Chapter 72

They played several hands of poker, checking on Kiri between each hand. She was still out so they continued to play; only occasionally getting loud enough to be concerned about waking up Kiri before she was ready. Wufei and Trowa were able to keep their poker faces on but whenever Duo had a good hand, he inevitably gave it away and it frustrated him to no end that he kept losing money.

"I call."

Trowa and Duo laid out their hands at Wufei's acceptance of the final bet and Duo groaned.

"Aw, Trowa, how do you always win?"

Trowa had a straight flush. Wufei had two pair. Duo had a full house, aces high and was certain that he'd win that round. Heero wouldn't be too happy to find out how much money Duo had actually lost.

"Because he doesn't have any tells, Maxwell."

Duo stood and stretched his back out, putting his hands up behind his head as he did so. They'd been playing for a while and he probably should get home before Heero called to find out where he was. "Yeah, well, I'm not sure how much more I can afford to lose."

He turned and saw that Kiri's eyes were open a little bit. "Hey kid! How ya feeling?"

"DUO! You know she isn't supposed to try and talk yet!" Wufei told him sternly. "Sorry, Kiri. You have to stay silent for a few more days."

Kiri closed her eyes again.

"She looks high," Duo muttered.

Wufei rolled his eyes. "It's probably leftovers from the anesthesia."

"The drugs'll wear off soon," Trowa said. "Did Sally say if she could have anything to eat, Wufei?"

Wufei thought for a moment. "Hmm…no, but I need to get her so she can check Kiri's progress." He got up from the table and headed out the door.

"I probably ought to head out, too," Duo said. "I'll give Quatre and 'Ro an update on her."

Trowa nodded. "See you later." He turned his attention to Kiri. He ran a hand across her forehead and down her cheek, pausing to gently run his thumb across her left eyebrow. Kiri seemed to push into his touch, reminding him of a kitten. A light knock on the door forced him to leave her so he could answer it. He let Sally and Wufei in and then secured the door.

"I thought you said she was awake," Sally said with a frown.

"She is, Sally," Trowa insisted.

Kiri's eyes cracked open ever so slightly and then closed again. After a moment her eyes cracked open again and this time stayed open.

"It always takes her a while to come out of it when she's been drugged," Trowa explained with a slight shrug. "She comes out of it better if she gets some food in her system."

Sally knew that Trowa was right but they couldn't let Kiri eat anything just yet.

"Good afternoon, Kiri," Sally greeted as she came closer to the bed.

Kiri immediately paled and shut her eyes. Sally felt sorry for the girl. She was obviously not feeling well at all. Sally hoped it was just a side effect of the anesthetic. If it got worse, the boys would let her know, so Sally decided to continue with her examination.

"Okay, Kiri, I need you to open your mouth for me."

Kiri complied and Sally used her flashlight and a mirror to check the incisions in her throat. To her relief, Sally found that the stitches were secure and, aside from a little swelling, Kiri's throat looked good. Sally wouldn't ever have admitted to Kiri that she was nervous about the outcome of this surgery, but it looked like she didn't have anything to worry about. At this point, whether Kiri was able to speak again or not, Sally could rest easy knowing that she'd done her best.

"This looks really good." Sally took the flashlight and mirror out of Kiri's mouth and Kiri opened her eyes. "I think it would be best if you ate ice cream for a few meals, just until the swelling goes down. And no carbonated drinks. Water or milk would probably be best. Swallowing is probably going to feel funny for a bit."

Kiri nodded carefully. Sally noted that she wasn't as pale as she'd been a moment before, which meant she was probably starting to feel better.

"And you shouldn't try to talk for a few more days." Sally really didn't want the stitches to loosen before her vocal cords had a chance to heal properly. And telling her not to talk in front of Trowa and Wufei would mean that the others wouldn't try to interrogate her too soon.

Once Kiri nodded her agreement, Sally headed for the door. Wufei followed her.

"Wufei, make sure that she rests. I don't want her worked up."

"Don't worry, Sally, we'll make sure she's fine. If anything happens we'll call you."

He pecked her on the cheek and she left to check her other patients.

Trowa handed Kiri the pen and paper.

"What kind of ice cream do you like? The cafeteria has a soft-serve machine with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry."

It took Kiri a moment to process what he'd asked before she started writing.

'Strbry.'

Trowa kept his expression neutral as he nodded and went to the phone. He was glad he could tell what she wanted but even her writing seemed to be high today. Her 's' was backwards and the 'y' trailed off the page. If he didn't feel so bad that she was feeling so ill he would have found it amusing.

