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Not Quite Worthless	By : Scathach Category: +S to Z > Trigun Views: 6672 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 2

Meryl�s eyes fluttered open in the morning sun. She was momentarily disoriented, as the
ceiling above her head was definitely not the familiar one she had become used
to over the past few months. She
ruthlessly suppressed the panic threatening to engulf her; it wouldn�t help.

Turning her head slowly, she was surprised to see Vash
splayed out in a chair next to her bed.
His normally spiky hair drooped into his face, and his chin rested on
his shoulder. His black boots stuck out
underneath the light blanket tossed over his body.

Against her will, she felt herself softening as she looked
at him. He looked so cute sitting
there, like an overgrown child. She
braced an arm underneath herself to shift slightly, and cried out at the pain
this caused.

The throbbing jolted her brain, and she remembered the
events of the day before. Those
men�Knives�

Vash jerked awake at her cry and was immediately at her
side. �Are you okay? Should I get a doctor?�

Meryl didn�t answer immediately, concentrating on taking
shallow breaths. �I�m�fine. I just moved the wrong way, that�s
all.� She then blinked as he gave her
the most blinding smile she had ever seen him give.

�I can�t believe you�re awake already. Millie�s going to be thrilled.� He said, taking her hand. �I think I�m going to get someone to check
on you anyway.�

She couldn�t control the blush that rushed to her face. �Mr. Vash, I�m really fine. Don�t trouble yourself over me.� She pulled her hand out of his,
embarrassed. What was he doing?

Her protests fell on deaf ears as he rose and turned towards
the door. A sudden thought made her
gasp. �Knives! What happened to Knives, is he okay?�

Vash stopped and gave her another smile. �He�s fine. Not a scratch on him.� He turned around fully. �Thank you, Meryl. Thank you so much for my brother�s life.�

Meryl, still not over her last blush, felt her face blaze up
again at the unabashed gratitude and admiration in his face. �I couldn�t just stand there and let him get
shot.� She said softly. �And Millie�s
not in any condition to pull a stunt like this.�

�It�s just that�I know Knives isn�t one of your favorite
people�� Vash gave her a wry smile.

Meryl frowned. �I
would hardly let personal feelings get in the way of saving someone�s life, Mr.
Vash.� Her voice was quickly returning
to its normal clipped professionalism.
�Even if he is arrogand ind insufferable, your brother is injured, and
was in no condition to defend himself.
I wasn�t going to just stand there.�

Vash watched as she rebuilt the wall around herself. He knew better than most what a good heart
she had, and also how much work she put into protecting it.

�Still,� he said softly, �he�s my only brother. I can�t help being grateful.� He hesitated, then quickly leaned over to
kiss Meryl on the cheek.

�I�ll get the doctor.� He said cheerfully. She watched as he bounded out of the room.

Meryl sat stiffly, not knowing what to make of his impulsive
kiss. It�s nothing, she told
herself. It�s just like that hug he
gave you, simply an expression of gratitude between friends. We have known each other for a few years,
after all. It�s nothing to get your
hopes up.

She repeated the mantra to herself even as the doctor began
examining her.

clasclass=MsoNormal>Nothing at all. Only
friends.

***

Millie�s visit was predictably loud and teary, and she
fussed around Meryl until her friend gently asked her to sit down.

�I�m sorry I made you worry, Millie. It can�t be good for the baby.� Meryl told
her.

Millie smiled. �With
this baby�s parents, a little worry won�t hurt it.� She patted her stomach.
�This baby will be strong.�

Vash laughed.
�That�s true.�

�The boy is fine.�
Knives said, leaving his companions momentarily stunned both at the
statement and at the fact that he had volunteered the information.

�You�you know it�s a boy?�
Millie finally asked. Her eyes
shone as more tears threed ted to fall.

Knives nodded woodenly, then looked away.

Vash broke the silence.
�Well, there you have it. Knives
would know.� He then stretched and
yawned sheepishly.

�Mr. Vash, you�ve been here all night! Did you get any sleep?� Millie asked.

�A little. I�ll be
alright.� He yawned again.

�Why don�t you go home and get some sleep before work? The doctor said I�m fine.� Meryl suggested.

�I don�t want to leave you alone. you you sure?�

Meryl rolled her eyes.
�Yes, I�m sure. You all need to
go to work.�

�Don�t worry about work.�
Millie said. �You�re more
important.�

�No.� Meryl said firmly.
She handled the finances for their little household, and she knew that
they could ill afford even a day of missed wages. �I�ll be fine. You two
can check on me at the end of the day.�

�I�ll stay with her.� Knives surprised them all again.

