Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 113 ( Chapter 113 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

“Family Ties”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 113


[Preventer Headquarters – Medical Section]

Wufei walked slowly along the corridors, Heero beside him and back to where Trowa and Doctor Phillips would be waiting for them. Neither man spoke, each locked in his own thoughts. Entering the treatment room, Trowa gave them a small smile.

Noting the plaster cast on Trowa’s leg, Wufei spoke first. “Has Doctor Phillips finished with you?”

“Yes. The cast, as you can see, is on and it’s almost set hard enough. The doc has gone to clean up a little before treating Heero and yourself,” Trowa replied.

Another scowl from Wufei and a resigned sigh from Heero were his answer. Heero took a seat, the exhaustion in his body beginning to get the better of his control. Wufei remained standing.

“How is Duo?” Trowa asked politely.

“Sally is operating on him now. We should know more in a few hours,” Heero replied.

“I’m not quite sure if congratulations are apt at this point,” Trowa said cautiously, unsure of Heero’s reaction.

Heero couldn’t help the small smile. Deep inside he was overjoyed he was going to be a father again, but the joy was overshadowed by Duo’s current state of health and the unknown factor of his body being able to cope with the second pregnancy. This one would be harder as Duo was seriously injured and his body had enough to deal with in trying to repair itself; with the added baby to cope with too, well... That was something Heero dared not think about. He was sure Sally would be able to give them a much clearer prognosis once the surgery was complete.

“Congratulations are welcome,” Heero said softly. “Although, it might be wise to hold onto them for the moment until Sally has finished in surgery and we get the full run down on Duo’s condition and outlook.”

Trowa could see the logic in that.

Doctor Philips returned, a nurse with him and introduced himself to Heero. Checking Trowa’s cast and satisfied it had set hard, he allowed Trowa off the examination bed and into the chair Heero had been sitting in. The nurse changed the linen on the bed and Heero took up residence.

“Now, Agent Day, let me see to that wound for you.” Phillips reached for the small trolley that contained a variety of instruments and pulled it closer. “Could you remove the top half of the flight suit, please?” Picking up the chart that the nurse had brought, Phillips read through the notes whilst Heero attempted to remove the top half of the flight suit.

Pulling the tight garment from his arms and torso wasn’t as easy as it should be. The bullet graze had bled sluggishly for a while before clotting over. The blood had dried over the passage of time and now the tattered edges of the  flight suit where the bullet had creased were stuck to the wound. The copious amounts of sweating Heero had done didn’t help matters either.

Wufei stepped forward and gave the man a hand, pulling gently or holding onto the end of the sleeve as Heero did his best to extricate his arm. When the fabric pulled free from the wound, it started bleeding again, this time a little more strongly. At last the top half of the suit was free and bunched around Heero’s abdomen.

Carefully, Phillips explored the wound, noting the depth and angle of the graze. He swabbed away as gently as he could, cleaning all the dried blood and removing a few bits of fabric that had decided to attach themselves permanently to Heero’s skin.

“You are very lucky, agent. If this had gone a fraction deeper we would have major muscle damage. As it is, the muscle is torn, but it will repair itself. I think we will be able to get away with a few stitches and lots of rest for that muscle as it heals.”

Heero grunted. He didn't really care what his arm went through, his concerns lay a few corridors over on an operating table. “Just do whatever it is you have to, Doc,” Heero said, his voice a little gruff. “Just hurry it up.”

Phillips looked a little startled by the rough tone but reached for the anesthetic anyway. “I’ll just give you a shot of local anesthetic so there’s no pain.”

Heero shrugged; he was used to pain, but right now, nothing other than Duo was registering with him.

Picking up the needle and bottle of anesthetic, Phillips began to draw the plunger back, pulling the clear liquid into the syringe. With the required amount in the syringe, the doctor began to task of injecting the wound site. Once he was satisfied he set the needle aside. “Whilst we wait for that to take effect, I’ll give you a quick check over,” Doctor Phillips advised. He’d noted a few bruises on the agent and wanted to be sure he didn’t miss anything.

Resigning himself to being poked and prodded, Heero grit his teeth and did his best not to react in an adverse way. He didn’t think Une would be too pleased with him if he were to lay the doctor out cold.

