Who's a Weak Onna?
Chapter 12
Sliding Down
Four months after his accident, Wufei was now hobbling around on crutches. For short distances, a cane sufficed.
He was still, in his estimation, a cripple, a weakling.
Although Dr. Carruthers had assured him that he was doing far better than expected, Wufei wanted more. He wanted to be whole again.
It wasn't happening fast enough.
Quatre noticed it first.
"I thought Wufei would be joining us for breakfast," he said to Trowa.
Trowa shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want company. Not everyone is entranced with you as I am, koi."
Quatre frowned as he put down his cup of tea. "This makes four days in a row he's been in his room, except for his last physical therapy session."
Sally had been working double shifts at the hospital, filling in for another doctor. She'd called every day, but Quatre knew that his friend was missing her terribly.
Quatre rose, his breakfast half-eaten. "I'm going to see if there's a problem."
Trowa rose, sighing. "I'd better come too, you might need backup on this."
"You make it sound like we've accepted a dangerous mission," joked Quatre.
"Maybe we have," said Trowa, raising one eyebrow.
"Wufei, can you hear me?" Quatre was banging on the door. A soft knock had produced no response. The door was locked.
"Trowa, call Duo, I want him out here right now," said Quatre.
"Why?" asked Trowa.
"I just have a feeling that we're going to need him," said Quatre mysteriously.
Trowa nodded. "First, I'm going to get a screwdriver and take the hinges off that door."
Quatre sighed. "I hate to do this, but I'm really worried. Wufei can scream injustice later if we're wrong."
Trowa ran and came back shortly with a small tool chest, and proceeded to work on the door hinges. "I called Duo, he's on his way."
Fifteen minutes later, he and Quatre and he lifted the door away and stepped into the room.
Quatre's look of shock echoed that of his partners. The room was a mess, to put it mildly.
Dirty clothing was everywhere, as apparently Wufei had not let the maids in for a few days. Books and magazines were scattered about, and in the middle of the unmade bed, Wufei lay curled up practically in the fetal position.
He was apparently asleep, and was unshaven, unwashed, his hair lying in a tangled halo around his face.
He had on dirty white silk pajamas, Quatre noticed. He sighed. It was so out of character for his normally fastidious friend to be lying here this way that that alone was indicative that something was terribly wrong.
"Wufei," said Quatre, coming over to the bed and sitting on the edge. He reached out tentatively, not wanting to startle Wufei, and gently rubbed his shoulder, calling his name again.
Wufei merely grunted and pulled himself into a tighter ball, shrugging off Quatre's hand.
Trowa went to the other side of the bed to try to peer into Wufei's face.
"He's not really asleep, Quatre," he said with a worried look. "It's like he's just blocking everything. I think we should call Sally right away."
"You're right," said Quatre. Trowa quickly dialed a number on the vidphone in the room.
Sally's face appeared after a few seconds. "What's wrong?" she asked in faintly alarmed tone. "I was told this is an emergency?"
"Yes," said Trowa. "It's Wufei. He hasn't been out of his room for days, so Quatre and I broke in this morning. Sally, he's just laying here, and we can't get him to respond."
Sally's gasp was audible though the connection. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't leave him!" she cautioned.
Trowa nodded. "We'll be right here."
They heard Duo's voice in the hallway. "Wufei!" he was yelling.
He came in the room and stopped, taking in the scene.
"Well, shit, this looks bad," he said, coming over to the bed.
"Wufei!" Duo said loudly, kicking off his shoes and bouncing the bed as he knelt beside the dark-haired man.
Hey, buddy, it's Duo," he reached over and lightly slapped Wufei on the face.
Wufei flinched away from the annoyance, and his eyes flickered open.
He grunted again, closing his eyes tightly. "Go 'way," he mumbled, flailing out with one hand in Duo's direction.
Duo grabbed the hand, "No fuckin' way!" he yelled, putting his face close to Wufei's.
Wufei groaned, trying to push Duo's hands away.
"You know that's not gonna work with me!" yelled Duo, grabbing Wufei by the shoulders and wrenching him upright. Wufei's eyes remained tightly and deliberately closed.
"Open your eyes," growled Duo, slapping him lightly on the face again.
"No," Wufei mumbled, turning his head away.
"Duo!" said Quatre, "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"
"We can't just let him curl up and die!" retorted Duo, shaking Wufei lightly by the shoulders.
