First off, I would like to apologize for the lateness of this
chapter. It's been really busy the past few days, cause my dad
just got home from Iraq Tuesday, so I haven't had much time on
the computer, let alone time to write, because of all the
relatives that invaded our house to see my dad. *sigh* But
they're all gone now (thankfully), so now I have some peace and
quiet to write.
Secondly, this chapter was -very- hard to write when I as able
to sit and write. O.o;;; I knew what I wanted to have, it was
just getting there that was the trouble, ya know what I mean? So
hopefully, it's good. If not, oh well. And yes this is the third
person POV. Duo's results come in, and Doctor Woods lets Wufei
join his reevaluation. ^_^ The hardest part to write,
surprisingly, wasn't the psychological technical stuff, but the
scene with Wufei and Duo.
Poor, poor Wufei.
*ahem* Now, for reviews. ^___^
Nelia Black: Don't you just love Hannibal Lector? ^_^ And yesh,
Wufei joins a lovely session and is recognized. I swear, Wufei
and Duo's scene was -hard- to write, so hopefully it came out
all right. *sweatdrop* But yes, it's a -very- good sign. ^_^
Avenged Suffering: Fei-Fairy!!! Kawaii!! ^___^ *ahem* Anywho,
yes, Insane Duo is always fun no matter how much angst there is.
I was expecting more people to point out that fact about him
being a Gundam pilot, so that would have made him able to
escape, but unfortunately, psychiatrists know what they're doing
with their patients. *nod nod* Glad you liked it! ^_^ As for X-
men 2, I have yet to see it, but it's on my list of things to do
this weekend, along with seeing The Matrix Reloaded, because I'm
-dying- to see them. And for Kirby Morrow, I have no clue who he
is, so...
Nightmaker's Raven: Aww...Don't be too sad now, because it'll
only get worse before it gets better, so you gotta be prepared
so you can read. ^_^ Glad you're liking it though!
Smiley-person: Don't you just love Duo's sarcasm? Only Duo can
get any with humor like that, and my slightly mentally unstable
Duo is all the more fun because in first person POV, you don't
have to hold back. ^_____^ Sadly, this chapter is third person.
*sigh*
Kinishi: I'm glad you're enjoying this!! ^___^ And I agree, not
many people had the heart to write stories that could possibly
permanently damage their favorite G-boy. Unfortunately for the G-
boys, I don't have that problem. *evil grin* So far I've made
Heero alcoholic, Wufei a tortured vampire, and now Duo's
mentally unstable. I don't think Quatre and Trowa even want to
know what I have in store for them. ^_^ And yes, Duo being
locked up in a padded room is the last thing he needs, but
luckily for him, the doctor's kind enough in this chapter to
remove his restraints. And Wufei -nearly- kills the
psychiatrist in this chapter, if not the doctor considering
killing Wufei first. One of my favorite parts. *snicker* You'll
know what I'm talking about soon enough though...^___^
Firedraygon97: Glad you're enjoying my little fic! ^__^
I think that's about everyone...On with the chapter!!
***
Quatre and Trowa were still in Doctor Woods' office when they
returned. The manila folder laid on his desk, looking for all
the world perfectly untouched, though he knew better. The only
difference in the room since his departure was the absence of
Heero and a new folder set in the receiving tray on the upper
right corner of his desk.
At the sound of the door opening, Quatre jumped up anxiously
from his chair, his distressed fears being confirmed at the
horrendously pale complexion Wufei's stunned expression held.
Even Trowa appeared mildly concerned at the Asian's
uncharacteristic reaction.
"Are you okay Wufei?" Quatre asked tentatively.
He shook his head slowly as he sat, his face disappearing
behinds his hands while he regained composure.
Doctor Woods had picked up the new folder and was perusing it
intently. "We're right on time. These are the results for the
lab tests I had done on Mister Maxwell."
Wufei's head came up, looking considerably more like his normal
self. "Well?"
The psychiatrist didn't answer immediately; his gaze set on the
numbers and charts on the lab papers. "Was Mister Maxwell a
restless, fidgety person?" He seemed highly displeased.
"Oh Allah yes," Quatre sighed. "He drove us crazy during
missions, when we had take cover in safe houses, not being able
to sit still. I think you and Heero hog-tied him to a chair him
once during a particularly long mission, did you not Trowa?" The
unibanged boy nodded silently.
