over his shoulder as he heard profanity coming from under a red Corsica. "Hey Lynn, you all right under there?"
Lynn piped up from the background, "Ya, this oil filter is just being stubborn. Tell Hilde I said hi!"
"Hi Lynn," Hilde called back. "Well, I'd better let you go Duo, sounds like Lynn might just need your expertise." Duo gave her a smug look.
"All right, love ya Hilde,"
"Love you too Duo, bye!" She hung up with Duo and immediately brought up the number for the Peacecrafts. After the first few rings the phone was answered. It was Milliardo, a curious but welcome look on his face. Noin sat by his side.
"Miss Hilde, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Milliardo greeted with a smile.
"Hello, please, just call me Hilde. There's no need to be so formal. Is Miss Relena there?" She asked, her warm smile turning into a frown as she looked curiously back at the couple.
"She's asleep right now; she's not feeling well. Can I give her a message for you Hilde?" Milliardo repeated the line as he asked politely. His sister wasn't feeling well and he wasn't going to awaken her.
"Milliardo, I know what's wrong with your sister. There's no need to hide it. Let me guess, she's upset about last night after she finished talking to Heero. If it makes you feel any better; the guy was a bit upset himself. I think I've got an idea though on how to help the two out."
Milliardo looked at her in confusion. "How did you know? You're right, but how did you know? Do you know where he is?"
"My prince, Heero is staying with us. Duo brought him here because he wasn't doing too good himself and we've just been having one heck of a time. His little conversation with Relena last night didn't help any. I'm sorry for being impatient, but I need your help. Are you going to help or not?" Hilde didn't mean to sound rude or impatient, but she needed answers so she could get everything ready. Once her mind started going, there was no stopping it.
"What did you have mind?" was all Milliardo had to say.
"We get the two together, then let them work things out on their own." It sounded simple enough. But then again, that's what she thought before.
"Do you two share the same thoughts or something," Noin questioned with a slight smile.
"I-I don't know, but if we do, thing's are going to start getting scary," commented the prince.
"What? You mean that's all you came up with too?" Asked an amused Hilde.
Milliardo only nodded and started to chuckle at Hilde's expression. Hilde and Noin joined him.
"So, where are we gonna get the two together at? How are we gonna get them there without ruining it?" Noin asked, the first to regain her composure.
"Uhm, Heero's not in the greatest health right now and Duo'd kill me if I mentioned taking him there. If you guys can bring Relena with you, you can say that we invited you all over for a visit. I don't think she knows Heero's staying with us. It'd be best if neither of them figured it out, but it's a surprise. They'd have a better chance, this way they don't rethink whether they're right of wrong."
"I think that'd work! When do you think's the earliest we could come out there? The sooner the better. Relena's getting more depressed by the hour." Noin proclaimed, forgetting Milliardo was even there and that he was Relena's older brother. Noin had become good friends with Relena, and Relena had become somewhat of a little sister to her.
Milliardo stood back, arms crossed in front of him as he shook his head with a smug look on his face. It was just like Lucretzia to take control. Noin looked back at him and blushed. "Go ahead, you're doing a great job. Don't stop now."
"Oh I'm sorry Milliardo. I guess I just got a little too much into scheming. Whoops!" She said as she felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment.
Milliardo only joined Hilde and started to chuckle. This is why he loved Noin, and this is why he would continue to love her.
Noin joined in, but soon stopped and turned back to Hilde to continue scheming the surprise visit. "We can leave as soon as we can get a plane and as soon as you're ready."
"Well, why wait? I already talked to Duo and he says everything's cool with him. You'll have to check on the soonest flight to Skyeview. I don't know how soon you can get to the airport or how soon you could drag Relena from her room. Before you leave, call so we know when to get you. Duo and I that is."
Milliardo added quickly before Noin started talking. "The soonest we could leave would probably be tomorrow evening. We need to talk Relena into it first, and then we need get everything settled here before we leave. Will that be all right Hilde?"
"Absolutely! Duo would have to pick you up and then stop by my friend's house. Tomorrow evening I have a little study group with her. She has a lot of trouble in a couple of her classes, so I hope you wouldn't mind a little detour."
"Well, then it's settled. Let's go, we need to get packed and I need to get Relena ready and...." Noin began to ramble on, unlike her normal self as excitement welled inside of her.
"Settle down Lucretzia, we have plenty of time and we aren't leaving until tomorrow." Milliardo grabbed her shoulders and tried to calm her. She only burst out laughing and was joined by the prince and Hilde.
"Well, I'd better let you go then, sounds like it might take a while to get Relena out of her bed, let alone her room or even the castle. You have our number, right?" Hilde made sure things were going to work out.
"Yes, we've got everything taken or being taken care of. We'll plan the departure for tomorrow then?" Milliardo summarized.
"Absolutely!" cried Noin, then seeing that her love had directed it towards Hilde, replied. "Sorry."
"Ya," replied Hilde, or what she could manage through her giggles. This was just like planning a surprise party for a friend. But in truth, it was much more than that. This was one final boost to help Heero and Relena's love for each other. This was one final attempt to make things work, whether or not the two troubled lovers wanted the help or not. "Well, I'd better let ya go so that you can get everything settled. 'Bye!"
"Goodb..." Milliardo was cut off.
"Don't say that, just say 'Bye' or 'until next time' or even 'see ya later'. Don't you know the rule about this stuff? By the looks on your faces, I'd say not. Goodbye is something you say when you know you're never gonna see someone again. Just say something else; we'll see each other again. And hopefully, we still won't have two heart-broken love birds on our hands." Hilde was really picky about things like that. That was the last thing her mother had said to her before she died, and Hilde had lost someone that was very special to her. She just didn't like to hear or say goodbye.
"Well, until later then," Milliardo corrected himself. He smiled once more and disconnected the call. Turning towards Lucretzia, he spoke with a tired voice, "You may as well pack now. I need to see if I can't settle the little dispute with our guests. When Relena wakes, please come and get me if I'm not still in the meeting. Unless she's scared out of her mind again because of another nightmare, then just interrupt. If my sister isn't up when we finally finish the argument over the holy ruins, then you can find me in here again."
"Milliardo," Noin called in a coaxing tone, "you're wearing yourself out. You need to rest; by the way, when was the last time you actually slept?" She now stood behind him, gently massaging his stiff shoulders. She could feel him give into her as she continued, soothing the stiff muscles and sore joints.
"Night before last, I think."
A sigh escaped her lips as she continued, working on his slowly relaxing muscles. "Why can't they just agree on some rules for the place, share it, and make everyone happy? It's as simple as that. Why must people make things so complicated?" She finished his shoulders and neck, continuing to work her way down his back.
Milliardo thought, then turned to face her, a weary smile on his face. "It's so simple it might actually work. The laws for the area will pose a slight problem, but you just solved it Lucretzia. Just let them share the land! It's so simple I'm surprised no one else thought of it. They can learn to live in peace, no one majority rules and they can both use the land freely. It's perfect."
Noin, a look of bewilderment on her face, replied, "Sure, I guess. I was just rambling on, but if you think it'll work, then hey, have fun."
The Prince of the Cinq Kingdom bent and kissed Noin, though swiftly, as he released her lips and turned, heading for the door. Hesitating, he turned to face his princess and gave a quick, but gracious smile seconds before he strode off down the long corridors.
~*~
Hilde flexed her fingers as she took a momentary break from her English report. She already finished her Geography paper; it turned out to be twelve pages long. That took her about two hours. *I know your thinkin' OVER-ACHIEVER, but she just wants a good grade. BUT HEY, THERE'S NOTHIN' WRONG WITH BEING AN OVER-ACHIEVER! ~sobs~ ~giggles~ Okay, on with the story* She'd also finished her 50 Geometry proofs * man I hate those* and copied Maya's notes.
"Now just for the summary and conclusion and I'll finally have finished this! Now, to save it to my disk so I don't lose the report, then I can take a break and finish typing the last page and a half. C'mon, save, please save. Oh no, please, please, please don't freeze up on me! C'mon, I just typed seven pages worth!" She pleaded with the computer, for she stupidly forgot to save after the first couple of pages and then after the next couple and so on. The computer hesitated momentarily, but saved anyway. "YES!" *I'm not that mean, my computer actually did that to me! ~glares at computer screen~ It sucked, I had 22 pgs. typed and it wouldn't let me bring the file up so I had to retype it all!* Standing from her tiring seat at her desk, she stretched her cramping and stiff legs reaching her arms high above her head. A car pulled into the drive, catching the teen's attention. A smile spread across her face, "Duo's home."
Striding down the hall, she reached the front door and opened it, waving out to her boyfriend. A smile lit Duo's face as he jogged to Hilde, embracing her in a hug and kissing her offered lips. "How're things goin'," Duo questioned, holding Hilde close and looking into her eyes.
"Heero's been sleepin' since I last called, and we've got a plan." Hilde's eyes lit up and a mischievous grin played on her lips.
Duo only shook his head, smiling, knowing his girlfriend would come up with an ingenious plan. The question was, "what else could you have planned in this short time? Never mind, don't answer that one. And what do you mean we?"
"We. Milliardo, Noin, you, and me are all in this." She leaned in to give him a quick kiss, then pulling away, continued. "Tomorrow evening, Milliardo, Lucretzia, and Relena, are gonna board a plane and land in Skyeview." Duo rolled his eyes at the long drive. "We'll bring them here, after you pick me up from Maya's, remember, she called for a study group tomorrow because she needs help in English. We'll have to leave Heero here, but I'm sure he'll be all right. We'll have to awaken Heero, if he's still sleeping that is. I think it'd be better if he was, he seems really down on strength, but if he is, we'll have to do it quietly. Then, we'll go ahead and take Relena into the same room with him, and then we'll let them work out their problems face to face. I think this is probably the best, and last chance they have. I just want things to work out for them." Hilde leaned into Duo, letting him wrap his warm, strong, comforting arms around her, holding her as she had doubts about her plan. "But," feeling Duo caught slightly off guard, "what if it doesn't work? Then what can we do?"
Duo thought for a moment, then replied in confidence, "its going to work out, things always do sooner or later. Don't worry yourself too much about it, we'll deal with the problems as they come, just taking life one step at a time. It's much easier." He stretched the word much and got a small laugh out of the girl. "Uh, one request though?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Can we continue this inside? It's freezing out here!" Hilde laughed and turned as Duo led her into the cozy house. "That's much better. Now, lets see what we've got for lunch! I'm starving!" This got another giggle out of Hilde as he headed for the refrigerator to satisfy his need for food.
"You never change food first, everything else later, am I right?" She eyed him as he rummaged through its contents.
"Absolutely, well, except when there's nothin' good to eat. Hey Hilde, what do you want? Might as well take advantage of the mood I'm in and order take-out. I really don't want to cook or anything." Duo eyed his girlfriend as he gave up on the kitchen in hopelessness.
"Uhm, how about some Chinese food, we haven't had any in a while. I dunno, what do you feel like?" Hilde encircled his waist with her arms and looked into his cobalt blue eyes.
"Sounds good to me, though we should probably see if Heero wants any, or if he even feels up to eating anything. I'll go and see..." Duo began to turn from her, somewhat tiredly as he looked down the hall.
"You go get washed up and then sit down and rest, I'll check on him and then we can order. You know you don't want to trudge all the way down that hall just to see if your brother's awake, so just take it easy. Hey, I was telling Heero if he wanted to, I know he's good with machines, that maybe he could apply at the shop when he's feeling better. You guys could use the help and he'd have a job to maybe start over again. I don't know, I thought I'd just mention it and you might want to talk to him about. After all, you did tell me he lost his previous job because they closed and he hasn't been able to find one yet."
"Hey, I hadn't thought about that before, I'll talk to him. The guy's good with mechanics, that's for sure, and I will give him some money to save for a new start. Way to go Hilde!" He kissed her, then smudged some grease on her nose with his finger.
"Uh, you little..." she slapped him in the arm playfully, then ushered him off toward the kitchen as she headed down the hall, trying to rub the grease off of the tip of her nose, but only managed in smearing it. Coming upon Heero's door, she knocked softly, and just like the time before, she received no answer. Opening the door, she found him curled into a ball, his back to her. Crossing to the opposite side of the bed, she found he was awake, grimacing as he lay curled under the blankets. "Heero? Heero what's wrong?" She spoke softly to him, gently brushing his bangs out of his eyes.
"I-I don't know, I-I just..." he stopped gritting his teeth to keep from crying out. The same pain as yesterday that had taken over his body had returned, not as bad as before, but it was still there and causing him agony none the less. He couldn't do anything to make it go away, and it was really getting on his nerves. Why was all of this happening to him? What did he do to deserve this? He cringed and closed his eyes tighter still as another wave of fresh pain fell over his body.
"Heero, you've gotta tell me what's wrong. I can't do anything if I don't know what's wrong. Please, tell me Heero." Hilde continued to speak gently to him, squeezing his arm reassuringly, coaxing him to tell her what was wrong.
A groan escaped his throat; he didn't want to go through this again. Beads of sweat appeared, rolling down his face as he continued to fight the need to scream out. Holding in the pain didn't help any, it only built up. But he couldn't release it, he didn't know how to. So instead, he continued to bare the pain alone.
