Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Equinity ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier, ne?

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Sap, angst, yaoi, Lemon, AU, OOC

Pairing: 2x1

Summary: Heero is a successful up and coming Showjumping rider with his promising new horse Zero. A fall at a show renders the animal injured and it is up to Duo Maxwell the new vet to treat the horse.

Dedication: To Klingonpoodle who gave me the plot bunny for this fic. *huggles* This one's for you hun!

Many thanks to my betas Yami_Tai and Ryouga.

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com

http://sweetlysour.net.

http://adultfanfiction.net

http://www.theforsakenwk.com

http://www.templeofthegoddess.com/files/gwyaoi.html

Notes: All the information on showjumping, horses, etc is taken from my own knowledge of the sport having been a competitor and now judge for many years and is written from an Australian perspective. The rules and regulations are courtesy of the E.F.A Handbook. (Equestrian Federation of Australia) Should you have any questions just e-mail me.

Many thanks to Yami_tai for the title! *hugs*

" Equinity "

October 2004 ShenLong

Chapter 4

With the float unhitched and the car turned around, Duo went back inside his home to fetch Heero. Five minutes later they were traveling down the road and on their way to the hospital. "You shouldn't have to wait too long in emergency," said Duo in an attempt to make conversation.

"I hate hospitals," muttered Heero.

"Love them or hate them, you need to get that shoulder looked at. The way you're holding it tells me that it could be fractured," stated Duo as he turned down another road.

"I hope not," replied Heero. "I can't afford to be out of action."

"Rest is what you need."

"Don't have time for that. Zero needs to be looked after and then there is my job."

Duo's ears pricked up. "What is it that you do, Heero?"

"I'm an accountant."

"Oh. I guess having your right arm out of commission isn't going to be too good for your job then."

"I'll manage. I can still type with my left hand, but it will be slow."

"So, where do you live, Heero? I haven't seen you around this part of the country before so I take it you're not local?"

"Actually I live just on the outskirts, next shire over. The company I work for opened up a new branch there and I was asked if I wanted to relocate so I did. I'd previously been living in the city," replied Heero.

"What about Zero?"

"I had him agisted at the local riding school. Moving out here I was able to rent a place with a couple of acres."

"Ahh." Further conversation was prevented as Duo swung the car up the driveway to the hospital and pulled up into one of the bays designated for ''emergencies'. He cut the engine and got out, quickly moving to the passenger side to assist Heero.

Leaning heavily on the vet, Heero managed to walk into the emergency room and up to the desk where a pretty young clerk took his details. Waiting for Heero to finish with the clerk, Duo took a look around. As he'd predicted there weren't many people in the emergency room. Heero returned from the desk and sat next to Duo, face wincing in pain as he sat tiredly in the chair.

"Want something to read?" Duo asked and nodded at the magazines stacked conveniently on a table.

Heero gave the pile a quick look over; they appeared to be all women's magazines, and the odd Reader's Digest. "Pass," he replied.

"Don't blame you, think I will too," responded Duo and leant back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. He let his eyes drift partially shut, it had been a long day and it was starting to catch up with him. Beside him, Heero also let his eyes close.

Duo wasn't sure if he'd dozed off or not when the sound of a nurse's voice penetrated his mind.

"Mr. Yuy? Heero Yuy?"

He nudged Heero. "Wake up, buddy. The nurse is calling you."

Heero gave a grunt, his eyes opening. "I'm Heero Yuy," he said.

The nurse smiled. "This way if you please, Mr. Yuy." The slim nurse held the door open and indicated for him to go through.

Heero felt a moments panic and as he stood he turned to Duo. "I know this is probably going to sound stupid, but would you...?"

Duo gave him a smile. "No problem." He stood up and assisted Heero through the door and followed the nurse to a cubicle.

"Just hop up onto the bed, Mr. Yuy. The doctor will be with you soon."

Heero looked at the bed and then the retreating back of the nurse. "And just how the hell am I supposed to do that with only one arm?" he growled. Behind him Duo snickered.

"Here." Duo pulled out a small step from underneath the hospital bed. "Use that and lean on me."

