Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mistaken Words ❯ The Consequences of One's Actions ( Chapter 22 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Mistaken Words

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing

The Consequences of One's Actions

Wufei ran a hand over his smoothed back hair, and breathed a sigh of relief as Zechs left the room. The feeling was not to last long, however, as he looked down and truly saw Heero for the first time. The amount of blood he was seeing seemed almost incomprehensible. The former pilot was nearly unrecognisable to him, his form having wasted away to almost nothing, and his features coated thickly in blood. Wufei moved into action instantly quickly crossing to the back of the cargo hold to get the first aid kit he had stored there earlier. It was a standard issue military kit, but had been tweaked by Sally while keeping them in mind; it could basically handle most any dire situations.

Trying to keep a calm and cool head about this was difficult especially as he knelt by Heero's side, and could really begin to see the damage that had been done, and not just a bloody mess seen from afar. The former pilot seemed to have lost consciousness at some point, and Wufei quickly pressed a finger to his neck to make sure he hadn't passed further than that. His first goal was to stop the bleeding; a monumental task on it's own, and above all he had to remain calm and focused. If he let himself become overwhelmed there was no hope for Heero.

With steady hands Wufei began tying tourniquets about Heero's left arm, and thigh, the puncture wound looked vicious, and it amazed the Chinese man that the metal had found anything flesh to push through considering how thin Heero was. He completed the dressings as best he could with pressure bandages, praying that they would stanch the flow. At first glance those appeared to be the worst of Heero's bleeding injuries, but as he straightened the smaller Japanese man so he could better look him over, Wufei found more. A deep gash across Heero's pelvis oozed blood freely, and would be harder to contain blood flow. Rummaging through the first aid kit Wufei pulled out a wad of gauze and pressed it to the wound, that drew a soft moan from Heero's lips. To Wufei that sound was reassuring it let him know the former pilot still lived.

Feeling that for the moment at least the blood loss was contained Wufei took a moment to hook Heero up to an IV, easily being able to see how dehydrated the unconscious man was. As he shifted Heero's left arm to insert the needle—feeling the Japanese man was not likely to move the arm and pull the IV out—Wufei's deft fingers came in contact with a slight shift in the bones just below the elbow. It didn't surprise him that the bone had broke at some point; his onyx eyes flickered to the gash in his thigh fairly sure the bone there too was at least cracked.

"Shit," he breathed removing the blood coated surgical gloves he had donned while treating Heero's wounds. The Japanese man was going to go into shock if he lost too much blood, a desperate idea popped into Wufei's head as he realised what a difficult task he faced. If he lowered the temperature in the cargo hold, he might be able to slow the flow of blood, however there was a greater risk of Heero going into severe shock or even become hypothermic, but it might be the only thing that would save his life. Wufei moved quickly reaching once more into the first aid kit to remove a metallic looking thermal blanket, which he wrapped about Heero's legs hoping to keep at least a little warmth in his body praying that would keep this from turning to the worst.

Once more Wufei pressed two fingers to Heero's neck; this time counting the beats making sure the former pilot was at least stable. Satisfied that for the moment at least, Wufei moved aside the now stained red shirt, for the first time really looking to see the damage Zechs' kicking had done. Horror filled him. He now felt the press of time, and the first fingers of panic gripping him, but he did not let them take hold. Heero's ribs as obvious as they were on his too thin body, made it easy to tell which of them had been broken by Zechs' brutal attack. And there was no mistaking the slight swelling to Heero's abdomen, organs had been punctured, and he was bleeding internally. There was nothing he could do to stop it now, they had to get back and quick.

"Don't you die on me," Wufei said as he sat himself once more beside Heero's form, already he could notice a difference in the temperature, it wasn't great but he hoped it would be enough, "Not until I have my answers."

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The fog about his mind seemed to part for the briefest second, and a wave of dizzying pain struck. Heero groaned, his face contorting with the agony his entire body felt, and once again the nausea swept in stealing the breath from his broken body. He felt cold but could not shiver, his eyes refused to open, and all there was to his world was pain. Every breath seemed to stab deep into his body like a dagger, and he tired his best to stop the pain, but that merely left him gasping. His confused mind could not make sense of what had happened to leave him in this condition. In his mind Heero saw a jumble of images each more confusing that the last. There was no way for him to determine which was actually reality.

