Author: aomurasakiai
Warnings: AU, Angst, Sap, Shounen ai/Yaoi [Lime Warning]
Pairings: 2+1, 1+2, 2x1 [R+1]
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG-13 [R in Chapters 17 and 18]
*Everything above may be
subject to change*
Fragile Faith: Chapter 26 – Harsh Realities
~~~Winner Memorial Hospital, Intensive Care Unit, Room 102 ~~~
A young teen lay unmoving on a white hospital bed with various tubes protruding from his skin connected to machines that monitored his status. An IV tube was embedded in his arm, the slow drip, drip of the clear liquid seeping into his vein. A mop of messy brown hair partially covered the bandages encircling around his head. His slow, labored inhalation within the breathing mask fogged it temporarily with each exhale.
A few moments later Dr. Sally Po, who had operated on him hours before, stepped into the room. She sighed in relief to see that he was out of the critical zone. This young boy had touched her somehow; given the condition he was in last night, he should have died. But miraculously, he hadn't.
'Seems like… he has something very important to live for,' she thought. She turned and was about to leave when something on the floor caught her eye. Underneath the small table next to the bed was… a doll? Dr. Po bent down to pick it up. It was a bit damp, but other than that it looked fine. She looked over at the recovering boy and smiled before placing it on the pillow beside his head.
"This little one will watch over you," she whispered. Her eyes widened when she saw the pale lips of her patient move slightly.
"Du… Du…o…" came the muted call. Dr. Po smiled sadly.
'Perhaps… it is *someone* very important…'
~~~Wyatt Orphanage~~~
Lady Une paced around the living room, even though she was exhausted. After almost 45 minutes of quarreling with the woman on the phone the previous night, she was finally transferred to a more decent human being, another woman by the name of Noin. She left an urgent message with her to deliver to Mr. Darlian and she'd said that she would call the next morning with any news.
*ring*
Lady Une all but flew towards the phone, nearly knocking it over in her haste to get to it.
"Hello?" she said almost breathlessly.
"Lady Une?"
"Noin!" Lady Une cried out in relief.
"I've some good news. Seems that Mr. Darlian was planning to visit you at the orphanage fairly soon, but after hearing about your call he's made some time in his schedule and will be arriving to see you later on today."
"Oh thank god…" Lady Une sank to the floor, tears of joy escaping her eyes. "Thank you… thank you so much. I just hope it's not too late…" she sobbed out.
"Lady Une? What's wrong?" Noin asked, concerned.
"It's… a long story."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Well… it began like this…"
~~~White Fang University~~~
Quatre sighed as he walked away from the campus. His heart ached so much for his friend who had been so close to keeping the one person he wanted more than anything to protect and to love. The blonde knew that he would feel the same if Trowa was ripped away from him so unfairly. Such a cruel thing…
"Cheer up little cousin." He blinked and looked up. He saw Dorothy standing next to the entrance gate. She was probably the closest to him out of all his cousins and she was extremely fond of him as well. Quatre had gone to find her and told her about what had happened right after he and the others had left Duo alone at his request. His heart lightened a little bit when Dorothy started to throw a fit and threatened to stab the girl with her fencing sword if they ever met. When she had finished her little rant, Dorothy let out a soft sigh.
"Let's go then. There's not much we can do now." Dorothy turned and motioned him to where Trowa was waiting in his car and began to walk; Quatre followed. The unibanged boy tried to smile slightly but Quatre knew that he was just as troubled as he was. Trowa's older sister Catherine sat in the back seat, and judging by her saddened expression he must have told her the sad news as well. Catherine treated everyone like a sibling but to know that one of them was in so much pain hurt her just as much; she wished she could do something to help.
Deciding to not waste any more time for he knew his older sister tended to worry, a *lot*, Quatre climbed into the front and Dorothy followed suit, climbing into the back. Trowa shifted the gears and drove off for their weekly visit to Dr. Iria Winner, planning to tell her about the heartbreak that Duo was currently suffering and see if she had any suggestions as to how they could help him.
'Duo might not know it but he is going to need all the support he can get…' the blonde boy thought.
tbc…