Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I just borrow the guys from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot and any other characters, especially the equines, that you will find in this fic. Please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.
Pairing: 2x1x2, 3x4, 13x6, H+C
Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, sap, angst, vet themes, AU
Rating: NC 17
Betaed by Karina *snugs*
Summary: Set 2 years after Equus and Heero is doing so well in his own business that he's taken June on as a working pupil. The qualifying shows for the International teams are well underway and it looks like it will be a good year for Heero, his pupils and horses... until Mother Nature steps in.
AN: This fic, although a complete work of fiction is based partially on fact. I will add notes at the end of chapters where necessary to clarify events and provide links where needed.
Dedication: To Leslie and Karina. Leslie for giving me the original idea for Equinity and encouraging and supporting me through the writing of all the fics thus far in the arc. And Karina for not just taking over as my much needed beta, (poor woman needs a medal!), but for also poking and prodding Fred until he went on strike, refusing to work on anything at all until I let him start this. Needless to say, we managed to come to a compromise... Fred gets to write a chapter of this one week... the next week he has to write a chapter of 'Bound'... Did I ever tell you all I hate my muse? :-)
Fic 5 in the Equine Intervention Arc.
Commenced December 2013 – ShenLong
Thank you for the kind reviews! Unfortunately, things are going to get worse for the guys before they get better... but I do promise a happy ending. Hopefully you will all stick with me for that long :-)
"Rival Riders"
Chapter 40
With Heero having consented to Duo and Zechs trying all they could to save Angel's unborn foal, the two vets moved into action. Both headed back to the surgery stables to fetch the drugs they would need. Within minutes they were back.
"Could you hold her again, Heero? I need to give her the injections," Duo asked.
"No problem." Heero caught Angel again and gently petted the mare.
Duo swabbed a place on the mare's neck and pressed his thumb into the groove. Seconds later the vein began to rise and Duo slipped the cap off the needle. "Just hold her steady, Heero."
Taking a slightly firmer hold on the halter, Heero continued to reassure the mare with soft words and gently pats.
The needle slipped into the vein, Duo drawing back the plunger a touch as the blood flowed in just to be certain. With the flow of the blood he knew he was within the vein and gently depressed the plunger, sending the contents directly into the mare's blood stream. Once Duo had finished he passed over the empty needle and syringe to Zechs who exchanged it for another one.
Once again Duo slipped the needle into the vein, checking it was in properly before pushing down and injecting the contents. Removing the needle he took the offered swab and rubbed over the injection site.
"There, all done," he told his husband. "I've given her a shot of phenylbutazone and Altrenogest."
"Don't you usually give the bute in their feed?" Heero questioned. He was more than familiar with the dosing of equines with bute in their feed, not injection.
"Yes, normally I would put it in her feed, but I want to give it the best chance possible to get to work which is why I've given it as an injection. Also, given how sick she is with the virus she's not eating a lot right now and I don't think she'd be able to take in and digest enough of it to work properly if it's given to her in her feed," Duo replied.
"Ah. I understand," Heero stated. "What happens now?"
"Now it's a waiting game, Heero." Zechs said as Duo was busy washing his hands. "We will monitor her constantly. We will check her vitals every two hours for now and do another blood test in twenty-four hours."
"Okay."
"The monitoring of her vitals can be done by any one of us three," Duo said, returning to the conversation, "As long as we keep a record so we can see if and when there's any improvement. The blood test will show us if the levels of Prostaglandin are decreasing or not and depending on those results I'd be inclined to do another ultra sound on her either in twenty-four hours or forty-eight hours."
"And what if they aren't decreasing?"
"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Duo said firmly. He didn't want to give Heero any false hopes, Angel's condition was serious; but he had to have faith in his treatments.
Reading between the lines, Heero decided it would be better if he were to stay quiet for now. He knew Duo couldn't give him any guarantees, all he could do was hope for the best. "Thank you, both of you for all you've done and are doing, I appreciate it and I know Angel does too."
"You're welcome, Heero. I just wish there was more we could do," Zechs replied.
"You're doing all you can and that's all I can expect."