"Wufei, did you take sumthin?" asked Duo, putting his face close to the other man's.
"Pills," said Wufei, mumbling again.
"Pain pills?" asked Duo, looking around.
"Mm." Said Wufei.
"How many?" asked Duo, shouting in Wufei's face.
"A few," Wufei said his head lolling back a little in Duo's grasp.
"SHIT!" said Duo loudly. "Trowa, look around for a bottle, he's taken too many pain pills."
Trowa looked around under the bed, moving dirty clothes around. He came up with a small bottle his hand.
"It says 'Every 4 hours for pain as needed'." Trowa said, "This must be it."
The bottle was empty.
"I didn't even realize he was on pain meds anymore," said Quatre, wringing his hands.
"He probably just had a few left then," said Duo. "It only takes a few to knock you out like this. Lucky for him. Too many of those babies and you don't wake up."
Quatre shuddered. "My God, I had no idea he was this depressed. I knew he was a little down because things weren't going as fast as he wanted, but."
He broke off, sitting down in the nearest chair and putting his face in his hands.
"Come on, Trowa, help me," said Duo, unbuttoning Wufei's pajama top and pulling it off. "We're gonna put him in the shower."
Trowa helped Duo finish stripping Wufei down to his boxers, while he ineffectively protested and tried to push their hands away, and they carried him inside the large bathroom.
Duo reached in the shower and adjusted the spray to cool, not freezing, but not warm either.
He began to strip off his own clothes. "Hold him, I'm gonna have to get in with him, he can't stand by himself."
Duo gritted his teeth and stood under the cool spray. "Yeow!" he said as it hit him on the chest. He took a deep breath. "Alright Trowa, hand him to me." Trowa passed Wufei's inert form over to Duo, who was sitting on a shower bench, and placed the nearly unconscious Wufei on his lap, holding firmly him around the waist and shoulders.
Wufei groaned as the cool water hit him on the face, and he started to shiver.
His eyes came open slightly and he looked at Duo. "Maxwell," he moaned. "What're you doin'? he asked sluggishly, trying to struggle out of Duo's tight grasp.
"Wakin' you up, Sleeping Beauty," Duo said grinning. He stuck Wufei's face under the cold spray, making him sputter and start to move away from the discomfort.
"NO!" wailed Wufei, struggling harder.
"I'm not enjoyin' this either, Wu-man," muttered Duo, who was starting to shiver himself, but tightened his grasp on Wufei.
Outside the bathroom, Quatre had called a maid in and they had started cleaning the room, stripping the bed and remaking it with clean sheets.
Isabel came in, "You wanted to speak to me, Mr. Winner?"
"How long has Mr. Chang been refusing to let the maids in?" he asked.
"Two days," said Isabel, "as far as I know," she added.
"The staff told me this morning and I was going to tell you. He's been rejecting his meal trays too, asking us to take them back to the kitchen. I'm sorry, if I'd known, I'd have told you sooner, Mr. Winner."
Isabel looked stricken. "It's all right," said Quatre, "It's not anyone's fault."
She nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Winner. I hope your friend is all right."
"I do too," said Quatre. "You can go now."
Isabel nodded and left the room.
Sally came to the doorway. "Where's Wufei?" she said, looking at the newly straightened room.
"Duo took him into the shower, and he's sitting in there with him. A cold shower. Apparently, Wufei took a few too many pain pills." Quatre sat down again and passed his hand over his face.
"I'm sorry Sally, I should have seen how depressed he was getting!" Quatre pulled up his knees in the large chair and hugged them.
"It's all right," said Sally soothingly. "But I need to see him. I can give him a stimulant to counteract the depressive effects of the medication. That should help."
"They're in there." Quatre pointed to the bathroom door.
Sally went in. Trowa and Duo where wrapping Wufei in a large towel. Duo himself had one wrapped around his waist and his wet braid trailed down his back.
"You're just in time for the party," said Duo grimly, rubbing a mildly protesting Wufei rather roughly with the towel.
"So I see," said Sally, opening her bag. "I'm going to give him a mild stimulant," she said.
Duo nodded. "I stuck him under the cold spray, I thought that'd help."
Sally prepared a hypodermic. "It was the best thing to do," she agreed.
She swabbed Wufei's upper arm with a square of alcohol soaked gauze and jabbed the hypo into his arm.
"He'll come around in a few minutes," Sally said. "Let's get him back in the bedroom."
