Blood Bonds
By Tygerlilee
Chapter 28
Bone Marrow
*Disclaimer: I don't own it, I made up the plot (pathetic as it is), and leukemia is a real disease.
It was now becoming a regular sight at the hospital: a Japanese man, woman, and teenager, clean-cut with white faces siting with a long-haired Caucasian teenager shifting positions every two seconds. The nurses and doctors had long ago learned their names and understood the situation. No one questioned it. A son in the family had leukemia, and his best friend was also there. But then the unusual visitors came, and rumors flew.
Ryuzou's eyes snapped open when he heard footsteps, firm and even. Ai shook awake when her husband shifted. Huy, exhausted, had collapsed into a seat across from the couple. Duo paced up and down the floor, as he had all night and the night and day before, but he turned around at the footsteps.
"Lady Une?" he asked softly.
"Duo Maxwell," she acknowledged, and proceeded to enter Heero's room.
"Wait! He's just had surgery! The doctor's said no visitors, not even us!" Ai protested, as she moved to fill the space between the Lady and the door.
"As much as I hate to disturb Heero, I'm afraid it is necessary for the case" Lady Une paused to glance at the snoring boy curled into a chair. "How is your son?"
Ai felt herself growing weak. "He's much better than he wasbut this whole situation with Heero has thrown us all for a loop."
Lady Une nodded and advanced to the door.
"I don't see what you can accomplish by trying to speak with Heero. The case is over, Huy is safe, and what's more is that Heero hasn't been lucid since he was brought in," Ai said firmly.
"I'm afraid the case isn't quite over, but we cannot do anything without Heero's help."
The door opened and closed.
Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lambs eat ivy, a kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you? Mares eat oats and does eat oats and Bambi lost his mommyI want mommy
Come onwe'll find mommy. What's your name?
Tai! T-A-I!!
How old are you, Tai?
UmTEN!!
Taihow old are you really?
He held up three fingers with one hand, clutching his bear with the other. Nice man bout ta talk, but scary black, lots of scary black run and nice man pick up and run
Run away!! Don't let them find you...rundon't let them find you
"Heero? Heero Yuy? Can you hear me?"
Rundon't let them see you!! Scary lady's voicescary lady with scary man
Afterwards, if you make it out of here, then there will finally be peace. This is the only thing I can do for you.
Heero!
Mister Trieze is deadthat voice
"La-dy Une?" his voice cracked. It was painful to talk. Reality? It was so bright, it hurt his eyes. Was he awake? What's real?
"Heero Yuydo you remember Huy Iwasato?"
Heero was quiet for a long time, but finally answered, very slowly, "Is he okay?"
Lady Une seemed very relieved. "Huy's fine, but we have to find out about a man named George Morris. Do you remember Morris?"
"The bastard who was going to assassinate Relena?"
Lady Une gave a satisfied look. "That would be the one. Can you prove that he did anything?"
"Ask Ryuzouhe knows"
"Ryuzou? Who's he?"
"Ryuzou IwasatoHuy's dadI told you to ask him in the e-mail"
Lady Une's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you sure?"
Heero didn't answer. He had closed his eyes again and had not moved a muscle.
RyuzouHuy's dadDADDY!!! I wants my DADDY!!!
Shh, shhdon't cry. Don't let them hear you. I'm here.
Odin?
Shhit's only an owl. Don't be frightened.
I don't like owls. I had that dream again, about the short man and pretty woman.
Your parentsremember?
Not really. You got another mission?
I won't be gone long. Mrs. Jewls is going to watch you again.
I can take care of myself!
I know you canand Mrs. Jewls too. Hey, don't be sad.
I'm not sad. I figured you were going away because of this trip. Won't you take me with you?
When you are six, not until then. Besides, you can't afford to miss too much school.
I don't like school.
Neither did I at your age.
It's boring. Everyone goes so slowly.
Well, you're just to smart for your own good
Too smarttooooooo smartthat kid's a little smart alec! We can't have a weapon back talking us!
He's just a boy!
And what about that stupid dog!! We cannot afford him any feelingsRETRAIN HIM!!
But he's just a boy! He can't handle that. Do you want to have the perfect weapon go insane on our hands? He could kill us all.
Put him back in the PBS now!
Smallso smalldon't want to go back into that dark roombut Demkin can't see it on his face or else he'll have to go in there longerdon't let anyone find you!! You can take care of yourself!! Odin!! Odin!!!!!!!!!!!
"Heero.Heero, stay with me. I'm not finished."
Scary lady's voice againmuch pain
Aim them for the colonies!
