[Sequel to: "No Time For Secrets" Book 3 of the "Secrets" Arc]
Author: Enigma
Written: September, 2000
Rating: R
Pairings: (1+2) (3+4) (5+S)
Category: Angst, AU, yaoi/shonen ai
Warnings: Angst, mental illness, yaoi/shonen ai, language, AU, sap, OOC
Disclaimers: I don't own the Gundam Wing Universe or any other anime characters I use here, just the parts of this story and some characters that are new are truly mine [especially Laurel, she's *still* my daughter after all!]. Please don't sue me, all I've got is a broken down car that hates me.
Note: Timeframe---after the war has ended and the Gundams were destroyed.

FUN TIME! Play spot the guest stars! And watch for other popular culture references!


Racing With Secrets
Part 11



By the fifth day after Heero's return, something wonderful happened, Heero Yuy woke up.

"Doctor!" A nurse exclaimed happily, "I believe Mr. Yuy has come out of his coma!"

"Marvelous! Page one of his friends while I go in and check on him." The doctor stepped in and asked the usual questions, did he know his name, did he know where he was, did he know the date, the only one he didn't know, etc. All in all, an excellent recovery though he was physically weakened by the events leading up to and including the time spent in a coma.

The first to arrive was Gene Starwind who had been swapping "war stories" with Dr. Limone. "Heero! How are you, buddy?" He greeted his so-called kidnapper with a great deal of relief.

Heero was a bit dazed but recognized him just the same. "Gene? What are you doing here? The doctor just told me what day it was and I assumed you'd have returned to Tokyo by now."

"Hell no!" Gene laughed. "I was the idiot who probably caused you to go into that damned coma and I sure wasn't leaving until I knew you were going to come out of it okay."

"Baka," Heero sighed. "This wasn't your fault, you told me it was a possible side-effect and I really didn't care. Still don't."

Heero suddenly looked very serious, the fire smoldering in his deep blue eyes. "What's more important is how did the transplant go? The doctor here couldn't tell me anything about Duo. Is he even still alive?" The last sentence sounded almost like a prayer.

Starwind knew it was no longer time for joking. "Take it easy, Heero. I stayed with the heart and with Duo all through the transplantation, it went very well. He regained consciousness roughly a day after the operation briefly and he's faded in and out a little, but that's to be expected. Trust me, he's going to be fine."

"Thanks to you, Gene." Heero shook his head in dismay. "If I really had tried to do that alone it would've been a disaster, I can see that now."

"Hey now, you were the one who put everything on the line, man, not me!" Gene could tell Heero's spirits needed lifting and was relieved when Quatre and Trowa entered the room. "Oops! Limited number of visitors at a time, ya' know! See you later, Heero!" Gene left before Heero could even say anything, which was just as well.

Quatre was all smiles and even Trowa's tiny smile spoke volumes. "Heero! I'm so very glad you are awake!" Quatre hugged him around the IVs and monitor patches.

"Good to see you both," Heero said looking rather subdued facing them instead of Gene.

"What's wrong, Heero?" Trowa asked pointblank.

"Well, Trowa, I've apparently done some incredibly stupid things and I don't remember much of anything about them. I *do*, however, recall you telling me something over the radio about hurting some people before I left here and I frankly don't know who I hurt or how badly." Heero was tiring, but felt he needed to say this.

Quatre interjected with a mock-stern voice, "No, don't worry about that now, Heero. You need to recuperate. There will be time for all of that later."

"No. I need to know now." Heero's eyes looked haunted. "I have to know the truth."

Trowa forestalled Quatre's further attempts at postponing this. "Heero, the day you left here, it was clear you were not behaving rationally, everyone involved knows this. But I will tell you the truth. The only unexpected death I am aware of is that of the child the heart was originally intended for, but it had occurred prior to you stealing the organ. There was no serious damage done to the paramedic you knocked out to steal the ambulance and you injured no one at the airfield. When you left the emergency room, you threw Wufei over the railing of the stairs and broke his arm, but nothing more. The most serious thing was that a small child was shot because of you."

Heero winced and looked away, clearly the Perfect Soldier was no longer in control. "Who was it? Did they live?"

Quatre answered rather coldly, "Do you remember the girl who told you to fall down when she yelled 'Shinigami'? Her name is Laurel and she was the one who was shot. She lay in a pool of blood even as you raced away but you never looked back, did you?" Quatre's accusatory tone had become almost menacing when Trowa touched him lightly and shook his head, it was clear Heero was punishing himself already for his actions. "Laurel's wound was relatively straight forward, but she had a broken arm from mere hours before that and the antibiotics they applied caused a severe allergic reaction and complications. Yes, she almost died because of that bullet."

Heero looked relieved. "She did live, though. Will she recover fully?"

"My future *daughter*," Quatre stated plainly and forcefully to make certain Heero know this was no faceless child he had injured, "May or may not recover fully. There is a lingering possibility of brain damage to be dealt with and it will be months before she can walk, but you should wait and talk to her yourself." Unfortunately, there wasn't going to be a direct conversation between Heero and Laurel for a very long time.

"Yes," a nurse smoothly interrupted, "Speaking with your friends later will be an excellent idea, but for now, Mr. Yuy, we need to have you rest so we can evaluate your condition. Hopefully you have recovered enough to be moved from here to a regular room, now if you'll excuse us, gentlemen," she escorted Trowa and Quatre out firmly without allowing either to say a good-bye.

"Tell Wufei," Heero called out weakly, "No, *ask* Wufei if he'll come to see me." And with that, he was left alone to the doctor's attentions.

Outside the room, Jack had looked up when the first announcement was made that his prisoner had awakened and grumbled something about it being damned well about time. For some odd reason, the police officer had totally neglected to ask how long after he awoke it would be before he could be taken into custody properly. Jack was bored out of his mind already and it was just going to get worse. Since he felt like sharing his misery, Jack issued an official order barring the prisoner from having any further visitors.

on to part 12

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