"How about conversations? Was there rapid speech? Moments of
incoherence?"
"Incoherent?" Wufei repeated blankly. "Unfortunately, no. He did
talk a lot, though we tuned him out half the time." Guilt
immediately followed his last statement. They -had- tuned Duo
out most of the time, hoping that his 'babble' would cease if he
noticed no one was listening to him after 'shut up' didn't work.
"Grandiose ideas?" Doctor Woods inquired. "Did he thought of
himself as something he was not, in other words."
The three glanced at each other. "Shinigami," Quatre said
finally. "He called himself the 'God of Death'. Though he had
nicknames for everybody," he added hastily, but that didn't seem
to alleviate the frown deepening on the doctor's face.
"What about trust issues? Did he have paranoia or anxiety
attacks?"
"People tend to be distrustful when they grow up on the
streets," Wufei remarked coolly. "Besides, the first thing we
were taught as Gundam pilots was to trust only in yourself and
to question that even. So will you get to your point already?"
Again, they did not get an instant reply.
"In schizophrenia, there is a build up of a chemical called
dopamine in the brain," Doctor Woods said after a while.
"However, despite what I had originally believed, the results
show manic depression, but it has gone untreated for so long
that it seems worse, with the bouts of mania overwhelming the
depression because of the abnormal amounts of serotonin that
have built up in his system. Cases such as this are very rare,
and they are ordinarily only found among people twice his age,
if not older." [1]
"But he can get better, right?" Trowa asked carefully, catching
them all off guard. He had not spoken a word in front of the
psychiatrist until then.
"I honestly cannot say," he shrugged slightly. "With this new
information, I am going to have to entirely reevaluate Mister
Maxwell and work out some sort of therapy. I have never dealt
with a patient suffering from a manic depression developed to
such a great extent before, it's going to be all new territory."
Wufei appeared reproachful, a dark scowl beginning to form on
his recomposed features. "I refuse to allow you screw with Duo's
mind like some science experiment," he interrupted hotly, the
surprise now shifting to him. He was serious, point proven by
the fact that he called Duo by his first name instead of the
usual 'Maxwell' or 'braided idiot'.
But neither Trowa or Quatre tried to calm him, they had not seen
their friend, and thus did not know how truly bad it was other
than what they were told from an critique report or lab results.
Though the Asian had, and judging by the way that he had entered
the office, the two were more than willing to let Wufei handle
the predicament for the moment.
Doctor Woods' only change in expression was the knitting of his
brow, but his unflagging patience was wearing thin. "I think you
misunderstand Mister Chang, the benefit of my patient far
exceeds any medical journal examination. Even in a rare case
like this, his welfare is much more important rather than me
making him 'some science experiment' for my own personal
psychoanalytic gain."
Wufei muttered something that distinctly sounded like 'Psycho is
right' under his breath, folding his arms across his chest in a
defiant gesture. "Fine, do your reevaluation, but if the
smallest thing goes wrong, I'm going to get Sally Po to come
here and take charge over the situation because I know we can
trust her."
The doctor sighed heavily, massaging his temples. "I should
think I would know what I am doing after twenty years of
impeccable medical practice, though if you insist, join the
reevaluation session and observe for yourself," he said testily.
Yes, his patience was -definitely- wearing thin, and he made a
mental note to congratulate the Preventer agent on being one of
the very few who have ever managed to really irk him.
Quatre seemed to sense the irritation building as he quickly
made way to cool the tempers down. "Now Wufei, doesn't calling
Sally sound a bit ridiculous? It would only cause more trouble
than good to drag her down here from the Headquarters," he said
soothingly. "The both of you would have to go to Une about this
matter, and Sally isn't even qualified in psychological medical
cases, the best she could do was recommend someone else."
Wufei uncrossed his arms exasperatingly in defeat, pinching the
bridge of his nose to stave off an impending headache. Why did
the blonde Arabian always have to be so damn right? "I know," he
replied tiredly. "It's just...how could we let something like
this happen Quatre? What kind of friend doesn't notice something
like this? We are supposed to be friends with Duo, and look at
what we let happen because we were so absorbed in our own lives
that we couldn't even find five minutes to try to call and ask
how he was doing..."
"Wufei-" Quatre began gently, but the Asian shook his head
abruptly, refusing to listen to any comforting excuse he could
say.
