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.
~*~Chapter 11~*~
Wondrous Miracle or Tormenting Curse?
A week later
It had been a full week after the fire, but still they stayed by Heero's side. Duo and Hilde didn't have a lot of other places to go, though Maya had offered the a place to stay as long as they needed it. They were also offered a home at the Sanq Kingdom, with Quatre and they were pretty sure the others would offer, but Wufei was living in the dorm areas of the spacecrafts on watch and Trowa was still traveling with the circus. Wufei was using his month's worth of leave and Sally and others were trading off on his shifts. The circus had moved on, but Trowa had stayed and he would catch up with them later, Cathy understood and could make the manager see. As for Quatre, his sisters were taking care of what needed to be done again, leaving him to sit with his friends. The Prince and Princess of the Sanq Kingdom along with Lucrezia stayed as well, postponing everything until Heero was well.
Relena opened her eyes to be met with soft sunlight streaming in through the window, winter snow still glistening over the cool ground. Sitting up, she looked back at Heero who was still "just sleeping" in her mind. In the back of her mind, she knew what was actually wrong with her prince and that he wasn't just sleeping. Yet, she believed so much that he was after that night that she didn't want to acknowledge anything else. As she had done so many times before, she took up his wrapped hand and held it gently in hers. "It's morning, it's time to wake up. Come on sleepyhead, you've got to wake up so we can go home."
Duo entered the room with Hilde, his arm still in the sling though it was against his will. He was sure that by now he was fine and that he didn't need the stupid handicap, but with a warning glare from Hilde, he wore it reluctantly. "Good morning Relena, have you been taking care of him for us?"
Relena nodded, smiling as she turned to find Duo and Hilde walk up behind her. "He's waking up."
Duo smiled at her, knowing that she was still in a world of her own and that she was probably just thinking what she wanted to happen. "Then tell him that we're here and he doesn't have anything to be afraid of."
Relena nodded again, squeezing Heero's hand. She wasn't lying about this, she wasn't just making things up. "Okay, but I think he wants to talk to you." Holding his hand, Relena felt a slight squeeze back. "See?" She looked back at Heero who was starting to awaken from his long rest.
Hilde looked at their friend, her eyes opening wide in disbelief. Heero was responsive. He tried to look at his surroundings by the movements of his head and he evidentially could hear them and was aware of their presence. "Duo....turn around and look at this. I might be hallucinating or something...."
Duo turned to find that Heero's still form was no longer still. "Holy Mary Mother of God...."
Heero didn't know where he was or whether or not he was awake. He could feel pain race through his body and it was hard to breathe at his own time, something else was doing it for him. When he tried to open his eyes and look about, he couldn't see anything but a black void. The only thing that told him of his surroundings were the voices that floated to his ears, soft and tired but there and comforting. He wanted to speak out, but he couldn't and thus remained silent. Relena's innocent voice came to him first and he could feel someone holding his hand, a gentle and feminine touch. It had to be Relena and he felt nervous all over again, he didn't have a clue as to why she was there and if it was for pity, then he'd rather she wasn't there. Duo and Hilde also spoke in the room around him, their voices seeming to come from in front of him but he knew that they weren't the only ones in the room. But who the other's were, he didn't know. All he could remember was the nightmare, the fire, then trying to push the scorching boards off of him but he didn't have the strength. Then, the pain as he tried to breathe, his gasps echoing in his ears as he inhaled breath upon breath of black smoke. Then he didn't remember anything, everything else was a mystery to his mind.
Duo sat speechless for a few moments more before speaking. "Uh, Hild? Why don't you go see if you can't find the doctor...." Feeling her brush past him, he walked slowly up to Heero's side. "Hey buddy, can you hear me?"
Heero felt Duo move to his left side, his voice skeptical. Since he couldn't talk at the time and he didn't know where exactly Duo was, he raised his left hand slowly and tried to reach out for him. When Duo's hand met his and held it in an assuring manner, he felt himself grow more comfortable. He knew that he would be fine as long as his friend was there.
Duo held Heero's searching hand for a moment before placing back on the bed. "Don't worry buddy, you're in the hospital and everything's okay. Chris came in just for you and has been taking care of you this entire time. I think he's probably already adopted you, as many times as you've been here and under his care." Giving a soft laugh, he tried to lighten the mood as he looked over to Relena, the young princess beginning to giggle as well as she listened. "Looks like things didn't turn out as planned, but we brought your princess back, Hilde did just like she said she would. Though most of it was behind your back, I know, I'll pay for it later. Anyway, she's not your only visitor man, the others are here as well, though Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa are kinda sleeping at the time. We're glad you're back with us man, you don't know how many times we though we'd lost ya. You really know how to scare the daylights out of others." Looking up, he found Hilde to be bringing in the weary Dr. McGowan.
