Notes and Disclaimers: I don't own GW, but I own the Saisos.

Chapter 8

Rose slowly woke and as she gathered her thoughts together the best she could she found that her whole body hurt and felt very battered. And that she was lying on a bed with just a light sheet covering her, but she wore a very loose and very long shirt along with a pair of her panties, that much she knew. She opened her eyes and stared up at a familiar ceiling. But she hurt too much to really think about it. She turned her head and even doing that hurt.

"You're awake!" Quatre said as he came to kneel down by her side. He looked a little surprised that she woke, but she was totally confused of how she came to be with the ones she had betrayed. "No, don't try to speak yet." He said, concern filled his face when she tried to get her voice to work for her.

She just stared at him, closing her mouth but looked over his shoulder when Trowa entered the room. He winced a little as he moved but other than that she couldn't tell he had ever been hurt. Quatre followed her gaze and then told his friend, "She's awake."

Trowa walked over to them and he looked down. "Do you hurt?"

Rose gave a slight nod of her head and then winced. She hurt a lot, who was he kidding? And what had been done to her? She wondered as she lay there.

Just as she finished those thoughts she realized that she was in their shared home and she was in Duo's room, in Duo's bed. But when she realized this, she grew sad. She loved Duo, but she knew he must hate her.

But Quatre brought her out of her thoughts. "We have your brother here with us, but he wants to see you. I told him not until you wake, but it's been three days and he's mad with worry." He said. He turned as Trowa entered the room again, this time with medicine and a small boy following behind him.

"Quatre? Is my sister okay? Nothing's happened?" Tesuki asked from the doorway.

Rose stared at her brother while Trowa helped her down some painkillers and then he helped her sit up.

Quatre looked at Rose and then at her brother, not knowing what to say. But Tesuki walked tentatively deeper into the room and when he saw his sister aware of her surroundings, he ran the rest of the way to the bed. Trowa backed away as Quatre frowned in concern for Rose's welfare. He knew she wasn't up to talking yet.

Rose wanted to reach out to her little twelve-year-old brother but found that her left arm, which was closest to the edge was heavily bandaged and looked like it was also in a splint. She felt that her right leg was the same and she had other bandages all over her, but luckily her face did not have any at all.

Her brother stepped right up to the bed and reached out with a hand towards her face. He lightly touched her cheek and Rose saw tears in his eyes.

"Suzumi, they won't tell me about Mom and Dad. Do you know where they are? What happened to them?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Rose's eyes closed as tears ran down her cheeks. She turned away from him and Quatre intervened and said, "Come on Tesuki, it's time for your sister to rest now. Maybe when she's feeling better she'll tell you." He said in a soothing tone of voice. He put an arm around the boy's shoulders and led him out.

Rose watched them go, but her tears did not cease. Her grief was pouring out, finally having a time to come out into the open. She turned her face away from the room and closed her eyes. A minute into her silent tears she felt a weight settle next to her on the bed. She remained as she was but heard,

"I know you must hurt like hell, but would it help if you have a shoulder to cry on?" Trowa asked softly. He, just as lightly as Tesuki, touched her cheek when she turned her head toward him.

Rose looked up into his face, found the honesty there and allowed her head to drop lightly onto his offered shoulder. She cried for as long as she could and when her tears dried on her cheeks she moved her right hand across her lap, which to her surprise didn't have any bandages covering it, and found one of his hands. She turned it palm up and slowly traced a sequence of letters one at a time on his palm. She spelt out thank you. When she finished she lifted her head from him, to look into his eyes.

"Remember you helped me." He said as he rose and left the room. Quatre had still not returned, but Rose was tired and slowly proceeded to lay back down when the last person she expected to see in the world popped into the room.

She stared at Duo just as he did the same from inside the doorway.

"Do you need help?" he asked, his tone emotionless just as his face was carefully masked from being read. This was not at all Duo's personality. He must have still been hurting deeply from her actions.

She nodded slightly and he crossed the room in three strides. He carefully helped her down, touching her as little as possible and then took a step back when he was done. She mouthed her thanks and though she wanted nothing more to just stare at the man she still loved, her body was tired and she quickly fell asleep. Duo left without another glance at her and went downstairs to join Tesuki and Trowa in an ongoing game of Risk.

When Rose woke again her whole body still hurt, but it had dimmed the tiniest bit, though not by much. She slowly moved her head and found it was dark out the window across the room on the left side and there was a small lamp on near her. Trowa sat in a chair by the lamp reading a book, but looked up when he caught movement on the bed. He set his book down and came to her side.