"Heero, you must tell me what's wrong, I can't help you unless you tell me." Hilde continued, only this time with firmness and determination.
"I-I don't know...it-it happened yesterday. Help me.... Hilde." He began to tremble, just as he had before, not being able to do anything about it. He opened his eyes to see her before him, sympathy and tenderness reflected upon her face. Breathing in short, shallow gasps, he allowed himself to be drawn up and into her warm embrace. He felt her rub his back in a soothing motion as he cowered in her arms. Feeling the blanket being wrapped around him once more, he shrank deeper into its depths seeking any comfort. "Wh- why is this happening t-to me?" he whispered in confusion. "Wh-what did I d- do?"
Hilde's heart cried out to him, feeling his pain and helplessness. Shaking in her grasp, she felt him lean into her as much as he possibly could, seeking her comfort. Steadying her voice, Hilde replied, "Oh Heero, you didn't do anything. Shhhh, it's not your fault, you did nothing wrong. Everything's going to be all right; it's going to be all right. I'm not going to leave you; everything's going to be all right." She continued to hold him, trying to take his pain away.
"Hilde?" Duo called down the hall, voice just above a whisper. Hilde had been taking a while, and he didn't want to awaken his brother if he was still asleep. "Duo, come here, now." Hilde's voice sounded calm, but something told him that things weren't going so great again. 'Oh no, here we go again,' the ex-pilot thought as he hurried down the hall towards his brother's room. Arriving, he watched, pursing his lips, shaking his head slightly from side to side. Heero lay in Hilde's arms once again, cuddling close to her; eyes squeezed shut in suffering. Hilde looked into his eyes, sympathy and sorrow mixing on her face. Crossing over gingerly to the bed, he took a seat next to the two. "God, what's wrong?" His voice trembled as he watched his brother; he looked like no more than a small child did. At this time, Heero wasn't even his new self. He was only a child; a little boy, confused, frightened, and hurting. "Should we call the hospital again?"
"Um, maybe we should call Cori, or see if we can't get a doctor here. It's gonna be really hard to get him anywhere like this." Hilde began to stroke his hair, rocking back and forth slightly, whispering things like, "It'll be all right," or, "Shhhh," or, "Don't worry, we're gonna take care of you now".
Letting a large sigh escape his throat, he nodded, "Ya, I'll call and see if Dr. McGowan can't come over and help us out. I hope he makes house calls." Duo placed his hand upon Heero's trembling arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "Don't worry, thing's are gonna be all right. Just hold on, man, just hold on." Heero granted Duo a small glance, he even tried to smile, but couldn't spare the strength, so he just gave Duo a small look before squeezing his eyes shut again and tried to take in breathes that were more than just a gasp.
Each second was a new struggle to keep from screaming out in anguish. Heero couldn't stand it any longer; he couldn't go through this in such a way. But how could he get rid of the pain? How could he let everything go without hurting himself or anyone else? He didn't want to experience pain. During the war, it was so easy. He was callous towards pain then, it didn't bother him. Yet, after the war, he'd grown soft and vulnerable. He felt regular emotions, he felt pain, and he wished most times he didn't.
Duo had already left and Hilde still sat with the hurting teen. Fatigue was obviously setting in, and if things kept going like this, they were gonna have to call the ambulance again. It was visible Heero was hurting, a lot. But he was keeping it mainly to himself which only seemed to make it worse. "Heero, go ahead and let out your pain. I can handle it; it's not helping to keep it hidden like this. Scream or something, you might find it helps a little in relieving some of the pain. Go ahead; just let the pain go." Hilde held his hand firmly in hers and felt him grasp it, holding it tightly even though she knew he was trying to restrain from hurting her. "You're not gonna hurt me, Heero. Just let the pain go." She felt his grip tighten immensely.
Heero had no choice; he couldn't handle this any more. He was afraid of the very thing Hilde said, actually hurting her. He tried to hold back, but it was no longer possible. After a couple of gasps, he felt his will give in as he let out a small scream, then a growl type of groan. Once he started he couldn't stop himself; he couldn't help but scream out again, a little louder this time. Slowly, ever so slightly, he felt the pain ease, but it came back as soon as he stopped. And again, he would let out a small scream, for he was no longer in control of his actions or words. This cry, just as before, was still a little louder. He felt Hilde's grip tighten upon his hand, reassuring him, urging him to spare his pain and allow her to help him. He opened his eyes ever so slightly, blinking back the tears that clouded over his vision. Casting his glance upward, he caught sight of Hilde and an almost familiar scene flashed before his eyes like a long lost memory. For a fleeting second, he didn't see Duo's girlfriend, but an older woman holding him close. She had long; cascading curls of honey brown hair, sparkling sapphire eyes, fair skin, and a mother's smile. He didn't know her, but felt as if he did. Like some part of his mind was remembering past the training, past the hurting, before the war, when he had had a family. When he'd had a mother. For the woman he was seeing now, all too familiar as his memory that he'd forgotten so long ago returned, was none other than his mother. Heero could still smell her lilac perfume, still hear her gentle voice singing him lullabies, still feel her loving touch. "M-m-mother?" whispered Heero, the last words he spoke before his eyes fell closed, and he lay limp in Hilde's arms.
Hilde brushed the fatigued teen's sweaty bangs from his eyes and off of his forehead. Heero's breathing was no more than shallow whispers, like a slight wind blowing through the trees. His grip upon her hand was now limp; a drastic change from the steel grasp that he'd held her hand in. He was at peace once more. "Rest now, dear Heero. You can finally rest now," wearily promised the young woman. Glancing up at the door, she saw Deathscythe's pilot looking on in regret, sympathy, and compassion. Yet, a smile of gratitude shone on his face as he leaned against the doorframe. Hilde nodded to the pilot, showing that it was all right for him to enter, and let her gaze fall to the still form in her arms.
Duo crossed over, inklings of curiosity filling his thoughts. Why had Heero called Hilde his mother? Duo wasn't even sure Heero knew his mother. Yet, he'd said it, but why, that's what got Duo. "Here, let me take him. We're gonna have to get back to the hospital, if anything it's just for some medication to stop his pain and whatever else is happening to him," adding the last phrase without hesitation upon seeing his girlfriend's distraught look. Taking the limp boy in his arms, Duo rose from the bed and watched as his girlfriend did the same. "You wanna put the blanket over him, just so he doesn't freeze when we take him out there?" He asked, hinting toward the fallen quilt. Hilde picked it up, folding it and wrapping it securely around the young man.
Hilde looked at Heero once more before leading Duo out of the room. Down the hall, out the front door, and into the bright afternoon sunlight that made the snow glitter as it lay across the once green lawn. Heading toward the car yet again, Hilde hurried in front of Duo and opened the back door on the passenger side so that Heero could lie across the back seats. As he did so, the young woman ran back to the house, snatched her car keys, locked the door, and headed back to where her boy- friend now stood. "Well, ready to go, again?" Giving him a slight smile, he nodded, then held his hand out to her.
"Here, I'll drive this time, you watch my brother. Plus, well, you look tired." Duo continued to hold out his hand for the keys as his girlfriend mulled over the proposition.
Smile widening, she only replied, "All right."
The two got in on their respected sides, then left the driveway as they headed down once more the all too familiar road to the hospital. This wasn't the first time they'd traveled this road, this path. It surly wouldn't be the last time, either.
~*~
Milliardo shook the hands of the Foreign Minister of the Sõhlìau and the representative for the Ïvuqùe as they finished signing the peace treaty. Peace would now come to the Holy Ruins of Çqueøýi, they'd finally settled their dispute over the area and now both majorities would own the ruins.
"Thank you greatly My Prince," Foreign Minister Ñuésräcue praised as he shook Milliardo's hand fiercely. A smile illuminated his face for his people could now live in peace. Releasing the prince's hand, a smile of gratitude continued to beam from his face.
"Many thanks My Prince, for we could never have done this without you. My people would have continued to fight and die; now they can live in peace." A great excitement and joy overcame Representative Onçìhìllâ and he not only shook the young prince's hand, but also embraced him in a quick, but strong hug. Releasing the stunned prince, the representative looked away sheepishly.
Milliardo stood back, gladdened to help, but he was sure at least five of his ribs were now broken and his wrist was probably sprained, if not broken for a sharp pain ran throughout his entire arm should he even try and move his fingers. "It was my privilege and pleasure, gentleman, to be able to help. When are you departing? You are welcome to stay as our guests," the prince offered, but silently he prayed they would leave so as not to prolong Relena's little surprise. Both men looked at each other, then looked back at him with regret as Milliardo returned the look. Inwardly he rejoiced.
Ñuésräcue replied, "We are sorry my lord, but we must get back and start this treaty immediately. Our people still fight and die, even through the cease-fire. We must leave as soon as possible. Please forgive us my lord." He bowed respectfully before the Cinq Prince.
Milliardo smiled, glad that they must depart so soon, it made things easier on his half of the scheming. "I understand, and we can arrange for a plane to depart as soon as you are ready to leave. We all do what we must." Man, being so formal and going about things in such high-class manners was even more of a pain than it was before. This is why he left this to Relena; she was used to it and knew how to deal with this.
"We will be ready shortly, my lord," looking over to get Onçìhìllâ's consent, continued, "Yes, we will be ready to leave shortly."
"I'll arrange for everything to be taken care of then. Pegin will be ready to drive you to the airport and I will already have the tickets and a flight ready for your departure. Is there anything else you need or want," he asked, hoping he could end the conversation quickly. The young prince was running low on energy and it'd been nearly two days since he'd slept.
"No my lord, we are fine, but thank you for offering," declined Onçìhìllâ as he headed toward the prince once more, offering his hand again.
Milliardo took it, though not willingly by his normal self. He had to be formal; he had to be polite. Thus, he endured the searing pain that shot through his arm once more as he made a feeble attempt to shake the man's hand. By this rate, it would just be easier to amputate the arm instead of trying to heal it. "If you'll excuse me gentleman, but I must check on my sister and so I'll leave you to your preparation." Pegin entered the room, "Please, show these men back to their quarter's Pegin."
"Yes sir," replied the butler, a cheery smile on his face.
With that, the Prince of the Cinq Kingdom left the room through an opposite door, cradling his arm with his right hand, but he was careful not to put any pressure on his ribs. If they weren't broken, they were bound to be bruised. Entering his room, he found Noin waiting for him, two small suitcases already packed, as they lay ready on the floor near his bed. Noin crossed over to meet him, a look of disapproval and worry etched on her face as she saw the prince cradle his injuries.
"What happened? I didn't hear anything about another war." She took his left arm in her hands and began to examine the reddening wrist.
"Oh, you didn't? It's a new war, it's called trying to be polite and formal while you pray you don't get killed while overjoyed representatives express their gratitude. I think I also escaped with a few broken ribs too." Milliardo gave a small chuckle, but regretted it.
Noin clucked her tongue at the older man before her. "Always playing soldier, aren't we Milliardo. No matter when, no matter where, you always have to play the soldier." Slightly bending his wrist and watching him wince, she was sure it was sprained. Heading away from him and into the master bedroom's large bathroom, she raided the closet until she found her medical kit. Exiting the bathroom, she found her love sitting on the bed, eyes closed in exhaustion. "After I finish tending to your "battle wounds", you should get some sleep. Relena is still asleep, and I can take care of things now that a peace treaty for the Çqueøýi Ruins is over and done with."
Heaving a weary sigh, he raised his blue eyes to Noin's. "I can't, I still have to get them a plane back to Ðhlévané, then arrange for everything to be taken care of here while we're gone." Allowing the young woman to take his sensitive wrist in her hand. She tended to his hand, gingerly wrapping his wrist with the cloth.
"Let me take care of it, I can handle this. You need to sleep before you put yourself in the hospital. If you put yourself there, it won't be minor either. You'll end up in the intensive care unit and we won't be going anywhere tomorrow or for a while after that." Laying him back against the bed, this he did not object to, and she began to unbutton his shirt. Replying to his confused look, Noin answered, "I've got to see if there's any damage to your ribs, if they were excited enough to sprain your wrist that badly, they may have also bruised or fractured a couple of your lower ribs." Shaking her head, she let out a quiet laugh as she gently placed her hand on his lower ribs and checked the tender area for any injury. A grimace told her she was right in assuming that his lower sets of ribs were bruised, surprisingly more than she expected from either of the two foreign men that she'd hastily met. They were both rather weak looking and short, but you don't judge a book by its cover.
Milliardo was too tired to object to Noin, and to hide his discomfort as Lucretzia's skilled hands crossed over his upper abdomen. Those representatives were short and weak- looking, but they were in truth extremely strong, the prince knew first hand. Fighting to stay awake, he spoke to Noin as she continued her investigation. "Have there been any problems with my sister?"
"Nope, she's been sleeping like a child the whole time," helping Milliardo up; she rummaged through her med. kit and looked for the larger wrap. He had some bruised ribs, nothing major, just more of an annoyance than anything else. "How'd this happen? Here stand up. What'd these guys do to you?" She allowed her self as small giggle as she had the prince raise his arms, thus making it much easier to wrap his ribs.