Chris looked at Heero and shook his head. "Okay, next time you decide to do this, can you please start scheduling this or something, especially if you're going to miraculously wake up? I've been here more in this one week than I have in my entire career! Glad to have you back in the world with us Heero..." Smiling, he crossed over to the young man's bed and checked the last of the I.V.'s that continually drained into his arms. "We should be able to get rid of these in a few minutes, make you a little more comfortable.
Heero really wished he could speak to them, he had a lot of questions to ask and he really hated being left in the dark. But how could he? Letting go of Relena's hand, he pretended to be holding a writing utensil and scribbling something down, hoping that they would get the idea.
Relena caught his movements and smiled. "I told you all, he wants to talk to you. See?"
Duo nodded, chuckling softly. "Very good Relena." He laughed again upon seeing her proud smile. He sat and waited while he watched the doctor take a pen from his jacket and snatch a piece of paper from the back of his clipboard and place it on top.
Chris took the clipboard and placed it under the young man's hand, gently placing the pen in his right hand. Heero began to write almost instantly.
"Why can't I breathe on my own?"
Chris read the question aloud then answered it without hesitation. "You're on a ventilator, it's been breathing for you for the past week. You'd slipped into a coma on the way here to the hospital. We really didn't expect for you to wake up this early. We'll go ahead and take out the tube when you're stronger and ready, we don't really want to chance things right now."
"Why can't I see?"
Chris had to think about this a little longer. "Right now, you have bandages covering your eyes, the smoke and heat from the flames damaged them some and today we should be able to take them off." Sighing, he decided to add the last part. "I'm not going to lie to you, there is a possibility that you could have lost your eyesight, the damage wasn't as minor as it could have been."
Heero let the pen drop at this, he didn't want to acknowledge it. Lose his eyesight? That could mean everything to him, and what good was he to anyone if he couldn't even see? He'd always have to be taken care of, and if there was hope for being with Relena, then it was gone now. His hope had left him, what was the use of even being there, fighting for life?
Duo looked at Heero and could sense his distraught feelings. "Hey, you can't give up yet, that's only a possibility. We won't know until later and if you do lose it, then we can still help you out. You haven't lost yet, if someone can live life as a blind person better than one can with sight, then why should it be something bad? We'll get through this together as we did the war and everything else."
"God I hope you're right Duo...."
~*~
Heero sat up, his body sore and his throat raw from the smoke, but he could breathe on his own again and he could talk. Reaching out with unsure fingers, he searched the bed for Relena's hand once more. He'd heard confusing conversations between her and Milliardo, she didn't seem to be herself when he first awoke but now she was back to normal. She'd already claimed over and over again that she was sorry for what she'd said when they'd last spoken and for not trusting him, but he tried to assure her it wasn't her fault and that everything was all right. The others had slept through this, but he could feel them awaken as the room stirred with life. "...tired?...." He called at hearing another stir, unsure of which he was talking to but he smirked, even if to breathe caused him discomfort, let alone talking.
Trowa heard the word spoken by a familiar voice from his uncomfortable bed in a chair. Rubbing his eyes and opening them, he looked up to find Heero sitting up and waiting an answer. "Holy crap!" He blurted out the words as he sat straight up in the chair, nearly falling over with it. Standing, he looked skeptically at Relena who was startled by this time and then to his smirking friend.
Heero heard the exclamation and only widened his smirk, oh how he would have loved to see Trowa's face at that time. Shaking his head slightly, he listened to Trowa cross over to them as he held Relena's hand reassuringly.
"Relena, when did he wake up?"
"Earlier this morning when you were still asleep. He's been up since around 9:00 a.m. and has been alert and responsive. I'm sorry if I was a bit out of my own senses Trowa, I guess I couldn't grab a hold of myself at the time." Relena spoke with her normal poised and friendly tone, the childlike spirit gone from her voice as it was replaced with that of a grown woman.
Trowa looked at her, surprised at her return from her child-like state of mind. "I.... what.... forget it, I'm not even going to try and understand what happened when I was asleep. I just hope I'm not hallucinating..."
