Marin Author Pairing Rating Subject

Moshi moshi. Chapter two here for you to enjoy. Good luck on it, Marin; you'll need it. And good luck on all upcoming chapters, too. Keep writing! Don't give up! ¬.¬ Just a little bit 'o enthusiasm and encouragement from myself. I'm like Washu. I have two little chibi, doll-like cheerleaders with my likeness sitting atop my shoulders everytime I need encouragement. They said hi to everyone. I expect you to greet them back! >_< Greet them back!!! Arigato... Well, enjoy chapter two.

Savor the Flavor!
~Marin2x1

~~~
Disclaimers: Nothing belongs to me, except for this pack of cigarettes and my lighter. Although, I stole the ashtray from my mother last time I was at her house... *shrug*
~~~

Caution: Some hints of shounen ai, as was before. Nothing too juicy as of yet. But, BEWARE! and be afraid! For Marin, the lemon eater is here to please fruity fans! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!! *cough, sputter, spit, gag* MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!! *cough*

Hospitalized

Chapter Two:

Wasn't I asleep? It seems like I was. But now I'm awake and there's another doctor in my room. I don't know him. He's tall and skinny and I don't like him one bit. He's clearing his throat and checking my charts. I don't like the way he grunts when he clears his throat. He sounds like he's sick, or something. Gross. "Who're you?" I think to ask him, but I can't. I'm intubated again and I can't talk. I can barely move, and my IV's back in my arm, I see. Damn doctors and their stupid know-it-all attitudes. Screw them all.

He must've heard me shifting around in my bed, because now he's glancing up from my chart and giving me a smile. Bastard. Oh, yeah, just walk over here smiling like that, you jerk. You wouldn't be smiling if you were handcuffed to a bed rail and your ass was hanging out the back of your dress. Not to mention that damned bedpan I have to use. You jerk. "Hello, I'm Doctor Yatsuragi. And how is our little patient today?" Little patient, my ass. You stupid shit. Screw you! I flick him off and he smiles at me as if it was a sign of affection. Moron.

He's laughing now. Jerk. If I weren't handcuffed to this rail, I'd be slapping his face right now. If I wan't handcuffed to this rail, I wouldn't even be here to see his laughing at me and smiling as if I'm something funny. "I know you're probably upset about everything that's happened to you, but that's no reason to be rude to me," he says as he leans against my bed. He shook my bed and now my ankle hurts. Asshole. That reminds me... I kick the blanket off with my good leg and take a look. My left leg is wrapped in some odd sort of cast from the knee to the end of my toes. I can't move my toes. When I try, it hurts. The Doctor smirks at me and throws the blanket back over my body. I glare at him.

It's morning now, it seems. There's light from the window shining in my eyes. It feels nice to see morning again. I'm still confused, though. I wonder about Heero. When will I get to see him? I'm stuck to this bed right now, and he's in a coma. Even if I did see him, I wouldn't get to speak to him, would I? If I did, he wouldn't talk back. I miss him and I hope more than anything that he'll be alright. Then I start thinking. If he is alright, he'll go to jail for killing that Doctor in the mental hospital. That was the wrong thing to do, sure, but can you blame the guy? I mean, he was under a lot of pressure. We all were. I don't blame him. I couldn't blame him.

The Doctor takes another look at my chart, checks a few of the machines, and scampers out of the room. I'm feeling kinda hungry. My stomach doesn't exactly feel empty, but I haven't chewed and swallowed anything in six weeks. I miss the taste of food. Any food. Even hospital food would be good right now. I have a tube in my throat, though. It will be a while before I'm allowed to eat. God, I'm bored. I wish that girl doctor would come back in here. She was nice. Maybe she could bring me a magazine or a book to read. The only thing I can do right now is to twiddle my thumbs or fall asleep. I'll opt for the latter.

I must have been asleep for a few hours. When I wake up, my room is empty still and the light shining through the window is no longer the dull gray of early morning. It's bright and blazing.and comforting. I wish I was closer to the window so that I could look out and feel the sun on my body. I used to hate the sun, always so bright and blinding. Now, though, I crave it. I crave its warmth. I feel so cold and alone and scared. Yep, I'm scared. I'm scared about what's going to happen to me, what's going to happen to Heero, will he live or die, what about the other guys in the car? Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei. How are they doing? They were released from the hospital, but where are they now? Are they back in the mental institute, or were they sent home? All this worrying and thinking is making me restless. I want to walk around! I don't care if my ankle is broken.

