Gundam Wing/AC That's Life

**That's Life**

**By Misanagi**

Rating: PG13

Pairings/Characters: Gen, maybe some 3x4 hints. The pilots and Sally.

Warnings: Some angst, illness.

Summary: Quatre gets sick during a mission.

Notes: Written for Cait. Get well soon

Thanks a lot to Anne for the beta.

* * *

"It must be something I ate," Quatre repeated for the tenth time.

Duo rolled his eyes. It was obvious that whatever was happening to Quatre wasn't the result of a bad bowl of beans.

It had started innocently enough; Quatre had fallen a bit behind when they were running away from the hidden base they had been sent to investigate. That had been enough to alert both Heero and Duo that something was wrong. They all knew each other well enough to notice that there was no reason for Quatre to have fallen behind, unless he was injured. Quatre had assured them, between clenched teeth, that he was uninjured and just feeling a bit under the weather.

It was a simple mission. They hadn't expected any trouble. Duo, Heero and Quatre had retrieved the information and sneaked out undetected. Their pickup was supposed to get them at dawn and they needed to hide in an old shack until then.

When they were near the shack Quatre had stopped running, knelt down and lost the contents of his stomach. It had taken him a few minutes to control the dry heaves, and Heero and Duo had insisted on supporting him and walking the rest of the way. Once in the shack they checked Quatre and concluded that he had been telling the truth when he'd said he wasn't injured, but there was definitely something wrong. Quatre had spent the last two hours sitting in a corner, trying to stay still and grimacing now and then.

Duo looked at his watch again and moved closer to Quatre. They still had about an hour before the helicopter would pick them up. "Stop saying that, Q. You are sick, and we are going straight to the hospital after they pick us up."

"It's just indigestion," Quatre said and waved a hand dismissively. The gesture was ruined when the movement made him wince.

"Were you sick before the mission?" Heero asked. He was standing by the window, keeping watch, but now and then Duo caught him looking at Quatre worriedly.

"Of course not!" Quatre raised his chin. "I wouldn't compromise you or the mission that way." He sighed. "It started about twenty minutes into the base, but it wasn't this bad before."

Duo ran a hand through Quatre's hair soothingly. His fingers brushed Quatre's forehead and he stopped. Quatre felt a little warm. "Now, don't shoot me, Q," he said, even though he doubted Quatre would take what he was about to do the wrong way. He placed a kiss on Quatre's forehead. Yeah, definitely warm. "You have a temperature."

"How high?" Heero asked.

"About 38 degrees, I guess." Duo put a hand around Quatre's shoulder and pulled him closer, until Quatre was leaning on him. "Try to sleep, buddy. They'll be here soon."

Quatre mumbled something and closed his eyes. Heero kept his eyes on the sky and Duo watched Quatre carefully as they waited.

* * *

"Does this hurt?" Sally asked, pressing his hand on Quatre's side and then removing it quickly.

Quatre bit his lip and tried to control his breathing. Deep breaths made it hurt worse. He nodded once and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to ease a bit.

He didn't know when Duo or Heero had contacted HQ but when the helicopter finally arrived, Sally Po had been on it. They were now in flight. She had asked Heero and Duo about what had happened and after that she had asked Quatre to describe the pain and tell her how long it had been bothering him. She didn't think it was indigestion either.

Sally took his blood pressure and temperature and then started touching Quatre's right side, just above the hip bone. She frowned. "Change of orders," she shouted to the pilot. "We are going to Preventers' hospital."

"What's wrong?" Duo asked. Heero's hand on Quatre's shoulder tightened slightly.

"Appendicitis," Sally announced. "We need to operate as soon as possible."

Quatre couldn't help but feel a bit relieved, but that feeling vanished as soon as he realized he was in for surgery. The last time he was in an operating room was on MO III, and the experience had been less than pleasant. As much as Dorothy's rapier had hurt, the recovery had been so much worse.

"You are not a surgeon," Heero said.

"That's why we are going to Preventers. I can authorize a surgeon to see Quatre's chart and monitor the surgery."

"Sally, you know we trust you, but we aren't going to let just anyone open our buddy up." Duo had placed himself in front of Quatre, taking a protective stand.

Sally nodded. "I know the doctors there. I'll make sure Quatre is taken care of."

After a moment Duo nodded and moved slightly to the side. "Can't you give him anything for the pain until we get there?"

Shaking her head Sally said, "I can't. Sorry. It would be dangerous."

Quatre gritted his teeth and tried not to think about the surgery.

* * *

The anesthesiologist read the file again and looked up at Sally. "Are you sure? How can this be possible?"

"It's classified," Sally said, knowing that the doctor would understand. After all, he worked in Preventers' hospital and knew that confidentiality was the main reason this facility was needed.

"I can't guarantee he'll stay under." The doctor didn't look happy. "Raising the dosage too much will be dangerous."

Sally fixed the man with a stern look. "You'll just have to watch him carefully then, Doctor."