"I washed him up a little in there," said Duo, grinning ruefully. "He wasn't exactly a sweet flower when we found him."
"I can imagine." Sally looked at Wufei as Duo and Trowa carried him into the bedroom between them and gently lowered him to the bed.
Wufei's long dark hair hung limply around his face, which was a few degrees paler than his normal healthy tan. There were dark bruised looking smudges under his eyes, which were still unfocused.
"Wufei, can you hear me?" Sally said, sitting down next to him on the bed and taking his hand.
"Yes," he said almost inaudibly. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Didn't realize.."
"What's that?" she asked bending closer.
"Took pills so I could work harder, so it wouldn't hurt." He said, turning his face to hers.
"Oh, Wufei," she said, putting her head on his shoulder.
"Don't want to be a cripple."
"But, you're doing so well!" Sally said, shaking her head.
"Not enough," he said, closing his eyes.
Duo, who had gone back in the bathroom to put his clothes back on, came out in time to hear that last.
"Figures," he said, sighing. "You know what a perfectionist he is. Whaddya gonna do with someone so damn stubborn?"
"At least we know he didn't try to kill himself," said Quatre, looking relieved. His eyes were wet.
Trowa nodded and went over to Quatre, putting his arms around the shorter man. "It's all right," he murmured, handing Quatre a handkerchief.
A knowing look passed briefly between Sally and Trowa, and Trowa bent to kiss Quatre lightly on the cheek.
Quatre wiped his eyes.
"I'm going to stay here until he's fully recovered, don't worry," said Sally.
"Duo, I can't thank you enough for coming so quickly," said Quatre.
"I broke every damn speed limit doing it," said Duo.
"I bet you did," said Quatre, smiling at him.
"I think maybe Sally would like to be alone with Wufei when he wakes up," said Trowa.
"Yeah," nodded Duo. "I'd love something hot to drink, that cold shower wasn't exactly my idea of paradise. Especially holding a naked man. Talk about your dick shrivelers!"
Quatre laughed. "Speak for yourself!"
Duo groaned. "I forgot for a moment that everyone around here is gayer than springtime."
The three of them left with Duo asking if he could get marshmallows in his cocoa.
Chapter 12
Sliding Down
Four months after his accident, Wufei was now hobbling around on crutches. For short distances, a cane sufficed.
He was still, in his estimation, a cripple, a weakling.
Although Dr. Carruthers had assured him that he was doing far better than expected, Wufei wanted more. He wanted to be whole again.
It wasn't happening fast enough.
Quatre noticed it first.
"I thought Wufei would be joining us for breakfast," he said to Trowa.
Trowa shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want company. Not everyone is entranced with you as I am, koi."
Quatre frowned as he put down his cup of tea. "This makes four days in a row he's been in his room, except for his last physical therapy session."
Sally had been working double shifts at the hospital, filling in for another doctor. She'd called every day, but Quatre knew that his friend was missing her terribly.
Quatre rose, his breakfast half-eaten. "I'm going to see if there's a problem."
Trowa rose, sighing. "I'd better come too, you might need backup on this."
"You make it sound like we've accepted a dangerous mission," joked Quatre.
"Maybe we have," said Trowa, raising one eyebrow.
"Wufei, can you hear me?" Quatre was banging on the door. A soft knock had produced no response. The door was locked.
"Trowa, call Duo, I want him out here right now," said Quatre.
"Why?" asked Trowa.
"I just have a feeling that we're going to need him," said Quatre mysteriously.
Trowa nodded. "First, I'm going to get a screwdriver and take the hinges off that door."
Quatre sighed. "I hate to do this, but I'm really worried. Wufei can scream injustice later if we're wrong."
Trowa ran and came back shortly with a small tool chest, and proceeded to work on the door hinges. "I called Duo, he's on his way."
Fifteen minutes later, he and Quatre and he lifted the door away and stepped into the room.
Quatre's look of shock echoed that of his partners. The room was a mess, to put it mildly.
Dirty clothing was everywhere, as apparently Wufei had not let the maids in for a few days. Books and magazines were scattered about, and in the middle of the unmade bed, Wufei lay curled up practically in the fetal position.
He was apparently asleep, and was unshaven, unwashed, his hair lying in a tangled halo around his face.
He had on dirty white silk pajamas, Quatre noticed. He sighed. It was so out of character for his normally fastidious friend to be lying here this way that that alone was indicative that something was terribly wrong.