"A hug, that's it," Milliardo winced slightly as he felt the pressure of the wrap bare down on his chest.
"They're right, politics can kill." Noin laughed to herself as Milliardo rolled his eyes to her in a way of saying, 'Lucky you, you don't have to put up with this, so you can stop rubbing it in.' Lucretzia only began to laugh harder and harder still as Milliardo let out a disgusted sigh as if to say that she was to be on his side but was going against him. Finishing her handy work, she made the young prince lie down once again, he did object but didn't put up much of a fight do to sleep and exhaustion. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. "Go to sleep, I'll take care of it all now. You just rest my prince," she called as she finished pulling the blankets up to his shoulders, then kissed him on the forehead and silently left the room to take care of what still needed to be done.
~*~
"Well, to tell ya the truth guys, we have no idea what's wrong." Stated Dr. McGowen, shaking his head in confusion and defeat. Heero, Duo, and Hilde had been there for at least fifteen minutes now and every doctor in the hospital, was clueless as to what had happened to the unconscious, but frequent "visitor". They even called other doctors in the area, district, the top hospitals in the state, and even the top hospitals in the country! Still, everyone was clueless as to what and why this had happened. Heero was unconscious through all of this for he still hadn't waken up yet.
"Then how do we know how to help the guy if we don't even know what to treat?" Duo paced the room, head full of unanswered questions that were driving him crazy. He stopped at Hilde's touch, one that beckoned for him to remain calm, for they would get no where if they panicked.
"I don't know. I guess all we can do is give him something to make the pain less, more bearable, untill we find out what this is." Replied the doctor, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Well, I guess that'll have to do. He has been going through a lot of pain; I can't stand to see him have to go through any more. If Heero has to keep going through this, I'm afraid that it might severely hurt him if not kill him." Hilde looked at the bed where Heero lay, and cringed at the thought of what might happen if this kept going on.
"That's all I can really recommend." Dr. McGowen looked hopelessly at the clipboard that he held in his hands, trying to look for any clue as to what was wrong. He found nothing.
"Well, you said before that some of his problems were probably related to his war experiences, so couldn't this have something to do with it as well?" Cori piped up in hopes of trying to make a useful suggestion. She'd been called back in my Dr. McGowen in hopes that she might know something.
"It could, but how? How would this have triggered his reactions? How would the two be connected?" Dr. McGowen pressed a finger to his temple, thinking hard. His mind was in a whirlwind of questions, questions that he couldn't answer. Looking at the worried couple, then down to the young boy who greatly reminded him of his own son that had long since grown and move out on his own, he felt as an aching for the pain they were going through.
Duo, tearing his gaze from his tired brother, fell to his knees. "I-I-I can't do this anymore. I just can't stand it; I can't stand to see any more suffering." Holding his hands before him, he saw the blood of all he'd slain in order to live today, staining them, reminding him of a past that he wanted to forget, longed to forget. In a way, he knew that Heero's pain was also his fault, he didn't know how, he just knew it was his fault. Just as so many other things had been. Forgetting the feminine touch of the hand on his shoulder, he brought his own hands to his face, hiding the flood of emotions that begged to be released.
Hilde sat next to Duo, realizing that he couldn't keep being the strong one, that she was going to have to take it upon herself once again to be strong for all of them. "It's going to be okay sweet heart. Things are going to be okay; it's all going to be over soon. Just like a nightmare, it'll be gone." Crawling on her knees in front of her boyfriend, she hugged him, letting him lean his head on her shoulder and release his emotions, so many that he'd needed to release for so long, that he deserved to show. "It's going to be okay, everything's going to be okay," she cooed, stroking hair as she would a frightened child. Looking up, she watched the doctor and paramedic leave silently, understanding their need of privacy. "Go ahead Duo, let it out, there's no need to hide it now. I'll be here for you Duo, just go ahead and follow your emotions, just let them go. Just let them go."
~*~
Relena looked at the closed drapes and then turned on her back, closing her eyes once more. She had awakened due to another dream, but she was lucky enough to escape this one just as it was beginning to scare her. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she knew she wasn't alone in her room as she had previously thought. Wearily opening her eyes yet again, she caught sight of her best friend Lucretzia Noin, silently watching over her, yet her brother was no where to be seen. "Miss Noin, what time is it?" The princess managed between a yawn, "Where did my brother depart to?"
"Well hello my lady, it is already near 1 o'clock in the afternoon, finally decide to join us?" Crossing over to the young aristocrat, she smiled as she prepared herself to persuade the princess to leave the kingdom. "Your brother's asleep, he needs his rest. He's been up for almost two days straight!" She allowed herself a slight laugh. Taking a seat next to her "little sister", she placed her hand on Relena's arm and finished shaking her awake. "We got a proposition for ya my lady."
"I just want to go back to sleep Miss Noin, please, I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood for going anywhere." Relena tried to pull from her, but Noin held her arm with a firm determination. *sound familiar?*
"Now c'mon Relena. Just gimme a chance now. I think you'll like these next few announcements." Noin, clearing her throat, began. "First of all, while you were sleeping, Milliardo settled the argument over the Holy Ruins of Çqueøýi." Relena's interest perked and her eyes watched Noin thoughtfully. "The two groups are going to share the land, live in peace, and follow a set of laws that respects both majorities, thus, hopefully making both groups happy."
"I'm glad they can sort out their problems. I have a feeling you had some help in this though," sighing in content; she thought of her "arguement" with Heero and sank back into her depression. "Well, I'm glad they've made an agreement. It's good to see that they can work out their problems."
"Oh Relena, I'm sure that Heero would live to settle this and patch things up. I'm positive that..." the princess's blunt but saddened reply cut her off.
"He probably hates me now, I don't blame him. I want to work things out, but I don't even know where to begin. I don't even know where he is. I wouldn't know what to say...to make things better.... I just can't..." tears filled the princess's eyes as she tried to fight them off. Focusing on the ceiling, she blinked back the fresh wave of emotions that threatened to flood her.
"Well, maybe we can get some help there. I think if you were to speak to Heero again, you'd know what to say, I'm positive. As to where to find him, well, we'll have to look into that one." Lucretzia tried to make it sound as if she had no clue where the pilot was but was willing to look for him. She was pretty good at getting others to believe lies like these, helpful lies. "Duo and Hilde called, to see how you were doing but they called while you were asleep. They've invited us to visit them; it'd give us a chance to get away from all of this." She raised her arms to the palace around her. "Just to relax, take a break from the formal, demanding life and just live normally. Besides, you need to start getting out more and this'd be a perfect chance to leave all of your depressing thoughts here to accompany you later as you enjoy yourself for a little while."
Relena thought for a minute. Maybe she could escape the feeling of imprisonment, of hopelessness, of heartbreak. But then again... "I can't. I wouldn't feel right, and I'd just make it depressing for everyone else. You and my brother will just have to go on without me."
"No can do, Miss Relena. You're coming with, we've already told them you agreed to come as well. Plus, Milliardo and I aren't taking 'No' for an answer so don't think you're gonna get out of it just by calling Duo and telling him you aren't coming. If we have to drag you out of here, kicking and screaming, then so be it." Noin stated, her voice holding it's familiar firmness and authority, something that had sort of vanished after the end of the war.
An annoyed sigh was all she had of a rebuttal, and seeing she wasn't going to win this round, asked with some reluctance and frustration, "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow evening. You'd better get your stuff packed; we're staying for about a week. I've already taken care of everything else and your brother is still catching up on his sleep. I suggest that after you finish packing, you catch up on yours as well, all right?" A small groan was the only sound from the young lady. "I take that as a 'yes' or the only thing that's going to come close to one. While your doing that, I'm going to get us the tickets for around early tomorrow evening. It's going to take about four hours to get there, so we want to leave early enough so we don't end up getting there too late."
A short silence followed Noin's last comment, and then Relena's ears picked up the sound of footsteps heading toward the door, then leaving her room. "I'll get you back Milliardo, you did this just to spite me," mumbled the youth, slowly rising from her bed on unsure legs and headed toward her closet. She knew that they were going to make her go, whether she wanted to or not. Grabbing her suitcase from the floor, she began to pick out outfits, knowing that if she didn't her brother would pick out something she hated and make her wear that. All the while, she mumbled to herself about how rude and mean her brother was and how she would get him back for doing this to her. *sorry, Relena doesn't get told off...yet*
~*~
"Well, they know I'm not coming back in, Dave's says it's cool." Duo sat next to Hilde on the same couch, in the same room, of the same hospital that they had left the day before. The young pilot had finally finished his need to let his emotions free and felt better for it.
Hilde, holding Duo's strong yet gentle hand in her own, leaned against him, laying her head tiredly upon his right shoulder. She kept her eyes on the sleeping form of their friend; he looked so weak and fragile. It was ironic, how Heero'd survived the war and all of the various injuries that were inflicted upon him without trouble, yet the problems he faced now have done everything to him except to kill him. Surprising how something like this could stop him in his tracks. "You should probably try and get some more sleep, Duo. You've been wearing yourself out a bit these past few days and you could use the rest. Heero's not in any immediate danger or trouble, so there's no need to worry. C'mon, you know you're tired and have nothing better to do, why don't you at least try."
Shaking his head, Duo replied, "Naw, I'm fine. Besides, who's going to keep ya company if I'm passed out. I'll be cool; I'm actually kind of glad I don't have to go back to work today." Looking down at his girlfriend, he knew that no matter how much he would persist, she was going to make him get some sleep anyway. In truth, he felt like just giving into her and taking her offer. But he knew that he'd have to put up some kind of fight or something. Besides, he was more worried about his brother than himself.
"Fine, but when you start dozing off, I'm going to make you lay down. You've won for now, but that's only because I'm being nice," she stated, letting out a small giggle as she looked into his semi surprised blue eyes. She knew he'd be fighting for consciousness in a matter of moments, so she didn't bother to fight him on this one. And indeed she was right, for it was only five minutes later that his eyelids were half closed, and he couldn't seem to open them any further as he just struggled to keep them open period. "Here," she rose from the small couch and grabbed a pillow from the bed next to poor Heero and laved it next to Duo. Taking his shoulders, she laved him down, this he did with little to no protest, and bade him to sleep. Within seconds the young man was asleep once more, and all too familiar scene. Also grabbing the blanket from the vacant bed, she covered him, watching her love sink into its warm depths.
A small groan floated in the air behind Hilde, almost unnoticeable to the young girl. She wouldn't have even caught it had she not been trying to be extremely quiet so as not to reawaken Duo. Spinning quickly, she looked from where the sound originated, but saw nothing. There was no one else in the room except Duo, Heero, and her. Duo was sleeping and she knew she didn't make it, so... "Heero, are you awake?" She called softly, not wishing to disturb him if he still slept; it may have been something he did unconsciously. He stirred, then stopped, and slowly opened bloodshot eyes.
"Uh.... wh-where am I?" was his faint reply to the suddenly unfamiliar surroundings. His body ached all over, causing him great discomfort, but at least it wasn't as bad as before. This he was thankful of. Not only did he have to suffer this, but his previous pain from the evening of nausea, and now a migraine to go with it. Life just had to be a pain!
"Heero, it's okay. We're back in the hospital again. How're you feeling hijo?" By now, Hilde had crossed over to Heero's side and had taken his hand softly in hers in a sign that he was safe and to hopefully give him some comfort.
A familiar feminine voice reached his ears, even if he still couldn't make out where he was or whom he was with. Hilde's touch greeted him as he felt her squeeze his hand reassuringly in her own. Then, recalling that she'd just told him that they were in the hospital again, another groan escaped his throat, one full of regret and disgust. He was sure by this time Duo and Hilde were sick of caring for him and putting up with his medical emergencies. He was also sure that the doctors and nurses were sick of him as well. Things just never wanted to go his way, they never did.
"Heero? Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry Hilde," was all he could really manage at the time. He spoke in a whisper, but even the amplitude of this sound was enough to make his head pound.
Cocking her head to the right and staring at him with an inquisitive glance, she asked, "For what? You've done nothing of which you should be sorry." She sort of had a feeling of what he thought he should be sorry for.
"For being such a burden to you and Duo. Let me guess, he didn't go back into work for the last half of the day." Man, not only was he being an extreme pain to them, but he was also costing them their income. "I'll pay you back, I swear."
She was right, but why he kept thinking he was being a burden or that everything was his fault was beyond her. Heaving a sigh, she spoke with patience, "No, Duo didn't go back into work as we'd first planned. But in truth Heero, it's probably better he didn't. Right now he's still getting a much-needed rest and I'm glad. He's been overworking himself, pushing his body to the limits and beyond and he can only do it for so long before he'd end up in here like you. As for paying us back, we don't want you to worry about it. That's what friends are for, and it's not like we're gonna go bankrupt or anything. If you really want to pay us back for anything, all you have to do is get healthy, be happy, and live your life like you should. And this whole thing about being a burden? You'd better wipe the thought from your mind because you aren't. Believe me, if you were, I'd tell you right off the bat." At this she allowed herself a small giggle as she smiled at the youth. He was now looking at her with gratitude. "We love taking care of you, to be able to help you out. We love to have you around and off the record, I think you being here is doing wonders for Duo."
