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Equus	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2855 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I do own the equines though, please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

Chapter List
- 57
- 58
- 59
“Equus”
Chapter 58
“Good morning, gentlemen, how are you feeling today?” The doctor bustled into the ward with a cheery smile on his face and approached Duo's bed first. He picked up the chart from the holder at the end of the bed and quickly read through it. Not waiting for a proper answer from either patient, Doctor Devlin stood alongside Duo and pulled out a pen sized flashlight which he proceeded to shine in Duo's eyes.
“How do your throat and lungs feel this morning?”
“A little dry and sore,” Duo whispered back in reply.
“What about your hands and legs?”
“The hands aren't too bad, but the legs are starting to sting a little.”
Devlin made a few notes on the chart before turning back to speak to his patient. “I want you to keep the oxygen on for another eight hours, it will help to flush out the last remnants of the smoke from your lungs without causing them any undue stress. I'll have the nurse bring in fresh dressings shortly and I'll change those on your hands and legs. I'll also top up your pain medication. Any questions?”
“Uh, yeah. When can I go home?”
Devlin tut tutted for a moment before fixing Duo with his brown eyes. “It won't be for a couple of days yet. I want to make sure there is no infection at all settling into those burns. Also, you will need to have someone at home to look after you while you recuperate, you won't be walking on those legs for at least a couple of weeks. You'll also need some physiotherapy once the burns have healed to a point, otherwise the skin will heal too tight and we could have complications.” Seeing his patient's face starting to fall, Devlin smiled. “Don’t worry, it's not all doom and gloom. Your injuries weren't as bad as they could have been and given your current state of good health, I don't foresee any problems with healing. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that you will heal pretty quickly.”
Duo managed a small smile of his own in return.
Leaving Duo to digest his words, Devlin turned to Heero and picked up the chart from the end of his bed. “Doctor Neville has asked me to take over your treatment for him as he's on a couple of rostered days off. Is that okay with you?”
“I don't have any objection,” Heero managed to get out, his voice still quite raspy from the smoke he'd inhaled.
“Right. How are your hands feeling?”
“A little sore, but not too bad.”
“The throat and lungs?” Doctor Devlin produced his little flashlight and checked Heero's eyes with it.
“A lot better than last night.”
“Good. I'll change your dressings whilst I'm here too. I'd like you to keep the oxygen mask on for a while longer as well.”
Heero made a disgruntled sound which the doctor picked up on. “Is there a problem?”
“I really don't like the mask, makes me claustrophobic,” Heero replied.
“I'm sure we can come to some arrangement with that,” Devlin stated. “I'll have the nurse hook up a nasal one for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Ah, here's the nurse now.” The same nurse from earlier entered the room with an armful of supplies which she set down on top of the moveable tray. Whilst Devlin sorted through the items he spoke quietly to the nurse, explaining about Heero's 'phobia' with the oxygen mask and suggesting it be replaced with the nasal attachment.
The nurse happily fetched the nasal attachment and removing the mask from Heero's face, she set about changing the set up of the line. Within a minute she had it all ready to go and gently placed the elastic back around Heero's head whilst settling the nasal 'prongs' carefully into his nose. “Better?” she asked when she'd finished.
“Much, thank you.” Heero gave a small smile of gratitude. The nasal tubes were by far better than the mask and Heero felt a lot more comfortable.
Having sorted through his supplies, the doctor turned to treat Duo first. The nurse removed the bandages and dressings from his hands and let the doctor take a good look at the burns. Both hands were given another flush with saline solution before the nurse applied the burn salve to them and redressed the injuries. Duo's calves received the same treatment, the doctor pleased with how the burns were looking. With the nurse busy tending Duo's calves, Devlin gave the vet another shot of antibiotic and pain killer.
“The burns are looking clean, no further blistering and no sign of infection either. The dressings will need to be changed twice a day for the next couple of days, then daily for the hands for around another five days. Those calves we will continue to monitor and once the new tissue starts to granulate, I'll have a special, pressure bandage put on them.”
“Pressure bandage?” Duo inquired, rolling over to his back once the nurse had finished.