My door opens silently and I take a look at the intruder. It's the female Doctor from earlier and I sigh with relief. I missed her. She's so nice. "How are you doing, Mr. Maxwell?" she asks me with a small smile. I try to smile back, but my mouth won't move. It's taped up, so I nod and smile with my eyes. I wish I could talk to her, ask her for some sort of entertainment. I'm so bored. "Would you like to talk to me?" she asks. She must be reading my mind. I nod greatly. She hands me a clicky pen and a pad of paper. I immediately scribble down that I'm VERY bored. She reads my message and smiles as she takes out a deck of cards. She holds them up to me with a questioning look. I nod again and scribble down the question, "what game?" She suggests go fish, and I agree. So, here I am, playing go fish with one free hand that has bandages wrapped all over it. I feel like a lepre. She wins the game and asks me how I'm feeling. I scribble down on the notepad that I'm feeling okay, but I'm in a little bit of pain. "We'll get you some more medicine for the pain," she says sweetly. How nice. She gets up to check my charts and the machines. My blood pressure and my heartrate are recorded on those little things. There's a something clippy on the tip of the finger on my arm that's handcuffed to the bed. It must keep track of my blood pressure. My heart rate is taken by these tiny little white things stuck to my chest and rib cage. I'm guessing that's what they're for. I can't be sure. I'm not a doctor. I wouldn't want to be. Too much school. I hate school.

I write a message on the notepad, "When can I see Heero?" and hand it to her. She sighs a moment and looks at me, silent and sad. "I don't know, Duo," she says, still carrying the sigh in her voice. "Maybe when you can walk I'll take you down to see him. Maybe." I take the notepad back and scribble down, "Will you tell me if he wakes up and how he's doing?" she nods in response and smiles. "You really care about him a lot, don't you?" she asks, giving me a strage look. I don't answer. I just stare at her as if I don't know what she's talking about. I'm not sure if I do. Sure, I care about him a lot. It's like friendship, but more. He's something so much more to me. I doubt I could live without him. I don't know what I'd do if he died. It scares the hell out of me.

"Well, how about I bring you up some magazines and crossword puzzles to keep you busy?" she asks. I draw a large smiling face on the notepad with the word, "YES," underneath it. She laughs and leaves my room. I'm left along again. It's so quiet in here. There's a tv in the corner, but there isn't a remote that I can see. Maybe it's one of those buttons on the little control attached to the bed. I pick up the box and push a button. The top half of my bed starts to move. That's obviously not the right one. I try another one, the bottom half inclines up. If I keep this up, I'll be folded in half soon. I try another button and it squeezes together even more than before. Yep, I'm folded in half now. Great. Just great. And of course, as was expected, I drop the control. It dangles by the wire over the rail of the bed just out of my reach. Damn it all to hell. I stretch for it with my handcuffed arm, but I only manage to graze it with my fingertips as it swings back and forth. Damn everything to hell. All this trouble, and there's still no television to keep me company as I lie squished into a tiny bed mattress that folds me up, and ache from head to toe. I think I broke my spine.

"Duo, what on earth are you doing?" Thank my lucky stars. Only a few minutes having to lie squished. The doctor is back. I'm a little emberrassed, but I'd rather be emberrassed than crumpled forever. She's laughing softly at me and pushing the buttons to lower the bed. Maybe my spine isn't broken. It feels fine now that I'm horizontal and not folded in half. "What were you trying to do, anyway?" she asks me with a smile. I scribble down, "TV," on the notepad and hand it to her. She grabs a remote control off the counter to my left and puts it in my hand. I find the power button and click it on. The volume's way up there, and I'm immediately deafened by some blaring music video on the set. I can't find the damn volume control and the music is really loud. Where the hell is the button? I push various different buttons, changing the channel, bringing up the menu, raising the volume even more. I'm starting to get pissed. I groan into the tube in my throat exasperatedly. It feels weird to do that. Kinda tickly and thick. That's a good word to describe it; it's a thick feeling. Doctor Usatashi grabs her ears at the noise and grabs the remote from me. She turns down the volume and I would sigh with relief if I were able. I'm not. I just make a strange gurgle-choking sound that isn't very pleasant at all. I hate this tube in my mouth!