"What ever happened.... to that steel nerve of yours? I may not see you.... but I can tell that... you're far from composed." Heero spoke softly to save his voice and his throat, wincing slightly but it wouldn't have really been noticeable, so he didn't try to hide it. Instead, he searched with his hand for Trowa's position, laying his hand gently on his friend's arm and smiling. ".... thank you... for being here... for me."
Trowa smiled and nodded. "What else is family for? Besides, someone had to be here to make sure that you didn't go chasing the nurses and patronizing the doctors." Placing his hand on Heero's, he gave it a friendly squeeze before turning to find Quatre awakening. "Hang on..." Walking over to him, Trowa took his friend's shoulders in his hands, steadying the drowsy aristocrat. "Quatre, hey you'll never guess who finally came around."
Quatre opened his eyes to find Trowa smiling at him, he knew something that Quatre didn't. Squinting against the sunlight, he wondered why he could be so cheery in this hospital, in this room with what happened to Heero. "Trowa, what are you..." He didn't get to finish his question as Trowa moved and he saw Heero smiling and sitting up. "Dear God, am I awake or are my dreams teasing me?"
"I'd hope not.... though the pain might go away...." Heero knew he shouldn't be talking because it felt like he was drinking molten lava, but that didn't stop him from doing so and assuring his friends.
Quatre stood, a giant smile on his face as he walked up to Heero's bedside. "Well, talk about a wakeup call. I hope you're feeling better Heero, from what Duo and the others have told me, you went through hell."
Heero nodded. Hah! Hell? If only they knew.... "I am... quite a bit... I think..."
"You think?" Trowa crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Relena stood and placed a hand on Heero's shoulder, holding his hand in her right. "You should lie down and rest, you need to let your body heal and your voice and throat to return to normal. We don't want you hurting yourself again."
"...but.."
"Heero Yuy, do you always have to be this stubborn? I would have thought you grew out of it by now, but it appears you haven't. Will you just lie down and listen to me this time or I'll strap you to this bed for a month!" Relena put her hands on her waist, waiting for his reply with just as much stubbornness.
Quatre looked at Relena, eyes wide in shock. What happened to her? Whatever it was, she was back to her normal self again. "Okay...."
Heero only sighed, a stupid idea, before he let Relena lay him back onto the rock-hard mattress.
"Don't give me that, you'll have to put up with me for the rest of your life because I'm not letting you leave me again..." Relena brought up the blankets and covered him, feeling his right hand wrap softly around her left arm.
"Then I guess.... I should rebel more often..." Smirking, he was greatly gladdened to hear that she wasn't going to leave him, but wanted him around.
Relena smiled and looked down at Heero, then looked over at Quatre and Trowa. "What?"
"I didn't say anything...." Trowa looked innocently back at her.
"Neither did I..." Quatre chuckled softly as he watched Heero try to get comfortable. "Having fun Heero?"
"I hate these beds...." was his blunt reply, for he did indeed hate the stiff beds, he'd rather sleep on frozen concrete, it had to be more comfortable than the beds.
Relena burst into laughter along with quite laughter from Quatre and Trowa, finally enjoying herself. "Maybe you were just blessed with such an uncomfortable bed."
"Nope, I figure by now he's tried out every bed in this hospital, as many times as he's visited. The really need to check into some new furniture." Duo leaned against the doorway, smirking as he heard Hilde, Wufei, Lucrezia, and Milliardo come up beside him. They'd gone to grab something to eat for breakfast.
"Why doesn't that sound like a happily-ever-after story?" Relena would have to find out later what he meant.
"Do we even want to know?" Quatre perked up, eyes skeptical.
"This ought to be good." Trowa shook his head and smiled.
Hilde came and stood by Duo's side, leaning into his embrace as she felt his left arm wrap around her shoulders. "Let's just say that in the entire time that he was there with us, there wasn't a boring moment. Don't you even start smirking over there Heero, you've been a pain in the butt the whole time!" Of course Hilde was only joking as she laughed along with the others, but not one day of his visit had been boring in the least.
Duo laughed softly as he pulled something from his jacket. He and Hilde had gone to the lot where their house once stood and went through the piles of ashes and charred planks. There hadn't been much to salvage, but they did find a few things. "Hey, I've got something for ya buddy. We found it in the remains of the house, none of the others survived. Here..." Releasing Hilde and walking over to Heero, he handed his friend the small, stuffed wolf cub. It's fur was singed and charred, black spots decorating the once white plush toy, but it had survived none the less.