"Huh?" He looked at her in confusion. How was he actually helping Duo?
"Well, I think Duo's actually really missed you guys. Not so much the war, but just hanging around with you four. He seems more alive and like his old self now that you've arrived. Well, in more subtle ways than anything else, but he's doing better than he was before you called." Looking back at the sleeping form of her boyfriend, she smiled in content and then looked back at the young man before her who was now looking at her thoughtfully. "This is the absolute truth. You already know how good my skills are when it comes to lying."
Heero knew that she wasn't lying to him, she wasn't any good at it. His friends miss someone like him? He still didn't see how they could after all he'd done to the four of them. After all he'd put them through. Just like he'd put Relena through so much. 'Relena.' "Hilde?"
"Hhm?"
"You said, back at the house, that you had to speak to Duo about something, something to help me to be able to talk to Relena again and maybe even get back together. Will it work?" Hope filled his voice; Hilde was good at coming up with ingenious plans.
Outwardly, Hilde remain calm, but inwardly, she screamed and cursed herself for her habit of thinking out loud. She wasn't good at lying, so in this instance, she'd just screwed herself over. Then again, Hilde couldn't tell him the truth, it would mess everything up. 'I've got no choice except to lie, man I hate this! Why did I have to be such an idiot and speak out loud?!?!" Taking a deep breath, she cast her glance downwards and came up with a quick lie, "Sorry Heero, what I had planned won't work. It was an unrealistic plan from the beginning, but don't worry, I'm workin' on another one."
Heero's hope began to fade as they sat in silence. He'd really thought that whatever Hilde had in mind would work, allowing him to finally be with his love. Why did life always have to be so difficult for him? What had he done?! "It's all right, I was just hoping..."
"Hey! I didn't say we were defeated yet. Don't even think about giving up on me here, or I will get after you even in a public place like this. I'm pretty sure Duo wouldn't mind either, he was kind of upset that he didn't get to see me tell you off earlier today. Well, are you gonna give up on me again, or are you going to see what I've got up my sleeve?" She kept her voice down, but was sure to sound like she was ready to tell him off again. There wasn't much acting to that part, she actually felt that way.
Hilde was right, again. He wasn't giving her a chance; he was giving up too early in the game. So instead, Heero replied, "Well, what's plan B?"
"You're gonna have to wait a little while longer. I still need to work out a few bugs and see if it'll work before I go getting your hopes up." Seeing his somewhat reluctant look, added, "I'm just trying not to get my hopes up right now, or we'll both be in trouble if this one won't work." Giggling, she watched Heero smile, then he closed his eyes. "So, how you feeling?"
Ah, that question again. "Do you really have to ask?"
Hilde shook her head and smiled to herself, knowing that she'd asked, yet again, another stupid question.
"Absolutely awful."
The young woman looked back at Heero with sympathy. "We still don't know what's wrong, that'll stop your next question. As for what we can do, the doctor's got some medicine for you. It's practically just a really, really strong aspirin. You've really stumped the medical world with this one Heero." Allowing herself to laugh, she watched questions cross the young man's face once more.
"What do you mean?" Heero inquired.
"We've asked every one of the doctors in this hospital to try and diagnose you, and they were all at a loss. So we called every doctor in the district, still nothing. Then we tried the top doctors from the top hospitals in the state, still to no avail." By this time, Heero's mouth was hanging open slightly, a disbelieving look playing in his eyes. "Finally," she watched as Heero layed his head back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling, "finally, we called the top doctors of the top hospitals in the country, yet we still received the same answer. I think this will be the case that'll go down in the record books."
"Geeze, you guys seriously didn't have to go to all that trouble. And still you found nothing?" Speaking softly, he let his gaze fall once more to the young woman.
"Nope, not at thing." Looking at her watch, Hilde suddenly realized that she'd have company coming over in about twenty minutes. "Oops, Maya's supposed to come over after she got off of work. Humph. Well, I can always just call and tell her that she can't come over today. Knowing her, she'll come over and wait on the steps to the front door until we finally get there, even if it takes all night."
Looking at Hilde's face, Heero knew that he was disrupting their plans once again. If Hilde was going to have company, then he wasn't going to stop them from entertaining their guest. "I'll be fine Hilde, you and Duo can leave if you have someone coming over, don't worry about me." Seeing her disapproving look, he continued with yet another option as he slowly rose from his lying position, much to Hilde's dislike. "Or we can just leave now. You said it yourself; they don't know what's wrong with me and neither do we. Thus, they can't do anything for me other than give me some painkillers, so there's no use in staying." He forced himself not to show his great pain as he sat up, heading onto the next challenge, getting out of the bed without hurting himself.
"Uh, how about.... No. Lay down, you still aren't up to full strength and I don't want you hurting yourself. I told Maya anyway that it might change, her visiting, because you weren't in the best of shape. She won't mind. We aren't just gonna up and leave you here either. Heero, lay back down."
Heero paid her no mind, but instead swung his tired and aching legs over the edge of the bed, but he refused to acknowledge the pain that raced throughout his body. "Hilde, I'm not going to stay here any longer. Not unless you and Duo go home and leave me here. I'm not going to ruin your plans again. You've got two choices, leave me here and go home to take care of what you previously had planned, or we all leave now. No other choices." He felt his legs give under him as the room began to spin. Through the whirlwind of shapes, he was just able to catch himself with his arms as he held onto the bed for dear life. As the room began to slow, he found Hilde at his side, frustration evident. He only smiled and raised himself onto unsure legs, as he stood on his own. "Like I said, there's no other choice, so which do you choose? If you don't, I will, and we'll all be leaving this place immediately."
Taking a deep breath, Hilde began again. "We aren't leaving, and you are going to lie down and rest. Don't be restricting me to options, I make my own." She tried to help him back onto the bed, but Heero persisted in trying to make his way to the door. "Heero," she warned with firm determination.
Heero lost concentration on making his escape and looked at the young lady before him. Wrong choice. Loosing his grasp on the bed and not being able to support himself or grab onto it again, he fell to the floor, sending another wave of pain over his body. It also aggravated his headache, which still accompanied him. He felt a slight groan escape his lips, and in return he heard Hilde's worried voice, but didn't understand any of it.
"Duo, c'mon wake up, I need you again." She hated to have to continually call on Duo for assistance, but he was the only one there that really knew Heero and could really make him do anything if Heero's mind was set against it. "Heero, c'mon, talk to me. Let me know your okay. Heero?"
Duo awoke unenthusiastically, pushing himself off of the couch and rubbed his eyes. "Hild? What is it?" Looking around the room, he found his brother and girlfriend on the floor, Hilde nervously watching him. Rolling his eyes and heaving a sigh, Duo made his way to the two. "Lemme guess. He didn't feel like stayin' in bed again."
"Yep, I can't get him to listen to me, maybe you can." She glanced over at him, then to Heero as he began to respond to her beckoning.
"I-I'm not staying here. I gave you two choices; you didn't want to choose either, so I'm making the choice. We're leaving, or at least I am, even if I have to walk back. There's no use in trying to change my mind." Heero wasn't giving in, not this time.
"Whoa, now hold on a minute. I wasn't given any choices here, you mind explainin' this to me buddy?" Duo spoke in his normal humorous tone, hoping to calm his brother down.
"You have company coming over, and I gave Hilde two choices just as I shall give you," he spoke in his familiar monotone, something he hadn't done in a while. It felt kind of weird, but he continued anyway, "A) You both leave me here and go do whatever you had planned, this way I don't interrupt your plans, or B) We all leave now. Hilde just notified me that no one has been able to figure out what's going on, so there's no use in staying here. Choose." His gaze pierced Duo's as he waited for an answer.
Duo thought. He sure as heck wasn't going to leave him here alone. But he didn't want to take the chance of something happening while they were at home. Heero was back to his old stubborn self right now, and when he made up his mind, there was no stopping him. Not when he was in this mood.
"Choose now or I will Duo."
"Gimme a sec. Man, impatient aren't we. Considering the fact that you just told me, plus I'm not gonna risk anything happening to my bro or leave you here on your own, it's a bit of a hard decision to make." He turned to Hilde and gave her an apologizing look. "I can't make him do anything, not when he's in this mood. I'm sorry Hilde." Hilde was bound to be upset with him for not forcing Heero to get back into the bed and rest. But hey, what could he do? He couldn't change Heero's mind, that was just impossible. And if he tried to force Heero, his brother would probably just end up hurting himself even more, for he was bound to struggle. He'd feel a lot safer if Heero was at home with them, that way Duo could keep an eye on him.
Letting out a defeated sigh, Hilde understood Duo's intentions and his problem. "Fine, we'll all go home, considering that we aren't getting anywhere and that you are utterly hopeless, Heero." She gave him a wary look, and he returned it with one of understanding, but a firmness to stick to his decision. Helping him back onto his feet, the couple helped Heero back onto the bed, "You can't leave until we do get the medication and until Dr. McGowen signs you out. Who knows, he may have found something that could tell us what's happening to you," Hilde stated bluntly, replying to Heero's quizzical look.
"Man, that'd be nice. We could finally figure out what's wrong with ya buddy! Hey, what's wrong?" Duo was hoping Hilde was right about finding out what was wrong with his brother, but Heero was in another world all together. His eyes held a forlorn look.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. It's nothing Duo." Visions of Relena filled his mind, God he missed her. He wished he knew what was wrong with him so that he could concentrate on fixing things with Relena. He couldn't deny his love for her, he didn't want to. So much separated them, barriers and walls that he yearned to break, to tear down what held him from her. But until he knew what was wrong with him now, he was forced to keep his distance.
"Sure," was all he said, looking skeptically at 01. Dr. McGowen came in, head down as he stared at his clipboard, hair tousled and unkempt.
Heaving a sigh, the doctor looked up, somewhat stunned at first to see all three of the young adults awake, the mysterious Heero sitting up and speaking with his friends. "Do you like this place that much? You're a constant visitor here! We'll just have to start reserving this room for ya, and pretty much expect you back each day for something new. I swear, I'm only thirty but with your help, I'll look 300 years old before I reach thirty-one! This is one of those times where you wish Sherlock Holmes actually existed. You've stopped us at a dead end Heero." Running his trembling right hand through his hair, he laughed to himself as the young man only stared at him with an apologetic look.
"Well then I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am leaving now." Heero tried to hop off of the bed once again, but Duo placed his hand on his shoulder to signal that he was going to wait, whether he approved or not. Patiently he waited, sitting still upon the rock hard bed.
"You sure? If you're back here tomorrow, I swear I'm not going to let you leave that bed for a month, even if we have to chain you down. Then, after that, we're not gonna let you leave this hospital for ANOTHER month. So, are you sure you are ready to leave? I have nothing to hold you here, so there's nothing I can do." Chris's threats were in a joking tone, but he was joking by no means.
"Fine," was all Heero had to say, sensing that the doctor was speaking the absolute truth.
"Okay, then here, you're gonna want these." Tossing him the bottle of pills that he was going to have to take for the pain. Heero caught it one-handed with extreme ease and no thought. "You can take one of those every 12 hours, that's enough to last you for the entire length of the time period. You don't want to take it without food that's suicide for your stomach. Uhm...don't take any other aspirins or medication along those lines, for it will cause an overdose and send you straight back here, and....let's see.... I hope you know better than to take it with alcoholic beverages or using any other drugs along those lines, if not, you do now." Dr. McGowen thought for a moment, hoping he hadn't forgotten anything. "You can leave whenever you're ready then. I don't think there is anything I've forgotten to tell you, and if there is, I have your number." Smiling, seeing that there were no questions of him, Dr. McGowen turned and left the room.
Heero, taking the translucent orange bottle in his hand, began to stand from his tiring seat on the bed. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Jumping down, he allowed Duo to help him steady himself.
Duo's chuckles were quiet, but very noticeable, as he had to laugh at his brother for his impatience. Heading out the door, the wondered down the long hall toward the main entrance.
Author's Note:
*waves* Hey all, sorry it took so long, I've been working on it. Thanks to all my faithful readers and reviewers, GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! *hugs all* Okay, this chapter is a lil' long, and the next one should be up in no time. It's gonna be a lil' short, Ch. 7, but in the last half of eight, thing's start to get really, really fun! *grins ominously* Please keep reading, please review, and please, please look for my newly started story, "Heaven's Angel".
~*~Chapter 6~*~
The Scheming and the Hospital
Hilde couldn't stand it any longer. She'd raced to her room and grabbed the vid-phone, then sprinted back down the hall and into the kitchen where she sat at the counter. Hilde'd called Duo first, telling him of her little confrontation with his brother, then her little idea.
"What!? You told Heero off and the guy sat there and took it?!?! WOW!!!!! Then he actually listened to you and went back to bed and didn't bother to argue about any of that. Man, you musta scared the crap out of him if he didn't even bother to defend himself. Man, you just...MAN how'd you do it?!?!?! I don't think anyone's been able to do something like that without having a death wish. Sounds like you straightened him out, man," Duo shook his head in disbelief. "Geeze, that'll be one for the record books," he gave a small laugh.
