Heero POV Part 3
Out of my Head Part 4
Sally comes in as I'm finishing up Duo's braid. She gives me a faint frown, but she smiles at Duo. "Good news! You can go home."
"Do we need anything for him?" I ask.
"I'll bring it over," she tells me. "You just take him home and make him comfortable."
Easier said than done.
Duo's legs are in splints still- he won't get casts until the swelling goes down a bit- so he can't walk. Trowa brought me here, I realize belatedly, which means I have no car, but Sally agrees to drive us home. We have a wheelchair for the trip from hospital to car, but not one for car to apartment. I will have to go get one for Duo, but it won't be a good idea for him for a few days at least.
The nurse comes in while we are signing papers and asks Duo if he needs the pain meds before we go. He tells her no, but I insist. We're going to be jostling him in the car and I know it will hurt.
He takes them then, but I can see that he doesn't want to and I wonder why. He's got to hurt. In fact, I almost think that if I hadn't been watching him so closely that he would've just palmed the things and not taken them.
Is that why he looks so awful? Has he been skipping the meds? All the better that I get him home then...
When we get to the apartment, I have to carry him inside, making sure not to jostle his legs more than I can help.
This is a tricky thing to do, as our staircase is narrow. I find myself beginning to wish we had opted for the ground floor apartment. I turn sideways, holding Duo as close as I can to myself.
"Sorry," I tell him as we start up the stairs. "Tell me if it hurts at all."
He nods, still pale and tired looking, head resting on my shoulder. I am really hoping he can get some sleep now that he's home.
Sally helps me situate him on the bed, making sure both legs are elevated and that he's comfortable before she goes off to get us what we need.
Duo gives me a pleading look and I carefully climb up on the bed next to him.
"Go to sleep for a while," I tell him.
His hand reaches out to grasp mine. "Stay with me?"
"Of course." I watch as his eyes finally close, wait until he's actually sleeping before I slide off the bed.
I have finally remembered I have things to do.
I go to the computer and check Duo's email. Sure enough, my message sits in his inbox unread. I delete it and then clear his trash file. I switch to my account and stop the letter of resignation that I was sending to my company. All of this will have to wait. I make sure that my email is clear of anything incriminating while I'm there- if Duo is home and bored he may go poking for fun- he did back during the wars.
I smile at the memory. I couldn't believe someone had managed to hack into my computer, let alone leave me weird messages there. But that was Duo- the only one who would dare hack my computer and leave speculations about the Oz officers' love lives...
I go back to the bedroom to check on him again, and end up standing there watching him sleep. A part of me may be frustrated and upset that I'm forced to stay with him, but the rest of me is happy that I have to stay. Even if it's only for a little while longer...
Sally appears again not long after that, and she starts unpacking bags on our kitchen table, explaining to me how everything is supposed to go.
She's midway through when a shout makes us both jump.
"HEERO!"
I dash towards the bedroom. Duo is sitting up in bed, legs swung over the side. "Duo, what are you doing?" I demand.
"Heero?" He blinks at me. "There you are."
"Sally came over," I tell him unnecessarily, as Sally is standing behind me. "I'm sorry- I thought you'd sleep longer." He lets me help him swing his legs back into bed. What was he going to do? He can't walk yet! "Get some more rest okay?" He lies down and closes his eyes obediently.
"You'll be back here soon?" He asks, and I can hear the weariness in his voice.
"I'll make sure he is," Sally tells him and we watch his breathing even out again.
As we walk back into the other room, Sally smacks the back of my head again.
I turn and look at her. "What now?"
"Don't think I've forgotten," she tells me. "That didn't look to me like Duo hates you. Looks like he was worried that you were gone."
I don't want to have this conversation. "Hn," I grunt at her and return to the kitchen table.
"You are going to stay while he's recovering, aren't you?"
I glare at her.
She glares back and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Yes." I give in. Sally is more stubborn than Chang at times. Which reminds me... "How are the others doing?"
Sally lifts an eyebrow at me, but accepts the change in subject. "Wufei is much better. He'll be able to go home tomorrow or the next day."
"Quatre?" Her eyes shift away from me.
"We don't know yet."
"Why not?"
"He hasn't woken up." She says and turns to look at the table.
"Why not?"
"We don't know why. They're running some tests. Shall I get on with this?" She shifts the items around the table nervously. There is something she is not telling me. Or something she is not ready to tell me.
Once Duo is settled in I need to call Trowa and see what we can do for him. I know he has a houseful of Magunacs and Quatre's sisters to help, but all the same... I think he's going to need us.
After that, Sally finishes explaining the stuff on the table quickly and then tells me she'll be by to check on us later.
I close the door behind her, mentally sighing in relief. I hope she doesn't decide to tell Duo what I said last night. I really should've kept my mouth shut. He doesn't need to be worried right now. The news about Quatre will be bad enough.
"Heero?" It's less frantic this time, but I still get quickly to the bedroom. Duo blinks at me. "I heard the door close."
If he heard the door close, then he wasn't asleep. Why is he denying himself sleep? He needs it.
"Sally left." I tell him and go to curl back up beside him on the bed. "Once you've rested, I'll tell you all about the stuff she left."
"Will you stay this time?"
"Yes, I'm sorry." I put my head beside his on the pillow. "I had some things to do for you..."
"I'm sorry to be such trouble..." He looks worried.
"Duo, relax." I pick up his braid and twine the strands through my fingers. "I want to help you. I don't mind doing things for you. You need to sleep. Will you please get some rest?"
"Will you stay?"
"I'll be right here." He tilts his head until it rests against mine and yawns. "I love you so much." Finally, the drugs must be taking effect. He hasn't said that in a long time in anything less than a casual tone.
My heart skips a beat before I tell it to stop. Duo doesn't love me. If he did he wouldn't want me to be different than I am... I pull up the memory of his face on the driveway- was it only yesterday?- and remember how he looked at the apartment- tired and sad.
I close my eyes, keeping that image before me, strengthening my resolve. "I love you too."
TBC...
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