A/N: I wanted to have this up for Christmas but things got crazy! Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely holiday! Enjoy!

Chapter 88

Sally waited for the door to close behind Duo before addressing Kiri.

"Since you're alert, I'm going to remove this catheter."

Once Kiri was catheter free and comfortable, Sally had her lie flat on the bed. She gently pressed Kiri's ribs. Kiri's wince told her all she needed to know.

"Sorry. On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you say you're at?"

"Four…maybe five," Kiri amended with a grimace.

Sally nodded. She'd suspected as much. The good news was that Kiri's ribs felt a little firmer than they had the last time she checked, which told Sally that they were healing, even if Kiri didn't feel like they were. She helped Kiri sit up again before moving to check out her foot. Sally moved the blanket and carefully inspected the stitches.

"This is looking a lot better," Sally said. Sally carefully touched Kiri's foot. She didn't want to hurt Kiri but she wanted to make sure that the skin wasn't hot to the touch. If it was, it might mean another infection and Sally wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your foot at today?"

Kiri pursed her lips as she considered the question. "Maybe a three? I'm not sure. That kind of tickles, too."

Sally grinned. "That's good, Kiri. It means the nerve endings weren't permanently damaged. I'm going to take another blood sample. I don't want this infection surprising us again. And I want you to stay in bed and rest. I want you to get something to eat, but don't overdo it. You haven't eaten for over a week and your stomach might not be up to too much food. Don't hesitate to tell the boys if you need something or if your pain gets worse."

Sally knew it was a lot of instructions to give at once and she'd make sure that the boys knew what to look for in case Kiri didn't want to say anything about being in pain. The blood sample would go a long way in putting Sally's concerns about another infection to rest. Kiri was quiet while Sally took her sample and wrapped the injection site. She looked a little tired so Sally didn't push any conversation. She packed up her blood sample kit and opened the door. Duo was standing just outside and he gave her a grin as she stepped out.

"What's the prognosis?" Duo asked.

"She's doing much better. Her ribs are still sore but her foot looks really good. If you notice any redness or swelling around the stitches let me know immediately. I've taken a blood sample so I can confirm that the infection is gone. And I've told her to get something to eat but not to overdo it."

Duo nodded. "Got it, Doc. Leave everything to me."

Sally grinned at Duo's antics and headed off to get the blood test done.

Duo went into Kiri's room. She was sitting up in bed, kind of spacing out.

"You doing okay?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "Yeah. Um.. Duo?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Sally said I should get something to eat."

Duo couldn't help but grin. Compared to how she was when they first found her, Kiri's progress was nothing short of amazing. Initially, she'd been terrified to even ask for a glass of water and now she was relaying Sally's orders.

"Already on it," he assured her. "But with the excitement this morning it's been a bit delayed. Can you wait another twenty minutes or so?"

Kiri nodded and Duo had to work to keep from smirking. If Kiri had said that she was even the least bit hungry he would have been on the phone with the cafeteria immediately, but since she'd agreed to wait without any hesitation Duo was confident that his pizza surprise wouldn't be ruined. Besides, he'd also ordered a desert pizza that was supposed to taste like a cinnamon roll. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she tried it.

Duo gave Kiri the remote and let her pick something to watch. He settled in the chair and watched without complaint. Kiri actually had pretty decent taste in movies so it was rare that she picked something he couldn't stand. It really didn't matter what she picked anyway because he wasn't paying very close attention to it. He was listening for anything out of the ordinary out in the hall, just in case somebody working for Decart decided to come after Kiri when they thought the Preventers' guard would be down. And he was listening for Quatre to show up with the pizzas.

A knock on the door had Duo on his feet with his gun drawn, ready for anything. He mentally berated himself for startling Kiri. She had been lying down but was now sitting up and clutching her lion. He wished he hadn't scared her again. But rather than draw attention to it and make her self-conscious, Duo decided to ignore it. He opened the door and saw Quatre juggling three pizzas, a smaller box that Duo assumed was the dessert pizza and a bag with paper plates, plastic forks, and napkins.

Duo relieved Quatre of the plastic bag and the dessert pizza before stepping back so that Quatre could come in the room.

"Dinner's here!" Duo told Kiri with a grin. "I wasn't sure what kind you liked so I got a supreme, a Hawaiian and a plain cheese.

