Trowa's POV in this part.
Alone Part 4
Rashid was at the hospital when we arrived there. I noted his presence, but not much more than that. They wheeled Quatre off into the emergency surgery and ushered all of us into a private waiting room.
I leaned against the wall, eyes closed as Duo and Heero filled Rashid in on what happened at the factory. What a complete mess we had made, though I guessed that Une was pleased, despite the botch we had made of our original orders.
"So that's what happened," Duo finished up.
"I see." Rashid's voice was dark. "Well, I will take care of things from here. I am sure you four have other business to attend to. I will call you when the doctors let me know how Master Quatre is doing."
"We're staying," Wufei stated flatly, sounding faintly offended.
"We wouldn't leave," Duo added. I opened my eyes to see Rashid frowning. "You know us better than that, Rashid."
"Do I?" The big man frowned. Heero gave me a raised eyebrow look and I shrugged back. I had never told the others why Quatre and I separated. At the time I hadn't wanted to deal with their well-meaning interference. Now I was realizing that it was another mistake on my part.
"Rashid?" Duo was frowning now. "Fill us in? What are you so pissed off about?"
Rashid opened his mouth to answer when there was a light tapping on the door frame. A doctor stood in the doorway, his surgical scrubs bloodied.
"You are the gentlemen waiting to hear about the gunshot victim?"
"Yes," Rashid answered.
"I'm terribly sorry, but he died on the table." The doctor shrugged apologetically. "We did the best that we could, but he had simply lost too much blood, and with the trauma of the gunshot wounds..."
His mouth was moving still, but I had ceased to hear. I hadn't realized that my knees had given way until I found myself looking up at Heero. He was leaning over me where I was slumped against the wall, one hand gripping my shoulder tightly.
"Trowa," he said, his voice harsh with his own grief. I covered my face with my hands, blocking him out.
Sadness. Pain. Regret.
Regret was the worst. If only I had tried explaining to Quatre that he was wrong when he had handed me those pictures. Sure, I had told him what- an hour ago?- that he had been wrong, but I had yelled at him. He had been dying and I had thrown his apology back in his face.
My anger seemed like a petty thing now.
"Trowa-" Heero's voice again. I uncovered my face to find my friend looking at me regretfully. Over his shoulder I could see the doctor still standing in the doorway, Quatre's blood drying on his clothes.
Rashid was shaking. Wufei had gotten to his feet and was talking to him quietly, one hand on the older man's arm.
Rashid suddenly threw him off.
"His death is on your hands!" He yelled at Wufei and then turned to me. "You killed him with your betrayal!"
The other three pilots blinked, bewildered at Rashid's accusation.
I was suddenly furious. I got to my feet.
"I didn't betray Quatre!"
"LIAR! We followed you! You and your lover!" He shoved out at Wufei again. Chang avoided him easily, still looking puzzled.
"We were on a case idiot! Undercover!" Rashid looked startled. I stalked towards Rashid, letting my anger wash away the pain. I knew it would be back, but here was a target. The one who had given my lover the false evidence that Quatre had believed so easily. And why not? Wasn't Rashid his trusted friend?
But hadn't I been his trusted friend too? Or had I lost his trust somewhere along the way?
"But you left him anyway!" Rashid shot back, recovering quickly. "You were never good enough for him."
I punched Rashid hard across his face, sending him back into the wall. I noticed the doctor waving his hands in the air frantically. Duo, Heero and Wufei stood like statues.
Rashid's last statement hung in the air like a judgment and I knew it for the truth.
I stared at the man on the floor, clenching my fists. Quatre would be appalled by this, wherever he was now.
TBC...
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