NOOOOOOOO!!!! Mission, must protect coloniescan't let her.
"Lady Une?"
"Listen to meHeero, I think you may have left some information out. This man is after Miss Relena and we have to find a way to arrest him and keep him away from her before he can attack. We need to find outthere has to be something else"
"I told you everything I know. Any other possible information that might be out there is in Ryuzou's head, not mine."
"Heero. Heero! Stop that, you come back here right now! Don't leave, I'm not finished with you yet!"
Get your butt back here boy!
Run, gotta run, get away, pain, too much of it, can't stand it
Humpty-dumpty sat on a wall, humpty-dumpty had a great fall, all the king's horses, all the king's men couldn't put humpty together again. Cracked eggs, spilled over sidewalk
Me, me, meeeeeeeeeeeow, splat, cat always lands on feet when it falls. Must become cat, land on feet alwaysstable, sturdy, strongland on feet, keep head out of the clouds
Foot against starting block, poised to run, cleat against rubber trackshot in the airsprint down, fast, fast, faster, faster, must be fastest. Run, hide, hide and go seek
"Did you speak with him?" Ai asked anxiously.
"He woke very briefly. Hehe told me something rather disturbing which he had alluded to before. Mr. Iwasatomay we please have a private conference?"
Ryuzou grunted and pulled himself up out of the chair. "Sure."
"You said that he'd be getting better after the surgery," Ai said crossly.
"That is assuming that his body accepts the bone marrow. And even then, it will take some time for the body to start reproducing white blood cells from the new stem cells and to start repairing his body. He's been torn with this for months now. It will not be a quick healing process. It will be painful tooand what's more, I will be completely honest with you now, he might not get better even then." The frazzled doctor sighed.
"You mean some type of permanent damage?"
"Perhaps. He's still a growing teen-ager and such and ordeal could stunt his growth, mental and physical. Mrs. Iwasato, I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just saying be prepared. We've tried all we can, but it might not be enough."
Ai groaned and shut her eyes to push away the tears. "Thank you doctor" and she slowly walked back to her seat in the hallway, waiting for her son to awaken.
The doctor watched the Japanese woman sit down sadly. He couldn't bear to tell her what the real problem was. The surgery had commenced flawlessly and if any of the like surgeries would succeed, this one would, and what he said about acceptance of marrow was true, but since the bone marrow had come from the patient's identical twin, there should be no problem. The problem was within the patient's sub-conscious mind. He was worried and tired and downtrodden. He could not allow himself to get well because, ultimately, he wanted to die.
He himself had heard the patient mumble words from time to time, and knowing the boy's history from him parents, reading the newspaper, and watching the news, he was able to make a few connections and understand how the boy thought. He was blaming himself for deaths of innocents and he wanted to die so his mental ghosts would disappear.
If he did not want to live, he wouldn't live, and that was all there was too it.
The doctor shook his head sadly as he looked in on the patient, pale and yellowish hue washed out even more by the sterile white walls and bedclothes.
"Mom," Huy whispered at the woman sagging into the plastic hospital chair, face buried in her hands. "Mom, what did the doctor say?"
Ai sniffed softly and then pulled herself upright. "He said that the surgery was successful, but the body might still reject the marrow and that it's too soon to tell if it will or not. That and the body has to recover from the surgery and sickness too, but if the damage is too severe, then he will never be whole again." She looked up at her son with sad eyes and watched as he fell to the floor and cried onto her legs. Ai stroked his hair and felt herself calming downsomething was strengthening within her as her motherly duty appeared before her. Somehow, by worrying about her child instead of her own pain, she forgot herself and gained resolve. "I'm sorry Huy. I'm sorry."
Huy hiccuped back some tears and clung onto his mother. "This isn't fairthis isn't fair"
"Huy, I think you should go back to school now."
"WHAT!!" he burst, sitting on his legs upright, staring open-mouthed at her. "But Heero is still sick and,"
"You need to get back to school," she interrupted. "Huy, you can't pine away here. You aren't doing any good. You still have to graduate. What's more, you need a distraction."
"I don't want a distraction. My brother is dying, YOUR SON IS DYING!!! And all you can say is, let's move on! ARRRRRRGGGGGG!!!!" Huy screamed and jumped up, sprinting down the hallway.
"HUY! HUY, come back!" Ai yelled after him and raced down the hallway.
Duo sat quietly watching the entire episode, but as the mother and son disappeared down the hallway, he got up and quietly opened Heero's door.
Heero looked horrible. That was the only way to describe him. He looked bad, really bad. He was just a shell of his former self, a raisin of a person, but not wrinkled, just wasted. He looked so delicate.
