Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Brought Into Focus ❯ Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, blah blah.

 

A/N: I already have the next chapter written, but probably won't post it until January because MediaMiner reviewers seem to have a lack of love for the authors.

 

Chapter Four

 

The next day, Heero arrived early at the hospital. He had wanted to stay overnight, but the other guys had forced him to go home for food and rest. When he entered Duo's room, Duo was still asleep. Heero wasn't too surprised because it was only eight in the morning. He settled himself once again in a chair next to Duo's bed and pulled his laptop out of the bag he'd brought with him. He began typing a letter to Hilde, explaining what had happened.

 

An hour later, Wufei arrived followed shortly by Quatre and Trowa. The previous night, before everyone had left for home, Wufei had come in and rather stiffly apologized to Heero. With a glare, Heero had asked him to apologize to Duo, but he had fallen asleep. The discussion had been dropped, although not forgotten. Heero had left the hospital in irritation without saying good-bye to anyone. He thought he had heard Quatre reassuring Wufei that he was still welcome to visit Duo, but he had been halfway out the door by that time.

 

Wufei, like Heero, was taking the next few days off from their work at the Preventers. Quatre and Trowa had decided to postpone their honeymoon until after Duo got out of the hospital. They had wanted to wait longer, but their friends had insisted that they not delay their trip for too long.

 

As they waited for Duo to wake up, Wufei and Heero discussed who was going to watch Duo while he recovered. “I think,” said Heero, “that I'm going to ask for extended leave until he is able to more or less handle being left alone while I'm at work.”

 

“Une's going to want to have him back at work as soon as possible, even if he's just pushing papers,” said Wufei. Heero sighed, and said, “Well, she'll have to deal with it. He's not going back to work unless he's fully healed.”

 

“It might be good for him to get out, Heero,” said Quatre gently, noting the overprotective gleam in his eyes.

 

“We'll see,” Heero grunted, signaling the end of the conversation.

 

“Good morning!” greeted a cheery nurse that entered the room. “My, Mr. Maxwell must be popular to have so many visitors this early in the morning.” She set a plate of food on the table next to Duo's bed, and began to gently shake his shoulder. “Rise and shine! It's time for your hearty meal of scrambled eggs and painkillers!”

 

A groan escaped Duo's lips as he slowly sat up. “Nnngh…” He rubbed his eyes and blinked at the people in his room. Luckily, he didn't look as confused as he had the previous day.

 

“How are you feeling?” asked the nurse pleasantly as she set up a tray for him to eat his breakfast.

 

“I hurt,” said Duo. He stretched, and winced when he accidentally bumped his severely cut arm into the wall behind him.

 

“Well, then, go ahead and take these two pills right now and that problem will be taken care of within the hour. Press the call button if you need anything else.” That said, the nurse left the room to attend to the other patients in the hospital.

 

Duo swallowed two little white pills before digging into his breakfast.

 

“He doesn't seem to be concerned that we're here… Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Quatre.

 

“He's always like this in the morning. Just wait for him to finish eating,” Heero answered with a small smile, thinking of all the times he had watched Duo inhale his food. He'd eat anything, even hospital food, apparently.

 

Duo paused long enough to say indignantly, “Hey! Stop talking about me as if I'm not here!” before diving back into his plate.

 

After his breakfast, Duo began asking questions. The four pilots did their best to answer them. They were mostly about his family - or lack thereof, as he soon found out - and his other friends. The questions about his childhood had created a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere, and the other pilots tried to keep Duo from dwelling on them. Quatre had also attempted to give Duo a brief history lesson on the two wars and how Duo and the other pilots had been a part of them both. Duo seemed to understand, more or less, and even added in a few details to Quatre's story, which was a good sign for Duo's recovery.

 

While they talked, Dr. Morris came in to check on Duo, and seemed surprised at how fast he was healing.

 

“I think you might be able to leave tomorrow, although I'll have to run a few tests to be sure. It's astounding. I don't think I've ever seen anyone heal so nicely.”

 

Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Heero had expected this. After all, the “mad scientists”, as Duo had often called them, had used numerous chemicals in all of their training programs in order to speed up the healing process.

 

The five pilots spent the rest of the day talking and answering more of Duo's questions as they came up. At about three in the afternoon, everyone but Heero left. Wufei needed to check in at work and Quatre had remembered some last minute packing that he had to do. Trowa had gone with Quatre, of course, leaving Duo and Heero alone.

 

“Heero?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Um…” Duo looked down. Heero thought he looked a little uncomfortable about something. Heero tensed.

 

“Something wrong? Should I call the nurse?” he asked quickly, starting to rise out of his chair.

 

“No!” said Duo a little too loudly, throwing out his hands in a stopping motion. Heero sat back down, confused. “I mean, don't worry, nothing's wrong. It's just…” he frowned, indicating that he'd couldn't remember how to say what he was trying to say.

 

Heero waited patiently. This was happening less and less, but he expected that it would continue for a while. Duo began to play with his braid, his frown deepening.

 

“You sort of keep… staring at me,” Duo finally said with a blush.

 

“Oh,” said Heero sheepishly. “Sorry. You always tell me - well, you used to tell me, I guess - that I have a habit of staring. I'm usually just thinking. You were used to it before, so I guess I just forgot…” he trailed off, looking away from Duo.

 

“It wasn't that, exactly,” said Duo quietly. “It's more that you look so…” he paused for a moment. “Your eyes look so sad.”

 

Heero stayed silent for a long time. He finally said, “I'm sorry, but I can't help it. You're my best friend, and hurts to see you like this.” He was surprised to hear himself speak so freely, but then again, this was Duo. He could tell Duo anything. Or at least, he could before. He clenched his hand into a fist, hoping that physical pain could drive away the emotional hurt he felt inside of him.