Through it all Heero sensed a presence near to him, and with nothing he could do, panic began to set in. He simply couldn't focus enough to determine if it was friend or foe who stood over him, not that there was anything he could do if it was an enemy, which did nothing to lessen his fears. Never before had he been left so vulnerable, and he was not at all prepared to deal with it. However his fears were not long in lasting as Heero's strength waned, and he found himself slipping back into the blackness.

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With a great deal of effort Zechs released the yoke with one hand and punched in a few switches on the control panel opening a line of communication with the base. "This is Zechs, put me through to Une on a secured line," he spoke with clipped tones his anger from past hours still smouldering threateningly.

"Yes Sir!" the technician responded crisply.

There was only a moment of radio silence before Une's voice broke through, "Zechs, just where the hell have you been?!" She wasted no time in venting her displeasure.

"Finishing something we should have had done three years ago," he bit back letting more of his frustration show that he had really wanted.

"Are you telling me you killed him?" Une's voice was incredulous.

Zechs growled, "Wufei stopped me," he glanced back at the door leading to the cargo hold, "We're bring him back, he's wounded, have Sally be ready to treat him."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd care."

"Believe me I don't. But if he dies and I'm not the one pulling the trigger…" he trailed off for a moment, "There will be no words to describe my anger."

"I understand," she responded voice unreadable, "How bad is he?"

Deep in Zechs' core he was shocked at the damage he had caused without being able to stop himself. The sheer force of his anger was something he now had a true and healthy respect for. "It's bad, blood loss, broken ribs, potential internal bleeding…" it was more of a guess than anything assured, but Zechs doubted his was far off the mark.

"Alright we'll be ready for it."

"One more thing, secure an entrance, I don't want anyone to know we have him yet, and make sure Relena doesn't find out about this," the last thing he wanted was his little sister seeing the bastard.

"About how far off are you?" she inquired obviously needing to know when to be ready.

"We should be at the base in under an hour."

"Alright everything will be ready for you when you get here," she said by way of ending communications.

Zechs glanced over all the gauges, making sure nothing was abnormal before he once more focused upon his flight path; they were about five minutes away from landing. Considering Wufei hadn't made an appearance, Zechs assumed the traitor was still alive. He had better be! Zechs thought bitterly to himself.

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Duo glanced about Une's office and all those present there, there was a strange tension in the way Une was standing behind her desk, and he knew he wasn't the only one to notice it. Whatever she had gathered them there for at one in the morning it was important, and highly classified. The absence of Wufei and Zechs caused questions to form in Duo's mind, and he could see the same ones in Trowa's eyes where he leaned against a wall. Sally sat reclined in one of the leather chairs; all they were waiting for was Quatre to have a moment to speak to them on the secured line. When the blond pilot finally sat down in front of the video feed, Une wasted no time in beginning.

"Zechs and Wufei have captured Heero Yuy." The statement hit Duo like a punch to the gut, and emotions and memories he had thought had been successfully repressed now came rushing back to the surface.

"What?!" the word slipped from his mouth despite the fact that he had heard perfectly, and understood.

"It would appear Zechs left early this morning on rout to Freedom's Point to bring Yuy back. After speaking with Noin, it seems as though Zechs received and email from Yuy indicating that Zero was being built yet again, it also gave his location." Une looked to each of them in turn, "How Wufei discovered the email is not yet known to me."

A part of Duo felt hurt and betrayed that he had not been asked to be a part of that mission, he as much as anyone had the right to bring that bastard back. He clenched a fist, as he tried to suppress a wave of anger, "Are we to take it that he's not dead?" Trowa voiced softly, but there was a steely current beneath his words, which told Duo just how pissed he was.

"No he's not," Une turned her attention to Sally, "He is however severely wounded; blood loss, and internal bleeding as I understand it." She placed both hands firmly on her desk, "We'll need an entrance secured, and a room, I don't want anyone finding out we have him. At least not right away."

Duo's hopes were kindled at her words, if they kept Yuy's capture from public knowledge, they might just be able to avoid the inconvenience of a trial and just end his life here and now. "How long until they arrive?"

"About a half hour, everything will need to be ready by then," her focus turned to Quatre who had remained in an almost stunned silence. "If possible I'd like you to make a trip here."

"I'll see what I can do, at best it'll be a day or two until I can get there."

"That's fine, we'll keep you abreast of the situation," Une nodded. "Alright we have twenty-five minutes to prepare." She didn't need to say anything else to get them moving, Duo noted the varied expressions on peoples faces as the made their way to the exit. Quatre looked almost sad, but there was a determined glint also, which left Duo wondering what he was actually feeling. Trowa's was an unreadable mask, not at all surprising considering how Trowa usually took information that should have drawn some form of reaction.