Having taken a look at Heero’s various bumps, bruises and minor scrapes, he was satisfied the bullet wound was the only one that needed treatment. The other injuries were really insignificant and once the agent had a shower and washed any grime from them they would heal up by themselves.

“Can you feel this?” Phillips asked as he gently pushed against the side of the bullet wound.

“No.”

“I think we can start then. Nurse?”

The nurse appeared at the side and handed the doctor the swabs and antiseptic as he required them. The wound was completely cleaned and flushed out and only when the doctor was satisfied that any and all foreign matter was removed did he ask for the needle and suture thread.

Phillips worked in silence, it was obvious the agent didn’t want to talk, his mind occupied with something else entirely, so Phillips stitched and snipped, wiping away the blood as it seeped out. A short while later the wound was closed, a neat row of stitches the only thing to show for where the bullet had dared to bite into Heero’s biceps.

Antibiotic cream was applied followed by gauze and then a bandage wrapped firmly around the arm. “I’ll just give you a shot of antibiotic to ward off any infection and you’re all set to go,” Phillips said.

Heero waited patiently for the doctor to finish, jumping off the bed once the injection of antibiotic had been given. “Thank you,” he stated.

“You’re welcome. Keep it dry for the next couple of days, then change the dressing each day for ten days. The stitches can come out after the ten days and it should be safe to leave it open to the air. You will need to rest the arm as much as possible to give those muscles a chance to heal properly. Have Doctor Po check the wound in two days time. I’ll send her through a full report.”

Nodding, Heero moved to stand by the door, leaving the bed free for Wufei.

“Next,” Doctor Phillips said with a smile on his face.

Still with the scowl on his face, Wufei approached and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’ll need you to release the pony tail,” Phillips said.

The scowl deepened, but Wufei did as requested, the black locks falling around his face.

Carefully the doctor sifted through the hair, Wufei wincing once when the doctor accidentally pulled on a few strands that were matted together with dried blood. The cut wasn’t too deep, but it was long. Phillips studied it intently, working out if he would need to cut some of Wufei’s hair to be able to stitch it. Given the increasing scowl, Phillips opted to try using butterfly clips instead; he didn’t think the agent would react too kindly to having his hair shaved off in one strip.

“I’ll flush this wound out and if I’m correct in my thinking, I should be able to close it up with a few butterfly clips and avoid cutting the hair,” Phillips informed Wufei.

A relieved sigh escaped Wufei’s lips. “Good.” He hadn’t liked the thought of possibly having to have his hair cut. Whilst he usually wore it in a pony tail for practicality, he had taken to wearing it loose when at home and he didn’t mind the soft strands playing around his face. The fact that he’d been dating Sally for a short while and Sally loved his hair down had nothing to do with it at all.

The nurse draped a towel around Wufei’s shoulders and handed over the necessary items as the doctor called for them. Again the wound was washed out, antiseptic swabs used to clean it thoroughly and then the butterfly clips put into place. A little antibiotic cream, injection of antibiotic and instructions to keep his hair dry for the next couple of days and Wufei was done.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Wufei said as he climbed down from the bed. He could see Heero fidgeting from the corner of his eye and knew if he didn’t get moving very soon, the Japanese man would be off without him.

“I’ll just get see if I can find a wheelchair...”

“I’d prefer crutches,” Trowa said, cutting the nurse off. He’d had more than enough experiences with wheelchairs to last him a lifetime. One glance at Wufei and the sentiment was mirrored.

“But, your shoulder-” the nurse began to protest.

“Crutches,” Trowa said firmly. Despite the shoulder being strapped, Trowa was determined to put up with a little discomfort if necessary and avoid a wheelchair at all costs.

The nurse gave in and went to fetch a pair of the requested items. Moments later she returned with them and adjusted them for Trowa’s height.

With all three agents now reasonably mobile, they thanked the doctor and prepared to leave.

* * *

[Winner Shuttle – Sandrock Construction 42]

“Mr. Winner... Mr. Winner, time to wake up.”

The soft calling of his name had Quatre rising slowly from the depths of sleep. His hand groped around for the non-existent gun as he came fully awake and then relaxed when he recognized the voice.  He was glad that the Captain hadn’t tried to shake him awake, the reaction could have had quite serious repercussions for the man.

“Yes, Monty? I’m awake,” Quatre replied as he mentally reminded himself this was a friend, not foe.

