Consciousness 8/?

Ryo Gin no Nari

Me write. Me use characters that me no own.

I wish I did, hell, don’t we all? Anyway I don’t, I’m just playing with them, using their names and distinguishing features. I’m a pauper who’s playing with expensive playthings that are not mine, hoping I don’t get noticed and made an example of.

He released her hand and reached up to the wall to activate the com. “Relena’s awake.”

*******

 Heero's expression turned stoic when a pair of doctors and a nurse with a tray of various medical gadgets came in a couple minutes later. Relena noted the change in his expression as curious, but decided to ask him about it later, when they had less company. As the trio slowly approached her bed they eyed the quiet man with a fair amount of trepidation, their eyes widened as he stood and backed away from her bedside. They sighed in relief and moved to their patient much faster. They paused when they saw the young man reach under his coat.
 
  Heero pulled out a handheld digital com and promptly dialed a connection, the doctors relaxed visibly. Heero gave them a mild glare before he turned and began speaking in the com softly. Heero recognized the woman who had been assigned as Zechs' secretary, "Where's Zechs?"
 
 The woman met his gaze calmly. "I'm sorry Agent Yuy, he has not yet made it to the office." She glanced down at her desk for a moment. "What shall I tell him when he arrives?" 
 
 "Tell him she's awake." The secretary's jaw dropped and her eyes widened visibly. He heard her faintly whisper something about Relena being watched by saints, before he disconnected the link. He watched, with a little irritation, as the doctors poked and prodded 
Relena like some sort of lab rat and asked her the standard questions.
 
 Relena sat there as passively as she could while the doctors took readings with various devices and stuck her with needles; drawing blood. She cringed when they accidentally hit the IV needle, moving it around in her hand. The doctors explained to her what had happened. They told her that she had suffered from a minor blood clot, very small they assured her, from the blow 
to her head. The clot decreased the blood supply to her brain, which caused a loss of consciousness. They explained that they had administered blood thinners and anti-coagulants to treat her. The doctors then proceeded to ask her numerous questions; her name, her age, what
was the last thing she remembered, was she experiencing any discomfort, and other similar questions. They asked her to perform a few tasks-lift your right arm, wiggle your toes, etc.-to confirm her physical ability. They seemed to be killing time. "Is there anything else you
needed to test me for? I'm feeling a little tired from all the uh, poking and prodding."
 
At that moment Heero chose to glare at the doctors, again, encouraging the medical staff to leave the young woman alone. 
 
 "No Madam Vice Minister. We'll just let you rest for a while. Before your brother gets here anyway." The female doctor replied with a small smile, in a theatrical whisper she added, "Your lover here, is the only one who's spent more time here than your brother." 
 
 "He's not-," but her sentence was cut off by the door closing. Her checks were burning as she turned to apologize to Heero. 
 
 "I've corrected her several times. I think Duo's been talking to her." Heero said, before she could speak. "The doctor knows that there is nothing like that between us." 
 
 His comment hurt a little, but she chose to ignore it, because she decided she was being too sensitive. It was an accurate statement. "So Heero--what really happened to me. My vitals and brain waves wouldn't be coming back to normal if it was just a black out. What happened?" 
 
 Heero looked at her slightly perplexed, "You heard Zech's and my conversation?" 
 
 "Just parts of it. It was then that I started to--awaken--I guess that's what you'd call it." 
She shifted her head to one side and looked him in the eyes. "Now don't change the subject. What happened to me?" Her voice was gentle, but at the same time a subtle command was hidden in its layers. 
 
 Heero thought back to that night, he forced his voice to sound normal. "You blacked out and collapsed." He could see her pitching slowly forward off of her bed and into him. He caught her and put her on her bed. "I called for Sally," he saw her hand start to twitch and
very soon her whole body was convulsing. He was doing his best to keep her on her bed when Sally came in, 'Oh my god!' she whispered. "We took you in Sally's car and brought you here. We explained what happened and they thought you might have had a blood clot. You did, it
turned out, but it had moved from the region around your brain by the time they looked at you." He paused to take a breath to keep his voice calm, "It was moving in the direction of your heart and lungs, so they used a laser to eradicate it before it could further harm you." 
 
 "So that's what happened to me," she said softly, her eyes focused on the light radiating out from behind the blinds of her hospital window. Heero nodded slightly as he stretched his back, before sitting in the seat he had occupied for days. Silence enveloped them for a few
moments before Relena spoke again. "Has the public been informed of my situation?"
 
 "They know that you are in a hospital in relation to the attempt made on your life. They don't know that you've been comatose."
 
 "That is probably for the best, otherwise they would start looking for people to blame, and I'd have to find a way to calm them all."
 
  "We were lucky that you came out of it," he said softly.
 