"Do you think we'll be able to, it's the only thing I can think of? I just can't stand to see them suffer like this. It had to be a misunderstanding when they talked. What do you think Duo?" Hilde called as she watched Duo look thoughtfully at her.
"Huh? Oh, ya, sorry Hilde. I was just tryin' to imagine you tellin' Heero off like that. Man, I still don't believe it. But ya, go ahead, sounds like the best chance we've got."
"Hey, ya coming home for lunch, or is it still too early to tell?"
"Ya, I should be home." He looked back over his shoulder as he heard profanity coming from under a red Corsica. "Hey Lynn, you all right under there?"
Lynn piped up from the background, "Ya, this oil filter is just being stubborn. Tell Hilde I said hi!"
"Hi Lynn," Hilde called back. "Well, I'd better let you go Duo, sounds like Lynn might just need your expertise." Duo gave her a smug look.
"All right, love ya Hilde,"
"Love you too Duo, bye!" She hung up with Duo and immediately brought up the number for the Peacecrafts. After the first few rings the phone was answered. It was Milliardo, a curious but welcome look on his face. Noin sat by his side.
"Miss Hilde, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Milliardo greeted with a smile.
"Hello, please, just call me Hilde. There's no need to be so formal. Is Miss Relena there?" She asked, her warm smile turning into a frown as she looked curiously back at the couple.
"She's asleep right now; she's not feeling well. Can I give her a message for you Hilde?" Milliardo repeated the line as he asked politely. His sister wasn't feeling well and he wasn't going to awaken her.
"Milliardo, I know what's wrong with your sister. There's no need to hide it. Let me guess, she's upset about last night after she finished talking to Heero. If it makes you feel any better; the guy was a bit upset himself. I think I've got an idea though on how to help the two out."
Milliardo looked at her in confusion. "How did you know? You're right, but how did you know? Do you know where he is?"
"My prince, Heero is staying with us. Duo brought him here because he wasn't doing too good himself and we've just been having one heck of a time. His little conversation with Relena last night didn't help any. I'm sorry for being impatient, but I need your help. Are you going to help or not?" Hilde didn't mean to sound rude or impatient, but she needed answers so she could get everything ready. Once her mind started going, there was no stopping it.
"What did you have mind?" was all Milliardo had to say.
"We get the two together, then let them work things out on their own." It sounded simple enough. But then again, that's what she thought before.
"Do you two share the same thoughts or something," Noin questioned with a slight smile.
"I-I don't know, but if we do, thing's are going to start getting scary," commented the prince.
"What? You mean that's all you came up with too?" Asked an amused Hilde.
Milliardo only nodded and started to chuckle at Hilde's expression. Hilde and Noin joined him.
"So, where are we gonna get the two together at? How are we gonna get them there without ruining it?" Noin asked, the first to regain her composure.
"Uhm, Heero's not in the greatest health right now and Duo'd kill me if I mentioned taking him there. If you guys can bring Relena with you, you can say that we invited you all over for a visit. I don't think she knows Heero's staying with us. It'd be best if neither of them figured it out, but it's a surprise. They'd have a better chance, this way they don't rethink whether they're right of wrong."
"I think that'd work! When do you think's the earliest we could come out there? The sooner the better. Relena's getting more depressed by the hour." Noin proclaimed, forgetting Milliardo was even there and that he was Relena's older brother. Noin had become good friends with Relena, and Relena had become somewhat of a little sister to her.
Milliardo stood back, arms crossed in front of him as he shook his head with a smug look on his face. It was just like Lucretzia to take control. Noin looked back at him and blushed. "Go ahead, you're doing a great job. Don't stop now."
"Oh I'm sorry Milliardo. I guess I just got a little too much into scheming. Whoops!" She said as she felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment.
Milliardo only joined Hilde and started to chuckle. This is why he loved Noin, and this is why he would continue to love her.
Noin joined in, but soon stopped and turned back to Hilde to continue scheming the surprise visit. "We can leave as soon as we can get a plane and as soon as you're ready."
"Well, why wait? I already talked to Duo and he says everything's cool with him. You'll have to check on the soonest flight to Skyeview. I don't know how soon you can get to the airport or how soon you could drag Relena from her room. Before you leave, call so we know when to get you. Duo and I that is."
Milliardo added quickly before Noin started talking. "The soonest we could leave would probably be tomorrow evening. We need to talk Relena into it first, and then we need get everything settled here before we leave. Will that be all right Hilde?"
"Absolutely! Duo would have to pick you up and then stop by my friend's house. Tomorrow evening I have a little study group with her. She has a lot of trouble in a couple of her classes, so I hope you wouldn't mind a little detour."
"Well, then it's settled. Let's go, we need to get packed and I need to get Relena ready and...." Noin began to ramble on, unlike her normal self as excitement welled inside of her.
"Settle down Lucretzia, we have plenty of time and we aren't leaving until tomorrow." Milliardo grabbed her shoulders and tried to calm her. She only burst out laughing and was joined by the prince and Hilde.
"Well, I'd better let you go then, sounds like it might take a while to get Relena out of her bed, let alone her room or even the castle. You have our number, right?" Hilde made sure things were going to work out.
"Yes, we've got everything taken or being taken care of. We'll plan the departure for tomorrow then?" Milliardo summarized.
"Absolutely!" cried Noin, then seeing that her love had directed it towards Hilde, replied. "Sorry."
"Ya," replied Hilde, or what she could manage through her giggles. This was just like planning a surprise party for a friend. But in truth, it was much more than that. This was one final boost to help Heero and Relena's love for each other. This was one final attempt to make things work, whether or not the two troubled lovers wanted the help or not. "Well, I'd better let ya go so that you can get everything settled. 'Bye!"
"Goodb..." Milliardo was cut off.
"Don't say that, just say 'Bye' or 'until next time' or even 'see ya later'. Don't you know the rule about this stuff? By the looks on your faces, I'd say not. Goodbye is something you say when you know you're never gonna see someone again. Just say something else; we'll see each other again. And hopefully, we still won't have two heart-broken love birds on our hands." Hilde was really picky about things like that. That was the last thing her mother had said to her before she died, and Hilde had lost someone that was very special to her. She just didn't like to hear or say goodbye.
"Well, until later then," Milliardo corrected himself. He smiled once more and disconnected the call. Turning towards Lucretzia, he spoke with a tired voice, "You may as well pack now. I need to see if I can't settle the little dispute with our guests. When Relena wakes, please come and get me if I'm not still in the meeting. Unless she's scared out of her mind again because of another nightmare, then just interrupt. If my sister isn't up when we finally finish the argument over the holy ruins, then you can find me in here again."
"Milliardo," Noin called in a coaxing tone, "you're wearing yourself out. You need to rest; by the way, when was the last time you actually slept?" She now stood behind him, gently massaging his stiff shoulders. She could feel him give into her as she continued, soothing the stiff muscles and sore joints.
"Night before last, I think."
A sigh escaped her lips as she continued, working on his slowly relaxing muscles. "Why can't they just agree on some rules for the place, share it, and make everyone happy? It's as simple as that. Why must people make things so complicated?" She finished his shoulders and neck, continuing to work her way down his back.
Milliardo thought, then turned to face her, a weary smile on his face. "It's so simple it might actually work. The laws for the area will pose a slight problem, but you just solved it Lucretzia. Just let them share the land! It's so simple I'm surprised no one else thought of it. They can learn to live in peace, no one majority rules and they can both use the land freely. It's perfect."
Noin, a look of bewilderment on her face, replied, "Sure, I guess. I was just rambling on, but if you think it'll work, then hey, have fun."
The Prince of the Cinq Kingdom bent and kissed Noin, though swiftly, as he released her lips and turned, heading for the door. Hesitating, he turned to face his princess and gave a quick, but gracious smile seconds before he strode off down the long corridors.
~*~
Hilde flexed her fingers as she took a momentary break from her English report. She already finished her Geography paper; it turned out to be twelve pages long. That took her about two hours. *I know your thinkin' OVER-ACHIEVER, but she just wants a good grade. BUT HEY, THERE'S NOTHIN' WRONG WITH BEING AN OVER-ACHIEVER! ~sobs~ ~giggles~ Okay, on with the story* She'd also finished her 50 Geometry proofs * man I hate those* and copied Maya's notes.
"Now just for the summary and conclusion and I'll finally have finished this! Now, to save it to my disk so I don't lose the report, then I can take a break and finish typing the last page and a half. C'mon, save, please save. Oh no, please, please, please don't freeze up on me! C'mon, I just typed seven pages worth!" She pleaded with the computer, for she stupidly forgot to save after the first couple of pages and then after the next couple and so on. The computer hesitated momentarily, but saved anyway. "YES!" *I'm not that mean, my computer actually did that to me! ~glares at computer screen~ It sucked, I had 22 pgs. typed and it wouldn't let me bring the file up so I had to retype it all!* Standing from her tiring seat at her desk, she stretched her cramping and stiff legs reaching her arms high above her head. A car pulled into the drive, catching the teen's attention. A smile spread across her face, "Duo's home."
Striding down the hall, she reached the front door and opened it, waving out to her boyfriend. A smile lit Duo's face as he jogged to Hilde, embracing her in a hug and kissing her offered lips. "How're things goin'," Duo questioned, holding Hilde close and looking into her eyes.
"Heero's been sleepin' since I last called, and we've got a plan." Hilde's eyes lit up and a mischievous grin played on her lips.
Duo only shook his head, smiling, knowing his girlfriend would come up with an ingenious plan. The question was, "what else could you have planned in this short time? Never mind, don't answer that one. And what do you mean we?"
"We. Milliardo, Noin, you, and me are all in this." She leaned in to give him a quick kiss, then pulling away, continued. "Tomorrow evening, Milliardo, Lucretzia, and Relena, are gonna board a plane and land in Skyeview." Duo rolled his eyes at the long drive. "We'll bring them here, after you pick me up from Maya's, remember, she called for a study group tomorrow because she needs help in English. We'll have to leave Heero here, but I'm sure he'll be all right. We'll have to awaken Heero, if he's still sleeping that is. I think it'd be better if he was, he seems really down on strength, but if he is, we'll have to do it quietly. Then, we'll go ahead and take Relena into the same room with him, and then we'll let them work out their problems face to face. I think this is probably the best, and last chance they have. I just want things to work out for them." Hilde leaned into Duo, letting him wrap his warm, strong, comforting arms around her, holding her as she had doubts about her plan. "But," feeling Duo caught slightly off guard, "what if it doesn't work? Then what can we do?"
Duo thought for a moment, then replied in confidence, "its going to work out, things always do sooner or later. Don't worry yourself too much about it, we'll deal with the problems as they come, just taking life one step at a time. It's much easier." He stretched the word much and got a small laugh out of the girl. "Uh, one request though?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Can we continue this inside? It's freezing out here!" Hilde laughed and turned as Duo led her into the cozy house. "That's much better. Now, lets see what we've got for lunch! I'm starving!" This got another giggle out of Hilde as he headed for the refrigerator to satisfy his need for food.
"You never change food first, everything else later, am I right?" She eyed him as he rummaged through its contents.
"Absolutely, well, except when there's nothin' good to eat. Hey Hilde, what do you want? Might as well take advantage of the mood I'm in and order take-out. I really don't want to cook or anything." Duo eyed his girlfriend as he gave up on the kitchen in hopelessness.
"Uhm, how about some Chinese food, we haven't had any in a while. I dunno, what do you feel like?" Hilde encircled his waist with her arms and looked into his cobalt blue eyes.
"Sounds good to me, though we should probably see if Heero wants any, or if he even feels up to eating anything. I'll go and see..." Duo began to turn from her, somewhat tiredly as he looked down the hall.
"You go get washed up and then sit down and rest, I'll check on him and then we can order. You know you don't want to trudge all the way down that hall just to see if your brother's awake, so just take it easy. Hey, I was telling Heero if he wanted to, I know he's good with machines, that maybe he could apply at the shop when he's feeling better. You guys could use the help and he'd have a job to maybe start over again. I don't know, I thought I'd just mention it and you might want to talk to him about. After all, you did tell me he lost his previous job because they closed and he hasn't been able to find one yet."
"Hey, I hadn't thought about that before, I'll talk to him. The guy's good with mechanics, that's for sure, and I will give him some money to save for a new start. Way to go Hilde!" He kissed her, then smudged some grease on her nose with his finger.
"Uh, you little..." she slapped him in the arm playfully, then ushered him off toward the kitchen as she headed down the hall, trying to rub the grease off of the tip of her nose, but only managed in smearing it. Coming upon Heero's door, she knocked softly, and just like the time before, she received no answer. Opening the door, she found him curled into a ball, his back to her. Crossing to the opposite side of the bed, she found he was awake, grimacing as he lay curled under the blankets. "Heero? Heero what's wrong?" She spoke softly to him, gently brushing his bangs out of his eyes.
