Warnings: This nearly drove me crazy while I was writing it... It scared me...

Lifting Curses and Mending Broken Wings
Chapter 8: Haunted

(Duo burst through the bathroom door. He collapsed to his knees at Heero's head, right in the middle of his pool of blood. His tears disappeared in the crimson puddle. He held Heero's head in his lap and rocked back and forth. He bent his head and closed his eyes. He hugged the still bleeding boy in his arms and screamed his name...)

"Duo?" a male voice penetrated Duo's thoughts. He looked towards the floor of the man's office. He didn't reply. He was receiving special counseling because of what he had seen in his bathroom that day which seemed so long ago. "Duo, please - We need to talk about what you saw in order to help you," the man continued from behind his desk.

Duo stood and slowly moved to the window. He placed his fingertips on the glass.

"Duo, do you know where you are? Do you remember why you're here with me?" Duo ignored the man. "I need some sort of response, Duo. You have to communicate with me somehow."

Duo turned and gave the man a ghostly stare, cold and haunting. He then moved to the other side of the room to a bookshelf where a small potted plant stood. He stroked the leaves but turned away from it quickly. Again, he didn't respond to his name as he walked to the door and sat next to it, hugging his knees. He watched the man behind the desk with his dead stare.

(He was being hauled away from Heero's limp body. He left the bathroom willingly enough, then he started shrieking and lunging from side to side... Screaming Heero's name...)

The man sighed and pushed his chair back from his desk. He rose and told Duo that they'd try again tomorrow. Duo didn't show the slightest indication that he had heard a single word the man had ever said. He stared up at him from the floor and when the man opened the door and walked back to his desk, he rose slowly and was escorted back to his room where more people in white were waiting for him.

He passed by the recreation room and turned to glance inside. He paused when he saw Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre look up at him. Wufei got up first, quickly followed by his friends and met Duo at the door. They knew what happened, and none of them knew where to start.

(Duo collapsed to his knees in the pool of blood...)

Duo looked lifelessly at the floor and heard Quatre say, "It'll be ok, Duo..." before he was urged forward again and the other boys brushed away.

For the first time in two days, Duo responded to that statement with a shake of his head and continued down the hall.

.......................................

Arriving at his room, more therapists were waiting to see him. He sat down on the window seat and stared out the window... Much like Heero used to. He looked at the empty bed next to the window seat and cringed. One woman saw this and told Duo that they'd move him into a new room before nightfall.

Duo gave her his dead stare and she shivered. He got up and stood next to Heero's bed. He brushed his fingers along the fresh blanket on top and moved to the head of the bed. He kneeled there and rested his head on his arms there. He watched the bed with a solemn longing. He brushed his fingers along the pillow where Heero's head would rest.

(He held Heero's still bleeding body in his arms...)

He swallowed hard. Everything reminded him of Heero in some way. He pulled himself up onto the bed and lay there right on the edge... As though there were someone there he was next to.

(He screamed Heero's name...)

The people in white watched with sympathy, but unable to do anything. One woman had to leave the room because Duo's actions had caused her to start crying.

(He saw his tears melt into the crimson puddle...)

.......................................

After a while they took Duo out of the room and moved him into a cell that was similar to his first one. The door was clear and there was nothing in it except a bed at the far end that was attached to the wall. Duo looked at his reflection in the glass.

(He saw his reflection in the blood...)

He turned away. He backed up a few steps, but was halted by hands on his back. He didn't push against them. He was about to be sedated for some reason unknown to him. He didn't pull away or anything, he merely watched the needle blankly. They knew he never slept a wink. Maybe this was so he would sleep. He continued to watch the needle come to within an inch of his arm. He let it come until it was just about to pierce his skin when he grabbed it out of the man's hand and hurled it against the far wall, smashing it to pieces.

(The blade lay in the blood next to Heero's hand, shining and winking mockingly...)

None of the employees had expected that. He was so unresponsive to absolutely everything. His actions had them wondering what they should do, paralyzing them momentarily until they had registered what he had done and took him by the arms. He was no longer looking up. He stared at the floor as he had always done and his arms were limp in their hands.

(Heero's body lay limp and unmoving in his arms...)

The man who was going to give Duo the sedative shook his head and motioned for them to put Duo in his cell. He walked to his bed and sat down on it, moving against the far corner. He watched them lock the door and talk amongst themselves. One man shook his head and they left.

.......................................