"When can this reevaluation be done?" Wufei asked pointedly, not
to provoke the psychiatrist though, only to make it clear that
the subject of his guilt was dropped for the moment.
"Any time," Doctor Woods answered simply. "It's nothing to
complicated, I just ask questions and make my judgments based on
his answers and reactions. Given the rather alarming lab
results, I would like to do it as soon as the sedatives wear
off."
"How long will that take?"
"Well, as I said, Mister Maxwell is a unique patient. Normally,
the sedatives last for about eight to ten hours, depending on
the person, but he only stays under for about three hours," he
checked his wristwatch. "I expect he'll wake up within the next
twenty minutes or so." He looked at Quatre and Trowa. "Will you
be coming for the ride too?"
"Oh no, we wouldn't want to get in way," Quatre declined
politely. "We can wait."
Wufei pulled off his Preventers jacket so that he appeared more
casual in his khaki slacks and black shirt, also removing his
katana from his belt to set down in his vacant chair for extra
precaution. Without the intimidating attire, he could have
almost passed as a regular teenager if not for the serious
circumstances.
Once again following the doctor, Wufei stole one more uneasy
glance back at Quatre and Trowa before shutting the office door
behind him. The guilt consuming his conscience made him wonder
if he even had the right to try and help Duo after practically
ignoring him for all this time as they walked through the
various bland corridors.
How would his presence affect him?
Doctor Woods surveyed Wufei's troubled face with sympathy as
they came to Duo's room. "For now, you will need to stay out
here. I will call you in if I deem it will be safe for you to do
so, and then you can speak with him." The Chinese teen nodded
without argument and he entered, leaving the door open as he
went. The ex-soldier was indeed waking up as he came in and
carefully unclasped the restraints on his delicate wrists and
ankles, feeling his patient tense up immediately in distrust
under his hands.
Wufei's discomfiture got the best of him and he peered into the
room cautiously, watching Doctor Woods' deft movements before he
settled himself in a chair beside the bed with the lab folder in
his lap. He did not like the empty expression that was fixed on
Duo's thin face when he sat up laboriously; he understood that
expression all too well. It was the look they adopted when they
knew they were about to kill innocents during war, they escaped
to a silent place in their minds, trying not to consider the
families and friends the people they were about to murder had or
could have. It was the look they used if they were ever caught
by the enemy and held captive, slipping into the cold silence so
none could figure out what they were thinking or feeling,
suspicious of everything and everyone. There was no life in the
hollow violet eyes, only the cold and suspicion, no sparkle or
shine of laughter.
Odd as it seemed coming from him, all Wufei wanted was for the
psychiatrist hurry and finish his reevaluation so he could go in
there to bring the brightness back, a smile at least, to make
the trained emotionless mask go away. What kind of friend let
something like this happen?
On his end of the spectrum, Doctor Woods was getting no response
to his questions or remarks, anything to give him the smallest
hint that his charge was even paying attention. There was still
one last objective to try and he was bound to get -some- sort of
reaction out of the teen from it.
He just hoped he was making the right decision.
"You can come in the room now."
The instant the Asian walked in, much to both of theirs shock,
there was no way to describe the sudden explosion of ecstatic
relief that shattered the mask Duo wore. He looked like a little
child who had just been let loose in a candy store heaven as he
inhaled sharply. "Wufei!"
"Shh, sit still Duo, stay calm," Wufei said gently, gingerly
sitting beside him on the bed and setting a hand on his bony
shoulder with a tiny wince.
As suddenly as the excitement had appeared, it was replaced by
anxiousness. "It wasn't my fault," Duo whispered hoarsely, his
panicky hold latching onto his comforting warmth as he grasped
his outstretched arm. "Do you see them? Do they accuse you too?
They're coming after us, aren't they? They're gonna make us
suffer for all the damage we caused-" His words tumbled quickly,
blurring his sentences.
"Shh, shh...Calm down Duo," Wufei repeated soothingly, though
his concern showed clearly in his onyx eyes. "Nobody is here to
make us suffer, there is nobody coming after us. Only I'm here,
and Quatre and Trowa, we're going to help you." He carefully
pried Duo's gripping hands and set them down in his lap, not
breaking their steady gazes so the motion went unnoticed.
"Nobody is going to come after you, I promise and you know I
never go back on my word."
"Really?" Oh gods, how desperate he sounded.
