Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 122 ( Chapter 122 )

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

Please see previous chapters for notes, disclaimers etc.
 
"Chimaera"
 
October. 2003 ShenLong
 
 
 
Chapter 122
 
Lying on the operating table it was all Duo could do to keep his excitement in check. Now that he knew Heero was here all he wanted to do was hold his husband and reassure himself that Heero was okay. He turned to look at Trowa who was wearing a similar grin to his own. "Heero's here, Trowa. He made it in time for the birth."
 
"Yes, Duo. I knew if it was in his power to do so he wouldn't miss this for the world," replied Trowa and gave Duo's hand a squeeze. Trowa was still feeling edgy though, he needed to see Quatre, to cast his own eyes on his husband's form and satisfy himself that Quatre was indeed alive. He was relieved that Heero had made it and felt as if a huge weight had been taken from his shoulders. Once Heero arrived at the operating theater, Trowa would be released from his promise to look after Duo; not that he minded, but he would be happy to hand over the responsibility.
 
"Won't be long now," said the nurse as she checked Duo's vitals.
 
Duo wasn't sure if she was referring to the birth or Heero's impending arrival, but either way he didn't care. His husband would shortly be with him and they would share in the most amazing experience of their young lives. Absently Duo ran a hand over the swell of the baby. "Hold on just a few more minutes, Sunshine. Your daddy will be here any minute now and we wouldn't want him to miss out on your grand entrance now would we?"
 
Nurse Brown heard the softly spoken words and smiled.
 
***
 
Sally contacted G on the way back to the prep room, explaining the situation as she went. Wufei was still scowling, he didn't trust any of the doctors from their war days, especially J or G, not that he had anything to worry about as far as J was concerned; the doctor had disappeared with the Libra incident and never been heard from since. Wufei didn't trust G simply because of what he'd done to Maxwell. In Wufei's book, G had no sense of morality, having kept Maxwell's condition a secret from the man for all these years.
 
Quatre couldn't really give a shit about anything at the moment. His shoulder was starting to hurt again and he was also beginning to feel the effects of the numerous cuts and scrapes that adorned his body. He couldn't care less who treated him as long as they gave him another dose of that wonderful morphine to keep the pain at bay.
 
Heero's face was set in a grim mask. He was hurting, no doubt about that, but he was ignoring the pain. Heero's only objective was getting to his husband. He'd informed Sally that she could treat him briefly but anything surgical would have to wait until Duo had given birth. Sally hadn't bothered to argue, she'd already known that.
 
The prep room came into sight and Heero stiffened a little. His Duo was just inside. The anticipation began to run through him, the adrenaline eased a little of the discomfort from his wounds.
 
"You two, sit." Sally had stopped upon entering the prep room and now indicated to a couple of chairs. "Heero, I'm going to check you over and do a quick patch up job. I really need to get back to Duo but I can't have you going in there in this state."
 
"Do what you have to but make it fast. I want to see Duo," replied Heero.
 
"Right." Sally walked over to the operating theater and disappeared inside for a moment. When she returned she had Trowa with her and an armful of supplies. Immediately Trowa saw his husband he was across the room and in his partner's good arm.
 
"Quatre, Quatre, are you okay? I was so worried about you," said Trowa softly as he took in the sight of his wounded husband and began to check him over.
 
Quatre latched onto Trowa and kissed his husband deeply. "I'll be fine. Just a dislocated shoulder and some cuts," replied the blonde. "G should be here very shortly to take Wufei and myself through to the other section and fix us both up." Quatre gave a small grimace of pain as his shoulder brushed against Trowa.
 
The grimace didn't go unnoticed by Trowa. "You need some pain relief? I'll get Sally or G to give you something."
 
"I think he's had enough," grunted Wufei.
 
Trowa raised an eyebrow in question but didn't get an immediate answer as G chose that moment to arrive.
 
"I'll tell you on the way to the other section of the hospital," said Wufei as G bustled in and began a conversation with Sally.
 
Sally quickly gave G the information she had on Wufei's and Quatre's conditions. G agreed that Quatre needed to be treated first and as the blonde had no objections to G being the consulting physician, the doctor quickly made use of the internal 'phone system to have the treatment room he would use set up.
 
"Can you give him something for the pain?" asked Trowa as he gently rubbed Quatre's back.
 
"Certainly. He's probably going to need an anesthetic for us to be able to put that shoulder back in but something to alleviate the pain now won't go astray," replied G as he went over to the locked medicine cabinet and began to search for what he wanted.
 
"No more morphine, please," moaned Wufei.
 
