Disclaimer: Characters within do not belong to me. Well, not all of 'em anyway.
Author's Notes: New part! Hope ya'll like it! Thanks for all the sweet reviews;)
Be My Downfall
by Kristen Elizabeth
After a long night on duty, Sally was just about to clock out and go home for a cup of tea, a sleeping pill and a few much-needed hours of blissful rest, when the medical base's communicator flared to life.
"Incoming. Unresponsive female, 28 weeks pregnant. Page surgery. ETA by helicopter: 3.5 minutes."
She sighed and reached for her lab coat, which she'd just shucked off. Draping her stethoscope over her neck, Sally summoned her best nurses. "Come on, everyone. That's not a lot of time."
The helicopter landed right on schedule and the interns sent out to greet it wheeled a stretcher into her trauma room a mere minute later. It took Sally a few minutes of calling out orders before she recognized the patient lying so frighteningly still on the examination table.
"Oh dear god in heaven," she breathed. "It's…"
"Relena." Heero burst into the room with unyielding determination. Practically pushing one of her nurses out of the way, he reached for Relena's pale hand.
"Commander Yuy." Sally swallowed. "It would be better for her if you'd wait outside."
His hands shook as he brushed back limp locks of golden hair from Relena's forehead. "I'm not going anywhere while she's like this." Heero looked up at Sally, striking her down with the power of his eyes. She'd never seen fear like that before. Certainly not on Heero Yuy.
"Heero."
It was all she had to say to break him. To her utter shock, Heero lowered his head for a long moment and when he glanced back up, she saw hot tears in his eyes. "You bring her back to me," he demanded. His voice was choked with the unfamiliarity of emotions. "Please."
"I will," she promised, although she had little right to make such guarantees.
He lifted the back of Relena's hands up to his lips before he backed away, allowing the nurses to cluster around her once again.
Heero stayed in the waiting room, pacing back and forth, up and down the halls, refusing food, refusing rest, refusing company until Sally came for him after what seemed like hours.
"The baby is literally draining the life away from her," she told him. "She's conscious, but barely." Sally cleared her throat. "I don't need your consent, but I value your opinion as the baby's father. If the baby isn't born tonight, Relena will be dead by tomorrow."
"Can it live…if it's born?" he asked, his throat raw.
Sally nodded. "It has a very good chance."
"And Relena?"
She hesitated. "She's strong, Heero. She could make it through."
He shook his head. "She's been hiding this from me…her pain and suffering. I would have taken it all myself if I could have. But she didn't let me in…"
Sally sat down next to him. The chair was hard and cold, much like his hand when she took in hers. "Do you trust that I will do everything in my power to save them both?" It took him a few seconds, but Heero finally nodded. "All right then. We'll prep her for surgery. You can speak to her for a moment, if you want. After that…call her brother. He should be here, too."
He nodded again, curtly this time. After a moment, Heero stood up and walked towards the exam room where Relena lay, waiting for him. Sally released a pent up breath and slumped back into the chair. Surprisingly enough, she no longer felt tired. She would bring Relena and Heero's child into the world and ensure that the young woman she admired so much would survive the ordeal. It was the greatest responsibility she could imagine, but the reward of seeing the President healthy and happy would be even greater.
She hauled herself up and turned around, literally coming face to face with Chang Wufei.
"Commander Chang!" Sally took a step away from his powerful presence. How could someone younger than her bother her so much? "What are you doing here?"
"I brought the President in." He paused. "How is she?"
"Better. But not out of the woods." Sally cleared her throat. "It's been awhile. You look…well."
Wufei frowned. "I'm not here because I'm sick."
She sighed. Frustrating…good gods, the man could piss off a saint! "That's not what I…" Sally stopped. It was useless. He was years her junior; it was obvious that he saw nothing attractive about an older woman such as her. "I have to go…get ready. I'm delivering the President's baby tonight."
"Good luck."
She turned her head back around to see him. There was genuine concern in his tone and it surprised her. "Save those wishes for the President. She'll need them."
Relena tried to stop herself from shaking with fear when Heero gently enfolded her in his arms, but the fear had taken hold of her, and refused to let go. His strong body, warm skin and steady heartbeat couldn't placate her. But it wasn't fear for her own life that coursed through her poisoned body.
"Heero," she whispered against his chest. "The baby…if something happens and I don't…"
He cut her off quickly. "Don't even say it. It's not going to happen, Relena."