With a few grunts and a soft gasp of pain, Heero managed to climb up onto the bed and sat with his legs dangling over the side. Duo plonked himself down in a chair beside him and immediately began to study the various items and apparatus around the bed. Most of it he recognized, after all, there wasn't that much difference in the things that he used in his profession and what the human doctors used in theirs. When he thought about it he probably could have treated Heero as he'd been asked, but he was an animal doctor and even though there were a few similarities, there were also a lot of differences. He was still quite amused though that Heero had obviously preferred that he treat him as opposed to the doctor. The curtain was pulled back and a smiling faced doctor entered the cubicle.

"Ahhh, Mr. Yuy" he said as he picked up the chart the nurse had left on the end of the bed with Heero's details on it, the details he'd given the clerk. "I'm Doctor Richards. You had a fall from your horse and hurt your shoulder, correct?"

"Yes." Heero thought it was pretty obvious that he'd hurt his shoulder, after all it was in a sling. Is this why what doctors spent many years in college and then internship for, to state the obvious?

"Any other damage I should know about?"

"No."

"Yes."

Heero turned and looked at Duo who had spoken up and got a sheepish grin in return.

"He landed heavily on his right hand side, shoulder and head took most of the force. The medic checked him out and suspects a fractured shoulder along with concussion." Duo turned to face the scowling rider. "Whilst you may have experienced it, I saw it and you're going to tell the doc here what hurts and what doesn't, otherwise he's not going to be able to fix you up properly."

"And you are?" The doctor asked after he'd silently watched the exchange, appreciating the more in depth information as to his patient's injuries.

"Maxwell, Duo Maxwell, Doctor Richards. I'm the new vet and treating Mr. Yuy's horse. He's unable to drive himself so I brought him up."

"Ah, I see. When exactly did you have the fall, Mr. Yuy?"

"I'm not sure," replied Heero a frown marring his face.

"About four hours ago, doc. He was competing in the open jumping class at the Ag' show," Duo supplied.

"Why on earth weren't you brought here immediately?"

"Zero was hurt, he needed attention."

"Zero?"

"His horse," Duo answered. "Refused to go anywhere until the horse was taken care of."

"I see," said the doctor in a rather annoyed tone. "You really should have come here right away, Mr. Yuy. There could be internal injuries or other damage that needs to be seen to straight away."

"I'm okay, Zero needed help more than me."

"These horse people, always the same," muttered the doctor. "Their animal first and themselves last."

Heero glared, Duo began to snicker and cleverly turned it into a coughing fit when the doctor looked his way.

"I certainly hope that the horse is doing much better than the rider," he stated with a touch of sarcasm.

It went right over Heero's head. "Yes, he's much better now that Mr. Maxwell has taken care of him."

Giving up on the sarcasm the doctor approached the patient. "Let's have a look at you then and see what's happened to this shoulder. Can you take your arm out of the sling please?"

It took a little maneuvering but Heero extracted his arm. The doctor stared and frowned. "What?" said Heero flatly.

"I need to get your jacket and shirt off to examine you properly."

"Oh." Heero wasn't too sure about getting the jacket off, it did fit along the lines of his jodhpurs, only not quite so snug.

"If you can't remove it then I'm afraid I will have to cut you out of it, it's necessary for me to examine you properly and no doubt take x-rays."

"You're not cutting it off." Heero stated. "It's almost brand new and cost a lot. I'll get out of it somehow."

"Your call," shrugged the doctor. "I'll leave you to take it off; whilst you're doing that I'll go and organize radiology for x-rays. Back in a moment." The doctor left the cubicle, pulling the curtain around as he went and leaving the two men alone.

"Want a hand?" Duo asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Hai, if you don't mind. There's no way he's going to cut this jacket off me," growled Heero.

Duo shook his head and stood up. "Let's get your left arm out first and then maybe we can slide it off your right one with minimal movement for the arm."

Heero agreed so Duo removed the sling, pulling it up over his head and popping it on the chair. Then he reached for the buttons and quickly undid them. "Now for the tricky part. See how far you can bend your right arm, Heero. I need to get a little slack in the jacket here to get it off your left arm so the straighter your right, the easier this will be."

Heero did as asked, slowly moving his arm and gritting his teeth as pain burned along the limb and through his back. Duo was as careful as he could be trying not to cause Heero any more pain that he was already experiencing. He managed to work the sleeve of the jacket over Heero's left arm and once it was free it slid off the right arm with virtual ease.

