--Thinkingpleasereviewthinking--: Means peoples' thoughts.
(Talkingpleasereviewtalking): Means the twins are talking in their minds.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own this stuff. I guess I do own Thaddeus Cotcher though.
Chapter 15.
THUD! Meryl slammed down her coffee mug and ran to the room. Vash lay on the floor instead of his bed. Meryl noticed Knives wasn't present and knew this wouldn't have happened if he were here.
"Vash, hang on, I'll help you up." She grabbed hold of his right arm.
"Meryl, Knives went to—"
"You can tell me when you're back in bed. Help me out, I can't lift you on my own."
Cotcher and Milly entered and together, they got Vash back in bed. Cotcher told him not to pull a stunt like that again.
"But Knives—" he pointed to the door.
Meryl groaned and grabbed Milly to see if they could stop the trigger-happy twin. "Stop!"
He was out the door, but still heard her. Most of the people had disappeared, but some chose to stay and give their lives for what they thought was a worthy cause: capturing a couple of wackos.
A short stocky man said, "Look, mister, we just want the hospital back. You can stay too, but there are other people here besides your brother. My son is waiting for treatment and if he doesn't get it soon—"
"I care nothing of your family. I warned you not to bother me!"
Before he could do anything, Milly hollered, "Knives, Vash fell out of bed. Don't you want to check on him?"
His hand shook violently and he finally stole back inside. Next time, they wouldn't be so lucky. Meryl yelled at them before going in as well.
"Hey, where'd you go?" Vash asked as he entered. He had just finished asking Cotcher for some donuts, but the man had none to give him.
"To take care of business. Why'd you try to follow me? It gets you into trouble whenever you do." He arched his eyebrows to make a point.
Vash sighed deeply. "Yes, but it always saves people in the end. It's a small price to pay for their protection."
"You can't protect everyone. That became evident when—"
(Don't you dare say another word! I already know that. Change the subject now!)
Knives eyed him curiously and said out loud, "A little on the defensive side are we? I wonder why that is?"
"Knives..." Vash shook his head.
He shrugged his shoulders. He would have gone on just to annoy him, but Cotcher intervened. "So, do you guys sit around and bicker just for the fun of it? You seem like one big happy family to me." He said sarcastically.
"Actually, Knives and Vash are the only ones who are related. Meryl and I are just friends of Vash." Milly informed.
Cotcher cocked his head. Did you say 'Vash'? As in the Humanoid Typhoon Vash?"
Meryl slapped her forehead. Milly just didn't know when not to talk. She had already figured out the police were after Vash and that meant Cotcher was too.
"No, you must be confusing me with someone else," Vash rubbed the back of his head.
Milly stared blankly at him. "No, I was talking bout you, Mr. Vash the Stampede."
Cotcher jumped out of his seat. "No way! Can it really be him? I've been looking for you for so long..." --So it's true: my cousin really did meet him. –
Knives' face turned grim. "What if it is Vash? What do you plan to do about it?"
He looked at Knives. "Oh, uh, nothing actually. Since I'm no longer on the police force, it doesn't matter. You guys found him, so the reward money is rightfully yours."
Meryl looked taken aback. "We're not after the reward! Vash is our friend and we're trying to help him out by keeping him away from people like you."
"Hey, I never wanted to come after him! Just because it was my job doesn't mean I was pleased about it." Cotcher defended.
Vash spoke up. "I haven't done anything wrong anyway."
"Sure! If you aren't responsible for all those deaths, then who is?"
Vash just glared at Knives. Meryl noticed something for the first time. "Vash do you remember all that? You have your memory back!"
He turned to her. "I guess. I didn't know it was gone."
"That means you don't remember what happened to your head?" She was almost relieved to hear that. It had been rather embarrassing trying to help him get it back.
"What was wrong with my head?"
"Never mind,"
"Could I at least have some donuts? I'm starving!" He exclaimed as his stomach rumbled in agreement.
Cotcher shook his head. "Reality check, man, I just got through telling you that you need nutrition, not sugar!"
Vash stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "How can you sit there and deprive a dying man of his donuts?"
Milly looked worried. "Hold on, Mr. Vash, I think I know how to make them!" She ran out the door with Cotcher on her heels trying to convince her not to give him any sweets. Knives went to another room to take a break before he exploded.
"Meryl, please tell me what happened." Vash pleaded.
"I don't mind now that Cotcher is out of hearing range." Only leaving out a few minor details, she told him how Knives raided their fridge and then she and Milly followed him to Vash and found him unconscious.
"I tripped over a stupid rock? How humiliating! My big bad brother can't defeat me, but I meet my match: a rock."
Meryl giggled and proceeded to tell him that Knives tried to get him to destroy the world with him.
"He knows very well that can't happen without our guns, so I wonder why he bothered doing that. Maybe he wanted me to remember so he could find them."
"In any case, he finally got tired of sitting around and forced you to fight him." Meryl paused. It still seemed like a nightmare to her.
He sighed. "Just like Legato? I do remember that part. I thought it was just a dream, but I guess not." He turned over. "Could we finish this later? I'm too tired."
Meryl narrowed her eyes and whacked him over the back of the head. "First you can't wait to drain information from me and now you wanna' get rid of me? Better have a good reason for doing that, because I hate being used!"
She was right in being upset, but he was out of good reasons. "Sorry, Meryl, I just...can't talk about it anymore. Thanks for helping me though." A tear slid down his cheek and he shut his eyes tightly. –Dang it, this is embarrassing! –
The door opened just then and Milly entered holding a plate in front of her with the snack she prepared on top. "I couldn't make a donut, but I did make you a sandwich with pudding. Hope you like it!"
Vash sat up. His tired body instantly got distracted at the mention of food. He forgot Milly went to get him something to eat! Meryl put her head in her hands. –He'd rather eat than talk. I guess I can understand that. I'd probably do the same thing if I was him.
---------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------- -----------------------
Lunis: Nope, it's not just you. Lol!
Saraki: Hurrah! I'm so glad you like my story! I will hopefully post the last chapter next week.