Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eternal Betrayal (Extended) ❯ Ch. 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: GW is not mine. Only Sanji, Ran, the three ships, and Sanctuary are. That's about all I own. Please refrain from suing this jobless high school junior.

 

Chapter 4

Fractured Body

 

January 4th, AC 202

Duo gasped for breath after he put the large box down on the table. `Something's not right…' he thought quickly, but he ignored his aching body's protests. “Thanks for all the help you've given us moving, sir,” the woman said nervously.

The braided captain grinned. “Please, call me Duo. `Sir' sounds too formal for someone who's barely 20.” The woman blushed slightly. She held her newborn child closer to her unconsciously.

“Are you alright?” she asked suddenly.

“What makes you ask that?” Duo looked at her questioningly.

“You look a little pale, and moving the boxes into the house seems to have exhausted you.”

Duo forced a grin. “I haven't been getting much sleep lately.” It wasn't the total truth, but it wasn't a lie either. He hadn't been getting any sleep at all; his body felt like it was on fire. “Well, I really need to get going… Call if you need anything else.”

“Okay, I will.”

 

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“I'm going to bed,” Duo said calmly. Instantly five heads rose.

Hilde walked over to her friend. “You seem pale… Are you feeling ok?”

Duo nodded. “Yeah. Just haven't been sleeping well lately.” He began to walk up the stairs. “Plus I have to go reprogram Sanctuary's encryption software tomorrow.”

“Well, we'll see you tomorrow night.” Duo waved her good-night and continued to climb the stairs. Once he was sure he couldn't be seen by anyone downstairs, he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. He was getting more and more tired with each day. Simple tasks exhausted him, and his burning body kept him awake at night.

He walked slowly to his room and opened the door. He felt so… exhausted. He dragged his feet over to his bed and collapsed. He tried to will himself asleep, but the heat he felt refused to yield. Duo knew he was in for a long night.

 

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Duo sat down at the computer terminal. He took out his notebook and turned to the proper page. He stretched, cracking his knuckles. After logging into the system, he opened the program. Lines upon lines of code appeared on the screen. He glanced down at the notes he'd written the previous week. “Time to get started,” he muttered.

When he looked back at the screen, his world spun. He grabbed the terminal's side. `Dammit all…' Darkness swept over his vision, and the last thing he remembered was the pain of hitting the metal station as he fell forward.

 

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The braided captain struggled to open his eyes. He moved his hand slightly and felt the metal floor. His head was propped up on someone's coat. He managed to get his eyes open. “Ah! He's awake!” someone yelled. Duo cringed at the loud voice breaking into his pounding headache.

Duo turned his head towards the noise. He recognized the doctor standing a few feet away. “Damitri?” The man looked at him.

“Duo, how are you feeling?”

“My head's killing me…”

Damitri gave a soft laugh. “You took two excellent hits from very hard objects. I'm surprised you didn't lose more blood than you did.” Duo tried to get up. “Let's take you back to my house. I need to make sure everything's alright.”

“No, I'm fine,” Duo said calmly. He managed to get to his feet and walked over to the computer terminal. “I haven't been sleeping very well.”

“Very well,” Damitri said. “I'll send some sleeping pills over to your house later.”

Duo sighed. “Sure.”

 

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Duo looked over at the small bottle of pills sitting on his dresser. He didn't want to rely on medicine to function, but he was just so tired. He reached over and picked the bottle up. He quickly removed the cap and tilting it slightly, retrieved the recommended dosage. He swallowed them dry. He climbed into bed, hoping to finally fall asleep. He closed his eyes and took two deep breaths before he slipped into sleep's embrace.

 

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Wufei jerked awake when he heard someone run down the hall towards the bathroom. He looked over at his other roommates. Trowa and Heero were already out of their beds and walking towards the door. The Japanese man eased the door open, and Trowa took the lead of the group.

The bathroom light was on, and the door was slightly open. The group could hear someone gasping for breath and the disgusting sounds of vomit hitting water. Trowa walked over to the door. He looked into the bathroom.

He was surprised to see Duo bent over the toilet. The braid was tucked under his tank top to avoid getting any puke in it. The pale face was slick with sweat, and the long bangs stuck to his skin. His eyes were squeezed shut as his stomach muscles painfully contracted.

However the sudden bout of sickness ending quickly, and Duo sank to the ground, exhausted. His back rose and fell as he took deep breaths. Trowa turned away from the door. “It's Duo,” he whispered to the other pilots. “I think he's sick…”

“He can take care of himself,” Heero said coldly. The other three pilots looked at him.

 

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Duo sighed deeply. He was exhausted; Damitri's pills were not helping him much. In fact, every time he took them, he was in the bathroom, his stomach eager to get rid of them. He caught himself falling asleep again. He shook his head vigorously to wake himself up. Tonight, no one was on the bridge of the Eternity except him; it was past midnight already.

The braided captain walked up the stairs to the raised navigation center. He felt his body, despite burning inside, want to sleep. He was on the verge of a massive meltdown. He could feel it on the edge of his consciousness. He just wanted to be free from his pain-wracked body. He noticed a coat with a removable tie hanging from a nearby chair. He just wanted to be free…

 

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Sanji walked into the large bridge area of the Eternity. He knew that Duo would come here when he couldn't sleep. He always did. Sanji had long since learned that Duo Maxwell, leader of the Sanctuary colony, was a horrible creature of habit.

