Murrue sat at her desk, enjoying a last cup of coffee before she finished work. Today had been hectic to say the least, and she would be glad to get home and just relax. She did have paperwork to do, but that could wait until later.

Or maybe I could do it before Mwu gets home. He is working late again, after all...

Mwu had been busier than usual at the pilot academy, as the oldest class would be graduating in a couple of days. He had volunteered to help get the hall ready for the ceremony, and as a result, had to work longer. Murrue had been a little lonely at home for so long by herself, but at least this was the last night he had to stay late. She had even made him his favourite meal, and had just to warm it up when he got home.

I'm glad he can come home at the right time now. Sometimes he doesn't get in until after I've gone to bed...

The telephone ringing jolted her out of her daydream, and made her frown. Only a handful of people knew her direct office number, and even then, only ever used it in emergencies. Who could it be?

"Hello?"

"Is that Murrue Ramius-san?"

"Yes, may I ask who's calling?"

"This is Dr. Bentley, from the academy hospital. I'm sorry to call you so late, but..Fllaga-sensei's been in an accident..."

Murrue went ice cold. An accident? Her fiance was hurt?

"Is...is he okay? He..."

"He will be all right, but he won't be able to get home by himself. Can you come and pick him up?"

"Of course! I'll be right over. What happened to him?"

"Only he knows that. No-one was in the room with him when it happened, and he's had quite a nasty knock on the head.."

" I see. I'll be about ten minutes."

The drive over took considerably less than ten minutes, given that the traffic was light for the time of day, and

that Murrue was speeding...She knew that the doctor would have told her if Mwu was hurt badly, but she couldn't help but be worried. She had come so close to losing him more than once, that even something trivial like this rather frightened her...

Running into the hospital wing, she nearly knocked over one of the nurses.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! But please, can you help me?"

"Certainly. What's the matter, are you looking for someone?"

Murrue nodded. "My fiance was brought in here earlier, he's an instructor in the academy..."

The nurse smiled. "Oh, you mean Fllaga-sensei? He's caused quite a stir among the younger nurses. He's just through here, I'll take you to him."

The nurse led Murrue into a long ward full of white beds. All the beds were empty, save for one at the far end. Mwu was laying there, either fast asleep or unconcious, and he had a few bandages on him, as well as being covered in bruises. Murrue inhaled sharply.

"Don't worry" said the nurse gently. "It looks far worse than it is"

As they neared his bed, Murrue noticed a small figure peeking around the door. The nurse had short red hair and green eyes, and she was just staring at the man in the bed.

"Hey!" snapped the older nurse. "Don't you have work to do? Go fetch the doctor!"

Murrue stifled a giggle despite her worry, as the little nurse's eyes widened, and she ran off.

"Sorry about that...I keep having to shoo all the younger nurses away, especially her..."

Murrue shook her head. "At least I know he's been taken care of..."

The doctor entered the room, and smiled.

"Ah, you must be Ramius-san. Sorry to have to drag you all the way out here. Fllaga-sensei seems to have hit his head rather badly, and suffered a lot of cuts and bruises. The worst injury appears to be a fracture to his right leg."

Murrue sat by Mwu's bedside, and stroked his golden hair. "That's why he needs help getting home?"

"That's right. A couple of our orderlies can help get him into your car, and also help get him out when you reach home, if you like.."

When they reached the house, the orderlies carried Mwu up the stairs, and Murrue made the sofa in the bedroom into a bed by pulling a hidden lever. Mwu had discovered that it did this the other day, and had been delighted, stretching out on it to watch TV all the time.

The orderlies settled Mwu onto the sofa bed, and Murrue covered him with a blanket. Thanking the orderlies, she offered to give them a ride back to the hospital, but they refused, saying they were fine to get back by themselves.

She sat by his side while she ate her dinner, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, and occasionally holding his hand. Even though she now knew he wasn't badly hurt, she was still a little worried about him, as he had been asleep for several hours with no sign of waking.

But, being typically Mwu, as soon as Murrue even thought about that, he stirred, blue eyes opening. Looking around him, he frowned in confusion, then his handsome face cleared as he saw his fiancee looking down at him.

"Oh..hi, princess. Where am I?"

"At home. I brought you from the academy hospital. What did you do?"

Mwu screwed his eyes up, trying to remember. "I...I was putting up little flags and stuff for graduation. I kept moving across from one stepladder to another, only one time, the ladder wasn't there, and I kinda fell.."

Sitting up in the bed, Mwu winced as his muscles protested, and tried to get to his feet.

"No, wait! You.." gasped Murrue, trying to push him back down. As soon as his right foot touched the floor, Mwu yelled in pain, and collapsed back onto the bed.

"What did I do, Murrue? Why can't I stand up?" he whined, sounding like a kid.

"The doctor said you broke your leg, you...you..." She looked down.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"You IDIOT!" she yelled, a tear running down her face. "Why do you have to be so reckless? The doctor wouldn't tell me what was wrong over the phone, and I was so worried that you'd be hurt really badly, and I..."

Murrue leaned her head on his shoulder and just cried, the pent-up worry and relief getting too much for her.

Mwu didn't say anything, just held her tightly, stroking her back while she sobbed.

When she stopped crying, she pulled away slightly, still sniffling a bit. He reached out a hand and wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry, sweetheart.."

Murrue hiccuped a little, and forced a smile onto her face. "No, it's okay, it's just..I'll go make you dinner.."

As she stood up to leave, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.

"It's all right, I'm not hungry. But it's pretty late now.."

She smiled again, more genuinely this time, and shook her head. "All right. But I still have to lock up the house, don't I?"

After she had locked up and switched everything off, Murrue got ready for bed. Mwu was sprawled out on the sofa bed, and held out his hand to her, but she refused.

"No, you stay there. You can't be walking up and down stairs with a broken leg. And if I slept there, I might disturb you, or hurt you. I'll sleep upstairs. Do you want any tablets for the pain?"

Mwu pouted. "No, I'll be fine. But please come and sleep here..."

Leaning across the sofa bed, Murrue kissed her fiance goodnight. "No, you'll sleep better like that if you're on your own. See you in the morning.."

As the night wore on, Mwu tossed and turned in the makeshift bed, trying to get comfortable. Despite what he had said to Murrue, his leg was causing him a lot of pain, and was keeping him from sleeping.

Not to mention that he wasn't used to sleeping alone anymore...at this rate he would be awake for hours..

A slight creak on the little stairs leading up to the loft made Mwu pause in his self-pity. A figure crept down the stairs, and across to the sofa bed. It pulled back the covers, and slipped into the bed beside him.

Mwu grinned. "I thought you said you didn't want to disturb me?"

Murrue sighed. "You were awake anyway.."

Putting an arm around his fiancee, and bringing her closer, Mwu chuckled softly. "Couldn't you sleep either?"

She nuzzled closer to him, and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. "Now I can.."

He kissed the crown of her head, and closed his eyes. Just with her being there, the pain in his leg had lessened, and her warmth was making him drowsy.

"Same here..."

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( Here I am again! I thought I'd pick on Mwu this time, as it's always Murrue-san who gets sick, or injured, or whatever, and it's not really fair...

I pulled a Hitchcock and made a cameo in my own work. But I'm not telling you where XD

As for them not being able to sleep, well, you get used to a certain bed, and have trouble sleeping in a different one. And I'd imagine that it would be worse if a certain someone wasn't by your side lol.

Please read and review! )