Knock, knock, knock.
She has to be here. I don't know where else to look, thought a battle-worn Duo as he stood in front of the quite ornate main entrance to the palace Borealis in Aurora.
The door slowly opened, and a man about forty-years-old, stood before him in a butler's uniform.
"May I help you, sir?" asked the man unemotionally.
Duo paused a second, not knowing how to reply, then like a slap in the face, he responded.
"Yes I'd like to see Miss Katja please."
The butler's eyes widened with horror, then a sneer of disgust shrouded his face.
"For your information, sir, Miss Katja is deceased."
Duo shook his head and chuckled a little, then looked the butler straight in the eye. "That's where you're mistaken, Katja is alive and she is here. She told me that we would meet here. Go check her room, I'd bet my life that she's there," said Duo confidently.
"Who's there, Hans?" a low, yet soft voice called from the inside of the building.
The butler turned at the sound of his name to face a man. He was late in his years, but stood as tall as a steeple but slumped just enough that Duo could tell he was worn and old.
"Herr Kizer!" exclaimed Hans. "This boy thinks that Miss Katja is in her room. I'm trying to explain to him that she has not been in this world for quite some time," replied Hans quickly.
The old man walked to the door and opened it a little more so that he could see Duo better. Herr Kizer stood a good foot taller then Duo's five-foot frame and was obviously stronger, but that didn't deter Duo from his mission.
"Listen boy," snapped Herr Kizer in a thick German accent. "My granddaughter died when she was seven-years-old. And if you don't have anything better then to resurrect harsh memories on an old man, then I bid you good day. I will have none of it," boomed his voice with the authority of a man used to giving orders.
Duo's face tightened with anger at Herr Kizer's misunderstanding then gave some information of his own. "You're wrong, sir, Katja is alive, but I'm afraid she's not well. She has fought with me in the war and was injured pretty badly just as the final battle ended. Before she flew away from me, Katja told me to meet her here, and here I am. I'm sure that she's in her room," stated Duo trying to keep hold of his anger.
Herr Kizer tried to interject but was cut off when Duo stepped forward, challenging him with his small frame and obviously losing his cool.
"If you'd just look instead of killing her by standing here like a dumb ox that can't see off the end of its nose you'll see that I'm telling the truth!" snapped Duo.
Herr Kizer's eyes widened with horror at Duo's disrespect, and just as he was going to give his retort, a scream came from behind him.
"HERR KIZER, HERR KIZER! COME QUICK!!" yelled a female voice.
He turned in the direction of the screaming, and before anyone could move Duo plowed through the two men and ran in that direction. He followed the shouts to a door set ajar. A woman, also in her forties, was kneeling on the ground next to a seemingly lifeless figure dressed all in black, lying in a pool of blood.
"KATJA!" Duo absently shouted as he raced over to her side and rolled Katja over into his arms, immediately feeling her neck for a pulse.
Good, she's still alive, thought Duo with a sigh of relief. He then looked at his surroundings to figure out how she appeared there.
At her feet was a bay window with a cushioned bench. One of the windows was wide open and missing a screen. The cushion had a blue colored afghan on top of it that was in a wrinkled mess that trailed down to Katja's feet where a corner of it was tangled around her left foot. A foot away from this was a desk and a chair that looked like it had been reached for but knocked over. There was blood on the corner of the desk, which he figured coincided with the cut on Katja's forehead.
She must have broken in and fallen not remembering where everything was, thought Duo. Herr Kizer and Hans burst through the doors winded to find Duo cradling Katja in his arms, and the frightened woman trying to explain how she had come upon her.
"Danke Gott!* Herr Kizer, I don't know where she came from! She wasn't there last night when I checked the room. I was just coming in to do some cleaning and there she was lying on the floor in a pool of blood! And who is that boy who burst in here?" she cried.
Herr Kizer and Hans didn't give any indication of hearing her. They just stood there staring at Duo in amazement while the woman continued to ask questions, trying to break through to them.
"Halte die Klapper, Ingrid! *" shouted Hans angrily. Ingrid scowled at Hans for being rude and stopped with her questions.
Herr Kizer didn't seem to notice the shouting, but walked over to Duo and knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he said in a soft tone, then turned to look behind him at the two servants. "Hans, go call Dr. Whitiee, and hurry!" Hans went running from the room to a phone.
"Help me get her in the bed," Duo ordered Herr Kizer as he strained to lift the dead weight of Katja's upper body. Herr Kizer complied to help without a word and helped take Katja to the nearby bed and lie her on her stomach.
Katja made no complaint to being moved, just a few quiet moans when they first lifted her.