She puts the magazines and crossword puzzle books the small table to my right and rolls it over to me. It sits right over my stomach. Perfect place. I grab for the controls to the bed again and try to find the one that will sit the top half of my bed up. I push the wrong one, of course, and the bottom half goes up. DAMN EVERYTHING! I hand the controls to Doctor Usatashi's outstretched hand and point to my pillow, signalling that I want it up. She nods, and up I go. How comfortable. The tube in my throat feels weird, like it's being pulled to the right. Not very comfortable... I'll get used to it, I'm sure. I grasp my clicky pen and open up the crossword puzzle book. I was expecting the Doctor to leave, but she doesn't. She sits herself down in an uncomfortable looking chair and watches me do my puzzles. What does she find so interesting about me? Why does she like me so much? She must have hundreds of patients, so what is she doing here with me? I think I'll ask her in Duo language. I scribble down, "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you spending so much time with me? You have other patients, don't you?" and aim the notepad in her direction. She walks across the room, takes it from me and reads it with a smile. "Well, first of all," she says with a smile, "I'm spending so much time with you because I like you. And I do have other patients, but not now. I'm off work." I doubt I've ever known anyone as sweet as she is. Staying with me after work just because she likes me, huh? Well, that's nice. Really. I draw another big smiley face on the notepad with the word, "cool," underneath it. She smiles and leans over my puzzle book, asking if I need any help with an answer. I point to thirteen across, city of light. "Paris," she says instantly. She's good. I wonder if she's ever been there. Probably not.

Maybe someday I'll go to Paris. I've always wanted to travel. No, I probably will never get the chance. She whisks me away from my daydream by pointing to sixteen across and saying, "fraudulent." I'm impressed.

~~

The rain is back today. I can hear it pattering with the sounds of my heartbeat. It's making a rhythm with my body and it's so serene. I like it. I like the rain. It seems to be drizzling often these days, but it's never really an all out pouring down. Today, though, it is, and I sigh as I watch it splatter and shatter against the glass so far away. I sigh to myself again and flip on the tv. I wish Doctor Usatashi would come back here today. Yesterday, we did crossword puzzles for what seemed like an eternity. She knew the answer to most of the questions. We only had to use a thesaurus once. Who would have guessed the answer was the word arid? I don't think I've ever even heard that word before. At least, it's never been used in common conversations I've had.

There's a news report on tv. News is so depressing. Nothing but killers and stalkers and theives roaming the streets these days. What's the world coming to? I laugh at my own stupidity. I'm one of those theives out there. I may not be a stalker, or a direct killer, but I am a theif. I steal whatever I need, and I need alot.

I flip through the channels quickly, not able to see what program is on each one, before turning it back off. So, maybe a magazine will keep me company for awhile. I pick one up. I've read it before, I've read all of them, in fact, but at least it's something. Flipping through the first few pages, I lose interest and toss it back on the table above my waist. There's that ceiling again. No matter how long I stare at it, it's still so unfamiliar to me. I like to play connect the dots with the little bubbles in it. Popcorn ceilings are the greatest. I find star constellations in the patterns, too. That's fun. I've found cassiopeia and orion, and even hydra. I like hydra. Just a long, thin line of stars. I miss the stars.

I had a strange dream last night. I was lying on a blanket under the night sky. It was warm and humid outside and the air smelt like magnolias in full bloom. That's all the dream was; me, lying under the stars and staring up as they so slowly inched their way across the sky. At least, that's all I can remember about the dream. There was probably more to it.

I heard once that people dream nonstop every night. We only remember maybe one dream in the morning, though. Sometimes, we don't remember any of them. That's sad, don't you think? I wonder how beautiful those dreams are. What am I missing out on by not remembering them? It could have been the most wonderful dream in the world, but I wouldn't recall it. That's sad. People are missing so much, everyday. There's always a little something of yourself that gets lost. Every single day...

