Hope From the Past - Part 5 by
Keara
Standard disclaimers apply
//Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real//
“Crawling” by: Linkin Park
Wufei walked out of General Treize’s office, following Trowa
and Heero for a few moments until he turned down a corridor. He had
no interest in visiting those two young men, not like Heero and Trowa
were obviously going to do. It wasn’t that he wasn’t concerned.
He just knew that he’d be in the way if he did go. Perhaps he
would visit later, after he had tended to a few other things.
He yawned, not bothering to try and stifle it. He was tired, there
was no reason to deny it. That was one of the reasons for why he was
heading to his quarters, the other being that he didn’t want
to stay in his current attire any longer. He would prefer to be comfortable
and there was no reason for camouflage when inside the base.
He had just reached out to open the door to his quarters when a hand
gripped his arm and pulled him around. “Chang Wufei . . . where
the HELL have you been?” Shouted Meiran, a young girl that Wufei
had an affection for. Although, she didn’t seem to return to
feeling.
“I was on a mission.” Wufei answered.
“Yeah . . . and I heard you got back hours ago. Don’t
you know how worried I was about you?” She asked, releasing
her grip on his arm.
Wufei bowed slightly. “I apologize.” He said, just trying
to avoid an argument. He was too tired to argue, just wanting to go
to sleep at the moment.
Meiran nodded and smiled briefly. “Rumor has it that you found
some people at the Talthean base.” Meiran commented.
“I did not know you listened to gossip, Meiran.” Wufei
smirked. “But yes, two humans were found. They are in the infirmary
right now, in very severe condition by what Sally has told us, barely
alive.”
“Those Talthean bastards should rot in hell.” Meiran
spat, suddenly in a venomous rage. Her mood changed almost instantly,
becoming more pleasant. “Can I go see them? Or are they under
strict lock and key?”
“You would have to ask Sally that.” Wufei replied. “Perhaps
even Treize himself.”
“Go see Treize?” Meiran gulped, her face paling. “I-I’ll
go talk to Sally first.” She said.
“Fine . . . Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to
get some sleep.” Wufei replied.
“Sleep well.” Meiran whispered, quickly turning and leaving
before Wufei had a chance to say anything.
Wufei shook his head, opening his door and stepping in. He stripped
off his clothes as he crossed the room to the small bathroom, deciding
that he would pick them up in the morning. Lastly, he pulled his hair
free of the tight ponytail, and stepped into the shower, not caring
that the water was cold when he turned it on. Besides, the cool water
served to keep him awake long enough to finish washing his body and
rinse off. Then after drying himself somewhat, he just climbed into
bed, sleep overtaking him almost instantly.
*****
Meiran nervously stepped into the infirmary. She stood just inside
the doorway, looking around for Sally. Her eyes caught sight of a
curtained off area, probably where whoever had been rescued were now.
A faint cry reached her ears and Meiran stepped further into the
room. Someone was crying . . . she had to find out who and if she
could help. She couldn’t just ignore the cries of someone who
was obviously in need of comfort or help.
Slowly, she reached out to the curtain, sure that the cries were
coming from behind it. She quietly drew the curtain aside, slowly
stepping over to the bed and the person who lay on it.
He was a pale young man, very thin, his body covered by a sheen of
sweat. Dark bruises were a stark contrast to his nearly white skin,
his eyes sunken in from sickness and most likely hunger and thirst
as well. His long, dark hair lay on the bed around him, framing his
frail looking body. The young man’s breath was ragged and raspy,
not coming to him easily, while tears streamed along the side of his
face, dampening the pillow beneath him.
Meiran frowned at the many machines that were hooked up to the young
man, the oxygen mask over his face. “Are you okay?” Meiran
asked, flinching when a pair of fear-filled eyes opened and stared
up at her.
More tears streamed from his eyes, his pale face showing nothing
but terror. Meiran felt that perhaps she had made a mistake. “I'm
sorry . . . I’ll leave you alone. I did not mean to frighten
you.” She said, bowing out of respect.