Feeling the sentiment rising, Duo cut in before things could get too uncomfortable. "Best to leave her alone for now, Heero. Check on her in about another half hour and in a couple of hours we need to take her vitals again. If either Zechs or myself are free at that time one of us will come down and do it, otherwise do you think you can do it, Heero?"
"No problem. I can do that anyway and save you two the time."
"Okay. I'll draw up a chart for her and leave it by the stable door so you can record everything down on it. If you do notice anything unusual at all, page one of us immediately."
"I'll do that, Duo."
"Good. Now we'd best be getting back up to the surgery and relieve Hilde."
# # #
Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, Duo, Zechs and Heero kept a close eye on Angel. Her vitals were recorded and noted on the chart Duo had drawn up. Unfortunately there wasn't much change in them at all.
The mare was still battling the virus, her nose constantly running and now the hacking cough had also made an appearance. All in all, Angel was one very miserable horse.
Entering the stable block with Zechs after morning consults had finished the following day, the pair were greeted with the sounds of wheezing and coughing.
"Sounds more like the respiratory section of the local hospital than a showjumping stable," Zechs commented.
"I agree, it doesn't sound good at all," Duo replied.
"Makes me feel so helpless and useless," Zechs muttered.
"I can relate to that too, Zechs," Duo said. "Doesn't seem fair that with all our knowledge and the drugs available to us that we can't do more to ease the suffering and make them better."
"Guess it must be the same in some ways for the human doctors. All that knowledge and yet they still can't find a cure for the common cold."
"Nature is a funny thing," Duo stated and reached for the chart on Angel's door. He frowned as he read over the chart. "There doesn't appear to be any change." He passed the chart over to Zechs.
"No, there isn't. Temperature has only altered by a half a degree, breathing and heart rates are the same give or take a breath or two or beat or two."
"We need to take another blood sample and see how the levels of prostaglandin are doing," Duo said and turned to the other vet.
"As much as I hate to say it, Duo, I don't think we're going to see much difference there either. If the Altrenogest and phenylbutazone are having an effect I would have expected to see a slightly greater drop in the temperature."
"I would too, but until we take that blood sample we're not really going to know if they're having any sort of an effect."
The conversation came to a halt as Heero entered the stable block, a new supply of wipes and box of disposable gloves in his arms. Spotting the pair outside Angel's stable, Heero walked across to them. "Are you going to do another blood test on Angel?" he asked.
"Yes, Heero," Duo replied.
"Hang on a sec then whilst I put these into the tack room and I'll hold her for you." Heero continued on his walk towards the far end of the stable complex where the feed and tack rooms sat. Moments later he returned, gloves on his hands and ready to hold the mare. Picking up the lead rope from the stable door, he slid the bolt back and entered. "We're ready," he called out a few seconds later.
Duo entered the stable, needle in hand and walked up to the mare. He spoke softly to her and swabbed the place on her neck. The needle was deployed, the sample withdrawn and Duo was capping the needle, swabbing the area once more. "All done," he said quietly.
"When will you know the results?" Heero asked, petting the mare before unclipping the lead rope and following his lover out of the stable.
"I'll go back up to the surgery now and do the tests with Zechs. I should have an answer within the hour. I can come back down and let you know," Duo replied.
"Okay, I've got quite a few things to do here so that will keep me occupied whilst you two are playing around with the microscope," Heero stated in a slightly worried tone.
Duo rested his hand on his partner's shoulder. "Try to stay positive, Heero; I am," he said softly and with a squeeze to his husband's shoulder, Duo stepped back and headed for the stable complex doors.
Heero watched as the two vets removed their latex gloves, washed their hands in betadine and then stepped through the betadine foot bath. Once the pair had departed, he turned back to the tack shed to fetch his supplies and begin his rounds of wiping out noses and dispensing cough medicine.
#
Once they were back at the surgery, Zechs set the microscope up whilst Duo fetched the chemicals he'd need. With everything in place a few drops of Angel's blood were placed on the slide, the chemicals being added and smeared around. Another slide was placed on top of the sample and the slides placed on the base plate of the microscope. Taking a deep breath, Duo gave Zechs a wan smile and peered down the eye sights. A couple of knobs were twisted as Duo brought the microscopic world into view.
