Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 28 ( Chapter 28 )

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

Chapter 28

Heero's world was suddenly ripped apart as his lover fell to the ground. Vaguely, he was aware of a scream echoing and realized it was his own. His eyes locked on Moran, the gun bucked three times in his hand as the shots were fired off, each one reaching their goal, the last leaving a neat hole right between Moran's eyes.

Moran knew he'd hit the kid moments before he felt a blinding pain tear through his own body as three bullets slammed into him in succession. The gun shook in his hand and then tumbled back to the floor. Seconds later Moran himself was also sprawled on the floor, a combination of blood, bone and brain spreading out around him, dead.

Heero was ready to shoot again when a voice behind him snapped him back to reality. "Agent Day! Stand down, that is enough!"

Wufei had informed the rest of the agents about what was happening, before leaving the security room and following Yuy. He needed to catch up to the Japanese man, and quickly. Who knew what Heero might do under the circumstances and Wufei did not need any further complications to this mission. He arrived on the ground floor just in time to see Duo fall and Heero fire off three shots, sending the suspect sprawling in a pool of blood and gore. Seeing the gun being raised again, he called his agent back into line.

Reluctantly, Heero lowered the gun and then turned to his partner. Duo was lying on the floor clutching his abdomen, blood slowly seeping through the back of his shirt. Heero crouched beside him, panic evident in his voice. "Duo, Duo. Oh fuck! Duo? Can you hear me? Hang on; the medics are on their way."

Duo opened his eyes; through a red haze of pain, he could see his partner and hear his panic stricken voice. "Hurts, Heero," he managed to gurgle out.

Wufei appeared at Heero's side after having checked on the status of the terrorist. "Where is he hit?" he asked, his tone calm yet commanding.

"In the back," Heero replied absently, as he reached out a tentative hand to stroke Duo's pale face.

Wufei took charge of the situation. He pulled his cell 'phone from his pocket and quickly dialed; seconds later, his call was connected.

"Po here."

"Sally, it's Chang. We have a situation."

Immediately Sally's voice changed. "Stats?"

"Agent Night has been injured. Bullet wound to the back."

"Entry and exit wounds?"

Wufei paused and checked Duo as best he could. "Entry wound confirmed, no exit wound visible."

"Patient status?"

"Conscious and lucid. Awaiting medics attendance, once stable will transport."

"Bring him directly to the hospital. I will have all the necessary equipment on stand-by."

"Roger that."

"Wufei?" Sally's tone had softened to one of worry.

"Yes?"

"How is... how is Heero?"

Wufei took a look at Yuy, noting the fear and concern etched into the young face as he cradled his lover in his arms. "Functional, but in shock."

"Okay. What is your ETA?"

Wufei did a quick mental check. "Half an hour I would say, give or take a few minutes."

"Roger. We are awaiting your arrival. Po out."

Wufei closed the cell 'phone up and put it back in his pocket just as the medics arrived. "Yuy? Stand aside, Yuy. The medics need to work." Wufei placed his hand on Heero's shoulder.

Heero had Duo half in his lap, holding him close, a stunned, far away look on his face. He registered Wufei's words and looked up at the Chinese man. "Medics?"

"Yes, Yuy. Let the medics take care of Maxwell. We need to let them fix him up enough so we can transport him to the hospital."

Heero nodded and leaned down to Duo's face. He placed a soft kiss to his lover's lips and whispered quietly. "Duo, the medics are here, they are going to help you now and then we will take you to the hospital."

Duo nodded and then grimaced in pain. "Stay with me?"

"I'm right here, Duo. I'm not going to leave you." Heero eased Duo off his lap so that the medics could work but he remained at Duo's side, quietly holding his hand. There was so much blood. He shivered and began to pray silently to a god he wasn't sure existed.

Wufei watched grimly as the medics cut away the back of Duo's T-shirt. The entry wound was just to the side of his spine. Wufei shook his head. A fraction further over and Maxwell would have been paralyzed. The medics cleaned the wound and packed it with gauze before securing it with a large amount of padding and surgical tape. While the one medic prepared the stretcher, the other one fetched two needles from the kit. "Is he allergic to morphine or penicillin?"

"Not that I know of," Heero replied.

"Right." The medic slipped a needle into Duo's vein, injecting the morphine first and then followed with the penicillin. A cannula was inserted into the back of Duo's hand, a saline drip hooked up and the flow rate adjusted. "That should help a little." The kit was packed away and Duo lifted onto the collapsible stretcher.

