Disclaimer: I don’t own the Gundam Wing game, but I can still make fun of them, ain’t America and it’s freedom of speech great!
A Frozen Moment
by Polka Dot
It was all supposed to be routine. Just another day at the office. Duo choked on the lump in his throat and held Hilde closer to him. How many times had they done this? A hundred, a thousand? And they were careful. They made all the safety checks on the equipment. Accidents happened in space and people died. They knew that. They always checked everything so damn carefully. Never let it become routine. Never let themselves forget how important this stuff was. Check and recheck and then check again. They did. They always did. They did this morning. Everything was in its place, up to date and functioning. So what the hell happened? What went wrong?
Duo thought about these things while the seconds ticked by. Little moments of eternity that took his wife further away from him. The God of Death indeed. He wasn’t the God of Death, no not him. He didn’t want to be, not now. Not while her life was slipping away.
“Hold on babe, just hold on.”
He knew she couldn’t hear him, knew that their in-suit communications array was down. He was wasting oxygen. She couldn’t even see his lips move, not with her eyes closed. In truth she could be dead already and he wouldn’t know it. He couldn’t feel her heartbeat through the spacesuit and she hadn’t moved in a while, but he had told her to hold still. He squeezed her back, but got no answer in return. He was so frustrated just floating there with her, completely helpless and useless.
How much time had gone by? It seemed like he had sent out that mayday signal hours ago, but it could just be minutes. Time moved differently when you were floating around in a vacuum waiting for help. Duo leaned his head forward and began lightly tapping on Hilde’s faceplate. She opened her eyes lazily and smiled at him. He smiled back and puckered his lips. She returned the gesture and then closed her eyes again. He watched her fall back asleep. There wasn’t enough oxygen in her suit for her to stay awake but at least she was still alive for now.
Duo was never good at sitting around and waiting. Patience was a virtue and Duo was anything but virtuous. He looked at a piece of the hull as it drifted away. He didn’t want to think about the accident, but his mind seemed to drift with that charred piece of steel.
“Well this was a total bust, I
don’t know about you Duo, but I’m ready to head
back.” Hilde shot her co-pilot a look of disappointment.
“Yeah I guess we should.
There’s nothing out here worth salvaging. It was worth a try
though.” Duo leaned over and squeezed her arm, “You
know, you and I are probably the only two people in the world who
are lamenting the fact that there isn’t more junk floating
around in outer space. Who would’ve ever thought that
we’d get rid of all the trash that the war left
behind.”
Hilde smiled, “Yeah I guess
you’re right, it is pretty amazing out there. The stars are
so beautiful. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in work that I forget
to see them.”
“The stars aren’t the only
beautiful things I see. You know for an ex-Oz soldier,
you’re quite the eyeful.” Duo winked at her, “You
know it’s been a while since we’ve done it in
zero-gee.” He gave her his most seductive grin and the lust
in his eyes made her blush.
“Save it for later Casanova, once we
get back we’ve got plenty of materials to offload.”
Hilde turned back to the screen, smirking slightly at the look of
utter disappointment on Duo’s face.
Well the materials no longer needed offloading and he and Hilde were floating around in zero-gee in each other’s arms, it was ironic really. Yes it was ironic, for maybe the first time in a decade Duo thought that there really was a God and that s/he was laughing her/his ass off right now.
He closed his eyes and fire danced behind his lids.
“Duo!” She was reaching out to
him, but he couldn’t get to her. Another explosion rocked
the ship and the cables holding down their salvage equipment
snapped. It was too dangerous inside. If another engine went
their ship would be ripped apart by flames and they’d die
instantly. Even if they could stop the fire the flying metal arms
and pulleys weighed hundreds of pounds each. They could be
crushed or killed by a single blow.
“Hilde we’ve got to get off of
the ship!” Duo pointed to the loader switch. He signaled for
her to open the docking bay doors. She did and the vacuum
of space immediately began to suck him, her and their equipment
out into the subzero cold.
Duo flexed his fingers and wiggled his toes. He could still feel his extremities, but the cold was beginning to seep in. However bad it was for him it had to be ten times worse for Hilde. He looked down at her left arm which was wedged between them in a vain effort to keep it warm. It was hopeless. She’d lose that arm. He knew it, had known it when he tied the frayed cable around her bicep, cutting off the flow of blood.
He looked on in horror as Hilde drifted
away from him. She was being propelled somehow and he had finally
realized why. The tear in her suit’s left arm was less than
two inches long, but it was enough to suck all of the oxygen out.
She’d suffocate to death if he didn’t so something
soon. A piece of frayed cable was close enough for him to grab it
and then redirect himself towards her. He grabbed her arm and
tied the cable around her bicep, pulling the ends in his hands
with all the strength he had in his body. She tried to push him
away, but his eyes caught hers and she stopped fighting. He had
to do it, she knew that, just like they both knew that her arm
couldn’t last without blood for more than an hour or so.
She’d have to learn to live without it, if she wanted to
live at all.
Duo watched in almost detached fascination as the Preventers shuttle came towards them. The interesting thing about space vehicles is that even though they moved at incredible speeds, they seemed to drift slowly against the backdrop of stars. Inside the weightless feeling dulled any sense of motion expect in extreme circumstances. Outside you could see a ship coming from miles away. Duo watched as the ship glided up to him. Its forward momentum decreasing as the reverse thrusters were employed.
The rescue crew didn’t wait for the ship to come to a halt. Men in spacesuits with small jet packs made their way towards Duo and Hilde. They carried the couple back to their ship and Duo watched as they stripped the suit from his unconscious wife. They tried to take him away, to treat his wounds, but he wouldn’t leave. He had to see, had to know if she was still alive.
