The distress evident in Duo’s voice, and the flustered anxiety on Quatre’s face, was enough to bring Heero out of his corner. He crossed quickly to the bedside opposite Quatre, and leveled a glare at the blond doctor. Flustered, Quatre tried to reason with his patient. “Look, Duo, I’ve been treating you for a week. It isn’t anything I haven’t seen before. And you’re still feeling pain there. Let me help you!”
The long-haired boy was visibly shaking, and shot Heero a look of pure desperation. Heero looked up across the bed at Quatre, and frowned. He didn’t like to think that Duo was still suffering pain from his captivity and abuse, not if there was anything that could be done to ease it, but Duo’s distress and terror were painfully evident. He took the doctor’s upper arm and pulled him aside, pitching his voice low enough that Duo couldn’t hear. “Is that really necessary? If it bothers him so much, can’t you leave it alone for now? Until he’s had longer to recover?”
“Well,” Quatre couldn’t quite meet Heero’s eyes. “I really shouldn’t, Heero. There’s so much damage in that area, I don’t want to risk neglecting any treatment or it might not heal as well as it could otherwise. And besides which...” He trailed off, gaze downcast and to one side.
“Besides which?” Heero prompted him, tension beginning to grip him in anticipation of whatever Quatre was reluctant to speak of.
Lowering his voice even more, Quatre shot a glance back at the form huddled on the bed before he said, “It’s fairly obvious that he was raped, often, and probably not just by one person. We -- I don’t know who it was that forced him, but I think it’s a safe assumption that they didn’t have his health in mind. Although there isn’t really much of it in our army, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of Oz soldiers have... syphilis, or the wasting disease, or... or any other of a dozen diseases that can be transmitted sexually.”
Re: Spoil of War, prologue
Date: 2006-02-27 11:23 pm (UTC)The distress evident in Duo’s voice, and the flustered anxiety on Quatre’s face, was enough to bring Heero out of his corner. He crossed quickly to the bedside opposite Quatre, and leveled a glare at the blond doctor. Flustered, Quatre tried to reason with his patient. “Look, Duo, I’ve been treating you for a week. It isn’t anything I haven’t seen before. And you’re still feeling pain there. Let me help you!”
The long-haired boy was visibly shaking, and shot Heero a look of pure desperation. Heero looked up across the bed at Quatre, and frowned. He didn’t like to think that Duo was still suffering pain from his captivity and abuse, not if there was anything that could be done to ease it, but Duo’s distress and terror were painfully evident. He took the doctor’s upper arm and pulled him aside, pitching his voice low enough that Duo couldn’t hear. “Is that really necessary? If it bothers him so much, can’t you leave it alone for now? Until he’s had longer to recover?”
“Well,” Quatre couldn’t quite meet Heero’s eyes. “I really shouldn’t, Heero. There’s so much damage in that area, I don’t want to risk neglecting any treatment or it might not heal as well as it could otherwise. And besides which...” He trailed off, gaze downcast and to one side.
“Besides which?” Heero prompted him, tension beginning to grip him in anticipation of whatever Quatre was reluctant to speak of.
Lowering his voice even more, Quatre shot a glance back at the form huddled on the bed before he said, “It’s fairly obvious that he was raped, often, and probably not just by one person. We -- I don’t know who it was that forced him, but I think it’s a safe assumption that they didn’t have his health in mind. Although there isn’t really much of it in our army, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of Oz soldiers have... syphilis, or the wasting disease, or... or any other of a dozen diseases that can be transmitted sexually.”