Merrillian Part 9

The small group of three arrived at the hospital later that afternoon, just as the sun was beginning to set. The large hospital filled nearly an entire city block, thanks to the size of the town and the fact that it also served the surrounding communities. Other than that fact, there wasn't much else very interesting about it. It was simply a hospital, like any other.

By the time they reached the building, Quatre and Heero felt like they were on some covert operation and an uneasy silence had settled over all three of them. Many unspoken assumptions swam through their heads and only now that they'd arrived at the hospital did they start to consider how much work would go into this. However, thanks to Catherine, they managed to make it through the lobby quite easily without any one asking questions.

For simplicity's sake they all agreed that it would be easiest to have Catherine distract people while Heero and Quatre went to the room. So before they stepped into the lobby, Catherine gave them the room number, then went to work her magic on her new co-workers. All of them realized that this could very well cost her her job, but she'd jumped at the chance and Catherine was always the type to take a small adventure over a couple days' mundanity. Besides, she could always find another summer job.

Quatre and Heero walked through the long hallways, pretending to know exactly where they were going. Lucky for them they found the hallways quite empty and only passed one doctor, who was too busy looking at her clipboard and flipping through papers to notice them. It was not hard at all to find the room that Solo Raymond reportedly occupied.

The Helen Maxwell Memorial Wing was originally a maternity wing for the hospital. Least, that's what it had been when Helen Maxwell had actually occupied it. Sadly she'd checked into the hospital and never checked out again. Along with the psychic gene in Quatre's bloodline, there was a strong tendency for the females of the family to have very hard pregnancies. Quatre's own mother had barely even made it through and it was only really luck that had helped her survive until today. Helen hadn't been so lucky, and about a year after Duo was born she'd died in her hospital bed.

After she'd died, her husband had donated a large amount of her family money to the hospital, preserving the maternity wing in her name. Due to population change in the city and surrounding areas, the wings were changed around and the old maternity wing was eventually turned into a wing for those who required longer stays in the hospital. In other words, it became the home of those with terminal diseases and those who were in deep comas and not expected to wake up.

Both boys knew this history by the time they had reached the hospital, but the reality of the situation didn't hit Heero until he stepped into Solo's room and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

The room around them was like any other hospital room and didn't stand out in any way. In fact, it was the room's complete uniformity that struck Heero right away. The room had a small table in the corner with a chair for visitors and a single bed where the boy lay. The TV in the top corner showed small signs of dust and there wasn't a single sign of life in the room save for the regular mechanical beeping of the heart monitor hooked up to the patient. There wasn't even a vase of flowers.

Whoever this boy was, he didn't get many visitors, if any at all.

Heero's eyes moved to the boy lying in the bed as Quatre stepped ahead of him and approached the bed with shaky legs. The boy lying there, dressed in the dull hospital garb, was nearly their age. His face was heart-shaped, still retaining baby fat from his childhood years, giving him a cherubim look that was very rare among boys his age. His peacefully sleeping face was framed by roughly cut light brown hair. Hair cut around his head, never reaching past his ears. Heero found himself wishing from the door that he could see the boy's eyes.

He wondered if they were really that strange shade of violet he always saw in the dreams. He wondered what they would look like shining with happiness instead of hopelessness.

Still, despite the short hair, the slightly older complexion and the closed eyes, there was no mistaking anything. This boy was most definitely the one he saw in his dreams every night, no matter what his name was.

"Duo?" Quatre whispered softly as he reached the edge of the bed. Heero noticed the blond was practically trembling as he leaned forward and placed his hand over the boy's, as if wanting some physical reassurance that he was actually real. Heero watched silently, unsure what to say. Quatre's hand reached forward and gently touched the roughly cut hair around Duo's ear.

"Look what they did to your hair, you'd be so mad if you saw what they did. You always said you never wanted to cut it."

