"Comfortable?" asked Dr. Whitiee.
"Getting there," said Duo as he laid down to the right of Katja. "Okay let's get this started."
"Alright, just relax," replied the doctor as he inserted a needle into Duo's left arm, just above the bruise from the last transfusion. Then he reached over and did the same to Katja's right arm. He then he sat down in a chair next to Duo and watched.
After fifteen minutes, Dr. Whitiee stopped the flow of blood and removed the needles.
"Done already?" asked Duo as the doctor removed the needle from his arm.
"Yes, that should be plenty. Just wait a second and I'll walk you to your room so you can rest," replied the doctor as he cleaned up.
Duo sat up and got up off of the bed. He took about ten steps when he began to feel dizzy.
What the heck is happening to me? Why am I so dizzy? thought Duo as he stopped near the doorway. He tried to take another step but collapsed onto the floor.
Dr. Whitiee had his back turned when he heard Duo fall. He whipped around and immediately yelled for assistance. The doctor quickly knelt down at Duo's side and tried to figure out what could have happened. He looked at Duo's face, chalky and pale from giving blood, and he realized that Duo had given too much and had fainted because of it.
"What is wrong?" hollered Hans as he burst into the room in his nightclothes.
"Help me get him to a bed," ordered Dr. Whitiee sternly as he grabbed his bag of instruments. Hans, a big man himself, knelt down next to Duo and picked him up as if he were a toddler, and took him to a nearby room.
Urghmm. What's... ahh! My back, it's so sore, thought Katja as she began to wake up.
She slowly opened her eyes and scanned the room as they became used to the dim morning light that snuck through the drapes. Everything was familiar. Her room was as she had left it when she was seven. But something near her waist caught her eye.
It was a furry grayish-white animal that seemed to be lying on her left hand. Katja stirred a little more and the animal moved suddenly. It wasn't an animal, but a man. His face was shrouded in shadows. He was making some sort of noise but she couldn't make it out, but he seemed quite excited.
Realizing that he wasn't recognizable to her, the man reached to the nightstand, and turned on a lamp. The light illuminated his face, and she immediately recognized him.
"Opa?* " asked Katja in a weak, grainy voice.
"Katja! You've come back to us!" exclaimed Herr Kizer. He cupped his right hand around Katja's pale cheek as if to verify that she was indeed awake. Tears started to flow from his eyes and he began to cry and laugh at the same time.
"Don't cry, Opa. I'm okay," said Katja as she weakly smiled at her grandfather.
Dr. Whitiee walked in, and seeing that Herr Kizer was crying, he thought the worst. He rushed over to the right side of the bed and reached for Katja's arm. Before he could find her pulse, Katja turned her head to face him. Her pale skin shone with gray tints and her eyes were sunk back into the shadows of her eye sockets. She looked like death itself. He stopped in his search for the pulse.
"I'm alive, Herr Doctor," said Katja hoarsely as she smiled weakly at him.
The doctor didn't move for a second and then snapped out of his trance and smiled back.
"Good," he said quickly removing his hand from her wrist. "I'll go tell Hans and Ingrid." And with that he left the room.
Katja looked back to her grandfather curiously. "What happened to Duo?" she asked, sounding like a little child.
Herr Kizer's beaming face became shrouded with despair as he replied. "Last night, Dr. Whitiee and Duo performed a transfusion, and when it was done Duo collapsed because he gave too much. Now he is in a guest room resting. He's very weak and hasn't woken up yet. Dr. Whitiee doesn't know what to do, except to let him rest. I'm sorry, Katja." Herr Kizer bowed his head trying to hide his sad face from her. He had never known Duo before yesterday, but he felt like it was his own son lying in the other room, close to death.
"I need to go see Duo," said Katja as she began to sit up but was stopped suddenly when a shock of pain ripped through her body. And she dropped back down to lean on her left elbow.
"You mustn't move, Katja. You're still very ill," ordered Herr Kizer as he tried to push her back on to the bed.
Katja, although weak, glared at Herr Kizer and responded with as much determination as she could muster. "Opa, please bring that wheelchair over here so I can go and be at Duo's side. He needs me."
Herr Kizer studied her face and then finding no way to convince her otherwise, he got up and retrieved the wheelchair.
He had no more then rolled it alongside the bed when Katja stood up slowly, turned and sat down in the chair.
Even though she was wearing her bra and pants and was bandaged around her torso, Herr Kizer grabbed the blue afghan and wrapped it around her shoulders, then proceeded to wheel her to where Duo was resting.
The door creaked open from lack of use and the room was dark. The drapes had been drawn to block out the sunlight and the only light came from a nightlight near the head of the bed.
Katja smiled as the set up of the room reminded her of the first time he had given her his blood.
Herr Kizer wheeled Katja over to his bed where Duo rested peacefully. He placed a hand on Katja's shoulder she looked up to find him smiling at her. She smiled back and he then turned and walked out of the room.
Once he had left the room Katja reached for Duo's hand and held it tight. In the dim light it was hard to make out his features, but she was able to see that he had been stripped of his shirt and his bear chest was as pale as his face. His hand was stained with blood and the bruise in the crook of his elbow was large and was a deep blue against his near-white skin. His face was still a little dirty from the battle, but streaks of lighter skin wired their way down his face from his eyes. He had been crying.
Katja pulled her attention from his face to his left hand. She began to move his fingers, which were callused and scarred not trying to wake him up, just to see his graceful hands move. But the movement had awakened him and he drowsily opened his eyes and watched her play with his hand.
"Sorry, but you can't cut it off and keep it," he said weakly in jest.
Katja stopped what she was doing and returned her gaze to his face.
Duo, although weak, was smiling at her.
"Why did you...?"
"Because I wanted to," interrupted Duo," and because I wouldn't accept that there was nothing we could do for you."
A tear trailed its way from her eye as she looked into his face. She knew it was the truth, he never lied. Duo raised his hand to her face and wiped the tear from her cheek. Katja leaned into his hand. His touch was so gentle, like a feather, yet strong as steel.
Duo sat up and leaned over to Katja in her wheelchair and kissed her gently on the lips. He then stopped and held her head in both of his hands, their foreheads touching.
"Together forever, remember?" he asked, recalling a memory from their childhood.
It was after he had found Katja in his Gundam, crying, and after she told him what was wrong that they promised each other that they would be together forever.
Katja smiled at the memory and kissed him on the lips quickly and replied, "Together forever."
Translations:*Grandpa?
