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pairings: 4x? (it's a secret...^_~ but non-yaoi)
warnings: angst. dark.
author's note: < words >=lyrics.
horns honking...
tires screeching...
metal twisting together...
screaming...
shattered glass spraying everywhere...
blood, crimson flowers blooming on the cold, hard pavement...
< Delusional,
I believed I could cure it all,
for you dear... >
Quatre Reberba Winner hastily pulled over to the shoulder of the road, opened the door to his black SUV, and stepped out, vaulting over the hood to get a better view of the carnage on the other side of the highway.
The panorama spread before him confirmed what he'd thought.
An automobile and a truck, tangled together into one garbled mass of twisted metal lay on the road, surrounded by police cars and two ambulances. The pavement was smeared with skid marks and blood.
Too much blood.
Everything else about the scene escaped his attention, and although he'd later be able to recall almost the entire event in vivid detail, all he saw now was the red smears on the pavement, and a stretcher being carried urgently to an ambulance.
"Oh my God." He uttered.
The men on the other side of the highway seemed to be moving in slow motion, and as his breath bloomed into white clouds in the frigid September air, that one moment seemed to stretch out for infinity.
As the paramedics finished loading the first victim onto the ambulence, he snapped out of his trance, once again jumping behind the wheel of his vehicle, bringing it into gear, and pulling back onto the highway.
He brought the SUV into a turnaround, made a U-turn and proceeded to play Follow That Ambulance.
The blond figure inside the walls of the medical vehicle didn't stir.
< Coax or trick or drive or
Drag the demons from you
Make it right for you
Sleeping Beauty
Truly thought
I could magically heal you... >
He nervously paced around the waiting room, eyes bloodshot and worry plainly visible on his tired face.
She'd been in surgery for just under two hours now, the doctors working as fast as they could to patch up all of the internal injuries sustained in the crash.
Every so often one of them would come out and grimly inform Quatre that her condition was still unstable, but that they were trying their best to keep her holding on, and they were optimistic about her chances.
Right. He thought. Like they expect her to just walk out of here any minute.
Sure, the former pilot of Sandrock had been through a lot, but he still couldn't stand to see someone close to him like this... in the hospital... it made him feel so helpless.
He looked upwards at the yellow ceiling, frowning at the garish color. The whole room was painted brightly, as if to counteract all the negative emotions that circulated there.
As if colors made any difference to how Quatre felt.
At this point, there wasn't much he could do but sit and wait... and think.
< You're far beyond a visible
Sign of your awakening
Failing miserably to rescue
Sleeping Beauty >
Richard Forrester, or Doctor Forrester as was his proper title, made the final stitch to the wound on the girl's side, carefully closing the gap in her flesh with a small amount of satisfaction.
She'd come into his care in some serious trouble, and she wasn't out of the woods yet, but things were looking up, and the worst of it was over.
Aside from the fact that they couldn't wake the poor girl up, but that was more likely due to the combined effects of shock and the sedatives they'd given her than of any serious medical ailment.
Just as he was beginning to feel relief, he heard a disturbing sound he knew all too well. Her heart and respiratory monitor had slipped into a steady tone.
She was flat lining.
< Drunk on ego
Truly thought I could make it right if I
Kissed you one more time... >
NO. Quatre thought.
She was slipping away, he could feel it. He could feel her losing her grip...
No. he thought again, reaching out to her with all his heart, trying to give her the strength to hold on. As if he could keep her from the cold clammy hands of death all by himself.
As if, by some act of the God that had never seemed to favor either of them much, he could save her.
No. I won't lose you, too. I've lost too many friends...
< To help you face the nightmare but you're
Far too poisoned for me
Such a fool to think that I could
Wake you from your slumber
That I could actually heal you... >
Richard stood in amazement as the heart monitor began it's steady rhythm once again, as if the girl on the operating table had never left them.
"That girl was DEAD for over a minute." He said to his assistant surgeon. "Right?"
The assistant merely nodded.
"God just smiled on her." He stated, astonished. "We didn't do anything. she came back all by herself."
"Truly extraordinary."
They finished cleaning up the surgery, and brought the patient to the post operation room until they could take her up to her hospital room.
She was still sleeping, but at least she was stable.
Truly an act of God...
< Sleeping beauty
Poisoned and hopeless
Far beyond a visible
Sign of your awakening... >
"Can I see her now?"
Quatre nervously shuffled his feet, still worried. The doctors were all optimistic, but she had yet to wake. Fortunately there had been no cranial injuries, and she was stable, at least for the moment.
He looked at the nurse, his pale young face crossed with worry from the time spent waiting for her to emerge from surgery.
"Are you related to her, son?" The wrinkled old nurse asked.
"No." He did his best to offer up a smile, though all he could muster was a sad grin. "She's just a friend."
The nurse regarded him knowingly. "I see." She smiled. "She's up in room 304. You can visit her, but she's still asleep..."
"Thanks." he responded, and immediately headed off toward the elevator.
< Failing miserably
To find a way to comfort you
Far beyond a visible
Sign of your awakening
Hiding from some poisoned memory... >
The blond Arabian quietly opened the door to room 304, peeking in.
There was only one occupant, her silhouette visible from under the wrinkled sheets thanks to the glow from the hallway lights outside her room.
He widened the gap between the door and the frame, stepping in and silently returning the door to its original state, removing the glow from the room.
He illuminated the bedside lamp so he could see, once again able to make out her features on the pillow.
Her blond hair was tossed to either side of her head, her hands were clasped together above the sheet, and her expression was profoundly peaceful.
She looked shockingly dead.
Alleviating his fear, she stirred slightly, shirting the position of her hands, but not waking.
"I almost lost you back there." He sighed, pulling up a chair to her bedside and straddling it, peering down at her sleeping face.
"Strange." He whispered. "You're hopelessly poisonous when you're awake, but so peaceful asleep."
Quatre smiled wistfully. "Poisonous and," he winced, involuntarily touching an old wound on his shoulder. "Sharp."
He still vividly remembered their duel on the Libra, the one time she'd really opened up to him, or anybody else.
"You surprised us all that day." He continued. "You and me are a lot alike you know. Though you might not want to admit it..."
He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'm no prince charming," He said, "But you're fit to be Sleeping Beauty, Dorothy."
She stirred again, and awoke locking eyes with him.
"Quatre Reberba Winner," She said, "What do you think you're doing?"
He grinned. "Hopeless."
< Sleeping Beauty
Poisoned and hopeless... >