Heero held out his hands, taking a small, light object into them. Grinning, he knew what it was and the little thing had made it out of the fire. A reminder of a few children who cared enough about his affairs to offer him gifts of comfort. "...Blazer."
Duo smiled as he watched Heero put the plush toy down at his side, resting his hand on it and smiling. He knew what it was, and the one word "Blazer" told him that he wouldn't forget either.
Heero drifted off into sleep once more, the comforting and familiar voices floating around him. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep were soft lips upon his, Relena's familiar perfume drifting to his nose. And he kissed her back, his first real kiss.
~*~
Dr. McGowan finished taking off the wrap, the moment of truth had come. Whether Heero's eyesight would be of any use to him now or not was to be determined. His eyes had healed, though the area round them was still a little dirty due to the ash and some of it was bruises and slight burns. Surprisingly, Dr. McGowan watched Heero keep his eyes closed, though maybe it was a good sign as he let his eyes adjust to the light. "Heero?"
Heero kept his eyes closed, he knew it was evening and he could feel the warm sunshine upon his cheeks, but he couldn't see any of the bright light. "It's now or never, I have to know..." Silently he thought to himself as he opened his eyes, blinking them a few times as he tried to look about.
"Well?" Duo waited impatiently by his side, speaking for pretty much everyone. The suspense was building, he wanted to know if Heero would fully recover or if they should need to help him in other ways.
Dr. McGowan watched for another few moments as Heero's eyes grazed around the room, but they never settled on anything or caught his movements as he waved his hand about in front of Heero's eyes. Sighing, Chris looked down. "I'm sorry..."
Heero couldn't see anything but a black, never-ending space. "I can't see anything.." Bringing his hands up to his face, Heero didn't feel anything covering his eyes, there was nothing blocking his view. Sighing in defeat, he fell back onto the bed, though it was again, another stupid idea as pain race through his body, soft groans emitting from his throat. Now he couldn't be with Relena, no matter how much he wanted to or tried. What good was he to her? He'd always have to looked after, helped and treated like a child. Why was his life so torturous? Maybe it would have been kinder to just have given up, why had he fought for life? To live in torment? How could someone call that a miracle? Without hope and utter disgust with life, he let his eyes close as he looked away from Relena, trying to give up once more and let his misery end.
Relena looked at Heero, her eyes threatening to tear but she pushed them back. "Heero, please don't give up yet, I still love you and always will as I always have. We'll get through this battle, just like we did any other. Please speak to me Heero, or look at me. Heero, don't look away from me, please?" Her voice began to shake as Heero ignored her pleas. Sitting down in the chair next to his bed, she took his hand in hers and held it, or tried to. But he took it from her and laid it back on the bed, disregarding her startled, "Oh.." as the tears came.
~*~
Author's Note:
Well, if you thought that the tests before were putting strains on the Gundam Pilots' friendship, then you are mistaken. The biggest test is yet to come, will Heero learn to live happily with his new disability or will he give up again on life for good? Read and find out.
Thank you all so much for reading this! I'm sorry it took so long to come out, I had extreme writers block, *hate that* and I've been working on a lot of other stories. The order of updates for my other stories if you're reading any of the others is:
Mercy's Sacrifice: Chapter 4
Just Let Me Grow Up: Chapter 6, "Day 3"
Forbidden Love ~original~ : Chapter 2
Strength of Friendship: Chapter 12, "Strained Friendship"
Thanks for reading and staying with me on this, summer is coming and I'll have more time to work. There'll be a few weeks where I'll be gone, visiting my home *dad's in the USAF, gov. moved us*, and then I've got a week of band camp. Nothing against the other instruments and their players, but GO CLARINETS!! ~cheers, then settles down~ Sorry, had to get that out of my system. ~coughs and looks away sheepishly, giggling~ Anywhoo, don't forget to review and thanks again, I couldn't do it without you guys! ~hugs all~ Gotta go, still have a lot more to type, this story's almost finished! Wow, it'll be my first one started, but Just Let Me Grow Up might finish before it. It's another story about Heero and his wife Relena, King and Queen of the Sanq Kingdom and their son, Adam. It starts out as a classic runaway, then turns into kidnap and a parent's worst nightmare.....don't want to give it away totally, but if this has interested you, look for it! ~giggles and skips along, singing one of Selena's Latin songs~
ãMay 12, 2002
~*~Chapter 11~*~
Wondrous Miracle or Tormenting Curse?