"Wufei," said Quatre, coming over to the bed and sitting on the edge. He reached out tentatively, not wanting to startle Wufei, and gently rubbed his shoulder, calling his name again.
Wufei merely grunted and pulled himself into a tighter ball, shrugging off Quatre's hand.
Trowa went to the other side of the bed to try to peer into Wufei's face.
"He's not really asleep, Quatre," he said with a worried look. "It's like he's just blocking everything. I think we should call Sally right away."
"You're right," said Quatre. Trowa quickly dialed a number on the vidphone in the room.
Sally's face appeared after a few seconds. "What's wrong?" she asked in faintly alarmed tone. "I was told this is an emergency?"
"Yes," said Trowa. "It's Wufei. He hasn't been out of his room for days, so Quatre and I broke in this morning. Sally, he's just laying here, and we can't get him to respond."
Sally's gasp was audible though the connection. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't leave him!" she cautioned.
Trowa nodded. "We'll be right here."
They heard Duo's voice in the hallway. "Wufei!" he was yelling.
He came in the room and stopped, taking in the scene.
"Well, shit, this looks bad," he said, coming over to the bed.
"Wufei!" Duo said loudly, kicking off his shoes and bouncing the bed as he knelt beside the dark-haired man.
Hey, buddy, it's Duo," he reached over and lightly slapped Wufei on the face.
Wufei flinched away from the annoyance, and his eyes flickered open.
He grunted again, closing his eyes tightly. "Go 'way," he mumbled, flailing out with one hand in Duo's direction.
Duo grabbed the hand, "No fuckin' way!" he yelled, putting his face close to Wufei's.
Wufei groaned, trying to push Duo's hands away.
"You know that's not gonna work with me!" yelled Duo, grabbing Wufei by the shoulders and wrenching him upright. Wufei's eyes remained tightly and deliberately closed.
"Open your eyes," growled Duo, slapping him lightly on the face again.
"No," Wufei mumbled, turning his head away.
"Duo!" said Quatre, "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"
"We can't just let him curl up and die!" retorted Duo, shaking Wufei lightly by the shoulders.
"Wufei, did you take sumthin?" asked Duo, putting his face close to the other man's.
"Pills," said Wufei, mumbling again.
"Pain pills?" asked Duo, looking around.
"Mm." Said Wufei.
"How many?" asked Duo, shouting in Wufei's face.
"A few," Wufei said his head lolling back a little in Duo's grasp.
"SHIT!" said Duo loudly. "Trowa, look around for a bottle, he's taken too many pain pills."
Trowa looked around under the bed, moving dirty clothes around. He came up with a small bottle his hand.
"It says 'Every 4 hours for pain as needed'." Trowa said, "This must be it."
The bottle was empty.
"I didn't even realize he was on pain meds anymore," said Quatre, wringing his hands.
"He probably just had a few left then," said Duo. "It only takes a few to knock you out like this. Lucky for him. Too many of those babies and you don't wake up."
Quatre shuddered. "My God, I had no idea he was this depressed. I knew he was a little down because things weren't going as fast as he wanted, but."
He broke off, sitting down in the nearest chair and putting his face in his hands.
"Come on, Trowa, help me," said Duo, unbuttoning Wufei's pajama top and pulling it off. "We're gonna put him in the shower."
Trowa helped Duo finish stripping Wufei down to his boxers, while he ineffectively protested and tried to push their hands away, and they carried him inside the large bathroom.
Duo reached in the shower and adjusted the spray to cool, not freezing, but not warm either.
He began to strip off his own clothes. "Hold him, I'm gonna have to get in with him, he can't stand by himself."
Duo gritted his teeth and stood under the cool spray. "Yeow!" he said as it hit him on the chest. He took a deep breath. "Alright Trowa, hand him to me." Trowa passed Wufei's inert form over to Duo, who was sitting on a shower bench, and placed the nearly unconscious Wufei on his lap, holding firmly him around the waist and shoulders.
Wufei groaned as the cool water hit him on the face, and he started to shiver.
His eyes came open slightly and he looked at Duo. "Maxwell," he moaned. "What're you doin'? he asked sluggishly, trying to struggle out of Duo's tight grasp.
"Wakin' you up, Sleeping Beauty," Duo said grinning. He stuck Wufei's face under the cold spray, making him sputter and start to move away from the discomfort.
