A/N Thankees to SC-sama and happy belated birthday to her and Tensei-chan.
Promises
Chapter 9
Wufei glared at the clock, watching the moments tick by until the hand hit 4 exactly. He was just reaching for the call button when there was a knock at the door. "Enter."
The young British doctor he'd seen earlier entered the room and smiled happily. She was too damn chipper. Wufei scowled. "Well?"
"I thought you might like to see her now."
"Yes, please." He gritted his teeth. If he had to be polite, it would be best to start now, at least until the woman had let him check on whether or not it really was Megan in that room. He threw the bedcovers off and swung his feet off the bed. He moved to the reviled wheelchair the woman was pushing with no small amount of displeasure.
Behind him, he did not see Cynthia Martin smirking at the icily polite tone. She wheeled him in silence. Until they came to the door of room 401. She left him alone in the hallway for just a moment as she opened the door and peeked inside. "She's still sleeping. I'll only take you in for a few minutes, and you have to swear you won't wake her, even if she is your missing person."
Wufei nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes."
"Swear it! She's been badly injured and needs her rest." The doctor insisted.
"I swear." He looked at her serious, his annoyance receding long enough for his voice to reiterate his promise.
Apparently satisfied with this, she pushed him through the open door and wheeled him to the side of the bed. He leaned forward to study the sleeping woman's battered face. His breath caught as he realized that it was in fact, Megan. Her hair was shorter than he recalled, cut to a length just above her chin. Her face bruised, the marks standing out in stark contrast to the paleness of the rest of her.
"Is she okay?" He asked quietly, moderating his voice carefully so there was no chance of waking her. The machines continued to beep quietly as the doctor answered him.
"She's not okay. But she'll live. She's recovering nicely from surgery and I should be able to release her in a few days if all goes well. She hemorrhaged in her abdominal cavity as a result from the impact and the placement of her seat belt. She's lucky she didn't have any fractures. I repaired the damage in surgery, and barring infection she should be able to be released in 4 or 5 days."
Wufei reached out carefully, his hand hovering above her exposed one for a few seconds. He wanted to touch her, to assure himself that the months of frustration and anger hadn't been for nothing. She was real, and she was here. Megan was safe at last. He could take her home, let her recover there and finally get the answers he needed. Then she could go home to Quatre and Trowa and get on with her life. "Can you make arrangements for me to place an overseas call? I'll need to contact her parents. They'll want to know about this."
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Cynthia's initial reaction was a blatant no. She had a duty to protect the privacy of her patient. There was a fine line she was walking already by bringing him into this room without the sleeping woman's knowledge. She turned the chair she stood behind to the door and quietly pushed the mollified Mr. Chang back to his room.
Once inside, she shut the door and turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. She spoke in a serious voice. "Mr. Chang. I want you to know that I'm very relieved you've found who you were looking for. But there are circumstances surrounding the woman that you know nothing about. I don't believe that bringing in hordes of people will speed her recovery. She's got enough to worry about with just getting better."
She knew she'd crossed the line when he narrowed his eyes, speaking in perfectly unaccented English. "What are you talking about?"
Cynthia shook her head. "That information is privileged. Confidentiality between myself and my patients prohibits me from sharing that."
"Is she ill? Her fathers said she was ill when she disappeared. Is her life in danger?" Doctor Martin did not expect the blatant concern in his voice, the raw fear that pervaded his tone.
"No." She repeated firmly. "Aside from the injuries she sustained, she's perfectly healthy and that's all I'm going to say. That's all I'm allowed to say."
Wufei's voice took on a challenging edge. "I want to speak to her when she wakes up. Alone. Tonight."
"No. I can't allow that. I don't know why you're so upset about this. But she needs rest and she needs to be left alone to recover. After she's released and is no longer under my care, you can be in all the contact you wish, but until then, I will not risk her lapsing into a dangerous depression because of unwanted company."
She could see she was walking that fine line again. His expression turned stormy. "It would only take one phone call to have all the funding for your facility yanked by it's investors. You wouldn't want that, would you Doctor Martin?" His silky voice was laced with a threatening tone.
Cynthia dropped her arms to her sides. "I won't be bullied, Mr. Chang. And neither will my staff. From your misguided attitude, I'm inclined to assess the situation in such a light that you would cause there to be a significant threat to my patient's recovery time. Therefore you will have no further contact with Megan Hanahan. Under no circumstances are you to go anywhere near her or try to contact her while she is in the care of my or any other person in this facility. I hope you have a good evening, Mr. Chang. I'll check on you in the morning."
With those words, she left the man sitting there, still in the wheelchair. His expression was pure rage as she closed the door behind her. Cynthia chuckled, she could have sworn she'd seen smoke coming from the man's ears. Li greeted her as she approached the nurses station. "Dr. Martin. Mr. Ling in room 413, he's being most uncooperative in taking his medication."
