[And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow
Let it be]
--- Lyrics to 'Let It Be' performed by Sir Paul McCartney
Ray of Hope Part 10
Stepping into the waiting room to her office, Sally smiled warmly at the two young men sitting by Catherine's desk. "Hi, lovie," Duo grinned brightly as she approached. Heero gave a small smile of his own in greeting.
"Good to see you both this beautiful morning," the blonde doctor replied in a cheery voice. Her smile faded at the sight of the dark circles and pale skin of her ex-boyfriend. With a concerned frown, she commented, "You look like hell. Did you get any sleep at all last night?" Lowering her voice, she warned, "You should be taking better care of yourself."
His violet eyes widening, Duo gestured to Heero as if to remind the young woman that they were not alone. "Don't worry," he chided with a weak glare, "I managed a couple of hours once the storm finally died down."
Straightening at the acknowledgement of another person present, Sally forced a wide grin and replied, "Well, just make sure to get some more rest once we're finished here, okay? No sense getting yourself sick." Her emphasis on the word 'sick' was not lost to the young sailor and he swallowed hard.
With a deep sigh, the lighthouse keeper rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yes, mother." Shaking his head, he added, "No, you're even worse than that. I swear I can't so much as sneeze in your presence without you getting on my case about my health." He stopped himself from continuing on his rant and just sagged tiredly in his seat.
Once he was finally silent, Sally chuckled deeply, "It's only because I care." Turning to her patient, she grinned, "Well, I imagine you're anxious to be rid of that cast." She stepped aside so that there was a clear path to her opened office and asked, "Shall we?" At that, Heero brightened and nodded, rising to his feet.
Duo remained in the waiting room, and waved to his friend, "I'll just be here getting a few winks in." With that, he folded his arms and lowered his head with his eyes closed.
As he walked into the office, Heero bit his lip. In witnessing that exchange, it was clear that whatever it was that Duo was ailing from, he didn't want the sailor to know about it. The fact that he only learned of the lighthouse keeper's illness through eavesdropping on conversations left him with a knot of guilt. Even now that Heero did know that something was wrong, he certainly couldn't bring the issue up lest he have to explain how he learned of it to begin with.
Besides just that being on his mind, Heero thought back to the vision that he had back at the cabin that morning. That voice and those blue eyes haunted him the whole trip to the hospital. There was something... sad related to the vision. If it was anything that was related to his past, there was as much of a longing to know more of what it meant as there was a wish to leave it in the deep recess of his mind.
The sound of the door closing behind him snapped the young sailor from his thoughts. Patting the long, padded table in the center of the room, Sally told him, "Have a seat." The young man walked over and did as he was asked, looking over to the cutting tools that were waiting on a nearby table.
Pulling over a chair to sit before her patient, Sally placed her hands on the cast and said quietly, "And let me see what I have to work with here."
A quick assessment and the braided doctor picked up the round cutter from the table. Turning the tiny saw on, she cut the thin, spinning blade down the cast from the top of the arm. With practiced precision, she moved the blade down the arm, around the bent elbow and down to the end of the cast by the exposed fingers.
The single, long cut was deep enough that once the saw was turned off and put away, Sally was able to open the two halves of the cast apart. His arm now free, Heero marveled at how pale his recovering arm was to the rest of his body, and how almost foreign it felt to be able to move the appendage once more.
As the young man tested his weakened arm muscles in flexing and lowering it, Sally grinned, "Give it a few days, starting with some light weights, and it'll be back as new. Just to be sure, that all is looking well, I'm going to take a quick x-ray."
Without argument, Heero nodded as he walked over to the flat x-ray board at the further end of the room. Protective robes in place and lights turned out, Sally lowered her patient's arm on the table and turned on the machine, projecting its findings on the white wall.
Appraising the bone structure of the healing arm, the braided young woman asked quietly, "If you could bend your arm now." As Heero moved the arm into the requested position, the doctor watched closely how the bones reacted.
Satisfied with the results, Sally nodded, "Very good." Turning the lights back on and the x-ray machine off, she removed her white protective coat and announced, "Everything has healed as it should have. I'm going to wrap it in a long bandage that can get wet. You'll be able to use your arm with it and not strain the muscles more than they're ready. You can lose that bandage after about a week."
With a firm nod, Heero walked back to the examining table to take a seat as the doctor took out the brown, rolled up bandaging. As she set about her work of wrapping the pale arm, Sally frowned in concern, "Are you all right, Heero? You're quieter than normal today."
Blinking his surprised eyes, the sailor turned to face her and replied quickly, "Oh, I'm fine. I was just had some things on my mind."
Her work finished, Sally clasped the end of the bandage with two butterfly clips. With that, she sat back in her seat and looked up to the young man, offering, "Do you want to talk about it? You know I'm always willing to be a friend when you need one."
Smiling gratefully at that, Heero nodded and said quietly, "I know. Thank you." With a deep sigh, he ran his good hand through his unruly hair and shared, "This morning, I had some kind of a vision, or something."