  "What was that Heero?"
 
 "The assassins are lucky you didn't stay in a coma for much longer.--The people are used to you making appearances, even when you've been confined to hospitals. Une and Noin have both been saying that the public is starting to become concerned."
 
 "Heero?--You do know that "Noin" has married and her last name is officially Merquise. Right?"
 
 "Yes I know that Relena. But she will always be Noin as far as I’m concerned. Anyway, she responds to it, so it's efficient."
 
 Relena smirked slightly and shook her head, 'Only Heero.' There was a knock on her door; both she and Heero looked in its direction when her brother entered with a haggard smile on his features. Relena turned her attention back to Heero, and gave him a look, "Heero, would you mind?" Heero nodded his assent as he stood and left the room.
 "Relena! How are you? Did you wake up after I left? What was it like?"
 
 "Milliardo, I'm okay, I could hear you and Heero talking before you left. And it was dark and empty." Her brother leaned down to her and hugged her tightly. "Milli--Milli--I can't--breathe." Relena gasped out. Thankfully her brother loosened his grip on her and he began to catch her up and discuss her time off with her.
 
 Meanwhile Heero sat himself in a chair next to her room and rather quickly he fell asleep. For the first time in days.
 
 "Relena?" Heero queried, he knocked on her door and it opened, "Relena?" he pushed the door open further and there was nothingness beyond it.
 
 There was a loud scream from behind, he turned and then he was at the party again. He could see the assassin on the balcony aiming at Relena. He had just started to run towards her when the shots were fired. He saw them hit Relena and her body jolted with each successive impact. He heard an animalistic scream echoloudly off the walls, "NO!" It took him a moment to
realize that it had been torn from his own throat. He ran to her crumpling form and caught her upper body in his arms just before she hit the floor. He saw her mouth wet with blood, she gasped and shuddered in his arms. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her head lolled back
before she coughed once more, and her blood splattered onto the top portion of his shirt as well as his neck and face. Everything faded into shade and shadow.
 
 Suddenly he was leaning on a wall of Relena's room with Zechs and Noin. The three of them were listening to the two doctors. It was what had happened after Relena's surgery.
 
  "What do you mean?" Zechs voice was trembling in anxiety and anger.
 
 "We mean that your sister has suffered from a serious blow to the head. She has gone into a coma because her mind could not deal with the trauma her body suffered tonight, on top of all the stress that she undoubtedly endures from her job." The male doctor responded while nervously fidgeting with the ends of his coat. "We aren't sure when she will come out of it," he glanced at Heero, "if she does come out of it. But the fact remains that the longer that she remains comatose---the more likely that she will remain that way."
 
 Heero's fists tightened as he suppressed his urge to vent his irrational anger. His last outburst had scared even himself after he had calmed down. Heero had been grateful that only one hand had been on the male doctor's throat; otherwise he probably would have snapped it. Still it had taken Zechs, Noin and a few members of hospital security to get him to put the doctor down.
 
 The female doctor noticed his fidgeting and stepped in on behalf of her nervous counter-part. "There is a strong possibility that she will awaken within the week. The trauma was not extensive. But you have to understand that coma patients can be long healed and still remain in that state." She sighed and frowned slightly as she brought up a more painful topic. "With a patient in her condition it is procedure to have the family decide on life support options. We have an IV inserted in her arm for now-but that is all we are within limits to do without signed family consent. And in her current condition, she doesn't need anything else-but you must decide on long term options." The doctors handed them a clipboard of information before leaving the room.
 
 
  In reality Heero was still in the chair, his face scrunched in an expression of pain. Duo and Quatre were coming down the hallway, Duo with his characteristic smile and Quatre gesturing with his hands as the pair talked.
 
  "I wonder if Heero's finally going to go back to his room at the palace to sleep, or his apartment since Lena's awake?"
 
  "I doubt that Duo, you know how he is. There he is—I guess her brother must be in with her."
 
  Duo rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Is he--he's asleep?" A smirk developed on his face.
 
  Quatre took notice of Duo's expression, "Duo," he warned, "don't do it."
 
   A disappointed look crossed Duo's features briefly, before he smiled tightly. "I wouldn't wake him up. I'll admit it was tempting, but he hasn't slept in 5 days. He didn't sleep the night she was shot, the day she wasn't allowed visitors and the three days since. That and he'd probably kill me."
 
  Heero groaned in his sleep, Duo smirked to himself and then looked to Quatre. “Sounds like HE'S having a nice dream," Duo said suggestively. Quatre just smiled
sheepishly as a blush threatened to stain his cheeks.
 
 Quatre started to say something when the sleeping man shifted in his sleep and groaned, "Oh God---What have I done?" 
 
to be continued...