A bird poohed onto the windscreen, and Mallory’s mood became worse. Muttering under her breath about dumb teenagers, birds and supervehicles, she hunted for the windscreen wiper.
"Nosedive, where the puck is the windscreen wiper button?" she turned to the injured boy. He rolled his eyes, and accidentally put his bandaged hands on his hips. Wincing, he lifted them up and examined them.
"This is the last time I go anywhere near the kitchen." he mumbled, mentally deciding never to boil water again. His hands stung from the burns, and this made him almost as grumpy as Mallory. "How many times do I gotta tell you? It’s the one in the middle."
Mallory narrowed her eyes at his tone.
"This is all your fault." she hissed. "I don’t know why we didn’t leave you at the Pond"
Tanya snorted. "A teenage boy, a modem and Drake One. Not while I’m around. I know what happens. I’ve been in the DuCaine Library."
Nosedive remembered. "It’s like lookin146;t even moved.
"Mallory?" he questioned. She didn’t respond, though he could see her shivering. "Mal?" He quickly crossed to her side, and waved a hand in front of her face. Nothing. Nosedive started to feel a little scared, and he nudged her. "Mal-Mal? Tanya, you better come in here!" he called to the ducks outside. Tanya and Grin came in. "She’s not moving or anything. I dunno if she can even hear us!" he pointed to the frozen female.
Tanya gently took Mallory’s wrist, and squeezed it. "Get a blanket." she ordered Grin. Grin did so, and Tanya carefully wrapped it round the red head. Mallory suddenly went limp, and Nosedive had to grab her to stop her falling onto the floor. He tried to put her back in the chair, but she slumped against him.
"What’s the matter with her?"
"Shock," Tanya said matter-of-factly. "and it looks like she just fainted."
"Shock? Fainting?" Nosedive looked down at the bundle he was holding. "Mallory?!"
"You try running over someone after just being told you’ve been seen naked." Tanya pointed out. The shame-faced youth glanced away.
Duke stuck his head in the doorway. "Ambulance is here. What should I tell ‘em?" He raised an eyebrow at Mallory. "And what’s the matter with her?"
"Shock." Grin supplied.
"Shock? Mallory?"
"Yes, Mallory!" Tanya snapped. "Since the paramedics are here, they can take a look at her."
Duke nodded, and went to tell Wildwing.
Nosedive stared at the crumpled duck in his arms. He wasn’t used to seeing Mallory at all vulnerable, and it unnerved him greatly. "Is she gonna be OK?"
"Oh, sure. I don’t think they’ll even take her to the hospital. We’ll just keep her in the infirmary overnight." Tanya started to look for extra blankets. "Just keep her warm."
Nosedive hesitated, and hugged Mallory a bit tighter.
***
After tucking Mallory into the sick bay, the Ducks grabbed a bite to eat. Nosedive gulped coffee like it was going out of fashion. Duke sniggered quietly.
"You look a little over concerned Nosedive. Got a crush on Mal-Mal?" he said teasingly. Nosedive rewarded him with a glare.
"*No*. Just kinda weird that it’s Mal lying in there." he sat back. "Admit it, it gave you a shock seeing her like that too."
Duke shrugged. Actually, it *had* rather shaken him, but he’d never admit it. In their minds they’d all seen Mallory as some kind of indestructible force, the teams backbone. That force collapsing…well…They’d known she wasn’t invincible, but that easily?
A sudden scream from the monitor on the table alerted them that Mallory was back. They stood up, and quickly made their way to the bay.
***
I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry, I don’t cry, I *won’t* cry…Mallory bit the bottom of her beak as a lone tear slid slowly from her eye. Stop! She crumpled into a ball and sobbed. It was an accident, an accident. I didn’t mean to…to… Mallory choked. To what? Was he dead? She stuffed her fist in her beak, and forced herself to be calm and cool. By the time the others came in the only indication of her leakage was a small wet patch on the sheet.
"Mallory?" Wildwing asked carefully. She sat up against the wall, and pushed her hair out of her eyes, uncomfortable in her battle gear; they hadn’t had the guts to undress her.
"Is he dead?" she asked coldly, staring straight ahead.
"Mal…" Duke started to speak. She turned her face to them, and they almost fell back at the blankness in her eyes.
