The Claim Part 4
The lifebearer watched Heero rinse the cloth through half lidded, feverish eyes. He knew that something was wrong. The heat he felt, the all-consuming pain radiating from his lower abdomen... it couldn't mean anything good. His baby was in danger. His sweet little baby for whose safety he would have sacrificed anything, even his own life. With the last bits of his strength he lay his left hand on his cramping abdomen, silently praying to all deities he knew to keep the little flame of life in their safe.
The touch of the cold piece of cloth on his forehead brought him out of his dark thoughts. He blinked sluggishly and leaned his head into the welcoming cold. He felt so hot, so incredibly hot. He tried to lick his dry lips, but he had no saliva to spend. His throat was dry and it was burning, making swallowing almost impossible. He tried to speak but the words seemed to stick to his tongue.
"Thirsty..." he managed to croak out in the end.
Heero looked at the beautiful face that burned red with fever. The lifebearer wasn't sweating anymore. He needed to replenish the fluids he had lost but no matter what brew he tried the longhaired young man couldn't keep it down. His body was too spent already and couldn't take another round of throwing up.
Not knowing what else to do, he rinsed the cloth again and carefully wet the cracked lips. Some time ago Duo had almost bitten through his lower lip when a violent cramp caught him off guard. Now there were small droplets of blood drying on the parched skin. Heero watched the lifebearer welcome the wetness greedily, but the desperate look made it obvious to him that it was not enough, that he needed more to win the battle against the fever. Heero clenched his teeth in impotent helplessness.
A silent moan and white knuckled fists gripping the bed sheets indicated another violent cramp tearing through the exhausted body. Heero got up and moved between the lifebearers' bent and spread legs. The right one was propped against the wall, the left one resting on a pile of pillows. Another piece of cloth soaked through with blood joined the others on the floor next to the bed. It was replaced by a clean one but immediately small splashes of red appeared on the white linen. Heero clenched his teeth again. He glanced towards the window, his fists curling from the frustration of waiting."
The thought didn't even came to an end in his mind when there was a bark outside the hut. Heero exhaled in relief.
Duo could swear that he heard the barking of a dog, but he wasn't sure since his panting was so loud. He had the feeling as if he wasn't getting enough oxygen into his lungs. It hurt to breathe and with every thump of his heart there was an odd stitch in his chest. He heard voices outside the hut and he tried to turn his head to see what was going on. He was too exhausted, though. Everything hurt and he was scared for his child. If he could have summoned the strength, he would have cried.
Heero watched his friend run through the woods, getting closer with every step. Usually Trowa moved silently though the forest. He was a true child of the nature, living in harmony with it. Shinigami coming for him must have alerted him though that something really bad was going on here and that speed was more important now than stealth.
When the Healer halted, he was breathing heavily. Wherever he had been it must've been quite a distance. Heero had never seen his friend so out of breath. In other circumstances he might have teased his friend about it, but now the only thing on his mind was his sick lifebearer.
"Heero, what's going on? When I saw Shinigami I thought the worst, but you seem to be alright..."
"Come quickly," he interrupted his friend. "Your help is needed here." He grabbed Trowa's arm and dragged him inside. Shinigami sat by the bed, his head lying on the pillow next to the lifebearer's head, whining silently.
"What the hell..." Trowa stopped short at the sight of the naked figure on the bed, the bloody rags on the floor. "What's going on here?" he asked, but Heero already moved to the bed and sat down on it carefully.
Trowa laid his bag with herbs and other supplies on the floor and moved closer in time to see his friend catch the flushed boy's face in his arms. "Duo, the Healer is here. Everything will alright now," he whispered, but there was strength behind the silent words, strength he was trying to force upon the exhausted lifebearer.
Trowa's eyes widened. "Is this Duo Maxwell?" he asked his friend, his voice resonating with shock. If he awaited an answer, he was mistaken. Heero just turned to him and glared.
"What's going on?" the Healer asked moving around his friend and laying his cool hand on the heated forehead of his patient. He frowned. The fever was dangerously high, and the fact that the boy was not sweating wasn't good at all. He pushed his friend aside and Heero followed his lead without protest.
"Duo is pregnant but got beaten pretty badly yesterday. He felt warm but overnight it turned to a full-blown fever. He can't keep anything down and he is bleeding profusely," Heero explained watching the Healer move his skillful hands to Duo's neck to check the pulse. He didn't like the frown that settled on his friend's forehead. He didn't like it at all and he felt useless just standing there and not being able to help in any way.
"Why didn't you fetch the village Healer when you didn't find me? I know you dislike the villagers but..."
"He wouldn't come," Heero said, his voice grave and promising retribution.
Trowa's hands stopped at the cramping abdomen and he looked at Heero, his eyes deadly serious. "What?" he asked. There was such an iciness in his voice that it made even Heero shudder. If there was one thing that angered the otherwise peaceful Healer, it was Healers who refused to help people in need, callously breaking the oath every Healer made when starting this path.
Heero watched Duo's eyes close then blink open slowly. The violet depths were glazed and Heero wasn't sure if he was even registering what was going on around him. Seeing the lifebearer move, he dropped his voice before continuing: "He was unclaimed when he got pregnant. And you know what that means."
Trowa watched Heero a second longer, then returned to his task. They could talk about it when his patient was out of danger. Shutting off any indications of anger or hate that would only cloud his mind, he proceeded with his examination. He really didn't like the cramping of muscles under his palms.
Duo tried to hold his eyes open, but his eyelids slid shut again. He was so tired and even the damaging pain that wracked his body felt distant. He suspected that the numbness that was taking over his body wasn't good at all. He tried to hold on, to stay awake for the sake of his child. Somehow he knew that if he fell asleep, if he succumbed to the darkness that beckoned him, everything would be over. He fought with all his might, the thought of his child the only ray of light in the darkness. But it was so hard, so terribly, terribly hard and he was so tired. So tired...
