Opening the door, Noin entered quietly. The small 9' x10' room was painted in off white, and the floors had the same nauseating bleached clean smell as in the waiting room.
There were two beds, only one was occupied. Going to that one and pulling the chair beside it closer, Noin sat down.
Heero had a head bandage covering his forehead and most of the top, but his crazy brown hair escaped in some places. His right arm was in a cast and looked to her to be the worst of the damage.
"Wake up," Noin whispered to him gently pushing on his good shoulder. "I need you for this mission."
He didn't stir at all.
'I'm sorry Zechs' she thought with more then a little amount of pain. 'I failed you.'
"Who are you?" Heero asked, his mouth felt so dry and his vision was blurry as he woke up.
Noin blinked, "It's me, Noin." 'He looks so confused,' she thought as his dark blue eyes roved around the room.
"Noin," He said practicing the name on his lips. looking around he tried to piece together where he was and how he got here.
"That's right, come on I need you to-"
"Oh, excuse me Mrs. Lowe."
Noin looked up to the door that had opened and found Dr. Winner standing there looking at her and Heero.
"I can give you two a few moments alone, but I really do need to examine Mr. Lowe now that he's awake." Dr. Iria Winner looked at the couple with deep compassion.
Standing Noin shook her head no. She wanted to have Heero up and out of here as soon as possible. "Go ahead and examine him, please."
As Noin began to move away from Heero's side, his hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"Don't go," Heero smiled up at Noin.
Taken off guard, Noin stood perfectly still and stared down at him. 'I've never seen him smile,' she thought, his touch feeling strange and foreign.
Moving closer, Iria pulled out the clipboard from the foot of Heeros' bed and read from it briefly. 'What an awful way to spend one's honeymoon' Iria thought as she remembered a comment one of the nurses had made on her way in here.
"So, Mr. Lowe, how bad is your headache?" Iria questioned, wishing she had given the couple some alone time.
Confused Heero looked around the small room, there was only himself and the two young ladies in there. "Am...I... Mr. Lowe?" he finally asked. The Noin woman frowned and the light brown hair of the doctor bounced as she came closer.
"Yes, you are Mr. Odin Lowe, and this," Iria touched Noin's shoulder, "is your wife Mrs. Noin Lowe."
After making a note on her clipboard of paper, she looked back at the young man. "Can you give me today's date?" Pulling out her flashlight that looked like a pen she flashed it into Heeros' eyes.
Noin stood in shock as she watched Heero's face. He hadn't just forgotten his cover but lost his memory.
"Ehh, Excuse me," she murmured as she slipped out the door. Going for the women's rest room, Noin felt like she would throw up.
Entering the room, she checked to make sure she was alone, she was. Pausing, Noin put a hand to her rolling stomach and tried calming herself.
"Maybe I can get us some more time," she spoke to herself pulling out her mini phone.
"Is every thing set?" Lady Une's voice asked before her face came up on the small screen.
"Every thing but Heero," Noin said to her commanding officer. "I need more time."
Une shook her head. "I can't give it to you, agent Wind's captors said they wouldn't give any more time then until Midnight 6 days from now."
"What about agents Water and Storm, are they in place?" Noin asked of Sally and her partner Wufei.
"Their cover has been put together, and they are stationed already." Une took a deep breath, "I'm not going to give in to the terrorist. Wind knew the danger he was putting his life in when he joined and took his last mission."
Noin prepared herself for what she knew Une would say next.
"If Heero won't help, or you can't find anyone else then I'll say no to the terrorist, and that will be the end of it."
Une didn't look too happy with herself.
"And the end of Zechs," Noin said angrily.
Une looked back at Noin with disapproval and some anger of her own. "Don't use that tone with me Lt!"
"Yes Ma'am" Noin toned down her voice "But what about every one else who'll be blown up?" She tried another plea.
"That is my responsibility. You have been given your orders, I expect to see them carried out. Dismissed!" Une's last word was nearly shouted as she turned off her connection on the special two-way phone.
'She's just as worried' The thought did nothing to comfort her as Noin headed back to Heero's room. Not feeling at all prepared.
Once back in the room, Noin saw that Heero was sleeping again. Dr.Winner was sitting in the chair waiting for her.
"Better?" the doctor asked with concern written all over her face.
Nodding, Noin worked at looking liked the worried wife.
"He doesn't even look all that badly hurt, so why can't he remember..." she started to say the mission but caught herself, "me?"
Iria stood up and walked over to her. "There is some swelling of the brain. The memory loss is only temporary," Iria smiled softly.
"Temporary?" Noin asked with hope. "For how long?"
Iria shook her head. "A week, possibly three. You'll have to be patient with him. When people are in physical pain, they tend to be pickier and have more mood swings than they normally would. Being unsure of who he is on top of that will cause some other problems."
Moving her gaze to where the object of conversation slept soundly, Noin racked her brain. 'I need him tonight, tomorrow at the latest,' she thought with some frustration.
"What does he remember?" Noin asked.
"Most things like the date, who's president, how a car works, and any thing else like that he already knew. Just his memory of who he is, his past, and those he knows are blocked due to where the swelling of the brain accured," Doctor Iria responded.
Noin wanted to know if that list of things he remembered included taking apart missiles. But refreand from asking.
'Perhaps we can still pull it off,' Noin thought, with a small smile spreading across her face.
"That's better," Iria said cheerfully as she watched Noin's face brighten. "His arm is broken and will have to stay in the cast for a long while, but other then that he's just fine. Given enough TLC, of course."
Looking down to make sure her notes were all in order, Iria put the clip board back in the slot at the foot of Heeros' bed.
"The cafeteria is just bellow," she said looking back up at Noin. "You won't do Mr. Lowe any good if you don't eat."
Blinking at the doctor, Noin felt her stomach growl. Despite the tor mole it had been in most of the day food was a very pleasant idea.
"I'll go in a minute," Noin promised gazing once more at Heero.
"Right, then I'll leave you love birds alone." Smiling Iria left, unknowingly leaving a startled Noin behind.