A/N: It seems that these updates keep taking longer and longer to do. I think I wore my muse out during November. Anyway, Enjoy!

Chapter 33

Trowa pulled into Preventer headquarters and took a minute to get himself together before going in. He hoped that there wouldn't be any negative developments. He wanted something to start going right for once. He got out of his car and stretched. He'd been sitting way too long. Really, he wanted to hit the gym for a few hours and think things through while he attacked a punching bag, but he needed to know what the others had found out while he was gone.

Figuring he should get this over with sooner rather than later, Trowa went inside. He stopped in his office to turn on his computer and then went to the office Heero shared with Duo. It was empty. He shrugged and went down to Wufei's office. It was equally empty, as was Quatre's across the hall. He went back to his own office and checked his computer for messages. Most of it was unimportant. There was a short message from Quatre telling him to call when he got in.

Trowa picked up his office phone and dialed Quatre's cell.

"Hello?"

"I'm back."

"How did everything go?" Quatre asked.

"I think it will work out."

"That's great. Hey, would you take the next shift at the hospital? I think Wufei is waiting for you."

Trowa was tired but he knew Quatre wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. "Sure."

"Great. Do you want me to let him know you're on your way?"

"You can if you want. I'll head over there now." Trowa hung up and turned off his computer. There wasn't anything that wouldn't wait.

As Trowa drove over to the hospital, he wondered how the girl was doing with Catherine. He supposed he could call and check on her when he was certain that he was in a secure location. It wouldn't do any good to hide her and then get careless about it.

Cathy finished cleaning the carpet and put the cleaning stuff away.

"Is there anything you need, Cathy?" Paul asked.

Cathy thought for a minute. "I don't think so."

"If you think of anything…anything at all…I will be glad to get for you," Torvald told her.

Cathy smiled. "Thank you, Torvald. I'll be sure to let you know if I think of anything."

Torvald smiled back.

"You let us know if you need any more help with her, alright?"

"I will, Paul. Thank you both so much. I appreciate it."

The two men left and Cathy went in to check on the girl. She was sleeping fitfully. Cathy put a hand to the sweat covered brow and couldn't decide if her temperature had gone up or if it was the same as before. She wasn't sure if she ought to call Sally or wait it out.

The girl whimpered and threw up again. Cathy sighed.

"At least you only got the pillow this time," she said as she cleaned up the mess. "I just hope you're out of ammo now."

She got the girl a clean pillow and threw the dirty one in the wash. She got a washcloth and ran it under cool water. She wrung it out and went back into Trowa's room. The girl had wriggled out of the blankets. Cathy bathed the girl's face and neck, wiping away the perspiration. The girl's clothes were damp from her sweat. Cathy left her ministrations and found the girl's bags of clothes. She pulled out what she hoped was a clean pair of pajamas and went back to Trowa's room to figure out how to get the girl properly attired for sleep.

It took a bit of work, but Cathy finally managed to get the girl into pajamas. She even got the shoulder brace back in place. She wasn't sure how necessary it was when the girl was asleep but Cathy figured it was better to put it on than to have the girl screw up her shoulder again and have to start over.

Cathy tucked the girl back under the covers. She changed over the laundry and decided to put away the things they'd purchased at the mall. She also sorted out the clothes that the girl had brought with her. She went back into Trowa's room and cleared out the top two drawers of Trowa's dresser. The girl didn't have a lot of clothes and it wasn't like Trowa would mind. Catherine was convinced Trowa wouldn't have suggested the girl stay with her if he didn't expect the girl to use his room.

Cathy finished putting the girl's clothes in the dresser and hung up the rest in the small closet. She was about to leave the girl so she could rest when the girl started shivering. Cathy felt the girl's forehead again. This time, she was definitely hotter but she wasn't sweating anymore.

Cathy frowned. She was hot so why was she shivering? Cathy pulled back the blankets. The girl was soaked again. Cathy sighed and pulled the girl's pajamas off. She threw them on the floor and decided not to bother with dressing her again just yet. Until her fever went down a little she would just sweat through them again and it was such a hassle that Cathy would rather change the sheets when it became necessary. Cathy tucked the blankets around the girl, hoping they would warm her up now that her sweaty clothes were gone. The girl curled up but still shivered. Cathy felt sad as she watched the scrawny girl shiver under the blankets. She didn't have any fat on her so it was really no wonder she was cold.

Cathy laid down on top of the blankets next to the girl and wrapped an arm around her. The girl shifted and snuggled into Cathy's embrace. After a little while, she stopped shivering and slept peacefully. Cathy stayed with the girl for a long time, wanting her to feel safe and to sleep. Sleep would help both her fever and her injuries.

"I would really like for you two to be on my security detail for this press conference, Heero," Relena insisted. "I'd feel safer with you there."

Heero looked at Duo, who shrugged. Duo was more than willing to let Heero negotiate with Relena. He found a perverse joy in Heero's discomfort when it came to her less subtle advances.

"Very well, Relena. We'll stay until the press conference. But after that we really must continue our investigation. These notes are related to a case we're already in the middle of."

"Yeah…uh…speakin' of that," Duo interrupted. "I'm gonna have to slip out for a few hours."

Heero raised an eyebrow.

"I've got a delivery to make," Duo added.

"Oh! Right. I'm sure I'll be able to handle everything here until you get back."

