Many thanx to – Romanse, AnimeCrazedGirl, Selune and Pun E'eco, fei, natasha, CJ, Clairol and Continuous Pandemonium. *hugs*
Comments & critism not only desired but /needed/ in order to live…
2.
"I need to speak to my patient in private! You can all come back in an hour," the doctor said whilst ushering four defiant Gundam Pilots from Heero's room. Task finally complete the doctor turned to the young man on the bed with a small smile.
"I'm Dr. Cantrell and I'll be in charge of your case from this moment on," The woman had a sharp business air about her and Heero felt sure of his assumption that she had been an active medic during the war. Somehow that thought comforted him more than any amount of initials and qualifications. He nodded once to acknowledge the greeting, his throat was extremely tender and he had no desire to speak any more than was absolutely necessary. "I specialise in rare diseases and I'm here to explain to you exactly what is wrong and what we can do about it,"
She set down her clipboard on Heero's bedside table and pulled out two dark sheets which he recognised as x-rays. He watched in silence as she clipped them onto the light board and switched it on. It was always disconcerting to see your insides.
"Basically cancer is a malignant growth of new cells, called a tumour, which starts in one area of the body and slowly infects healthy cells and therefore spreads. All indications signify that it originated in the brain," she said, gesturing at one of the x-rays. "But as you can see, there are several worrying shadows on the left lung, oesophagus and liver to name a few. You've had this disease for quite a while and it has spread to many different areas throughout your body," She paused for a second, swallowing thickly, she hated doing this. She hated it. "Cancer reached its pinnacle during the twenty first century and then cases of the disease decreased rapidly. Up until now there hasn't been a known case of cancer since the first colony became operational." Heero watched her with solemn blue eyes; he knew what was coming next. "They never found a cure. But it was treatable though a technique called chemotherapy, hormone therapy worked for some and in certain cases they could opperate to remove the tumour. We no longer have the technology of chemotherapy, it's too far gone to opperate and it will take a month, maybe more, before the drugs which were used pass certain safety regulations . . ."
" . . .And I don't have that long," Heero finished for her. It wasn't a question and he didn't need to see her solemn nod to know it was true. He felt strangely calm and acceptant. He had been preparing for death for most of his life; it did not phase him now. Dr. Cantrell was thrown for a moment, she had never seen someone react to such dire news in such a calm manner. It took her a second to regain her train of thought. She continued.
"One thing that nobody can work out is /why/ this disease has suddenly sprang up again. Do you have any idea what the trigger may have been?" she asked, the student inside her dying of curiosity. Heero spent a moment in silent debate before deciding to share his thoughts on the matter.
"I have a theory," his voice was slightly hoarse and he took a sip of water to soothe his aching vocal cords. "During the war I had access to the ZERO system, it was designed to increase a pilots reaction time and both myself and Milliard Peacecraft or Zechs Marquise used it on many occasions." She raised an eyebrow at the mention of her other patient but let it pass.
"Who else had access to this system?" she questioned.
"Quatre Rabera Winner used it the most after myself and Zechs, he built it from a set of blueprints he discovered and I forced him to use it at a later date. Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang and Duo Maxwell have all piloted using ZERO at least once,"
"Would they happen to be the young men I threw out of here a moment ago?" she asked although she was well aware of the identities of the five infamous Gundam Pilots. After the war there was a media frenzy, the five were constantly trailed by paparazzi and though the press had moved on the boys were well known by most people.
"That's right," Heero, said quietly, the doctor noticed that he seemed tenser discussing this than the fact that he had less than a month to live. She shook her head in silent pity and disgust. During her time as a field medic she had encountered so many men and women who had placed little or no value in their lives, it appeared that the painfully thin boy before her had that same mindset.
"If this system is the cause and what you say is true then they may not have even contracted the disease or if they have then it may be in it's early stages. I'll book them in for some tests. Do you want to tell them or shall I?" Heero's eyes flickered up to the ceiling and studies the minute cracks in the paintwork.
"I will,"
* * *
"Hello, International Tattler, Antony Lounds speaking. How can I help ya?" Lounds drawled into the phone, balancing the cradle between cheek and shoulder as he continued to type his latest article.
"Hey Mr. Lounds. It's Galen Westwood from Unity hospital, something's going on over here you might be interested in," Lounds fingers paused on the keyboard.
"I'm listenin'," he replied, voice full of a practised calmness.
