"This Beautiful Life"

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters

Rating: R

Warnings: Romance & Friendship

Pairings: 2x5, others will be present but subtle.

Summary: 3 years after cutting ties with everyone from the war, WuFei Chang gets into a car accident in his way home from a company Christmas party and wakes up to another life.

"This Beautiful Life"

Chapter 3:

When WuFei awoke, Sally had not returned. Someone came while WuFei slept though, most likely a nurse, and set a tray up with food and a pitcher of water with a small plastic cup. He wasn't certain how long he'd slept, though less light streamed through the window and the little that did was a deep orange.

Carefully, slowly, WuFei pulled himself up into a sitting position, relieved that he didn't immediately slide back down. He dragged the food towards himself and poured some water, surprised to find how parched he was as he gulped it down. He picked at the food, a meat-like product with mashed potatoes and green beans all slathered in brown gravy, and a pudding cup for dessert. To the back of his mind, he thought of how other patients would have visitors; their rooms decorated with flowers and get-well-soon balloons.

Aren't you lonely? That strange young man had asked.

WuFei snorted softly. Empty sentiments and useless crap. He focused his mind on the question of when he'd go back to work. He hoped this accident didn't deter him from returning at the end of holiday break. A day they'd been off and already he was yearning to bury himself in numbers.

The door flung open and WuFei readied an assault on the good doctor, he had a lot of questions that needed answers, but a soft light weight fell into his lap, a heavier weight tilted down one side of the bed as arms flung about his neck, a warm body pressed firm and snug against him.

"Shit, WuFei," a husky voice piped close to his ear, "I'm so sorry!"

Quickly recovering from the initial shock, WuFei gathered his senses, noting the strong sensuous scent of apple spice and the soft chestnut hair brushing his face. His first thought was the man from the Christmas party, though he couldn't for the life of him think why that guy would be at the hospital hugging him, but then he saw the length of the hair and how it wound into a tight braid.

The body pulled away and WuFei was captured in twin pools of deep cobalt blue and a heart-shaped face laden with worry and relief. His heart gave a pathetically dramatic thud and his face warmed. The length of time that had passed since he'd seen that familiar cherubic face ached through him, the last words that man had spoken to WuFei forever burned in his mind as the greatest confirmation that he deserved to be alone. Yet, here that man was, and WuFei noted curiously that the thing in his lap was a bouquet of crimson roses and baby's breath.

"I'm so sorry for everything! I don't care anymore about our fight. You win. Hell, you win the next ten fights. I mean, shit, babe, if I thought for a second you would go racing your bike through a fucking blizzard I never would have opened my big mouth! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry."

WuFei began a confused and, maybe even harsh, "Maxwe-" but was cut off by Sally's sharp voice at the door.

"Duo."

The braided boy turned, a smile sliding easy over his features as he peered at the doctor with shimmering eyes.

"I need to speak to you outside," Sally said.

The smile faltered but Duo jumped to his feet and followed the doctor into the hallway, calling a, "I'll be right back, babe," over his shoulder to a very bewildered WuFei.

"Sally, I cannot thank you enough," Duo exclaimed before the doctor could say a word, the door shutting behind them. He embraced her warmly; "I know that it's your job, and you've always taken care of him, and that you didn't exactly do it for me, and yadda, yadda, yadda, but still, thank you. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you weren't there..."

"Duo," Sally attempted to break in, but Duo continued unabated.

"I know what you're going to say, there are plenty of capable doctors on staff, but I know you're the best and you can't candy coat things to me. I know he was in bad shape when he came in. He had to have been, crashing his bike like that, and looking at the injuries he's got. I mean...shit...I almost lost him, didn't I?"

"...Duo."

"Look, don't worry about not calling me right away. I'll admit, I was scared and worried and racking my brain as to where he'd be and whether he was okay, and if he was even going to come back to me at all, but I understand why you did it, completely. I'm not mad at you and forgive you entirely. Mostly because he's alive and I don't give a damn about anything else in the whole entire fucking world right now! There are no hard feelings, I promise."

"Duo, there's a problem," Sally snapped impatiently and the boy fell silent, his grin fading.

"What?" he said stupidly, and then his face contorted as he was gripped with sudden fear, "What kind of a problem? Tell me he's not paralyzed. Oh God, he's paralyzed, isn't he? You know how he is, he can't handle something like that! He won't ask me to pass the remote, you think he'd ever be able to drop his prideful act long enough to ask for help using the bathroom?"

"Calm down," Sally soothed, berating herself for sounding so rough, she'd put the younger boy through enough already leaving him wondering about the whereabouts of his lover for the past twenty-four hours or so, "Physically WuFei is fine. A couple broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, sprained hip, swelling in the ankle, lacerations predominantly on his arms and hands, severe bruising, nothing that can't be healed with time and rest. It's a miracle, honestly. I'm going to chalk his survival and lack of permanent damage up to his training as a Gundam pilot and someone upstairs really liking him - or you - and leave it at that."