"Of course! I don't let you call me 'Justice Boy' for nothing,"
he smiled slightly.
Doctor Woods observed the two boys' interaction with near
amazement, in the few minutes he had allowed the Preventer to
have with his patient, he had easily jumped over all the hurdles
he could not and was slowly bringing Duo Maxwell back to
reality. He had spoken more to Wufei in those few minutes than
he had to him in all the time he had spent with the
psychiatrist, twice as much even, if not almost triple. His
amazement grew as the long-haired teen slowly grinned at the
self-depreciating joke and chuckled.
Wufei may have appeared consoling on the outside, but inside, he
was going crazy himself. Surely he was going to break under the
strain. Never had he had someone put so much trust in him so
blindly, yet the second he had gotten Duo to believe that he was
there for him, he attached himself wholeheartedly to that
security as if he were his lifeline. Which he probably was, now
that he considered it. There had been no screaming; he had made
him laugh and smile like normal after some tactful reassuring.
Then came the -hard- part-
Trying to leave.
"Duo..." Wufei began tentatively. "We've got to go talk to
Quatre and Trowa for a minute, will you be fine with that?"
"You'll come back, right?" His grin faltered, the panicky look
starting to return. "You're not gonna leave me here-"
"No! No, I would not leave you here," he amended hastily. "I'll
come back as soon as we're through." His answer seemed to
satisfy Duo, the anxiety left his face and he was calm again.
Doctor Woods got up and returned his chair to its place beside
the door as Wufei rose, not releasing the hand on Duo's shoulder
until he had to leave.
***
Poor, poor Wufei...
[1]I would like to point out that the 'depression' in manic
depression does -NOT- make the person suicidal or the like, it's
a type of paranoia. When in a depressive state, they suspect
everyone and everything, and usually sabotage relationships by
driving them away, the anxiety build up turning the depression
into mania. Its slang term is called the 'darkness', because the
person really isn't registering what they're doing until after
the episode, and are brought out of it by either their own will
power or by someone VERY close to them, like a lover or close
friend that you share an immense past with (such as the G-boys
are to Duo), that's able to talk them out of it.
Don't like what I'm doing? Tough. Flame me and get on with your
life.
But if you're enjoying yourself...^____^ Review!
chapter. It's been really busy the past few days, cause my dad
just got home from Iraq Tuesday, so I haven't had much time on
the computer, let alone time to write, because of all the
relatives that invaded our house to see my dad. *sigh* But
they're all gone now (thankfully), so now I have some peace and
quiet to write.
Secondly, this chapter was -very- hard to write when I as able
to sit and write. O.o;;; I knew what I wanted to have, it was
just getting there that was the trouble, ya know what I mean? So
hopefully, it's good. If not, oh well. And yes this is the third
person POV. Duo's results come in, and Doctor Woods lets Wufei
join his reevaluation. ^_^ The hardest part to write,
surprisingly, wasn't the psychological technical stuff, but the
scene with Wufei and Duo.
Poor, poor Wufei.
*ahem* Now, for reviews. ^___^
Nelia Black: Don't you just love Hannibal Lector? ^_^ And yesh,
Wufei joins a lovely session and is recognized. I swear, Wufei
and Duo's scene was -hard- to write, so hopefully it came out
all right. *sweatdrop* But yes, it's a -very- good sign. ^_^
Avenged Suffering: Fei-Fairy!!! Kawaii!! ^___^ *ahem* Anywho,
yes, Insane Duo is always fun no matter how much angst there is.
I was expecting more people to point out that fact about him
being a Gundam pilot, so that would have made him able to
escape, but unfortunately, psychiatrists know what they're doing
with their patients. *nod nod* Glad you liked it! ^_^ As for X-
men 2, I have yet to see it, but it's on my list of things to do
this weekend, along with seeing The Matrix Reloaded, because I'm
-dying- to see them. And for Kirby Morrow, I have no clue who he
is, so...
Nightmaker's Raven: Aww...Don't be too sad now, because it'll
only get worse before it gets better, so you gotta be prepared
so you can read. ^_^ Glad you're liking it though!
Smiley-person: Don't you just love Duo's sarcasm? Only Duo can
get any with humor like that, and my slightly mentally unstable
Duo is all the more fun because in first person POV, you don't
have to hold back. ^_____^ Sadly, this chapter is third person.