"If you're wondering what time it is, it's ten thirty." He said in a quiet tone. It was almost a whisper, but not quite.

She just stared at him and then tried to get her voice working again for the second time that day, but Trowa stopped her by coming closer to her and shaking his head.

"Don't. Heero said that trying to use your voice anytime soon will permanently damage it." Trowa said.

Rose looked down in dismay. She wanted to talk. She wanted to know why they rescued her, why they were taking care of her, why they didn't just leave her to die. She wanted to know if her brother had any lasting effects from the collar. She wanted to know how long it had been since that day she had captured them and then set them free. She wanted to know so much and she couldn't use her voice. Damn Oz!

She motioned for his hand, which he laid on the bed palm up. He knew to some extent that she wanted information.

"How long" she traced on his palm and when she finished he asked, "How long you've been here?" She nodded ever so slightly. "Six days. Almost a week."

She traced "why" this time.

He looked at her for a minute before saying, "Why you are specifically here?" she shook her head but then nodded a little. "Then you're wanting to know why we rescued you," She nodded. "Hm…Let's see. Your brother wouldn't leave without you, but we brought him here first and then Quatre, Duo and Heero, who had come back that early morning, went back for you. They found you beaten pretty badly and unconscious. Heero figured out how to get the choker off without it setting off again and left it on the floor. They brought you back here and I and Quatre have been tending to your wounds. You have a lot I'm afraid. Your left arm is fractured in three places. Your right leg was slightly cracked, but that will heal with a lot of rest. We're pretty sure a couple of your ribs were fractured the tiniest bit. And overall, you're just seriously bruised and look thoroughly beaten. Luckily nothing is broken, well except for your heart I guess." He added hesitantly, but a little boldly as well.

Rose was almost astonished by how much Trowa spoke. The first time she met him she could barely get a full five-word sentence from him. And it wasn't because she didn't try. He was just a person who didn't talk much if the situation didn't warrant it. He was always so quiet. She gave the slightest of nods and again traced the word why on his palm.

He studied her before answering, "Why exactly we rescued you? Well, Tesuki wouldn't come until we practically promised we would get you. He found out that we won't tell him anything concerning your parents…and though he seems to hate you for all you're worth, I know for a fact that Duo still loves you." He whispered.

Rose felt like she had been punched again. She couldn't believe what he had just told her and it must have shown on her face because Trowa said, "You don't believe me. I don't really blame you, but why else would you be in his room?" he asked.

Rose closed her mouth from gaping and looked thoughtful. She had wondered about that. And the answer still surprised her.

"Now, since you're awake again, I'm supposed to ask if you're hungry." He said, "Quatre told me too. But I told him I didn't think you would be. Are you?"

She shook her head to where it wouldn't hurt and gave him a very small smile.

"Okay, another question. Are you still hurting?" he asked.

She traced "duh" on his hand and then added, "a lot". He chuckled softly and then said, "I'll go get you some more painkillers." Before he could leave, Rose grabbed his hand and traced "thirsty too". "Okay. I'll bring you a large glass of something. It depends on what we have. Oh by the way, your brother is a joy to be around." He added, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"I know." She traced and nodded her head. Trowa left the room while Rose lifted right her hand and carefully looked it over. There was a large purplish-greenish bruise on her forearm that trailed up to her elbow and a little past. Then her gaze went to her left arm in the splint. She gently started touching around her arm to find where the bandages actually began and ended and a couple of times she found where it hurt the worst.

She was too intoned in herself when Trowa returned that when he spoke she jumped, causing her whole body to protest and she nearly fainted from the pain. Trowa was instantly by her side adjusting the blanket around her also soothing her with his voice. He didn't want to touch her for fear of hurting her.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" he asked.

Rose collected her bearings again and focused on his face. He reached over and pushed some of her long hair out of her face. She looked up into his eyes and then slowly pushed him away. Before she could motion for his hand he offered it to her. She immediately though her hand shook just a little bit, traced "hurt" on his palm.

"I bet. I'm sorry." He replied as he helped her down the painkillers he had brought. He left a large glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed and said, "You should sleep again. It'll help you heal. I should know, it helped me. Quatre made me sleep for about two days." He added with a tiny smirk.

Rose gave him a smile and he helped her settle back down on the bed. Before long she was asleep again.

TBC