* * *

Trowa walked into the waiting room, followed closely by Wufei. "Where is he?" he asked, as soon as he saw Heero and Duo.

"They are preparing him for the surgery." Duo stood up slowly. He looked like hell, Heero too. The mission might have been successful but it hadn't been an easy one. For all the times Quatre could have gotten appendicitis, the middle of a mission was definitely the worst one.

"He should pass through here shortly," Heero added, looking at a closed door.

Trowa wasn't really willing to wait. He walked towards the door Heero had looked at but it opened before he reached it. Sally Po, and a doctor Trowa had never seen before, pushed a stretcher out.

Quatre smiled weakly at Trowa. He was obviously in pain. "Hi. You made it."

Trowa put a hand over Quatre's. "Wufei too," he said, and glanced back where the other pilots were approaching them.

Quatre was wearing a light green paper hospital robes, and he clearly felt uncomfortable. They had put an IV line into his wrist, the skin around it already turning red. Because of his pale complexion Quatre bruised easily and that little red spot would probably look awful in a few hours.

"Thanks for coming, Wufei," Quatre said, looking past Trowa.

"What are friends for?" Wufei had that small smile in his face, the one he reserved for his closest friends.

"You'll have to wait here," Sally said when they reached the door of the OR. "I'll be there. We'll take care of him.

Trowa stopped walking and Quatre's hand slipped away from his.

* * *

There was someone coming.

Wufei opened his eyes but didn't move away from where he was standing by the wall. Trowa had done nothing but pace while they waited. Duo had talked non stop at first but had fallen asleep after a little while. He and Heero hadn't had time to take a break since the mission. Heero had sat on the couch and rested all he could while they waited.

Sally came into the room, still wearing scrubs. "He's fine. He's in recovery now."

"There's something you aren't telling us." Wufei had come to know Sally very well since he started working on Preventers and the fine strained lines next to her eyes showed that she was nervous about something.

Duo stood up from the couch and Trowa stopped pacing. Heero tensed slightly but didn't change positions.

"There was a slight complication with the anesthesia," Sally explained. "Nothing we didn't expect. You all have high tolerance and that's sometimes difficult to handle in surgery."

"Is he okay?" Trowa asked.

"Yes. Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure." Sally smiled. "He's fine, but he might remember something from the surgery."

"As in you cutting him up?" Duo asked. He didn't look happy.

Sally shook her head. "No. He wasn't coherent enough, but he might remember sensations, impressions."

"Like pain," said Heero.

Sally swallowed. "He might not remember anything at all. I'll let you know when he regains consciousness." Giving them one last small smile, she left the room.

* * *

His throat was dry.

Quatre blinked his eyes open slowly and closed them quickly. The room was too bright. He was comfortable, snuggled into his pillow but as soon as he tried to go back to sleep he remembered why he had woken in the first place. His side hurt.

It was certainly better than before but it still hurt enough to ensure he would stay awake.

Again, slower this time, Quatre opened his eyes, forcing himself to get used to the light. If he couldn't sleep then he might as well start waking up. The sooner he did that, the sooner he could go home. He hated hospitals.

The room was plain, white and Quatre was immediately bored to be there. Slowly, he tried to sit up a bit and had to bit his lip to stop a moan when his side and the hand with the IV hurt simultaneously.

He must have yanked too hard because a loud annoying beep started to sound, and moments later the two nurses, a doctor, Sally Po and four former Gundam pilots rushed into the room.

"He shouldn't be awake yet," a nurse said and replaced the IV line in Quatre's hand. Quatre glared at her, she could have been gentler about it.

Duo moved between the Quatre and the nurse. "He is, and you fixed that thing so stop poking him."

Quatre laughed but it was cut short when his side started hurting again. He calmed his breathing. "Water," he asked in a very raspy voice.

Sally put a glass in front of his lips and Quatre drank a couple of sips. "Thank you."

"Try not to laugh," she said. "It'll hurt for a little while."

"Wonderful," Quatre muttered. He was feeling cranky.

The nurses were no longer there; they must have left when Quatre was trying to ignore the pain. The doctor was just leaving the room and the pilots were making themselves comfortable. Duo sat at the foot of the bed, Wufei was standing by the door, Heero chose the chair on the other side, and Trowa was standing behind Sally, as if he was waiting for her to move to take her spot next to Quatre.

"Can I go home now?" Quatre asked.

"In a few hours if your recovery is normal." Sally finally noticed Trowa behind her and moved to the side, handing Trowa the glass of water.

Quatre sighed. He was about to protest but Trowa pressed the glass to his lips again. Quatre drank the water gratefully.

"The sooner you recover, the sooner you can leave, and for that you need to rest," said Trowa.

One by one, Quatre looked at his friends. They all had the same look on their faces; the one that said he would be stopped if he even thought about leaving before Sally gave him the green light.

"Fine," Quatre grumbled. "But don't expect me to help you sneak out of the hospital when you get your appendix removed." He leaned back on the pillows and closed his eyes. He really hated hospitals.

* * *

- The End - 


End file.

Gundam Wing/AC