“Yes. It's a newish treatment we have for burns victims. It's proving to be very beneficial in the healing of burns, especially for those people that have been unfortunate enough to suffer burns to over fifty percent of their bodies. The pressure bandages or suit in the case of a full body treatment, pretty much enclose the burn in an airtight seal which prevents any infection from getting in. The pressure, whilst not enough to cause the patient any discomfort, helps to minimize scarring and allows the patient mobility whilst the healing is taking place.” The doctor gave Duo a brief outline of how the new treatment worked, he figured the patient didn't need to know all the intricacies of the pressure suits.
“I see. Sounds like a good thing then.”
“Yes, it is. Now, I'll attend to Mr. Yuy.” Devlin moved across to Heero's bed to check his hands and flush them with saline. Like Duo's the hands hadn't gotten any worse and Devlin was pleased with the results so far. Leaving the nurse to redress Heero's hands, he topped up the pain killer and gave Heero his next shot of antibiotic. “Providing all your vitals remain stable over the next twenty-four hours and you have someone at home to assist you, I'll release you tomorrow morning,” Devlin informed Heero.
“Thanks.” Heero couldn't help the small grin. A grumble from the other bed told him his partner had heard the doctor's words and wasn't at all happy.
“I'll see you both tomorrow morning. The nurse will change the dressings again this afternoon for you. If there's nothing else, I'd best be moving, other patients to see and all that.” Devlin looked from one patient to the other and when nothing further was forthcoming, he left the room, the nurse followed him out.
“I can't see why I can't go home too,” Duo grumbled.
“Don't worry, Duo. I'm sure the doctor will let you out in a couple of days, he just wants to make sure that everything is healing up fine with you first. You did suffer more than I did.”
Duo sighed. “I know, but I hate lying here feeling helpless. There's so much we need to do back home, the practice needs to be organized, then there's the horses themselves, are they okay? If they have any injuries have they been treated? Aside from all that we need to find out what happened, how exactly did that fire start in the first place?”
“Trust me, I've been having similar thoughts,” Heero replied in a barely audible tone.
“Shit!” Duo cursed himself. Here he was going on about things when Heero was just as worried out of his mind. At least Duo still had his livelihood - his practice – Heero's business was currently burnt to the ground and neither one of them knew if Heero would be able to recover from this. “I'm sorry, Heero,” he whispered.
“I thought I'd lost you.” The words were spoken so softly that Duo almost missed them.
“Heero?” A strangled sound came from across the room, Duo turning in his bed to try and see his partner, but Heero had his head turned away from him. “Heero?” Duo tried again. “Talk to me? Please?” he pleaded.
Unable to hold the emotions in check any longer and needing to feel his lover in his arms, Heero pulled the oxygen tube from his face and gingerly climbed out of the bed. Making his way on wobbly legs across the short space to his partner's bed, Heero climbed up to join Duo and mindful of the vet's injuries, wrapped his lover up in his arms and hung on for dear life. He buried his face in the crook of Duo's shoulder and let the tears fall.
“I thought I'd lost you, Duo. When you didn't come out of that fire, I thought it was all over. I – I couldn't bear that...” Heero's voice hitched as he let go of the fear and despair he'd been bottling up.
Managing to wrap his own arms around Heero's shaking form, Duo pulled his lover close. Ignoring the bandages on his hands, he rubbed the heels of his palms up and down Heero's back, soothing and comforting his partner. “Hush, Heero. It's okay, I'm here, I'm safe and nothing is going to take me away from you.”
“But the fire nearly did. I can't go on without you, Duo, without you my life has no meaning.”
“The fire didn't take me, Heero. I'm here and I plan on being here for a long time yet,” Duo soothed. Upon saying those words, Duo's mind suddenly jolted. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten out of the burning stables. The last thing he remembered was trying to lead Nataku out while the fire raged all around them. He continued to hold his lover and let the emotions run their course before asking Heero exactly how he'd gotten out of the fire.
Gradually the tide of emotions slowed and Heero managed to get himself back under control, but he made no apology for his breakdown. He'd come so close to losing the one thing that meant more than life to him that he figured he was entitled to a bit of a meltdown.