"Good. Now for the shirt." Duo leant in close and undid Heero's tie, putting it with the jacket on the chair before returning to unbutton Heero's shirt. His fingers shook a little as his hormones chose to torment him, telling him how lovely this was to be undressing such a hot man. He tried to tell his hormones to shove off but they wouldn't listen, continuing to tell him just how sensual this could be. It didn't help any that as he released Heero from the garment the man's smooth and finely honed, muscular chest came into view, along with his unique male scent. Duo groaned as he felt his nether regions stirring; now was not a good time to be getting a hard on!

Heero heard the soft groan and gave a startled look in Duo's direction but he couldn't see the vet's face to indicate what the problem might be and as Duo continued to divest him of his shirt he thought it mustn't be important as Duo would have said something or stopped. As the fabric of his shirt opened up so a soft exhalation of warm air passed over his chest and before Heero knew what was happening his body began to react. His nipples began to harden, along with something else and given the snug fit of his jodhpurs he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it either. Fuck! Just what he didn't need right now.

"There, all undone. Now, let's see if we can get this off you," Duo said as he tried to straighten up and keep his lower half out of Heero's line of sight. As he raised his head and shifted to the side to grasp the material at the cuff of Heero's left hand, his eyes briefly traveled over Heero's lap, then came to a screeching halt and returned for another, discreet peek. If he wasn't mistaken the bulge in Heero's jodhpurs was a little larger that it had been earlier when he'd assisted the rider to zip up. Yup, definitely larger. Damn! Now Duo knew for certain that he hadn't misheard the soft words Heero had spoken before leaving to come to the hospital. But what to do about it? Now wasn't the time or the place for such things, besides, he still wasn't completely sure and there was no way he was going to come out and ask Heero if the lump at his groin meant he wanted Duo. A soft gasp from Heero dragged him back from mind space and he realized he'd pulled a little harder than intended on the shirt. "Shit! Sorry, Heero. I wasn't thinking," he apologized and then continued to remove the shirt, with a little more care.

Heero wasn't sure if Duo had spotted his 'problem' or not but the sudden burst of pain soon took care of any happenings down below as quickly as they had arisen. Nothing like a flash of pain to cool the ardor. He winced again as Duo removed his shirt completely and shivered as the cool air brushed his skin. He heard Duo give a low whistle and turned his blue eyes to the vet's face.

"Fuck! You sure did take a dive, Heero," Duo said as he looked at the abused shoulder. The skin was mottled red and purple, heat rolling off it and swelling beginning to show. "No wonder you're wincing, damn! That's gotta hurt, buddy." Duo shifted to stand beside Heero's right side and gently reached forth to brush his fingers over the bruised shoulder.

Heero shivered again but not from the cold this time. Even though the area was extremely painful and tender, Duo's fingers were gentle and soft against his skin. He wondered if Duo would be as gentle and tender with his love making. The curtain was suddenly pulled aside and Duo jumped back, a guilty look on his face as the doctor returned.

"Ah, good. I see you managed to get the shirt and jacket off." If the doctor had seen Duo's guilty look then he didn't comment, instead he moved over to take a good look at Heero's shoulder. His skilled fingers ran over the skin, pressing lightly here and there and asking Heero to tell him what hurt and what didn't.

Heero grunted and groaned in all the right places then let out a yelp as the doctor began to manipulate his arm and the joint. "Fuck! Watch it, doc, that damn well hurts!"

"Sorry, but I have to see what movement you have in the joint." Finally the doctor seemed satisfied with his prodding and poking and moved to check Heero's head. His hands and fingers worked over the scalp, feeling and noting the bumps. A light was shone in Heero's eyes, pupils dilating and constricting on cue then following the movement of the doctor's finger. Finally the doctor seemed happy he'd done what he could and straightened up to make a few notes on the chart. "I'm going to send you down to X-ray now and get a few pictures of that shoulder taken; whilst you're there I'll get a CAT scan of your head just to make certain there's no damage there. Nurse Pollard will take you down and bring you back. I'll see you once you return with the films." The doctor turned and left the cubicle.

Heero sighed and rolled his eyes. "I hate hospitals," he repeated.