Trowa moved between the lifebearer's spread legs. The breath caught in his throat. Only once in his life had he seen a lifebearer miscarry but he would never forget it. Trowa knew what the amount of blood meant and he was sure his friend knew it too. He pulled away the soaked piece of cloths. One quick look was enough, and the Healer knew what he needed to know. He took the white linen the Enforcer was offering him and pressed it against the lifebearer's rectum. He then stood up and moved to where his bag with supplies lay.
"Well?" Heero asked him impatiently.
Trowa shot him a glance, then returned to his work. He pulled small bundles of herbs, took a leaf of this and a piece of that, then grabbed a mortar and pestle from the shelf and started to crush the herbs together.
"I will need hot water," he said.
Heero watched Trowa a second longer but when his friend didn't say anything else he moved to the fireplace and took a small metal pot from the hook over the flames and set it on the table next to Trowa. The Healer nodded not even taking his eyes from his task.
"Will you be able to... save him?" Heero asked finally when his friend kept silent.
Trowa's hand faltered for a moment. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "He's fully open which means that the baby is dead and the body is trying to get rid of it. That's why he's bleeding," he explained.
Heero's breath caught in his throat and his eyes slid to the feverish lifebearer on the bed. He knew that it would damage Duo, if not destroy him completely. No matter what he had to endure for his child, he loved the little being. That much did he understood over the short time he spent in his company. He noticed the small touches he was giving his abdomen as if he was talking to the little thing inside of him. And now this...
"And Duo? What about him?" Heero asked when he managed to get his feelings under control again.
Trowa didn't look up from his task. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've seen a miscarriage before but the blood... This amount of blood is not normal, Heero," he said softly. "Something is wrong. Either the body can't get rid of the baby or the person who beat him up damaged something inside him. If it's the first thing this-" he lifted the bowl a little "-will help. If it's the second..." he paused for a moment. "I don't know enough to heal internal injuries, Heero..."
Heero was quiet for a minute, his eyes still on the sick young man on the bed. Strange feelings warred in him, but his expression remained impassive.
"How can I help?" he asked finally.
Trowa looked him in the eyes and seeing the determined look in them, the healer nodded to himself. "Here," he said reaching into his bag. He pulled out a small jar. "Rub this into the skin of his lower abdomen. The ointment has a strong numbing effect. It should ease some of the pain the cramps are causing."
Heero took the small ceramic jar and without further questioning he moved to the bed. He sat down next to the feverish figure and laid the jar on the ground. He touched the cloth on Duo's forehead. It was almost dry.
Duo's eyes opened to follow his movement as he rinsed the cloth. Heero touched the lifebearer's dry lips and let a couple of droplets fall into the slightly open mouth. Heero then ran the cloth down Duo's cheeks and his neck, before rinsing the cloth again and laying it on the burning forehead.
Duo licked his lips and tried to say something, but a quiet moan was the only thing that passed his cracked lips.
"Don't try to talk," Heero admonished him. The Enforcer bent down and picked the jar from the floor. He opened it and the air filled with a strange smell of various mixed herbs. Heero covered his fingers with the jar's yellow mixture then turned to the naked figure on the bed. Gently he started to rub the ointment on Duo's abdomen. The lifebearer tensed at first, the gentle pressure of his fingers causing a violent cramp that shook the lithe body. Slowly though, almost one muscle at a time, Duo relaxed as the numbing quality of the ointment took effect.
Heero heard the Healer approach and smelled the hot brew Trowa was carrying but he didn't cease his administration, nor did he look away from the peaceful expression finally appearing on Duo's face.
Trowa knelt on the ground next to the bed and touched the lifebearer's neck to check the pulse again. The quick and irregular pace of Duo's heart worried him but there was nothing he could do about right away; first he had to stop the bleeding. The Healer turned his head and looked at his friend.
"He needs to drink it, Heero," Trowa explained lifting the ceramic cup. "I need you to lift him up."
Heero nodded and placed the open jar back on the floor again, then took a hold of Duo's shoulders and raised him carefully. The hot body in the Enforcer's arms was pliant and unresisting. Trowa and Shinigami moved out of the way so that Heero could slide behind Duo and let the lifebearer rest against his chest. Trowa then moved back to kneel by the bed while Shinigami sat by his side, whining unhappily.
"Duo?" Trowa said touching the lifebearer's cheek with his left hand. "Duo, do you hear me?" he asked again when he got no response.
This time the heavy eyes opened just a little and the longhaired head lolled to one side on Heero's chest.
"Duo, I need you to do something for me, okay?" Trowa bent his head a little to look Duo in the eyes and to make sure he was listening to him or at least registering him. "You have to drink this, okay?" He tried to make the sentences as simple as possible, knowing, that Duo wouldn't understand much in his state anyway. "Okay?"
Heero helped Duo straighten up, then held him as the lifebearer blinked tiredly.
Trowa held the cup with the brew to the sick young man's lips, making sure that he didn't take too much at once. A coughing fit was the last thing they needed now. One sip at a time the liquid disappeared. Thankfully the herbs helped Duo to keep it down.
"Good," Trowa smiled at his patient reassuringly and caressed Duo's face in a comforting manner.
"What now?" Heero asked quietly, still holding Duo in his arms as the lifebearer's eyes slowly closed. Soon they both could tell he was fast asleep.
Trowa set the cup on the floor and rinsed the cloth again. "We wait. The brew should help with the fever and the cramps. As I said before, the body has to clean itself before it can start to heal. I'll make another brew in a bit, but it's up to him now."
Together the Enforcer and the Healer watched over the restless sleep of the sick lifebearer.
TBC...
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