Briefly he glanced to Sally, only to see a thunderhead upon her face. She did not seem pleased at all that she would be required to tend to this traitor. Duo was tempted to suggest she don't, and just let him die due to `complications' but he held his tongue knowing now was not the time for such suggestions. He himself was a force to be reckoned with this day, and as they walked through the halls agents actually back away from him. Sally split away from them, mentioning something about preparing the holding room in the medical wing. And Trowa was quick to follow, obviously planing on securing the area. This left Duo to secure the halls leading to the door they would enter from.

He found it hard to believe that this was it; after three long years they finally had him, and there was no escape now. There was nothing Yuy could do but die quickly and end this dark chapter in all of their lives. As he continued on to his destination Duo wondered at whether or not Relena knew anything about this; considering she hadn't been there for Une's announcement he doubted it. And it was as it should be, after all she had been put through Relena didn't need to be a part of this. There was nothing it could do but upset her further. Duo was not about to let Heero break Relena's spirit yet again.

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Wufei glanced out the car window as Zechs quickly pulled the vehicle to a stop, near one of the emergency exist at the back of the base. An angry looking Duo waited by the door, which he held open with a foot, his arms crossed firmly over his chest. But the Chinese man's attention did not remain long upon the braided man; he had more pressing concerns. Heero lay unconscious in his arms, and had been so for the entire tri. His features—what of them you could actually see through the dried blood—were pale; too pale. He was not going to last much longer, not in his condition, but they were almost there.

It was a little awkward shimmying from the back seat of the car with the wounded man in his arms, but somehow he managed it. Probably because he had no other choice, right from the start he had told Zechs no one would carry Heero but himself. After all his effort he wasn't simply going to throw the traitor to the sharks, not until he got what he wanted. Trying his hardest not to jostle Heero too much Wufei made his way quickly to the door Duo was still waiting at. The American's face was contorted into a dark glare of utter hatred as Wufei approach. "The cameras?" Wufei found himself asking, though he knew there was no reason for it.

"Taken care of," was the growl of a response as Duo threw the door open wide, leading the way inside. The halls of the base were as Wufei had expected: completely empty. How Duo managed to clear them was something the former pilot was not even concerned about right now. His only priority was to get Heero to Sally so they could stabilise him.

As they passed the threshold to the medical wing, Trowa fell in behind them, his presence almost ghost like. He might not have said anything as he glared daggers at the man in Wufei's arms, but his emotions at the moment were as clear to feel as the others. They seemed to crackle about the halls waiting for a single spark to ignite them. Nothing was said as they continued on their way. Wufei was not all that sure too which room he was heading, he was about to ask when Trowa moved up beside him, and stopped at a locked door. Pressing the necessary keys the door slid aside revealing to room Heero would be left in.

A waist high table stood lonely in the centre of the room, it's build and set up clearly designed to strap a person to it with their arms spread eagle. A monitoring station was pressed to his far right, and the left side of the room had been given over to storage and equipment. The room seemed to have everything it would need to treat a patient, though it lacked basic human comforts. Sally waited beside the table, and an array of equipment and machinery spread out on carts. "Put him down," she instructed her voice giving away nothing, where her eyes seethed with hatred.

Wufei did as he had been told, slowly lowering Heero to the cold metal table, before he took a small step back. Sally set to work immediately, throwing opened Heero's shirt she took in the damage at a glance seeming not to care in the least. It struck Wufei that she reaction to him could be so utterly different from what it had once been, was there not even the slightest concern for him? He did not know why he thought there should be considering the way the others were acting. They all looked on faces stone cold masks. He supposed it was because she was a doctor, they did not always like those they helped, but they did help; it was a part of their oath.

She reached over to a machine, which to Wufei's eyes seemed to resemble the equipment used when doing an ultrasound. He knew however that this was a High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound same principal as a regular ultrasound, only this could send concentrated waves deep inside the body and actually cauterise a bleeding wound. It had saved many lives as paramedics no longer had to rush victims into surgery, they could stop the internal bleeding on the scene. Switching the machine on Sally pressed the sensor into Heero's swollen abdomen, her eyes remaining on the screen somehow being able to make sense of the shifting shadows, and know where the bleeding was.