*sigh*
Kinishi: I'm glad you're enjoying this!! ^___^ And I agree, not
many people had the heart to write stories that could possibly
permanently damage their favorite G-boy. Unfortunately for the G-
boys, I don't have that problem. *evil grin* So far I've made
Heero alcoholic, Wufei a tortured vampire, and now Duo's
mentally unstable. I don't think Quatre and Trowa even want to
know what I have in store for them. ^_^ And yes, Duo being
locked up in a padded room is the last thing he needs, but
luckily for him, the doctor's kind enough in this chapter to
remove his restraints. And Wufei -nearly- kills the
psychiatrist in this chapter, if not the doctor considering
killing Wufei first. One of my favorite parts. *snicker* You'll
know what I'm talking about soon enough though...^___^
Firedraygon97: Glad you're enjoying my little fic! ^__^
I think that's about everyone...On with the chapter!!
***
Quatre and Trowa were still in Doctor Woods' office when they
returned. The manila folder laid on his desk, looking for all
the world perfectly untouched, though he knew better. The only
difference in the room since his departure was the absence of
Heero and a new folder set in the receiving tray on the upper
right corner of his desk.
At the sound of the door opening, Quatre jumped up anxiously
from his chair, his distressed fears being confirmed at the
horrendously pale complexion Wufei's stunned expression held.
Even Trowa appeared mildly concerned at the Asian's
uncharacteristic reaction.
"Are you okay Wufei?" Quatre asked tentatively.
He shook his head slowly as he sat, his face disappearing
behinds his hands while he regained composure.
Doctor Woods had picked up the new folder and was perusing it
intently. "We're right on time. These are the results for the
lab tests I had done on Mister Maxwell."
Wufei's head came up, looking considerably more like his normal
self. "Well?"
The psychiatrist didn't answer immediately; his gaze set on the
numbers and charts on the lab papers. "Was Mister Maxwell a
restless, fidgety person?" He seemed highly displeased.
"Oh Allah yes," Quatre sighed. "He drove us crazy during
missions, when we had take cover in safe houses, not being able
to sit still. I think you and Heero hog-tied him to a chair him
once during a particularly long mission, did you not Trowa?" The
unibanged boy nodded silently.
"How about conversations? Was there rapid speech? Moments of
incoherence?"
"Incoherent?" Wufei repeated blankly. "Unfortunately, no. He did
talk a lot, though we tuned him out half the time." Guilt
immediately followed his last statement. They -had- tuned Duo
out most of the time, hoping that his 'babble' would cease if he
noticed no one was listening to him after 'shut up' didn't work.
"Grandiose ideas?" Doctor Woods inquired. "Did he thought of
himself as something he was not, in other words."
The three glanced at each other. "Shinigami," Quatre said
finally. "He called himself the 'God of Death'. Though he had
nicknames for everybody," he added hastily, but that didn't seem
to alleviate the frown deepening on the doctor's face.
"What about trust issues? Did he have paranoia or anxiety
attacks?"
"People tend to be distrustful when they grow up on the
streets," Wufei remarked coolly. "Besides, the first thing we
were taught as Gundam pilots was to trust only in yourself and
to question that even. So will you get to your point already?"
Again, they did not get an instant reply.
"In schizophrenia, there is a build up of a chemical called
dopamine in the brain," Doctor Woods said after a while.
"However, despite what I had originally believed, the results
show manic depression, but it has gone untreated for so long
that it seems worse, with the bouts of mania overwhelming the
depression because of the abnormal amounts of serotonin that
have built up in his system. Cases such as this are very rare,
and they are ordinarily only found among people twice his age,
if not older." [1]
"But he can get better, right?" Trowa asked carefully, catching
them all off guard. He had not spoken a word in front of the
psychiatrist until then.
"I honestly cannot say," he shrugged slightly. "With this new
information, I am going to have to entirely reevaluate Mister
Maxwell and work out some sort of therapy. I have never dealt
with a patient suffering from a manic depression developed to
such a great extent before, it's going to be all new territory."
Wufei appeared reproachful, a dark scowl beginning to form on
his recomposed features. "I refuse to allow you screw with Duo's
mind like some science experiment," he interrupted hotly, the
surprise now shifting to him. He was serious, point proven by
the fact that he called Duo by his first name instead of the
usual 'Maxwell' or 'braided idiot'.