"It's not something you can control." She looked up at his strong jaw. It quivered ever so slightly; he was still fighting his emotions. "I want our baby to grow up knowing nothing but love. Promise me, Heero…promise me that it will."
"This is a pointless conversation," he said, almost coldly. His head dropped; instant regret washed over him. "I just mean…you're not leaving me, Relena. I won't let you."
She smiled through her tears. "Do you have any idea how many times I wished you wouldn't leave me? But you always did…"
"I had to. For your own good."
Her smile fell. "Maybe I'll have to leave this time. For your own good."
The last sentence came out as a whisper so low that Heero didn't entirely catch it. And he had no time to question her about it, since Sally reappeared just then, clad in a fresh pair of surgical scrubs with a mask hanging around her neck. Two nurses followed her; they carried trays of sterilized instruments.
"Commander Yuy…can you make the call we talked about while we prep the President?" she asked.
He pried himself away from Relena with great reluctance and murmured assurances that he would return immediately.
"He can't understand…" The President shook her head against the starched sheets covering the table. "Maybe no man can…what a woman will go through for…" She gingerly touched her protruding belly.
Sally signaled to the one of her nurses who set down her tray and walked around behind Relena's head. "I'm going to give you something to relax you. Just breathe deeply." When the younger woman's eyes closed, the nurse placed a rubber mask over her nose and mouth. "It'll be over before you know it."
By the time Millardo and Noin arrived at the hospital, the baby had been born. The young couple entered the med bay, laden down with a stroller, diaper bag, car seat and their own baby, one month old Elissa, who slept peacefully in the crook of her father's arm.
Sally greeted them without a word, and ushered them up to the heavily guarded recovery room. Millardo paused at the door, unsure of whether or not he was prepared for what lay on the other side. No one had spoken of death, but the atmosphere was anything but joyful. Taking a deep breath, he transferred Elissa to Noin and pushed his way inside.
The first thing he saw was Relena, sitting up in bed; there was color in her cheeks, a healthy glow he hadn't ever seen on her. Heero stood over her awkwardly, like he wasn't sure what his place was there. But there was something different about him. His expression…it was peaceful. Was that a smile trying to creep to life? On his former enemy, it was unsettling.
His sister looked up and noticed him just then. "Millardo!" Her voice was soft, but so happy. "Come and meet your niece."
That was when he noticed the little person in Relena's arms. She was wrapped up in pink cloth from head to toe, and so much smaller than his own daughter had been when she was born, but from the way Relena beamed at her, he could tell that it didn't matter one bit.
"My god," he whispered as he took a few steps closer.
Noin came up behind him. "Oh Relena…she's beautiful."
"Her name is Gisele." Heero blinked when the two stunned gazes swung over to him. "Relena chose it."
"It's my favorite ballet," the brand-new mother explained. "Maybe she'll be a ballerina someday…"
Her words faded into a delicate yawn and Sally stepped forward. "The President needs rest," she quietly decreed. "And we have more tests to run on Gisele." She reached for the baby as she spoke, but Relena was reluctant to hand her over.
"Heero hasn't held her yet," she told Sally.
He knelt down next to her. "Let's do what Sally thinks is best."
She nodded and let the older woman take her baby and place her in the portable incubator, which was then wheeled away by a nurse. "Stay with me," Relena asked Heero when he stood up. "Until I fall asleep?" He nodded shortly, entwining her fingers with his.
Millardo had a million questions, and the long pent-up desire to blacken Heero's eye, but he found himself being ushered right back out of the room. Once he regained control of his tongue, he turned on Sally. "She's all right?" he demanded to know.
The doctor sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "She's stable. For now."
Elissa began to squirm; Noin lightly patted her little back to calm her. "What does that mean?"
"It means, I don't know how long this…remission of sorts will last. It might just be that she's so happy. Mind over matter. Look." Sally attempted a smile. "Relena's feeling well, considering she just had an intrusive operation. From what we know so far, her baby is going to be just fine. And I swear I saw Heero Yuy nearly faint when he heard his daughter cry for the first time. It's been one amazing day, and I don't want to drag it down with all sorts of speculations about what might or might not happen tomorrow."
"But you have speculations," Millardo countered, his voice prickly "That means you think my sister…"
Sally cut him off just as sharply. "What your sister needs is positive thoughts from the people she loves. That's the only thing I know for sure is going to get her through whatever comes next."