Duo was thrown from his chair as
the ship pitched forward. Hilde grabbed onto the console and
began typing furiously trying to see why their ship was spinning
off course and out of control.
“We’ve lost our aft engine.
It looks like the o-ring became dislodged because our fuel
line is leaking, that’s what’s causing our starboard
rotation.”
Duo nodded and turned towards the hanger.
“I’ll try to clamp it down.” A hand on his
shoulder stopped him.
“Be careful Duo, if you can’t
fix it, then don’t stay out there.” She gave him a look
of warning and love.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be
good. No daredevil stunts for me.” He smiled at her
reassuringly.
He didn’t even get half way through
the hanger when the second engine blew. He slammed into the wall
and shook his head fighting off the concussion.
“Duo!” She was reached out to
him, but he couldn’t get to her. Another explosion rocked
the ship and the cables holding down their salvage equipment
snapped.
Her lips were blue, he’s heard about that, but never seen it before. It was eerie. He didn’t want to look, but couldn’t look away. The doctor grabbed her left wrist and dropped the arm immediately. Her hand was white, completely bloodless. The doctor moved her hand to Hilde’s neck. He pried open one of Hilde’s eyes and shined the light in. Duo cleared his throat.
“She’s alive.” The medic said, and then returned his gaze to Hilde’s arm, “but the arm can’t be saved.” Duo nodded. No surprise there, he was just thankful she’d make it. “There’s also the possibility of brain damage, I won’t know until she wakes up.”
Duo didn’t say anything, didn’t move at all. He hadn’t thought of that. He could still lose her. Someone grabbed his arm and led him out of the room. He didn’t even notice.
~*~*~
Someone had found out who he was. He was getting visitors all day from those who recognized the contribution and sacrifices that the gundam pilots had made during the war. He tried to be polite, but wasn’t in the mood to tell war stories. Hilde was unconscious, but not in a coma. He wasn’t sure what the difference was, but the doctor told him it was a good sign and thanks to the drugs they gave him he managed to get some sleep that night.
He was surprised, but glad to find Wufei in his room when he woke up. It had been too long since he had seen any of the other pilots. Wufei looked good. He obviously still stayed in shape. The Preventers was still a military organization, nonetheless Wufei had mellowed over the years.
“Wufei this is a surprise. How are you?”
“Funny Duo, I’m the one who should be asking you that. You don’t have any numbness or pain do you?”
“No I feel fine. Have you heard anything about Hilde?” Duo tried not to sound too desperate.
Wufei nodded. “She woke up earlier, but fell back asleep. Sally is with her now. If you can get out of bed, I will take you to her.”
Duo smiled as he felt the suffocating hold on his chest fade. He carefully sat up, his head swimming a little from the drugs they had given him. Duo firmly planted his feet on the ground and stood up. He was surprised to feel Wufei slide an arm across his back and under his shoulder.
“Duo you know that they had to amputate her arm.”
Duo nodded as he leaned on his friend and they made their way down the hall. “Yeah I know, I had to stop the air from leaking out of her suit. Unfortunately it stopped the flow of blood in her arm as well. There was nothing else that I could do. It was horrible.”
“You did the right thing, you saved her.”
“Yeah I know, but I still feel rotten about it.”
Wufei opened the door and Duo could see Hilde lying on the bed. She was awake and Sally was smoothing her hair away from her forehead She was crying. Both women turned towards him.
“I’ll stop by later.” Sally said as she passed Wufei and Duo. Wufei led Duo to the chair Sally had been occupying and took him leave as well.
Duo looked at her left shoulder. There was no stub; the shoulder ended and there was no arm. It was actually not very noticeable. Not with the white bandages and white gown blending into the white bed sheets.
“Hey babe.” He grabbed her hand and leaned forward for a light kiss.
“Duo.” She couldn’t say anything more. The tears poured down her face and Duo wrapped his arms around her.
“I know, I know, but it’s gonna be okay babe. I’m just so thankful that you’re still here with me. There were some moments when I couldn’t tell if you were alive or dead and I swear, I lost myself. My heart froze and I didn’t want to live. I just want to be with you, where ever you are.”
“Oh Duo I don’t want you to think like that.” She wrapped her arm around him and grabbed his braid. “I’m glad you’re alright. Not a hair out of place, that’s my Duo.” She tried to smile, but it was half-hearted at best.
“I love you babe. I don’t want you to worry about a thing. I’m gonna take good care of you.” Duo began to wipe the tears off of her face. He remembered how desperately he wanted to touch her through that spacesuit, to give her some kind of comfort.
“I know. I love you too.” She said.
He sighed and laid her back down on the bed. A glint of metal caught his eye and he saw a roll of bandages and a pair of scissors lying on a table in the corner of the room. He looked at her arm and inspiration hit him.
“Duo where are you going?” Hilde asked as she watched him get up from his chair and make his way over to the corner of her room.
“I don’t want you to be the only one who has lost something here. I know it’s not an even trade, but I’m too much of a wimp to cut off my own arm.” Duo picked up the scissors.
“No Duo, don’t do it!” Hilde stared in horror and disbelief as Duo cut off his braid. She knew that he had never cut his hair before and that for him this was a huge sacrifice. “Duo I don’t blame you, I never blamed you.” She said as she stared at the limp braid hanging in his hand.
“I know, but I’d rather have all my friends staring at me instead of you.” He walked back to his chair and laid his hair on her lap.
She fingered the soft locks and leaned towards her love to rub her nose on his cheek. “Well what’s done is done, but I want you to grow it back.”
“You can’t grow back your arm.”
“Maybe not, but it’s okay. I’d rather live without my arm and have fifty more years with you, then to be dead. You saved me. I’m very grateful.”
“You’re grateful?” Duo smiled.
“Very.” Hilde pulled away and winked at him. They both burst out into a quiet laughter.