The Verdict

"How long ago did you fall?" Sally asked.

"Two days..." Duo said. He flinched as Sally examined his ankle, unable to stop himself from pulling away from her slightly. He rubbed his knee, the sudden movement having made it ache a bit.

"Easy... You got yourself pretty bruised up."

"Damn cat..." he growled. Sally chuckled.

"Relax your leg," she told him for about the fifth time since he'd gotten there. "If you keep tightening up like that, I'm not going to be able to tell anything."

"It hurts when you do that," Duo complained. "I can't help it." Sally sighed.

"Lay down."

Duo laid down, wincing slightly again as his ribs reminded him that they were bruised again, too. Having taken a hit there a few times thanks to OZ, the Gundam engineers, Trowa, and Heero, Duo was pretty familiar with that feeling. He sighed, trying not to heed the protest from his side.

After reminding Duo several more times to relax, Sally finished checking him out.

"Mostly, it's just bumps and bruises," she said to him, writing a few notes in a folder. He slowly sat up and looked at his still swollen ankle. He frowned. "You're going to be stiff and sore for a few more days at least, probably longer with the deep bruise on your side. However-"

"There's always one of those..." he mumbled. Sally just sighed.

"I want you to stay off that leg," she said. "That's a really bad sprain in your ankle. With the way it seems you landed, I'm surprised you didn't end up worse off."

"Thanks for the optimism there, doc," he retorted. She stood up, taking the folder in her hand, and turned to him.

"Seriously, Duo," Sally said. "Most people would have broken something. If you had rolled a bit further on that leg, you could have done some serious damage. You're pretty lucky."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not as lucky as I could have been?"

"For the simple fact that you got hurt at all," Sally said, raising an eyebrow at him. "You could have just bounced down the stairs and been fine. I've seen that, too. Anyway, I want you off that leg, so I'm going to have one of the nurses see how you handle being on crutches. We'll keep an eye on it, so I want to see you again in 10 days. Once I get an idea on how it's healing up, then we can figure out where to go next."

Duo looked rather upset. He didn't like the idea of being stuck on crutches. It was seriously going to suck for doing anything, especially the upcoming trip... and Jess's house had stairs!

He sighed.

"You'll be okay," Sally said. "You just need to let things heal."

'Which will be a challenge in and of itself for a Gundam pilot...' she added silently.

"Stay here," she told him.

"Wasn't planning on running off," Duo grumbled. Sally shook her head and walked out.

Duo sat on the examining table, swinging his good leg impatiently as he gingerly rubbed his side where he'd bruised his ribs.

"I don't believe this," he mumbled to himself. "This so sucks..."