One Night Part 8
Trowa tried to slow his breathing down, he could feel a slick wetness on his side where it was pressed into the wall, the knife wound was bleeding pretty heavily by the feel of it. He shivered, his body was losing heat...
Between the bleeding and the poison on the blade, his odds were not good. He could try to find a clinic or a hospital, but a knife wound would be suspicious- and the police would no doubt be looking for someone with one after that dust-up on the street...
Unless the players controlled the police... which was possible, but without knowing loyalties...
It was getting hard to remain upright. Trowa let himself slide down the wall, closing his eyes as he fell... he was so tired... and so cold...
Not quite the way he'd imagined that he'd die... but close enough. An assassin didn't usually survive a mistake... and he'd gone out protecting a boss that he respected... trusted... loved...
He wanted to laugh at himself- but couldn't find the breath.
"Barton!" A hand grabbed his shoulder, shook him. "Hey!"
He opened his eyes, blinking, trying to focus. A woman was bent over him, her black hair brushing his cheek, her dark eyes wide with concern. He didn't know her. How did she know him?
"Barton? Where are you injured?" She asked, and her voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it...
"Left side, stab wound..." He managed, and gentle hands touched his side. He heard a sharp hiss.
"It's bleeding badly."
"Knife was poisoned." Trowa said, realizing he should warn her since she was being so nice. "Be careful."
She swore softly, and he felt a bit of pressure on his side. "I'm being careful," she said when he opened his mouth to protest. She whipped out a cell phone and hit a button. "I need retrieval now," she snapped into the receiver. "Barton is down."
Trowa decided to close his eyes again. It was too hard keeping them open.
He heard the snap of the cell phone closing. "Barton? Trowa? Stay with me." The pressure on his side increased. "Can you hear me Trowa? Hang in there, help is on the way..."
Trowa wanted to answer her, wanted to tell her that he could hear her, but it was too difficult. Easier to keep his eyes closed, to drift in the darkness where the pain was lessened.
She was still talking to him, but her voice was getting fainter... for a moment he thought he heard another voice join hers, but by then he was too far away to care...
~*~
His side ached.
That's what he felt first. A deep ache in his side that made him want to curl up and whimper, but he couldn't get his body to move.
Then other sensations joined the first. A soft smoothness under his cheek, something warm around his shoulders...
He cracked an eyelid open. There was something golden beside him. He blinked, trying hard to get his eyes to focus.
Quatre. Seated in a big chair beside the bed, sitting sideways, his legs over one of the arms, a laptop balanced on his knees.
He was frowning at the screen in front of him, unaware of Trowa's regard.
Trowa blinked again, the rest of the room coming into focus. He was in Quatre's bedroom. How had he gotten here? He'd been in an alley, some strange woman leaning over him... though her voice had been familiar...
Quatre hit a few keys on the laptop and then glanced at Trowa. Immediately his cross expression smoothed out into a smile. "Trowa?" He sat up, placing the laptop down on the chair's seat and leaned over the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Side hurts," Trowa managed, wetting his lips the best he could with his dry tongue. "How did I get here?"
"Mr. Yuy and Mr. Maxwell brought you. Rashid and some of the other Maguanacs have medical training- they managed to get you patched up. Fortunately, it seems like most of the poison bled out of your system, but it was a close thing." Quatre's frown returned. "Please don't do that again."
"He was headed for you."
Quatre picked up a glass of water and slid his arm under Trowa's shoulder. "I know," he said as he helped Trowa drink, "but I don't like having my employees get knifed on my behalf." He put the empty glass down on the bedside table and helped Trowa back into a comfortable position. "I need to let Rashid know you're awake so he can check your wound."
"You haven't been watching me all this time?" Trowa asked, surprised.
Quatre shook his head. "I couldn't. Treize agreed to my deal- if I could get the Lady to join me as well. Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Yuy were here while I was... considering strategies."
"You meet with the Lady tomorrow night?"
"Tonight." Quatre smiled faintly. "You've been out for a while." He bent down and pressed his mouth to Trowa's. It was not a gentle kiss, it was fierce and demanding, and Trowa did his best to meet it...
"If you pull that kind of stunt again, I will tie you to the bed and never let you go out alone again." Quatre said with a glare. "Understand me?"
"It's part of the job, boss." Trowa reminded him.
Another fierce kiss.
"I'm not telling you that as your boss." Quatre straightened up and headed for the door. "And don't you dare get out of that bed unless Rashid says it's okay."
Trowa stared at the door thoughtfully after Quatre left.
~*~
Rashid poked at the wound with surprisingly gentle fingers. "You can get up," he declared, "but you have to take it easy."
Trowa nodded. "Got it."
"That means no knife fights." Rashid's eyebrow arched up.
"What about hand to hand?"
An eye roll was his only reply. As Rashid replaced the bandage, the door to the room swung open and Heero and Duo entered.
"How's he doing Rashid? Can he get up?" Duo asked cheerfully.
"As long as he doesn't overexert himself, yes."
"Can he go with us tonight?" Heero smiled at Trowa. "All he has to do is stand against a wall for a bit and look mean."
Rashid nodded. "Safe enough." He gathered up the bandages and bottles that he had brought into the room. "But make sure he doesn't overexert himself. Master Quatre's orders."
Duo gave a theatrical shiver. "No chance of us forgetting that. Not after yesterday afternoon..."
"What happened yesterday afternoon?" Trowa asked. Duo grinned.
"Let's just say that the boss-man was very unhappy when we brought you in bleeding and poisoned."
Rashid snorted and headed for the door.
Trowa frowned. "You guys brought me in? But there was a woman in the alley..."
Duo laughed and Heero sighed. "That was me."
Trowa blinked at Heero. "That was you?!"
"I told ya we had good disguises." Duo chuckled. "Which brings me to the topic of tonight's outing....."
TBC...
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