They all stood on the opposite side of the bed to Sally, each and every one of them stood arms folded across their chest faces grim displays of their displeasure. Wufei didn't need to ask them what they were thinking to know right away, if Heero were to have stopped breathing right then, he knew not a one of them would feel remorse. That was not a surprise, but what did unnerve Wufei was the feeling he got from Sally, something told him that if that were to happen, she might not try her hardest to bring him back.

It only took her about ten minutes to stop the bleeding, and then she set to work hooking him up with a blood transfusion, along with another IV bag. Once that was completed Sally took up a long needled large syringe, which she then inserted into his abdomen. Pumping the plunger a few time Sally began to withdraw some of the blood Heero had lost. It amazed Wufei the amount of blood she removed from him, emptying the syringe each time in a metal bowl before once more inserting it again, this time in a different spot. How had he lost so much and still lived? It took Sally about fifteen minutes to remove enough blood that she seemed satisfied, she then focused her attention on checking Heero's vitals and hooking him up to the monitoring system across the room.

As she passed to go and check the screens she spoke breaking the near silence, "Strap him down," Zechs and Duo nearly jumped at the chance, each taking a side and quickly securing their enemy to the table.

Wufei was left in a stunned silence, which he quickly shook himself from as he moved to follow Sally, "That can't be all you're going to do for him?!" it was not really a question, more of a statement of fact.

But Sally glanced up from her work with cold eyes, "He's stable that enough."

"Those are just field dressings!" Wufei barked gesturing behind him.

"They'll do," she responded this time not bothering to look up.

Wufei couldn't believe his ears; he took another step forward pressing both hands down on the desk Sally stood behind. "We're better than this Sally, he may be a traitor but he deserves proper care."

"Wufei you know as well as I do that he's been through worse and survived it. He's not as bad off as he looks," It sounded to Wufei's ears to be a justification, almost like she were trying to convince herself that it was true. But then her eyes flashed, "I will not waste my time on him." She stepped out from around the desk, "Wufei, Zechs you too should get some rest, we can decide how to deal with this problem later."

"Why not just end it now?!" Duo voiced from where he stood glaring down at Heero's unconscious form, "Why not give him the fate he deserves."

Wufei shook his head, "Not until we can interrogate him to find out what he knows."

"I don't recall when you were put in charge Chang!" The braided man spat.

"I agree with Wufei…" Trowa's quiet voice cut between them like a sword.

Duo seemed to all but shake with his rage, his near lavender eyes ablaze with the intensity of what he was feeling. But before more could be said, the door opened and another person walked in. Everyone spun about, and more than one gun was drawn from its holster. Luc waited at the door both hands raised slightly, face looking greatly uncertain, "What the hell are you doing here?!" Duo growled.

"Put those away," Sally snapped, "He's here at my request and Une's approval, he'll be watching over Yuy during the day. I have another lined up to watch during the night." She moved to walk past Wufei making her way towards the door, "As I said, I won't waste my time on this traitor."

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Walking through the near empty halls of the medical wing John glanced at his wrist watch. Seeing that he was running a little late. He could hardly remember the last time he had worked the graveyard shift, but as things stood in his life right now, he welcomed any opportunity to be doing something besides sitting around the house. At the age of sixty-eight, John had retired, but found after only a year that he had become too restless with such a relaxing life, and so had come back to work part time. It had been an odd moment indeed when Sally had called him asking that he look after a certain patient through the night.

Merrian, his wife of near forty years, had been strongly opposed to the idea, feeling that such a shift of routine would be bad for his health. But John had always been a fit and healthy man, and the chance to be doing something useful was simply too much to pass up. He had to admit though, something did not feel right about this situation, he had been called into Sally's office upon arrival. At which point he had been given careful instruction on what he could and could not do with this patient; he was to watch only. If the patient's condition was to take a turn for the worse, he was to only do what was necessary to stabilise him, nothing more.

Sally pressed upon him how dangerous the patient was, which apparently was supposed to explain why it was necessary to take such measures, and also to keep him strapped down at all times. John had felt in those moments, that he might have stepped into something that was best avoided, but there was nothing to be done about it now. He was here, and it was time to see what all the fuss was truly about. Pressing the lock combination John watched as the door slid away before him, offering him his first look at this dangerous patient. What he found left him stunned beyond words.