Before he even finished his sentence, Sally was up so quickly from her chair, it fell back. With wide eyes, she asked urgently, "A vision? Did you have some kind of familiarity to it? Do you know what brought it on?" Heero stiffened, his own eyes wide from surprise at the sudden barrage of questions.
At the look on the young man's face, Sally blushed brightly and sat back down. With an embarrassed smile, she said quietly, "Sorry. It's just that last night, when I was looking more into your condition, I found that if someone suffering from global amnesia experiences flashes-or visions- from their past, then chances are good for eventual recovery."
The news struck Heero the same a blow to the chest would have, the air leaving his lungs. "I... I might get my memory back?" An overwhelming wave of emotions ranging from a wide spectrum of feelings flooded him. In the end, the strongest of those emotions was loss. Frowning at the doctor, he requested quietly, "Please don't tell Duo."
It was then Sally's time to gape in shock as she sputtered, "W-What! Why not? This is wonderful news!"
"Sally," the Japanese young youth began, "The vision I had was of a girl. I only saw the eyes and heard her voice and when it was over, I just had this sad feeling that went with it all. And I know that as a law enforcer, Wufei would look at my traveling here with no identification would lead him to suspect that I was running from something. His early suspicions of me when we first met makes that pretty evident."
Her eyes widening, Sally shifted uncomfortable in her seat and asked, "What makes you think that? He would never-" She stopped when the sailor raised a dark eyebrow with an amused smirk that asked her to challenge him. With a deep sigh, her shoulders slumped as she frowned, "He did mention something along the lines of what you said."
Swallowing hard, Heero responded quietly, "After this vision that I had, I think that he may be right. While part of me wants to have my memories back, I'm starting to hope that I won't after this morning.
"There was no fear related to what I heard and saw in that dream, but the pain that came with it is something that I'm not even sure that I'm ready to deal with." Looking off, he whispered, "Maybe I was never ready to deal with it before the accident."
The prospect of the stranger running from something not out of fear, but out of a terrible loss was something that Sally had not thought of. She sat in her chair, watching her patient with a concerned frown. "What happens when I get memories of a past that I don't want to know anymore?" he asked quietly.
Slowly rising from her chair, Sally rested her hands on Heero's shoulders. When he looked up into her gaze, she smiled, "You turn to the people who care about you now. If you find that the life left behind has not one you want to go back to, you have me, Duo and all of our family." She winked, "Even Wufei."
At that, Heero couldn't help but grin. "This place kind of has been growing on me over the last month," he commented sincerely. "Maybe there was a reason for all of this mess. Maybe I was supposed to end up here for some reason."
With her smile growing, Sally cupped his face in her hands and replied quietly, "Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad for it." Unable to trust his voice at that moment, Heero's own smile grew. Lowering her hands, the braided doctor reassured, "I promise not to mention anything to Duo about your vision. Though, when you are ready to talk about it, know that you'll never have a better person that you can talk to than him."
The relief clear in his eyes, Heero nodded, "I know. Thanks, Sal." The two exchanged a brief hug before the sailor stepped from the office.
* * * * * *
Later that evening, as the sun began to set over the horizon on the other side of the island, Heero had taken refuge at his favorite place on the cliffs before the cabin. Sitting on the edge of the jagged stones, his hair moved gently on the sea breeze. While he could not remember his times out on the ocean, watching it always gave him a sense of comfort.
The waves, capped with white foam, rolled in one by one with an easy rhythm in the calm dusk. With every one of their slaps against the rocks below, another gust of air rose. Overhead, the clear, multi-colored sky was beginning to show a few stars peeking through the darker shades. With a deep breath of the salty air, the young sailor closed his eyes and just enjoyed the serenity of it all.
When he opened his cobalt eyes again, unsure of how long he had allowed himself to drift off, Heero noted that the sky was growing darker. Without the cover of city lights or air pollution to block them, thousands more stars twinkled above.
The conversation that he had shared with Sally earlier that day still weighed on the sailor's mind. So it was evident that sooner or later, he would have the pieces of his lost life put together again. Another chill at the thought ran up his spine, making him shudder. Funny how up until that morning, all he wanted was to know who he was and where he came from. Life certainly had a way of playing jokes on a person's mind.
As the last rays of sunlight began to disperse, the lighthouse several feet behind him came to life, its long beams turning through the darkness. Turning to look up at the tall tower, the lone young man managed to see Duo peering over the gallery railing, keeping a vigil as he gazed out to the sea.
As he watched the lighthouse keeper, his braid floating on the wind, Heero couldn't help but note how... beautiful he looked. That realization would have surprised him more if he didn't already know that he had begun to recognize his own growing attraction for him.
From high on the perch that he made for himself every night, Duo looked down and spotted his friend. With a wide smile, he waved to the Japanese young man at the cliffs. Returning the wave, Heero gave a small smile of his own. After the exchange, the lighthouse keeper went back inside the lighthouse to look over things.
Gazing back out to the sea, Heero's smile remained as he found comfort. With the sea no longer visible, that comfort came from the light shining through the bleakness.
TBC...
Back to SkyLark's Fanfictions Page