“We are approaching the Earth, sir. The Preventer shuttle port has been in contact and we have our flight plan for re-entry. The window will be coming up in an hour and we estimate an hour and a half to two hours before we are on the ground,” Montgomery replied.

“Thanks, Monty.” Quatre stretched and yawned. “I’ll come up to the cockpit in a few minutes.”

“Right you are, sir.” Montgomery turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

Quatre rolled over and yawned again. He could have done with a few hours more sleep, but that wasn't an option, he would have to make do with what he’d managed to get. Slipping off the bed, he stood, scratched his belly and tugged the coveralls back down from where they had bunched up around his groin. Fingers ran through golden bangs, the hair remaining wild despite his attempts to finger comb it. A trip to the bathroom had him feeling better and the cold water splashed on his face completely woke him up.

Quatre’s heart was lighter than it had been for days as he made his way to the cockpit. Not too much longer before he would be able to see his husband and friends again and get an update on what was going on with Duo.

Duo...

A frown marred Quatre’s face as he tried to reach out with his empathy and feel his friend. He could only pick up on the very faintest traces of Duo’s life force and that had him worried. He hoped the reason for that was because Duo was under anesthetic and in Sally’s care.  Until he was back at Preventer Headquarters, he wouldn’t know for sure what was going on.

The door to the cockpit was open and Quatre stepped inside the area. Being a commercial shuttle and a large transporter at that, the shuttle’s cockpit was quite large and four people could fit in quite easily. Quatre sat in the vacant chair behind the copilot’s seat.

Montgomery and the copilot – Roberts – were currently engaged in conversation with Storm at the Preventer  shuttle port, Roberts logging in the data to the on board computer that Storm was giving him for the computer to bring the shuttle in on the correct angle and trajectory.

Occupying the other seat in the cockpit was Kahmil, the shuttle’s navigator. His attention was fixed on the shuttle’s computer, checking the input of data against the manually compiled ones.

With everything logged in, the communication with Storm ceased for the moment. The shuttle would be entering the atmosphere very shortly and all radio signal would be lost for a short period of time. Roberts reached for the button to the shuttle’s intercom system and advised all the crew to head for their designated seats and strap in for the re-entry.

Quatre did up the harness attached to the seat he was occupying and watched the men work. He was a little nervous, same as all the ex-pilots were when someone else was at the controls – it was a trait they would never lose, but he wasn’t worried. Montgomery was one of the best pilots currently in the Winner Industries employ.

Doing his best to relax, Quatre sank into the seat and listened to the conversations passing between the three men. Altitude, airspeed, thrust, angle, trajectory; all these things and more were passed between the men as they followed the flight path given them by Storm.

“Here we go,” Monty stated as the layers of gasses began to be breached by the craft.

The shuttle’s nose broke through the first layers, cutting in cleanly. The heat shields on the outside of the shuttle began to glow as the temperature increased, the friction of the gasses against its skin heating the plates up rapidly. Yellow, orange and red, followed by a bluish white glow surrounded the craft as she pushed her way through. Aside from the heat friction, the shuttle bounced and vibrated, shaking heavily as the air around her parted but buffeted the craft as she made her way steadily towards the planet surface.

Quatre had been through worse, much worse during the war when entering the Earth atmosphere. Gundams were not the best craft to re-enter the atmosphere in. Despite being built for space and more than capable of handling the stresses of the gasses, they were a smaller machine and tended to be a lot less stable than a shuttle, consequently, the pilot usually got tossed around quite a bit in the cockpit.

The blackness began to give way, the resistance of the gasses eased and the craft broke through into the blue of the Earth skies. Slowly but steadily, the shuttle lost altitude, steadying her speed as she traveled above the planet. Clouds began to appear below, getting closer and closer, the sunlight that had greeted them began to fade a little as they continued in their flight around the globe.

It would be early morning at Preventer Headquarters when they finally touched down so Quatre wasn’t surprised to see the sun retreating. They would meet up with it again very shortly as it broke across the horizon in the usual Dawn fashion.