Heero blinked in surprise and remained completely still from the door. He recognized that this was not only the boy from his dreams, but it was also Quatre's long lost cousin. If anything, Quatre's reaction confirmed that. But that wasn't what made him stay completely still. Instead, he realized that Quatre had completely forgotten he wasn't the only one in the room with Duo. Heero wasn't about to break whatever time the blond needed to let this miracle set in. He could only imagine what it was like to search for so long and then finally find what one was looking for... right under one's nose.

His eyes moved around the room as Quatre continued to murmur things to his cousin, as if the boy would talk back to him. Heero didn't listen to the words, knowing the conversation wasn't any of his business, so instead he looked around the room.

It didn't take him long to place everything in the context of his dreams. The mechanical beeping was obviously the heart monitor that continued on at an even pace without beginning or end. The white light had to be the blinding light in the room from above them, bright and angelic white. And even the cold ground he'd felt that first night fit the pristinely clean tiled floor beneath his feet. He even noticed a full length mirror directly facing the bed on the opposite wall. Duo's reflection filled the mirrored room perfectly...

Heero gasped softly as he looked into the mirror and his eyes widened.

Slowly, behind him, Quatre looked up, realizing that he wasn't alone. But Heero didn't notice him, instead he only moved toward the mirror to get a better look.

"Heero? What's wrong?" Quatre asked quietly.

Heero's blue eyes flickered from the sleeping and still Duo in the room, lying next to Quatre. Then his eyes flickered to the Duo in the mirror, who he swore was sitting up in the bed and smiling back at them. And what's more, Duo's reflection still had a long braid of hair that curved down and rested on the bed next to him. As he met eyes with that Duo, the reflection flashed him a grateful smile which echoed from his lips to his brilliant violet eyes.

"Quatre... do you see...?"

Quatre looked to the mirror in confusion and shook his head. "What are you seeing?"

Heero was now right up next to the mirror and he could reach out and touch it. But he didn't dare, for fear of the red light that eventually interrupted all their contacts. "He's sitting up in bed," he whispered softly. "Smiling at us."

The blonde's eyes widened and he turned back to his still cousin. "Duo? You know we're here?"

Heero watched as the reflection nodded slowly. "He's nodding."

Quatre whirled back around to face the mirror. "Why can you see him and I can't?"

"I don't know," Heero murmured back.

"How can we help you come back?" Quatre asked, addressing the mirror.

In the mirror, the reflection of Duo began moving his mouth and gesturing with his hands, but no sounds filled the room. After a second, his arms dropped back to the bed and a sad look covered his face. His eyes moved from Quatre to Heero and flashed a desperate look. He spread his hands on the bed and just shook his head sadly.

"He can't tell us, least not without his voice."

Quatre frowned for a moment in thought as they both watched him. Then his eyes widened and he looked at the mirror, even though all he saw was his cousin just lying there completely still. "Duo, the water. Do you remember the water? In the bowl?"

The reflection seemed to think for a moment and then his entire expression lit up. He began to nod furiously.

"Yes," Heero said. "He's nodding like crazy."

"Then it might work!" Quatre stepped closer to the mirror, opening his mouth to ask something else, but he never got the chance. Before Heero could warn him not to, the blond touched the edge of the mirror and the entire room flashed a bright red.

Heero gave a cry of pain, reaching up to shield his eyes while Quatre fell backward and just barely managed to catch himself before he crashed hard against the clean floor. Both stood in the room for a long moment, staying completely still as their minds tried to process what had just happened. Heero was the first to move as he slowly lowered his arms and blinked his eyes. To his disappointment, the reflection was now exactly like the scene in the room. Even in the mirror Duo was sleeping soundly, without any evidence of ever waking up. Heero sighed softly in defeat and reached down to help Quatre stand.

"What in the world was that?" Quatre asked quietly.

"That is what ever kicks me out every night. I don't know."

The blond rubbed the back of his head. "It felt like some one was screaming, hard, in my skull. It hurt... a lot."

Heero merely nodded.

"We should get out of here. Figure out what to do then come back."

"I agree."

That said the two boys quickly snuck out of the room. Heero paused for only a moment at the door to glance back at the boy in the bed, who still hadn't really moved.

