A soldier will fight long and hard [OPEN]

[endthiscycle.livejournal.com]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Horrorspital
Rating: PG?
Time: August 23rd-August 25th
Description: A place for all those injured from the mission and frog invasion to be healed
Note: Set up is complete!

Medics/Helpers:

Winry Rockbell
John Watson
Sakura Kinomoto
China
Aerith Gainsborough
Shibuya Yuuri
Miranda Lotto
Lacus Clyne
Naomi

Patients:

Nataku
Gaara
Joshua Kiryuu
Namine
Edward Elric
Kida
Mifune

This is simply a reference chart. You don't have to participate in the log if your name is listed, and if you think you should be added/taken out, please let me now in the ooc post. If you are confused please reference the previous visitation log here

The Clinic is a fairly large, several rooms with a number of beds partitioned by curtains your muses can open or close as they see fit.

Comments

August 23, 2009 - Monday

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

Gaara woke to pale, early morning light shining in through a window. He lay still for a moment, breathing slowly, taking in his surroundings. He was lying in bed, covered in sheets, in a small hospital room, an IV trailing from his wrist. His vision was still fuzzy with sleep, and his body still throbbed with a dull pain, most of it concentrated in his leg...but it was much more manageable than before, more an ache than a burning agony. Gingerly, he felt his thigh. The wound had been stitched. His torn and bloodied clothes had been removed, as well, and he wore only a flimsy hospital gown in their place.

As the memories trickled back into his mind, his chest tightened. Where was Lee? He'd been safe the last time Gaara saw him, but still, he knew the tightness in his chest wouldn't go away until Lee was in front of him again, whole and well. "Lee," he called, his voice emerging as a hoarse whisper. He tried to sit up.

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

The whisper was enough to stir Lee from his light doze. He'd ignored the entry room in favor of pulling a chair to the side of Gaara's bed, taking Watson's instructions to heart. Besides, he knew too well how it felt to wake up alone and injured. When Gaara tried to sit up, Lee pressed a hand against his chest- careful to avoid where he knew the scratches were- and pushed him back down. It didn't take much, considering how weak Gaara was. "You are supposed to stay still," Lee quietly admonished.

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

At the sound of that voice, Gaara relaxed. He blinked as his eyes slowly focused on Lee's face. The strong hand on his chest effectively pinned him to the bed, but was gentle enough not to cause any pain. "I'm fine," he said, but the protest was weak, mostly automatic. He didn't know if there were painkillers in his IV bag or if it was pure exhaustion, but his body felt like stone. At the moment, he didn't want to do anything except lie here in bed and look at Lee. He glanced at the calloused hand still resting on his chest and noticed that Lee's bandages had been removed. A strange feeling washed over him when he saw the swirls of scar tissue, and he knew he was seeing the result of Lee's injury from the Chuunin Exams. The injury Gaara had inflicted. "Have you been here the whole time?" Gaara murmured.

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

"You will be fine when the doctor says that you are fine," Lee said. His voice was quiet, but firm. He glanced at the curtains partitioning the bed off from the rest of the room, then out the window. The sun was barely visible, but it was enough to see by. Around when he usually woke up, then. He looked back at Gaara at the question, and nodded. After a moment, he removed his hand from Gaara's chest in favor of letting it rest against the sheets.

"I have. We are in Death City, now," Lee replied. "The mission is over, and it was a success."

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

"I see." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm glad." His eyes opened and focused on Lee's hand, which now lay on the bed. So much scar-tissue. But then, his entire arm had been crushed back then. It was something of a miracle that Lee could still use the arm at all. "How long have I been unconscious? Have your wounds been tended as well?"

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

It took a moment for Lee to realize what had caught Gaara's attention. He looked down at his arm. Compared to the pristine white of the sheet, his skin looked darkly tanned. Even with that, though, the scars stood out. He'd long grown accustomed to them, but the way Gaara's gaze stayed fixed on them made Lee wonder what they looked like to someone seeing them for the first time.

"Not long," Lee murmured. "Only through the night. It is the twenty third now. And I am fine. They were only scratches."

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

"Your definition of 'scratches' is different from other people's," he murmured. His gaze remained fixed on those scars. Somehow, he couldn't look away. A memory flashed through his mind: he saw himself reaching out with his sand, curling it around Lee's arm and leg as homicidal rage burned hot inside him, squeezing...the snap and crunch of bones...

Something clenched in his chest. He'd known how much suffering his actions had caused Lee, but knowing it and seeing the physical proof in front of him were two different things. He reached out and lightly touched the back of Lee's hand, his fingertips tracing the bumps and ridges of the scars.