A week later
It had been a full week after the fire, but still they stayed by Heero's side. Duo and Hilde didn't have a lot of other places to go, though Maya had offered the a place to stay as long as they needed it. They were also offered a home at the Sanq Kingdom, with Quatre and they were pretty sure the others would offer, but Wufei was living in the dorm areas of the spacecrafts on watch and Trowa was still traveling with the circus. Wufei was using his month's worth of leave and Sally and others were trading off on his shifts. The circus had moved on, but Trowa had stayed and he would catch up with them later, Cathy understood and could make the manager see. As for Quatre, his sisters were taking care of what needed to be done again, leaving him to sit with his friends. The Prince and Princess of the Sanq Kingdom along with Lucrezia stayed as well, postponing everything until Heero was well.
Relena opened her eyes to be met with soft sunlight streaming in through the window, winter snow still glistening over the cool ground. Sitting up, she looked back at Heero who was still "just sleeping" in her mind. In the back of her mind, she knew what was actually wrong with her prince and that he wasn't just sleeping. Yet, she believed so much that he was after that night that she didn't want to acknowledge anything else. As she had done so many times before, she took up his wrapped hand and held it gently in hers. "It's morning, it's time to wake up. Come on sleepyhead, you've got to wake up so we can go home."
Duo entered the room with Hilde, his arm still in the sling though it was against his will. He was sure that by now he was fine and that he didn't need the stupid handicap, but with a warning glare from Hilde, he wore it reluctantly. "Good morning Relena, have you been taking care of him for us?"
Relena nodded, smiling as she turned to find Duo and Hilde walk up behind her. "He's waking up."
Duo smiled at her, knowing that she was still in a world of her own and that she was probably just thinking what she wanted to happen. "Then tell him that we're here and he doesn't have anything to be afraid of."
Relena nodded again, squeezing Heero's hand. She wasn't lying about this, she wasn't just making things up. "Okay, but I think he wants to talk to you." Holding his hand, Relena felt a slight squeeze back. "See?" She looked back at Heero who was starting to awaken from his long rest.
Hilde looked at their friend, her eyes opening wide in disbelief. Heero was responsive. He tried to look at his surroundings by the movements of his head and he evidentially could hear them and was aware of their presence. "Duo....turn around and look at this. I might be hallucinating or something...."
Duo turned to find that Heero's still form was no longer still. "Holy Mary Mother of God...."
Heero didn't know where he was or whether or not he was awake. He could feel pain race through his body and it was hard to breathe at his own time, something else was doing it for him. When he tried to open his eyes and look about, he couldn't see anything but a black void. The only thing that told him of his surroundings were the voices that floated to his ears, soft and tired but there and comforting. He wanted to speak out, but he couldn't and thus remained silent. Relena's innocent voice came to him first and he could feel someone holding his hand, a gentle and feminine touch. It had to be Relena and he felt nervous all over again, he didn't have a clue as to why she was there and if it was for pity, then he'd rather she wasn't there. Duo and Hilde also spoke in the room around him, their voices seeming to come from in front of him but he knew that they weren't the only ones in the room. But who the other's were, he didn't know. All he could remember was the nightmare, the fire, then trying to push the scorching boards off of him but he didn't have the strength. Then, the pain as he tried to breathe, his gasps echoing in his ears as he inhaled breath upon breath of black smoke. Then he didn't remember anything, everything else was a mystery to his mind.
Duo sat speechless for a few moments more before speaking. "Uh, Hild? Why don't you go see if you can't find the doctor...." Feeling her brush past him, he walked slowly up to Heero's side. "Hey buddy, can you hear me?"
Heero felt Duo move to his left side, his voice skeptical. Since he couldn't talk at the time and he didn't know where exactly Duo was, he raised his left hand slowly and tried to reach out for him. When Duo's hand met his and held it in an assuring manner, he felt himself grow more comfortable. He knew that he would be fine as long as his friend was there.
Duo held Heero's searching hand for a moment before placing back on the bed. "Don't worry buddy, you're in the hospital and everything's okay. Chris came in just for you and has been taking care of you this entire time. I think he's probably already adopted you, as many times as you've been here and under his care." Giving a soft laugh, he tried to lighten the mood as he looked over to Relena, the young princess beginning to giggle as well as she listened. "Looks like things didn't turn out as planned, but we brought your princess back, Hilde did just like she said she would. Though most of it was behind your back, I know, I'll pay for it later. Anyway, she's not your only visitor man, the others are here as well, though Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa are kinda sleeping at the time. We're glad you're back with us man, you don't know how many times we though we'd lost ya. You really know how to scare the daylights out of others." Looking up, he found Hilde to be bringing in the weary Dr. McGowan.
