Chapter 14 – Cheeky
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"A phone call shouldn't take this long, should it?" Dorothy asked, pausing to sip on the cup of coffee a kind intern had brought her (after she kindly forced him to).
Hilde shook her head, "Unless it was something vital about today at Diamro, but I doubt anyone would have found out any news to tell Relena." She set her Styrofoam cup down beside her on the bench, lazily waving her hands above the coffee fumes to soak in the warmth.
"Do you think we should go look for her?" Dorothy continued. "She couldn't have wandered far."
Thinking for a moment, Hilde replied, "Yeah, let's go look for her. I should take a break from sitting here so long; maybe I'll get some blood flowing in my legs." She paused again, adding, "It probably wasn't a wise decision leaving Relena alone anyway, seeing as she has no idea about Merrick."
Together the two girls stood up, stretching their arms for a moment before grabbing their coffees. Hilde held her cup beneath her face, breathing in the balmy aroma and relishing in its warmth. The summer had never grown this chilly before; she suspected it may even drop below zero tonight (32 F). The forecasted drizzle would likely turn to freezing rain before the break of day.
They walked the corridor in silence, pausing every once and a while to ask others if they had seen a blonde girl walk past, but to no avail. Eventually, they reached the entryway of the hospital, glancing at its rows of empty metal chairs, magazines sitting helter-skelter on small end tables. Several potted plants sat about, their leaves pale from not having been exposed to real sunlight. Having not spotted her yet, Dorothy suggested that they head back to the front desk and ask if either of the two nurses positioned there had seen Relena.
"Excuse me," Hilde began, raising her left hand in an attempt to catch either nurse's attention, seeing as they were conversing adamantly to one another. She waited a few moments before retrying. Again, to no avail.
Hilde released a frustrated sigh and tried a third time. "Pardon me, but could you help us?" she spoke, raising her voice slightly, allowing a note of impatience to seep in. Again, no response. For a fleeting moment, one of the nurses (a young, frowning girl in her mid-twenties) had looked in their direction, only to revert to her conversation with the elder nurse.
Hilde felt like scowling herself. "How are we supposed to ask them if they have seen Relena if they won't even look at us?" she asked Dorothy, pouring the last of her coffee into a nearby potted plant.
Dorothy broke out in the first genuine smile of the night. "I've got an idea," she replied, "and it involves repaying them for their 'great hospitality' to us in this hospital."
Before Hilde could question her further, Dorothy began walking closer to the front desk, her half-filled coffee cup still in hand. As she began to step on a rather large entryway mat, Dorothy acted as though she had caught herself on the runner. She let out a surprised gasp (although obviously false, in Hilde's opinion) as her Styrofoam cup fell out of her hands and poured all over the front desk.
"Oh my!" she began, mocking embarrassment, "How clumsy of me! I never even saw that mat, let alone felt my foot caught on it." Dorothy had raised her hands to her mouth, an act that made her look all the more convincingly embarrassed, although Hilde suspected it was simply to cover the devilish smile spreading over Dorothy's face.
The younger nurse looked something close to fury, her thin mouth twisting into an even uglier glower than before. "What do you mean you couldn't see the runner? It's near eight feet long and three feet wide! Hasn't your mother ever taught you how to walk properly?"
"I said I was sorry," Dorothy replied as she lowered her hands, having now regained her composure. "What more do you expect from a person?"
The elder nurse sighed, using her right hand to pick up a stack of papers, letting the coffee drip slowly out of them. "There goes the flyers for the nurse's banquet, Dolores," she said, running her left hand through her grizzled grey hair. "Feel like redoing them tonight?"
"I feel like doing a lot of things right now, Agnes, the main one currently being sending this one outside for the night with a swift kick to her backside," Dolores, the younger nurse, replied, motioning rudely with her thumb towards Dorothy. Dorothy looked out at the entry doors, and was inwardly surprised to see that it had been raining for some time now. Puddles were growing in the low parts of the pavement, and water was dripping in steady waves from the roof.