Of course, Duo didn't sleep that night. He watched the employees walk up and down the aisle of cells, checking in on people. They would see him, stop, and move on after Duo's dead stare.

At one point, when he was especially drowsy, he was watching out the door with half-closed eyes. Then he saw a form in a hospital gown wander slowly out from the side and stop in front of his cell. The figure turned and faced him. Duo went slowly to the door and his heart skipped a beat when he saw it was Heero. The hallway was dark except for the little lights in the cells. He couldn't tell it was him from his bed.

:: Long lost words whisper slowly to me : Still can't find what keeps me here : When all this time I've been so hollow, inside : I know your still there :

Duo watched as Heero put his hands on the glass, showing bandages that covered both inner forearms. Heero's eyes were blank and staring. Duo watched him warily. He walked backwards towards the bed again as Heero's bandages turned slowly dark red. He watched from across his cell as the blood seeped out of his bandages, wetting the tape and making it come loose. The bandages peeled slowly back from his wet skin and revealed not one, but two long cuts, one on each arm.

(Duo watched helplessly as Heero's left arm continued to bleed onto the floor...)

: Watching me : Wanting me : I can feel you pull me down : Fearing you : Loving you : I won't let you pull me down :

Duo backed against the wall, not taking his eyes off the ghostly figure and hugged his knees to his chest. Heero took his palms off the glass and moved back into the middle of the hall, dripping blood from his fingers. Through the glass, Duo could hear each quiet "pat... pat..." of the blood hitting the floor. He watched Heero turn and walk slowly back the same way he had come.

: Hunting you, I can smell you alive : Your heart pounding in my head :

Even after the ghost Heero had gone, Duo continued to hear the steady "pat... pat... pat..." of his blood on the floor.

("If you do, it'll already be too late...")

: Watching me : Wanting me : I can feel you pull me down : Saving me : Raping me : Watching me :

Duo breathed heavily and watched out the door, listening to the sound of Heero's blood hitting the floor.

("Remember when you asked if I could kill myself if I really wanted to? Well guess what - I can!")

He pictured Heero standing right outside his cell door. Waiting for him to come out so he could follow him... Torture him... Haunt him.

: Watching me : Wanting me : I can feel you pull me down : Fearing you : Loving you : I won't let you pull me down ::

.......................................

When Duo left his cell the next morning, he glanced up and down the hall, searching for any trace that Heero was still there. He looked down and saw nothing on the floor. No soaked bandages. No blood drops. Nothing.

(He looked under the door and saw the blood drops on the floor...)

He couldn't help but sigh in relief. He had feared the worst from the beginning, but if Heero had died and come back to haunt him, he would not last long.

(He turned back and there was more...)

They took him to that office he had been in the day before. He was there for a full hour. Saying nothing, remaining nonresponsive except for his cold, dead stare at those who said something to him that he didn't like.

He was becoming paler and leaner than ever before. His eyes had dark circles under them. He didn't walk as steadily. His vision constantly went blurry. He only drank water and sometimes they gave him fruit juices, which he would only sip for a little while. Eating made him sick to his stomach. His breathing was heavier and he hardly moved when he didn't have to.

(Limp and unmoving in his arms...)

.......................................

That night, Duo thought that Heero visited him again. Around the same time in the morning, he was watching the hallway like always. He didn't see Heero, but it startled him when a pair of ghostly handprints appeared on the glass, surrounded by the fog that comes up with cold glass sometimes. They remained there for a little while before they disappeared and Duo heard the "pat... pat... pat..." again. For the rest of the night, the steady patting rang in his ears.

When it stopped in the morning, he cried.

'He's driving me crazy...' Duo thought as he cried. 'He's doing it on purpose. He wants me to go crazy.'

Tears continued to run down his cheeks as he was once again taken to that office. Once there, the man asked him tedious questions about why he was crying, how long he'd been crying, and the like. He then moved on to Duo's poor condition. "Duo, you have to eat something. You're starving yourself. We don't want to have to give you supplements through a tube in a hospital bed. Is that what you want?" he asked, not expecting an answer, but merely another stare. That's what he got.

The man started tapping his desk with an index finger. Duo's eyes widened at the "pat... pat... pat..." sound. He covered his ears with his hands, but the sound continued to pound in his head, even when the man stopped. He was sitting in a corner and he started to rock back and forth.

(He looked under the door and saw the drops of blood...)

