"I'm going to miss driving the most."

Duo startled. Quatre'd been in a funk for the past few days, not talking to anyone and instead just laid in bed and stared at nothing. So hearing him grumble about something, anything, was a welcome gift.

Duo'd been getting honestly worried about his charge. Quatre hadn't had the largest appetite to begin with and in his funk, it'd been nothing short of impossible to convince him to eat. On top of that, Quatre happened to be an amputee who needed more food anyway to heal properly, so his physical therapist had been one meal away from getting him on an IV.

He missed him too. Quatre was his buddy, his sarcastic little bitchy buddy. He could complain with Quat, talk over problems with him and he was his first friend in Israel. So if Quatre needed time, he'd get time. And if he wanted to talk, that was fine too.

Duo muttered out, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Quat sighed, a long and deep one. "When I got my driver's lisence I was able to drive my sister's Volvo. I'd make up events I had to go to and I'd just go driving instead."

They sat in silence.

Quatre spoke again. "I'd always roll the windows down. It made me feel free. The ocean air would blow in sometimes and I would taste the salt and I just keep driving till I couldn't smell it anymore."

"That why you haven't been talking or eating?"

"Because I couldn't smell it anymore?" he asked, face scrunched up in confusion.

"Nah, because you can't drive anymore." Duo said calmly.

His breath rattled in his throat as he groaned. There was another silence.

But Quatre wanted to talk.

"Yeah. That's pretty much why I feel like crap. I'm going to have to depend on other people for the rest of my life. That or I'll have to live in the city where I can walk everywhere I need to go, and even then it won't be the same as driving."

"Quatre…" Duo took a deep breath, "It could be way worse than it is. You could be paralyzed or dead. Trust me, you got really lucky."

"DON'T SAY THAT!", Quatre said, shooting up in his bed, "I've been hearing that for everyone, All it's ever done is make me feel guilty as hell because that insinuates that what I have isn't that bad. I'm a cripple, Duo, it is that bad."

The brunette furrowed his brows and leaned forward in his seat. "You could have died, you could be a quadriplegic. Compared to so many people you have everything-"

"But I'm acting like a spoiled brat because I'm pissed. Well, guess what. I can tell myself that could have happened to me all I want but it will never," He drew in a shaky breath, "never change the fact that I don't have legs anymore. This is what is tangible. This is what I'm left with. And it. Is. Hell."

Quatre was breathing hard, cheeks scarlet. His chest was heaving and sweat was slowly beading on his forehead. Duo hadn't seen him this alive in weeks.

"Duo. Are you understanding any of this?" He sounded so desperate.

"Yeah. I get it."

Trowa grunted a little when the needle went into his neck. The needles were tiny but his neck was sensitive, so it stung like a bitch. A soft hum rattled through the room and the needle started to heat up. The electricity thrummed into his knot of nerves and the constant pain began to subside.

More and more needles went into him, under the careful touch of Dr. Chang. None were as bad as the first one and as small a comfort as that was, he was grateful. And even though he had his shirt off and the room was cold, he was perfectly warm and sleep nagged at his eyelids.

Chang made him sit up, hands gentle as he eased Trowa onto a chair so that he was straddling the back. A quick check assured the doctor that the needles were still in their proper places, his hands deft as he fixed one needle that had slipped out a little.

"How's Quatre doing?" Wufei asked before he slid the needle back in. "Duo said he had a bit of a breakthrough."

Trowa snorted, "Yeah, now instead of laying there like he's dead, he cries. He doesn't do it a lot, just at night. It's just sad."

"At least he's eating."

"No kidding." Trowa gave an exasperated noise at the memory, "The nurses were literally threatening to shove the food down his throat. He's nothing if not stubbourn."

Wufei chuckled dryly, sitting down on a chair in front of Trowa. "I've heard. Duo loves it though, I think he's been getting sick and tired of not having anybody to bitch with, at work at least."

"Why doesn't he come in and bicker with you, then?" One could just hear the arched eyebrow as he said that.

"Duo doesn't want anyone here to know that we're dating, much less that he's gay. He's terrified that if he talks to me during work, someone'll notice."

"Duo? He seems…. Not like that."

Wufei snorted, "He'll only be himself around you if he trusts you, and even then he's usually holding something back. You should see him around his boss. He adores the man but wouldn't dream of telling him."

"He tells them he has a girlfriend?"

"More like he says he's seeing someone, he just doesn't specify anything about them." He leaned back and pressed his fingers against his eyes. His voice was hesitant, "Duo doesn't lie. Ever. What he says is always true, it may not be all of the truth, but it's true. Howard knows that Duo is dating an Asian who works in the medical field, and if he assumes some things, Duo won't deny or agree it."

"Chang, the man has a three foot long braid." Trowa said skeptically, "People can tell."

"He's American, people just accept that he's a hippie and don't think anything different of it. I think Hilde and Howard know that he's gay, not necessarily about me though."

Tro's green eyes studied his doctor for a moment. "That must be tough. Having to hide something like a relationship from your friends."

"It is. I'm blunt, everyone who asks knows that I'm gay, and I haven't noticed any change in how people treat me. I can't stand lying, so it's just easier for me to tell people rather than have some damn secret." He shrugged casually. " He's worth it though. He's a secretive little brat who never lets his mask down, but I love him."

"Even though you can't tell anyone?"

"I like Duo despite his faults." Wufei stood and adjusted the electricity. "I think that's the point. Everyone has their quirks so it's pointless trying to find perfection. You just have to find someone whose good points outweigh the bad."