Wufei started cleaning up the card game. He glanced at Kiri as he did so and noticed that she was starting to go pale again. She shut her eyes.

Trowa finished on the phone and helped Wufei finish cleaning up.

"I wish there was something we could do to make this more tolerable for her," Wufei said softly so as not to disturb Kiri.

"I know. But unfortunately, until the drugs work themselves out of her system, there's really not much we can do about it." They finished cleaning and Wufei sat in the chair while Trowa went over to check on Kiri.

"Would you like some water?"

Kiri cracked her right eye open so she could look at him. She nodded and immediately buried her face into the pillow.

Trowa went to get her a cup of water and Wufei got up from the chair.

"Dizzy?" he asked gently.

She nodded into the pillow.

Wufei felt bad she was feeling sick. They were supposed to be making her better, not worse. He rubbed her back until Trowa came back with Kiri's water.

"Kiri, I want you to keep your eyes shut and roll onto your back," Trowa told her.

Kiri rolled onto her back.

"Just keep your eyes shut." Trowa didn't want Kiri to be any sicker than she already was and he hoped that keeping her eyes shut would keep her dizziness at bay long enough to get some water into her system.

Trowa carefully put his hand under her neck and lifted her so that he could help her get a drink. She grabbed at his shirt and held tight.

"Relax, I've got you," he told her softly. She seemed to relax a little but she still had a grip on his shirt. "Here you go," he warned before pressing the cup gently to her lips.

Kiri took a sip and started choking.

Trowa pulled the cup away and helped Kiri sit up a little more so she could stop coughing.

"Are you okay?"

Kiri gave him a barely perceptible nod. She still had her eyes clenched shut.

"Did that hurt?"

Kiri let go of his shirt and moved her hand back and forth in a "so-so" motion.

"Well, Sally did say it would feel odd to swallow. Maybe it would be better to wait for the ice cream. The cold should numb your throat and maybe it won't be so bad."

Kiri nodded her agreement and Trowa carefully laid her back on the pillow. Kiri curled up with her back to them and Trowa looked at Wufei.

"Any suggestions?" he asked softly. He didn't want Kiri to think that something was wrong and if Wufei had any ideas for making it easier for her to swallow he was open to them.

Wufei shook his head. "Waiting for the ice cream seems to be the only thing to do right now."

Kiri's breathing evened out and the men sat in silence while they waited for Kiri's ice cream to be brought up. Trowa was just about to call down and ask if the order had been lost when there was a soft knock on the door. He accepted the ice cream from the orderly and took it to the side table.

"Kiri, your ice cream is here," he said.

Kiri didn't answer him. Trowa frowned and leaned over her. He chuckled as he straightened up.

"She fell asleep."

Wufei chuckled as well. "Of all the times to drift off," he remarked. "At least she hasn't had another nightmare."

Trowa nodded and gently shook Kiri's shoulder to wake her.

Kiri jerked awake and looked at him, her eyes wide. Suddenly she paled and covered her mouth with a hand. Trowa realized she was about to vomit and snatched her from the bed. He ran into the bathroom and set her down in front of the toilet where she spilled her guts. Trowa felt bad for waking her up. Had he let her sleep and wake up naturally she probably wouldn't have been sick. Since she hadn't had anything to eat for a while, he suspected that most of what she was working so hard to expel from her system was stomach acid and it must burn something fierce. Kiri was vomiting and crying and Trowa was absolutely powerless to make it better.

"It's okay, Kiri," Trowa said as he rubbed her back.

Kiri seemed to be unable to stop heaving.

"Shhh…it's okay. Just relax. Think about something else."

Trowa hoped that she would be able to calm down. As long as she was worked up, he worried that her body wouldn't stop dry heaving. After a few minutes, Kiri seemed to calm just a little and the heaving slowed. She finally leaned against the toilet, shaking slightly with the effort of keeping herself upright.

"That's it," Trowa soothed. "Do you think you're done?"

Kiri waited a minute before nodding. Suddenly she jumped up and pressed herself against the wall. She stared at the toilet, her body shaking. Trowa glanced at the toilet and understood why she was upset. She'd vomited blood. Usually that meant internal bleeding but Trowa didn't want to upset Kiri further so he was careful to remain calm.

"Kiri, I want you to calm down. I want you to come over here and rinse out your mouth."

Kiri was so focused on the toilet that he gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"I want you to calm down. Come rinse out your mouth so Sally can get a decent look at your throat, okay?"

Kiri nodded, her eyes still wide. Trowa stood between Kiri and the toilet while she rinsed her mouth out at the sink. She spit out more blood and tensed up.