"Well, we wouldn't have come down here unless it was very important, right Dorothy?" Hilde said, stepping into the conversation for the first time. She turned to talk with Agnes, the elderly nurse, hoping she would be less rude than Dolores. "I'm terribly sorry, ladies; Dorothy here has an inner ear problem – her coordination is about the equivalent of a sick cow's." Agnes smiled at this, deep crinkles spreading around her mouth and warming her face.
"Not a problem, not a problem. Can't expect everyone to stand upright all the time now, can we?" she replied, letting loose a hearty chuckle. She tossed the soaking stack of papers into the wastebasket beside the desk. "We didn't keep you waiting, did we? My hearing is so poor lately, I likely wouldn't have heard you if you were right behind me!"
Dorothy gave a dark, pointed look to the still-glowering Dolores before replying, "No, in fact, we were just about to ask you our question, only my inner ear acted up again." She gave the elderly nurse a wide smile. "A friend of ours had recently come in –"
"Patient or visitor?" Dolores stiffly interrupted, her arms crossed defiantly across her chest.
"Visitor," Hilde said. "She has medium length blonde hair, sort of flipped back from her face -"
"Like Farrah Fawcett?" Agnes asked.
"Err…yeah. She just had a call on her cell phone and had to leave. By any chance did she pass by here?" Hilde continued, looking hopefully at the two nurses.
"No -" Dolores began, only to be interrupted by Agnes.
"Why yes, I saw someone fitting that description!" Agnes replied, pressing her hand to below her throat. "She came running through here like a bat out of hell, that little phone of hers beeping up a storm! She went right outside, she did. It seemed she didn't to want to disturb the other visitors with it."
Apparently upset about failing to send the girls in the wrong direction, Dolores sighed angrily. "We didn't even get a chance to kindly remind her that all cellular phones are to be left off inside the hospital," She paused again to give an angry sniff that made her pleasant features appear extremely unattractive. Hilde cringed inwardly.
Dolores continued, "She had on plenty of lilac perfume on, that's for sure. I could smell it as she passed by. Felt like pointing out that all perfumes and scented deodorants are also strictly forbidden from the hospital. If she was going to put up the effort of breaking the rules, she could have at least worn something nicer, something like DiorAddict or J'Adore.[1] She smelled like an old maid." She waved her hand dismissively, as though removing the memory from her mind.
"Err…right." Dorothy said, clearly not interested in Dolores insight to Relena's choice of perfumes. The mentioning of the lilac perfume was enough evidence for Dorothy; it seemed as though Relena had been through this way. "When did she pass through here?"
Agnes paused thoughtfully for a moment, as though calculating the exact time in her head. "I'd say about half an hour ago, but don't quote me on that."
Hilde turned to face Dorothy. "If she was here half an hour ago, then she's certainly had time to finish that phone conversation and come back to us. She should've been back to where we were by this time."
"Do you think she might've taken a different route back to the O.R.? Maybe we just missed her."
"No, dears," Agnes intermitted, "she was still outside the last time I saw her."
"What do you mean? Did she leave?" Dorothy asked, puzzled by Agnes' comment. She looked to Hilde for a second, seeing a similar expression of incomprehension on her face.
Agnes gave a deep nod. "She left in one of those stretch limos you always see famous actors and actresses take. Say, your friend wouldn't actually be Farrah Fawcett, would she? I would love to get an autograph of hers."
"Sorry, but she isn't," Hilde replied distractedly, still trying to decode the recent information.
"Thank you for your help; you've no idea how useful you've been," Dorothy said to Agnes, purposely ignoring Dolores (who was scowling once again).
"Certainly, dear," Agnes replied warmly, clasping her crinkled hand overtop Dorothy's, giving it a grandmotherly pat. "It's what we are here to do. If you and your friend need any more help, just come and ask us."
"Of course! I'm sorry about the papers."
"Don't worry yourself over it, dear. They were only flyers, nothing to fret about. Go on and find your friend."
The girls gave a final friendly wave as they walked away from the front desk. They wandered back to the empty rows of chairs before continuing their conversation. Sitting in one of the metal chairs, Dorothy asked, "Why exactly would Relena have left without telling us? It's not like we were very far away; she could have run and told us..."