Feeling Heero settling, Duo thought it best if he got the burning question – no pun intended – out of the way now. “Um, Heero?” he whispered. “How did I get out of the stables? The last thing I can recall is trying to lead Nataku out.” With the words spoken, Duo paled. “Nataku? Is she...?”
Raising his tear streaked face, Heero pushed back a little so he could see into Duo's violet eyes. “Nataku dragged you out. After Shini came bolting out, crashed into Zero and sent me sprawling, I thought you were outside. I searched around, asked Treize, Zechs and anyone else around where you were, but no one knew. I couldn't find you anywhere and that's when I knew you must still be inside. You'd gone back in to get Nataku.”
Frowning, Duo thought long and hard, trying to drag up any memory at all. He got fragments. “I sort of remember getting her door open and leading her out, then she stopped and wouldn't move. I remember a cracking sound and being pushed...” His mind supplied him with the fleeting glimpse of a burning beam coming right at him. “Oh god, it was a roof beam. It came crashing down. Nataku, she pushed me out of the way. I – I don’t remember anything after that.”
“When I came back in I could just make out Nataku and you. You had an arm over her neck and she was sort of dragging you along. Then you collapsed. I managed to catch you before you could hit the ground,” Heero finished.
Realization dawned on Duo. “Nataku... she saved my life,” he breathed. Heero nodded, unable to form words around the lump in his throat. “Is she...?”
“I don't know what condition she's in, or any of the horses,” Heero replied honestly. “But I do know I owe that mare everything.”
The pair fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts of what had been, could have been and possibly still was.
* * *
“Salsbury Memorial Hospital. How can I help you?”
“Good morning, this is Treize Khushrenada here, a couple of my friends were brought into the emergency department late last night by ambulance and I'm hoping I can speak to someone to see how they are?”
“What were the names, sir?”
“Mr. Heero Yuy and Doctor Duo Maxwell,” Treize recited.
“One moment sir.” There was the sound of typing in the background before the woman came back on the line. “Mr. Khushrenada, I'm transferring your call to the ward sister now, she will be able to speak to you in regards to your friends' conditions.”
“Thank you.” Treize waited while the call was transferred, the sound of ringing coming down the line a few moments later before the call was answered.
“B ward, Sister Poole speaking.”
Treize repeated his words from earlier to the sister.
“Let me see, Mr. Khushrenada. Ah, yes. Both men have been treated by Doctor Devlin but I hope you understand that I am not at liberty to disclose their medical conditions to you. I can tell you that they are not in any danger and both are resting comfortably.”
“Thank you, sister, I do understand. Could you tell me if it is possible to speak with either one of them at all?”
“Not at the moment I'm afraid. Both of them are currently sleeping.”
“Ah, no problem. Are they allowed to have visitors and what are the visiting hours?”
“Yes, they can have visitors, visiting hours are from one until three and then six until eight this evening. If you wish to try calling back later and providing they are awake I can put your call through to them then.”
“Thank you, sister. I will try calling again in a couple of hours and I'll drop by later during visiting hours.”
“You're welcome. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.” Treize hung up the phone feeling a little better knowing that neither Heero or Duo were in any immediate danger and from what the sister had been able to divulge, they were comfortable and on the road to recovery. Treize also knew that Heero would be worrying himself sick over the equines, so the sooner he could speak with him and settle the other rider's mind, the better it would be for Heero. Taking a glance at the clock, Treize was surprised to see how much time had passed. It wasn't that far from noon which meant Zechs and Hilde would be finished with consults soon.
Getting up, Treize wandered over to the window and peered down the raceway towards the ruins of Heero's stables. He couldn't see much from where he was, but he could make out the distant figures of the fire chief and detective working their way through what was left of those stables. He really hoped they would be able to pinpoint the cause of the fire, because it really had him mystified.
His mind was dragged back from the stables and fire when he spotted a car pulling into the back of the cottage. His brows knit together as he watched the door open and a figure get out. He recognized Wufei. Pushing his fingers through his bangs, Treize went outside to greet the Chinese man.