When she was on the bed, Duo gently lifter her arms one at a time and removed her blood soaked black jacket, and tossed it to the floor. Herr Kizer moved forward quickly objecting to this boy undressing his granddaughter, but stopped in his tracks as he watched in horror at what Duo was uncovering.
Her once white shirt was now a deep blood red, and shred to ribbons. Duo could see the angry torn flesh beneath the scraps of cloth. While Ingrid and Herr Kizer turned their heads way from the result of her torture, Duo pulled his knife from his boot and began to remove the remainder of the shredded cloth.
By the time Dr Whitiee arrived, Duo had removed Katja's shredded white shirt. And left her lying in her bed wearing her pants and bra.
Dr. Whitiee assessed the situation and immediately began to prepare to stitch up the jagged cuts on Katja's back.
"Hans, I need hot water and clean bandages. Herr Kizer, you might want to take Ingrid out," said the doctor as he rolled up his sleeves and began to thread his specially made suture hook.
Duo got one look at the hook and a pit of dread dropped in his stomach. Not wishing to see this man sew her up, Duo followed behind Herr Kizer and Ingrid, but was stopped when the doctor grabbed his arm.
"You'll stay here and help me," he ordered, the expression on his face not allowing any dispute.
He didn't argue, but swallowed hard as he rolled his sleeves further up his arms and washed his hands in a basin of hot water.
The door to the room closed and they were alone.
"I need you to hold this light up for me, and keep an eye on her. Just in case she wakes up," ordered Dr. Whitiee in a slight Indian accent as he handed Duo a flashlight with his delicate tan hands.
Duo took the flashlight and knelt down next to the bed. Once the light was in proper position, he watched nothing but Katja's face for any sign of life.
It took two hours of silence and stressful stitching before Dr. Whitiee was finished. The two men carefully rolled Katja over to her back and sat her up so they could wrap the bandages around her.
The doctor stitched up the small cut in her forehead and wrapped that before they gently replaced her on her stomach in the bed to rest.
"It was very smart of you to remove Katja's shirt before I got here. It helped a lot," said the doctor while he and Duo washed the blood from their hands. Duo didn't reply, but daftly washed and dried his hands, then walked back to his place at Katja's side, this time holding her hand instead of a flashlight. Dr. Whitiee watched his movements, shrugged his shoulders and walked out to brief Herr Kizer.
The door closed behind the doctor and they were alone. Duo let his worried eyes gaze at Katja as she slept.
"Katja? I know you can hear me," said Duo in a near whisper. "I don't care what you do after this but you've got to get better," tears began to well up in his eyes. He didn't fight them now, just let them come. "Please don't die, you're my only reason to live," Duo bowed his head as he began to sob, his tears flowing freely over his cheeks. Not since he was a child did he cry like this, it was from the heart.
The windows were dark when the door to Katja's room opened slightly and Herr Kizer peered in through the crack. Duo was at Katja's side, keeping a vigil. He had regained his composure and now calmly watched the rising and falling of her chest as she slept. Herr Kizer stepped back from the door and closed it quietly behind him.
"So you're saying that she has a slim chance of surviving the night," said Herr Kizer solemnly as he pinched the bridge of his nose to prevent the onslaught of tears. "Is there nothing we can do?" he asked.
"No your highness. I've given her an injection of her medication. And a transfusion would be pointless, she still has enough blood to heal herself and survive. That, of course, is a slim chance considering that she was near shock when we found her." The doctor paused. "All we can do now is wait."
Herr Kizer bowed his head and looked back over his shoulder at the closed door, then back at the doctor. His face filled with pain and worry. He had just found his granddaughter and now she was going to be ripped from his arms. It was too much for him to bear and he walked past the doctor and down the hall.
Dr. Whitiee watched Herr Kizer until he turned into a side room and then the he reentered Katja's room.
He quietly closed the door, and walked directly over to Duo and sat down at the foot of the bed.
Duo didn't move, just kept his eyes on Katja.
"We haven't been formally introduced," said the doctor as he held out his hand. "Dr. Michael Whitiee."
Duo turned his gaze from Katja and looked at his out-stretched hand, then up to the doctor's face. He reached out his own hand and shook the doctor's.
"Duo Maxwell," he said shortly, then went back to watching Katja.
"I saw that bruise on your arm, Duo," said Dr. Whitiee. "So when did you donate blood?" he asked.
"I gave Katja my blood when we were in space. A direct transfusion," replied Duo absently.
Dr. Whitiee smiled and looked at Duo like a starving man does to a delicious steak.
"Are you up for another one?"
*Thank God! *Shut up, Ingrid!