�Knives?� Vash inquired.
brotbrothers shared a look; warm aqua eyes meeting ice blue. Then Vash shrugged. �That�s settled, then. Knives, you�ll let me know if you need me.�

�Don�t hover, Vash.
The doctor said the woman was fine.�
Knives responded.

Vash blinked, then scratched his head, laughing nervously. �Ok, then, if you�re sure.�

�Broomhead�� Meryl said warningly.

He threw his hands up in surrender. �Okay, I can take a hint. Let�s go, Millie.�

Millie nodded. �Okay.
Take care of Meryl, Mr. Knives.�

Knives watched as the two exited, leaving a tense silence
behind.

�You don�t have to stay if you don�t want to. I�ll
understand if you go back home.� Meryl offered.

Her companion merely slanted her a look, not bothering to
respond.

Meryl shrugged to herself (mentally, of course) and put it
out of her mind. She found herself
growing sleepy; the short visit had taken more out of her than she
realized. Soon, she was fast asleep,
Knives keeping surly vigil at her side.

***

Vash wiped his forehead.
Even though he knew better, it seemed as though another sun had appeared
in the sky since the day before, increasing the heat by a third and baking him
to a blond crisp. He didn�t remember
the work being this hard yesterday, but simply chalked it up to the little
sleep he had gotten the night before.

A jubilant shout went up down the line; the water vein they
had struck a few months earlier ran under the earth for a few iles in between
its source and the first well. This
meant the town would be able to access the vein in more than one place, allowing
them to spread out more, and reducing reliance on the well in the center of
town.

Vash watched as the water welled up, darkening the parched
earth. The initial spray died down to a
burble, seeping its way from the exit point.
Vash watched as if mesmerized.
Then the sun hit the water in just the right angle, and it suddenly
looked dark and sluggish, like blood.

His mind imposed Meryl�s small body over the seemingly
blood-soaked ground, and he was barely aware of falling to his knees, hands
clapped to his head. He had seen so
much death, but if he had lost Meryl so soon after Wolfwood�

Millie�s concerned voice finally penetrated his agonized
thoughts, and he turned a stricken face to her. �M-Meryl�Meryl almost died yesterday. She almost died.�

Millie�s face showed her understanding. �It�s all caught up to you, hasn�t it, Mr.
Vash? You handled everything so well
yesterday, it was bound to happen. You
didn�t really let yourself think about it until now. Go home and get some rest, we�re almost done here.�

Vash shook his head blindly. �No, I�ll go see Meryl first.�
He managed a shaky grin.
�Hopefully she and Knives haven�t put a hole through the wall yet.�

Millie patted his shoulder comfortingly. �I�m sure they�re fine. I�ll catch up with you and let the foreman
know.�

Vash pushed himself to his feet and gave her a more genuine
smile this time. �Thanks, Millie. I owe you one.�

The tall woman waved him off cheerfully. �I�ll see you at dinner, then!�

He watched off walk over to the foreman; to explain his
absence, no doubt. It didn�t matter;
Meryl was more than worth an hour of lost wages.

***

The kind nurse waved him to Meryl�s room with a smile. �She was doing fine, the last time I checked
on her. More than fine, actually. Her recovery is coming along very nicely.�

Vash smiled in response and continued along the
corridor. He didn�t hear any shouting,
while both surprised and relieved him.
Hopefully Meryl had spent enough time sleeping today that she and Knives
avoided their usual fights.

He knocked before entering, to find Knives seated in the
same chair Vash had slept in, only it had been moved across the room. Meryl was propped up in her bed, apparently
asleep.

Knives stood a little stiffly when Vash entered. �I thought you would still be at work.�

Vash shrugged. �I
left a little early today to check on you guys. Anything exciting happen?�

�No. The woman has
been surprisingly quiet today. If I had
known this was what it took, I would have shot her long ago.�

Vash caught a faint choked noise from the hospital bed, and
shook his head in exasperation.
�Knives��

�Forget it. I�m
going back to the house.� Knives took one pained step, then straightened. The long inactivity had stiffened his
recovering muscles. Vash, knowing
better than to offer assistance, watched his brother leave without another
word.

As the door closed behind him, Vash walked over to Meryl�s
bed. He smiled as he looked down at her
face. Her breathing was even and
untroubled, and her small chest rose and fell in rhythm. He couldn�t help reaching out a hand and
smoothing back a few displaced strands of hair.

Her elfin features smoothed at his touch, and she rubbed her
cheek against his fingers. Vash�s smile
grew wider even as he grew more confused.
He knew she wasn�t asleep, he had been aware of the fact as soon as he
entered the room. He knew why she
would pretend to be asleep around Knives, but why the deception with him?