"So what's the problem?" Duo asked, relaxing.

Sally bit her lower lip, her eyes flickering through the pane of glass at WuFei. He'd set the roses aside and was poking at his food again, glancing every now and then with curiousity at the two outside.

"Have you ever heard of a condition called 'selective memory loss'?" she questioned. Duo furrowed his brow and shook his head slowly. "It's a form of amnesia. Duo, WuFei hit his head pretty hard."

The dots were connecting in Duo's mind and his eyes went wide, "Oh God," he breathed, burying his face in the palm of his hand, then looking at Sally between his fingers, "He doesn't remember anything? Who he is? Where he is?"

"No...no. This isn't a full blown case of amnesia," Sally answered, she took a weary breath and went on to explain, "Selective memory loss is when an individual loses small parts of their memory. As far as I can gather, WuFei's memories seem to be intact...up until roughly...about...three years ago."

Duo's shoulders sagged and his face fell. He took a few steadying breaths before saying anything as Sally waited, her eyes light with sympathy. Without realizing, her hand had come to rest on Duo's shoulder.

"Oh...well...great. Three years. That's just...you know...our entire relationship," he mumbled, "Jesus. So wait...what you're saying is that, as far as he can tell, his old comrade-in-arms just breezed in and gave him a bunch of flowers and hugged him for way longer than natural...what he must be thinking right now..."

"Duo, it's going to be alright," Sally told him. His eyes flashed and he pulled from her touch, looking up at her dubiously.

"Alright? Alright? Sally, you just told me the love of my life doesn't remember he's the love of my life! How are things going to be alright?"

"The condition is temporary," she stated calmly, "His memory will return eventually."

"Oh. Eventually," Duo repeated flatly, "And just how long is 'eventually'?"

"I don't know exactly. It varies. His memory could come back by the end of the day, it could come back in a week, there's no way to be certain, but usually it takes a day," Sally answered. She glanced away, "There's one thing that concerns me, but I'm sure it's nothing."

Duo eyed her as though a bomb ready to go off, "What's that?"

Sally looked to be debating with herself. She finally met Duo's eyes and, choosing her words carefully, replied, "He does have...memories...of the past three years. They're just...not accurate."

"What do you mean?" Duo pressed, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Well, for instance, he knows the date without hesitation and most current events. But...he doesn't remember his relationship with you and he says he and I haven't spoken in over a year and a half. And then...he thinks he works for a company...Hinkley&Deluth? That he lives alone in an apartment in Bergonia. Even the motorcycle accident, Duo, he thinks he was driving a car."

Duo's eyebrows shot up to hide in bangs, "What? That doesn't make sense. Hinkley&Deluth...I've heard of them...they tried to headhunt 'Fei a while back but...he loves working for the Preventers. He could never leave...the job is too important to him."

"I know, I remember."

"And apartment? I mean...hell...our last apartment was in Lower Plough in East Danover and we've been to Bergonia once on a mission."

"Yes, I recall..."

"He hated it there. And we don't even own a car...all we have is my truck that he refuses to drive."

"I know, Duo, I know," Sally said, nodding her head as he spoke.

"I don't understand any of this," Duo seethed, looking uncertain at the doctor, "Is this...are false memories part of this selective amnesia thing?"

"I've never heard of it," Sally answered, "But it's possible."

Duo studied his shoes, heavy black work boots splattered with mud, as he mulled things over in his mind. Sally was respectfully silent. It was a lot to take in at once and she imagined it a hard reality to face. When she thought enough time had passed, she broke the quiet.

"I'll talk to him. Explain the situation...his condition."

"No," Duo interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'll do it," he chuckled, though it sounded forced and joked, "Don't know if you remember 'Fei before I broke him in but this is a conversation that's going to take a delicate touch, as well as agility and quick reflexes," he grinned boyishly, perfectly masking the grief, "Oh man, when I tell WuFei that we not only share a house but a bed...shit...he's going to put a gun to my head."

Sally smiled affectionately at the young man, allowing herself a small chortle for his sake.

"I'll get started on some paper work. You'll be able to check him out whenever you're ready. I might not recall pre-relationship WuFei very well but I do recall one thing that has always rang true about the both of you. A strong hate of hospitals," she said before turning and heading down the hall.

Duo smiled after her retreating back, then tipped his head to look warily into the room at WuFei. The dark hard boy was poking at the meat-like thing on his plate with his hospital regulation spork, obviously trying to decide whether to eat it or not, and Duo hesitated before walking in. While he'd made it sound like a great lark, part of him wasn't entirely sure WuFei wouldn't put a gun to his head. Fortunately, one wasn't readily available.

~ * ~

Chapter 4

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