"You ever hear of cancer? It hasn't been around since pre-colony days and we've got /two/ cases and their -" Lounds sighed in annoyance and interrupted, he was sick of people wasting his time.
"Look, call the health and beauty section, I'm not interested," he moved to hang up but was stopped by the hurried voice on the other end.
"But it's Heero Yuy and Milliardo Peacecraft!"
"What?" he smiled to himself, now /that/ was a story he could be proud of. Visions of awards floated before his eyes.
"Yuy and Peacecraft . . .and the other Gundam Pilots have just been signed up for a series of tests!"
"Westwood you are an angel, I'll be right there!"
Galen Westwood grinned as he hung up and quickly dialled the number of the Daily Colony.
* * *
"Snack foods for everyone!" Duo announced as he slumped down into a plastic chair in the hospital cafeteria and dumped an assortment of chocolate and energy bars into the middle of the table. Wufei and Trowa both grabbed a random bar and ate quietly, usually all of the former pilots avoided such high fat foods, as to avoid becoming out of shape, but they were all tired and the sugar rush they would provide was a necessity. Duo wolfed down a couple of chocolate bars savouring the rare and oh so delicious taste. Quatre was staring absently at the half eaten protein snack held in one hand while the other gently massaged his right temple.
"Not hungry Winner?" Wufei asked noting the blondes' distinct lack of enthusiasm.
"Not really," Quatre stated. "Headache," he explained succinctly. The others accepted the answer without question. Quatre was prone to suffering from headaches during times of stress and nobody lifted an eyebrow as he swallowed a couple of pills. Duo slouched in his seat and his eyes to flitted around the cafeteria as he became distracted by worries of what that doctor was saying to Heero. A flash of pink, startling against the white walls and pale hospital gowns, caught his eye.
"Just what we need," he muttered quietly, causing his companions to look over in curiosity and make various gestures of distaste when they followed Duo's gaze to the one and only Relena Peacecraft. Or is it Dorlain? The vice-foreign minister had spotted them and was weaving her way towards their table. "Kill me, kill me now!" Duo said under his breath; Wufei snickered in black humour.
"Hello everyone," Relena greeted, her voice polite as always yet contained a hint of confusion concerning to their presence. "Are you here to see Milliardo?"
"No," Duo commented flatly causing Relena to raise a delicate eyebrow in surprise. While relations between herself and Duo had always been somewhat strained he had never been openly hostile with her before. She looked questioningly at the others seated around the table.
"We're here to see Heero," Trowa supplied. Relena released a short burst of strained laughter. Trowa focused emerald eyes on her face, she looked exhausted.
"Did he jump off another building?" she asked, her outburst passed and genuine concern was obvious even behind the joke. There was a moment of silence.
"Yuy has cancer," Wufei stated, shrugging of Duo's glare. He thought she deserved to know. All of the colour drained from Relena's cheeks as the news hit her.
"Oh," was all she said as she sank into a chair. Memories of a doctor sitting her down and explaining that her brother was going to die flashed behind blue eyes. Heero was going to die too. Milliardo was going to die. Heero was going to die.
"Relena?" Quatre asked in concern, not needing his "heart of outer space" to tell him how deeply she was affected.
"I'm going to be sick," she blurted before standing and running from the room.
"I think she's taking it rather well," Wufei commented dryly.
* * *
Heero lay alone in his room, eyes closed as he drifted between sleep and consciousness. The doctor had left five minutes ago and he still had another fifteen until his friends came back. His emotions were jumbled and confused but at the moment his main concern was how Duo would react to the news, how all of them would react really.
The door to his room opened but Heero couldn't summon the will to open his eyes. The doctor had said that a nurse would be along in a second to update his chart. However when seven sets of footsteps piled into his room instead of only one Heero froze, feeling a surge of adrenaline course through his veins. His mind was thrown back to imprisonment in a white, sterile lab. He waited, perfectly still, for the right moment to attack and disable the men who were coming to hurt him.
The paparazzi tumbled into the small room. They stood silent for a moment taking in the sight of the once all-powerful hero reduced to skin and bones, and IV jutting out of his painfully thin arm. This was going to make one hell of a story. A photographer for the International Tattle lifted his camera and snapped a shot.
That single click, which to Heero's ears sounded like the safety of a gun being switched off, spurred the young man into motion. He rolled easily off the bed, the IV torn from his arm and opened stormy prussian eyes to view men who held weapons, not cameras. With nothing but adrenaline and sheer desperation keeping him on his feet Heero attacked.
To be Continued . . .