 

“We were best friends?” asked Duo, curiosity evident in his eyes. I guess we never really explained that, thought Heero.

 

“Yeah. That's why we live together.” Heero began to tell Duo about their apartment, grateful for a distraction.

 

/\/\/\/\

 

The next day, they all stood outside Heero and Duo's small apartment. They had checked Duo out of the hospital about an hour ago, and Quatre and Trowa were getting ready to leave.

 

“Are you sure you guys will be alright?” asked Quatre anxiously for the third time.

 

Heero sighed and said, “Don't worry, Quatre, we'll be fine. Chang will be around too, after he drops you off at the airport, so you don't have to worry.”

 

“Yeah, you guys should enjoy your trip!” said Duo enthusiastically. During his stay in the hospital, Trowa and Quatre's relationship had been explained. He had accepted it without question, but Heero still wondered whether or not he understood.

 

“We'll miss our flight if we don't leave soon,” said Trowa as he slipped his arm over his husband's shoulders.

 

“All right,” Quatre said as Trowa guided him towards the car. They slid into the backseat while Wufei started the car.

 

Heero and Duo waved them off, and once they were out of sight, Heero helped Duo into their apartment. Duo wasn't able to walk well, but refused to use crutches, so Heero had to all but carry him to their sofa.

 

Heero made sure that Duo was settled with a blanket and some pillows before sitting down next to him. It was then that he realized how very quiet it seemed.

 

Well, shoot, thought Heero as the seconds ticked by. He's the talkative one, not me. What do I say? He cast a sideways glance at Duo, who was fiddling with his braid.

 

“Uh, if you want to watch TV, you can,” he said, gesturing to the remote. “I hardly ever watch it, so I don't really know what channels there are. You watch - used to watch - movies a lot, so I can set one up if you like.” Heero felt awkward.

 

“Maybe later… I don't really know which movie I would want to watch,” Duo said as he continued to play with his hair.

 

“Right.”

 

The silence stretched on. Heero had never realized how comfortable he had become with the constant background noise of Duo talking.

 

He was just about to say something to break the silence, but Duo ended up speaking first.

 

“Um… I'm tired, Heero. But I don't know - remember, I mean - where my room is. Do you think you could…?” He trailed off.

 

Heero looked sadly at him. He was still holding his braid, looking at the ground. It hurts so much just to see him like this. What must it be like for him? To not even know who he is?

 

“It's this way,” he said, helping Duo up. Even though it was only about two in the afternoon, he wasn't surprised that Duo was tired. He was still injured and he had taken some medicine that was supposed to make him sleepy. Heero supported him as they walked towards his room. Heero could see the pain in Duo's eyes every time he put even the slightest bit of pressure on his leg. Without a word of warning, Heero scooped him up in his arms and carried him to his room.

 

Duo let out a sound of protest, but Heero silenced him by saying, “It'll never heal if you keep walking on it.” Duo looked down with a small pout, but didn't say anything.

 

Heero gently placed Duo on his bed, making sure he was sitting up. “Um… I think you keep some pajama pants here…” he said as he shuffled through a drawer. “Oh, here we go.” Heero set a black pair next to Duo. “Do you think you can you change by yourself?” He didn't want to insult him, but his leg was really bad.

 

“I should be fine,” said Duo, already pulling the pants towards him. Heero left the room to give him some privacy.

 

Heero went to the kitchen and boiled some water. After setting up the teapot, he leaned back against the counter and closed his eyes. Will he ever be the same again?

 

The teapot began to whistle, and Heero poured it into a cup with a teabag, waiting a bit for it to steep. He made sure to add in some honey; Duo never could stand the taste of plain tea. Once it was ready, he carried it with him to Duo's room.

 

He knocked twice on the door. When no answer came, he cautiously opened it. “Duo?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Heero opened the door all the way to see that Duo was sitting in bed. The pants he had been wearing before were neatly folded on the edge of his bed. “I brought you your tea.” Duo looked at him blankly. “Oh… right. You always used to drink tea before bed.”

 

“Oh,” said Duo. Heero handed him the cup. Duo cradled it carefully in his hands. “It's hot.”

 

“Yeah, give it a minute. It will cool down.”

 

Duo nodded, and looked down at the cup. Heero put away the pair of pants in a drawer, and sat down in a chair. The silence stretched for what felt like forever, and just when Heero thought he couldn't take it anymore, Duo said, quietly, “I'm sorry.”

 

Heero blinked. “Why?”

 

“I'm not usually like this.” Duo said it haltingly, as if he were unsure of himself. Which he probably was. He looked up at Heero, his eyes hauntingly lost, and said, “I will remember who I am, right? You'll help me?”

 

It tore at his heart. Heero sat down on the bed, careful to avoid Duo's leg. “Of course I'll help you. You're my best friend, remember? It'll get better.” Duo nodded, but the lost look didn't leave his eyes.

 

What do I do? thought Heero helplessly. What can I do?He thought quickly of all the things that Duo enjoyed, and came up with a solution. “We'll go out tomorrow.” He inwardly winced at his choice of words, but forced himself to look Duo in the eye.

 

“Where?”

 

Heero hesitated before saying, “Around. You used to just wander when you had the chance. I'll take you to some of the places you went to a lot. Maybe it will help you remember things.” As an afterthought, he added, “And I'll get you a wheelchair from Sally. She's a friend of ours, a doctor. It will hurt your leg to be on it all day.”

 

Duo pouted, but before he could protest, Heero stood up. “Drink your tea, and go to sleep. We'll have fun tomorrow.” He left the room.

 

Duo stared at the door for a moment before turning back to his tea and taking a sip.