Meryl tried her best to keep her eyes closed when she heard
Vash walk over to her bed. She had
expected him to try to wake her, and was perplexed at the growing silence.

The faint whisper of his fingers traced its way across her
cheek, lingering on the soft skin.
Meryl almost blew her cover, but managed to keep her eyes closed and her
breathing steady. But she couldn�t help
nuzzling against his hand like a pampered cat. Wait�what was she doing?

�What am I doing?� Vash murmured. He heaved a sigh and sank to the floor, kneeling by her
bedside. �I don�t know what�s happening
to me, Meryl.�

Once again, the dark haired woman managed to suppress her
start of surprise.

�When I saw you lying there yesterday�I thought my heart
would stop. I can�t�I can�t bear to
lose anyone else dear to me.�

I�m dear to you? Oh, Vash�

His voice remained low, yet the tone was determined. �I promise you, I won�t let you be hurt
anymore.� He paused, then continued thoughtfully. �It wasn�t the same as when I saw Wolfwood�and that hurt bad
enough. This was just�� He sighed, then
continued.

�Well, I don�t know what it means, but you�re gonna have to
bear with me while I figure it out, ok?�

He smiled gently.
Meryl was trying to hard to keep up her sleeping act, but was failing
miserably. Her eyes were squeezed shut
and her body was stiff as a board. No
matter. He needed to say it, she needed
to hear it, and this gave them the perfect opportunity to understand each other
while allowing each to maintain the protective masks they wore just a little
while longer.

He took pity on his poor friend and raised his voice. �Meryl?
Meryl, wake up.�

Meryl�s eyes popped open, and she attempted to look
surprised at seeing him at the side of her bed. �Hello, Mr. Vash.�

�Hello, yourself.
How do you feel?�

Meryl smiled shyly, trying not to fidget under his warm aqua
gaze. �Achy, but I can�t really
complain.�

�Good.� They looked
at each other in silence for a moment before Meryl cleared her throat and
looked away.

�Why are you kneeling next to my bed? Is something wrong with the chair?�

Vash sat back on his heels, scratching the back of his head
sheepishly. �No, no�it�s just that
Knives moved it, and I didn�t think of moving it back.�

Meryl shook her head disapprovingly. �Really, Mr. Vash, sometimes I wonder how
you get anything done.� She forgot
herself long enough to face him again.

Despite his smile, she could see the circles under his eyes,
and the drawn lines on his face.

�Have you slept?� She asked softly. �You went straight to work, didn�t you?�

�I look that bad?� he sighed melodramatically.

Meryl�s brows drew down in a concerned frown. �The last thing we need is for you to make
yourself sick worrying about me.�

He leaned back and stretched his arms over his head,
grinning. �Don�t worry. You>You don�t get a $$60 billion bounty on your
head without learning to go without sleep once in a while.�

�But Mr. Vash,� she began earnestly. �I�m hardly at death�s door, and there�s no
need for you to��

Vash found himself tuning out her well-meaning lecture and
found his eyes moving over the curve of her cheek, the flutter of her lashes,
the sparkle of her eyes.

And when she pursed her mouth in disapproval, pausing
between one sentence and another, he found himself moving forward almost
involuntarily. The curve of her lips
just then had seemed somehow�inviting.

He shook himself mentally�what had that been about?

��and�Mr. Vash? Mr.
Vash, are you listening to me?� She
growled impatiently and forgetting her injuries, raised an arm to swat at
him. She cried out at the pain that
caused her, and Vash took her hand in his from where it was still raised
mid-air.

�Meryl.� He said
firmly. �Calm down. I don�t want you making yourself worse. I promise I�ll go home and get some rest
soon, alright?�

�Alright.� She
breathed. Damn, that had really hurt.

When Vash was sure she wasn�t going to try to attack him
again, he released her hand. Meryl
gingerly pulled her arm back, mindful not to reopen her wound.

�Do you want us to bring you anything from home? You�ll probably be here another day at
least.�

Meryl drew in a deep breath to calm herself. �I wouldn�t mind something to read.� She coughed lightly.

Vash frowned and stood up.
�I�ll get you some water.� He
was gone before she could protest.

She smiled to herself sadly. As much as she enjoyed the attention, she had no intention of
letting herself get used to it. She was
certain that his attentiveness would diminish as she recovered and the initial
shock of almost losing his brother began to fade.

Meryl sighed to herself as he came back in with a glass and
pitcher of water. Might as well enjoy
it while it lasts.
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