Heero walked beside his lover, still holding his hand, as they went towards the ambulance. While Duo was being loaded inside, Heero turned to Wufei. "Mission status?"

"Three terrorists injured, one, no two agents hurt, three terrorists arrested..."

Heero quirked an eyebrow. "The fourth terrorist?"

Wufei inclined his head back inside the building. Heero followed the line and then lowered his eyes. "I will, of course, endure any disciplinary action Preventer feels is necessary." He looked up then and stared directly into Wufei's eyes. "But I will tell you that I am not sorry, I do not regret anything and I would do the same again if I had to." Heero turned and climbed into the ambulance to accompany Duo back to the hospital.

Wufei placed a hand on his arm as Heero turned. "I would have done the same, Yuy." He let go and Heero disappeared inside the ambulance. Seconds later, the vehicle was on its way, lights flashing and siren screaming. Wufei turned and re-entered the building as two agents finished zipping up the body bag. He had a clean-up to supervise.

~ * ~

The fetus floated quietly in its sac. Something didn't feel right. While its own system continued to keep it alive, there was something wrong with the supply of necessary fluids from its *mother*. The tiny human couldn't possibly understand what was happening to its *mother*, all it could do was sense through the placenta that all was not well. With the next exchange of nutrients so something unusual crossed the barrier. [1]. The small fetus suddenly felt... happy?

~ * ~

The ride to the hospital wasn't fast enough for Heero. He sat in the cramped back of the ambulance as it threaded through the streets, siren blaring on its way to the Preventer hospital. Duo was lying on his stomach, head turned towards Heero. Heero continued to hold Duo's hand, running his thumb gently over the back of it, careful of the cannula that was inserted into the vein for the saline to trickle through.

When the medic had finished taking Duo's blood pressure again and moved back to make notes on the small chart, Heero leaned close and brushed Duo's bangs away from his face. "You're going to be all right, Duo. Sally is waiting for us at the hospital and she will take care of you. Just hold on."

Duo's violet eyes opened and he tried to smile at Heero. "Don't like hospitals."

Heero gave him a gentle smile in return. "I know. I hate them too but the bullet is still inside, Sally will need to get it out."

Duo sighed. "I'm scared, Heero."

Heero's heart constricted in his chest. In all the time he had known Duo, shared the fighting through out the war, and suffering the various tortures at Oz's sadistic hands, he'd never once known his partner to admit to fear. Strangely enough, he also felt scared. "I'm scared too, Duo. I feel so helpless. I don't know what to do to help you."

"Stay with me?"

"I won't leave you if I can help it, Duo."

Duo's eyes began to drift shut and his words became slightly slurred. "Tired, 'Ro."

"That will be the morphine, Duo."

"I hate drugs."

"I know. Rest, Duo. You need your strength." Heero leant over his partner and kissed his forehead. "I love you, Duo Maxwell, forever and always."

"Love you too, Heero." Duo's eyes closed and then he slipped mercifully into unconsciousness.

~ * ~

Sally was waiting at the rear entry to the Preventer building when the ambulance pulled up. The siren was silenced and the rear doors swung open. Immediately, Sally was at the doors. "Status?!" she barked.

"Gun shot wound to the lower back, right quadrant. Medium to large amount of blood loss, although bleeding controlled for the present. Entry wound visible, no exit wound. Internal damage unknown at this point. Morphine and penicillin administered and saline drip inserted."

While the medic had been giving Sally the stats so Heero and the other medic had removed the stretcher from within the vehicle and now had Duo transferred to the gurney that Sally'd had the orderly bring down. Heero continued to hold Duo's hand, not wanting to let go, somehow fearing that if he did, Duo would slip away from him completely. At least while he was still in physical contact, there was something to anchor them both.

Sally took the chart from the medic and scanned over it, her eyebrow rising when she noted the blood pressure. "We need to get him upstairs and give him a blood transfusion as quickly as possible. We can't operate until the blood pressure is up."

Heero nodded his assent and assisted the orderly to push the gurney inside to the elevator that would take them directly to the Preventer medical facility and small hospital on the third floor. Sally joined them and while the elevator made its journey upwards she quickly ran a check over the patient. The padding that had been applied to the wound was slowly staining red, the wound was obviously still bleeding. Sally frowned. It wasn't the bleeding so much that she was concerned about, it was the fact that the bullet was still lodged somewhere inside and who knew what internal damage had been done?