"I-I don't know, I-I just..." he stopped gritting his teeth to keep from crying out. The same pain as yesterday that had taken over his body had returned, not as bad as before, but it was still there and causing him agony none the less. He couldn't do anything to make it go away, and it was really getting on his nerves. Why was all of this happening to him? What did he do to deserve this? He cringed and closed his eyes tighter still as another wave of fresh pain fell over his body.
"Heero, you've gotta tell me what's wrong. I can't do anything if I don't know what's wrong. Please, tell me Heero." Hilde continued to speak gently to him, squeezing his arm reassuringly, coaxing him to tell her what was wrong.
A groan escaped his throat; he didn't want to go through this again. Beads of sweat appeared, rolling down his face as he continued to fight the need to scream out. Holding in the pain didn't help any, it only built up. But he couldn't release it, he didn't know how to. So instead, he continued to bare the pain alone.
"Heero, you must tell me what's wrong, I can't help you unless you tell me." Hilde continued, only this time with firmness and determination.
"I-I don't know...it-it happened yesterday. Help me.... Hilde." He began to tremble, just as he had before, not being able to do anything about it. He opened his eyes to see her before him, sympathy and tenderness reflected upon her face. Breathing in short, shallow gasps, he allowed himself to be drawn up and into her warm embrace. He felt her rub his back in a soothing motion as he cowered in her arms. Feeling the blanket being wrapped around him once more, he shrank deeper into its depths seeking any comfort. "Wh- why is this happening t-to me?" he whispered in confusion. "Wh-what did I d- do?"
Hilde's heart cried out to him, feeling his pain and helplessness. Shaking in her grasp, she felt him lean into her as much as he possibly could, seeking her comfort. Steadying her voice, Hilde replied, "Oh Heero, you didn't do anything. Shhhh, it's not your fault, you did nothing wrong. Everything's going to be all right; it's going to be all right. I'm not going to leave you; everything's going to be all right." She continued to hold him, trying to take his pain away.
"Hilde?" Duo called down the hall, voice just above a whisper. Hilde had been taking a while, and he didn't want to awaken his brother if he was still asleep. "Duo, come here, now." Hilde's voice sounded calm, but something told him that things weren't going so great again. 'Oh no, here we go again,' the ex-pilot thought as he hurried down the hall towards his brother's room. Arriving, he watched, pursing his lips, shaking his head slightly from side to side. Heero lay in Hilde's arms once again, cuddling close to her; eyes squeezed shut in suffering. Hilde looked into his eyes, sympathy and sorrow mixing on her face. Crossing over gingerly to the bed, he took a seat next to the two. "God, what's wrong?" His voice trembled as he watched his brother; he looked like no more than a small child did. At this time, Heero wasn't even his new self. He was only a child; a little boy, confused, frightened, and hurting. "Should we call the hospital again?"
"Um, maybe we should call Cori, or see if we can't get a doctor here. It's gonna be really hard to get him anywhere like this." Hilde began to stroke his hair, rocking back and forth slightly, whispering things like, "It'll be all right," or, "Shhhh," or, "Don't worry, we're gonna take care of you now".
Letting a large sigh escape his throat, he nodded, "Ya, I'll call and see if Dr. McGowan can't come over and help us out. I hope he makes house calls." Duo placed his hand upon Heero's trembling arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "Don't worry, thing's are gonna be all right. Just hold on, man, just hold on." Heero granted Duo a small glance, he even tried to smile, but couldn't spare the strength, so he just gave Duo a small look before squeezing his eyes shut again and tried to take in breathes that were more than just a gasp.
Each second was a new struggle to keep from screaming out in anguish. Heero couldn't stand it any longer; he couldn't go through this in such a way. But how could he get rid of the pain? How could he let everything go without hurting himself or anyone else? He didn't want to experience pain. During the war, it was so easy. He was callous towards pain then, it didn't bother him. Yet, after the war, he'd grown soft and vulnerable. He felt regular emotions, he felt pain, and he wished most times he didn't.
Duo had already left and Hilde still sat with the hurting teen. Fatigue was obviously setting in, and if things kept going like this, they were gonna have to call the ambulance again. It was visible Heero was hurting, a lot. But he was keeping it mainly to himself which only seemed to make it worse. "Heero, go ahead and let out your pain. I can handle it; it's not helping to keep it hidden like this. Scream or something, you might find it helps a little in relieving some of the pain. Go ahead; just let the pain go." Hilde held his hand firmly in hers and felt him grasp it, holding it tightly even though she knew he was trying to restrain from hurting her. "You're not gonna hurt me, Heero. Just let the pain go." She felt his grip tighten immensely.
Heero had no choice; he couldn't handle this any more. He was afraid of the very thing Hilde said, actually hurting her. He tried to hold back, but it was no longer possible. After a couple of gasps, he felt his will give in as he let out a small scream, then a growl type of groan. Once he started he couldn't stop himself; he couldn't help but scream out again, a little louder this time. Slowly, ever so slightly, he felt the pain ease, but it came back as soon as he stopped. And again, he would let out a small scream, for he was no longer in control of his actions or words. This cry, just as before, was still a little louder. He felt Hilde's grip tighten upon his hand, reassuring him, urging him to spare his pain and allow her to help him. He opened his eyes ever so slightly, blinking back the tears that clouded over his vision. Casting his glance upward, he caught sight of Hilde and an almost familiar scene flashed before his eyes like a long lost memory. For a fleeting second, he didn't see Duo's girlfriend, but an older woman holding him close. She had long; cascading curls of honey brown hair, sparkling sapphire eyes, fair skin, and a mother's smile. He didn't know her, but felt as if he did. Like some part of his mind was remembering past the training, past the hurting, before the war, when he had had a family. When he'd had a mother. For the woman he was seeing now, all too familiar as his memory that he'd forgotten so long ago returned, was none other than his mother. Heero could still smell her lilac perfume, still hear her gentle voice singing him lullabies, still feel her loving touch. "M-m-mother?" whispered Heero, the last words he spoke before his eyes fell closed, and he lay limp in Hilde's arms.
Hilde brushed the fatigued teen's sweaty bangs from his eyes and off of his forehead. Heero's breathing was no more than shallow whispers, like a slight wind blowing through the trees. His grip upon her hand was now limp; a drastic change from the steel grasp that he'd held her hand in. He was at peace once more. "Rest now, dear Heero. You can finally rest now," wearily promised the young woman. Glancing up at the door, she saw Deathscythe's pilot looking on in regret, sympathy, and compassion. Yet, a smile of gratitude shone on his face as he leaned against the doorframe. Hilde nodded to the pilot, showing that it was all right for him to enter, and let her gaze fall to the still form in her arms.
Duo crossed over, inklings of curiosity filling his thoughts. Why had Heero called Hilde his mother? Duo wasn't even sure Heero knew his mother. Yet, he'd said it, but why, that's what got Duo. "Here, let me take him. We're gonna have to get back to the hospital, if anything it's just for some medication to stop his pain and whatever else is happening to him," adding the last phrase without hesitation upon seeing his girlfriend's distraught look. Taking the limp boy in his arms, Duo rose from the bed and watched as his girlfriend did the same. "You wanna put the blanket over him, just so he doesn't freeze when we take him out there?" He asked, hinting toward the fallen quilt. Hilde picked it up, folding it and wrapping it securely around the young man.
Hilde looked at Heero once more before leading Duo out of the room. Down the hall, out the front door, and into the bright afternoon sunlight that made the snow glitter as it lay across the once green lawn. Heading toward the car yet again, Hilde hurried in front of Duo and opened the back door on the passenger side so that Heero could lie across the back seats. As he did so, the young woman ran back to the house, snatched her car keys, locked the door, and headed back to where her boy- friend now stood. "Well, ready to go, again?" Giving him a slight smile, he nodded, then held his hand out to her.
"Here, I'll drive this time, you watch my brother. Plus, well, you look tired." Duo continued to hold out his hand for the keys as his girlfriend mulled over the proposition.
Smile widening, she only replied, "All right."
The two got in on their respected sides, then left the driveway as they headed down once more the all too familiar road to the hospital. This wasn't the first time they'd traveled this road, this path. It surly wouldn't be the last time, either.
~*~
Milliardo shook the hands of the Foreign Minister of the Sõhlìau and the representative for the Ïvuqùe as they finished signing the peace treaty. Peace would now come to the Holy Ruins of Çqueøýi, they'd finally settled their dispute over the area and now both majorities would own the ruins.
"Thank you greatly My Prince," Foreign Minister Ñuésräcue praised as he shook Milliardo's hand fiercely. A smile illuminated his face for his people could now live in peace. Releasing the prince's hand, a smile of gratitude continued to beam from his face.
"Many thanks My Prince, for we could never have done this without you. My people would have continued to fight and die; now they can live in peace." A great excitement and joy overcame Representative Onçìhìllâ and he not only shook the young prince's hand, but also embraced him in a quick, but strong hug. Releasing the stunned prince, the representative looked away sheepishly.
Milliardo stood back, gladdened to help, but he was sure at least five of his ribs were now broken and his wrist was probably sprained, if not broken for a sharp pain ran throughout his entire arm should he even try and move his fingers. "It was my privilege and pleasure, gentleman, to be able to help. When are you departing? You are welcome to stay as our guests," the prince offered, but silently he prayed they would leave so as not to prolong Relena's little surprise. Both men looked at each other, then looked back at him with regret as Milliardo returned the look. Inwardly he rejoiced.
Ñuésräcue replied, "We are sorry my lord, but we must get back and start this treaty immediately. Our people still fight and die, even through the cease-fire. We must leave as soon as possible. Please forgive us my lord." He bowed respectfully before the Cinq Prince.
Milliardo smiled, glad that they must depart so soon, it made things easier on his half of the scheming. "I understand, and we can arrange for a plane to depart as soon as you are ready to leave. We all do what we must." Man, being so formal and going about things in such high-class manners was even more of a pain than it was before. This is why he left this to Relena; she was used to it and knew how to deal with this.
"We will be ready shortly, my lord," looking over to get Onçìhìllâ's consent, continued, "Yes, we will be ready to leave shortly."
"I'll arrange for everything to be taken care of then. Pegin will be ready to drive you to the airport and I will already have the tickets and a flight ready for your departure. Is there anything else you need or want," he asked, hoping he could end the conversation quickly. The young prince was running low on energy and it'd been nearly two days since he'd slept.
"No my lord, we are fine, but thank you for offering," declined Onçìhìllâ as he headed toward the prince once more, offering his hand again.
Milliardo took it, though not willingly by his normal self. He had to be formal; he had to be polite. Thus, he endured the searing pain that shot through his arm once more as he made a feeble attempt to shake the man's hand. By this rate, it would just be easier to amputate the arm instead of trying to heal it. "If you'll excuse me gentleman, but I must check on my sister and so I'll leave you to your preparation." Pegin entered the room, "Please, show these men back to their quarter's Pegin."
"Yes sir," replied the butler, a cheery smile on his face.
With that, the Prince of the Cinq Kingdom left the room through an opposite door, cradling his arm with his right hand, but he was careful not to put any pressure on his ribs. If they weren't broken, they were bound to be bruised. Entering his room, he found Noin waiting for him, two small suitcases already packed, as they lay ready on the floor near his bed. Noin crossed over to meet him, a look of disapproval and worry etched on her face as she saw the prince cradle his injuries.
"What happened? I didn't hear anything about another war." She took his left arm in her hands and began to examine the reddening wrist.
"Oh, you didn't? It's a new war, it's called trying to be polite and formal while you pray you don't get killed while overjoyed representatives express their gratitude. I think I also escaped with a few broken ribs too." Milliardo gave a small chuckle, but regretted it.
Noin clucked her tongue at the older man before her. "Always playing soldier, aren't we Milliardo. No matter when, no matter where, you always have to play the soldier." Slightly bending his wrist and watching him wince, she was sure it was sprained. Heading away from him and into the master bedroom's large bathroom, she raided the closet until she found her medical kit. Exiting the bathroom, she found her love sitting on the bed, eyes closed in exhaustion. "After I finish tending to your "battle wounds", you should get some sleep. Relena is still asleep, and I can take care of things now that a peace treaty for the Çqueøýi Ruins is over and done with."
Heaving a weary sigh, he raised his blue eyes to Noin's. "I can't, I still have to get them a plane back to Ðhlévané, then arrange for everything to be taken care of here while we're gone." Allowing the young woman to take his sensitive wrist in her hand. She tended to his hand, gingerly wrapping his wrist with the cloth.
"Let me take care of it, I can handle this. You need to sleep before you put yourself in the hospital. If you put yourself there, it won't be minor either. You'll end up in the intensive care unit and we won't be going anywhere tomorrow or for a while after that." Laying him back against the bed, this he did not object to, and she began to unbutton his shirt. Replying to his confused look, Noin answered, "I've got to see if there's any damage to your ribs, if they were excited enough to sprain your wrist that badly, they may have also bruised or fractured a couple of your lower ribs." Shaking her head, she let out a quiet laugh as she gently placed her hand on his lower ribs and checked the tender area for any injury. A grimace told her she was right in assuming that his lower sets of ribs were bruised, surprisingly more than she expected from either of the two foreign men that she'd hastily met. They were both rather weak looking and short, but you don't judge a book by its cover.
