Chapter 6
Sophia stretched in her chair and craned her neck to the clock on the wall behind her. 3 hours had gone by since they got to the hospital. Sitting up, she looked around the room at her comrades. Heero was sitting at the table filling out the mandatory health sheets. Wufei and Trowa were playing a game of chess on Trowa’s travel game board. Duo was busy drinking his fifth cup of coffee and pacing a hole in the floor. His eyes kept flicking up to the clock, to the door and then to Heero filling out papers.
Duo’s eyes suddenly landed on Sophia watching him. She smiled reassuringly at him as she stood, her coffee mug dangling from her fingers. She walked up to Duo and took his coffee cup from his white knuckled grip. Sophia went to the percolator and split the last dregs of coffee between the two of them.
"Does anyone know the color of Quatre’s mother’s brother’s wife’s hair?"
4 heads turned to look at Heero. Trowa raised his visible eyebrow.
"What? It’s on the sheet I’m filling out."
Sophia shook her head and turned back to Duo. He accepted the mug she held out to him.
"Thanks," Duo rasped out, turning away from her to start pacing again.
/He’s so worried about Quatre, but he doesn’t want to show it./
She frowned at his back and then stared into her coffee mug as her stomach rumbled.
"I’m really hungry Duo. Come with me to a vending machine or something."
Sophia grabbed at the material of his shirt by his abdomen and dragged him to the door. On the way out, they dropped their coffee mugs on the counter.
The two walked for many minutes. Sophia spotted a vending machine in a small corner hallway, and as they made their way to it, she realized that she didn’t have any money.
"Damn. Do you have any cash on you?"
Duo shook his head in the negative, but a smile slid onto his face. "I have something better than money," Duo said as they reached the machine. "What?"
"Body power." Sophia stared at him as he backed up and delivered a flying kick to the glass on the machine. Bags of stuff fell into the compartment as Sophia’s eyes widened in amazement.
She grabbed her bags of sugar and walked with Duo over to a bench in the corner of the corridor. They sat close together, Duo hunched over in his seat and Sophia eating her cookie. She finished her food and got up to go to the water fountain. The icy water hit the back of her throat, re-energizing the vocal chords she had neglected to use for the past few hours. When she turned around, she was faced with Duo slumped over in his seat, his hands on his face and his shoulders shaking violently.
"Duo."
His head snapped up at the sound of his name. His eyes were wet with unshed tears as he stared at her.
"Hey, Duo, it’s okay." Sophia sat down next to her friend. "It’s okay to cry."
Duo instantly sat up straight and pressed his palms into his thighs.
"Boys don’t cry."
Sophia gently touched his arm. "Duo, you’re not a boy. You’re a man. Men can cry."
With these words of comfort, Duo turned and buried his face in her shoulder and wept uncontrollably. When his sobs finally quieted, Sophia rubbed his back while he kept his face buried in her shirt.
"I’m just so worried about him. He’d always been the frailest of us five on the battlefield, and now…"
"Shhh….it’s okay, Duo. We just have to take it with a smile."
When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were clear and focused on her. She stared in shock as he lifted her right hand and kissed it tenderly, his lips lingering on her.
"Thank you for that."
Sophia was still staring slack-jawed at him. "For what?"
Duo smiled slightly. "For the cry. The other guys wouldn’t have been too keen on me crying on them."
Sophia turned her head to the wall. "No problem. Maybe we should get back to the room now."
"Yeah," Duo answered.
They made their way to the waiting room, passing by all the ICU rooms on the way. When they got to the waiting room, Heero was still filling out papers, and Trowa and Wufei were in a heated argument over the chess board.
"KISAMA! You unscrupulous cheater! Have you no morals?!"
"How could I possibly have cheated? You’ve been watching me the whole time, Wufei."
Wufei’s upper lip curled into a sneer. "You’re the clown. You must have moved a piece without me noticing."
"Maybe it was YOU who cheated."
Wufei’s eyes got incredibly large and his hands fisted on the arms of his chair.
"INJUSTICE! You would DARE insult a member of the Dragon clan! You insufferable---"
"Wufei," Heero interrupted, "shut the hell up."
Sophia went back to her recliner in the corner and Duo hopped up onto the counter , dangling his legs over the side. He began to swing his legs in a steady beat, and soon began singing.
"I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves, and this is how it goes!"
"Yes, that certainly does get on people’s nerves, young man," came a voice from the doorway.