"We'll be back," he whispered softly. "I promise."

~*~

An hour later found all three of them back at Heero's house, sitting in his room in a deep contemplative silence. Catherine sat in a small fold up chair, chewing on the end of a pen as her eyes roamed the room. Quatre was leaning against the wall near the door, his chin resting in his hand, his eyes almost completely shut. Meanwhile, Heero sat on his bed, the photo album laid out in front of him, as his eyes stared blankly at the worn cover.

Heero glanced up after a moment and his eyes flickered from Catherine to Quatre, then he took a small breath.

"Quatre, what did you mean by the bowl of water?"

Quatre's eyes eased open and he looked over to where Catherine sat, as if silently contemplating something. Catherine met his gaze with a determined one of her own. Neither said anything for a long time.

Finally Catherine did speak up, as she straightened herself in the chair. "If you're going to use my help in all of this, you can't keep me in the dark forever." Her voice was soft, as if she were still in the middle of deep thought, but the words were firm.

More then anything, Heero decided, he would love to let Catherine in on all of this. There were just two main problems with all of that. The first, and of the most importance, was that this was mostly Quatre's decision. It was all Quatre's choice to let Heero into this and ask for his help, despite the strange visions. Duo was, after all, Quatre's cousin and had no relation to Heero whatsoever. On a slightly more minor note was the possibility of trying to explain all of this to Catherine. Heero wasn't even sure if he understood or believed everything that had happened up until this point.

Explaining it to Catherine would force him to reexamine everything, and probably start doubting. He would prefer, if he could, to just take each of these things as they happened. As dangerous as it sounded, he knew he would much rather let things happen then try to interpret them or make them happen.

He also didn't know if, after having everything explained, Catherine would just laugh in their faces.

Quatre gave a small sigh and nodded slowly. "I know."

Catherine waited silently for him to go on... or call it all to an end.

"The problem is, even I don't know how to explain all of this." Quatre responded softly after a while.

A small frown moved across Catherine's face. After a moment she shifted in the chair so she was straddling it, and a small smile crossed her face. "Well, it seems a lot has happened without me being around, so asking you to recount all of it might just be silly. So, how about this idea? Leave me in the dark."

Heero blinked. "What?"

"Leave me in the dark. Considering everything you guys are doing, you already have a good idea of what's going on. Maybe, if you leave me in the dark, I might be able to offer views that you wouldn't notice. If I don't know what's going on completely then I might be able to come up with more unbiased ideas." She paused and grinned. "Or I may just end up suggesting things you two had already thought of."

"That might just work."

"It would certainly save you two the extra trouble of explaining all of this to me." Catherine smiled sweetly. "But I will warn you that I'll ask questions... lots of them."

Quatre grinned back at her. "I think you've got a good idea, and it's certainly worth a try. And if it doesn't work, well we can always sit down and attempt to explain stuff to you at a later point in time."

"Great! So I think Heero had a question for you..."

The blond turned his attention to where Heero sat on the bed. After a small silent moment, he seemed to remember what the question was. "Oh, the bowl of water. Well, I told you about that strange time, when he told me to ask the water some questions and it spoke through him."

Catherine raised an eyebrow at this in surprise, but said nothing.

Heero nodded.

"I thought, maybe we could do something like that. Maybe, if we work it right, he might be able to talk through one of us and use our voice to explain things. It's a very long shot, and I've never tried anything like it before, but we might be able to."

"Let's do it." Heero said with a sharp nod.

"Are you sure? I don't know what the result will be."

Heero nodded again.

A small smile slid across Quatre's face. "All right, here's what we'll need..."

~*~

The room around them was completely dark, candle light gently flickering at a safe distance away. A full-length mirror had been taken down from the bathroom and it was now propped up against the wall, where it reflected the dimly lit room and the two boys sitting on the floor. Quatre said that it would work as a sort of doorway, since Heero had seen Duo in the mirror at the hospital.