"Calm down," Trowa ordered. "Rinse again."

He had a hunch that she was spitting out leftover blood from the surgery and not bleeding anew, but they wouldn't know for sure until she finished rinsing out her mouth and Sally got a good look at her stitches. His hunch seemed to be right because the next time Kiri spit there was less blood in it.

"One more time."

There was even less blood this time. Trowa felt relief that his hunch was likely right.

"Come on, Kiri. Rest in the bed while we notify Sally."

Trowa put an arm around Kiri and led her out of the bathroom. Wufei was standing at the door, watching the proceedings with concern.

"Wufei, contact Sally. She needs to look at Kiri right away."

Wufei hurried out to the nurse's stand to page Sally. Trowa got Kiri settled back into the bed and adjusted the bed so that she was sitting up and comfortable. He had just gotten the blankets back on the bed when the door burst open. Trowa grabbed his gun and stood between Kiri and the door.

Wufei and Sally pulled up short.

"Put that away, Barton," Wufei snapped.

Trowa put his gun away, but he wasn't about to apologize. Wufei knew the rules and the consequences. And had Sally and Wufei been anyone else they would have been shot first while Trowa asked questions later.

Sally decided to get to the root of the issue.

"What's going on? Wufei said it was urgent."

Sally's question prompted Trowa into action. He took her into the bathroom.

"She vomited blood. It freaked her out pretty good but when she rinsed her mouth out it seemed like there was less blood each time so my theory is it's just left over from her stitches and not internal bleeding."

Wufei had stayed at the door to the bathroom and listened to Trowa's explanation. He moved out of the way as Sally flushed the mess and left the bathroom.

"Okay, Kiri," she said as she approached the bed. "Let me look."

Kiri opened her mouth and Sally poked around with a flashlight and a mirror. She carefully checked each and every stitch before stepping back.

"Everything looks fine, Kiri."

The concerned look on Kiri's face evaporated.

"I think what you threw up was the blood we missed suctioning out as we performed the surgery. The stitches are secure. Your throat is a bit raw, which is to be expected after all that stomach acid that just passed through it. I want you to let me know if it happens again, though. If you keep throwing up your stomach acid could eat through your stitches and we don't want that."

Kiri nodded slowly, as if afraid that nodding too quickly would either cause damage to her stitches or make her nauseous enough to vomit again.

Sally smiled, hoping to put Kiri at ease. "I want you to relax. You'll heal better." Turning to Trowa she said, "Make sure she gets some ice cream. The dairy in it will help coat her stomach and the cold will soothe her throat."

Trowa nodded. "Already on it."

"Good." To Kiri she said, "Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

Kiri nodded. Wufei escorted Sally out of the room.

Trowa looked at the small bowl of ice cream on the bedside table.

"Hmm…it's a little melted, but not soup yet."

He picked up the bowl and held it out to Kiri. She reached out a shaking hand and Trowa frowned.

"You're shaking pretty badly. Let me help you?" Trowa was afraid she would drop the bowl in her lap and then she'd be upset all over again. At the same time, he was worried that she would refuse. To his surprise, she nodded.

Trowa fed her the ice cream. At first he could tell that she was a little uncomfortable with it but she soon relaxed and actually seemed to enjoy the experience.

"Are you feeling better now?" Trowa asked as he put the empty Styrofoam bowl in the garbage.

Kiri nodded.

Trowa pushed Kiri's bangs out of her face. He looked at the scar over her eye. He didn't see it as disfiguring. Sally's specialist had done a good job of keeping the stitches small so that the scar wouldn't be as noticeable. He kind of liked the scar. He would have to remember to tell her so when she wasn't so upset about it. He didn't want to get her worked up again since she'd finally calmed down.

"Good," he said before gently kissing her. "You should rest."

Kiri almost looked put out by the suggestion but she settled back and adjusted the bed so she was comfortable. Trowa pulled a chair close and grabbed the remote. He flipped through channels looking for something that they could enjoy as he ran his thumb across the knuckles on Kiri's hand.

By the time he settled on a movie Kiri had fallen asleep. Trowa continued to hold her hand, hoping it would help her to feel safe. He was glad that she felt better and he hoped that when she woke up next she would be up to eating again. He didn't want Sally to think she wasn't being taken care of. Kiri slept peacefully through the rest of Trowa's shift.

It was decided that Kiri should stay silent for a week to make sure that the surgery stuck. Sally wondered if she ought to make it two, but because she was just as impatient as everyone else to find out if it had worked, she decided that one would suffice. They all seemed to be counting down to the day Sally would declare Kiri fit to speak.