During the lull between spikes on the heart monitor next to Quatre's hospital bed, Trowa didn't dare breathe. He would only sip air after another peak in the green line, another tiny affirmation that the man he loved was still alive.
For days, weeks, he had done this as he sat in the cold, stark room, waiting for Quatre to wake. He ate only when nurses brought him a sandwich or a cup of coffee; he slept in bits and pieces…just enough to stay sane. He was a fixture in the hospital, their most prominent patient's personal guardian, a man so consumed by grief that he was quite literally broken.
Because they were so used to his presence, and suspected he barely took note of them, the two nurses who came in to take Quatre's vital signs kept up a steady stream of chatter as they worked, mindless of the man seated next to the bed.
"He doesn't want to have children," the older nurse said as she replaced a saline bag with a fresh one. "So what you're saying is...he's a man."
"He's a jerk," her younger co-worker corrected. "I should have realized that years ago and not wasted my time." She withdrew some blood from Quatre's arm and sighed. "I just see everyone around me, and they all have babies. Even the President!"
"The President had a baby? I didn't even know she was pregnant."
The women barely noticed that Trowa had started to pay attention.
"I heard it on the news. It would explain where's she been better than that poison story she gave us awhile back."
The older nurse lowered her voice. "She's not married! So who's the father?"
"No one's saying anything for sure, but I figure it's got to be that gorgeous bodyguard of hers. He can come protect my house anytime."
The women laughed as they retreated with the blood sample, leaving Trowa alone with Quatre once again.
He looked at his lover, so pale and still in the bed. The wounds he'd sustained in the explosion had healed, leaving only faint marks, but he still remained in darkness, unwilling or unable to come back to life.
"Did you hear that?" Trowa said. "Heero's a father. That's going to take some getting used to, isn't it? I feel like I should do something, but…what? I mean, you'd probably send flowers, but can you imagine me doing that? I wouldn't have the first idea what kind of…" He stopped. "Flowers." Trowa's eyes darted back and forth. "Oh….shit."
He jumped to his feet and dug into his pocket for his communicator. "Chang," he said once his partner answered. "Yeah, it's me. Are we on a secure line?" After a moment, Trowa continued, "I know how Relena was poisoned."
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: New part! Hope ya'll like it! Thanks for all the sweet reviews;)
Be My Downfall
by Kristen Elizabeth
After a long night on duty, Sally was just about to clock out and go home for a cup of tea, a sleeping pill and a few much-needed hours of blissful rest, when the medical base's communicator flared to life.
"Incoming. Unresponsive female, 28 weeks pregnant. Page surgery. ETA by helicopter: 3.5 minutes."
She sighed and reached for her lab coat, which she'd just shucked off. Draping her stethoscope over her neck, Sally summoned her best nurses. "Come on, everyone. That's not a lot of time."
The helicopter landed right on schedule and the interns sent out to greet it wheeled a stretcher into her trauma room a mere minute later. It took Sally a few minutes of calling out orders before she recognized the patient lying so frighteningly still on the examination table.
"Oh dear god in heaven," she breathed. "It's…"
"Relena." Heero burst into the room with unyielding determination. Practically pushing one of her nurses out of the way, he reached for Relena's pale hand.
"Commander Yuy." Sally swallowed. "It would be better for her if you'd wait outside."
His hands shook as he brushed back limp locks of golden hair from Relena's forehead. "I'm not going anywhere while she's like this." Heero looked up at Sally, striking her down with the power of his eyes. She'd never seen fear like that before. Certainly not on Heero Yuy.
"Heero."
It was all she had to say to break him. To her utter shock, Heero lowered his head for a long moment and when he glanced back up, she saw hot tears in his eyes. "You bring her back to me," he demanded. His voice was choked with the unfamiliarity of emotions. "Please."
"I will," she promised, although she had little right to make such guarantees.
He lifted the back of Relena's hands up to his lips before he backed away, allowing the nurses to cluster around her once again.
Heero stayed in the waiting room, pacing back and forth, up and down the halls, refusing food, refusing rest, refusing company until Sally came for him after what seemed like hours.
"The baby is literally draining the life away from her," she told him. "She's conscious, but barely." Sally cleared her throat. "I don't need your consent, but I value your opinion as the baby's father. If the baby isn't born tonight, Relena will be dead by tomorrow."
"Can it live…if it's born?" he asked, his throat raw.