Chris looked at Heero and shook his head. "Okay, next time you decide to do this, can you please start scheduling this or something, especially if you're going to miraculously wake up? I've been here more in this one week than I have in my entire career! Glad to have you back in the world with us Heero..." Smiling, he crossed over to the young man's bed and checked the last of the I.V.'s that continually drained into his arms. "We should be able to get rid of these in a few minutes, make you a little more comfortable.
Heero really wished he could speak to them, he had a lot of questions to ask and he really hated being left in the dark. But how could he? Letting go of Relena's hand, he pretended to be holding a writing utensil and scribbling something down, hoping that they would get the idea.
Relena caught his movements and smiled. "I told you all, he wants to talk to you. See?"
Duo nodded, chuckling softly. "Very good Relena." He laughed again upon seeing her proud smile. He sat and waited while he watched the doctor take a pen from his jacket and snatch a piece of paper from the back of his clipboard and place it on top.
Chris took the clipboard and placed it under the young man's hand, gently placing the pen in his right hand. Heero began to write almost instantly.
"Why can't I breathe on my own?"
Chris read the question aloud then answered it without hesitation. "You're on a ventilator, it's been breathing for you for the past week. You'd slipped into a coma on the way here to the hospital. We really didn't expect for you to wake up this early. We'll go ahead and take out the tube when you're stronger and ready, we don't really want to chance things right now."
"Why can't I see?"
Chris had to think about this a little longer. "Right now, you have bandages covering your eyes, the smoke and heat from the flames damaged them some and today we should be able to take them off." Sighing, he decided to add the last part. "I'm not going to lie to you, there is a possibility that you could have lost your eyesight, the damage wasn't as minor as it could have been."
Heero let the pen drop at this, he didn't want to acknowledge it. Lose his eyesight? That could mean everything to him, and what good was he to anyone if he couldn't even see? He'd always have to be taken care of, and if there was hope for being with Relena, then it was gone now. His hope had left him, what was the use of even being there, fighting for life?
Duo looked at Heero and could sense his distraught feelings. "Hey, you can't give up yet, that's only a possibility. We won't know until later and if you do lose it, then we can still help you out. You haven't lost yet, if someone can live life as a blind person better than one can with sight, then why should it be something bad? We'll get through this together as we did the war and everything else."
"God I hope you're right Duo...."
~*~
Heero sat up, his body sore and his throat raw from the smoke, but he could breathe on his own again and he could talk. Reaching out with unsure fingers, he searched the bed for Relena's hand once more. He'd heard confusing conversations between her and Milliardo, she didn't seem to be herself when he first awoke but now she was back to normal. She'd already claimed over and over again that she was sorry for what she'd said when they'd last spoken and for not trusting him, but he tried to assure her it wasn't her fault and that everything was all right. The others had slept through this, but he could feel them awaken as the room stirred with life. "...tired?...." He called at hearing another stir, unsure of which he was talking to but he smirked, even if to breathe caused him discomfort, let alone talking.
Trowa heard the word spoken by a familiar voice from his uncomfortable bed in a chair. Rubbing his eyes and opening them, he looked up to find Heero sitting up and waiting an answer. "Holy crap!" He blurted out the words as he sat straight up in the chair, nearly falling over with it. Standing, he looked skeptically at Relena who was startled by this time and then to his smirking friend.
Heero heard the exclamation and only widened his smirk, oh how he would have loved to see Trowa's face at that time. Shaking his head slightly, he listened to Trowa cross over to them as he held Relena's hand reassuringly.
"Relena, when did he wake up?"
"Earlier this morning when you were still asleep. He's been up since around 9:00 a.m. and has been alert and responsive. I'm sorry if I was a bit out of my own senses Trowa, I guess I couldn't grab a hold of myself at the time." Relena spoke with her normal poised and friendly tone, the childlike spirit gone from her voice as it was replaced with that of a grown woman.
Trowa looked at her, surprised at her return from her child-like state of mind. "I.... what.... forget it, I'm not even going to try and understand what happened when I was asleep. I just hope I'm not hallucinating..."
