No Time For Secrets
Part 5
"Um, Quatre," Sally told him confidentially," she seems to have picked up on names around here somehow. Maybe it's just the pain
medication they gave her." Sally shrugged and added more loudly, "Laurel, this is Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner. I doubt that you've met
him before."
"Dr. Sally, it's okay, I'm not sick from the medicine, and I know I hadn't met Quatre-daddy before. I kinda thought that I might meet him
and my other new daddy today, though. I guess I was just so excited knowing I'd have two new daddies soon!" The girl radiated joy
around the room filled with confused adults.
A slender figure edged around the door of the crowded room.
"Quatre," Trowa began before he, too, got the shock of his young life.
"Trowa-daddy! You're here, *too*?!? Wow, this is the best day of my life ever! I'm really, really, super happy now!" Laurel was
literally bouncing up and down on the bed in happiness; oddly, Wufei thought it reminded him of Duo.
Trowa didn't react to sudden "fatherhood" any better than Quatre had, giving the shorter of the two a chance to giggle a bit and release
some tension. "Who are you, young lady? We've not---"
"Met before!" added Sally and Wufei in unison, then grinning at each other. Well, Sally grinned, Wufei simply allowed a small smile to
pull at the edge of his lips. The pattern was too perfect to pass up.
"Don't worry, Trowa," Sally added, "Laurel knows you haven't met before, but she's quite pleased to do so now."
"That's right!" Laurel's grin was infectious and even stoic Trowa was falling under her spell of childish happiness.
"Ah, 'Laurel' is it? Well, I'm pleased to meet you, but we will have to discuss this 'father' issue later." Turning to the other two men he
stated, "Quatre, Wufei, we are all needed back at the office. The surgeon is apparently on his way with information soon." The two
young men he'd come to retrieve lost their smiles upon hearing this news. Even Sally's face flashed grim determination; after speaking to
Joe, she was certain this was not going to be good news. But just as quickly, her smile returned for Laurel's sake if nothing else.
"Sorry, sweetie," Sally smiled, brushing some bangs back on the girl's forehead then giving her a little kiss. If only Sally had seen the
gentle look of wonder that crossed Wufei's face when she did that, she would have been stunned and perhaps overjoyed. "We've got to
go now. We'll come see you later, okay, angel?"
"Sure, Dr. Sally. But, Mr. Wufei, I need to tell you something---it's really important. Could you stay a minute, please?" Laurel reached a
hand out urgently.
"I'll be there shortly, you go ahead," Wufei stated tersely, dismissing the others. He was beginning to think that some answers might be
forthcoming from the mysterious little girl who seemed to know their names for reasons which eluded him. Boldly, for him at least, he
gingerly sat on the bed next to the girl. "Now, Laurel, what did you wish to speak to me about?"
As though a total eclipse had occurred, the sunny smile vanished to be replaced by a look of fierce determination, "Mr. Wufei, this is
very, very important. Something scary is going to happen soon and you need to know about it. I hate to tell you this, since you are so
nice and Dr. Sally likes you bunches, but you are going to get a broken arm just like me." She paused to point to the cast on her right
arm. "Please, Mr. Wufei, don't be mad with your friend, Mr. Hero. He doesn't mean to hurt you when it happens. Don't tell him I told
you this, it might worry him and he has something really, really, super important to do or Mr. Duo will die. Will you remember?"
Wufei was again dumbfounded by this seemingly sweet and innocent child who somehow knew them, including Heero and Duo. He
tried to recall if he had any experience with this sort of thing when suddenly Quatre's uchuu no kokoro came to mind. Perhaps this child
also had some type of extra sensory perception most people never experienced.
"Laurel," Wufei gazed into the ice-blue eyes intently, looking for something he could understand in their depths, but found nothing he
could recognize. "How is it you know so much about us when we haven't met before? How can you be so sure these things are going to
happen?"
"Well," she looked down for a moment before staring right back into his ebony eyes as intently as he had hers. "Sometimes, I have these
dreams and I see things that are going to happen. When I have them, I can try to change what happens in the dream to make it turn out
better. Last week I dreamt of what happened to the bus today, but it wasn't really clear, I just knew that the kids would get all burnt up
if I didn't get them out."
She took a deep breath, then continued. "Then two nights ago, I had this really clear dream about meeting you and everybody else. But
it was scary, too, because some really important things happened. The important stuff had some sad stuff, too, but it has to happen." She
sighed and continued, "I remembered that I had to tell some people things, or a nice man with a nice smile and really pretty hair was
going to die. In the dream someone called him 'Duo', and then I saw an awful image of him all cut open and his heart showing. His heart
is hurt, but they can't fix it. I figured out that if I told people the stuff that needs to happen, maybe he could be okay. So I changed what
I did in the dream, and everything worked out fine. If I followed the changed dream, Mr. Duo would be all right again. That's how I
know what I have to do."
"Hmmmm," Wufei contemplated. "You're telling me that you are clairvoyant?"
"I don't know any Clare-what's-her-name, but if you mean I can see what's going to happen, yeah, I can." Laurel looked like an entirely
different child now, so serious and desperate to get her message across. "Do you understand now, Mr. Wufei?"
"I think I'm beginning to, Laurel." In spite of himself, Wufei felt at some level he couldn't explain that everything this child told him was
the honest truth. It was almost frightening, to consider such a young child had been burdened with so much responsibility and potential
power. "You seem to want something more from me. Is there anyone else you need to give a message to? Do you want me to tell
someone something?"
"Actually, Mr. Wufei, I *do* have another message to give, but I can't tell it to you or everything will get ruined." The girl's eyes were
pleading with him to help her.
Sighing, he felt he had to play this out because somehow she had been right about too many things for this to be sheer coincidence. "All
right, Laurel. Who do you need to talk to? I'll try to arrange it if I can."
Relief washed over the girl's features and the sunny smile returned. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Wufei! Thank you! I *knew* you'd help! This is
the most important message but it can only be told to Mr. Hero. Can you get him to come here or should I go some place else to tell
him?"
"His name is pronounced 'Heero', that's Japanese, so it may be a little hard for you to say. But, yes, I will go and try to get him to come
to you. I believe the doctor would be displeased to see his favorite patient out of bed without permission." Wufei was mentally
scrambling, how could he get Heero here if Duo's surgeon was on his way?
"Thank you, Mr. Wufei! I'll stay right here and wait for you to bring him, okay?" She smiled happily.
"Certainly," he responded; somehow he *would* get Heero down here, even if he had to carry him to do it! "I'll be back soon," Wufei
squeezed the child's hand in reassurance as he rose to leave. How had he gotten so comfortable with her? He didn't understand it, but
no longer cared. He sensed there was urgency and left.
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