Wufei paused when he got out of the car and took a look down towards the property where Heero's stables had stood. He could see the blackened ruins and the figures of two men working through that pile of rubble and assumed they must be fire fighters. A sound from behind him had him turning around. He recognized the man walking towards him as Treize. “Mr. Khushrenada,” Wufei greeted.
“Mr. Chang,” Treize replied. “I'm so sorry I had to call you with such news.”
Wufei waved the apology off. “Do not concern yourself with that, I'm grateful for the call and I only wish it had not had to happen at all. Have you heard anything about Mr. Yuy or Doctor Maxwell?”
“Yes, I called the hospital a little while ago...” Treize explained as best he could what he knew of the situation. “I shall be going into the hospital later to visit, I'll have more information once I've spoken with Heero.”
“Good. Please pass on my wife's and my best wishes. I will see if I can drop by myself to visit either later today or tomorrow. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to see my horse please.”
“Certainly. If you would follow me.” Treize turned to walk towards Duo's stables. “The other vets are almost finished with consults and I expect them to be down here in the next hour to check on the injured horses. They will be able to explain better to you what Nataku's injuries are and the course of treatment they are currently providing.”
“Thank you.” Wufei stepped into Duo's surgery stables and looked around for his horse.
Treize had fed the horses that morning and put those that weren't injured out into the paddocks. Zero, Shini, Wing and Nataku remained inside the stables. Wing would be able to join the others outside later once Zechs had checked him over. He'd been put onto a drip to try to help with the shock and it seemed to have worked. Wing was looking a lot more settled. Zero wasn't too badly off, his scattered burns a bit on the sore side and both Hilde and Zechs wanted to keep movement to a minimum for both Zero and Shini to allow those burns to heal.
Spotting the bay form ahead, Wufei aimed straight for the mare's stable. Nataku picked up on the sound of footsteps and knew they belonged to the nice man who petted her and gave her lots of love, attention and carrots. She shuffled towards the door and managed to give a soft wuffle. Wufei's eyes began to mist when he saw his horse, thankful she was still alive. Treize discreetly melted into the background and left the pair to their reunion.
Wufei entered the stable, speaking softly to the mare. He took in the injuries on the bay hide, noting the fine line of stitches along her shoulder and ribs, the spots littered here and there over her hide indicating small burns. Despite the damage, the mare's eyes were bright and her inquisitive muzzle brushed lightly over Wufei's arm and hand.
“Nataku,” Wufei breathed with a soft sob and rested his hand against her forehead. They stood like that for a moment before Nataku rubbed her face against Wufei's side and politely asked for some more attention. A small chuckle escaped from Wufei's mouth and he reached into his pocket to withdraw some carrots. The pair stood together, Wufei feeding the mare the treats and gently stroking her ears, rubbing her forehead and stroking along her neck whilst talking in a low, soothing tone to the horse, praising her for her bravery and courage. Nataku felt calm and relaxed, enjoying the gentle petting, kind words and orange treats.
Leaving Wufei to have some time alone with his horse, Treize checked on the other equines out in the paddocks. All appeared to be fine and none the worse for their adventure the previous evening. Treize couldn't begin to describe how thankful he was than none of Heero's other clients horses had suffered any damage from the fire. He shuddered when he thought about how bad this could have ended.
Turning from Orion's paddock, Treize began to walk back towards the stables and spotted Hilde, Zechs and Catherine on their way down from the surgery. Increasing his speed, Treize met them in the car parking area and let them know that Wufei was inside with his horse.
*
“Thank you, both of you,” Wufei said and shook both Hilde and Zechs' hands. The vets had spoken with Wufei, explained Nataku's injuries, their treatment and prognosis.
“No thanks needed,” Zechs replied. “I just wish it hadn't happened in the first place.”
“Don't we all,” Treize muttered.
“Do you have any idea how the fire started?” Wufei inquired.
“Not at the moment. The fire chief and a detective from the arson branch are currently going through the remains of the building to try and determine that,” Treize said. “At this stage, all we can think is it may have been an electrical fault.”