"What ever happened.... to that steel nerve of yours? I may not see you.... but I can tell that... you're far from composed." Heero spoke softly to save his voice and his throat, wincing slightly but it wouldn't have really been noticeable, so he didn't try to hide it. Instead, he searched with his hand for Trowa's position, laying his hand gently on his friend's arm and smiling. ".... thank you... for being here... for me."
Trowa smiled and nodded. "What else is family for? Besides, someone had to be here to make sure that you didn't go chasing the nurses and patronizing the doctors." Placing his hand on Heero's, he gave it a friendly squeeze before turning to find Quatre awakening. "Hang on..." Walking over to him, Trowa took his friend's shoulders in his hands, steadying the drowsy aristocrat. "Quatre, hey you'll never guess who finally came around."
Quatre opened his eyes to find Trowa smiling at him, he knew something that Quatre didn't. Squinting against the sunlight, he wondered why he could be so cheery in this hospital, in this room with what happened to Heero. "Trowa, what are you..." He didn't get to finish his question as Trowa moved and he saw Heero smiling and sitting up. "Dear God, am I awake or are my dreams teasing me?"
"I'd hope not.... though the pain might go away...." Heero knew he shouldn't be talking because it felt like he was drinking molten lava, but that didn't stop him from doing so and assuring his friends.
Quatre stood, a giant smile on his face as he walked up to Heero's bedside. "Well, talk about a wakeup call. I hope you're feeling better Heero, from what Duo and the others have told me, you went through hell."
Heero nodded. Hah! Hell? If only they knew.... "I am... quite a bit... I think..."
"You think?" Trowa crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Relena stood and placed a hand on Heero's shoulder, holding his hand in her right. "You should lie down and rest, you need to let your body heal and your voice and throat to return to normal. We don't want you hurting yourself again."
"...but.."
"Heero Yuy, do you always have to be this stubborn? I would have thought you grew out of it by now, but it appears you haven't. Will you just lie down and listen to me this time or I'll strap you to this bed for a month!" Relena put her hands on her waist, waiting for his reply with just as much stubbornness.
Quatre looked at Relena, eyes wide in shock. What happened to her? Whatever it was, she was back to her normal self again. "Okay...."
Heero only sighed, a stupid idea, before he let Relena lay him back onto the rock-hard mattress.
"Don't give me that, you'll have to put up with me for the rest of your life because I'm not letting you leave me again..." Relena brought up the blankets and covered him, feeling his right hand wrap softly around her left arm.
"Then I guess.... I should rebel more often..." Smirking, he was greatly gladdened to hear that she wasn't going to leave him, but wanted him around.
Relena smiled and looked down at Heero, then looked over at Quatre and Trowa. "What?"
"I didn't say anything...." Trowa looked innocently back at her.
"Neither did I..." Quatre chuckled softly as he watched Heero try to get comfortable. "Having fun Heero?"
"I hate these beds...." was his blunt reply, for he did indeed hate the stiff beds, he'd rather sleep on frozen concrete, it had to be more comfortable than the beds.
Relena burst into laughter along with quite laughter from Quatre and Trowa, finally enjoying herself. "Maybe you were just blessed with such an uncomfortable bed."
"Nope, I figure by now he's tried out every bed in this hospital, as many times as he's visited. The really need to check into some new furniture." Duo leaned against the doorway, smirking as he heard Hilde, Wufei, Lucrezia, and Milliardo come up beside him. They'd gone to grab something to eat for breakfast.
"Why doesn't that sound like a happily-ever-after story?" Relena would have to find out later what he meant.
"Do we even want to know?" Quatre perked up, eyes skeptical.
"This ought to be good." Trowa shook his head and smiled.
Hilde came and stood by Duo's side, leaning into his embrace as she felt his left arm wrap around her shoulders. "Let's just say that in the entire time that he was there with us, there wasn't a boring moment. Don't you even start smirking over there Heero, you've been a pain in the butt the whole time!" Of course Hilde was only joking as she laughed along with the others, but not one day of his visit had been boring in the least.
Duo laughed softly as he pulled something from his jacket. He and Hilde had gone to the lot where their house once stood and went through the piles of ashes and charred planks. There hadn't been much to salvage, but they did find a few things. "Hey, I've got something for ya buddy. We found it in the remains of the house, none of the others survived. Here..." Releasing Hilde and walking over to Heero, he handed his friend the small, stuffed wolf cub. It's fur was singed and charred, black spots decorating the once white plush toy, but it had survived none the less.