The doors swished open and the gurney was pushed out and straight down the passage. Sally gave her orders to the nursing staff as they swung into one of the small cubicles. "Heero, I need you to move back a bit so we can work on Duo."

Heero nodded and moved to the side, reluctantly letting go of his partner's hand. Instead, he picked up the end of Duo's braid and clutched it tightly.

Sally noticed the small gesture but said nothing, her attention was needed elsewhere. She swiftly inserted another cannula into Duo's arm and hooked up the bag of life sustaining blood. Having a feeling that Duo would need it, Sally had already checked Duo's records for his blood type and gotten the correct blood brought in from the blood bank.

With the blood now filtering in, Sally gave a small sigh of relief as the blood pressure slowly began to rise. "Once that is stable, we will take him through to the theater and perform an ultra sound to determine exactly where the bullet is and what will be the best way to extract it."

Heero nodded, still clutching the tufted chestnut end in his hand. He was numb, the shock still settling in and so he was running completely on auto pilot.

"Heero?"

Heero looked up. "Hai?"

"I promise I will take good care of him," Sally said, her voice reassuring.

Heero felt the tears beginning to form in his eyes as he stared at the unconscious form of his lover and best friend. "I need him, Sally."

Sally stepped forwards and did something she never thought she would ever do and survive to tell about it. She placed her arms around Heero and gave him a hug.

"His pressure is stabilizing, Doctor," the nurse's voice broke the quiet moment.

Sally stepped back, releasing Heero who promptly turned back to face his lover. The hug had been welcomed, needed even and Heero felt a little better about his partner's chances. He knew Sally would do her best for him and he trusted the woman.

Checking that the pressure was indeed stabilizing, Sally decided it was time to take Duo through. "I need consent, Heero, before I can operate to remove the bullet." Sally held out the small clip board with the necessary paperwork on it. "Duo has you listed as his next of kin and therefore I need your signature to be able to operate as he is in no position to sign himself."

Heero nodded and took the clip board, scanning down the page and locating the part where he needed to sign. He scribbled his consent and handed the clip board back to Sally.

"Thank you, Heero. We will take him through now but I'll give you a few moments alone with him first." Sally stepped outside the cubicle to give Heero some privacy.

Heero bent over his love and swept the bangs from the sweet face. Leaning in he brushed his lips over Duo's and murmured softly. "They have to take you away from me for a while, Duo. They need to find the bullet and remove it and I can't go into the theater with them. I will be waiting right here though. I love you, Duo." Heero kissed him again and then stepped back, calling to tell Sally that he was finished.

Sally stepped back inside the cubicle and gave her orders to the staff, Duo was rolled away and Heero was left by himself to fret over his lover's condition. A hand on his shoulder made him jump and he whirled around to see Wufei. Their eyes locked; cobalt blue reflecting pain, anguish and helplessness while onyx were filled with understanding. Then Heero collapsed against Wufei, the Chinese agent catching and supporting him as the dam broke and Heero gave in to the shock and emotions that were tearing him apart.

Wufei held him, letting him cry out his pain, anger and frustration and when the flood slowed, he guided Heero to sit in one of the nurses' offices. With an arm still around Heero's shoulder and Heero's head resting against his own shoulder, Wufei did his best to reassure the man that his partner would be all right.

~ * ~

Sally scrubbed up while the theater staff cleaned and prepped Duo for surgery. They removed what was left of his T-shirt and cut away his jeans rather than attempt to lift him to remove them and risk any further damage, especially when they still weren't sure where the bullet was lodged. Leaving the agent in only his boxers they covered from his rear end down with a surgical cloth and then cleaned the exposed skin of his back with betadine. Sally entered a few moments after.

"Okay. I need the ultra sound unit. There is a bullet lodged inside somewhere and we need to get it out. I will inform you all now, that this agent is special and there is no room for failure. Understood?"

All heads nodded.

"Good, you may administer the anesthetic now." Sally addressed the anesthetist who proceeded to inject the liquid into the cannula.

The ultra sound unit was positioned by the side of the operating table and Sally picked up the sound head while the nurse spread gel over Duo's back. "Now, let's see where this little unwanted gift has lodged itself."

Pressing the sound head against Duo's skin Sally moved it back and forth, watching the monitor as she did so. Suddenly her eyes widened and she gasped. "What the hell?"

~ * ~

tbc.......

[1] While the mother's blood and the baby's blood do not ever mix, the mother's blood delivers all necessary nutrients to the baby via the placenta where the exchange takes place. Anything that is in the mother's blood will get passed on to the child, including drugs.