Choices of the Heart - Part 17 by Keara
Standard disclaimers apply
Duo felt horrible, not only bodily discomfort, but emotional
distress as well. He was currently sitting in an examination room,
wearing nothing more than a flimsy hospital gown, since Wufei and
Meiran had brought him to a hospital to have him checked over. Meiran
and Wufei had been on their way home from a date when they had stumbled
across Alex and Mueller tormenting Duo . . . Duo was alive because
of them most likely.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to be joyous right now. He
wasn’t as upset about what had almost happened to him, as he
was about losing all of that money. He’d been saving for so
long to get that amount of cash. And with Trowa’s health failing
the way it was, there was no way that Duo would be able to get that
amount again in time to save his friend. ‘How could I have been
so STUPID? The money would have kept until tomorrow! I should have
KNOWN better than to get it all at once!’
The door suddenly opened and Catherine walked in quickly. “Oh,
Duo! Are you okay?” She asked, rushing over to stand before
him.
Duo found himself in Catherine’s arms and he fought off his
tears. Because of his stupidity, Catherine would lose her baby brother.
How could she be so kind to him when he was such an idiot, such a
stupid fool? How could he tell her that all of her hopes were down
the tubes because of him?
He found that he couldn’t fight it anymore, and he let his
tears fall forth. He clung to Catherine desperately, feeling so terribly
sorry for disappointing her.
“I’m sorry, Cathy.” He whimpered, burying his aching
face against her shoulder.
Catherine rubbed his back. “Sshh . . . Duo, you have nothing
to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was those
jerks that hurt you.”
Duo let out a sob. Of course she thought he was blameless. She didn’t
know how stupid he had been. He barely heard Catherine ask a doctor
if she could take him home, and felt his guilt increase a thousandfold.
She and Trowa had made a home for him . . . a place of warmth and
safety. He HAD to get that money for her. She deserved it . . . Trowa
deserved it. They had been better to him than anyone else in the world.
“Duo, come on, honey. Let’s get you home.” Catherine
urged.
Duo nodded, his mind drifting as she helped him to get dressed. He
was simply tired, not to mention quite angry at himself over the idiot
that he had been. He was barely aware of anything as they left the
hospital, gave no notice of his surroundings until Catherine finally
pushed him down onto his bed and took off his shoes.
“Huh? What’s going on, Cathy?” He asked, yawning
as he tried to sit up.
Catherine shook her head, carefully pushing him back down. “Now,
Duo . . . I want you to get some rest. You’ve been through a
lot tonight and you need to sleep. And don’t even think about
getting up tomorrow. I’m off from work, and I plan to fuss over
you completely.”
“But I gotta go over Quatre’s tomorrow. I promised him
I would. We have a biology report to work on.”
“Duo . . .” She sighed. “Fine . . . but I don’t
want you overdoing anything. I’ll drive you there in the afternoon.
When you’re ready to come home, I want you to call me and I’ll
pick you up. I do not want you trying to walk to and from there.”
“Thanks, Cathy.” Duo yawned again. Then he smirked. “You
can spend your time fussing over Trowa tomorrow.”
“Brat.” Catherine smiled and gently patted his shoulder.
“Go to sleep.”
*****
The next day, Duo felt even worse when he looked in on Trowa. His
carelessness had probably caused his best friend . . . his brother
. . . to lose his life. There he was, lying in bed, his face chalky
and pale, his body sweating as he lay in bed, just barely awake. He
couldn’t live like this for too much longer, Duo knew that .
. . it was his own fault too . . . he shouldn’t have been so
stupid last night.
“Duo . . . if you aren’t feeling up to it, we can call.
I’m sure Quatre would understand.” Catherine’s voice
was saturated with worry as she set her hand on his shoulder, carefully
easing him away from Trowa’s bedroom door.
Duo forced himself to smile for her. “Nah. He’d understand,
but I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for breaking a promise.”
Duo replied, allowing Catherine to help him into the kitchen.
Catherine sighed and shook her head. “Have it your way then.
As soon as you finish your breakfast, I’ll drive you over.”
Duo nodded and went about eating his breakfast. He didn’t have
the endurance to argue with Catherine right now . . . no, his body
was simply too sore and tired to deal with an argument, his mind plaguing
him with memories of just how stupid he was. Still, even though he
hated himself, he ate his food in silence, not wanting to add to the
grief he had already caused Catherine and Trowa.
