Chapter 7

"Has Wufei come back yet?" Trowa asked as he ducked back into the tent with breakfast for the four of them.

"Not yet, Trowa," Quatre answered. He'd packed up his things and was sitting near the girl, watching her for any change.

"Is she still asleep?"

Quatre nodded. "Should we wake her and let her eat?"

"Don't," Wufei said as he came into the tent. "The more she sleeps the better. Besides, if she's asleep she isn't conscious of her pain."

Quatre wanted to protest, knowing she hadn't eaten since they found her and who knew when she'd eaten before that. However, what Wufei said had some truth to it, and Quatre was in need of a break from the girl's emotions.

"Better eat," Trowa interrupted Quatre's thoughts, handing him a breakfast pastry and a bottle of water. "I'm sure Heero will be ready to move out soon."

Wufei nodded. "We can leave as soon as we've got the girl in the medical van. Heero said Une requested that the five of us return with the girl and she'll send other agents to supervise out here."

Trowa, Wufei and Quatre ate quickly and gathered their things. The sooner they got the girl to Sally, the better.

Wufei picked up the girl, sleeping bag and all, to carry her to the van, which had been moved only a few yards away. Trowa grabbed Wufei's pack as well as his own before heading to the van. Quatre held the door open and Trowa climbed in, dumping the packs in an out of the way corner. Wufei handed him the girl before getting in.

The van was an older model, with bench seats lining the two sides and room between them for a stretcher. The stretcher was currently secured to the floor of the van to prevent it from rolling around. It was also an older model, but it would keep the girl from moving too much during the trip to base. Trowa set the girl on the stretcher and stepped out of the way.

Wufei moved to strap her in and cursed. "This outdated P.O.S. needs better straps. We'll have to take her out of the sleeping bag. Even as skinny as she is the damn straps won't fit around it."

Trowa took a closer look. "Here's the problem. This strap was broken and someone just put the latch on the end of it so it's shorter than it's supposed to be."

Wufei scowled. Colonel Une was getting an earful from him about the lack of proper equipment.

"Do we need to strap her in? It's not like she's going anywhere," Trowa pointed out.

"I suppose we could just let her stay as she is," Wufei conceded slowly. "But we'll have to watch her closely. I don't want her to roll off."

"We won't let that happen," Quatre assured his friend as he climbed into the van.

"Fine then. She needs to stay warm anyway."

Duo got into the passenger seat and turned to look into the back. "How's she doing?"

Quatre shrugged. "Still asleep, for now."

Duo nodded and faced front so he could buckle his seat belt. He rolled down the window and banged on the side of the car as he yelled, "Hey Heero! Let's get a move on!"

Heero glared at him before resuming his conversation with the agent they were leaving in charge until Une's replacements showed up. When he finished, he calmly walked to the van and got into the driver's seat.

"Are you all ready?" he asked as Duo rolled his eyes.

"Yes, oh great leader," Duo drawled with a smirk.

Heero ignored Duo and started the van. As they got to the highway, Duo started playing with the radio, trying to find something to listen to. He switched from station to station, listening for only ten seconds before moving on.

"Duo…find something and leave it there."

"As soon as I find something good, I will 'Ro," Duo promised as he switched the station yet again.

After another ten minutes of Duo switching through the stations, Heero leaned over and swatted his hand away.

"This is fine. Leave it."

Duo smirked and leaned his seat back, closing his eyes. Heero rolled his eyes but left it alone.

Quatre was dozing but jerked awake as the girl shifted in her sleep. At first it seemed like she was just trying to get comfortable but the more she tossed and turned the more concerned the men in the back of the van got.

Wufei moved to the far side of the stretcher to keep her from rolling off. The stretcher had safety bars, but they were designed to work in conjunction with the straps. They wouldn't keep her from falling off if she moved too much. The girl's labored breathing concerned him. He swiped a hand across her forehead and swore. "Her fever's worse. We need to cool her down. Quatre, hand me that towel and a bottle of water."

Wufei dowsed the towel in water and dabbed it on the girl's face. Her cheeks were flushed but she wasn't sweating at all. He didn't want to say anything about how dehydrated the girl was and worry Quatre, but she needed an IV. "Trowa…see if you can find a saline bag."