Duo chuckled. "Never mind, Heero. Shouldn't be too much longer and the worst is out of the way."

"Don't be so sure. The people in radiology tend to be sadists," Heero shot back. "They twist and turn you in all sorts of painful ways to get their pictures. I'm sure they must run a book to see who can get the most screams of pain from a patient in one day."

Duo snorted, a grin on his handsome face. "And how many are you going to add to the tally?" A glare was his answer.

The nurse came in with a wheelchair then and between the two of them they managed to get Heero from the bed and into the wheelchair. Duo took control of the 'driving' and followed the nurse down the corridors and into the radiology department. Parking Heero beside a chair, Duo sat down once more to wait. This time though they didn't have to wait long, the radiologist calling them in almost immediately. Duo pushed the chair into the small x-ray room and then left Heero to the mercy of the radiologist. He saw enough x-rays without needing to add anymore to the list. He went to wait back in the small waiting room.

Half an hour later the young nurse wheeled Heero back out and stopped the chair next to Duo. "I'll just go and get the films and then we will take you back to the ER, Mr. Yuy."

As the nurse disappeared so Duo leaned in close so as Heero would be the only one to hear him. "How was it? I didn't hear any blood curdling shrieks out here so either the room is sound proofed or you have one hell of a pain threshold," he grinned.

"If you must know it was... painful." Heero huffed. "Traitor," he added as an after thought.

"Hey, I hate wearing those lead aprons and I sure as hell ain't gonna be exposed to harmful x-rays that could make me sterile," Duo teased.

"X-rays can make you sterile?" Heero questioned as he paled.

"Yeah, thought you knew that?" Duo's eyes danced with merriment, Heero was so easy to tease, to fool.

"No, I didn't," replied Heero. "Shit! Duo, you don't think...?"

Duo laughed out loud. "Nah, I'm just teasing you, Heero. Although if you did have enough exposure to them without protection it can stuff you up but it would take a shit load of them and I don't think you would be anywhere near the recommended dosage." Duo gave the rider a wink.

Heero breathed a sigh of relief; then glared. "Not fair," he retorted. "Taking advantage of me when I'm injured."

"I'd love to take advantage of you, Heero." With a start Duo realized he'd spoken the words out loud.

// Fuck! //

Heero's breath hitched and his head slowly turned to face the rather red looking vet but before he could question Duo the nurse returned with a large envelope in her hand, obviously Heero's 'films'.

"Okay, Mr. Yuy. I have your results here so we will take you back to the ER where Doctor Richards can take a look at them and let you know what the verdict is."

Duo quickly stood up, grateful for the interruption and rescue from the embarrassing situation he'd dumped himself into. Taking hold of the wheelchair handles he began to 'drive' back to the ER, following behind the shapely nurse.

Heero watched the sway of the woman's hips as she walked but he didn't see them, his mind was too busy chasing itself over Duo's word slip. He couldn't swear to it but he was sure that Duo was interested in him. Arriving back at the cubicle, Heero pushed the thoughts aside for the moment, he could analyze them later, right now he had a sadist of a doctor to deal with, not to mention finding out what the damage was and how long it would be before he was back to normal. Duo and the nurse assisted him back onto the bed and the kind nurse wrapped a cellular blanket around his shoulders to keep him warm before disappearing to fetch the doctor.

Duo sat back in the chair after moving Heero's shirt and jacket to the side. He eyed the large envelope, fingers twitching with the need to take a look inside. He loved to stare at x-rays, see all the secrets of the bones revealed but before he could give in to the urge, Doctor Richards arrived.

"Ah, back again, I see."

Heero declined to answer.

The envelope was opened and the doctor slid the films and the small paper out, scanning the radiologist's report and then holding up the black film to the overhead fluorescent light. Duo's eyes followed the x-ray, trying to see what the damage was but it was a little difficult from his current position. With a soft 'Humph', the doctor raised another film to the light, then the rest followed one by one. The CAT scan result and picture were the last to see the artificial light before the doctor slipped them all back into the envelope and turned to face his patient.

"Well, Mr. Yuy. You will be pleased to know that the CAT scan is clear; there is no damage to your head. I'd say you're suffering with mild concussion though so rest is imperative...."