“Then I sincerely hope the authorities can and do find what started it. Meanwhile, I'd be most obliged if Nataku can remain here and continue to be treated by such competent and caring vets.” Wufei gave a small smile to the pair of stunned faces. “I have no desire to move her, she is happy here and treated with the utmost care. As you have already informed me, we do not know if the injuries she has suffered will affect her future career as a jumper, but that does not bother me. If she can continue in that vein, then so be it. If she can't, then I'm sure I can always breed a foal from her. Either way, Nataku will be staying here for as long as Mr. Yuy is willing to have her.”
Treize smiled. This would go a long way to helping Heero reestablish himself.
“Thank you, Mr. Chang, rest assured we will do everything we possibly can to heal her,” Zechs said.
With a bow to all and promise to call later, Wufei left the stables to return home to Meiran and his own business.
*
After Wufei had departed, Treize was left holding the 'fort' while Hilde and Catherine went home for a shower, food and nap. With there not being anything booked in for surgery, Hilde and the others could take advantage of a few hours downtime to catch up on such things as sleep. Zechs had also disappeared to try and get in a couple of hours shut eye. Treize had promised to keep an eye on things and sort out the horses for later that evening.
Later that afternoon June and Carl turned up to see for themselves the damage done to the stables and check on their own horses. Treize once again found himself repeating his words from earlier to the pair, reassuring them both that Heero and Duo were not in any immediate danger and would be home as soon as the hospital allowed them to leave. Zechs and Hilde had returned to treat the horses before starting evening consults, Catherine had gone on ahead to feed Smokey and then get the practice ready for the evenings work. Trowa and Quatre had also turned up to offer any assistance they could and find out the latest happenings.
Despite her pregnant state, June, after checking on Orion and the other horses, stepped into the role of 'mother' and began to organize things, calling for a meeting between everyone to arrange a system for taking care of the horses. Treize was grateful to sit back and let someone else take over for a while. Within an hour, June had a roster system worked out that would see the horses all taken care of and the work load spread around so it gave everyone a chance to participate without overworking any one individual.
It was decided that Zechs would feed the horses in the morning as he'd been doing whilst Heero and Duo had been away for the weekend. June would arrive a little later and put those horses out into the paddocks that were allowed out. Whilst there she would make up the evening feeds and do the waters. Carl would call in after work along with Trowa and Quatre and the three would do the mucking out and bringing in of the horses in the evening.
The system would allow Treize to return to his own stable and horses, but he did insist he would still call back each day to help out where he could. Hilde and Zechs would be freed up to continue to run Duo's practice and able to treat those horses that still required it before consults or in the afternoon. Catherine would see to the main running of the practice and keep everything on an even keel.
With everything organized, the horses all brought in and settled for the evening, everyone said their good byes and departed in various directions. Treize planned on visiting the hospital to see how Duo and Heero were coping and let the pair know how things were going back at the stables and practice. He'd tried calling again earlier but hadn't been able to speak to either of the men as they were indisposed having their dressings changed. Treize did manage to get the nurse to pass on a message for him though to let Heero know he would be in that evening to talk to him.
* * *
“What a mess,” Detective Anderson said as he surveyed the scene of destruction.
“It's not pretty, I grant you, but I have seen worse,” replied O'Hallahan.
“Any idea where it started?”
“Someone said something about it starting in the feed shed. I don't know the floor plan of the building, but I'd say it would have been down that way.” O'Hallahan pointed towards the back of the ruins.
Anderson picked his way through the burnt beams and ash, looking carefully around him as he went and trying to visualize the layout in his head. “These look like they were the stables,” he muttered, casting his eyes from side to side. “Most stables are set up in a similar fashion, which means a feed room and tack room as well,” he continued to himself. Pausing, he put his hands on his hips and stared around, picturing how the stable block would have looked. “I think you're right about the feed room,” he said to the fire chief. “Given the layout of the ruins, the fire was burning this way which means it had to start down there somewhere.”
The pair slowly picked their way along towards the far end of the building's remains and stopped amongst a pile of what appeared to be ash and debris. To the trained eye though, it was much more.
