From
Behind The Glass
Part Eight
The smell of fresh dew filled the cool
morning air as droplets of water from the trees high above landed softly on the
damp grass below it. Within the trees, squirrels could be seen peering out of
their warm shelter, checking for the first signs of a sunny day. The birds,
however, were starting to take flight, signaling the start of a fair day. In
the horizon, a rainbow could be seen crossing the clear sky, showering it with
vivid colors that faded as it traveled farther. The signs of the early morning
rain that had passed were truly evident in the surroundings.
Through one of the wet windows of a
building not far, Quatre could be seen lying peacefully on a warm bed. The
white sheets and white walls, as well as the sterile, germ-free environment did
not seem to bother the sleeping figure. Then signs of relaxation were more than
enough to conclude that he was finally getting the rest that he had been
needing.
Meanwhile, in a large office on a different
floor, Trowa could be seen sitting uneasily on a seemingly comfortable chair.
He wrung his hands together as he waited for the arrival of the doctor. For
him, this was another painfully familiar procedure. First, he would find Quatre
unconscious somewhere, then he would bring him to a doctor, and eventually, the
doctor would come in to tell him that everything was fine. 'Fine' was a word he
started to detest as he gripped the arms of the chair he was occupying.
Somehow, he knew that the words 'work' and 'fine' were related in some way.
They always seemed to come between him and Quatre.
Just as Trowa was about to break the chair
he was in, the door behind him opened, signaling the arrival of someone
important. After all, nobody unimportant would even dare try to come near him.
The stress he had been put through during the week was enough to turn him into
a deadly being capable of decapitating anyone he saw fit.
"Trowa, where is he? How's he doing?" An
agitated Duo came in with Heero behind him.
"Wufei will be with us shortly. We're sorry
for startling you." Heero said moving towards his friend, unmindful of Duo's
sudden outburst.
As much as Trowa wanted to greet them, find
solace in them, or at least greet them, he couldn't. He had too much on his
mind. He never even noticed when a hand was placed on his shoulder, trying to
comfort him. His companions had decided to keep quiet, knowing that Trowa was a
person who took refuge in silence.
Trowa started to remember the day he had
brought Quatre in. He felt so light as the nurses took him somewhere. He didn't
understand what was going on but he tried to stay focused on what was
happening. Several tests were run which he never thought were needed. Just how
did "he'll be fine" turn into "we need to run some tests?" Hopefully, the next
quack that came in would be able to explain things more clearly. On the other
hand, it may also be a bad idea considering what happened the last time.
He had only been in the hospital with
Quatre overnight and yet, it felt like an eternity. He had so many questions that were left unanswered. He was
confused and absolutely frustrated. He just wanted to scream and let out all
that he felt if only to relax him for some time.
It seemed absurd, but he was actually going
to do it. He was going to scream until he lost his voice. Just as he was about
to open his mouth, the door suddenly opened revealing Quatre's 'new' doctor.
This new doctor didn't look any different from the first. Although he did look
a bit older, he still had a carefree attitude evident in his movements. This
didn't seem to help ease off Trowa's anger.
"Good morning gentlemen. I believe that we
are here to discuss Mr. Winner's situation. Am I right?"
Getting no answers from the three before
him, he decided to move towards his desk and put down the papers he had brought
with him.
"As you probably know, I am here to discuss
the results done on him last night. This is going to be a long explanation so
all I ask is that you gentlemen cooperate with me."
This time he received three nods.
"So, tell me what symptoms he had been
showing the past few days."
Trowa began relating the events that had
been going on since their morning jog not so long ago. He told the doctor about
Quatre's breathlessness, his recurring chest pains, his violent coughing, his
fever and the chills he had been having.
"I believe that the first doctor who
checked him prescribed some antibiotics?" Not waiting for an answer, he
continued. "That was necessary, of course, but not very accurate. Pneumonia may
seem to be a simple disease that most people disregard, but unfortunately, it
has been proven to be a very serious illness. I'm afraid that the last doctor
had not diagnosed Mr. Winner as having Legionnaire's Disease."
"What does that mean?" Duo suddenly
interjected.
"As you know, pneumonia is a disease that
attacks the lungs. It fills your lungs with fluids, making it hard for you to
take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide. In short, it makes breathing a lot
harder than it should be. As I was saying, he has Legionnaire's Disease. It's a
type of pneumonia. It can't be transmitted from person to person. This is why
none of you have been affected."
"The antibiotics prescribed to him were not
the ones he needed. He actually needs…" He stopped to write something down and
handed it over to Trowa. "…erythromycin (1). Now, I don't think that I should
spend time explaining what it is since I still have to discuss the test
results."
"Okay,.." The doctor checked through the
papers he had with him and retrieved a large brown envelope. "… We had to do
some chest x-rays and here's what we found out. Both his lungs are filled with
fluids and there are signs of inflammation."
"And…?" Duo asked impatiently while his
other two companions remained silent.
"It's why he hasn't been able to breathe
properly and it's the reason why he's been coughing rather excessively." This
time, the answer came from the door where Wufei had just entered.
"That's right, I was expecting four people.
Thank you for joining us." The doctor said, offering the new arrival a seat
next to the three already seated.
"I think that your friend explained that
accurately so I should go on to the next test. We did a sputum test (2) which
was how we confirmed that he had pneumonia. The last test was a blood test that
was done to make sure that the disease hadn't entered his blood stream.
…Unfortunately, it has."
"And that means?" This time it was Trowa
who asked, concern evident in his shaky voice.
"That means that it can spread to different
parts of the body." The doctor remained silent but decided to continue noticing
that everyone before him was now on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "It can
be contained."
Four obvious sighs were heard.
"That is all I have for you today. If you
will excuse me gentlemen, I have to attend to other patients. I'm sorry that I
didn't have enough time to answer the other questions that you may have had.
Good day." With that said, the doctor left closing the door behind him. "I just
hope that your friend has a good immune system (3)." he added, knowing that the
four people inside did not hear him.
Silence filled the room that the four were
in. They were currently plagued with hundreds of other unanswered questions.
Somehow, the information they were given was not enough.
"I think that we should go and check on him
now." Heero said breaking the deafening silence.
The three immediately agreed and made their
way back to Quatre's room.
As soon as Duo, Heero and Wufei were sure
that their friend was fine, or at least looked fine, they decided to leave the
room in order to give Trowa some time with him.
Trowa thanked them and immediately took a
chair and positioned himself beside Quatre's bed. He put his elbows on the bed
with his hands below his chin, watching the person before him. Not long after,
Quatre slowly blinked and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He felt something attached to
his nose and tucked behind both of his ears.
He took the oxygen filled tube between his
fingers and tugged it, wanting to remove the detestable object. He looked
towards Trowa, his face pleading like a child.
"Trowa, take this off." he whined.
Trowa just remained in his position, smiled
and said "You're just too cute when you wake up."
(1) Erythromycin
– an antibiotic drug effective in treating Legionnaires' Disease, prevents the
multiplication of bacteria.
(2) Sputum –
green or yellow substance that people sometimes cough up when they are sick
(example: When Quatre was preparing for work in the morning, he coughed up
something yellow); sputum test – sputum is left on plates and examined 24 hours
later for the presence of organisms
(3) Without
a good immune system some people cannot fight off pneumonia. This is why it is
assumed that younger people can fight off pneumonia easily.