Heero breathed a sigh of relief.

"... As for your shoulder..."

Heero held his breath again.

"... There is a mild hairline fracture of the shoulder blade, the ligaments and tendons have also been strained, not to mention soft tissue damage, which will show up as bruising over the course of the next few days."

"Shit!"

"You're a very lucky man, Mr. Yuy. Given what Mr. Maxwell said about the fall it could have been a lot worse," the doctor said as he moved to the head of the bed and reached to the drawers of the cabinet that stood there.

"So what's the treatment, doc?" Duo thought he'd better ask as it seemed that Heero was either incapable or didn't want to.

"The shoulder will need to be strapped up and the arm immobilized. I'll give him some pain killers and anti inflammatories, other than that there isn't much else we can do. The arm will be out of use for six weeks minimum, then physiotherapy in around seven to eight weeks should see full use of the shoulder again. It's going to be painful for a while as the bone and tissues heal but the pain killers will help with that. As for the concussion, he will need to be kept under observation for twenty four hours. If he passes out or becomes delirious at all, bring him straight back." Having located the supplies he needed from the cabinet, the doctor placed them to one side. "I'll go and get the drugs now. This will be much easier for both of us once you've got the painkiller into your system. Are you allergic to anything, Mr. Yuy?"

Only doctors and hospitals Heero wanted to reply but instead he shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"Right. I'll give you some Pethidine [1] for now, it's just as good as morphine but doesn't have some of the side effects that morphine can have sometimes." The doctor disappeared again, leaving the two young men alone.

Duo whistled through his teeth. "Bad luck, Heero, but I thought it might have been a fracture."

Heero looked glumly back at him. "I don't know how the boss is going to take this," he muttered.

"I'm sure he will be understanding, Heero."

"Yeah, well I do have a few sick days up my sleeve so I guess I can use them." Heero's thoughts moved on. "How am I going to take care of Zero?" he mumbled to himself, unaware that Duo had heard him. A warm hand to his knee had him jerking his head up in surprise.

"You're welcome to stay with me, Heero, for as long as you need too."

"But..."

"Just wait and see, Heero. Let the doc strap you up, then I'll take you back home to my place and we can discuss your options from there."

"I don't understand, Duo. You don't know me and yet you're opening up your home to me and helping me out. Why?" Heero really didn't understand, he'd always been responsible for only himself and Zero, never having needed assistance before and it didn't make sense to him that Duo would go out of his way to help him.

Duo frowned. "Do I need a reason? Look, Heero. You're injured, your horse is also injured and you need some help here. I like you and I want to help, please, let me."

Heero nodded, his mind too exhausted to try and figure it all out. Further discussion was abandoned as the doctor came back, armed with a syringe and looking dangerous.

Heero paled. He really did hate hospitals.

***

Twenty minutes later, Heero's shoulder was efficiently strapped, his arm immobilized and his mind in a happy daze. Duo clutched a small bottle with half a dozen Voltaren [2] tablets in it and two prescriptions, one for more of the anti inflammatories and the other for Panadeine Forte, [3], a very strong pain killer. Putting the bottle and 'scripts into his pocket he went to assist Heero back out to the car. The journey was just as slow out as it had been in, this time though it was more from Heero's 'happy' state than the pain of his injury.

The Pethadine had worked quickly, infiltrating Heero's blood stream and taking away the pain which was just as well, Duo had thought when he saw the doctor, assisted by the nurse, in action strapping Heero's shoulder and arm. Even Duo winced at times and he wasn't the hurt one! He had to admit though, the doctor had done a good job and Heero couldn't move the arm or shoulder at all.

Managing to get his 'patient' back to the car at last, Duo settled Heero in the passenger seat and buckled him in, then went around and got behind the wheel. Moments later they were back out on the road and heading for Duo's home.

"That's some good shit the doctor gave me," said Heero as he looked out the window of the car at the darkened landscape. "I can't feel a thing now."

Duo gave a soft chuckle. "It was called Pethidine, Heero. It's good for numbing the pain when you need immediate pain relief to sort out an injury." Duo didn't think it was the right time to go into all the attributes of Pethidine, Heero was obviously experiencing most of them right now, anything he said would probably go in one ear and out the other anyway.