Waiting patiently by his boss' side, Zechs did his best not to fidget and watched Duo carefully for any sign of what the other vet was seeing. After a couple of minutes, Duo raised his head and closed his eyes with a sigh.
"How is it looking?" Zechs asked quietly.
"Not good," came Duo's reply. "Take a look for yourself and see what you think." Duo got up from the chair and moved to the side to allow Zechs to peer down the microscope.
The blonde sat in the vacated chair and peered down the eyesights. The world of cells greeted his vision and it didn't take long for him to differentiate between the various ones. After staring down the sights for a short while, he raised his head and looked to his boss. "It isn't looking good at all."
"No, it isn't. The levels of prostaglandin haven't decreased at all, if anything I'd say it's increased."
"Damn."
"We could try increasing the dosage of phenylbutazone and Altrenogest, there's always the chance that we may not have given her enough," Duo suggested.
"It is a thought, but Duo, you know already that we gave her the recommended dose."
"Yeah, I know, but I can't just sit here and do nothing."
"I know that and I agree with you. Let's give her another round of injections and up the dose," Zechs paused for a moment. "But if the levels still haven't decreased after another couple of days at the higher dosage rate then there's nothing more we can do for her, Duo."
"Okay. We'll try that and hope for the best."
Zechs placed a hand on his colleague's shoulder. "Sometimes, no matter what you do, you can't beat mother nature, Duo."
"Maybe not, but I'm damn sure I'm going to give her a run for her money in this case," Duo responded.
"Of course we will. I'll go get the drugs, shall I?"
"Thanks. I'll head back to the stables and give Heero the news."
#
"So the bottom line is that the amount of that hormone hasn't dropped at all despite the drugs you've given her?" Heero said with a tilt of his head.
"That about sums it all up, Heero," Duo replied and lowered his eyes. It hadn't been easy telling Heero the results of the blood tests. "
"Is there anything else we can do?"
"Zechs and I want to try increasing the dose of Altrenogest and phenylbutazone. If you're happy for us to do so. We think that by giving her slightly more than the recommended dose it could help. Given how she's battling the EI virus as well it's depleting her body's natural immune system, the increased dose could be what she needs to stop this placentitis."
Heero mulled over his lover's suggestion. "Will it do her or the foal any harm?" he asked.
"No, not that I'm aware of. We don't plan on increasing the dosage too much, we think an extra ten millilitres will be enough of each drug."
"And if you don't increase the dose?"
"Then it's my professional opinion that the placentitis will continue to occur."
"I see." Heero frowned. It would appear he was caught between a rock and a hard place. "I guess we really don't have much of a choice." He turned to look at the mare over the stable door. Angel was standing in the corner of the stable resting a hind leg, head lowered, eyes half closed and her nose running. Every now and then she would give a hacking cough, tremble slightly and then sink back into her misery.
"Go ahead and give her the increased dose."
Duo stepped up to his lover and embraced him in his strong arms. "I know this isn't easy, Heero, it's damn hard for me too. I feel so useless, not being able to help any of the horses-"
"No, Duo." Heero cut his husband off. "You are doing everything you possibly can for all of them, you, Zechs and Hilde. All three of you are working yourselves into the ground trying to help not just my horses, but all those others out there too. If it weren't for you all the horses here would be much worse off."
"It's kind of you to say so, Heero, even if it isn't true," Duo replied sadly.
Heero rolled his eyes and gave a low growl. He decided to change the subject slightly. "When are you planning on doing another ultra sound?"
"We'll give her the increased doses of the drugs first, let them have twenty-four hours to kick in and then do another blood test. Once we have the results of that blood test then we will do another ultra sound."
"Okay. When do you want to give her the injections?"
"Zechs has gone to get the drugs now and should be here in the next five minutes so we'll do it as soon as he gets here."
"Alright. I'll go clean her up a bit whilst we're waiting." Pressing a kiss to his husband's lips, Heero released the vet and headed to the tack room for supplies.