Kiri looked a little dumbfounded and Quatre couldn't help but grin at her expression.

"You'd best pick before Duo starts in. Otherwise, you won't get any."

Kiri thought for a second. "In that case, I'll have a piece of the Hawaiian."

Quatre put a slice on a plate and handed it over to her. Kiri picked off the pineapple and ate it. Duo grinned and started doing the same with the sausage on his pizza. Quatre ate his piece without picking any of the toppings off.

Duo was starting on his third piece by the time Kiri finished her first. He was about to ask if she wanted some more when she spoke.

"Quatre?"

Quatre swallowed his pizza. "Yes?"

Kiri fidgeted. "How did…Chase get you and Wufei?"

Quatre considered what to tell her for a moment before deciding on an accurate, but shortened, version of events. She didn't need every little detail and if she asked for more he would most likely tell her.

"Duo sent us up to get you first thing that morning. On our way up, Duo informed us that you'd given the signal and we got there as soon as we could manage. We could hear a commotion inside, but nobody heard us banging on the door. Wufei ended up breaking the door down. When we got inside you were already unconscious on the floor and your father was yelling at your mother, who was on the phone with someone. When they noticed us, their behavior took a 180 and they pretended to be concerned about you. Wufei and I were about to leave with you when we were jumped by Chase's men. Apparently, that's who your mother was on the phone with. They had more men keeping Trowa, Heero and Duo busy so they couldn't help us. They only managed to subdue us by shooting us up with some kind of drug."

Kiri sighed. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't made him angry—"

"No, Kiri," Quatre interrupted firmly. "We listened to the tapes. It wouldn't have mattered what you did. He was set on hurting you. It may have been the drugs he was on or maybe he had a bunch of pent up guilt that forced its way out. Or maybe he just wanted to feel powerful and saw you as someone he could exert his power over. None of that was your fault."

Quatre didn't want Kiri taking the blame for Daniel's behavior. The man had been awful to Kiri the entire time that Quatre had been there and had only gotten worse once he left. Nothing Kiri could have done would have changed the way he treated her.

"Fortunately they didn't realize there was a tracker in your bracelet until they'd already taken you three to Chase's base," Duo said as he reached for another slice of pizza. He figured he should try to steer the topic back on course so that Kiri didn't get too upset about the whole thing.

Kiri nodded and stared at her lap for a few minutes.

"Can…can you tell me what happened after…"

"After you shot Chase?" Quatre finished for her when it didn't look like she was going to be able to ask the question. Quatre could feel her guilt over the situation and had to strengthen his resolve to let her think that she shot Chase. It was for her own good, he told himself.

Kiri nodded.

Quatre cleared his throat, mostly to remind Duo what not to say. "Well, um…you went into shock. I think it was a combination of the stress of killing someone and the blood loss from that nasty cut on your foot. I won't describe it to you as I don't want to put you off your lunch, but take my word for it that it was really bad. Do you remember coming to when Sally was stitching you up?"

"Vaguely."

Quatre nodded. He wasn't sure how much she remembered from that day or if she would remember more later on after she thought about it.

"Well, basically your injuries were bad enough that Sally started stitching you up in the ambulance. Once we got you here, Sally did some blood work and found that you were developing blood poisoning. I guess it's no surprise that the metal you cut your foot on wasn't overly sanitary. She gave you an antibiotic, but it nearly killed you. Apparently you have an allergy to whatever she used and she had to go a different route. It worked, obviously, but it took longer than Sally expected because your system is still a bit off."

"Yeah, she couldn't give you very much of the medicine because you're too scrawny and she didn't want to make you overdose," Duo said.

"Duo. Don't go there," Quatre said in a dark tone. He could feel Kiri retreating and he knew it was because of Chase's comments about her weight. Quatre realized that he should have made sure that Duo, Heero, and Trowa all knew what Chase had said to Kiri and he made plans to rectify that lapse in judgement as soon as it was possible to do so.

"What?" Duo asked, completely confused. "Since when is it bad to tell a girl she's skinny?"

"He didn't think so." Kiri said softly as she pushed her plate away and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them.

"Oh Kiri, please don't believe what Chase said. He was just being an ass," Quatre told her. It bothered him that Chase still had such control over Kiri. The man was dead and he still made her feel worthless.

