Jackie: I write lots of setup but it's usually worth it in nice juicy plot afterwards. Stick with me. If you read it to the end and still don't like it I'll be glad to publish your flames.

Snwbnny, Kawaiibabe, and Aine of Knockaine, thanks for reviewing, good Vash x Meryl fluff coming up soon probably in chapter four. Hehehehe, a physical hospital of course. jab in the ribs LOL. Showing Knives insane humans probably wouldn't redeem us in any way though it might be funny. ponders I try to update once a day, but I'm a busy mother of two so I can't make promises.

Disclaimer: sob I don't own Trigun. sobsob

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Chapter 3

Vash wheeled Knives down the corridor after the nurse. She her nose stuck in clipboard of notes the doctor had scribbled out, and didn't seem interested in much else. Vash hoped she wouldn't miss the room. Knives had his chin down against his chest and was glaring at every person they passed. His eyes seemed to whip out of his head trying to glare at each person a second more without actually turning his head to look at them. He could have just glared at the nurse in front of him, but this way he got to glare at as many people as possible. Vash shook his head and sighed.

'What are you sighing about? I'm the one who has to wallow in this human filth.'

'Just remember. If your powers come back tell me and I will remove you from here. If you hurt anyone, and I mean ANYONE in the slightest way I will shoot you up well enough to stick you here for the rest of your very, very, very long life. Clear?'

'You're disgusting. I can't believe you would treat a fellow plant this way. If you--'

'Just answer the question Knives.'

'It's clear.'

"Here we are," The nurse said with a smile, "Room 14A. You're lucky. You only have to share it with one other patient."

"It would be LUCKY if I had my own room," Knives growled.

"Now, now, brother," Vash jeered, "You'd better play nice or I'll make her move you to a room with four or five bedmates."

The nurse smirked a bit and opened the door. She walked in and Vash wheeled Knives in behind her. She pulled back the light blue curtain and revealed a small hospital cot. She patted the bed to tell Vash to help Knives into it and fluffed the small pillow… Not that it helped. Vash heaved Knives into the bed and tucked the blanket in around him.

"There you go," Vash mocked, "All nice and comfy-womfy."

"You are going to pay for this," Knives said in a low vicious tone.

The nurse hadn't seemed to notice the exchange as she scribbled some more notes on the clipboard. She hung the clipboard at the foot of the bed and said, "Lunch is in about two hours."

With that she left. Vash was just about to a have a final word or two with Knives when a soft voice whispered, "Hello? Is someone there?"

Vash smiled and threw back the center curtain as he said, "HI!"

Even Knives paused at what they saw. Slender yet well muscled legs dangled out of the bottom of a hospital robe. The blanket that might have covered them had fallen on the floor. Her skin was almost as white as her bed sheets, and long delicate fingers laid crossed in her lap. However it was the upper half that caught their attention.

Her gown was opened almost too much to be decent to accommodate the mass of wires attached to her chest. Three monitors measured her heart rate, breathing and various other stats. A large pumping machine seemed to be breathing for her. Large grey eyes peered out of a face mask and, from the state of her long Chestnut hair, she had been there a while.

"Hi."

Her voice was a faint whisper and choked around the tube going down her throat. Vash frowned but Knives smiled openly at her suffering. That should be the fate of all those wretched spiders.

"What happened to you?" Vash breathed out.

"Jealous boyfriend," She answered, "Filled me full of bullets."

"Why?" Vash asked.

"I sing at a local bar," She said, "That's how we met. He told me he didn't want me to sing any more. I said I'd rather be dead than stop singing. I guess he took me serious."

"That's awful," Vash said and patted her hand, "Are you going to be able to sing when you get better?"

"I don't know," She answered, "Depends on how much damage this tube does to my throat. Also, I can't go back to singing at the bar until he's found."

"He hasn't been caught?" Vash asked.

"Would you stop," Knives asked in his exasperated tone, "Do you think it's doing her throat any good to be talking to you?"

Knives didn't really care. He just didn't want to have to continue to listen or look at the human anymore. He had a privacy curtain and he meant to use it. Vash blinked and said, "Wow, I guess my brother is right. You shouldn't be talking."

"Twins?" She asked eyeing Knives and Vash respectively.

"Wow," Knives scoffed, "She's a regular Einstein."

The girl growled in spite of herself and Knives flashed her a smile. Vash jumped between the two and said, "You have to forgive him. They haven't given him his medication for the day. C-ya!"

Vash threw the curtain shut and sighed. Then he glared at Knives who was staring out the window. Knives smiled slightly.

'If I must be in a room with one of THEM. I'm glad it's with one who is suffering so badly. Maybe she will know personally how much our sisters suffer.'

'You be kind to her or else!'

'Or else what? The arrangement was for me to not physically harm or kill anyone. You didn't say anything about being nice to them.'

'I'm changing the agreement. That girl has been through a lot.'


'Then I refuse. As soon as I'm able I will kill every last human in this town. You can fill me full of bullets again if you wish, but it will be too late by then to save them.'

'Can you at least try to be civil if you can't be kind? I'll visit you everyday to give you a break from them.'

Knives looked back at Vash. The brothers looked at each other for a long time before Knives nodded his agreement. Vash was turning to leave when the girl spoke again.

"Excuse me," She whispered, "Are you still there? Can someone please call a nurse or get my blanket for me?"

Vash flung open the middle curtain and said, "Have no fear, pretty lady!"

She smiled faintly at him. She had learned better than to let herself laugh when she reopened two of the wounds in her chest a few days after arriving. Vash snatched up the blanket and tucked it in around her. She nodded her thanks and he turned to go.

"Wait, Vash!" Knives yelled after him, "You forgot to--"

But he had already gone. Knives glared at the curtains and then turned his glare to the woman in the other cot. This was going to be a long recovery.

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Jackie: Okay, I got some emails from my dear friends… whom I think OUGHT to be reviewing instead of emailing me. glares It seems my Knives x OC romance last time tickled their fancy so I am writing in a love interest for Knives too. Am I not generous? This is still primarily a Meryl X Vash story, and we'll be getting back to them next chapter I promise!