Not too long after breakfast, Duo was getting out of Catherine’s
car. Catherine had helped him to get dressed, much to his embarrassment,
and had brushed and braided his hair for him. He couldn’t quite
manage to do it on his own . . . everything just hurt.
He smiled back at her as he closed the door, shoving one hand in
his pocket and fingering the simple white pill bottle contained there.
He hadn’t left it at home . . . couldn’t have left it
even if he had wanted to. He wouldn’t be able to stay awake
unless he took some of those, and he wanted to stay awake today, to
actually do the homework he had to help Quatre with.
“I can make it from here.” He said, looking down the
walkway to Quatre’s front door. It wasn’t too far away.
He’d be able to get there on his own.
“Are you sure?” Catherine asked, leaning over on the
seat to see him. “I don’t want you falling down and hurting
yourself further.”
Duo smiled. “I’m sure. I can walk from here.” He
nodded slightly. “You get going . . . I’ll call you when
I’m ready to come home.”
Catherine sighed, looking at him with concern obvious in her gaze.
“Well all right . . . if you’re certain.”
“I am.” Duo responded quickly.
“I’ll see you tonight then. Take care of yourself, Duo.”
Catherine said, righting herself and starting the engine.
Duo watched as the car drove off, then turned and slowly began to
make his way to Quatre’s front door. It wasn’t a long
walk, not really, but to Duo’s sore body it was quite a tiring
trip. He took a breath once he finally reached the door, letting himself
catch his breath as he raised his hand to ring the doorbell.
It was Quatre’s father that answered the door. “Oh my.”
He gasped, his eyes going wide as he saw Duo’s bruise-riddled
form standing before him. “Do come in . . . have a seat.”
“Thank you.” Duo replied politely, stepping into the
house.
He made his way to the sofa as quickly as he could manage. Sitting,
he couldn’t help but groan as his injuries protested the movement.
He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, not noticing as Mr.
Winner closed the door and came to stand in front of him.
“What happened to you?” He asked, his voice laced with
concern.
Duo faked a smile as he opened his eyes, shaking his head lightly.
“It’s nothing really . . . I just had a run in with some
muggers on my way home from work last night.” He said, trying
to play it off as nothing. He didn’t want more people worrying
about him. It was bad enough that Catherine and Trowa had to put up
with him.
“Perhaps you should have stayed home. I’m certain that
Quatre would have understood your reasons for not coming today.”
Duo shook his head. “No . . . I promised that I would come
and I don’t break my promises. I never lie. Besides, we have
homework to do.” Duo answered. “Is Quatre up in his room?”
Mr. Winner smiled a little. “You’re an admirable young
man, Duo.”
“You should have stayed home.” A quiet voice said from
behind Duo.
Duo turned and looked at the doorway, sighing when he saw Quatre
standing there. Duo could honestly say that the blonde looked better
than yesterday . . . a few more days and he’d probably be back
to his old self. Sure, he was still bruised and looked tired, but
he did seem better.
“Like I told your dad, Quatre . . . I don’t lie. I said
I would come over today and do that assignment with you, and I meant
it.” Duo grinned, carefully rising to his feet.
A small smile appeared on Quatre’s face just before he ducked
his head. “Well then . . . come on, we can do the assignment
up in my room.”
Duo nodded, following behind his friend. As he walked, his eyes roamed
around, his sight catching on various objects that decorated the halls.
The stuff here . . . it had to be expensive. Even as he thought it,
Duo’s eyes widened. He almost faltered in his steps. What was
he thinking? Quatre was his friend, he couldn’t do what he was
thinking of doing. No . . . Quatre would hate him if Duo were to steal
stuff from his house.
Duo shook his head, biting his lip as his eyes landed on an ornate
crystal vase. Quatre’s family was well-off . . . maybe they
wouldn’t miss a few little things. Duo closed his eyes, his
hand tight on the railing of the stairs. He didn’t want to .
. . no, Quatre was his good friend. He didn’t want to hurt the
blonde. But . . . he needed the money . . . Trowa needed the money.
Maybe Quatre and his family wouldn’t miss just a few things,
only some little knickknacks that Duo could sell for quick cash. There
was no other choice . . . Duo had to. Trowa needed his help, needed
money for an operation . . . Duo had no options.
*******
TBC
*******
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