Deadly Secrets
Part 2
"Mr. Yuy, do you know if Mr. Maxwell has any history of heart trouble prior to this? Is he on any medications? Any allergies you are
aware of? What about any seizures or head injuries? Also, can you give us an explanation of the numerous scars he has all over his
body, especially the ones at his wrists and ankles? Has he had any treatment for depression or counseling regarding his suicide
attempts?"
The nurse was simply doing her job, but no one was answering *his* questions and Heero was getting impatient as well as frightened,
something he had little experience with.
"I wasn't aware he had ever attempted suicide, what are you talking about? What's wrong with him?" Heero demanded, looking in at the
unconscious form of his lover laying in the Emergency Room.
A respirator breathed in and out for the silent youth as heart monitors quietly sounded a proper rhythm. An IV line already connected to
his elbow, the scars she mentioned surprised him as much as they surprised the staff when he had help undress him for treatment.
Frankly, Heero Yuy was scared and he didn't like feeling that way one little bit.
The sounds of an argument made their way back to the ER as two uniformed figures came into view. Chang Wufei headed directly for
Heero, leaving Sally Po in his wake to handle the medical professionals.
"Sally Po, MD; official Preventer business," she snapped at a hapless receptionist flashing her ID, as she caught up to her partner.
"Yuy, what happened to Maxwell?" Wufei clasped hands with Heero in friendship taking the sting out of what had sounded like an
accusation.
"Wufei, Sally, how did you know we were here?" Heero, confused, gratefully accepted the rare physical display of kindness from his
friend as well as a brief hug from the doctor they had known and were beginning to accept as part of their strange family now that the
young Chinese man was her partner in so many ways.
"Heero, I'm glad we found you two!" Sally was all business examining Duo's prone form. "We were en route to a meeting, but when we
over-heard the call from the ambulance indicating Duo was being brought here, well, Wufei insisted we come help out."
"Onna! You make me sound like a whimpering pet!" Wufei tried to look angry with the woman he was growing to love, but failed
miserably. Sally gave him a brief smirk in return for the insult. Heero cast a quick questioning glance at the pair and Wufei simply
shrugged. "Gomen, Sally, forgive my rudeness. How is he?"
"You're forgiven, Wufei, you are just worried about Duo. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how he is," her voice echoed the fear in her eyes
as she read the chart. "Let me find the attending physician and get more info, okay, hon?" Leaving a quick kiss on Wufei's blushing
cheek, and she was all business again leaving in search of the doctor in question, hunting down her prey like a lioness on the veldt.
" 'Hon', Wufei? What's going on... " Heero was cut off as another pair rounded the corner against the distinct displeasure of the
duty-nurse.
"I told you, Trowa! Hurry up!" Quatre would have left his tall lover behind if it weren't for the fact that he had a tight grip on one of his
hands. The blond released his hand to wrap both arms tightly around Heero's shoulders in sympathy then stepped back.
"Oi, Heero! Are you all right? I couldn't tell what had happened, but when I blacked-out awhile ago I could feel something was wrong
with Duo and possibly you as well. Luckily, my uchuu no kokoro led us straight to you both."
"How can we help, Heero?" Trowa quietly offered a hand in friendship as well before embracing his short lover who had been hugging
Duo and whispering reassurances into his ear even though nothing indicated he had been heard.
"Um, I had no idea everyone would show up like this," Heero was at a total loss.
"That's okay, Heero," Quatre smiled gently. "We will always be there for each other when we need to be, wont we? Wufei, where's
Sally? She's usually with you whenever I see you lately."
"Of course we're together, Quatre, she's getting the doctor. Sally and I are simply partners and get very little time off from Preventer
duty; we're together practically all of the time. We over-heard the ambulance call and came in to see what happened."
"Hn." Trowa clearly believed less than half what Wufei was trying to hide, but let it go with a concealed smile behind Quatre's agitated
form.