But neither Trowa or Quatre tried to calm him, they had not seen
their friend, and thus did not know how truly bad it was other
than what they were told from an critique report or lab results.
Though the Asian had, and judging by the way that he had entered
the office, the two were more than willing to let Wufei handle
the predicament for the moment.
Doctor Woods' only change in expression was the knitting of his
brow, but his unflagging patience was wearing thin. "I think you
misunderstand Mister Chang, the benefit of my patient far
exceeds any medical journal examination. Even in a rare case
like this, his welfare is much more important rather than me
making him 'some science experiment' for my own personal
psychoanalytic gain."
Wufei muttered something that distinctly sounded like 'Psycho is
right' under his breath, folding his arms across his chest in a
defiant gesture. "Fine, do your reevaluation, but if the
smallest thing goes wrong, I'm going to get Sally Po to come
here and take charge over the situation because I know we can
trust her."
The doctor sighed heavily, massaging his temples. "I should
think I would know what I am doing after twenty years of
impeccable medical practice, though if you insist, join the
reevaluation session and observe for yourself," he said testily.
Yes, his patience was -definitely- wearing thin, and he made a
mental note to congratulate the Preventer agent on being one of
the very few who have ever managed to really irk him.
Quatre seemed to sense the irritation building as he quickly
made way to cool the tempers down. "Now Wufei, doesn't calling
Sally sound a bit ridiculous? It would only cause more trouble
than good to drag her down here from the Headquarters," he said
soothingly. "The both of you would have to go to Une about this
matter, and Sally isn't even qualified in psychological medical
cases, the best she could do was recommend someone else."
Wufei uncrossed his arms exasperatingly in defeat, pinching the
bridge of his nose to stave off an impending headache. Why did
the blonde Arabian always have to be so damn right? "I know," he
replied tiredly. "It's just...how could we let something like
this happen Quatre? What kind of friend doesn't notice something
like this? We are supposed to be friends with Duo, and look at
what we let happen because we were so absorbed in our own lives
that we couldn't even find five minutes to try to call and ask
how he was doing..."
"Wufei-" Quatre began gently, but the Asian shook his head
abruptly, refusing to listen to any comforting excuse he could
say.
"When can this reevaluation be done?" Wufei asked pointedly, not
to provoke the psychiatrist though, only to make it clear that
the subject of his guilt was dropped for the moment.
"Any time," Doctor Woods answered simply. "It's nothing to
complicated, I just ask questions and make my judgments based on
his answers and reactions. Given the rather alarming lab
results, I would like to do it as soon as the sedatives wear
off."
"How long will that take?"
"Well, as I said, Mister Maxwell is a unique patient. Normally,
the sedatives last for about eight to ten hours, depending on
the person, but he only stays under for about three hours," he
checked his wristwatch. "I expect he'll wake up within the next
twenty minutes or so." He looked at Quatre and Trowa. "Will you
be coming for the ride too?"
"Oh no, we wouldn't want to get in way," Quatre declined
politely. "We can wait."
Wufei pulled off his Preventers jacket so that he appeared more
casual in his khaki slacks and black shirt, also removing his
katana from his belt to set down in his vacant chair for extra
precaution. Without the intimidating attire, he could have
almost passed as a regular teenager if not for the serious
circumstances.
Once again following the doctor, Wufei stole one more uneasy
glance back at Quatre and Trowa before shutting the office door
behind him. The guilt consuming his conscience made him wonder
if he even had the right to try and help Duo after practically
ignoring him for all this time as they walked through the
various bland corridors.
How would his presence affect him?
Doctor Woods surveyed Wufei's troubled face with sympathy as
they came to Duo's room. "For now, you will need to stay out
here. I will call you in if I deem it will be safe for you to do
so, and then you can speak with him." The Chinese teen nodded
without argument and he entered, leaving the door open as he
went. The ex-soldier was indeed waking up as he came in and
carefully unclasped the restraints on his delicate wrists and
ankles, feeling his patient tense up immediately in distrust
under his hands.
Wufei's discomfiture got the best of him and he peered into the
room cautiously, watching Doctor Woods' deft movements before he
settled himself in a chair beside the bed with the lab folder in
his lap. He did not like the empty expression that was fixed on
Duo's thin face when he sat up laboriously; he understood that
expression all too well. It was the look they adopted when they
knew they were about to kill innocents during war, they escaped
to a silent place in their minds, trying not to consider the
families and friends the people they were about to murder had or
could have. It was the look they used if they were ever caught
by the enemy and held captive, slipping into the cold silence so
none could figure out what they were thinking or feeling,
suspicious of everything and everyone. There was no life in the
hollow violet eyes, only the cold and suspicion, no sparkle or
shine of laughter.