#
It was another ten minutes before Zechs arrived at the stables with the drugs. Handing them over to Duo, he apologized for taking so long. "Something came up while I was getting the drugs ready. I'll let you know what it was in a minute once we've given her the injections."
Taking the offered needles and syringes, Duo stepped into Angel's stable, Zechs behind him.
Heero clipped the lead rope to Angel's halter and held the mare for the vets to do their job.
"That's it," Duo said and capped the needle. "Now we wait again and monitor her vitals the same as we did previously."
"Okay, I'll record them on the same clipboard, shall I?" Heero asked.
"Yeah, that way we can compare with the previous twenty-four hours as well as the current time frame." Duo turned his attention to Zechs. "What was it that held you up?" he asked as they exited the stable to wash their hands.
"The surgery phone rang. It was a guy from the Department of Agriculture. He said something about a vaccine and wants you to call him back," Zechs informed.
Duo paused in washing his hands. "Vaccine?"
"Yes. I did write his name and contact number down."
"If this is what I think it is then we could finally be having a breakthrough." Duo gave the other vet a smile. "Come on, I need to call him back immediately."
With an amused smile on his face, Zechs followed his boss out of the stables and back to the surgery.
# # #
"Thank you, Mr. Shaw. I'll let you know when the package arrives. Good bye." Duo hung up the phone and turned in his seat to face Zechs.
"Well?" Zechs asked with a raise of a pale eyebrow.
"That was Eric Shaw, he's the head of biosecurity at the Department of Agriculture."
"I gathered that much."
"It seems that they have managed to cultivate a vaccine for this Equine Influenza virus and we should expect a delivery of it somewhere during the afternoon tomorrow."
"That's great news!" Zechs exclaimed. "Maybe now we will be able to get on top of this disease and actually do something."
"I'm right with you there," Duo said with a smile. "From what Eric was saying, the vaccine is all ready to go and the instructions on dosage rates etcetera will be in the package."
"Great. Now we can start to vaccinate all those horses on the practice books that are currently EI free and hope they remain that way."
"Well, sort of."
"Eh? What do you mean, sort of?" Zechs asked.
"As you know, we can't just roll up at clients' properties and demand to vaccinate their horses."
"I do realize that we need to notify all our equine owning clients that we now have a vaccine and leave it up to them if they wish to vaccinate or not."
"There's also a small matter of will it work."
"But didn't you just say that all the information will be in with the vaccine when it gets here?" Zechs was slightly confused. It was standard practice that all drug companies adhered to when supplying anything pharmaceutical. Instructions, dosage rates, duration of use for the drug and so on were always included in a pamphlet form with the item in question.
"Yes, I did say that, but apparently the Department hasn't had the time or opportunity to do any sort of field testing of the vaccine. Due to the severity of this virus they need to release the vaccine as quickly as possible. If they delay by testing it out, then by the time it's approved for use the country's entire equine population will most likely have all contracted the virus and gotten over it. You know yourself how long these tests can and do take."
Zechs nodded. He was well aware of the stringent rules in place in regards to drug testing before being approved to go onto the general 'market'. "That's going to leave them wide open for legal action."
"Yes, it could, but from what Shaw was saying, there's a note to the effect that the vaccine is untrialed and to be used at the equine owner and dispensing vet's risk."
"Ah, a sort of waiver type thing?"
"Got it in one."
"How are we going to do this?"
"I'll speak with Heero later and once we have the vaccine we can read through the paperwork that comes with it. Once we're clear on it all, if they haven't included some sort of disclaimer thing themselves, I'd suggest I get Heero to draw up some sort of letter stating that the practice, vets and Agricultural Department will supply and administer the vaccine at the owner's risk and that the owner will not hold any of us responsible should the vaccine not work or anything untoward go wrong – or words to that effect," Duo stated. "Once we have something drawn up I'll get Catherine to go through all our client base and contact every horse owner we have on file and let them know of the vaccine."
"I'm assuming the Department will also make some sort of announcement?"
"I'm pretty sure they will. From what Eric hinted at, the press will be given a statement so the media can report on it through the usual channels."
"Maybe you won't have to contact the clients. If there's to be a press release of sorts then most likely they will all be contacting us," Zechs mused.