Hilde nodded, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "Unless it was something important and she had to leave immediately. Maybe her brother came to take her home…"
"That was likely it, seeing how it is quite late," Dorothy replied, though both girls sounded unconvinced. She looked to her wristwatch to see exactly what time it was. 10:23 pm - well after visiting hours, she inwardly thought, a mirthless smile appearing on her lips and fading almost as quickly. They had only been allowed to stay this long because they had a friend still in surgery, and were waiting for results. "Should we head home too?" she asked, turning her attention back towards Hilde.
"No," she responded, "Duo will be by soon to pick us up. He said he'd come as soon as he and the others could."
"They're still busy trying to clean up the wreckage, aren't they?" Dorothy said, already knowing it was true. The battlefield was covered in mangled masses of metal the last she had seen of it. It would take more than one afternoon and evening to remove of all the debris.
And so they sat in silence once again, this time waiting for Duo and the others to arrive, hoping they could bring some information and shed some light on what happened today. Dorothy offered to go back to the O.R. and check how Samantha was, but Hilde said it would be much later when the surgeons were finished with her, and later still before Samantha would be able to speak with them. "I think it's best if we just leave them to do what they need to do."
At about 10:40 pm, Duo and three of the other Gundam pilots arrived at the entryway of the hospital. The girls watched quietly as the boys signaled to someone still sitting inside the vehicle; they appeared to be going to park the car. Shaking his umbrella outside the door to remove the raindrops, Quatre deftly folded the umbrella and stuck it in the crook of his arm. All four boys stepped forward to the girls, who were likewise walking ahead, narrowing the gap between them.
Dorothy pulled Heero into a small, slightly-awkward hug before quickly letting go (she wasn't on well enough terms with him to make it much more). Quatre gave Hilde a small squeeze, whispering "I'm sorry" in her ear before letting go, quickly being replaced by Trowa. Finally it was Duo who swept Hilde into his arms, holding her gently and comfortingly against him. Hilde breathed in a deep breath, enjoying the warmth radiating off his caring arms.
"I'm glad you're here," she said quietly, her face still resting between his neck and his shoulder.
"Sorry I couldn't be here sooner," he replied, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her eyes. "Milliardo's car broke down about halfway here, could you believe it?" She lifted her face to gaze into Duo's eyes for a moment before returning to her original position. They stood comforting each other for several more minutes before Quatre and Trowa forced them all to sit down.
"Where is Wufei? I thought he was coming with you," Dorothy asked, repositioning herself on the cold, metal chair.
"He's still down at Diamro Field; apparently Mr. Donnex – you know him, the president of the RMSTC? – well, he wanted information about what happened today, and to decide whether or not we're continuing the competition," Quatre replied, removing his damp coat and placing it on a nearby chair. He then sat back down, asking "How is Miss Grey? I didn't get to see her, but I heard she wasn't doing well…"
"She's all right," Hilde said, leaning on Duo's shoulder. "She's not great, but the doctor's think she'll make it. Thomas Mort, too."
"Did you find anything new?" Dorothy asked, turning to better face the majority of the group.
Trowa nodded. "We inspected what was left of Thomas' Mobile suit while we were scouring through the wreckage." He looked to Dorothy, who motioned for him to continue. "We found that concealed in the left arm of his suit was a small but potent grenade launcher, or something of the sort. Most of it was destroyed during the explosion, so we can't tell much more about it. From what we could tell, it looked like it was designed for close-range only."
"Which supports the theory that whoever forced Thomas to do this didn't want either pilot to survive," Quatre added, leaning forwards to look at Dorothy. She gave a nod of understanding.
"Why would someone want to kill Samantha? Who would do that?" Hilde asked, shuddering.
"Well, if what Samantha said today was true, then Merrick is a likely suspect," Duo said, placing his arm around Hilde to warm her.
"But why -" Hilde began, but stopped almost immediately.
"Samantha and Merrick knew each other before the RMSTC, isn't that what you said?" Heero interjected, looking towards Hilde and Dorothy. "And Samantha stated that Merrick was after the Gundams moments before she passed out, right?" Both girls nodded slowly.