Sally nodded. "It has a very good chance."
"And Relena?"
She hesitated. "She's strong, Heero. She could make it through."
He shook his head. "She's been hiding this from me…her pain and suffering. I would have taken it all myself if I could have. But she didn't let me in…"
Sally sat down next to him. The chair was hard and cold, much like his hand when she took in hers. "Do you trust that I will do everything in my power to save them both?" It took him a few seconds, but Heero finally nodded. "All right then. We'll prep her for surgery. You can speak to her for a moment, if you want. After that…call her brother. He should be here, too."
He nodded again, curtly this time. After a moment, Heero stood up and walked towards the exam room where Relena lay, waiting for him. Sally released a pent up breath and slumped back into the chair. Surprisingly enough, she no longer felt tired. She would bring Relena and Heero's child into the world and ensure that the young woman she admired so much would survive the ordeal. It was the greatest responsibility she could imagine, but the reward of seeing the President healthy and happy would be even greater.
She hauled herself up and turned around, literally coming face to face with Chang Wufei.
"Commander Chang!" Sally took a step away from his powerful presence. How could someone younger than her bother her so much? "What are you doing here?"
"I brought the President in." He paused. "How is she?"
"Better. But not out of the woods." Sally cleared her throat. "It's been awhile. You look…well."
Wufei frowned. "I'm not here because I'm sick."
She sighed. Frustrating…good gods, the man could piss off a saint! "That's not what I…" Sally stopped. It was useless. He was years her junior; it was obvious that he saw nothing attractive about an older woman such as her. "I have to go…get ready. I'm delivering the President's baby tonight."
"Good luck."
She turned her head back around to see him. There was genuine concern in his tone and it surprised her. "Save those wishes for the President. She'll need them."
Relena tried to stop herself from shaking with fear when Heero gently enfolded her in his arms, but the fear had taken hold of her, and refused to let go. His strong body, warm skin and steady heartbeat couldn't placate her. But it wasn't fear for her own life that coursed through her poisoned body.
"Heero," she whispered against his chest. "The baby…if something happens and I don't…"
He cut her off quickly. "Don't even say it. It's not going to happen, Relena."
"It's not something you can control." She looked up at his strong jaw. It quivered ever so slightly; he was still fighting his emotions. "I want our baby to grow up knowing nothing but love. Promise me, Heero…promise me that it will."
"This is a pointless conversation," he said, almost coldly. His head dropped; instant regret washed over him. "I just mean…you're not leaving me, Relena. I won't let you."
She smiled through her tears. "Do you have any idea how many times I wished you wouldn't leave me? But you always did…"
"I had to. For your own good."
Her smile fell. "Maybe I'll have to leave this time. For your own good."
The last sentence came out as a whisper so low that Heero didn't entirely catch it. And he had no time to question her about it, since Sally reappeared just then, clad in a fresh pair of surgical scrubs with a mask hanging around her neck. Two nurses followed her; they carried trays of sterilized instruments.
"Commander Yuy…can you make the call we talked about while we prep the President?" she asked.
He pried himself away from Relena with great reluctance and murmured assurances that he would return immediately.
"He can't understand…" The President shook her head against the starched sheets covering the table. "Maybe no man can…what a woman will go through for…" She gingerly touched her protruding belly.
Sally signaled to the one of her nurses who set down her tray and walked around behind Relena's head. "I'm going to give you something to relax you. Just breathe deeply." When the younger woman's eyes closed, the nurse placed a rubber mask over her nose and mouth. "It'll be over before you know it."
By the time Millardo and Noin arrived at the hospital, the baby had been born. The young couple entered the med bay, laden down with a stroller, diaper bag, car seat and their own baby, one month old Elissa, who slept peacefully in the crook of her father's arm.
Sally greeted them without a word, and ushered them up to the heavily guarded recovery room. Millardo paused at the door, unsure of whether or not he was prepared for what lay on the other side. No one had spoken of death, but the atmosphere was anything but joyful. Taking a deep breath, he transferred Elissa to Noin and pushed his way inside.
The first thing he saw was Relena, sitting up in bed; there was color in her cheeks, a healthy glow he hadn't ever seen on her. Heero stood over her awkwardly, like he wasn't sure what his place was there. But there was something different about him. His expression…it was peaceful. Was that a smile trying to creep to life? On his former enemy, it was unsettling.