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

"I did not even need stitches," Lee protested. "And I will be healed in no time. The doctor even said that I can keep exercising." Well, he'd agreed to light exercise and mostly rest for two days, but that was still exercising. And Gaara didn't really need to know that, Lee figured. He might actually try to make Lee rest if he knew, and Lee was very certain that he was fine.

The light touch of Gaara's fingertips made Lee's fingers twitch, and he looked down. Gaara's hand wasn't as steady as it could be as he traced over the multitude of scars, following the ridges from training up to the start of the injury from the sand. In places the touch was near-ticklish, where other scars were thick enough that Lee could feel pressure and warmth, but little else.

It felt oddly intimate to be touched in that way. Lee nearly always kept his hands covered. Gai had suggested it when he was a Genin to help with the damage from his constant training, and after that, learning the Ura Renge had made them as much a part of Lee as his eyebrows. He held still through the gentle perusal even as it slowly made him feel more and more off-balance. "Gaara?"

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

Gaara didn't respond at first. His hand trembled as he explored the rippled terrain of Lee's scars. "It must have hurt," he whispered. His thoughts, still fuzzy with sleep and painkillers, drifted back to Lee's agonized scream as the sand crushed his arm and leg. "I've hurt you so much. I almost took everything from you. I wanted to take everything from you. To crush you. Back then...it was the only way I could touch you. The only way I could touch anyone." His eyes were half-lidded, unfocused, as they watched his fingertips trace circles on Lee's scarred arm.

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

Lee remained still, watching as Gaara's fingers traced patterns over his skin. "It did," he admitted quietly. "But that was not the part that really hurt. They told me that I could not be a ninja any longer. That I should give up. Everyone but Gai-sensei told me that." Lee's voice was quiet and reflective, but there was no recrimination in the words. He looked up.

"But I got better. And it made me stronger." A short pause- "And you are not the same person now that you were then."

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I haven't changed. Maybe I've just learned to hide it better. Most of the time, I don't really understand who I am. But regardless, who I was is part of who I am now. I can't just dismiss everything I did back then and say it was someone else. I did those things." His fingers rested on Lee's arm, no longer moving, just touching him lightly. "I almost took that precious dream from you--that dream which meant more to you than life itself. Even if you say it doesn't matter now, I still don't understand how you can call me your friend. How you can smile at me." His eyes slipped shut. It was becoming harder to focus, to shape the words in his head. But it seemed important to say this now. "If you did hate me for it, I would understand. I could accept it, as long as I could still be with you." His voice had grown soft, barely audible. "Even if you hated me...it would be better than you not being here at all."

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

Lee's eyes slowly widened as Gaara's soft mumble sank in. He wasn't thinking straight, Lee rationalized. He'd been injured, brushed death, and wasn't even able to keep his eyes closed. That was why he was saying those things.

Somehow, though, he knew that argument didn't hold much weight. In many ways the redhead was still a mystery to him, but Lee had learned a few things. Exactly how alone he was. The way he saw himself- as a monster. How even the simplest of things seemed to be completely outside of his experience. And the words that Lee couldn't forget, even if he wanted to. When there is no pain, it is mostly empty and numb.

"You have changed," Lee said, and though his voice was quiet, it was still firm. "And you are right. You did do those things. But I do not hate you for it."

He was quiet for a moment, looking down at Gaara's fingers loosely splayed over the back of his hand. "At first I wondered why me. Why after everything else, this too. I resented you for it. But as months went past, I realized that I could not live like that. I could not give up, even if they told me to. And I could not hold onto that resentment, because it was not me."

"It was a battle. I knew going into it that I could be injured, or worse, killed. Knowing that did not even make me think of not fighting." He looked up, but Gaara's eyes were still closed. He wondered for a moment if he'd fallen asleep, then wondered if it really mattered.

"You are my ally, and my friend," Lee said softly. "And I do not hate you. I forgave you long ago."

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

Gaara listened silently, his eyes closed, one hand still resting on Lee's.

If you can be forgiven for even the greatest atrocities, then it is love. That was what Seimei had told him. But then, it was Lee's nature to forgive. He never held onto anger or resentment for long. Maybe it had nothing to do with Gaara or how Lee felt about him. Maybe Lee was just that good, that kind.

Still, he clung to Lee's words, for the first time believing--really believing--that they were true. That Lee had forgiven him. A gentle warmth spread through his chest. Green eyes opened a crack and gazed up at him. Drowsy as he was, he couldn't quite focus his vision, and Lee's features were blurred. But even so, Gaara could see those large, dark eyes gazing back at him. He smiled, just a slight upward curving of his lips. "I'm glad," he whispered, his voice hoarse and faint. His pale fingers curled around Lee's large, calloused ones, holding them as tightly as his weakened state would allow.