Quatre and Heero sat across from each other, with the photo album between them. Heero had changed into a set of looser clothing, while Quatre sat with his normal button down shirt hanging open. The idea was to be in clothes that would completely relax them, but the result was that Heero felt like they were doing some very strange sleep over.

He quickly banished that thought from his mind.

Closing his eyes, Heero let his mind calm down. He had no idea how any of this would work, but he was willing to try it. At this point he was willing to do pretty much anything that might give them more answers or get them closer to a solution. So he worked to clear his mind and let go of the information he didn't need at the moment.

As Heero sat there concentrating, he felt Quatre's light hands rest on either side of his head, just barely touching him. Heero responded by leaning just slightly forward and resting his hands on the photo album. Then he began the next part, which they had previously discussed.

Slowly, working hard to reproduce every detail, he began to use his mind to reenact the dreams. He pictured himself in his room, and the light sensation that one usually feels just before drifting off to sleep. He then began to remember the small pulling feeling that always accompanied the dreams...

And suddenly he wasn't imagining it anymore, suddenly he was flying. Heero felt as if he were pulled out of his mind and was drifting along, just like all the other dreams. But this time it was different, because he knew he could stop it at any time, which he had no intention of doing.

The world swirled around him as images flashed by. Streets passed faster then any bus and Heero began to recognize the route to the hospital. Just like before, the world around him flashed with white and suddenly he found himself standing in a very hazy version of Duo's hospital room.

"Duo?" He said softly, and his voice sounded very far away.

The room around him seemed to waver, like the reflection on water's surface as the light summer breeze disturbed the surface.

Duo sat in the hospital bed, watching Heero very closely with confused eyes. Heero took a few steps, toward the bed, and reached for him. In response a smile lit up across Duo's face, as if he had finally figured out what was going on. Reaching up slowly with his own hands, he touched Heero's and their fingers locked together.

A rush of air flew up around Heero and he gasped as voices filled his mind. All of them mumbling and speaking, none of them making sense. He locked his eyes with Duo's and the voices immediately quieted down, to a dull throbbing sound that flowed through his body. Then he heard his own voice answer the silent questions.

"Help."

Duo's lips moved with Heero's, in perfect sync as Heero's own voice spoke the words. It was an eerie effect, something he never expected to see save for perhaps in some odd fantasy movie. It was like Duo was throwing his voice, but so much more real then a simple trick like that.

How?

Heero asked the question softly, but no sound came from his own mouth. Still, oddly enough, Duo was able to hear and answer it.

"Find."

The stone?

"Yes."

Where?

"He-"

The voice between them was cut off sharply as the image around them jerked and Heero felt a sudden wave of dizziness. Screaming filled his head, like the building roar of a storm, flowing toward them on threatening waves.

Heero closed both his hands tightly around Duo's. At the action a flash of red filled the air around them and the chains appeared, blinking into view. Heero's own eyes widened as he saw that they were snaked around the bed and Duo's body, like some crazy living vine, or serpent. Small red chains tied him securely to the bed, wrapping up around his arms, and Heero could now see that they prevented him from sitting up, or moving at all for that matter.

"Where?!" Heero's own voice came from his throat in a choked demand as he watched Duo with panicked eyes.

At the word all of the chains seemed to twitch and pull tighter at Duo, causing him to jerk and his face twisted in pain.

Heero held his hands tighter, tight enough to make his own hurt and tremble.

"Where?!" He yelled again as the roaring in his ears became deafening.

Everything around him rolled and he cried out in pain, dizziness swirling around him and red light flashing between them like a strobe light, painful to look upon. Heat filled the area around Heero and the air became thick, making it hard to breathe.

"Where?!" He cried out one more time, his voice taking on a very desperate tilt.

"Merrillian!" The word seemed to rip from Duo's throat in a choked scream as the entire room turned red. Then, a physical force grabbed hold of Heero and threw him away, hurling him backward. He curled in on himself as his back hit something hard and he cried out, the sound of glass shattering loudly around him.

And somewhere in the distance a heart monitor went flat.

TBC...

 

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