Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ War Inevitable ❯ Partial reunion ( Chapter 3 )

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

Chapter Three



Duo Maxwell hated hospitals. He figured it was a worldwide phenomenon, for everyone hated hospitals. It was just a fact of life. He hated it all the more for the reason he had come here; one of his best friends was dying. His hatred of the white sterile walls and the doctors and nurses was increased more so because the last time he had been in a hospital, it had been to watch his beloved Hilde die.


He had been on Earth by chance, having fled the colony to give himself time to think; to try, once and for all, to get his life in some semblance of order. He had notified Trowa and Quatre of his arrival, mainly because they were the only pilots he could get in touch with. Wufei was always busy with the Preventors, and God only knew where Heero was. He had been on Earth three days, and had been on his way to the airport to fly to Europe, to where Trowa and the travelling circus currently were, when he recieved the phone call from Lucrezia Noin. Quatre had been shot. Noin was in tears, which explained to Duo exactly how bad Quatre's injury was. Luckily, the city Quatre was in was only a couple of hours from where Duo had been staying, so he had left immediately.


He entered the hospital and stopped at the main receptionist desk. A young nurse asked him who he was looking for; upon his answer her face became grave. She gesured down the hallway to his right, where the sign indicated it was the Intensive Care Unit. He clenched his jaw agains the barrage of memories from the last time he had been in the ICU, and headed down the hall. He had not gone far when he heard his name called. Emerging from a door behind him was Noin. Her eyes were bloodhot and puffy, but she looked relieved to see him all the same.


" Duo, " she said in a choked voice, " Thank you for coming so quickly. "


Duo nodded his head, and embraced her for one comforting moment before pulling away. " Is this his room ? " He asked.


Noin nodded. " They don't ususally allow visitors in here, but he's such an important person, and he's....." she let the rest trail away, but Duo understood. He turned and pushed through the door. His eyes avoided the bed, scanning the room. It was empty but for a pale and somber Dorothy Catalonia, who nodded breifly at him before turning her attention back to the prone body on the bed. Resolutely Duo cast his eyes skyward, steeling himself, before he looked at the bed. Quatre seemed so small amidst all the machinery surrounding him. The room was filled with the soft hum of various pieces of equipment and the continuous beep of the monitor. Duo moved to the bedside and sank down into the chair there. Quatre's chest was a mess of bandages and most of his face was covered by the respirator. He was hooked to several IV lines. Duo looked at Noin, who had followed him into the room. " What happened ?"


" He was at a meeting at the main office of Winner Industries. After meeting, when he had left the building, that's when it happened. Our ballistics team figures the shot came from the rooftop of the building across the street. "


" Was anyone with him? "


" Rashid, and a few other former Maganac Corps members turned business men. "


" Where are they now? "


Noin took the seat next to Duo, " They went to get some of Quatre's sisters from the colonies. " When Duo looked questioningly at her, she replied, " Quatre lost a huge amount of blood, most of it arterial. If anything can save him at this point, it's blood from people with the same type. But he needs more than one person can give. "


" He has twenty nine sisters, " Duo said with some hope, his eyes on the frail, still form of his friend.


" I know, and they've all been notified. It's a matter of whether they can get here in time. "


Silence fell, interrupted only by the sounds of the medical equipment. Dorothy broke it suddenly, saying softly, " Do you think he can hear us? Do you think he knows we're here? "


Duo closed his eyes against the hot tears that suddenly welled up. He remembered asking those very same questions a little under a year ago, as he sat at Hilde's bedside. He had never recieved his answer, never been able to ask her. He felt a light touch on his hand and opened his eyes to see Noin watching him, her eyes full of compassion and sorrow. He wrapped his fingers around hers, needing the slight, reassuring touch. Across the bed Dorothy let him know with her eyes that she knew what he was going through, that he had already lost one person who meant everything to him, and was about to lose another. He turned from the sympathy he saw there and reached out with his free hand to take Quatre's . The hand was cool to touch, and Duo firmly clasped it. Holding onto the both of him, he shut his eyes and began to pray fervently to a god that he had, for most of his life, doubted and forsaken.


- Please, don't let him die -


-Please -