"It sure works fast," Heero replied as he reached for the radio/CD switch. "Want some music?" Without waiting for a reply Heero turned the player on. Instantly the car was flooded with the sounds of a string quartet, not your usual strings though, these were jazzed up, electronic and thrummed through the car.

Duo turned briefly to look at Heero and quirked an eyebrow.

"Modern classical," Heero stated as if it was the complete answer to Duo's unspoken question. "I like to listen to it before a competition, stirs the blood and gets the adrenaline going."

"Ahh," replied Duo. Not the best of answers he knew, but he was a little off balance here. Heero hadn't struck him as the sort to enjoy classical music, or rather 'modern classical' as Heero had termed it but he had to admit, the tune was definitely catching. "What is it called?" he asked above the sudden heavy drum beat.

"Explosive." [4]

That made sense. The way the music was pounding through the speakers of the car it was a wonder they hadn't exploded already mused Duo.

"It's by an all female group called Bond." Heero reached for the glove compartment with his left hand and opened it to remove a .CD case and hold it up so Duo could see. "There's some pretty good stuff on here, you can borrow it if you want."

"Thanks, I might take you up on that later," replied Duo. Whether he actually did or not remained to be seen, Duo still wasn't all that sure himself if he wanted to hear more even if this particular track was soul stirring. At that moment his pager began to beep. "Heero, would you mind turning that down for a moment please? My pager is going off."

Heero reached forward and hit the pause button on the CD player and the car went silent except for the beep of Duo's pager. Duo managed to unclip the pager from his pants and brought it up so he could see the small screen on it. "Shit!" Quickly Duo pulled the car over and slipped it into neutral, reaching for his cell 'phone and punching in the numbers displayed on his pager screen. "Sorry, Heero. I won't be long."

"No problem, Duo." Heero sat back in his seat, the warmth of the Pethidine surrounding him with its cloak of warm, fuzzy feelings while listening to Duo's one sided conversation.

"Mrs. Henderson, you paged me?"

There was the sound of a slightly hysterical, high pitched voice on the other end of the 'phone and Heero winced in sympathy with Duo's ear drum.

"I see. No, that's fine; in fact it's quite normal. Oh, okay. Right. Look, I'm on the road at the moment, I'll swing by the surgery and pick up some gear and be with you in roughly thirty minutes. No, it's no problem, that's what I'm here for. See you shortly, Mrs. Henderson, 'bye." The 'phone was closed and Duo gave a sigh and ran his fingers through his bangs before putting the car back into gear and pulling back out on to the road and resuming their journey. "Sorry about that, Heero."

"It's okay. What was the problem if you don't mind me asking?"

"That was Mrs. Henderson. Her prize Siamese cat has gone into labor and she's worried about it. I have to go and make sure that all is okay with the delivery, especially as this is the cat's first litter. Would you mind if I borrowed your car, Heero? Mine's still at Une's place. I have to stop off at home to pick up some supplies so I can drop you back there whilst I go on this call."

"Could I... Would you mind if I came with you, Duo?" Heero asked, a little uncertain.

"Umm, sure, if you really want to."

"Thanks. I'd like that."

***

An hour and a half later, Duo and Heero were sitting in Mrs. Henderson's kitchen sipping hot tea while Minko, the Siamese cat, busied herself washing her three new kittens.

"I can't thank you enough, Doctor Maxwell. I'm sorry to have disturbed your evening, especially as it's a Sunday and all." Mrs. Henderson couldn't stop beaming as she looked from the new additions to the vet and back again.

"It's quite all right, Mrs. Henderson. Glad to be of assistance, although Minko did all the work," replied Duo.

Heero simply sat and watched. The drugs in his system were still making him feel like he was on cloud nine and the miracle of birth he'd just witnessed added to his overall feeling of well being. He'd watched as Duo assisted the small cat, softly coaxing her along and helping her out when necessary. He couldn't believe how gentle Duo could be with his hands and fingers, so careful as he'd cradled the tiny kittens in his hand and removed the membranes before giving them to their mother to inspect and clean up. It was obvious he loved animals, his whole attitude around them showed just how much he really cared for them.

"I'm afraid we really need to be going, Mrs. Henderson. I have an injured horse at the surgery that I need to check on, not to mention Heero here should be resting." Duo stood up and taking Heero's empty cup, placed both of them in the sink.