The captain of the Destiny froze. He could see Duo hanging from a bar above the navigation center. Sanji ran over to the unconscious man. He righted the chair and got up on it. Duo was slender, almost dangerously underweight, so lifting him wasn't hard for the captain. Duo's head rolled onto Sanji's shoulder as he was lifted out of the noose's death grip. The braided young man was already blue. Sanji wasted no time cutting the tie above Duo's head and lowering both of them to the floor.

Duo was still unconscious from his suicide attempt, and he wasn't breathing either. “Shit,” Sanji swore under his breath. He cut the tie around Duo's neck. He began doing CPR on the near-dead man. He pressed his lips onto Duo's pale blue ones and forced air into the lifeless body. “Don't die on me, damn you!” Sanji paused when he felt something gentle go across his skin. He leaned in close to Duo's mouth. There it was again. Duo was breathing; he had alive.

 

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Wufei jerked awake when he heard the phone ring. Someone ran downstairs to answer it; Wufei knew it was probably Hilde. He listened to the muted conversation, but he couldn't make out any words. Hilde ran over to a coat closet. She grabbed a light coat and ran outside. Wufei watched her disappear into the night.

 

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Duo stood in front of the large tank. He could barely make out the beautiful women floating in the strange liquid. One came up to the fiberglass. “Hello, Asuka,” he said softly. He placed his hand on the glass. She rested hers against his.

It is good to see you again, Duo. Her `voice' echoed in his mind. The events on Earth had all of us deeply troubled… Especially Hotaru…

“Well, they're in the past now. Tell Hotaru I'm fine.” He coughed slightly. He touched the bandage around his neck gently. He couldn't remembered what he did last night that could have triggered the suicide, and he had barely managed to convince Hilde, Damitri, Sanji, and Ran to let him come down here alone. He hated the controls they'd set on his life. Just like Relena… He frowned at the thought and crushed it mercilessly under his feet.

You're not well... Duo felt the Angel brush against his memories. You need to get some rest.

Duo looked up at her. Duo grinned. “I'll be fine; I'll get some sleep later. I wanted to make sure you all were alright.” He coughed again. His chest burned for air suddenly. He used his free hand to try covering several more painful coughs. He tasted metal. Fearing for the worse, he looked down at his hand. It was covered in bright crimson blood. His chest heaved with the effort of ridding his lungs of the fluid. He sank to the ground. Blood dripped through his fingers, staining the ground. He kept his other hand on the glass. He could hear the Angels screaming inside. His chest burned, but he felt like he was drowning. He knew he probably was. In his own blood. His hand slid off the glass as the braided captain fell unconscious. A single word escaped his lips. “Heero…”

 

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Quatre heard something crying. “What is that?” Hilde looked up at him.

“What? That sound? It's the Angels. They do this sometimes. Like when someone's dying, they sing like this, and when someone's born, it's happy and cheerful,” she said. “But I wonder who they're singing for…”

Quatre wasn't paying any attention. He saw a sad voice touch his mind. An empath of the highest order… You must listen to me carefully… Please send someone to help him… He doesn't have much time…

Trowa glanced over at the small blonde. “Quatre? Are you alright?”

The aquamarine eyes cleared and looked up into Trowa's emerald eyes. “I think an angel just spoke to me…”

“Duo said that people with telepathic abilities can talk to the Angels across distances, but he always has to physically touch the glass of their enclosure. In fact, he should be there right now,” Hilde said. Suddenly she froze and paled. “Don't tell me…” She ran to the phone. She dialed a number. “This is Hilde! I need someone to go down to the Angel room right now! It's an emergency!” She slammed the phone down.

 

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“I'm amazed he's still alive…”

“His fever's gone down.”

“He's reacting well to treatment, Doctor.”

Duo's eyes slowly opened. “Welcome back to the world of the living, Duo,” Damitri said, leaning over the patient. Duo blinked each time the doctor waved the bright light in front of his eyes. “Good.” He grabbed Duo's hand. “Do you feel this?” The captain nodded. The doctor brushed his pen on the bottom of Duo's foot. “And this?” Duo nodded again. “Now wiggle your toes and fingers for me.” Despite his embarrassment over such a childish exercise, he did as he was told. “Good, good. We were worried that you wouldn't be able to move, but the virus didn't affect your nervous system. Now how do you feel?”

“Like crap,” Duo said, his voice shaky. “How'd I get here? What day is it?”

“Sanji found you unconscious in the Angel room covered in blood. Tests indicate you had a rare strain of a hybrid virus. It was the same one that killed those 8 people last month. You were in a drug-induced coma for about 3 weeks.”

“Three weeks… Wait. You found a cure?”

Damitri nodded. “You'll have to stay in the hospital for a while, but I won't prevent you from working.” He turned away from the braided captain. “Your friends were here quite a few times while you were unconscious. They were genuinely concerned.”

“Doctor O'Neill, please report to the Emergency Room. Doctor O'Neill, please report to the Emergency Room,” the nurse at the front office announced.

The doctor sighed. “Well, I must be off. A nurse will come in later to see if you'll keep some food down.” Duo smiled slightly. “I want you to get some sleep. Doctor's orders overrule those of a patient's.” Duo allowed himself to laugh at the underlying joke in the statement. Damitri smiled. “I'll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you later.”