As Trowa looked through the various compartments in the back of the van, the girl started fidgeting inside the sleeping bag. To Quatre, it looked like she was trying to free her hands even though she was still asleep. She finally managed it and pushed at the sleeping bag.

"Quatre undo the bag. It should help cool her off a bit."

Quatre nodded and unzipped the sleeping bag, careful to keep the blanket over the girl.

Trowa found a saline bag and handed it to Wufei, who set it aside.

"I want her strapped in before I try to give her this. I don't want her to pull it out."

Trowa lifted the girl while Wufei and Quatre removed the sleeping bag so the straps would close properly. Once Trowa set the girl back on the stretcher, Quatre secured the strap around her waist while Wufei did up the one around her shoulders. Quatre draped the sleeping bag across the girl's feet for lack of anywhere better to put it. He figured that would keep it ready if they needed it.

Wufei carefully grabbed the girl's hand to insert the IV only to have her yank it away. He narrowed his eyes. Was she really sleeping or just faking it?

"She's asleep, Wufei," Quatre confirmed quietly. "I think she's having a bad dream, though. She's panicking."

As if to confirm Quatre's theory, the girl started breathing heavily and tried to roll over. She pulled against the restraints for a minute before going limp.

"We'll need to restrain her hands so I can get this in and so she doesn't pull it out once it's in place. See if there are any other straps we can use."

After a few minutes of searching, they couldn't find any.

"Any suggestions?" Wufei asked. They had another two hours before they got to Sally. Theoretically the girl could wait until they got there but he didn't want to risk it. She was in really bad shape.

"Here," Duo said, throwing a set of handcuffs back to them.

"Duo…I don't think—"

"Well that's not news, Trowa," Duo interrupted with a snigger. Ignoring Trowa's glare, he continued, "Look, I know it's not ideal. But you gotta work with what you've got."

Wufei looked at the handcuffs. "I suppose they will suffice. Is there another pair?"

"You can't be serious, Wufei! What if she wakes up? Who knows how she'll react to that," Quatre pointed out.

Wufei carefully grabbed the girl's wrist and she, again, pulled it away and tried to turn over in her sleep.

"Quatre, I don't think we have much choice. She needs to have the IV. She's so dehydrated her body could shut down before we get her to Sally. Given her current state…if that happens…she might not recover." Wufei looked at Quatre, an apology in his face. He didn't like it any more than Quatre did but what choice did they have?

Quatre looked down at the girl again, watching her struggle to breathe. "Okay, Wufei. If it's the only way."

Wufei took the handcuffs and set one around the safety bar before carefully cuffing the girl's wrist. He made sure it was loose enough not to hurt her but tight enough that she couldn't pull her hand out.

"Do we have another set?" Wufei asked as he readied the IV. "I don't want her to pull this out."

Trowa got into his pack for his set of handcuffs, which Wufei quickly used to restrain the girl's other hand. Almost immediately the girl started struggling against the cuffs. Her eyes opened slightly but they didn't look focused.

"Calm down, it's okay," Quatre tried. She just needed to relax. Instead, she pulled harder. "Stop! You'll hurt yourself."

The girl didn't seem to understand. She pulled harder and twisted, trying to get her hands free.

"Wufei! Do something!" Quatre begged as the girl's wrists were pulled raw and blood started trickling down her arms.

Wufei swore and quickly found a needle in his pack. He held down her arm and plunged the needle in, but only pressed the plunger enough to disperse half of the sedative. He prayed he hadn't given her too much as she almost immediately went limp.

"Quat, you okay?"

Quatre nodded as tears threatened to fall. "She's so afraid, Duo…and she's in pain…I just…"

"Quatre, do you want a sedative?" Wufei asked. "She should sleep for the rest of the trip but if you want one to block her out—"

Quatre shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I should be fine now. I just don't know how to help her."

"You can't save everyone, Quat," Duo said as he turned around, leaned the seat back and put his hands under his head. "So there's no use worryin' about it."

