Racing With Secrets
Part 8
Heero grabbed the headphones back, "Quatre, what the hell is wrong with Duo?!?" Heero was serious and focused again.
"Heero, he's declining rapidly. I'm sorry, but you may not make it in time. He never regained consciousness, so if he does go at least it
will be painless." Quatre could feel pinpricks in the backs of each eye.
"Damnit, he's *not* going to die!" Heero proclaimed. "Quatre, I may total your plane's engines out, but we're going to be there a hell of
a lot faster than we said. Tell them to get everything ready! Trust me, we'll be there! Go tell Duo that I'm coming and he damn well
better not die before I get there!" Quatre could hear the agony in Heero's voice, the pain had overcome whatever effect the drug was
having on him.
"I don't give a damn about my plane, Heero! Get yourself, the heart, and Dr. Starwind here as soon as possible! Quatre out."
"Ryoukai!" The connection was severed.
As he dialed his own pilot, Quatre glared at Trowa who suddenly found the floor terribly fascinating. "Rex, Quatre. Where are you? At
the airfield already? Great! I just talked with Heero, they're coming in fast and probably not too terribly under control. Yeah, I'm afraid
so, they may be too late, but we've got to give them every chance. Get the tower to clear all the other planes as far off the strip as
possible, we're insured, but I'd rather not deal with wrecking anyone else's plane. I know the 'Shooting Star' means a lot to you, but in
all honesty if they trash it but get themselves and that heart here in time, I'll be satisfied. What? Fire and rescue crews? Good idea. Let
me know when they arrive. Winner Out."
"Trowa, we need to have a long talk." Quatre pronounced firmly, grabbing the other boy by the arm. "But first we've got some more
important things to do. I'm headed back to the CCU, you wait for Wufei and Sally in the cafeteria, then bring them to the CCU. Got it?"
"Got it," Trowa mumbled wondering if he could ever make up for his mistakes later. First his confusion over Laurel, then wondering if he
even wanted to get married, then almost wrecking Duo's only shot at survival, even he had to agree those were a lot of things to sort out.
Quatre had already turned the corner of the hallway and was out of sight when he heaved a sigh and headed to wait for the others.
"Dr. MacDougall! The nurse called him frantically. "The patient in room 222 has gone into seizures! What are your orders?"
He came running up shocked that his original plan hadn't worked. "Did you get her fever down at all?"
"No, it's over 105F and still climbing. We assume these are febrile seizures, but there's no way to be certain."
"Damn! Get her in water, now! I'll get a different anti-inflammatory, one that may be more effective. It's riskier, but she could get brain
damage if this isn't under control soon." MacDougall took off hoping they still had some of the drug he had in mind. It wasn't ordinarily
used on children, but there wasn't much choice left.
"But, doctor," the nurse called back, "What about the bullet wound? We can't keep it dry if we do immersion!"
"So what? If we don't get the fever down it wont make a damn bit of difference now will it?!? Now get on it!" Flying past the nurses'
station, he hit Code Red for 222 and raced towards the surgical wing for the drug he needed to treat Laurel.
A full fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, Heero brought the jet screaming back into the airfield. As Quatre predicted, he came down too
fast and one tire blew out on the landing gear, throwing it into a strange turning pattern instead of a straight landing. Before it had even
come to a halt, Heero had the door open and jumped out, not wasting time on the boarding ladder. Rex Racer, over 100 meters away,
started running for them in case they needed help. But Heero and Gene were faster, Gene handed him the cooler and jumped down
himself. Heero had already selected a vehicle for their trip to the hospital, one of the air field's fire trucks was nearby.
Following standard Yuy protocol, he threatened the firefighters off with his gun, they were a bit slow for his tastes, so he fired a few
rounds into the ground. They jumped off pretty quickly then. He and Gene climbed in and took off leaving a trail of dust behind them.
Gene was in seventh heaven for a few moments, grinning like an idiot.
"What's your problem, baka?" Heero snarled at him.
"Wow! When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a fireman, but I'm pyrophobic," he grinned. "I never thought I'd see the day I'd be
riding in one of these babies!" Heero just ignored him and kept driving like a bat out of hell.
"Damn it!" Rex exclaimed. "Look what they did to my plane!"
"Good grief, Rex!" Trixie laughed at him. "All it needs is a little mechanical work and paint, what's the problem?"
"Oh, the boss said that if they totaled her, he'd buy a new one. I thought it would be nice to up-grade, no da!" He smirked and Trixie
laughed, both knowing it would be awhile before either flew this plane. Luckily, there were plenty more "back at the barn", as Rex called
the corporate hangars, and Trixie preferred to fly choppers herself. Of course, if there was no need to fly anything anywhere, they'd go
back to watching old Fushigi Yuugi tapes instead.
Racer quickly dialed his boss. "Quatre, Rex here. They touched down about five minutes ago and stole a fire engine. I swear that kid's
really focused on this. Tell the people at your end to get ready, because when they get there, things are going to go fast! Racer out."
"Dr. Limone!" Quatre called out to the blond surgeon. "They are en route to the hospital now. Will there be enough time to finish setting
up for the surgery?"
"Yes, Winner-san, there will be indeed. What your friend has done is nothing short of miraculous but it will cost him dearly. It seems
wrong to imprison someone for simply trying to save the life of the one they love, but it is the law." The older doctor laid a gentle hand
on Quatre's shoulder in reassurance. "But now I'll finish preparing with my team. We have already got Mr. Maxwell in the OR and he's
being placed on artificial respiration with full life support ready if anything goes wrong. We will do the best we can for the boy.
Honestly," he chuckled to himself at the very thought, "I'll even listen to that horrible music of his through the whole procedure if
necessary!"
Quatre had to laugh a bit, too. "You are a brave man indeed, doctor, to make such a sacrifice for a patient. Even I can take Duo's music
for only so long. Good luck, we'll be waiting for news."
Quatre went back to where Wufei and Sally sat together on a couch and Trowa sat alone in a wingback chair. Studiously ignoring
Trowa, Quatre took the opportunity to thank Sally for Laurel's robe.
"Oh, Quatre, she's such a darling! When we got back to the hotel, I realized she didn't have anything nice to wear and thought she
would enjoy it. Actually, it's more a gift from you since I charged it to the room." Sally smiled softly as she noticed Wufei's eyes were
drifting shut. "Wufei? Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
"Onna," he grumbled. "That pain medicine makes me less alert than I prefer to be. You are a physician, why did you fail to warn me it
would have such an effect?" His attempt to glare at her was rather comical, but no one would dare laugh at Chang Wufei. His arm was
causing him a great deal more pain than he would admit, so Sally made sure to increase the dosage on the painkillers appropriately.
Within minutes, the Chinese man was leaning against her shoulder fast asleep. Sally gently wrapped an arm around his shoulders and
contentedly held the man she loved close to her.
Quatre raised an eyebrow in amusement at the sight. Without even thinking, he glanced at Trowa who still looked quite upset. Sighing,
Quatre stood up and extended his hand to him. "Come with me, Trowa, let's check on Laurel, shall we?"
Trowa stood and as they were about to leave the cardiac unit waiting lounge, they heard the distinctive wail of a fire engine's sirens and
air horn. A quick glance at Sally who nodded, and the two took off racing towards the sound, assuming it would be Heero.
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