G returned with a syringe in hand. "I wasn't going to give him morphine."
 
The relief on Wufei's face was clear for all to see. Heero also gave a sigh.
 
"I'm going to give him a shot of pethadine."
 
Wufei froze. Pethadine was very similar to morphine.
 
G administered the shot. "That should begin to take effect in a couple of minutes. Now, I think we need to get you into a wheelchair to take you down to the other section. Once that drug starts to work you're going to be a little light headed and I don't want you falling over." G cast his eyes around the prep room. "Just stay there for a moment. There's a wheelchair just outside in the storage room." G left to fetch the wheelchair.
 
Wufei groaned and held his head in his hands while Trowa continued to give the Chinese man odd looks. Quatre didn't really care about anything much, the pethadine was beginning to work and he was starting to feel slightly 'detached'. Sally was busy assembling the items she needed to treat Heero and missed the exchange of looks behind her. G returned within a couple of minutes with a snazzy looking wheelchair.
 
"It's an electric one," said G. "There weren't any of the usual standard types but this one is fine." G went to help Trowa get Quatre installed in the wheelchair.
 
Wufei took one look at the electronic chair and groaned. There were several buttons on the arm of the machine along with what looked like a 'joy stick'. Judging by the way Quatre's eyes lit up, Wufei knew the blonde was already checking out the various buttons.
 
Settling himself into the chair, Quatre gazed at the control panel and grinned. This was going to be fun. Trowa took up position behind the chair and grasped the handles ready to push; but Quatre beat him to it. "Ohh... I wonder what this one does?" The back of the chair almost hit Trowa in the groin as it shot in reverse. "Oops?" snickered Quatre. "What about this one?" The chair lurched forwards and ran over G's foot. "Sorry," said Quatre as he grabbed the 'joy stick' and steered the chair out of the prep room, Trowa hot on his 'wheels'.
 
G swore a couple of times under his breath as he rubbed his abused foot and then, deciding there wasn't any permanent damage set off after the escaped blonde.
 
Wufei stood up slowly and wondered idly if there was a button on that chair that would cause said chair to act like an ejector seat. With any luck there was and it would be a shiny red one. Wufei could just picture the blonde pushing it and taking a flying leap through the air. Now that would be justice. He turned to Heero who was still sitting in the other chair waiting patiently for Sally to finish cleaning up the bullet wound to his thigh. "Good luck, Yuy," he said quietly. "Give my best to Maxwell."
 
"I will, Chang."
 
"May Nataku be with you both and watch over the birth of your child. I will return very soon." Wufei gave a stiff bow and then left the room to catch up with the other three. He could hear Quatre's laughter and Trowa's chastisement as soon as he stepped outside, not to mention G's cursing. Wufei decided to take his time in catching them up.
 
***
 
Heero was touched by Chang's words and he felt a lump in his throat. He turned his attention back to Sally who had almost finished cleaning out the bullet wound. "Can you hurry up? I want to be with Duo."
 
"Nearly done, Heero. This will need flushing out properly afterwards, I just want to give it a quick wash out now and put some antibiotic powder in there. I'll re-bandage it to keep it clean and free from infection." Having completed that part of her patch up job, Sally turned her attention to the gash in Heero's biceps. Carefully she peeled back the bandage the Major had applied back at the Glasshouse and took a proper look at the wound. "I'll give that a quick irrigation with saline and pop some butterfly clips on it to hold it closed for now. Afterwards it will need to be stitched properly."
 
"Hn. Just move it along, please." Heero wasn't trying to be rude, he simply wanted to be with Duo. He was also aware that Sally needed to clean him up to a certain extent though, otherwise he could carry infection into the theater with him and in turn infect Duo and that was the last thing Heero wanted.
 
Sally swilled the saline around the wound, washing out bits of glass along with some dirt and blood. She could see fragments of glass still inside the wound, not to mention scattered over Heero's torso as well. It would be a long job getting all those fragments out of the Japanese man's skin. Sally didn't mention it for now though, she might as well save her breath for she already knew that Heero wouldn't consent to anything further until after Duo had given birth.
 
Placing the last butterfly clip on the wound she reached for the gauze and packed it over the gash. A bandage followed and was secured, then Sally stood up. "Over here and wash your hands thoroughly in this solution," she told Heero. Leaving the agent to 'scrub up', Sally went over to another cupboard in the room and returned carrying a green surgical gown. "Here, put this on," Sally said and handed the gown to Heero.
 