"NO!" wailed Wufei, struggling harder.
"I'm not enjoyin' this either, Wu-man," muttered Duo, who was starting to shiver himself, but tightened his grasp on Wufei.
Outside the bathroom, Quatre had called a maid in and they had started cleaning the room, stripping the bed and remaking it with clean sheets.
Isabel came in, "You wanted to speak to me, Mr. Winner?"
"How long has Mr. Chang been refusing to let the maids in?" he asked.
"Two days," said Isabel, "as far as I know," she added.
"The staff told me this morning and I was going to tell you. He's been rejecting his meal trays too, asking us to take them back to the kitchen. I'm sorry, if I'd known, I'd have told you sooner, Mr. Winner."
Isabel looked stricken. "It's all right," said Quatre, "It's not anyone's fault."
She nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Winner. I hope your friend is all right."
"I do too," said Quatre. "You can go now."
Isabel nodded and left the room.
Sally came to the doorway. "Where's Wufei?" she said, looking at the newly straightened room.
"Duo took him into the shower, and he's sitting in there with him. A cold shower. Apparently, Wufei took a few too many pain pills." Quatre sat down again and passed his hand over his face.
"I'm sorry Sally, I should have seen how depressed he was getting!" Quatre pulled up his knees in the large chair and hugged them.
"It's all right," said Sally soothingly. "But I need to see him. I can give him a stimulant to counteract the depressive effects of the medication. That should help."
"They're in there." Quatre pointed to the bathroom door.
Sally went in. Trowa and Duo where wrapping Wufei in a large towel. Duo himself had one wrapped around his waist and his wet braid trailed down his back.
"You're just in time for the party," said Duo grimly, rubbing a mildly protesting Wufei rather roughly with the towel.
"So I see," said Sally, opening her bag. "I'm going to give him a mild stimulant," she said.
Duo nodded. "I stuck him under the cold spray, I thought that'd help."
Sally prepared a hypodermic. "It was the best thing to do," she agreed.
She swabbed Wufei's upper arm with a square of alcohol soaked gauze and jabbed the hypo into his arm.
"He'll come around in a few minutes," Sally said. "Let's get him back in the bedroom."
"I washed him up a little in there," said Duo, grinning ruefully. "He wasn't exactly a sweet flower when we found him."
"I can imagine." Sally looked at Wufei as Duo and Trowa carried him into the bedroom between them and gently lowered him to the bed.
Wufei's long dark hair hung limply around his face, which was a few degrees paler than his normal healthy tan. There were dark bruised looking smudges under his eyes, which were still unfocused.
"Wufei, can you hear me?" Sally said, sitting down next to him on the bed and taking his hand.
"Yes," he said almost inaudibly. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Didn't realize.."
"What's that?" she asked bending closer.
"Took pills so I could work harder, so it wouldn't hurt." He said, turning his face to hers.
"Oh, Wufei," she said, putting her head on his shoulder.
"Don't want to be a cripple."
"But, you're doing so well!" Sally said, shaking her head.
"Not enough," he said, closing his eyes.
Duo, who had gone back in the bathroom to put his clothes back on, came out in time to hear that last.
"Figures," he said, sighing. "You know what a perfectionist he is. Whaddya gonna do with someone so damn stubborn?"
"At least we know he didn't try to kill himself," said Quatre, looking relieved. His eyes were wet.
Trowa nodded and went over to Quatre, putting his arms around the shorter man. "It's all right," he murmured, handing Quatre a handkerchief.
A knowing look passed briefly between Sally and Trowa, and Trowa bent to kiss Quatre lightly on the cheek.
Quatre wiped his eyes.
"I'm going to stay here until he's fully recovered, don't worry," said Sally.
"Duo, I can't thank you enough for coming so quickly," said Quatre.
"I broke every damn speed limit doing it," said Duo.
"I bet you did," said Quatre, smiling at him.
"I think maybe Sally would like to be alone with Wufei when he wakes up," said Trowa.
"Yeah," nodded Duo. "I'd love something hot to drink, that cold shower wasn't exactly my idea of paradise. Especially holding a naked man. Talk about your dick shrivelers!"
Quatre laughed. "Speak for yourself!"
Duo groaned. "I forgot for a moment that everyone around here is gayer than springtime."
The three of them left with Duo asking if he could get marshmallows in his cocoa.