His surroundings swirled in and out of focus, his head still swimming frantically against the beckoning darkness of unwilled sedation.

Voices touched his ears, but his mouth couldn't force a response to their words, as flashes of faceless men in white lab coats circled his prone form like vultures, waiting for death to come and do their dirty work.

"..Initial injection administered at 0600 hours..." He heard one of the voices say.

His arm tensed against the sudden sting of a needle piercing his flesh, the mysterious substance sweeping through his veins like fire.

Furiously testing the strength of his bonds, he tugged at the thick leather straps around his wrists and ankles, longing to feel the pain as a measure of reassurance that he was still alive.

Searing heat coursed through him and his entire body succumbed to the full effects of the injection, assaulting him with stabs of pain. The silent echo of his forbidden screams threatened from the darkness, as he expended his remaining strength in a final attempt to twist free of the restraints.

Words floated to his ears, as he tried to drag himself from the fire, feeling his world fade away beneath the painful white lights.

"...The first injection is always the worst. You should save your strength for what is yet to come. This is just the beginning..."

Sally fought desperately against the impending weariness threatening her mind and body.

The last several hours had marked a rapid decline in Heero's condition, earning him a place on the critical care list, under round-the-clock monitoring. His fever had spiked immediately after his collapse, and Sally had done her best to effectively repatch his wounds, and re-establish a central line to keep his body hydrated.

His sudden return to consciousness, and the outburst that had followed, had put the staff in a precarious position with the administrative higher-ups, and they had been forced to restrain Heero to ensure their safety, as well as his own.

Once she had seen him safely into his own room, she had humored the doctor by allowing him to examine the slight wound on her neck, while she anxiously awaited the results of the toxicology report. As soon as word came down, she had returned to Heero's side, determined to find the catalyst to his current state.

Her mental resolve had crumbled the moment she entered his room, with the toxicology report in hand. Staring at the results, she had felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. She had been studying the toxin for the past week and a half, and as it stared back at her now, she knew there was nothing more she could do...

Relena leapt from the tiny, nondescript taxicab as soon as it had pulled to a stop, turning to thrust a handful of bills into the driver's hand, before weaving her way through the scattered crowd, toward the front doors.

Her journey had taken its emotional toll, forcing a wide spectrum of possibilities to light, in regards to what condition Heero would be in when she finally reached her destination.

Now she was here, a mere question away from seeing him again, and she mentally assured herself that no matter what condition he was in, at least he was alive.

...Anything else, I can deal with... She convinced herself, as she approached the admit desk.

"Heero Yuy's room, please"

"Preventer or not, that boy is still under my care so long as he remains in this facility. You have no rights to deny or approve treatments based on what you feel is in his best interest, right now."

Relena could hear arguing in the corridor as she stepped off the elevator, the words falling on her ears as she headed off in the direction of Heero's room.

She knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Listen, I am telling you that whatever it is that we're dealing with here is highly unstable. If you go in there and start pushing more chemicals into his bloodstream you will be compromising the only chances he may have left." Sally yelled, firmly planting herself in front of the door to Heero's room.

"We have to regulate his body temperature now! There is no telling what will happen if we don't..." The doctor argued, forcefully.

"And there is no telling what will happen if we do!" Sally retorted, fearfully. "All I am saying is that we should expend the most conventional treatment options, first....until we have no other choice."

"You would have that boy continue to suffer. For God's sake, he is in pain..and the fact that you are asking me to willingly allow it to continue, knowing that I have the means to prevent it, is simply unethical." The doctor replied, in disgust.

"If it means saving his life, than yes, that's what I would ask you to do." Sally answered, honestly, her own mental pains clearly visible in the depth of her powder blue eyes.

"What's happened?" Relena's voice cut through the tension in the hallway like a knife through butter, both Sally and the young doctor, eyeing her, regretfully.

"Relena..." Sally began, staring at the other doctor, not sure of where to begin. "Some things have happened here....There's been some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Relena asked, urgently, feeling the unsettling fear seize her heart like a vice. She could see the fear reflected in Sally's eyes as well, accompanied by uncertainty, and then defeat. "Is Heero okay? Would someone please tell me what's going on?"

The scene was becoming a blur and she could hear each heartbeat pounding inside her chest as though it was about to explode. Fearing the worst, she bolted unexpectedly toward the door, pushing her way inside Heero's room before Sally could stop her.

"Miss Relena!" Noin exclaimed, obviously startled by the young woman's sudden entrance.

She didn't respond.

She couldn't....

It took every ounce of strength to simply remain standing, as her eyes settled on the ghostly pale figure tossing fitfully on the bed in front of her.

His eyes were closed, his body trembling violently, haunted by fever-ridden dreams that he was too weak to escape from.

Her heart twisted perilously inside her chest as she rushed to his side, her fingers falling just shy of his flushed and far too pale skin.

She didn't need to touch him, she could feel the intense heat escaping his body, and could tell by the thin sheen of sweat glistening across the surface of his skin, that something, was indeed, frighteningly wrong.

Her eyes trailed down the length of his body, taking note of the number of bruises, bandages, and abrasions, and feeling her anger swell as she caught sight of the blood soaked bandages around his wrists.

"Why did you let them restrain him like this? They're hurting him!" Relena cried, tugging furiously at the straps.

"Stop it! Relena!" Noin screamed, wrenching the nearly hysterical girl away from the restraints, in an effort to calm her.

"No!" Relena argued, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I won't let them hurt him...I won'tl...et them..."

Her argument turned to a hollow and defeated sobbing inside her own ears, and her lungs convulsed with each breath that left her body.

"Relena...the restraints are for his own protection. No one wants to hurt Heero....but if he regains consciousness again, we can't be sure of what he'll do."

"What he'll do..What do you mean? What's happened?" Relena asked, composing herself in light of the missing facts.

Alternating her questioning glares between Noin and Sally, it was obvious that whatever had happened, neither woman had the desire to fill her in. It was Sally who finally spoke.

"There is a strong possibility that Heero may not remember any of us....That he may not remember anything at all..."

END

I know, but come on, it's getting too longand I had to stop somewhere, right? No, you say! No more cliffhangers, you say! Tar and feathers, you say! Okay! Okay! I'll make a deal with you. You keep reading and reviewing, and I'll keep writingmaybe I'll even be good and let Heero wake up in the next chapter... What do you say?