It was a boy. A boy who could not possibly have been older than twelve... he was just a child. How had he ever got himself into such a situation? The lights in the room were dim, but John could still easily see that his clothes were blood soaked. Thick bandages covered him at more than one point, but they looked to his practised eyes to be little more than field dressings. As he understood it Heero had been present on the base since very early on the 29th so why on the 30th had none of his injuries been properly taken care of? Stepping deeper into the room John came closer to the boy, realising that his initial assumption about his age had in fact been wrong. The boy was quite a bit older than that, but his small form had tricked the old doctor's eyes, though knowing this did not help him to put an actual age on the Japanese boy.

Looking closer at the boy's face, it was hard to make much out, what with all the blood, but he felt as though he should recognise him. The answer struck him like a tidal wave, and he blinked looking the boy over again. Could this really be the famous Heero Yuy? Was this young boy the assassin who had tired to destroy the peace? There was no mistaking it now, John knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was indeed Relena's former guard; the one who tried to end her life. However realising this did nothing to diminish his disgust at the treatment Heero had received thus far. John had worked with Sally for years, taught her a great deal about what she now knew. He had taught her better than this; she should have never left a patient in this condition. Hatred was not reason enough for neglect.

His brown eyes roved over the boy's emaciated body taking in all the injuries that he could see and cataloguing them away. As things stood right now, Heero did seem to be stable, though he still looked dehydrated despite the IV feeding him necessary fluids. John remembered clearly Sally's works, `Watch him only, don't get to close to him, he's dangerous.' But he could not help but ask himself now, how dangerous could this wounded boy be? Carefully John reached across the boy to untie the shirt he was wearing, and pull it aside so he could see what other injuries there might have been concealed beneath.

John sucked in his breath at the sight having not really comprehended how thin Heero was until he saw the boy's broken ribs, a disturbingly thin layer of flesh stretched over top of them. And that skin was a mass of blackening bruises, but his abdomen also looked painfully sore, and slightly swollen. John's immediate fear was internal bleeding, and he reached out to probe the area gently, what he found made him breathe a sigh of relief. His finger brushed over the tiny pinprick of a syringe used to drain away blood, continuing his search John found more of them, and he relaxed a little knowing the matter had already been taken care of.

His hands were still on the boy's middle when Heero's entire body jerked upon the table. John nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden and unexpected movement, and as he backed away from the table he found himself looking into the deepest blue eyes. They were unfocused and dilated, but a certain intensity was still there. The old doctor did not miss the tense set of Heero's body nor the pain that seemed to cause. "Shh…it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," John soothed keeping both hands in plain sight, "You can relax, it's alright."

The boy blinked as though trying to clear his vision without success and stared at John's face, wincing against the dim lights. "I'm Dr John den Besien," he informed the confused boy. The look in Heero's eyes began to worry John, and he wanted very much to confirm a growing suspicion, but at the same time he didn't want make the boy more uneasy than he already was in his present state. He had to gain the boy's trust first, but how? "Can you speak?"

"…wh…ere…where…am…I…" the boy finally asked in a raspy voice, a voice that sounded as though it had not seen use in a great deal of time.

"You're presently in the medical wing of the Sank's Earth Defence Corps Agency," John told him softly, "Do you remember what happened to you?" The boy merely gave his head the slightest of shakes. John's eyes scanned over the boy, and his next question just slipped out, "When was the last time you ate?"

A tremor ran through Heero's thin body, and against his will it seemed he groaned, "Wh…at…month…is it…"

That question totally caught John off guard, what had happened to this boy to leave him in such a sorry state? A thought occurred to him then and he slowly made his way back to the desk which stood closer to the door, all the while he remained in Heero's line of sight, something telling him that that was the best way for now to keep the boy calm. On the desk rested the bag which he had carried his meal in, discarded there without a thought upon seeing his new patient. From inside the bag John withdrew a water bottle and made his way back over to Heero.

"Would you like a little?" he offered pulling the cap up, and holding it out so the boy would actually be able to see what was offered. Heero stared at him suspiciously his breathing sounding more laboured by the minute, as he clearly struggled against the pain he was feeling. John wanted desperately to help him, but he knew first a bond of trust had to be formed. "It's alright, the water's clean," John assured him taking a sip of it for proof. Finally Heero's thirst seemed to out weigh his concerns as he nodded his head.

John moved closer to the boy's head reaching out a hand with the intention of slipping it behind Heero's neck to help aid in the drinking. But Heero's body tensed and a groan escaped him because of it, "It's alright," he found himself assuring again, "I just don't want you to choke." Slowly as the minutes passed Heero's body once more relaxed and John was able to touch him for the first time while he was awake. He felt as though he had accomplished something monumental in those moments, as he gently lifted Heero's head, and brought the water bottle to his cracked lips. He had only wanted to dribble a little of the liquid into Heero's mouth, but the need for water seemed too much and the boy sucked back hard, getting what was probably a full mouthful.