Milliardo was too tired to object to Noin, and to hide his discomfort as Lucretzia's skilled hands crossed over his upper abdomen. Those representatives were short and weak- looking, but they were in truth extremely strong, the prince knew first hand. Fighting to stay awake, he spoke to Noin as she continued her investigation. "Have there been any problems with my sister?"
"Nope, she's been sleeping like a child the whole time," helping Milliardo up; she rummaged through her med. kit and looked for the larger wrap. He had some bruised ribs, nothing major, just more of an annoyance than anything else. "How'd this happen? Here stand up. What'd these guys do to you?" She allowed her self as small giggle as she had the prince raise his arms, thus making it much easier to wrap his ribs.
"A hug, that's it," Milliardo winced slightly as he felt the pressure of the wrap bare down on his chest.
"They're right, politics can kill." Noin laughed to herself as Milliardo rolled his eyes to her in a way of saying, 'Lucky you, you don't have to put up with this, so you can stop rubbing it in.' Lucretzia only began to laugh harder and harder still as Milliardo let out a disgusted sigh as if to say that she was to be on his side but was going against him. Finishing her handy work, she made the young prince lie down once again, he did object but didn't put up much of a fight do to sleep and exhaustion. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. "Go to sleep, I'll take care of it all now. You just rest my prince," she called as she finished pulling the blankets up to his shoulders, then kissed him on the forehead and silently left the room to take care of what still needed to be done.
~*~
"Well, to tell ya the truth guys, we have no idea what's wrong." Stated Dr. McGowen, shaking his head in confusion and defeat. Heero, Duo, and Hilde had been there for at least fifteen minutes now and every doctor in the hospital, was clueless as to what had happened to the unconscious, but frequent "visitor". They even called other doctors in the area, district, the top hospitals in the state, and even the top hospitals in the country! Still, everyone was clueless as to what and why this had happened. Heero was unconscious through all of this for he still hadn't waken up yet.
"Then how do we know how to help the guy if we don't even know what to treat?" Duo paced the room, head full of unanswered questions that were driving him crazy. He stopped at Hilde's touch, one that beckoned for him to remain calm, for they would get no where if they panicked.
"I don't know. I guess all we can do is give him something to make the pain less, more bearable, untill we find out what this is." Replied the doctor, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Well, I guess that'll have to do. He has been going through a lot of pain; I can't stand to see him have to go through any more. If Heero has to keep going through this, I'm afraid that it might severely hurt him if not kill him." Hilde looked at the bed where Heero lay, and cringed at the thought of what might happen if this kept going on.
"That's all I can really recommend." Dr. McGowen looked hopelessly at the clipboard that he held in his hands, trying to look for any clue as to what was wrong. He found nothing.
"Well, you said before that some of his problems were probably related to his war experiences, so couldn't this have something to do with it as well?" Cori piped up in hopes of trying to make a useful suggestion. She'd been called back in my Dr. McGowen in hopes that she might know something.
"It could, but how? How would this have triggered his reactions? How would the two be connected?" Dr. McGowen pressed a finger to his temple, thinking hard. His mind was in a whirlwind of questions, questions that he couldn't answer. Looking at the worried couple, then down to the young boy who greatly reminded him of his own son that had long since grown and move out on his own, he felt as an aching for the pain they were going through.
Duo, tearing his gaze from his tired brother, fell to his knees. "I-I-I can't do this anymore. I just can't stand it; I can't stand to see any more suffering." Holding his hands before him, he saw the blood of all he'd slain in order to live today, staining them, reminding him of a past that he wanted to forget, longed to forget. In a way, he knew that Heero's pain was also his fault, he didn't know how, he just knew it was his fault. Just as so many other things had been. Forgetting the feminine touch of the hand on his shoulder, he brought his own hands to his face, hiding the flood of emotions that begged to be released.
Hilde sat next to Duo, realizing that he couldn't keep being the strong one, that she was going to have to take it upon herself once again to be strong for all of them. "It's going to be okay sweet heart. Things are going to be okay; it's all going to be over soon. Just like a nightmare, it'll be gone." Crawling on her knees in front of her boyfriend, she hugged him, letting him lean his head on her shoulder and release his emotions, so many that he'd needed to release for so long, that he deserved to show. "It's going to be okay, everything's going to be okay," she cooed, stroking hair as she would a frightened child. Looking up, she watched the doctor and paramedic leave silently, understanding their need of privacy. "Go ahead Duo, let it out, there's no need to hide it now. I'll be here for you Duo, just go ahead and follow your emotions, just let them go. Just let them go."
~*~
Relena looked at the closed drapes and then turned on her back, closing her eyes once more. She had awakened due to another dream, but she was lucky enough to escape this one just as it was beginning to scare her. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she knew she wasn't alone in her room as she had previously thought. Wearily opening her eyes yet again, she caught sight of her best friend Lucretzia Noin, silently watching over her, yet her brother was no where to be seen. "Miss Noin, what time is it?" The princess managed between a yawn, "Where did my brother depart to?"
"Well hello my lady, it is already near 1 o'clock in the afternoon, finally decide to join us?" Crossing over to the young aristocrat, she smiled as she prepared herself to persuade the princess to leave the kingdom. "Your brother's asleep, he needs his rest. He's been up for almost two days straight!" She allowed herself a slight laugh. Taking a seat next to her "little sister", she placed her hand on Relena's arm and finished shaking her awake. "We got a proposition for ya my lady."
"I just want to go back to sleep Miss Noin, please, I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood for going anywhere." Relena tried to pull from her, but Noin held her arm with a firm determination. *sound familiar?*
"Now c'mon Relena. Just gimme a chance now. I think you'll like these next few announcements." Noin, clearing her throat, began. "First of all, while you were sleeping, Milliardo settled the argument over the Holy Ruins of Çqueøýi." Relena's interest perked and her eyes watched Noin thoughtfully. "The two groups are going to share the land, live in peace, and follow a set of laws that respects both majorities, thus, hopefully making both groups happy."
"I'm glad they can sort out their problems. I have a feeling you had some help in this though," sighing in content; she thought of her "arguement" with Heero and sank back into her depression. "Well, I'm glad they've made an agreement. It's good to see that they can work out their problems."
"Oh Relena, I'm sure that Heero would live to settle this and patch things up. I'm positive that..." the princess's blunt but saddened reply cut her off.
"He probably hates me now, I don't blame him. I want to work things out, but I don't even know where to begin. I don't even know where he is. I wouldn't know what to say...to make things better.... I just can't..." tears filled the princess's eyes as she tried to fight them off. Focusing on the ceiling, she blinked back the fresh wave of emotions that threatened to flood her.
"Well, maybe we can get some help there. I think if you were to speak to Heero again, you'd know what to say, I'm positive. As to where to find him, well, we'll have to look into that one." Lucretzia tried to make it sound as if she had no clue where the pilot was but was willing to look for him. She was pretty good at getting others to believe lies like these, helpful lies. "Duo and Hilde called, to see how you were doing but they called while you were asleep. They've invited us to visit them; it'd give us a chance to get away from all of this." She raised her arms to the palace around her. "Just to relax, take a break from the formal, demanding life and just live normally. Besides, you need to start getting out more and this'd be a perfect chance to leave all of your depressing thoughts here to accompany you later as you enjoy yourself for a little while."
Relena thought for a minute. Maybe she could escape the feeling of imprisonment, of hopelessness, of heartbreak. But then again... "I can't. I wouldn't feel right, and I'd just make it depressing for everyone else. You and my brother will just have to go on without me."
"No can do, Miss Relena. You're coming with, we've already told them you agreed to come as well. Plus, Milliardo and I aren't taking 'No' for an answer so don't think you're gonna get out of it just by calling Duo and telling him you aren't coming. If we have to drag you out of here, kicking and screaming, then so be it." Noin stated, her voice holding it's familiar firmness and authority, something that had sort of vanished after the end of the war.
An annoyed sigh was all she had of a rebuttal, and seeing she wasn't going to win this round, asked with some reluctance and frustration, "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow evening. You'd better get your stuff packed; we're staying for about a week. I've already taken care of everything else and your brother is still catching up on his sleep. I suggest that after you finish packing, you catch up on yours as well, all right?" A small groan was the only sound from the young lady. "I take that as a 'yes' or the only thing that's going to come close to one. While your doing that, I'm going to get us the tickets for around early tomorrow evening. It's going to take about four hours to get there, so we want to leave early enough so we don't end up getting there too late."
A short silence followed Noin's last comment, and then Relena's ears picked up the sound of footsteps heading toward the door, then leaving her room. "I'll get you back Milliardo, you did this just to spite me," mumbled the youth, slowly rising from her bed on unsure legs and headed toward her closet. She knew that they were going to make her go, whether she wanted to or not. Grabbing her suitcase from the floor, she began to pick out outfits, knowing that if she didn't her brother would pick out something she hated and make her wear that. All the while, she mumbled to herself about how rude and mean her brother was and how she would get him back for doing this to her. *sorry, Relena doesn't get told off...yet*
~*~
"Well, they know I'm not coming back in, Dave's says it's cool." Duo sat next to Hilde on the same couch, in the same room, of the same hospital that they had left the day before. The young pilot had finally finished his need to let his emotions free and felt better for it.
Hilde, holding Duo's strong yet gentle hand in her own, leaned against him, laying her head tiredly upon his right shoulder. She kept her eyes on the sleeping form of their friend; he looked so weak and fragile. It was ironic, how Heero'd survived the war and all of the various injuries that were inflicted upon him without trouble, yet the problems he faced now have done everything to him except to kill him. Surprising how something like this could stop him in his tracks. "You should probably try and get some more sleep, Duo. You've been wearing yourself out a bit these past few days and you could use the rest. Heero's not in any immediate danger or trouble, so there's no need to worry. C'mon, you know you're tired and have nothing better to do, why don't you at least try."
Shaking his head, Duo replied, "Naw, I'm fine. Besides, who's going to keep ya company if I'm passed out. I'll be cool; I'm actually kind of glad I don't have to go back to work today." Looking down at his girlfriend, he knew that no matter how much he would persist, she was going to make him get some sleep anyway. In truth, he felt like just giving into her and taking her offer. But he knew that he'd have to put up some kind of fight or something. Besides, he was more worried about his brother than himself.
"Fine, but when you start dozing off, I'm going to make you lay down. You've won for now, but that's only because I'm being nice," she stated, letting out a small giggle as she looked into his semi surprised blue eyes. She knew he'd be fighting for consciousness in a matter of moments, so she didn't bother to fight him on this one. And indeed she was right, for it was only five minutes later that his eyelids were half closed, and he couldn't seem to open them any further as he just struggled to keep them open period. "Here," she rose from the small couch and grabbed a pillow from the bed next to poor Heero and laved it next to Duo. Taking his shoulders, she laved him down, this he did with little to no protest, and bade him to sleep. Within seconds the young man was asleep once more, and all too familiar scene. Also grabbing the blanket from the vacant bed, she covered him, watching her love sink into its warm depths.
A small groan floated in the air behind Hilde, almost unnoticeable to the young girl. She wouldn't have even caught it had she not been trying to be extremely quiet so as not to reawaken Duo. Spinning quickly, she looked from where the sound originated, but saw nothing. There was no one else in the room except Duo, Heero, and her. Duo was sleeping and she knew she didn't make it, so... "Heero, are you awake?" She called softly, not wishing to disturb him if he still slept; it may have been something he did unconsciously. He stirred, then stopped, and slowly opened bloodshot eyes.
"Uh.... wh-where am I?" was his faint reply to the suddenly unfamiliar surroundings. His body ached all over, causing him great discomfort, but at least it wasn't as bad as before. This he was thankful of. Not only did he have to suffer this, but his previous pain from the evening of nausea, and now a migraine to go with it. Life just had to be a pain!
"Heero, it's okay. We're back in the hospital again. How're you feeling hijo?" By now, Hilde had crossed over to Heero's side and had taken his hand softly in hers in a sign that he was safe and to hopefully give him some comfort.
A familiar feminine voice reached his ears, even if he still couldn't make out where he was or whom he was with. Hilde's touch greeted him as he felt her squeeze his hand reassuringly in her own. Then, recalling that she'd just told him that they were in the hospital again, another groan escaped his throat, one full of regret and disgust. He was sure by this time Duo and Hilde were sick of caring for him and putting up with his medical emergencies. He was also sure that the doctors and nurses were sick of him as well. Things just never wanted to go his way, they never did.
"Heero? Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry Hilde," was all he could really manage at the time. He spoke in a whisper, but even the amplitude of this sound was enough to make his head pound.
Cocking her head to the right and staring at him with an inquisitive glance, she asked, "For what? You've done nothing of which you should be sorry." She sort of had a feeling of what he thought he should be sorry for.
"For being such a burden to you and Duo. Let me guess, he didn't go back into work for the last half of the day." Man, not only was he being an extreme pain to them, but he was also costing them their income. "I'll pay you back, I swear."