Kiri looked at Quatre but she didn't say anything.

"What'd he say?" Duo asked. He wanted to know what Chase could have possibly told her that would make her so upset now.

Kiri looked down and didn't answer.

Quatre sighed. "He told Kiri she got fat and that Decart wouldn't like it. But the way he said it was…just…wrong." Quatre looked at Kiri until she looked up at him again. "You are not fat."

"I know," Kiri murmured. She didn't sound like she knew. She sounded like she was saying it because she knew that's what Quatre and Duo would want to hear.

Duo frowned. He didn't want her to think she had to tell them what they wanted to hear. He wanted her to be able to complain when she felt like it and to have her own opinions. But even more than that, he wanted her to know that she wasn't fat just because an asshole told her she was.

"Lemme ask ya somethin'. D'you think Relena Darlian's fat?" Duo asked, making Kiri flinch a little with the suddenness of his question.

"No."

"Well you're skinnier than she is. And Sally said that you need to gain a bit of weight. Would a doctor tell a fat person to gain weight?" There. Hard evidence that Kiri wasn't fat and she didn't need to think that she was.

Kiri shook her head. "I…you have to understand, it isn't what he said, it was the way he said it. Any other time that tone was used…I got hit. I think…if Wufei hadn't distracted him…he would have…"

The look on Kiri's face was enough for Duo to understand what she had been so afraid of.

He wrapped her in his arms and whispered, "Well, you took care of that bastard, didn't ya? You don't have to worry about that anymore." He still felt bad about letting her think she'd killed someone but if that was what it took for her to stop being afraid, it was worth the lie.

"Thanks, Duo," Kiri whispered back after a moment.

He let her go and grinned. "Better clear your plate or you won't get dessert." He put two more pieces of pizza on her plate.

Kiri frowned down at her plate. "I'm not sure I can eat that much."

"Well, eat what ya can. And I don't wanna hear any more of this 'I'm fat' garbage, especially when I'm tryin' to fatten you up."

Kiri rolled her eyes but picked up the second piece of pizza and took a bite. She stared off into space as she chewed mechanically.

"I'm sorry I upset you," Duo said softly, but Kiri didn't respond.

"I don't think she's listening," Quatre whispered. "It's better to let her alone while she's eating anyway. You can talk to her about it later when she's not so upset."

Duo nodded. "Good plan."

Silence reigned in the room as they continued their meal. Kiri finished her second piece of pizza and looked dubiously at the third one that Duo had given her.

"I'm afraid if I eat that I'll be sick," Kiri admitted.

Duo belatedly remembered Sally's order that Kiri not eat too much because it might upset her stomach. He didn't want Kiri to think she'd be in trouble for not eating so he grinned at her.

"That's okay," he said as he snatched the pizza from her plate and ate it.

Quatre raised an eyebrow. He hoped Duo hadn't eaten himself sick. Heero wouldn't be pleased about that.

Kiri yawned and rubbed at her eye. Quatre took her empty plate.

"I guess it has been a pretty tiring day. And Sally won't thank us for keeping you from resting," Quatre told her. He didn't want her to think she had to force herself to stay awake just because they were there.

Kiri shifted so that she was lying down and Quatre pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. He found her lion and gave it to her.

"Go ahead and sleep. I'll save your dessert for later," he promised. If he couldn't wrestle some away from Duo, he would buy her some more when she was awake enough to enjoy it.

Kiri was asleep almost instantly.

"I didn't realize we'd worn her out so much," Duo said with a frown. "Do you think we need to let Sally know?"

Quatre gently brushed Kiri's bangs aside so he could check her temperature. "I don't think so. Her temperature seems normal. I think she's tired because she only woke up today and it was pretty stressful for most of it. I'd be willing to bet that she'll be up and back to herself tomorrow. That will make Trowa happy. Maybe I'll stop by his room on my way out and let him know that he shouldn't come by tonight. Not that he'll listen to me anyway."

Duo grinned. "Yeah, he's been over here every day, hasn't he? He even insisted on helping out this morning. I don't think Heero was too happy about it but Trowa can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be and Heero didn't exactly have time to argue with him about it."

Quatre nodded. "Maybe he'll actually rest tonight. I expect he'll want to spend all day with Kiri tomorrow."