"Is he dead?" she questioned again. Grin nodded, and she looked down at her lap, walls falling as quickly as she’d put them up. "Oh…" she trailed off.
Tanya started pottering around. She took Mallory’s temperature, and the patient sat silently. "How do you feel?" Tanya wanted to know. Mallory gave Tanya a look. Tanya nodded. "Ah." She kept busy. The males stood around awkwardly.
Mallory slipped underneath the covers, suddenly not caring about how comfortable she was. "I feel so tired…" she murmured. Tanya looked up sharply.
"You do? Try not to go to sleep."
"OK…" she agreed, eyes fluttering closed. Tanya looked slightly worried.
"Could someone please keep her awake? Talk to her or something! I expected a headache, not lethargy."
The guys approached her bed. "Mally?" Nosedive prodded her. She reacted sharply.
"Don’t you even talk to me." she growled. Nosedive backed off, deciding to leave. Mallory seemed satisfied, and she closed her eyes again.
"No, Mallory, you have to stay awake." Wildwing told her firmly.
"I *am* awake."
"Sweetheart, keep your eyes open so we can see that you are." Duke instructed. She dutifully obeyed. For around 5 seconds.
"Now is not the time for slumber." Grin said.
"Why not? I feel all funny…"
"What kind of funny?" Tanya asked.
"Weak kind of funny. Oh, wait, now I think I’m going to…" she promptly rolled onto her side and threw up onto the floor. Tanya stepped back hurriedly. Mallory, resistance gone, immediately fell asleep half hanging out of bed. Duke shifted her back onto it, and Wildwing yanked up the covers. Tanya frowned, and wiped off Mallory’s face. Grin left to find Phil to fill him g at a de-feathered Mallory…" His eyes widened as he realised he’d spoken aloud. "Not that I’d know, and the idea of seeing Mallory or anyone naked holds no interest to me, even though Mal has a pretty nice butt…" he groaned inwardly. Way to go Flashblade…Can your foot fit any further in your beak?
The ducks all stared at him, and he visibly withered. Mallory turned in the drivers seat to glare at him. "Nosedive…" she growled.
"It was an accident! Well, Mal was anyway…" Ahh! What is WRONG with me today?
Mallory was about to start screaming her head off at the tactless teen when Wildwing suddenly pointed to the road. "Mallory!" he said sharply. She turned back to the road.
"Wha…?" She let out a short screech as she saw the surprised and fearful face disappear beneath the Migrator’s wheels. She slammed her foot on the brakes, stopping the transporter immediately. The others all jumped out, while Mallory sat shaking at the wheel, head in her hands.
Duke called for an ambulance from a phone booth, but he could see human sticking out from under the Migrator, and he knew it was over.
Tanya shook her head, and pulled the man out from underneath. "I’m sorry." she told Wildwing. He paled under his feathers. Nosedive backed away from the broken body, and got back into the Migrator. Mallory hadn&#in, and the other three stood watching for a long time.
Tanya roused herself from her thoughts, and started washing the floor. "I guess she’s just sleeping it off."
"It’s strange," Duke said, gazing at the peaceful face on the pillow. "For the first time I feel slightly protective about her."
"I know what you mean." Wildwing answered softly. Their eyes met for a second, and Wildwing left. Duke patted Mallory’s shoulder.
"See you later Mal." He left Tanya to her own devices.
***
Nosedive knocked on Mallory’s door.
"Come in." she called. He went in, and her face froze.
"I don’t want to talk to you." she told him, and pulled the sheet up over her pyjamas.
"I need to. I thought you’d like to know a few things. Two, actually. You listening?" She gave him a scathing glance. "Good. First, it was totally by accident. The naked thing. I was half asleep, and I barged in on you in the shower. I only saw your back. I was too scared to tell you." he admitted.
"What’s the second thing?"
"Uh, Klegghorn wants to talk to you." Mallory looked a little scared for a moment.
"About the accident?"
"Yeah. Don’t worry, you’re only looking at bail, and having your license revoked." he grinned. "You are hereby banned from driving."
"Good." Mallory gave him a small smile in return. "That’s the way I want it."
"Well, rest up, cause you’ll face the wrath of the law for negligible driving resulting in death tomorrow." He walked to the door, and looked over his shoulder. "By the way, you have a cute behind." He laughed, and ducked the pillow missile that came his way.