“This is the feed room,” Anderson announced.
O'Hallahan agreed, looking around at the burnt remains. He could make out hay bales, a melted bucket and several other items related to the feeding of horses. “Guess we should start here then.” A grunt from Anderson was his reply and the two began their search for any clue as to how the fire started.
They began with the most obvious possible cause – the electrical box. There wasn't a great deal of it left, the heat and savageness of the fire had melted most of the wiring, circuits, switches and the like into twisted chunks of plastic and scorched wires. Anderson was highly trained though and could pick out a possible fault from the damage caused by the resulting fire. With the patience of a saint, Anderson began to go over things with a fine tooth comb, determined not to miss anything.
The pair worked quietly and efficiently, searching through the debris, stopping from time to time when they found something that could be important and conferring with each other. They paused for a much needed lunch break and took the time to not only eat and re-energize, but to rest their weary eyes and swap notes. They had determined that the fire had without a doubt started in the feed room, but so far they hadn't discovered what had started it.
The electrical box had been thoroughly investigated, Anderson unable to find anything that could have caused the fire. The various components had all been bagged though to be taken back to the labs for further testing just in case the detective had missed something. Break time over, the pair went back to their task.
*
It was still reasonably early when Treize walked down the raceway to pick up his car. He could see the fire chief and detective still at work amongst the rubble and made a slight detour to see if they had found anything yet. He'd spoken with the pair earlier, but at that stage they were still sifting through the ruins and hadn't found anything at all.
O'Hallahan caught the movement of someone approaching and he looked up to see Treize on his way across. He glanced at his watch, surprised to see it was almost five in the evening. He stretched and felt his spine pop, a soft groan escaping his mouth. “God, I ache,” he said to the detective. “I think we should call it a day and come back tomorrow to continue.”
“I think you could be right. My eyes are starting to go funny on me,” Anderson replied. He scuffed his boot against a piece of melted bucket as he straightened up. Something caught his eye. “O'Hallahan?”
Hearing the change in tone of the detective's voice, O'Hallahan immediately went on alert. “You find something?”
“I'm not sure. Pass me one of those baggies will you?” Anderson crouched down, pulling a pair of tweezers from his pocket at the same time. The bag was handed over, Anderson carefully reaching for the object he'd spied and grasping it in the tweezers. Gingerly he lifted it up and dropped it into the bag before standing up.
Treize stepped up just as the detective was getting back to his feet. “Have you had any luck?” he asked, curiosity in his voice as he spied the bag in the detective's hand. “What's that?”
Anderson raised the clear bag and the three men stared at it. “It looks to me like the burnt stub of a match,” Anderson stated, his eyes crinkling as he studied the item closely.
“I think we may have just found what started this fire,” O'Hallahan put in.
“If that match is what started the fire, then how did it get here and who lit it?” Treize questioned.
“That, my friend, is the million dollar question.” Anderson placed the bag in with the other items they'd collected. “I don't know if we will have any luck or not, but I'm going to have the lab test it for any DNA that may still be residual on the stub.”
“Do you think you will be able to get any?” Treize asked, frowning at the size of the stub.
“It's a long shot, but worth trying. If we get lucky, we could just have enough to identify our culprit.” Picking up all the bags, Anderson started to trek back through the remains of the stable block. “I think we will call it a day and come back tomorrow.”
O'Hallahan followed the detective, Treize started after them, his eyes on the ground, mind locked in thought when his foot stepped on something. Treize paused and drew his mind from his wanderings to see what on earth he'd stepped on. He pushed the toe of his boot around in the ash and charcoal for a moment, then stopped when his boot grated against something harder than the remains of the wood. He bent down and reached out with his fingers for the object. Picking it up, he turned it over in his hands, studying the twisted form. Suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. “Detective?” he called excitedly. “I think you should take a look at this.”
The detective and fire chief turned around and quickly made their way back to Treize's side.
“What did you...” began the fire chief.
Anderson reached for the item, Treize handing it over. He inspected it for a moment, the light in his eyes beginning to shine. “It's a close circuit television camera,” he breathed.
~ * ~
tbc...
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Equus