Taking the gown, Heero quickly slipped his arms inside and pulled the gown around himself. Sally tied it off at the back. A surgeon's cap was placed over his hair and then a mask was offered.
 
"You won't need to put that on until we have the baby delivered and you cut the cord," explained Sally.
 
"Aa."
 
"All set?"
 
Heero nodded.
 
"Then let's take you inside. Duo is so excited that you made it in time."
 
Heero took a deep breath and did his best to keep his emotions in check. But the tears still welled behind his eyes despite his determination to keep them at bay as Sally wheeled him into the operating theater where his husband and their unborn child awaited him.
 
***
 
Inside the world that had been its home for the past eight months, the fetus moved again. Its small heart began to beat a little faster and the fetus felt a little 'different'. Normally the watery world was calm and serene, the fetus floating happily around the restricted space not wanting for anything, as all it needed was supplied through the umbilical cord that attached it to its 'mother'.
 
Things had begun to change though. Pressure had increased, there had been several strong, muscular contractions that pushed the fetus down and by instinct the small child followed the push. But now there was another factor coming into play and the fetus didn't like it.
 
It felt light headed, as if there wasn't enough oxygen being drawn into its body. The tiny heart began to beat faster in an effort to supply the small body with whatever nutrients and gases it needed but is seemed to be fighting a losing battle. There simply wasn't enough blood coming through to the placenta for the exchanges to take place.
 
The fetus began to fret.
 
* * *
 
Duo's eyes were focused on the doors to the operating theater. There weren't any windows in the wall that separated the theater from the prep room so Duo couldn't see anything that was going on in the other room. He chewed his bottom lip as he patiently waited for Heero to come in. The doors suddenly swung wide and Sally appeared pushing Heero in a wheelchair. Instantly Duo's eyes lit up, then frowned at the chair before a wide grin stole over his features. "Heero!" he all but yelled.
 
Heero took over the movement of the chair, his hands gripped the wheels and he propelled himself across the room as quickly as he could. The operating table was a little higher that Heero so when he brought the chair to a stop, he shoved the brake on and pushed himself out of the chair to a standing position and instantly enveloped his husband in a warm, desperate embrace.
 
Duo's arms came up to wrap around Heero and the braided man buried his head in Heero's shoulder, a few quiet sobs escaping his throat. "You're finally here," he murmured. "I didn't think you were going to make it in time. Oh, Heero, I've been so worried and scared..."
 
"Hush, little mother," soothed Heero as he gently ran his hand over Duo's braid and the young man's shoulders. "I'm here now and I'm not leaving until Sunshine's born and I know you're okay. I promised you I wouldn't let you go through this alone and I meant it. I'll be with you every step of the way, Duo. God, I love you so much." The tears that Heero had been desperately trying to keep at bay sprang forth and for a minute they simply held each other and let the tide of emotion roll over and through them.
 
At last Duo pulled back a little and after searching Heero's face, he lunged forwards and kissed his partner. The kiss was full of love, passion and a fierce determination that told Heero just how worried Duo had been. Heero returned the kiss with as much love as he could muster, letting the other man know just how concerned he had also been. Breaking the kiss, Duo's eyes scanned over his lover. "How badly are you hurt?" he asked and then narrowed his eyes. "No bullshit either."
 
"Bullet wound to the thigh, laceration to the bicep, some other lacerations and scrapes to the torso and I think I've strained a few muscles in my back and shoulder," replied Heero honestly. "Sally's patched me up for now."
 
"I will take him through and do a proper clean up job on him after we have delivered the baby," said Sally as she approached the operating table and sorted through her instruments again. "Right now I think we need to get back to this delivery. The fetal monitor is showing a marked increase in the baby's heart rate and the sooner we can deliver the child the better it will be for the both of you."
 
"Is the baby okay?" asked Heero, his voice full of concern.
 
"At the moment, but; if we don't deliver the baby very soon then we are going to have some serious problems. The placenta is starting to pull away from the uterine wall again and this time we won't be able to stop it. I need to deliver Duo now before we get any serious blood loss." Sally picked up the needle again.
 
"You're bleeding?" Heero asked Duo with a frown.
 
"Yeah. Started just a short while ago. Sally was getting me ready for an epidural when you decided you would show up." Duo's voice bore no malice, in fact quite the opposite. He still held Heero's hand tightly in his while Heero's good arm was wrapped around his shoulders. For the first time since he'd had that first contraction, Duo felt safe.
 
"Then I suggest we don't delay this any longer. I'm here now, Duo. I'll take care of you." Heero pressed a soft kiss to Duo's forehead and the American sighed happily.
 