Odd as it seemed coming from him, all Wufei wanted was for the
psychiatrist hurry and finish his reevaluation so he could go in
there to bring the brightness back, a smile at least, to make
the trained emotionless mask go away. What kind of friend let
something like this happen?
On his end of the spectrum, Doctor Woods was getting no response
to his questions or remarks, anything to give him the smallest
hint that his charge was even paying attention. There was still
one last objective to try and he was bound to get -some- sort of
reaction out of the teen from it.
He just hoped he was making the right decision.
"You can come in the room now."
The instant the Asian walked in, much to both of theirs shock,
there was no way to describe the sudden explosion of ecstatic
relief that shattered the mask Duo wore. He looked like a little
child who had just been let loose in a candy store heaven as he
inhaled sharply. "Wufei!"
"Shh, sit still Duo, stay calm," Wufei said gently, gingerly
sitting beside him on the bed and setting a hand on his bony
shoulder with a tiny wince.
As suddenly as the excitement had appeared, it was replaced by
anxiousness. "It wasn't my fault," Duo whispered hoarsely, his
panicky hold latching onto his comforting warmth as he grasped
his outstretched arm. "Do you see them? Do they accuse you too?
They're coming after us, aren't they? They're gonna make us
suffer for all the damage we caused-" His words tumbled quickly,
blurring his sentences.
"Shh, shh...Calm down Duo," Wufei repeated soothingly, though
his concern showed clearly in his onyx eyes. "Nobody is here to
make us suffer, there is nobody coming after us. Only I'm here,
and Quatre and Trowa, we're going to help you." He carefully
pried Duo's gripping hands and set them down in his lap, not
breaking their steady gazes so the motion went unnoticed.
"Nobody is going to come after you, I promise and you know I
never go back on my word."
"Really?" Oh gods, how desperate he sounded.
"Of course! I don't let you call me 'Justice Boy' for nothing,"
he smiled slightly.
Doctor Woods observed the two boys' interaction with near
amazement, in the few minutes he had allowed the Preventer to
have with his patient, he had easily jumped over all the hurdles
he could not and was slowly bringing Duo Maxwell back to
reality. He had spoken more to Wufei in those few minutes than
he had to him in all the time he had spent with the
psychiatrist, twice as much even, if not almost triple. His
amazement grew as the long-haired teen slowly grinned at the
self-depreciating joke and chuckled.
Wufei may have appeared consoling on the outside, but inside, he
was going crazy himself. Surely he was going to break under the
strain. Never had he had someone put so much trust in him so
blindly, yet the second he had gotten Duo to believe that he was
there for him, he attached himself wholeheartedly to that
security as if he were his lifeline. Which he probably was, now
that he considered it. There had been no screaming; he had made
him laugh and smile like normal after some tactful reassuring.
Then came the -hard- part-
Trying to leave.
"Duo..." Wufei began tentatively. "We've got to go talk to
Quatre and Trowa for a minute, will you be fine with that?"
"You'll come back, right?" His grin faltered, the panicky look
starting to return. "You're not gonna leave me here-"
"No! No, I would not leave you here," he amended hastily. "I'll
come back as soon as we're through." His answer seemed to
satisfy Duo, the anxiety left his face and he was calm again.
Doctor Woods got up and returned his chair to its place beside
the door as Wufei rose, not releasing the hand on Duo's shoulder
until he had to leave.
***
Poor, poor Wufei...
[1]I would like to point out that the 'depression' in manic
depression does -NOT- make the person suicidal or the like, it's
a type of paranoia. When in a depressive state, they suspect
everyone and everything, and usually sabotage relationships by
driving them away, the anxiety build up turning the depression
into mania. Its slang term is called the 'darkness', because the
person really isn't registering what they're doing until after
the episode, and are brought out of it by either their own will
power or by someone VERY close to them, like a lover or close
friend that you share an immense past with (such as the G-boys
are to Duo), that's able to talk them out of it.
Don't like what I'm doing? Tough. Flame me and get on with your
life.
But if you're enjoying yourself...^____^ Review!