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

At the sight of that smile, something in Lee's chest eased. Gaara would be fine. He'd known it intellectually, but there was a difference between that and truly knowing. For a moment, when he'd seen the blood, he'd thought-

"We will train more once you are better," Lee promised. "We will both become stronger." And he wouldn't allow his meister to be injured like that again. Lee gently squeezed Gaara's fingers in return and smiled. "You should rest."

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

Gaara nodded, his eyelids drooping. He was very tired. But then, he'd lost a lot of blood. Even with the IV replenishing his body's fluids, it would take awhile for him to recover fully. "Will you stay with me?" he asked quietly.

[stalwartcane]

Ah, his favorite pair of patients, of the stubborn heads. Watson made his way to the pair after the rest of his rounds, because if he were to tend to Gaara, he would be quite tired afterward and unable to carry on with his duties for some hours.

"You're doing better today, I see," he said as his customary greeting, coming around with the usual thud thud thud of his cane. Watson picked up the clipboard at the foot of Gaara's bed, eyed Lee for a moment, and read it in case someone else had been around to attend to their needs already.

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Gaara replied. Though his expression remained blank as ever, there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes as he stared at the man. The voice sounded familiar. He had a feeling he should recognize him...but then, he'd spent a long time floating through a semi-conscious fog, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. "You're the one who treated my wounds earlier?"

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

Seeing Watson there made Lee glad that he hadn't given into the temptation to pull the bandages off of his arm. They might be unnecessary in Lee's opinion, but it was easier than having to go through being bandaged again. The Chuunin quickly sat down as if he'd spent the entire morning obediently resting, instead of starting in on his pushups after Tassadar had left. At least he was still in the clinic?

"He woke up around dawn," Lee provided, remembering that Watson had told him to get him if Gaara awoke during the night. "If he is doing better, does that mean we can we go now?"

[stalwartcane]

His eyebrows rose, and Watson had half a mind to point out to Lee that he did not look like he had been behaved at all. Not restless enough, he supposed.

"I am," Watson answered Gaara instead, inclining his head in greeting. "Doctor John Watson, at your service. Lee here has been kind enough to introduce us, however little of it you may remember." A pointed look at Lee, and then: "How are you feeling?"

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine," Gaara replied. And he was, mostly. There were enough pain medications in his system that his leg didn't hurt at all. His thoughts were fuzzy from the drugs, but in spite of that, he was eager to get back home and resume training. During the battle, he recalled, a force-field had materialized between himself and the attacking kishin. He wanted to see if he could do that again--if that truly was his meister power, as he suspected. "It seems as though you healed most of the damage. I don't think I need to stay here."

[verdant-lotus.livejournal.com]

Lee resisted the temptation to repeat Gaara's words, having a feeling it wouldn't help in the least with getting them both out of the clinic. His eagerness to leave was rooted in many things, but his natural restlessness and need for activity were eclipsed by his dislike of hospitals. In Lee's mind, Watson couldn't release them soon enough. The impatience clearly showed in the way he couldn't quite sit still, but he managed to keep from asking again.

For now.

[stalwartcane]

"I would argue with that, but it would seem that the both of you are used to worse," he acquiesced. Gaara had been healed enough by himself and Holmes to manage for the day, at least. "Very well, then. I shall let you out but only on the condition that you remain rested for today. I shall be to your flat tomorrow morning for a check, but otherwise, I shall stay out of your way and hold you to your word."

It was possible that Gaara was fixed enough to continue the rest of the healing process on his own. Watson's primary concern was the boy's thigh, which he had knitted up to the best of his weapon form's ability. It was unlikely that Lee would allow Gaara to bear through pain, and there was no doubt to Watson that should anything occur, he would be called for immediately.

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

Gaara nodded, relieved. "Very well." Taking it easy for the rest of the day seemed reasonable...but mostly, he was just glad to be getting out of the clinic. Maybe he could do some light upper-body training. He just had to stay off his feet and make sure not to reopen the wound in his thigh. Resting didn't mean he had to remain completely immobile. "We can go home now, then?"

[stalwartcane]

He considered saying no, or detaining them there for a while yet, but Watson could also foresee all the trouble he would have to deal with should their unspent energy bubble forth to persistently and consistently hound him about it.

“Yes, you may go home, as long as you remain in bed for the rest of the day.” Watson could not stress it well enough. “I will visit later in the day, if you do not mind. Would you require a wheelchair to take you back to your room?” It was a short walk and a trip up the lift, but Gaara’s thigh may be more sore than Watson could see.

[sandsworn.livejournal.com]

"I can walk." Gaara wasn't certain of that, but he couldn't accept the idea of being pushed about in a wheelchair, even for a short while. He might not be Kazekage in this world, but the need to appear strong at all times--whatever his actual condition--was ingrained deep into him.

To prove the point, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose to his feet. His wounded leg trembled a bit beneath him, but held.