Pulling back quickly John lowered Heero's head, "Easy, you can't take too much yet, not if you haven't drank or eaten anything for months, your body won't be able to handle it." Sure enough Heero's features began to twist in a sickened look, as his stomach began to reject what he had given it. Seeing what was about to happen, John quickly undid the wrist strap that held the boy's right arm, and lifted his body—being ever careful of his broken ribs—while rolling him to his side, just as he began to vomit. The water came quickly but the retching did not seem to want to quit now that it had begun.

He couldn't begin to imagine how that would feel with so many broken ribs, and he breathed a sigh of relief when it finally seemed to cease. John lowered Heero back to the table, the boy's thin frame now coated in sweat while he struggled weakly for breath, his features seeming set permanently in an expression of pain. For a time he let the boy be, watching as the moment passed and Heero seemed to come back to himself a little. It was with great reluctance that John forced himself to re-shackle Heero's wrist to the table, but a camera was watching, and problems might already arise from his unhooking him.

"They haven't given you anything for the pain, have they?" A slight shake of his head was the answer. "I'd give you something for it, but it seems light you might have been drugged, and until I know what it is…" he trailed off feeling the rest was obvious. "If you'd let me check it out, I could ease your pain." It was an open offer, he was not going to press his services on the boy, there was no mistaking what that would cause.

Heero stared at him weakly, seeming to be trying his hardest not to breathe, but after a moment he nodded his head. That response caught John off guard and for a few seconds he didn't move, wondering if he had imagined it. A tiny smile touched his lined face as he leaned over the boy reaching to turn his head a little more in his direction. Once more he saw the tension over come Heero, but this time it faded almost as soon as it appeared. Removing a small penlight from his left breast pocket John switched it on, while thumbing back Heero's eyelid. Running the intense beam of light across his pupil John was not all that surprised to see that nothing changed, there was indeed something in the boy's system that was not supposed to be there.

Putting away the penlight John stepped away from the bed and made to walk over to the left side of the room. He made his rout longer by walking down below Heero's legs, and he kept his movements as slow and non-threatening as possible. Once at the cabinet lined wall John began rummaging around through drawers searching for the syringes, it only took him a minute to locate them and he was making his way back to Heero's right side via the same way he came before. The wounded boy watched in silence his entire body now seeming to have relaxed though there were still twitches of pain he could not suppress. John prepared the syringe quickly and withdrew a sample of Heero's blood before capping the medical tool and quickly putting it on his desk.

"I'm afraid it's still going to be a little while," he apologised gently, he wasn't about to leave the boy alone to go and analyse his blood.

"…'S…okay…" Heero breathed in his raspy voice.

"Would you like to try a little water again?" John asked stepping close to Heero's head. Looking at this boy now, John could not picture the man who had tried to take Relena's life, it didn't matter to the doctor that he had. All that was important now was the fact that this boy was alone, and in pain, and for at least a little while John might be able to do something to ease that.

Thanks for Reading!

No Regrets:

Heero's dark thoughts were interrupted by a new presence walking towards him, and the former pilot flinched despite himself, causing skin to pull tightly across ribs, and tentative scabs to strain under the pressure. "So this is the might Heero Yuy," A nasally sounding voice seemed to sneer over top of him, "I didn't think you'd ever wake."

It took Heero several moments to open his eyes, and when he did the sudden brightness around him forced them to close right away. The light stabbed like daggers into his head, and seemed to burn itself into a single spot, where it was left to smoulder. But this pain was nothing to the shrieks of the rest of his body, and he was not going to remain laying there with his eyes closed while some unknown person stood over him. Finally with a monumental effort Heero was able to open both eyes, though he had to squint, and looked upon the man who had entered his space.

A doctor stood to his left, his features hard for Heero to make out, but that wasn't necessary at the moment, just being able to see him was enough. And Heero could see right away there was something about this man that made him uneasy, he didn't trust him, not like John. It amazed Heero how quickly he found himself relaxing around that old man, letting him enter his personal space, to complete whatever task he felt needed to be done. When he thought about it, John made everything a suggestion, something that could be taken or left, leaving Heero in control of the situation. He did not feel nearly so comfortable in the presence of this new man, something felt off, slightly sinister.

Morganeth Taren'drel