Radio contact was returned, Roberts conversing with Storm and making slight adjustments as they approached their goal. Within another half hour, the shuttle port was visible. Monty steadied the craft, Roberts deploying the landing gear as they lowered gracefully towards the runway. Immediately the wheels touched down, Roberts released the parachute, Montgomery easing the engines back and applying the braking system. The huge craft shuddered, roared and bucked, eventually giving in and slowing her forward momentum.

As the craft came to a sedate ‘crawl’, the parachute was dropped, a small utility vehicle shooting out to fetch it and have it repacked and put back on board for when the shuttle was ready to leave. They taxied off the runway, following the instructions and yellow lines on the tarmac to bay eight. Storm had agreed to allow the shuttle to use the Preventer service vehicles to refuel and check the craft over before they would leave and return to their original destination and continue with their work.

Rolling to a stop in their designated bay, Montgomery began to shut the craft down, Roberts assisting him whilst Kahmil checked off their flight plan and began to prepare the new one for their departure. Once the all clear was given, Quatre was undoing his harness and preparing to leave.

“Thank you, Monty for bringing me back,” Quatre said as he shook the Captain’s hand.

“It has been my pleasure, Mr Winner,” returned Montgomery. “I hope that all is well and you have good news when you get to Preventer Headquarters.”

“Thanks, Monty. I’m sorry I can’t enlighten you any further.”

Montgomery waved him off. “I quite understand. All the best, sir.”

With a smile and wave, Quatre exited the shuttle and climbed into the waiting transport vehicle which took him directly to Captain Storm. After a short debrief with Storm, Quatre was whisked away to  a waiting Preventer car and driven directly to Headquarters to be reunited with the rest of the ex-pilots.

* * *

[Preventer Headquarters]

Commander Une finished her conversation with Agent Wind and exited the small doctor’s office she’d commandeered to take the call in. Walking quickly down the corridors of the medical section, she began to ask herself just where Sally would have ordered the injured agents be taken for treatment. She knew the woman would be looking after Agent Night herself, but the other agents were also hurt and would require medical assistance, plus she wanted to speak with Hawkins too.

‘Maybe asking at the nurse’s station would be a good idea,’ she thought to herself.

The nurse looked up as a shadow fell across the desk she was working at. “Oh, Commander. What brings you here?”

“Several injured agents were brought in by helicopter along with Doctor Po. I need to know where they are being treated and by whom.”

“One moment, Commander.” The nurse turned to her left and began to look through a pile of clipboards. Not finding what she wanted, she got up and walked across the station to the other side where a large, white board sat temporarily leaning against the wall. Scanning down it, she turned to the Commander. “Do you know the agents’ names, ma’am?”

“Agents, Night, Day, Fire and Air. There should also be a civilian by the name of Hawkins with them.”

“Agent Night is with Doctor Po in sector three. The other three agents are being treated by Doctor Phillips in sector one.  The man, Hawkins was being assessed by Doctor Lestine in sector five. I can page them if you wish?”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll go through myself and see if I can find them.” Une looked briefly at the layout map of the medical wing and set off in the direction of sector three. She didn’t expect to be able to speak with Sally, but if she knew Day, he would be waiting for his partner and possibly be able to let her know more on Night’s condition.

She was quite surprised when she walked into the pre-op room and found it vacant. The red light was on above the operating theater door so she knew Sally was in there and she wasn’t about to go anywhere near that door. Turning, she went out and towards sector one.

Rounding the corner, she could hear voices ahead and recognized Wufei’s voice first, then Trowa’s. Seemed the pair were arguing about something.

Entering the treatment room she gave an amused smile as she spotted Trowa doing his best to get a pair of crutches under his arms. “Gentlemen.”

“Ah, Commander,” Wufei replied. “We were just about to leave and go in search of Miss Peacecraft and Yuy’s son.”

“Before you do, I’d like an update.” Seeing the scowl on Heero’s face, she spoke again. “A brief one in relation to your injuries. Agent Day, you can brief me on your partner’s injuries a little later when we return to wait for Sally to finish operating.”

Heero gave a relieved nod. All he wanted to do was get his son and sit and wait for Duo to come out of theater – and the sooner he could do that, the better.

Doctor Phillips entered the room to check on Trowa and the crutches, greeting the Commander and giving her the run down on all three agents’ current injuries and the treatment they had received, saving the agents from having to try and explain themselves.

Satisfied with that, Une asked for a full report to be written up and submitted to her at the doctor’s earliest convenience. “All three are clear to leave?” she asked.