"Thank you again, Doctor Maxwell. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come out to Minko," said Mrs. Henderson as she escorted the two young men to the door. "Drive carefully."

Duo and Heero exited the house and headed back to Duo's home once again. Pulling in, Duo drove around the back and parked the car. "I'm going to check on Zero," he said as he helped Heero out.

The young rider followed along behind the vet and found his eyes straying to Duo's rear end. It was a very nice rear end too, he had to admit. As Duo walked so his long braid of hair swung like a pendulum, brushing across his buttocks and luring the eye to stare at the sway of the hips and the roundness of his ass. Heero was hypnotized.

Hearing the approach of his beloved master's footsteps, Zero gave a low whinny of greeting and looked out over the stable door with hopeful eyes.

"Well, you seem to be looking a bit happier than earlier," Duo said as he moved closer to hang over the stable door and check that the bandage and gel pad were still in place. Zero wuffled through his nostrils and lipped at Duo's bangs. "Hey! My hair isn't edible," chastised Duo and raised a hand to push the horse's inquisitive muzzle away.

Seeing as he wasn't going to get any food from this human, Zero focused his attention on his master, knowing that Heero usually had a treat of some sort hidden on him. Heero rubbed the animal between the eyes while Zero nibbled on his shirt. "How you doing, boy?"

Zero was more interested in seeing if Heero had food. When nothing was forth coming he gently tugged on the folded up shirt sleeve, Heero's arm being strapped to his chest so rather than have the sleeve flap around, Duo had folded it up and secured it with a safety pin.

"Someone's hungry," chuckled Duo and went into the feed shed, returning a moment later with a couple of carrots and a large haynet filled with sweet smelling hay.

Zero neighed his approval and waited eagerly for his treats.

Duo passed the carrots to Heero. "Here, you give him those while I go inside and tie up the haynet."

Zero munched happily on the carrots whilst Duo slipped inside and tied up the haynet. With the carrots gone the horse lost interest in his master and wandered back into the depths of the stable to investigate the hay. Duo checked the leg, noting that the swelling didn't seem to be getting much worse and the leg felt fairly cool. He paused at the feed bin and smiled when he saw the empty state. It looked as if Zero had licked the interior clean. The water bucket was three quarters full so Duo exited the stable and bolted the door before turning to Heero. "Come on, let's go inside and get something to eat. I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Heero smiled and followed along beside Duo. "How's the leg looking?"

"Pretty good but it's still too early to tell for sure. We're not out of the woods yet."

"Arigato," Heero said softly. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there to look after him."

Duo felt his cheeks burning. "You would have been okay, someone would have helped you out."

"I'm glad it was you." Heero brushed his fingers over Duo's cheek then lowered his head and continued to walk, a slightly stunned Duo a little ways behind him.

~ * ~

tbc............

[1] Pethidine: The effects of pethidine are generally similar to those of morphine, despite its different structure. It also has local anaesthetic and atropine-like effects. Pethidine is readily absorbed orally, but its bioavailability is only about 50%. In the acute pain setting, pethidine can be administered by intramuscular injection, patient controlled analgesia, and also intraspinally, for example, epidurally after Caesarean section. www.australianprescriber.com/ magazines/vol25no1/pethidine.htm

[2] Voltaren: Voltaren and Cataflam are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used to relieve the inflammation, swelling, stiffness, and joint pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis (the most common form of arthritis), and ankylosing spondylitis (arthritis and stiffness of the spine). Voltaren-XR, the extended-release form of Voltaren, is used only for long-term treatment. Cataflam is also prescribed for immediate relief of pain and menstrual discomfort. http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/vol1486.htm

[3] Panadeine Forte: Panadeine Forte is used to relieve moderate to severe pain and fever.

Panadeine Forte contains paracetamol and codeine. Paracetamol and codeine work together to stop the pain messages from getting through to the brain. Paracetamol also acts in the brain to reduce fever. http://www.emedical.com.au/default.asp?pageID=56&itemID=12037&purch aseTypeID=2

[4] Explosive: Great track which can be found on the CD "Classified" by Bond. If you haven't heard it then I recommend you have a listen, it's a really good track.