He never imagined that he'd see Heero like this.
Duo walked over to Heero, but was almost afraid to touch him, lest he dissolve under his fingers. "Heero" His voice was hollow. His heart felt hollow, empty. He had no inclination to cry for his comrade-in-arms, and he was simply numb.
He sunk down into a chair and sighed softly. He was powerless to stop this, to helpHeero was slipping away "Hey buddy?" Duo finally asked, leaning over Heero's bed. "You there? Anybody home? Ya know, Huy and everyone's really worried bout you. Sorry I couldn't come to help you sooner with that whole mess" Duo stopped to study Heero's face for any sign of acknowledgment.
Suddenly he jumped up and walked over to the small, covered window on the opposite wall. "What's the use?" he asked vehemently. "You always wanted to die. I bet you're ecstatic right now, lying there like this. Counting the days? How much longer do you have left?" He whipped around to glared at the prone figure. "You're so selfish. You can't even see how much people care. Do you have any idea how much people would miss you if you just died?" Then in two quick, long steps, Duo was leaning over Heero's figure. "Just snap out of it man! I know if you wanted to, you could get better. You egotistical jerkwake up!" Duo said in a deadly whisper. "You're killing Huy!"
He glared down at Heero's face, but there was no response, no sign that Heero had heard him. Duo collapsed down onto his knees and cried. It hurt so much
Then he stood up and walked out of the room.
"Huy.HUY!!!! Come back here!!!" Huy heard Ai's voice scream after him. He sprinted down the stairs to the ground floor, but as he heard his mother begin to gain on him, he jumped the rail and landed on his feet thanking the heavens that he had finally gotten his cast off
He thought he heard a slight crunch from his injured ankle, but he ignored it, endorphins and adrenaline taking over. He raised across the barren lawns, leaped over short bushes and kept going. He ran down the sidewalk and up to the large suspension bridge. Avoiding cars, he kept to the side and slid through the wires to hide underneath halfway hoping that he touched a live wire.
His knuckles bled when he hit the metal skeleton of the bridge, he pounded it, punching and screaming, blood and sweat pouring down him. Then he screamed and clung onto the sun-warmed iron, he hoped it'd brand him
Huy quietly opened the door of the sterile hospital room. Softly, he shut it behind him and turned to look at the frail form in the bed.
Heero's face was waxy and pale-blotched yellow and chalky white contrasted oddly with his dark hair. He was sleeping peacefully, or at least as peacefully as he could amongst beeping machinery. Huy's face was drawn tight as he looked down on the boy.
Even a Gundam pilot can end up like this--unbelievable.
Huy advance to a chair in the corner and dragged it to Heero's bedside. He sat down and buried his face in his hands as if holding back tears. Then he slowly looked up at the sickly boy who so much resembled himself.
Heero's hand lay flat out at his side on top of his blanket, the tiny delicate bones and blue veins clearly visible through the tight, thin skin. Huy took the hand and held it tightly, eyes raining.
Then he shook away the salty liquid and looked at the sleeping form. Heero's blue eyes were slightly open, looking even larger than usual from his severe weight loss. His breathing was harsh and uneven. Heero continued to stare at Huy then forced out in a weak-whispering voice, not resembling the voice he used a month ago, "Don't cry for me Huy, I'm not worth it. Beside, all my pain will be gone when I die."
Huy shook his head fiercely. "You're not dying! You're gonna be fine! You have to be." Huy's voice cracked at his last sentence.
"Why?" Heero croaked out.
"Because there is still so much for you to live for. People love you and need you, especially me! You're the only one who really understands me–you've changed my life. I would still be flunking all my classes, chasing a hopeless dream if it hadn't been for you. You can't die!!" Tears were streaming down his face.
"Then I'm glad I was able to help you and will die happy," Heero told him.
"You know what? I think you want to die. I think you're being a coward so you aren't even fighting. You feel guilty from the war and tired. You want to die!" Huy spat out bitterly.
Huy glared at him and sighed. "Fine, if you're so insistent on dying then I'd better tell you this now. Maybe it'll make you want to live and fight a little or at least appreciate what you're doing to others." He paused, thinking of how to phrase it, but then barreled forward. "You do have something to live for you know, brother," Huy looked at Heero directly in the eyes.
Heero looked back. "I was wondering if you were ever going to try and tell me that. Don't forget–our appearances could be coincidences," he reminded.