Before she could even take a step back, a trembling hand weakly grasped
her wrist. The young man reached up with his other hand, trying to
pull the oxygen mask from his face. He couldn’t seem to do it
though, and his hand dropped back to the bed.
Meiran smiled gently and pulled the mask down for him. She waited
patiently as the young man licked his chapped lips, parting them in
an attempt to speak. “Don’t go.” He whispered, his
voice sounding so weak. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Meiran nodded, fixing the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose again.
She pulled a chair over to the side of the bed, only leaving for a
short moment, then sat, taking hld of one of his hands in the hope
that she was helping.
After several moments of silence, where Meiran continually stroked
her fingers through the young man’s damp bangs, she felt that
she had to ask a question. “Why were you crying?” She
asked.
The young man once again reached to try and take the mask off himself,
but Meiran knew that he couldn’t do it on his own. She removed
it, listening carefully as the young man spoke. “I was scared
. . . of being alone . . .” He weakly gestured to another curtain.
“Quatre . . . I can’t see Quatre.”
Meiran stood and stepped over to the other curtain, slowly pulling
it aside. She frowned at the sight of the young man that lay in the
bed. She noticed that he seemed to be in better condition than the
dark-haired youth. However, he still looked quite ill, his skin an
even paler shade than the long-haired young man.
Meiran smiled though, as she gazed at the sight before her. The blonde
. . . Quatre . . . was unconscious, but that wasn’t the cause
for her smile. No, it was the sight of Trowa Barton sitting at the
blonde’s bedside. Trowa was asleep, his head resting on one
of his arms which was laying on the bed at Quatre’s side. Trowa’s
hand was clasping one of Quatre’s, even though the blonde’s
arms and legs continually twitched in his sleep.
It was rare to catch Trowa being so kind. Meiran felt the urge to
call Catherine and show her how peaceful Trowa seemed. But she pushed
the urge aside, knowing that Trowa would probably awaken before she
could do it.
Meiran slowly backed away, purposely moving quietly. She didn’t
want to disturb Trowa, not when he appeared to need the rest. He had
to have been tired to fall asleep while watching over the pale blonde.
She turned around and sat beside the dark-haired youth again, taking
hold of his hand. “There, better?” She asked, watching
as the young man, looked over at the blonde.
The young man nodded slightly, his eyes just barely open.
Meiran reached out again, smiling as she brushed her fingers through
his bangs again. She wondered who he was, why he looked so sick. What
had those Taltheans done to him and that blonde? She shook her head,
mentally condemning those alien freaks to hell. “What’s
your name?” She asked, gently tugging the mask away from his
mouth.
“Duo.” He replied, weakly.
“It’s nice to meet you, Duo. My name is Meiran.”
Meiran smiled, placing the mask on his face once again.
“What are you doing here?” Someone whispered angrily.
Meiran stood, backing away to a wall, as she looked to the door.
Her heart pounded in her chest, not liking the fact that someone had
snuck up on her. She didn’t like surprises. She placed her hand
over her heart as she saw that Heero was standing just inside the
doorway, a small plastic cup in his hand.
Meiran glanced around for any possible means of escape, fearing what
Heero would do to her for being here. She knew that he wasn’t
very nice when he was mad, and he sure had sounded upset a moment
ago. She saw no escape, so she did the next best thing, letting herself
slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her legs drawn
up to her chest as she buried her face against her knees.
A hand touched her arm, but she flinched away, recoiling from a mix
of fear and memories that continued to haunt her. Meiran took a chance
and lifted her head, so that she could look over her knees and see
who had touched her. It was Heero. He was down on one knee, looking
at her with a curious expression his face.
“I'm sorry.” Meiran whispered. “I know I shouldn’t
have come here without getting permission first.” She swallowed
against the lump that had formed in her throat. “Wufei told
me that you rescued some people. I was only curious. I was going to
ask Sally if I could see them, but I heard him crying . . .”