Cynthia sighed heavily. "Just inject it into his IV bag. He's already been declared incompetent by psych. And will you please be certain to move the patient in room 401 to the maternity ward? Dr. LePlace and I will be coordinating her care starting in the morning. Under no circumstance are you to allow Mr. Chang in 412 to know where she is or revel any information concerning her status. That means no information about her OR the baby. He's not to know that child exists. Also, I want you to cut phone access to his room completely. I'll be in my office. I have some calls to make and I don't want to be disturbed." With those instructions, Doctor Cynthia Martin left the trauma ward and headed for the elevator and her office on the sanctuary of the 9th floor.
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"Lady Une, I have a Doctor Cynthia Martin on line 4. She's calling from Hong Kong and insists it is urgent."
Anne dropped the data pad to the top of her desk and reached for the phone, hitting the button for audio only. "This is Une."
"Lady Une, my apologies for disturbing you at so early an hour, but I have news on a missing person."
Une raised her head from the reports she'd been reading and gave the woman on the phone her undivided attention. "We don't handle very many missing persons cases."
"You handled this one, for a time I believe. Megan Hanahan-Barton-Winner."
Une's heart skipped a beat. "Yes, we did look into it. You say you have information?"
"Yes." The British woman hesitated. "I take it you've been informed of the commuter jet that had trouble in Hong Kong yesterday?"
Dread filled Une at those words. "Yes. I recall."
"One of your agents, an ornery fellow by the name of Chang Wufei was injured in the act of aiding the survivors from the aircraft before it exploded." Fear struck Une even harder now, would she have to tell Quatre and Trowa of Chang's death as well as Megan's? It would be a crushing blow to the already strained psyche of the two former pilots.
"Please don't assume the worst. Agent Chang survived the explosion, he was far enough away that he sustained only minor injuries. I will most likely be releasing him after another 48 hours of observation. He has a bad concussion, abrasions and minor burns. All in all he was quite fortunate to have escaped considering that of the 132 people on board, only 29 escaped with their lives."
"Only 29 survivors." Une's voice faltered.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. The official numbers won't be published until all the dead are identified. It's an ongoing effort."
"Not to be rude, Dr. Martin. But what does one thing have to do with another?"
"Ah, yes. My apologies for going off onto a tangent. I know you're an extremely busy woman. I know that your connections with the Barton-Winner family extend beyond diplomacy. I thought you would be the best person to inform the Misters Barton-Winner that Megan Hanahan-Barton-Winner was positively identified by Agent Chang about 45 minutes ago."
"Identified. Is she alive or dead?" Une's voice began to show her strain.
The doctor's voice was warm. "It's not often I'm able to deliver good news, Lady Une. Miss Hanahan is alive. She sustained serious injuries to her abdomen and various bruising to her body. An emergency surgery was performed last night and she was only in ICU for a few hours. Barring any complications in her recovery I expect her to make a full recovery. I will be releasing her in a few days. I just wanted to let you know so you could give her family a heads up. Agent Chang wanted to contact them himself, but I didn't think it prudent given his agitated state."
"Of course. Chang has a way of irritating even the most saintly of people." Une spoke wearily into the phone, relief flooding her. "Thank you for calling. I'll inform the family personally. Expect to hear from them concerning arrangements within a few hours."
"Lady Une, may I ask a favor?" The woman on the other end seemed to hesitate.
"Anything. We'd do anything to repay your kindness." Une meant every word too.
Cynthia Martin hesitated slightly. "I don't doubt that the family has only he best of intentions. But it took hours just to get her first name. The young lady, though doing well, has been through a lot. I just want to make it perfectly clear that I don't condone any visitors that might upset her at such a delicate stage in her recovery. I think it would be prudent to urge the family to wait a few days before they come. For her sake."
Une considered her words carefully. "I'll pass that on. Thank you again for calling."
She disconnected the call and dropped the phone back into it's cradle. Ten minutes later she was out the door and on her way to Quatre and Trowa's home.
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Megan woke to bright sunshine streaming into the window of a cheery room. It was more of a bedroom than a hospital room. She frowned and gazed around herself for a moment before remembering she'd been moved the night before. The walls were painted a bright yellow, with framed flower prints on the wall opposite the bed. She sighed contentedly and rubbed at her eyes. The IV drip had been removed the previous night, just before she'd been informed of the doctors decision to move her to the maternity ward a few halls over.
She'd been instantly thrilled to hear the news. Her recovery time was much faster than the doctor had anticipated, Li had said, and had authorized the move. Megan was happy with the change of scenery as it meant that she was going to be able to spend longer periods of time getting to know her daughter. She had been sorely disappointed the previous day when she'd been permitted a few precious minutes with the tiny infant only to be denied more than one more visit.
Her abdomen hurt from the surgery, but she'd been able to move around some the night before, enough that the nurse had removed the blasted catheter that annoyed her so much. She'd regained her appetite earlier in the morning and finished breakfast. She'd been allowed an entire uninterrupted hour with Lily before lunch and then a nap.
Now a glance at the clock told her it was a bit after 4. She grinned to herself and reached for the call button on her bedside table only to find it pulled from her grasp. Startled, she whipped her head around to stare at the intruder she hadn't realized was there. Dismay rocketed through her as the last person she expected to see stared at her in thinly veiled amusement. "Duo."