"No," Huy insisted. "You are my twin brother Tai. You were born fifteen minutes after me. We have pictures of you, of us. I even REMEMBER you. When I first saw you, I tried not to get my hopes up and tried not to get my family's hopes up when I wrote to them about you. But none of us could help it. This transplant is proof that you are my brother. The bone marrow has to be compatible so that the body will accept it. They did a DNA test to make sure, because you're so weak, the rejection could have been too much of a strain and killed you. It was a perfect match, so now I know that you're Tai."
"Then how did I get separated from you and your family?" Heero asked skeptically.
"I don't know how much you know of the colonies' histories, but there were strikes, petitions, and smaller rebellions after Heero Yuy's assassination. The colonies were very disorganized and in an uproar for several years under the new leadership.
"While we were living on LX-352, where you and I were born, a group rebelled against the colony's leaders and attacked. We were only three years old at the time. Everything was burning and the ventilation wasn't working properly, so everyone had to flee or suffocate. Dad got all of us together and we rushed to a shuttle–one of those cramped emergency ones that every colony has. That's when you got lost in the crowd–we never saw you again. The only thing I can gather is that someone found you and kept you.
"Mom nearly went berserk after losing you. We had moved to where we live now and things were hard–starting over always it. I remember looking for you and Mom holding me and telling me she was sorry but my brother was gone. I got really quiet and somber, so mom and dad made me see a shrink. I hated it so I forced myself to be happy so that they would stop sending me. Mom started to get better, but I got worse in my silent hell. I couldn't concentrate so I got crappy grades, while my brother and sister made straight A's. That's when I decided I was stupid and it hasn't been till recently that you convinced me otherwise.
"Then mom had Yachi. I was nine or so and I remember how sad she was during the whole pregnancy. But when the baby came, she changed completely. Yachi helped me too. She wanted me to teach her how to throw when she was two and she always had to sit by me. I might not be here if it wasn't for her innocent love–that's why if anyone hurts her, I swear I'll rip them limb from limb. She's my baby sister.
"And now I have my brother back. I just got you and I don't think I could bear it if I lost you again. You can't die. I won't let you," Huy glared at him, daring him to disagree.
Heero just looked up at him with his big blue eyes.
"You are Tai Iwasato, and you have a family. We love you more than you can imagine. We lost you once, and I, at least, can't handle it if we lose you again. Fight it Tai, if not for your own life, but for mine. You can't die."
After Huy left, Heero felt drained from the emotional strain and forced speaking. He noticed the dark spots on the wall opposite his bed--shadows cast by the outside trees blocking the sun, wavering.
He felt a little sadHuy didn't even know his family's storyhis parent's had never told him that they had fled because their lives were in danger, not because of the colonies physical conditionthat happened after they had already leftbut that was Huy's family, what was he even worried about?
The light flickered for a moment and Heero closed his eyes. Something wet stung his skin, he griped the blanket tightly. The sun seemed to be playing tug-o-war with the clouds. Suddenly the shadows disappeared.
Then slowly he opened his eyes and looked to his side–the bathroom door was open. A mirror of the sink faced him, angled down for convenience of those in wheelchairs. He looked at his large blue eyes and blinked. Heero raised a delicate finger, reaching towards the mirror. "Huy? Huy" He popped his arm, trying to reach the face, the person, but they were to far to reacha flash of blue and red, a blur of black hairI buil' caswleTai, Huy and Tai. "Huy?"
PBSnot againARRGGGGGG!!!, no not therered capsule, lowered into itshadows all around, it hurt, it pounded him, invaded his mind, raped his mind"When you don't cry, then you are ready." "I won't cry, I won't" Thick liquid all around, submerged, choking, suffocating, crushing, pressureships, aircraft, foot soldiers surroundwarm shadow, feels like armswho is that? Pretty woman holds her arms out to enfold himlittle boy by her sidelooks like himselfmirror, maybe a mirror"Huy? HuyTai? Are you Tai?"
"Hello Tai" his voice cracked dry and childish. "Helloyou've been gone a long timeTai 'bye Mary, bye little one, thank you for the flower."
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A/N Sorry for the delays. I've been so busy even though I have no school. I really thought I'd have more time to write but to say the least, I was wrong (obviously). I'm gonna try to get it all out soon, but I can't make any promises. [Bonks head from lack of sleep]. Anyway, [rubs eyes] I'm getting ideas for a sequel but it may be a while before I actually get any of it out. I'll just have to see. Hehe, and I have read a LOT of Terry Brooks, Morganeth Taren'drel.I totally forgot I had used that name [grins really big]. So anywho, thank you guys for your reviews!! It really keeps me going, I know I've said that a million times, but it's still true every time. So now, I guess I'll get onto chapter 29 now
Toodles for now, Tygerlilee