He was mouthing something, the man saw and he stood up to go to Duo. Duo didn't hear his encouragements to speak for the now tremendous pounding in his head. He continued to speak without his voice. He rocked more quickly and clamped his hands to his ears tighter.

(Pat... pat... pat... pat... pat...)

He panted between his mouthed words and tears began to stream down his cheeks. He was mouthing his words much too quickly for the man to follow what he was saying. He was trained to lip read, but this was too difficult for him.

(Pat... pat... pat... pat... pat...)

Duo finally broke down into silent tears. He brought his hands down from his ears and held his knees. He stared past the man's face and to the window.

(Ghost hands pressed against the glass of his cell...)

He shook violently and his thoughts whirled around his mind like a hurricane. His fists were clenched so tightly that when he opened them again, purple marks would stand out where his nails were digging into his palms.

(Heero lay limp and unmoving in his arms...)

(He saw his reflection in the crimson pool he was kneeling in...)

(The blade laughed brightly at his pain...)

(He screamed Heero's name...)

(Ghost hands pressed against the glass of his cell...)

(Pat... pat... pat... pat... pat...)

("Well guess what - I can!")

(He heard Heero's body hit the floor...)

(Heero backed away from the cell, blood dripping from his fingers...)

(Ghost hands...)

(Blood dripping to the floor...)

("Kill myself...")

(Heero's body hit the floor...)

(Screamed Heero's name...)

(Pat... pat... pat...)

(Heero is dead.)


XXXXXXXXXXXXX

If you didn't notice, the parenthesis was when Duo remembered things. They were supposed to skip around randomly.

The song was Haunted by Evanescence.

Arigatos:

Ed - Random subject change, there... Yea... Plot twists make me happy. It means I get to make the story longer. Yay...

Nyxity - Well... they were talking quietly, though I didn't really make it seem that way. Nobody heard them until Duo screamed. Yes, you are correct... Fiction CAN escape all bounds.

TKM - Um... I can't exactly remember what day I updated last, but it wasn't long ago, so I hope you haven't died from sleep deprivation or anything... Cuz then I'd feel bad and lose a fan... Badness...

Hazel-Beka - ::watches Beka warily:: Yeaaa... Ok... Yes, I know... I already knew I would die if Heero died. But sucks for you! All y'alls don't know where I live! Only one person who reads this fic knows where I live and she won't kill me cuz she loves it when ppl die! ::evil laughter::

Nikkler - I'm actually not sure how that could have possibly come out of my mind... I really have no idea. It confused me, but I read it about 80 times after I posted cuz I was so proud of it. Yea yea... Heero dies... not cool... I die... I've heard it about 7 times already ::wink, raspberry::

Shinigami11 - Yep... Murderer... Heero dies... Not cool... Wow... Deja vu! I said that already ::laughs:: Yep, you and everybody else, Shini.

Regina - Hehe, thank you! You're one of the few (if not the only one) who actually complimented me on that chapter along with threats to kill me if Heero dies... Hehehe...

Duo-Maxwell5x2 - ::yawns:: Not cool... Heero dies = Kuiya dies... Update soon... Been here, read that... Lol!

lil'mi1 - Yesssss I love angst too! Yayfulness...

hanyou741 - Not a stupid post, very complimentary post! Arigato! BTW, what does "hanyou" mean? I think I knew at one point... But I seem to have forgotten...

Angel Reid - ::glares:: Did you call my crazy people stupid?!?!?! Nuu! Not stupid, just........ Crazy...? ::laughs::

Dragon1727 - Yea... Duo did eventually get the door open (obviously) but it just happened to be after Heero did stuff... ::sweatdrop:: ::nervous laughter::

my-parents-worst-nightmar - Yay! I am evil... Evil is good... Really? That's happened to one of my readers before... I had a song in my fic and she told me that while she was reading it, that song was playing... It could be coincidence... Some evil force is working for me and making you listen to songs while you're reading the lyrics on my fic and making you think it's just coincidence!!! ::evil laughter:: Actually... that sentence didn't make much sense...

Jade Crescent - Erm....... ::inches away slowly:: I'm sorry... ::flees::

kuroi gami - I haven't read your fic, but if you want me to, I will! But I'm sorry Heero made you sad. He made me extremely happy... I don't know why, but I thought it was just the funniest thing after I got my first few reviews telling me that if Heero died, I would die... It was so weird... I have a sick mind...

Remember to review - Ja ne.