"Right. Duo, we need to roll you back onto your side again," said Nurse Brown as she appeared at the side of the operating table.
 
"Okay." Duo kept one hand on his belly as he pushed himself over onto his side, assisted by Nurse Brown and Heero.
 
"Comfortable?" Sally asked as she prepared the needle.
 
"As comfortable as I'm ever going to be."
 
"Can you feel this?" Sally pressed against the area she'd anesthetized earlier.
 
"Just a bit of pressure, that's all."
 
"Good. I'm now going to insert the needle into the epidural space and infiltrate it with local anesthetic. It is extremely important that you do not move."
 
"Gotcha."
 
Carefully, Sally inserted the needle in-between the vertebra of Duo's spine and into the epidural space. Depressing the plunger on the syringe she quickly injected the local anesthetic and then withdrew the needle. "While that takes effect I'll get the next stage set up."
 
Duo lay patiently on his side, hand still holding Heero's and the Japanese man's thumb was rubbing softly over his skin. Now that Heero was here, Duo could fully relax and look forward to the birth without as much fear.
 
"That should be working now," said Sally as she gently pressed around the area. "Ready for the next phase?"
 
Duo nodded.
 
"What I'm going to do now is insert another needle into the epidural space, this one is hollow though. Once it's inside I will thread the catheter through into the space and withdraw the needle. I'll tape the catheter in place so it doesn't move. Then all we have to do is inject the medication through the catheter and into the epidural space."
 
"Okay." Duo clutched Heero's hand a little tighter.
 
Carefully, Sally began the process of inserting the needle and catheter, Nurse Brown assisting with the minor operation. Once the catheter was in place and secured, Sally gave a relieved sigh. "It's all in place. Now I'm going to inject the medication through the catheter. You should start to feel numb from the waist down in a few seconds, Duo. Tell me what you're feeling, Okay?"
 
"I will."
 
"What exactly does the medication do?" asked Heero.
 
"It will relax the pelvic muscles and bathe the nerves in a local anesthetic so they become insensitive to pain. Duo will still feel the pressure of any contractions but there won't be the pain to go with them."
 
"Aa."
 
Sally began to inject the medication. "How are you doing, Duo?"
 
Duo lay still and closed his eyes. He could feel the medication trickling into his back, it felt cold. Then a pleasant numbness began to fall over his hips and through his groin. "I'm going numb," he said and then turned to Heero, a cheeky grin on his face. "Don't go asking for sex, will you? I don't think I could get it up at the moment," he snickered.
 
Heero snorted. "Baka!"
 
Sally shook her head and removed the needle from the end of the catheter. "All done. You can roll back over now."
 
Duo did and settled comfortably back into place. "Now what?"
 
"Now I'm going to check your abdomen and see what you can and can't feel. Once I'm satisfied that the anesthetic is working I will begin the C-section."
 
"Ahhh. All right."
 
Sally gently probed around Duo's belly. "Can you feel that?"
 
"Only a bit of pressure, nothing else. It feels like your arm or leg does when it's had the blood supply cut off, you know, numb.""Good. I think it's time to start then." Sally turned to Nurse Brown. "We need the curtain."
 
Duo lay there as the doctor and nurse finished off the preparations. A green 'curtain' was placed over his waist, blocking his view of anything below his ribs and Duo was grateful for that. He felt his gown being lifted up and his boxers removed then a cold sensation passed through his belly. Nurse Brown was bathing the area of the C-section in a betadine solution.
 
Duo turned his violet eyes towards his husband and squeezed Heero's hand. "This is it, Heero," he stated softly. "Ready or not we're about to become parents."
 
Heero's eyes were a mix of excitement, anticipation and fear. All the trials and tribulations of the past eight months had been leading up to this point. He hoped that the baby would be all right, that there wouldn't be any complications, that Duo would be okay. He couldn't voice his concerns though, he simply had to trust in Sally's expertise.
 
Nurse Brown pulled a small crib over to stand at the side of the operating table, ready for the newborn's arrival and Duo gazed at it with a dreamy look in his eyes. Heero's eyes also softened when he saw the look on Duo's face.
 
"Let's begin." Sally's voice broke the moment. "Scalpel..."
 
~ * ~
 
tbc.....
 
Note: The birth will definitely be happening in the next chapter. The muse wanted to keep the birth until Chapter 123 - my weird muse informed me it wasn't going to have the birth until then for the following reason; 1x2 = 3 Heero tops Duo = Sunshine. Yeah, sick I know, but that's my muse for you. ^_^