"I appreciate you all being here," Heero began, "but I can't tell you much about what's happening. Duo and I were discussing things
when he suddenly lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. I don't understand why it happened." Heero looked more forlorn and
lost than they had ever seen him before, clearly shaken by the catastrophic events.
"I'm Dr. Asakura," a tall man with flowing auburn hair introduced himself to the group. "I understand the patient was brought in by a 'Mr.
Yuy', who is that?"
"I am." Heero stepped up accepting the pro-offered hand.
"What is your relationship with the patient, Mr. Yuy? Do you have legal authority to make medical decisions for him when he is
incapacitated?" The doctor's tone seemed quite urgent with very little time for pleasantries.
"My relationship with Duo? What do you mean?" Heero, already confused, seemed uncertain how to answer that, but Sally answered
for him.
"I'm Dr. Sally Po, Preventers. These two have no immediate family, but signed power of attorney to each other during the war. In fact,
all five of these men did so for each other since they were on the same battle team, so to speak."
"Ah, I see," the doctor accepted the information at face value and asked nothing further regarding the two boys' relationship, instead
turning to the events at hand. "Now, Mr. Yuy, the nurse tells me you are unaware of Mr. Maxwell's medical records to an extent that
would help us diagnose his current conditions, could your friends be able to inform me of anything useful?"
"Dr. Asakura, I am Quatre Winner," the blond extended his hand. "My company will be covering Duo's expenses. Perhaps we could
discuss this in another area where we wont interfere with your staff quite so much?"
"Excellent suggestion, let's go to my office."
They walked into a nearby room; after everyone was inside, Quatre firmly shut the door, leaving the lights set lower than those in the ER
for privacy. "You are the heir to the Winner family, aren't you? As I recall, your personal physician and I went to medical school
together, how is Akheem?"
"Yes, you are correct regarding my identity. Akheem's fine, thank you. Now that we are able to converse more privately, perhaps we
can cut the formalities and get to what information is needed to care for Duo as quickly as possible. Any questions you have for Heero
may be ones that one of the rest of us can answer if he can't. I am certain we all agree that time is of the essence and previous promises
of silence must be foregone in favor of Duo's health concerns." Everyone nodded, accepting Quatre's role of leadership in this
emergency.
Heero had never seen this forceful, authority-driven aspect of Quatre's personality except during his time with the Maganacs and it
confused him to see it now.
"Quatre, I was with Duo most of the time, why do you think I can't answer the questions myself?" he asked, bewildered.
"Heero, there are some things about Duo that you were never told. He received treatment numerous times by my physician and several
rather, how shall I say it, disturbing things were discovered when he was in our care. Duo asked us to keep them confidential unless
absolutely necessary. Perhaps he never meant to worry you, but we all agreed to the silence only because he felt so very strongly about
it. Forgive us if this has put his life at risk, this was totally unforeseen." Quatre smiled sadly, but made no apologies for keeping his word
to Duo. "Now, doctor, please repeat the questions and you will get as much information as we can share."
The doctor seemed rather surprised at the turn of events, but forged ahead. "You five must have faced an unusual situation during the
war, but we will not discuss that further. What I need to know are the following: Do any of you know if Mr. Maxwell has any history of
heart trouble prior to this? Is he on any medications? Any drug allergies you are aware of?"
"Yes," Quatre responded immediately, seeming to take over the entire proceedings. "Duo had a heart attack during routine surgery
roughly a year ago. My physician diagnosed a congenital heart defect and recommended surgery to correct it, but Duo refused because
of the lengthy recovery time. He is supposed to be taking blood pressure regulating medication, but if Heero hadn't seen it, I'd assume
that Duo stopped. He is allergic to beta-blockers and sulfa drugs."
Heero visibly paled. His lover had never seen fit to inform him of a previous heart attack suffered at the early age of 15?!? How could
this be so? Further, why would Duo not take medication that could save his life?
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