"She knew too much about him and his plans. Merrick would have wanted to get rid of anyone who was a hold of such relevant information, to make sure they wouldn't talk," Heero continued. "So he set up Samantha's death so he couldn't be held responsible, and in such a way it would get rid of the killer at the same time."
"But why did Thomas go through with it?" Hilde asked. "It isn't like he wouldn't be able to tell the grenade launcher, or whatever it was, was extremely dangerous in close range."
But before anyone could respond, the front doors of the hospital swung open, revealing Millardo Peacecraft, the sound of the rain outside deafening after the heavy silence inside. He shook his head, letting loose a spray of water drops onto the runner below. "Sorry about that; the car broke down again while I was parking it. Have I missed anything?" he asked as he strolled over, removing his soaked overcoat and throwing carelessly over a chair. "Where's Relena?" he asked, glancing over the present party and realizing his sister wasn't there.
"We thought she might be with you," Hilde responded curiously, removing her head from Duo's shoulders, sitting straighter in her chair.
"Why would she be with me? I thought she was coming right here."
Dorothy began, "She was with us for a while, but she left about an hour and a half ago; we thought it was late and you must've taken her home…"
The boys looked to each other; suddenly, everyone was alert and concerned.
"She didn't say where she was going?" Heero asked, a note of alarm entering his voice.
"No," replied Hilde, "She was with us, but then her cell phone rang and she -" Hilde suddenly gasped. "You don't think Merrick got to her, do you?"
Heero nodded grimly. "It was likely a ploy from Merrick. He was trying to get her outside and away from you two."
Dorothy added, "Agnes said -"
"Who's Agnes?"
"Never mind that, Quatre. She said that she saw Relena leave in a black limousine just over an hour ago!" Dorothy looked to each of the concerned faces of the pilots, continuing, "Agnes said she saw Relena run outside to the limo and get in. She wouldn't have done that if it wasn't someone she knew inside it!"
"Didn't she know what Samantha said about Merrick?" Trowa asked, his brow furrowed in puzzlement. Milliardo and Quatre looked equally confused.
"We were about to tell her about Merrick before she left," Hilde responded. Guiltily she added, "I forgot to mention it to her, and once I did remember, her phone rang." She gaze dropped to her hands sitting in her lap.
"You didn't mean to," Duo said, rubbing her consolingly on her arm. "It's not your fault."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Milliardo asked, standing quick enough to bump his chair back from him. "My sister has been kidnapped and we are sitting around talking? We should be out there looking!" he snarled, grabbing his coat and hurriedly putting it on.
With catlike reflexes Heero stood and grabbed Milliardo by the arm, stopping him a few steps from the door. "Don't try and stop me, Yuy," Milliardo growled menacingly, glowering at Heero.
"Where exactly are you going to look for her, Zechs?" Heero said. Milliardo shook his arm free of Heero's grip, still standing feet away from the doorway, listening to what Heero had to say. "We have no idea where he's taken Relena, where he's heading to, or what his plans are that involve her." Heero shrugged and made his way back to the others. "We're all concerned, Zechs, but its useless trying to track her down without any idea of where she might be."
"Well? What do you suggest?" Milliardo replied angrily.
"For starters, we could try calling her on her cell phone," Heero replied, stating it as though it were the most obvious thing. "Does anyone know her phone number?"
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"Where the hell are you taking me?" Relena screeched to the front of the limousine, slapping her hands on the separating glass like a child throwing a tantrum. "Let me out of this car RIGHT NOW!"
"Will you shut up?" a second voice, different from the rich, deep voice Relena first heard, shouted from within the enclosed front area.
"NO!" she screamed in response, adding a fresh pounding of fists onto the glass. She jumped back, startled, as the separating glass slid down, as if in response to her constant hammering. A slender, late-twenties man deftly writhed his way through the insubstantial rectangle, joining Relena on her side of the glass.
"If you don't shut up right now, I will be forced to gag you," the lithe man said threateningly, motioning towards her with his index finger. Relena responded to this with silence, as though deliberating whether or not she should scream. Seeing as she didn't, and the lithe man let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you -" he began, but was promptly cut off by Relena releasing another bloodcurdling scream. The pitch was so high this time, it sounded like Mariah Carey if she happened to be run over with a pickup truck. The thin man could swear dogs must be barking at it from outside the limousine's doors.