She was right, but why he kept thinking he was being a burden or that everything was his fault was beyond her. Heaving a sigh, she spoke with patience, "No, Duo didn't go back into work as we'd first planned. But in truth Heero, it's probably better he didn't. Right now he's still getting a much-needed rest and I'm glad. He's been overworking himself, pushing his body to the limits and beyond and he can only do it for so long before he'd end up in here like you. As for paying us back, we don't want you to worry about it. That's what friends are for, and it's not like we're gonna go bankrupt or anything. If you really want to pay us back for anything, all you have to do is get healthy, be happy, and live your life like you should. And this whole thing about being a burden? You'd better wipe the thought from your mind because you aren't. Believe me, if you were, I'd tell you right off the bat." At this she allowed herself a small giggle as she smiled at the youth. He was now looking at her with gratitude. "We love taking care of you, to be able to help you out. We love to have you around and off the record, I think you being here is doing wonders for Duo."
"Huh?" He looked at her in confusion. How was he actually helping Duo?
"Well, I think Duo's actually really missed you guys. Not so much the war, but just hanging around with you four. He seems more alive and like his old self now that you've arrived. Well, in more subtle ways than anything else, but he's doing better than he was before you called." Looking back at the sleeping form of her boyfriend, she smiled in content and then looked back at the young man before her who was now looking at her thoughtfully. "This is the absolute truth. You already know how good my skills are when it comes to lying."
Heero knew that she wasn't lying to him, she wasn't any good at it. His friends miss someone like him? He still didn't see how they could after all he'd done to the four of them. After all he'd put them through. Just like he'd put Relena through so much. 'Relena.' "Hilde?"
"Hhm?"
"You said, back at the house, that you had to speak to Duo about something, something to help me to be able to talk to Relena again and maybe even get back together. Will it work?" Hope filled his voice; Hilde was good at coming up with ingenious plans.
Outwardly, Hilde remain calm, but inwardly, she screamed and cursed herself for her habit of thinking out loud. She wasn't good at lying, so in this instance, she'd just screwed herself over. Then again, Hilde couldn't tell him the truth, it would mess everything up. 'I've got no choice except to lie, man I hate this! Why did I have to be such an idiot and speak out loud?!?!" Taking a deep breath, she cast her glance downwards and came up with a quick lie, "Sorry Heero, what I had planned won't work. It was an unrealistic plan from the beginning, but don't worry, I'm workin' on another one."
Heero's hope began to fade as they sat in silence. He'd really thought that whatever Hilde had in mind would work, allowing him to finally be with his love. Why did life always have to be so difficult for him? What had he done?! "It's all right, I was just hoping..."
"Hey! I didn't say we were defeated yet. Don't even think about giving up on me here, or I will get after you even in a public place like this. I'm pretty sure Duo wouldn't mind either, he was kind of upset that he didn't get to see me tell you off earlier today. Well, are you gonna give up on me again, or are you going to see what I've got up my sleeve?" She kept her voice down, but was sure to sound like she was ready to tell him off again. There wasn't much acting to that part, she actually felt that way.
Hilde was right, again. He wasn't giving her a chance; he was giving up too early in the game. So instead, Heero replied, "Well, what's plan B?"
"You're gonna have to wait a little while longer. I still need to work out a few bugs and see if it'll work before I go getting your hopes up." Seeing his somewhat reluctant look, added, "I'm just trying not to get my hopes up right now, or we'll both be in trouble if this one won't work." Giggling, she watched Heero smile, then he closed his eyes. "So, how you feeling?"
Ah, that question again. "Do you really have to ask?"
Hilde shook her head and smiled to herself, knowing that she'd asked, yet again, another stupid question.
"Absolutely awful."
The young woman looked back at Heero with sympathy. "We still don't know what's wrong, that'll stop your next question. As for what we can do, the doctor's got some medicine for you. It's practically just a really, really strong aspirin. You've really stumped the medical world with this one Heero." Allowing herself to laugh, she watched questions cross the young man's face once more.
"What do you mean?" Heero inquired.
"We've asked every one of the doctors in this hospital to try and diagnose you, and they were all at a loss. So we called every doctor in the district, still nothing. Then we tried the top doctors from the top hospitals in the state, still to no avail." By this time, Heero's mouth was hanging open slightly, a disbelieving look playing in his eyes. "Finally," she watched as Heero layed his head back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling, "finally, we called the top doctors of the top hospitals in the country, yet we still received the same answer. I think this will be the case that'll go down in the record books."
"Geeze, you guys seriously didn't have to go to all that trouble. And still you found nothing?" Speaking softly, he let his gaze fall once more to the young woman.
"Nope, not at thing." Looking at her watch, Hilde suddenly realized that she'd have company coming over in about twenty minutes. "Oops, Maya's supposed to come over after she got off of work. Humph. Well, I can always just call and tell her that she can't come over today. Knowing her, she'll come over and wait on the steps to the front door until we finally get there, even if it takes all night."
Looking at Hilde's face, Heero knew that he was disrupting their plans once again. If Hilde was going to have company, then he wasn't going to stop them from entertaining their guest. "I'll be fine Hilde, you and Duo can leave if you have someone coming over, don't worry about me." Seeing her disapproving look, he continued with yet another option as he slowly rose from his lying position, much to Hilde's dislike. "Or we can just leave now. You said it yourself; they don't know what's wrong with me and neither do we. Thus, they can't do anything for me other than give me some painkillers, so there's no use in staying." He forced himself not to show his great pain as he sat up, heading onto the next challenge, getting out of the bed without hurting himself.
"Uh, how about.... No. Lay down, you still aren't up to full strength and I don't want you hurting yourself. I told Maya anyway that it might change, her visiting, because you weren't in the best of shape. She won't mind. We aren't just gonna up and leave you here either. Heero, lay back down."
Heero paid her no mind, but instead swung his tired and aching legs over the edge of the bed, but he refused to acknowledge the pain that raced throughout his body. "Hilde, I'm not going to stay here any longer. Not unless you and Duo go home and leave me here. I'm not going to ruin your plans again. You've got two choices, leave me here and go home to take care of what you previously had planned, or we all leave now. No other choices." He felt his legs give under him as the room began to spin. Through the whirlwind of shapes, he was just able to catch himself with his arms as he held onto the bed for dear life. As the room began to slow, he found Hilde at his side, frustration evident. He only smiled and raised himself onto unsure legs, as he stood on his own. "Like I said, there's no other choice, so which do you choose? If you don't, I will, and we'll all be leaving this place immediately."
Taking a deep breath, Hilde began again. "We aren't leaving, and you are going to lie down and rest. Don't be restricting me to options, I make my own." She tried to help him back onto the bed, but Heero persisted in trying to make his way to the door. "Heero," she warned with firm determination.
Heero lost concentration on making his escape and looked at the young lady before him. Wrong choice. Loosing his grasp on the bed and not being able to support himself or grab onto it again, he fell to the floor, sending another wave of pain over his body. It also aggravated his headache, which still accompanied him. He felt a slight groan escape his lips, and in return he heard Hilde's worried voice, but didn't understand any of it.
"Duo, c'mon wake up, I need you again." She hated to have to continually call on Duo for assistance, but he was the only one there that really knew Heero and could really make him do anything if Heero's mind was set against it. "Heero, c'mon, talk to me. Let me know your okay. Heero?"
Duo awoke unenthusiastically, pushing himself off of the couch and rubbed his eyes. "Hild? What is it?" Looking around the room, he found his brother and girlfriend on the floor, Hilde nervously watching him. Rolling his eyes and heaving a sigh, Duo made his way to the two. "Lemme guess. He didn't feel like stayin' in bed again."
"Yep, I can't get him to listen to me, maybe you can." She glanced over at him, then to Heero as he began to respond to her beckoning.
"I-I'm not staying here. I gave you two choices; you didn't want to choose either, so I'm making the choice. We're leaving, or at least I am, even if I have to walk back. There's no use in trying to change my mind." Heero wasn't giving in, not this time.
"Whoa, now hold on a minute. I wasn't given any choices here, you mind explainin' this to me buddy?" Duo spoke in his normal humorous tone, hoping to calm his brother down.
"You have company coming over, and I gave Hilde two choices just as I shall give you," he spoke in his familiar monotone, something he hadn't done in a while. It felt kind of weird, but he continued anyway, "A) You both leave me here and go do whatever you had planned, this way I don't interrupt your plans, or B) We all leave now. Hilde just notified me that no one has been able to figure out what's going on, so there's no use in staying here. Choose." His gaze pierced Duo's as he waited for an answer.
Duo thought. He sure as heck wasn't going to leave him here alone. But he didn't want to take the chance of something happening while they were at home. Heero was back to his old stubborn self right now, and when he made up his mind, there was no stopping him. Not when he was in this mood.
"Choose now or I will Duo."
"Gimme a sec. Man, impatient aren't we. Considering the fact that you just told me, plus I'm not gonna risk anything happening to my bro or leave you here on your own, it's a bit of a hard decision to make." He turned to Hilde and gave her an apologizing look. "I can't make him do anything, not when he's in this mood. I'm sorry Hilde." Hilde was bound to be upset with him for not forcing Heero to get back into the bed and rest. But hey, what could he do? He couldn't change Heero's mind, that was just impossible. And if he tried to force Heero, his brother would probably just end up hurting himself even more, for he was bound to struggle. He'd feel a lot safer if Heero was at home with them, that way Duo could keep an eye on him.
Letting out a defeated sigh, Hilde understood Duo's intentions and his problem. "Fine, we'll all go home, considering that we aren't getting anywhere and that you are utterly hopeless, Heero." She gave him a wary look, and he returned it with one of understanding, but a firmness to stick to his decision. Helping him back onto his feet, the couple helped Heero back onto the bed, "You can't leave until we do get the medication and until Dr. McGowen signs you out. Who knows, he may have found something that could tell us what's happening to you," Hilde stated bluntly, replying to Heero's quizzical look.
"Man, that'd be nice. We could finally figure out what's wrong with ya buddy! Hey, what's wrong?" Duo was hoping Hilde was right about finding out what was wrong with his brother, but Heero was in another world all together. His eyes held a forlorn look.
"Huh? Oh, nothing. It's nothing Duo." Visions of Relena filled his mind, God he missed her. He wished he knew what was wrong with him so that he could concentrate on fixing things with Relena. He couldn't deny his love for her, he didn't want to. So much separated them, barriers and walls that he yearned to break, to tear down what held him from her. But until he knew what was wrong with him now, he was forced to keep his distance.
"Sure," was all he said, looking skeptically at 01. Dr. McGowen came in, head down as he stared at his clipboard, hair tousled and unkempt.
Heaving a sigh, the doctor looked up, somewhat stunned at first to see all three of the young adults awake, the mysterious Heero sitting up and speaking with his friends. "Do you like this place that much? You're a constant visitor here! We'll just have to start reserving this room for ya, and pretty much expect you back each day for something new. I swear, I'm only thirty but with your help, I'll look 300 years old before I reach thirty-one! This is one of those times where you wish Sherlock Holmes actually existed. You've stopped us at a dead end Heero." Running his trembling right hand through his hair, he laughed to himself as the young man only stared at him with an apologetic look.
"Well then I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am leaving now." Heero tried to hop off of the bed once again, but Duo placed his hand on his shoulder to signal that he was going to wait, whether he approved or not. Patiently he waited, sitting still upon the rock hard bed.
"You sure? If you're back here tomorrow, I swear I'm not going to let you leave that bed for a month, even if we have to chain you down. Then, after that, we're not gonna let you leave this hospital for ANOTHER month. So, are you sure you are ready to leave? I have nothing to hold you here, so there's nothing I can do." Chris's threats were in a joking tone, but he was joking by no means.
"Fine," was all Heero had to say, sensing that the doctor was speaking the absolute truth.
"Okay, then here, you're gonna want these." Tossing him the bottle of pills that he was going to have to take for the pain. Heero caught it one-handed with extreme ease and no thought. "You can take one of those every 12 hours, that's enough to last you for the entire length of the time period. You don't want to take it without food that's suicide for your stomach. Uhm...don't take any other aspirins or medication along those lines, for it will cause an overdose and send you straight back here, and....let's see.... I hope you know better than to take it with alcoholic beverages or using any other drugs along those lines, if not, you do now." Dr. McGowen thought for a moment, hoping he hadn't forgotten anything. "You can leave whenever you're ready then. I don't think there is anything I've forgotten to tell you, and if there is, I have your number." Smiling, seeing that there were no questions of him, Dr. McGowen turned and left the room.
Heero, taking the translucent orange bottle in his hand, began to stand from his tiring seat on the bed. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Jumping down, he allowed Duo to help him steady himself.
Duo's chuckles were quiet, but very noticeable, as he had to laugh at his brother for his impatience. Heading out the door, the wondered down the long hall toward the main entrance.
Author's Note:
*waves* Hey all, sorry it took so long, I've been working on it. Thanks to all my faithful readers and reviewers, GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! *hugs all* Okay, this chapter is a lil' long, and the next one should be up in no time. It's gonna be a lil' short, Ch. 7, but in the last half of eight, thing's start to get really, really fun! *grins ominously* Please keep reading, please review, and please, please look for my newly started story, "Heaven's Angel".