Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Falls the Shadow ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

C H A P T E R 2

"Hold still. If you don't squirm, it won't hurt so much." The nurse applied more antibiotics to the wound on Quatre's neck.

Her statement, naturally, was a lie. He hadn't moved an inch during the whole process and it still caused waves of pain to pulse through his throat. Quatre hated when the bandages had to be changed, since that meant that the doctor would examine the wound, otherwise known as looking at it, poking it, and flushing it out. Then a nurse would tend to his neck with antibiotic creams and sprays, then wrap it up with a fresh bandage. This process happened often, since wounds to the neck were considered "problematic," and every single time it smarted.

Not that he could do anything about it. It had to be done, and Quatre had to admit that his neck was healing quite well, as far as he could tell. Besides, it wasn't the worst the hospital had thrown at him in the name of healing. That honor went to the shrink, who insisted that Quatre had an ulterior motive for forgetting what had happened and prescribed various antidepressants that the hospital would inevitably force him to take. No one seemed to understand that Quatre didn't want to die.

Quatre's venting thoughts were interrupted with a "There. All done." He turned slightly to face the nurse, careful not to strain his neck.

"Thank you." After all, it wasn't her fault that he was in pain.

The nurse gathered the first-aid supplies together and began to leave the room. At the door, however, she stopped and turned back. "Oh, yeah. Someone wishes to see you. Are you up to it?"

Being a supposed `suicide' victim, Quatre had to approve all visitors, and, even if he didn't consider himself suicidal, he was glad to have the option. At times he had been too frustrated, confused, or-he'd admit it-depressed to see anyone, especially those closest to him. At different times, he'd turned away Trowa, Dorothy, and a couple of Maganacs; they returned some time thereafter when Quatre felt better and were allowed in. Others, such as Duo and Rasid, were lucky enough to get in on the first try. Funny, how he had begun to ride the emotional rollercoaster only after receiving treatment for it.

Today, he was just sore.

"Who is it?"

The nurse looked down at her clipboard. "Diana Simen. She's from the Preventers and talked to you before. Do you remember?"

'Preventers?' The last thing Quatre wanted to do was talk with someone else about how he 'felt,' but he knew better than to say no. "Yes, I remember. I'll see her."

The nurse left, and soon a woman about Quatre's age came and took a seat next to his bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Fine."

Diana caught hint of exasperation in his voice. "Listen, I'm not here to condemn you. I wanted to see if you were any better, and I have a couple more questions. You were pretty affected when I last talked with you. And I'm not just talking about the painkillers; you took the news pretty hard. Then again, you don't usually wake up in a hospital and sit in confusion until a Preventer tells you that you're suspected of attempting suicide. I'd have taken it hard, too."

Quatre looked at her, hints of confusion crossing his face. "It sounds like you believe my story."

"Well, I…" Diana sighed, looked down at her notes, then straight into Quatre's eyes. "Listen, I know you went through some hard times during the war. I understand that. You've come to deal with your pain, loss, and guilt, and I understand that, too. No matter how deep I dig-and trust me, I've dug through a couple of planets-I can't find any warnings of suicide. At all. That's rare, Quatre. Usually there's something, no matter how minute, and usually I can locate it. You left nothing. That reason alone redeems you from `suicide' status in my mind."

Quatre wanted to kiss her.

"Don't get me wrong, Quatre. I still say you physically did it," Diana added, sensing Quatre's relief. "There's no evidence to redeem you from that, and that's the part of this case that's driving me up a wall."

"I don't understand."

Diana had a feeling he wouldn't. "I think that maybe, just maybe, you were hypnotized into doing it."

After a small eternity of dead silence, Quatre reacted. He reached around Diana into the drawer next to his bed and pulled out a small box. From it, he produced a letter. "Never hypnotized, as far as I know, but you should see this." He handed the letter to her. "Some person in black gave this to me. He-or she, I couldn't tell-handed me this note, kissed my forehead, and then I passed out. I haven't read it."

Diana looked the letter over in her hands, touched and slightly confused that he trusted her with it. "You haven't told anyone else?"

"Not a word."

`So he hasn't even told those closest to him. Why trust me? …Must be because I believe him' "May I read it?" Quatre nodded his approval, and Diana opened it and began to read it aloud. It was Quatre's letter, and he deserved to hear it. " `To the One Tainted with Death.' I take it that's you, Quatre. No wonder you stopped reading." Diana took a breath, then continued:

" `We are Your humble servants, the Sulegna. You know nothing of us, but You'll come to be intimate with us in time. After all, You will lead us.

" `It was our influence that caused You to injure Yourself. To understand that, You must understand that our Divine Leader, Wodahs, died in such a way. For You to follow Him, You must start at His end. Forgive the pain, Sire. We imagine You have felt it before.

" `Our influence is Yours. Do not try to alter Your fate, Master. It is Yours beyond control.'

"Signed, `the Order of Wodahs, the Sulegna.' " Her eyes slowly peered over the paper, finding Quatre looking as uncomfortable about the contents of the letter as she felt. Beyond Quatre, she thought she saw a shadow, but it disappeared after she blinked. Fighting the cold chill that ran down her spine, she turned back to Quatre. "They… address you as though they were addressing God… they do that for this Wodahs guy, too. I wonder who he is… or was, I guess…"

Quatre sat in silence, pondering the situation while Diana babbled, thinking aloud. Some idea wanted to click in his head, but something stopped the connection from happening. For some reason, his mind had clouded up.

"…it's just damn creepy," Diana finished, cutting into Quatre's attempts at logical thought. She looked him over, noticing something different in his posture and aura. "What's wrong?"

Quatre looked up at Diana and gave her his best attempt at a smile, hoping that she would either buy it or decide to leave well enough alone. "I… just thinking, that's all."

The problem was, he couldn't.