My door opens and a nurse walks in. She's plump and juicy and very friendly looking, with a bright smile that doesn't seem to want to fade. I'm not in the mood for that smile right now, lady. I've just gotten myself all depressed. "Are you in any more pain?" she asks me, still smiling, of course. I nod. My ankle has a constant dull pain in it that never goes away, no matter how much they drug me up. She takes out her little needle and injects it into my IV tube, saying, "I thought you still would be." She scribbles some notes down on my chart and leaves the room. That's pretty much my day. I see someone for a moment, they leave, and I'm alone. Never any visitors. Then again, I've only been awake for two or three days. I can't even remember how long I've been awake. I was in and out of sleep so many times when I first woke up that those days are a large, fuzzy blur to me. I shouldn't be as lonely as I am. I have a tv to keep me company. Yeah, a tv that gets three channels; one of them news, another one weather, and another some stupid music channel that plays songs I don't like.

My door is opening again, and I turn my head slightly to see who it is. I immediately recognize the red hair and I wish I could smile to her. I grab my notepad and pen off the table and write, "How are you doing, Dr. Usatashi?" She smiles and says she's doing fine as she lays down a book and a pile of loose, square pieces of paper on my table. "I brought you something that may help to pass the time," she says, smiling so kindly like she always does. She grabs the book and holds it up to my face. "Origami," she states and I stare at her blankly. Folding paper into useless shapes is going to help me pass the time? I doubt it. She pushes the control button and my bed sits up more, until I'm nearly at a right angle with my legs. It's kind of uncomfortable. She grabs a piece of paper and begins folding it into some odd shape as I flip through the pages of the book. Well, it's colorfully illustrated, I'll give it that much. Lots of pretty pictures to look at. Yay. In a few seconds, Doctor Usatashi produces a little white origami magnolia. What is it about this woman? Why the hell does she keep reading my mind? It could be very irritating if I let it. I grab my notepad and pen again and write, "How's Heero?" She smiles at me warmly and I'm hoping that it's a good sign. "He's actually doing better. His heart rate is steady and there's more brain activity. He hasn't woken up yet, though. Sorry..." I slump down into the matress and stare at the origami magnolia. It's pretty. Maybe I'll try one. It'll be hard with only one hand, though. Oh well. After the doctor leaves, I'll simply pick the lock. The spring on my pen, I've figured out, will work perfectly for that task. I scratch down another message for her. "When will I be able to get this cast off? When can I walk around?"

She rolls her eyes at herself. "Thank you for reminding me. I feel like a heel. You'll be getting that thing off tomorrow, and then we'll be putting a removable walking cast on it. That's when you can walk around, I suppose." Excellent, wonderful, magnificent news, this is. If I could smile, I would, and a lot, too. Now I can't wait until tomorrow. At least I have something to look forward to in this place.

Doctor Usatashi walks towards the door and tells me she has to go see other patients as she waves goodbye. When she's gone, I unscrew the clicky pen and take out the spring and unwind it. I stick it into the little keyhole in the handcuffs, twist and manipulate it a bit, and viola! I'm free to work on my origami magnolia.

~~~

Two hours after I started folding these stupid papers, and I still can't get it right on the first try. I've made one good magnolia, one very warped one, one fairly recognizable giraffe, and a pile of crumpled and ripped papers on the floor. I wish there was a trash can nearby. My hand is cramping up from all of this folding. I give up on my attempts at a kangaroo and stick my hand back in the cuff and lock myself in. Just in time, too. Doctor Usatashi sticks her head in and asks how the origami is coming along. I nod my head. That's about all I can do. She sees the papers on the floor and walks over to gather them up and throw them away. Then, she slides the trash can over to my bedside, inspects my warped magnolia and semi-recognizable giraffe and laughs.

She tells me she can't stay very long. Just wanted to say hi, she'll see me tomorrow, have a good night, bye. Then she leaves. Short and sweet. I wish she could stay longer. It's late in the afternoon. I wish I could go to sleep now so that it would be tomorrow already, but I doubt I could. I'm too excited. I'll be able to walk again, and maybe the doctor will take me to see Heero. I flip on the tv and tune to the music station. Those boring songs always put me to sleep. That is, of course, unless a really annoying one comes on, then I have to wake myself up to change the channel before I loose my mind from it's annoying sounds. Luckily for me, the song isn't too bad, and I roll as far onto my side as is possible and curl up. I fall almost instantly asleep, which is surprising.

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Marin 2x1 Author Pairing Rating Subject