Relena looked between the two agents with a puzzled expression. "What are you talking about?"

Duo grinned at her. "It's better if you don't know, Princess. But I promise it has to do with this investigation so it's not like I'm slackin' off or anything."

Relena nodded. "Very well. In that case, good luck. Do you know when you'll be back?"

"Not really. But I don't think it'll take too long. I expect to be back by dinner."

Trowa knocked on the girl's hospital room and waited for Wufei to open it.

"Hello, Trowa," Wufei greeted him.

"Hello, Wufei," Trowa returned the greeting as he entered the room.

Wufei secured the door before turning to Trowa. "How did the transfer go?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose. She seemed to be okay around Cathy."

"No problems getting there, then?" Wufei pressed.

Trowa furrowed his brows. "No. Why do you ask?"

Wufei's lip twitched. "Because we got a report from a burger joint on your route asking us to look into a possible kidnapping. The driver fit your description and the passenger fit the girl's."

Trowa swore under his breath. "She was hungry so I stopped to get her something to eat. While normally I would appreciate that kind of a tipoff, if Chase finds out about that report, he'll know what we did with the girl."

Wufei nodded. "Which is why I took care of it. There isn't a trace of that report anywhere." Wufei paused. "You're welcome, by the way," he added as an afterthought.

Trowa rolled his eyes. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes, actually. We've got two new leads. I've been following up on Joshua Carpenter." Wufei gave Trowa a printout of the information he'd collected so far. "Quatre sent me another name, Wayne Harris. Do you think you could start gathering information on him?"

Trowa nodded. He would rather have something to do than sit around waiting for the next move.

Cathy wasn't sure what to do. The girl wasn't getting better. She'd been asleep for almost 18 hours. This wasn't normal. Her temperature was still up but at least she hadn't thrown up anymore.

Cathy bit her lip. She knew that Sally had said to call if she had any questions, but Cathy hated the idea that she was worrying over nothing. Maybe the girl would be fine. Cathy looked at the sleeping girl.

No. Sally should be told how sick the girl was.

Cathy picked up her phone and found the number Sally had given her. She chewed on her lip as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Sally."

"Catherine! How lovely to hear from you! How is everything?"

"Well…you know that new…kitten I got?"

"The black one?"

"Yes, that's the one. She's sick. I don't know if I ought to take her to the vet or not."

"Hm…what kind of symptoms has she been having?"

"Yesterday her…nose felt really warm and she was throwing up everything. She's stopped throwing up but she's been sleeping for a really long time and her nose is hotter than it was yesterday."

"Have any of the other animals had the same symptoms?"

"No. Just her. I wasn't sure if it was something she ate, but if that was the case the other cats would be sick, too."

"Did you go anywhere before she got sick?"

"I took her with me to the mall."

"Ah…that explains a lot. My guess is that her immune system is weak after spending all that time cooped up in the…shelter. The new germs she was exposed to are fighting with her system. Once she gets over it, she should be stronger, but you'll need to watch her closely for the next couple of hours. If she doesn't look to be improving, you'll want to take her in. But until then, see if you can get her temperature in order to monitor whether it goes up or down and make sure to keep her hydrated. That's probably the biggest danger if she's been vomiting."

"What about sleeping? Should I be letting her sleep or should I make her stay awake for a while?"

"Sleep will help her so I recommend letting her sleep, but it wouldn't hurt to nudge her a bit every now and then and see if you can get a reaction from her just to make sure that her high temperature didn't cause her to slip into a coma."

"You really think she could—"

"Relax, Cathy. That's a worst case scenario, but you should be aware that it is a slim possibility."

Cathy sighed. "I'll do what I can." She got a glass of water to keep by the bed and went back into Trowa's bedroom to check on the girl. "What if I need to take her to the vet? I haven't gotten her registered yet. Will they look at her without her registration papers?"

"They will, but once her situation is no longer an emergency they'll want to see her papers."

Cathy frowned. What was she supposed to do now?

Sally continued. "I can overnight you the paperwork to be filled out and when you go in the vet should be able to officially register your kitten if you want. That way you won't have to leave her home while you get the paperwork yourself."

"That would be great, Sally. I really appreciate it!"

"I've got to get going, Cathy, but I'll send out those papers for you. Expect them tomorrow."

"Thanks, Sally, I'll keep you posted." Cathy felt better now that she had an idea of what made the girl sick and how to handle it. She hung up the phone and picked up the damp washcloth. She bathed the girl's face and was delighted when the girl's eyes opened.

"Hey, hon, feeling any better?"

The girl shook her head slightly. Cathy wasn't surprised that she didn't feel good. She was still pale.

"Sally said to let you sleep and to keep you hydrated," Cathy said gently as she helped the girl sit up enough to have a drink of water.

The girl took a small sip and her eyes drifted shut.

Cathy set the glass down and settled the girl back under the blankets. She went into the bathroom and found a thermometer. It wasn't a typical thermometer. It was a strip of heat sensitive plastic that changed colors based on how hot it got. It was used by placing it on the patient's forehead and waiting for a few minutes until the colors stopped changing. Cathy took the forehead thermometer and placed it on the girl's forehead.

She bit her lip at the reading. 102 F. She would have to monitor the girl closely. If it got any higher she would have to see a doctor. Cathy only hoped her identification papers would arrive first.