"Heart monitor on," said Quatre out loud while going through a mental checklist.
"What's going on?" Katja whispered. She had been sleeping when he started.
"We've found a donor," answered Quatre calmly, making sure he had all the appropriate instruments. "He's over there," he told her, nodding in his direction then continued concentrating on putting the needle in to her arm.
And there, laid out on an operating table, was Duo. His head hung unconsciously to the side, and just below his left are was a needle already in his arm and hooked up to a system of tubes and machines.
A tear slowly trickled sown her cheek as she gazed at Duo's seemingly lifeless body.
"Don't worry he's okay, just sleep," said Quatre reassuringly. "He won't be under for long, so we've got to get moving," he warned.
"I'm ready when you are," said Katja.
"Okay. Blood flow has been started," said Quatre as he sat down on a stool in-between the two tables containing his friends, and a control panel for the pumping machine in front of him.
"Does he know the risks?" she asked, trying to start a conversation.
Quatre looked away from the control panel to Katja then to Duo. "We told him. But I don't think it registered," answered Quatre.
"Why did you put him to sleep?" asked Katja.
"He has an extreme fear of needles and the only way to get him to do it was to gas him." He paused and smiled.
"What's so funny?" she inquired.
"Nothing. I just remembered trying to draw blood. I've got a bruise on my stomach because of his fear," he said with a chuckle.
"He fought you?" asked Katja rather shocked, even though keeping her eyes open was becoming a chore.
Quatre just nodded solemnly. Then brought a hand to her shoulder.
"You should rest. This is going to wipe you out more then him," said Quatre at the first sign of drowsiness.
Katja didn't argue, just laid her head back and dozed off into a black abyss.
The next thing she knew, Katja was in her quarters, being waken up by Quatre.
Her eyes flickered open, and Quatre gave a sigh of relief.
"Man, you started to make me worry," he said once she was awake.
Katja's eyes drowsily opened, then instantly she remembered Duo and shot up to a sitting position as if something hot was under her pillow and looked around the room.
"Whoa!" shouted Quatre as he jumped back, surprised at her quick movement.
"That's got to be the fastest you've moved in a while. Are you okay?" Quatre said cheerfully, as he cautiously came near, afraid of another quick movement.
"Where's Duo?" asked Katja intently.
Stunned at her question he answered.
"He… He's in his room." Realizing that Katja wasn't going to move right away he continued, "Feeling kind of wasted."
She swung her legs to the floor, and took off running for his room.
"Wait! Katja!!" shouted Quatre from the doorway of her quarters.
The blood had worked. To her, the transfusion was like putting gasoline in a car that was running on fumes.
Almost completely out of breath, Katja finally reached the door to his room.
Gasping for breath, she opened the door to a dark room where only a small light, placed on a table beside the head of the bed, pierced the darkness.
With the small amount of light that the night light didn't give off she could see the profile of his face as he lay on his back in bed. As Katja got closer she could see that he was just waking up then suddenly froze when his head turned in her direction, his body propped up on an elbow ready to pounce. She could see his face pretty clearly but he obviously couldn't see hers.
"Who's there?" he asked, he saw her shadowy figure come towards him and he became tenser.
"It's me," she replied, "Katja."
Hearing who it was he put down his guard and relaxed back on the bed.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a weaker whisper.
"I came to see you. Quatre said that you were feeling tired. So I came to make sure that you're all right," she quietly answered.
He just smiled and motioned her to sit down on the bed.
"I'm feelin' kind of sick, but other then that I'm just tired," he said weakly and dropped a hand on her knee with comforting intentions that didn't work.
Katja smiled at him as he finished. He started to roll his eyes back in an attempt to go back to sleep. Katja watched him in what look like agony, a pang of grief hit her. In attempts to prove her instincts wrong Katja woke him.
"So am I gong to have to wait three days before you're better?" she said jokingly.
He smiled with his eyes closed, gave a chuckle and dozed back off.
"Just rest. You'll feel better in the morning," said Katja in a soft whisper while stroking his bangs away from his face, as he dozed off into the abyss of his dreams. Once Katja was sure he was asleep she gently removed his hand from her knee and laid it on his stomach, and went back to her quarters, with the grief still hanging in the pit of her stomach.