His sister looked up and noticed him just then. "Millardo!" Her voice was soft, but so happy. "Come and meet your niece."
That was when he noticed the little person in Relena's arms. She was wrapped up in pink cloth from head to toe, and so much smaller than his own daughter had been when she was born, but from the way Relena beamed at her, he could tell that it didn't matter one bit.
"My god," he whispered as he took a few steps closer.
Noin came up behind him. "Oh Relena…she's beautiful."
"Her name is Gisele." Heero blinked when the two stunned gazes swung over to him. "Relena chose it."
"It's my favorite ballet," the brand-new mother explained. "Maybe she'll be a ballerina someday…"
Her words faded into a delicate yawn and Sally stepped forward. "The President needs rest," she quietly decreed. "And we have more tests to run on Gisele." She reached for the baby as she spoke, but Relena was reluctant to hand her over.
"Heero hasn't held her yet," she told Sally.
He knelt down next to her. "Let's do what Sally thinks is best."
She nodded and let the older woman take her baby and place her in the portable incubator, which was then wheeled away by a nurse. "Stay with me," Relena asked Heero when he stood up. "Until I fall asleep?" He nodded shortly, entwining her fingers with his.
Millardo had a million questions, and the long pent-up desire to blacken Heero's eye, but he found himself being ushered right back out of the room. Once he regained control of his tongue, he turned on Sally. "She's all right?" he demanded to know.
The doctor sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "She's stable. For now."
Elissa began to squirm; Noin lightly patted her little back to calm her. "What does that mean?"
"It means, I don't know how long this…remission of sorts will last. It might just be that she's so happy. Mind over matter. Look." Sally attempted a smile. "Relena's feeling well, considering she just had an intrusive operation. From what we know so far, her baby is going to be just fine. And I swear I saw Heero Yuy nearly faint when he heard his daughter cry for the first time. It's been one amazing day, and I don't want to drag it down with all sorts of speculations about what might or might not happen tomorrow."
"But you have speculations," Millardo countered, his voice prickly "That means you think my sister…"
Sally cut him off just as sharply. "What your sister needs is positive thoughts from the people she loves. That's the only thing I know for sure is going to get her through whatever comes next."
During the lull between spikes on the heart monitor next to Quatre's hospital bed, Trowa didn't dare breathe. He would only sip air after another peak in the green line, another tiny affirmation that the man he loved was still alive.
For days, weeks, he had done this as he sat in the cold, stark room, waiting for Quatre to wake. He ate only when nurses brought him a sandwich or a cup of coffee; he slept in bits and pieces…just enough to stay sane. He was a fixture in the hospital, their most prominent patient's personal guardian, a man so consumed by grief that he was quite literally broken.
Because they were so used to his presence, and suspected he barely took note of them, the two nurses who came in to take Quatre's vital signs kept up a steady stream of chatter as they worked, mindless of the man seated next to the bed.
"He doesn't want to have children," the older nurse said as she replaced a saline bag with a fresh one. "So what you're saying is...he's a man."
"He's a jerk," her younger co-worker corrected. "I should have realized that years ago and not wasted my time." She withdrew some blood from Quatre's arm and sighed. "I just see everyone around me, and they all have babies. Even the President!"
"The President had a baby? I didn't even know she was pregnant."
The women barely noticed that Trowa had started to pay attention.
"I heard it on the news. It would explain where's she been better than that poison story she gave us awhile back."
The older nurse lowered her voice. "She's not married! So who's the father?"
"No one's saying anything for sure, but I figure it's got to be that gorgeous bodyguard of hers. He can come protect my house anytime."
The women laughed as they retreated with the blood sample, leaving Trowa alone with Quatre once again.
He looked at his lover, so pale and still in the bed. The wounds he'd sustained in the explosion had healed, leaving only faint marks, but he still remained in darkness, unwilling or unable to come back to life.
"Did you hear that?" Trowa said. "Heero's a father. That's going to take some getting used to, isn't it? I feel like I should do something, but…what? I mean, you'd probably send flowers, but can you imagine me doing that? I wouldn't have the first idea what kind of…" He stopped. "Flowers." Trowa's eyes darted back and forth. "Oh….shit."
He jumped to his feet and dug into his pocket for his communicator. "Chang," he said once his partner answered. "Yeah, it's me. Are we on a secure line?" After a moment, Trowa continued, "I know how Relena was poisoned."
To Be Continued