She gestured to the young man on the bed. “I-I couldn’t
just do nothing.”
Heero nodded and stood, taking a step back away from Meiran. “If
you were here to comfort him then I must thank you.” Heero said.
“I didn’t want to leave him alone, but since Trowa is
sleeping, I didn’t have much choice.”
“Why did you leave him?” Meiran asked, her fear slowly
ebbing away. She rose to her feet, watching Heero carefully.
Heero glanced over at Duo. “He was thirsty.” He said,
raising the plastic cup he held so that Meiran could see it better.
“Ice chips . . . one of the nurses said to get him ice chips.”
Heero stepped over to Duo’s side. He gently removed the oxygen
mask from Duo’s face, and took one of the ice chips from the
cup. Duo opened his mouth slightly, accepting the ice from Heero.
Heero smiled slightly, brushing his wet fingers over the Duo’s
chapped lips, dampening them slightly. He repeated this action, giving
Duo the ice chips, then brushing his fingers over Duo’s lips
to moisten them. Heero stopped when Duo turned his head away, silently
saying that he didn’t want any more.
“How are you feeling?” Heero asked, brushing his hand
along the side of Duo’s head.
“Tired . . . everything hurts . . .” Duo whimpered, his
limbs continuing to twitch.
Heero sighed, taking his hand away. “I won’t lie. It’ll
be awhile before you feel better.” He said. “Your body
has to rid itself of the drugs in your system . . . and then there
is the muscular damage you are suffering from. You’ll probably
have to go through a good deal of physical therapy.”
A tear fell from one of Duo’s eyes, a choked up sob escaping
his lips. “Thank you for being honest.” Duo said, feigning
a small grin.
Meiran stepped closer to Duo’s bedside, glaring at Heero for
being so cruel. Was there really a reason to upset the ill young man?
She sighed, placing her hand on Duo’s arm, trying to offer comfort
to Duo. “Forgive Heero’s callousness . . . He just isn’t
used to being kind to people.” Meiran said, offering a small
smile to Duo.
Duo smiled back, this time genuinely. “I'm sure he meant well.”
Duo whispered, his breathing growing erratic.
Meiran gently placed the oxygen mask back over Duo’s face.
“Why don’t you get some rest? You appear to need it.”
Meiran suggested, carefully clasping Duo’s hand, hoping that
she wasn’t hurting him.
Duo nodded weakly, and closed his eyes. Meiran just watched him,
rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand. After only a few moments,
she was sure that he was asleep. She turned to face Heero, only to
see that he was looking down at the floor.
“I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t intend to be cruel.”
He said, sounding oddly sincere. He wasn’t one to apologize
for his choice of words . . . he had never done so before.
Meiran grinned. “Don’t apologize. He did appreciate your
honesty.” She said, hesitantly laying a hand on Heero’s
arm.
Heero looked up, and nodded. He stepped over to the bed, looking
down at Duo. Meiran stepped back to give him room. “I’ll
request that you be allowed to visit him. Since you already know his
name.” Heero said.
“Really? Thank you, Heero.” Meiran replied.
Heero sighed. “He does seem to need the company. And so far
you are the only other person that knows him, besides Trowa, Wufei,
myself, and that blonde.”
“Then wouldn’t it be wise to have someone take care of
that blonde also?” Meiran suggested, purposely avoiding the
use of Quatre’s name since it was apparent that she wasn’t
supposed to know it. “Trowa can’t be here all the time.
And it wouldn’t be fair to them if my attention was divided
between the two of them.”
Heero nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.” He turned
to face Meiran. “But for now, I suggest you leave. No one is
supposed to know of them yet.”
“Okay.” Meiran nodded, backing away from Heero. She turned
and left, casting one last glance at the two ill young men and the
two rebels that watched over them. She hoped that they would soon
recover their strength. They would definitely need it if they were
to undergo physical therapy.
*******
TBC
*******
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