"That wouldn't surprise me either," Duo chuckled. "I think we'll wait until the vaccine arrives, see what's on the news and go from there."
"Good idea."
# # #
Another twenty-four hours passed and once again Zechs, Duo and Heero were in the stables looking over the clipboard that held Angel's vitals. The mare was still looking very sorry for herself, the virus running through her body and leaving her feeling totally miserable.
So far Zero, Missy and Wing were the only horses in Heero's stable not to have caught the virus. Heero hoped to keep it that way too and had moved the trio out of the stables and into the walk-in – walk-out stables and yards outside the main barn. Both Zero and Wing had been a bit miffed about losing their warm, comfortable stables, but Heero was determined to try and keep the pair EI free if at all possible and if that entailed the pair having their noses put out of joint by the new accommodations then so be it.
"I don't like it," Duo said with a frown, looking over the mare's chart.
"There's still no clear indication that the drugs are working. Her temperature and other vitals haven't changed at all, even compared to the previous twenty-four hours," Zechs stated as he also looked over the chart.
"It's not looking good, is it?" Heero asked.
"As much as I hate to say it, Heero, no, it isn't looking good," Duo replied. "But, we still have the ultrasound to do and that might show up something more positive."
"Do you want to do the ultrasound now?"
"Yes. I think it would be best," Duo replied.
"I'll fetch the machine and other supplies," Zechs said and headed for the surgery stables to fetch the necessary items.
With Zechs gone for the moment, Heero rounded on his husband. "The drugs aren't working, are they?"
Knowing he had to tell Heero the truth regardless of how painful it would be, Duo took a deep breath before replying. "The recorded vital signs show no improvement in Angel's condition. The blood tests also show that the prostaglandin levels haven't decreased as I would have expected them to. Once we do the ultrasound we will know for certain which way to proceed."
Feeling his heart plummeting, Heero prepared himself for the worst. Before he had the chance to talk further with Duo though, Zechs returned with the equipment.
With Zechs setting up the machine, Duo once more slipped on a long glove and applied lube to it. They'd decided it would be better for all concerned and give a clearer result if Duo were to do an internal ultrasound again as opposed to an external one. Heero stepped inside the stable and caught Angel. He waited with the twitch in his other hand, ready to put it on once everyone was ready.
"Okay, Heero, you can twitch her now," Zechs said.
The twitch was applied, the machine turned on and with the small sound head in his hand, Duo began the task of slowly inserting his arm into the mare. Taking things slowly and as gently as he could, Duo managed to manipulate his arm, hand and sound head inside the mare and locate the uterus. With Zechs intently watching the screen he was able to guide his fellow vet to allow the sound head to give the best possible pictures. As Duo moved the sound head around the uterus, Zechs' frown increased.
"What does the screen say?" Heero asked quietly.
"One moment, Heero. I want to save some of these pictures and have Duo take a look at them too before we make a decision."
"Okay."
With Zechs' words, Duo turned to look at the other vet, the question in his eyes. Zechs shook his head in return.
After a couple more minutes, Zechs had enough pictures captured and information to make an informed diagnosis. "You can remove your arm now," he told Duo.
Once Duo was free from the mare and cleaned up a bit, he moved to the screen and began to look through the pictures that Zechs had saved. They conferred together in hushed tones.
Removing the twitch, Heero rubbed the mare's muzzle and unclipped the lead rope. Letting Angel go he moved to his partner and colleague. "What's the verdict?"
Having discussed things thoroughly between them and with the screen evidence too, Duo had no choice but to agree with Zechs and his diagnosis. With a deep sigh, Duo turned to face his lover.
"It's as we thought, Heero. The drugs haven't worked at all." Feeling the press of tears against his eyes, Duo did his best to control his emotions.
The shimmer in his partner's eyes told Heero he was not going to like what Duo was about to tell him.
"The placenta has continued to thicken with the infection and it's at the point where it will begin to separate from the uterine wall," Duo began.
"That means the foal-"
Duo cut his partner off. "I'm afraid the foal has already passed away, Heero."
tbc...