"That's it!" he said with finality, and proceeded to adroitly move across the limo to where Relena was currently situated. She stopped screaming long enough to kick him in the thigh and stomach with the soles of her high-heeled shoes, then resumed her torrent of screeching.
"If you don't shut her up quickly, someone is bound to notice!" the driver yelled, hastily peeking back through the glass before returning his gaze to the traffic ahead.
"I'm trying, but she's giving me a splitting headache," the slender man replied, rubbing his left thigh and midsection tenderly. "I'd like to see you come back here and try the same!"
Relena (still screaming in a high pitch) decided this would be a wise time to club the man over the head with her purse. She began whacking at him constantly, kicking to connect with whatever possible on him, her eyes screwed tightly shut. While the purse was doing little damage, her shoes were causing the young man great deals of pain.
Forcing himself through the pain, the thin man tried grabbing both of her legs around the ankles. He managed to catch hold of one, but by then Relena began clawing at him with her carefully manicured fingernails. He released a pained grunt, carelessly wiping away the blood dripping down the back of his hand. She damn near could've had my face, he thought wondrously, momentarily dropping his guard.
Relena, using this to her advantage, leaned forward enough to slap him across the face, raking her palm across his cheek.
"Damnit!" the thin man yelled, grabbing her by her arm. Relena opened her mouth to release another cry, but he quickly did the only thing he could think of that would quiet her – he bent forward and kissed her on the mouth.
Both parties were equally shocked by this action. Relena sat stunned, wondering where exactly the day had gone wrong. And the morning had started so nicely… she thought incredulously.
The lithe man, however, seeing Relena was, for the moment, immobilized, had seized this opportunity. He deftly moved from standing (in an awkward, crouched position) to the seat beside Relena, grabbing both of her wrists into one of his strong hands while the other separated his and Relena's mouths, closing overtop of hers.
"How the hell did you manage to shut her up so quickly?" the driver asked, turning his head in a vain attempt to see.
"You wouldn't want to know," the lithe man replied dully, blushing slightly. Beside him, Relena was attempting to resume her screams, only succeeding in causing angry, muffled mutterings into his hand. She tried throwing her arms about but was unable to break free from his grip.
They drove for a few minutes in peace, Relena having given up on breaking free of the thin man's hold on her. She let loose an exasperated groan, slumping against the back seat. After a couple more minutes of blissful silence, the thin man turned to face the girl beside him. Loosening his hold over her mouth slightly, he asked her gently, "If I let go of you, will you start screaming again?"
Relena managed to muffle a response, but he was unable to understand. Letting go a bit more, he asked her to repeat.
Haughtily she replied, "I will not scream if you meet the conditions I'm about to state. I won't resume my screaming until you give me your response, and only if it is the response I do not like."
Groaning to himself, the lithe man said dully, "Very well. Let's hear them then."
Nodding in a smug sort of way, Relena wriggled her arms out of his hand, repositioning herself on the leather seat. "Firstly, I want to know as much as you can tell me about what is going on here and where we are going. Secondly, I want to know your name and his." She jerked her thumb towards the front of the vehicle.
"Is that it?" he asked, rubbing his temples in a tired sort of way.
Thinking for a bit, Relena replied, "I also believe you should take me out for an ice cream after this, considering your little 'escapade'. We aren't even dating and you're already trying to get to first base, you cheeky pervert."
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And so that ends chapter 14. Personally, my favourite line is the very last bit ("you cheeky pervert"); I was giggling every time I read over it.
Thank you all for such a great response to this story; I never would have guessed it would evolve to such a drama-filled story when I first began it (oh so long ago, ha ha). I am attempting to update more regularly, but chapters seem to be getting longer and longer (length-wise), so I still may take a bit of time between each ; I haven't started writing the next chapter yet, but I have most of it planned out in my head, so it hopefully won't take long.
Also, I would like to mention that the rating of the story may go up from PG to PG-13, concerning future chapters (just in case you wanted to know).
Thank you all once again!
Kiwii
[1] Added because I very much enjoyed Kamineko's comment :)