Heero held out his hands, taking a small, light object into them. Grinning, he knew what it was and the little thing had made it out of the fire. A reminder of a few children who cared enough about his affairs to offer him gifts of comfort. "...Blazer."
Duo smiled as he watched Heero put the plush toy down at his side, resting his hand on it and smiling. He knew what it was, and the one word "Blazer" told him that he wouldn't forget either.
Heero drifted off into sleep once more, the comforting and familiar voices floating around him. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep were soft lips upon his, Relena's familiar perfume drifting to his nose. And he kissed her back, his first real kiss.
~*~
Dr. McGowan finished taking off the wrap, the moment of truth had come. Whether Heero's eyesight would be of any use to him now or not was to be determined. His eyes had healed, though the area round them was still a little dirty due to the ash and some of it was bruises and slight burns. Surprisingly, Dr. McGowan watched Heero keep his eyes closed, though maybe it was a good sign as he let his eyes adjust to the light. "Heero?"
Heero kept his eyes closed, he knew it was evening and he could feel the warm sunshine upon his cheeks, but he couldn't see any of the bright light. "It's now or never, I have to know..." Silently he thought to himself as he opened his eyes, blinking them a few times as he tried to look about.
"Well?" Duo waited impatiently by his side, speaking for pretty much everyone. The suspense was building, he wanted to know if Heero would fully recover or if they should need to help him in other ways.
Dr. McGowan watched for another few moments as Heero's eyes grazed around the room, but they never settled on anything or caught his movements as he waved his hand about in front of Heero's eyes. Sighing, Chris looked down. "I'm sorry..."
Heero couldn't see anything but a black, never-ending space. "I can't see anything.." Bringing his hands up to his face, Heero didn't feel anything covering his eyes, there was nothing blocking his view. Sighing in defeat, he fell back onto the bed, though it was again, another stupid idea as pain race through his body, soft groans emitting from his throat. Now he couldn't be with Relena, no matter how much he wanted to or tried. What good was he to her? He'd always have to looked after, helped and treated like a child. Why was his life so torturous? Maybe it would have been kinder to just have given up, why had he fought for life? To live in torment? How could someone call that a miracle? Without hope and utter disgust with life, he let his eyes close as he looked away from Relena, trying to give up once more and let his misery end.
Relena looked at Heero, her eyes threatening to tear but she pushed them back. "Heero, please don't give up yet, I still love you and always will as I always have. We'll get through this battle, just like we did any other. Please speak to me Heero, or look at me. Heero, don't look away from me, please?" Her voice began to shake as Heero ignored her pleas. Sitting down in the chair next to his bed, she took his hand in hers and held it, or tried to. But he took it from her and laid it back on the bed, disregarding her startled, "Oh.." as the tears came.
~*~
Author's Note:
Well, if you thought that the tests before were putting strains on the Gundam Pilots' friendship, then you are mistaken. The biggest test is yet to come, will Heero learn to live happily with his new disability or will he give up again on life for good? Read and find out.
Thank you all so much for reading this! I'm sorry it took so long to come out, I had extreme writers block, *hate that* and I've been working on a lot of other stories. The order of updates for my other stories if you're reading any of the others is:
Mercy's Sacrifice: Chapter 4
Just Let Me Grow Up: Chapter 6, "Day 3"
Forbidden Love ~original~ : Chapter 2
Strength of Friendship: Chapter 12, "Strained Friendship"
Thanks for reading and staying with me on this, summer is coming and I'll have more time to work. There'll be a few weeks where I'll be gone, visiting my home *dad's in the USAF, gov. moved us*, and then I've got a week of band camp. Nothing against the other instruments and their players, but GO CLARINETS!! ~cheers, then settles down~ Sorry, had to get that out of my system. ~coughs and looks away sheepishly, giggling~ Anywhoo, don't forget to review and thanks again, I couldn't do it without you guys! ~hugs all~ Gotta go, still have a lot more to type, this story's almost finished! Wow, it'll be my first one started, but Just Let Me Grow Up might finish before it. It's another story about Heero and his wife Relena, King and Queen of the Sanq Kingdom and their son, Adam. It starts out as a classic runaway, then turns into kidnap and a parent's worst nightmare.....don't want to give it away totally, but if this has interested you, look for it! ~giggles and skips along, singing one of Selena's Latin songs~
ãMay 12, 2002