Trigun is owned by Yasuhiro Nightow.

Faith

They drove and drove, Stella telling Knives where to go knowing that no one knew where they were going but her. She would look back to Meryl often but found that there was nothing that she could do. Vash and Nick had stripped Meryl of her favoured shirt and were desperately trying to pry the bullet from her body. Her body much like Vash and Knives was able to remove foreign objects as long as there was a clear path, for Meryl that was a problem. The bullet had lodged itself so deeply into her that her body was closing up the wound before the bullet had made its way out.

Vash and Nick kept trying to keep the wound open but the blood and skin kept closing up forcing Vash to continually cut Meryl to try to force the bullet out. There was nothing else for them to do. They needed an actual doctor, someone to remove the bullet before the wound closed.

They had paused for the moment when Meryl had cried out and clutched at Vash. Nick leaned back and fell into Millie's lap. Their clothing was soaked with Meryl's blood, and Nick was frightened that she was loosing too much of the precious fluid.

Millie held Nick close and ran her fingers through his sand filled hair. She had sat to the side through the whole affair. There was nothing to do; she was too scared when she fumbled through Meryl's things looking for a knife. She couldn't seem to get her breath to steady, or her heart to beat normally. Nick had kindly told her to stay to the side and not to worry. That was something that she could not do, her sempai was dying, what else was she supposed to do?

Vash hovered over Meryl much like any husband would, he knew she was loosing too much blood, but there was no other way to save her. "Meryl? My insurance girl? My wife, my mate…" Vash whispered. Vash wrapped his long arms tightly around Meryl trying to keep her warm and to comfort himself that she still breathed, that her heart still beat. "Meryl, wake up for me please." Through the whole ordeal he had been begging Meryl to wake, Vash desperately wanted to have her stormy grey eyes on him, anything to show that she was still his precious lover.

Meryl stirred feeling white-hot pain flare from her chest. She could smell Vash all around her and it stilled the pain. He was all right, it had worked, and they were safe for now. She struggled to open her eyes; they seemed to be glued shut and refused to open. "Vash…" she hoarsely whispered, her throat was dry and it seemed that all the fluid in her body was rushing to the wound that pained her. She felt Vash stiffen and answer softly. Meryl finally forced her eyes open and was graced with only Vash in her view. Meryl smiled softly and reach out a stiff had to touch his face. "There you are."

Vash's face crumpled in happiness. His Meryl was all right; soon she would be good as new. "Thank god Meryl, I thought I had lost you." Vash pulled her close and cradled her in his lap tears filling his gorgeous green eyes.

Stella looked back finally able to hear Meryl's voice in her head. She sighed relieved that she had not lost the one true companion that she would ever have. No matter what Knives did she had been born and raised beside Meryl and there was no one that knew her better.

"She'll be fine. That woman was never one to go down easily." Said Knives from the driver's seat seeming to sense Stella's released fear.

Stella looked to him, a soft smile gracing her lips for the first time since their escape. Stella slid over to Knives' side and leaned on his shoulder, "I know, but sometimes she frightens me. She's so ready to die for the ones she loves that she doesn't think about what it would do to the rest of us."

Knives scowled at the desert, Meryl and Stella had something that he and Vash never had, common companionship. There was no way that Stella would leave Meryl's side, so therefore Knives had to make the leap into humanity. "Do you even know where we are going?" he said stiffly, covering his discontent.

Stella smiled. "Oh very much so, It's a little town that we hid in a long time ago. The people there are kind and the doctor there is skilled, he'll be able to get the bullet out of Meryl."

"How do you know that she'll make it that far?"

Stella grinned and said, "Faith mate, faith, and the fact that Meryl is complaining that her chest hurts. Pain is always a good sign."