“Yes, they are. Although I would be a lot happier if Agent Air were to stay in overnight mainly for observation. That was a pretty nasty blow to the head, plus his ankle will be very sore once the anesthetic wears off.”

One glance at the dark look on Trowa’s face confirmed that the agent had no intention of staying in the hospital. “Point noted, doctor. Now, if they are clear to leave, I suggest we do so. There’s a lot that needs to be discussed.”

Moving slower than he would have liked due to Trowa and his crutches, Heero tried not to show his impatience as they moved through the medical wing.

“Agent Fire, take Air and go to the canteen and get something to eat and drink, pick up something for Day too, please. I’ll go with Yuy to fetch his son and we will meet you back in the waiting room by pre-op room three,” Une ordered.

Noting the glint in the Commander’s eye and the tone she used, Wufei didn’t bother to protest. “Yes, ma’am.”

Une continued to walk with Heero into the main section of the Preventer building. “Relena is looking after Keitaro in the creche area.”

“Thank you.”

“Whilst we’re on our way there, I want you to tell me exactly how badly injured Duo is.”

Heero gave a soft sigh and began to speak.

* * *

[Operating Room]

Keeping her hand steady, Sally carefully incised the skin of Duo’s abdomen close to where the knife was sitting. With slow precision she peeled back the skin and muscles of the abdominal wall, eyes constantly on the alert.

“How is it looking?” asked Margaret.

“It could have been a whole lot worse,” Sally replied as she carefully moved Duo’s intestines to check on his other organs. The malformed uterus came into sight, swollen with the child inside and the knife blade resting against it. “Shit, that was close,” Sally muttered.

Margaret peered over Sally’s shoulder. “Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed.

“There’s a little bit of internal bleeding, but I don’t know where it is coming from,” Sally said as she looked harder to try and find the source. Probing gently, she checked all around the knife, relieved to find it wasn’t embedded in anything. “I think we can safely remove this now,’ she told the nurse.

Nodding, Nurse Brown picked up a pile of swabs, dabbing a few at the wound and giving Sally a much clearer look at what she was doing.

Grasping the knife hilt, Sally began to withdraw the metal, pulling very gently. Here eyes were riveted to Duo’s insides,holding her breath as the knife came slowly out and watching for any sign of sudden bleeding. The knife slipped out easily enough, Sally depositing it into the kidney dish Margaret had ready for her.

“He’s beginning to bleed a lot,” the nurse stated and began to swab.

“Shit! Where is it coming from?” Frantically Sally probed around, the nurse doing her best to flush the area with saline and swab up the blood so Sally could see more clearly.

“It’s coming from down there,” Margaret pointed out when she spotted a fresh stream after she’d swabbed.

Immediately Sally was investigating, forceps pushing in and fishing around. “Oh fuck,” she muttered.

An eyebrow shot up on the nurse’s forehead. “Doctor!?”

“Sorry, but, well, this is not good.”

“You found the bleed?”

“Yeah. That blade has sliced Duo’s ovary.”

“No,” the nurse whispered.

“I’m afraid so, and I don’t think I can fix it.”

The nurse and the doctor looked at each other for a moment. Then Sally took another look at the injury, carefully examining the ovary and checking it from all angles. Her mind ran through many possibilities, each one being dismissed as she observed the amount of damage. Having run through every option she could think of, there was only one conclusion.

“I can’t leave it, Duo will bleed to death. The cut is across three quarters of the ovary and half way through, there’s just no way I can repair that sort of damage. Even if I stitch it up, chances are the ovary won’t heal and it will die.”

“That only leaves...”

Sally averted her eyes. “Yes, Margaret. I’ll have to remove it,” Sally whispered.

“You will need to speak with Heero, let him know and ask for his consent to remove it,” Margaret said.

“I know.” Sally’s face was grim. “Why did this have to happen to Duo? Hasn’t he been through enough?” she questioned to no one in particular. “This is so unfair.”

“Life is never fair,” Margaret said, her tone soft as she rested a reassuring hand on Sally’s arm. “At least he still has this child to carry and look forward to.”

Sally took a  small amount of comfort from that. “And you can bet I’ll do every damn thing I can to see that this child is born safe and healthy,” she vowed.

~ * ~

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