Quatre frowned but didn't say anything. Duo had a deep-seated sorrow that he and Quatre had talked about a long time ago, during the wars. Duo had told Quatre that everyone he ever got close to died and it had taken him a long time to admit his feelings for Heero because of it. Duo only started to hope that Heero would survive his "curse" after he self-destructed in Siberia and survived. Duo figured if a direct explosion couldn't kill him off, maybe nothing could. While Heero had helped to heal some of Duo's pain, it never fully went away. That sorrow had made an appearance as Duo was talking.

Wufei got the IV hooked into the girl. There wasn't much to do now but watch her for any negative reactions and hope that she didn't get worse before they got her to Sally. He carefully bandaged her wrists. He doubted the cuts were deep enough to need stitches but there was no point in letting her bleed everywhere.

The girl slept and the three former pilots observed that she didn't get any better, but she also didn't get any worse, which they supposed was a blessing. Wufei replaced the saline bag twice before Heero finally pulled into the Base Hospital, where Sally was waiting to take the girl off their hands.

As soon as Quatre opened the van doors, Sally climbed inside.

"How is she?"

"I had to sedate her. She seemed to be in the middle of a night terror and we couldn't get her to stop," Wufei explained as Sally checked the girl's pulse and looked into her eyes with a small flashlight.

"How much did you give her?"

Wufei held up the syringe. "Only half a dose. I wasn't sure how much was safe for her and I didn't want to cause an OD."

Sally nodded. "What was in this drip?" She indicated the now empty bag.

"Saline. That's the third one."

Sally frowned. "Has she eliminated* at all?"

Wufei shook his head.

"Let's get her inside. Tell Une I'll meet with you all after I finish her examination."

Sally started by drawing blood and sending it to get tested. She ordered a DNA scan and a fingerprint analysis to try and identify the girl. She also had the unconscious girl undergo a CT scan to check for broken bones and internal bleeding. Sally had them perform every test she could think of. She didn't want the girl to suffer any more than she already had and since Wufei had told her she wasn't talking to anyone, Sally wanted to cover all the bases.

Sally looked at the initial report and filled out the patient information sheet.
Sex: female
Race: Caucasian
Hair: black
Eye Color: green
Age: unknown.
Height: 5'4"
Weight…Sally wanted to throw up. The girl should have weighed around 120 lbs., really 116 was on the skinny side for a girl her height. This girl was barely at 68 lbs. 50 pounds underweight was not okay. Sally wasn't sure how she survived being beaten. One thing was for sure: whoever had beaten her knew what he was doing. Nothing was broken.

"I want her on a nutrient drip immediately," she ordered her assistant. "And piggyback it with a re-hydrating solution. She still isn't close to where she should be."

"What about a feeding tube?"

Sally thought for a moment. "Not just yet. If she doesn't become alert in the next couple of days we'll do that, but I want to give her body a chance to work on its own first. If she had been refusing to eat on her own I'd be all for it, but I doubt that's the case. I don't know what kind of a shock the drip will be to her system. And…I'm afraid that putting in a feeding tube may cause more damage to her because of how frail she is. I'd like to keep it a last resort."

The nurse went to get the required items for the drip while Sally removed the girl's dirt soiled pants. Knowing that Wufei had put the girl's knee back in the socket, she decided to go ahead and cut them off the girl rather than risk hurting her trying to pull them off. Sally frowned as she cut away the threadbare jeans. The girl wasn't wearing underwear. Sally sighed. She should have expected as much. It would be one less piece of clothing for her attackers to have to rip off of her.

Sally steeled herself for the next part of her examination. She didn't want to think of this poor girl being raped, but she had to check for it and document and treat any STDs the girl might have been given. If there was any DNA to be found, she would need to collect it so they could find a match and send the bastards to jail. Once this examination was done she could have the girl bathed and take a closer look at her back. Sally hoped the sedative Wufei had given her would last through the exam. She pulled on a fresh pair of gloves and got to work.

* in case you didn't know, "eliminate", when used in a medical sense, means "to expel waste from the body" in the form of poop, pee or vomit. In this case, after being pumped full of so much fluid, the girl should have peed herself as she was unconscious and wouldn't have been able to control her bladder.