Her uncle's good humor vanished instantly. "We need to talk, Kiddo." He hadn't called her that in years.
Megan's heart raced in panic. What if he tried to take Lily, what if he told her parents, or worse… Wufei. She forced a shaky smile and laughed tentatively. "Long time, no see."
"That's enough, Megan." He set the remote aside, just out of her reach.
"How did you find me?" Her words were whispered, her fear plainly visible.
Duo glanced at the closed door. "The doctor contact Une, who in turn contacted me when she couldn't get in touch with Quatre or Trowa."
He drew in a deep breath and stared at her for a long moment, clearly uncertain of what to say. "I wanted to get to you before they could, so I waited until I landed in Hong Kong to call them. They should be here in a few hours. I know my timing sucks, but there's a few things I need to say to you and some answers that I need to know. Can I trust you to be completely honest with me, if I promise you I won't hide anything from you?"
Megan hesitated then nodded. "Yes."
"Good." He rose from the chair and lowered the railing of the bed, taking a seat on it. "First off, I have to know. Did Wufei hurt you in any way, physically or emotionally?"
"Hurt me? That's a loaded one." She averted her eyes, gathering her thoughts. "The rejection hurt. I couldn't stand it. That's why I left. Because I felt betrayed and angry. That's why I'm not going back. I never want to see him again."
Duo frowned. "Did he force himself on you?"
Megan's eyes flashed in surprise. "No. God no, Wufei might be an ass but he's not like that. I went to him."
"Good. Thank you for being honest. That's what he told Quatre when Q went to see him. That's the last time any of us have seen him. He took a leave of absence from the Preventers. We think he's been looking for you the whole time you were gone." Thought Duo's voice didn't change, Megan could sense the irritation that lay underneath.
The thought caught her off guard. If he knew where she was, then he knew about… "Lily." She shot straight up in Bed.
Duo grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her back down. "She's fine. I swear to you. I checked on her before I came here." His expression softened. "She beautiful, Megan."
Maternal pride shot through her, replacing her momentary panic. "I know."
"That's why I'm here. We didn't know where you had gone or anything those first few days. Quatre… he… sort of lost it I guess. He convinced himself that the best thing to do after we found you would be to send you to L4 to have the baby and then not tell Wufei. He coerced Trowa into agreeing to adopt the baby so you could pursue your own life." Duo chuckled darkly. "You know how your fathers can be when they're feeling a little overprotective."
"They want to take my baby?" The panic returned.
Duo's hand remained on her shoulder, keeping her moving. "Take it easy, Megs. You don't need to tear out your stitches. That's another part of the reason I wanted a head start." The braided man took a deep breath and then released it.
"Megan, your fathers love you very much. They only want what's best you. Sometimes as parents we're so blinded by that urge to protect, that we overlook things. Like what's most important to our children. We think that what's best isn't always what our children want. And it's hard to let go and think of them as adults." Duo cleared his throat and averted his eyes.
"I'm probably going to regret this, but here goes nothing." He reached into the breast pocket of his coat, withdrawing a vaguely familiar white envelope. "This is something that I didn't tell Heero or anyone about. After you disappeared, I wanted to help you. I couldn't make Quatre see reason. He was just so outraged that he wouldn't listen to anyone. Trowa went along with his plan for the sake of keeping Quatre from completely losing touch with reality, I think. He's much better now, but he's still not a hundred percent."
Duo extended the envelope to him. "I drew these up for you this morning. It's a new identity. The last one I'll ever make for you. There's a new birth certificate for Lily and enough cash to get you on your feet. I packed a small bag with clothes for you and Lily, enough to last a few days along with the essentials you'll both need. A shuttle is waiting for you at the regional airport. The decision is yours whether you want to take your daughter and run or not. I won't stand in your way."
"Duo, why are you doing this?" Megan held the envelope tightly, her voice breaking.
He bit his lower lip for a second before smiling carefully. "Because family means everything, Megs. Lily is your family now. When I saw that little girl and realized that she was a real person and not just this vague idea that Quatre's been talking about for months, I realized that you needed a fighting chance."
Megan nodded slowly, then pushed the envelope back into his hands. "Thank you, Duo. But if I've learned anything about myself in the last few months, it's that I can do things on my own I never dreamed of before. I'll be okay. I swear it."
He hesitated, then ripped the envelope open and extracted the cash. "At least take the money, Meg." He ignored her protests and folded the bundle of bills, tucking them into her hand. "I won't have my best friend's grandchild go hungry. Use it for the baby or for whatever."
Megan said nothing but scrubbed at the tears that threatened her. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm going to take a walk. I think I need some air."
He rose from the bed and crossed to the door. He turned back for a moment and smiled sadly. "I was kind of hoping you'd turn me down."
With those words he was gone. Megan released a strangled sob, before she threw the covers back. She did the math quickly. She had only a few hours at the most to get herself and Lily out of Hong Kong.