This is actually my first completed Yugioh fanfic, so I must ask that you do not critique when you review this. Thanks.
The story is very heartwarming, so have a tissue box ready :)
This isn't puzzleshipping btw, I actually do prefer Yami and Yugi being best friends and almost brothers. :)
Also, I would like to give a big, big thank you to Dreamer of Legends, who has taken the time to help me out in filling in a few gaps when I had sent her the manuscript and she is a wonderful friend and editor. So technically this story is credited to both of us. Thank you again, Dreamer!!!
He was scared. Okay, that was an understatement. He was terrified, though he did his best to hide it beneath a calm outer facade. But there was no way he could deny it, or even pretend that this was not really happening, however much he wished it was not. He felt like his insides had turned to jelly. He couldn't wake up, there was nothing to wake up from. The nightmare could not be chased away like a simple dream.
He couldn't close his eyes or tune out what he was hearing.
He couldn't deny the fact that Yami was dying.
Yami's condition went up and down like a roller coaster. Sometimes he would be shivering like he was just pulled out of an icy pond. Other times his fever would go down, only to spike when they dared let themselves hope that he was recovering. Sometimes he would be able to eat a little, but then his body would turn tide again and he would become violently sick, spending hours in the bathroom until his eyes were bloodshot and dull.
It would never cease to scare Yugi out of his wits when the sudden sounds of retching came from the room, and all he could do was listen and offer silent support to his suffering.
Yugi recalled the past weeks before the pharaoh's health declined so quickly. He remembered how it started with what seemed like a mild stomachache. Yami had shrugged it off, insisting that it was only stress. But the pain never left completely, flaring up in intervals and gradually getting worse every other day. His appetite went down to the point that he was eating next to nothing, and whatever he did manage do choke down was usually hurled back up stubbornly a few moments later. He got thinner too, lighter, until Yugi could have piggybacked him up the stairs without breaking a sweat.
He would sleep for hours on end, until Yugi had to almost drag him out of bed and coax him to eat.
When another week had gone by, the whites of his eyes turned a sickly jaundiced yellow, and the pain in his side was so bad he could hardly stand. Solomon finally drove him to Domino University Hospital when Yami couldn't even keep liquids down.
Yugi asked questions and constantly pestered the doctors when he got the chance, asking for test results, for any signs of change. He even pleaded to see what the MRI and ultrasound scans showed.
But of course, the results may as well have been written in hieroglyphs for all he understood of them. It wasn't until the doctors told him what was really going on that Yugi understood what the results meant.
Yami's liver was failing.
"His liver enzyme numbers are unstable," One of the doctors told them. "We also found scarring on the abdominal ultrasound. We might have to put him on a waiting list for transplant if he doesn't improve."
They quickly admitted him and got Yami started on an IV drip. Yugi couldn't help but give a brief shudder at the memory. It was horrible, seeing the person he cherished the most deteriorate before his very eyes.
He sighed, glancing down at the deck in his hands before shuffling it card by card. He shifted idly in the chair he had moved to the bedside and stared at the machines that stood at the other side of the bed. Yugi tried to tune out the slow beeps that issued from the EKG while he shuffled.
He stopped suddenly, on an impulse, then turned over one of the cards so that it was face up. Dark Magician: a personal favorite both he and Yami shared; a symbol of their bond and adventures. Yugi's eyes stung with tears as he gingerly placed the card onto the white linen sheets and tried not to cry. He knew Yami wouldn't want to see him that way. Yami would prefer strength.
For now, the pharaoh rested, dark lashes closed in sleep. At least he wasn't in pain when he was asleep, which reassured Yugi somewhat. The younger teen grasped his hand and felt the fevered warmth seep into his fingers. He closed his eyes, and, noticing how tired he was, let his head fall onto the stiff mattress to rest.
He woke up when he felt a hand gently ruffle his tricolored locks.
"Yugi…" Yami's calming baritone washed over him like a balm. Yugi glanced up and was met with his best friend leaning over to place a light kiss on his forehead. "You should rest, aibou."
"You need it more than I do," he protested. "You're sick. Go back to sleep."
Yami snorted when he saw Yugi try to hold back a yawn.
"C'mon." He scooted to the right, being careful to not tug at the IV in the back of his hand. His lighter half climbed into bed with him without further argument.
The pharaoh gave a brief cringe when he felt the pain throb in his side, a reminder of his condition. But he stubbornly pushed the feeling away and replaced the thin comforter so that it covered both of them.
Yami blinked when he saw the Dark Magician card fly up and land back down on his chest after he lifted the covers. He picked it up with a thoughtful look, flipping it over and over while Yugi's eyes followed the movements.
"We haven't dueled in a while…" Yugi sighed. "I'm sure Kaiba's going to want a rematch soon."
"Maybe." Yami's eyes darkened slightly, and Yugi saw that his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
"Aibou..." He began, taking a deep breath. "They've set me on the waiting list."
"Wh-what?!" Yugi sat up, eyes wide. "But I thought the doctors—"
"They found more scarring on the ultrasound, Yugi. You remember what they told us… I'm only getting sicker."
"Yami…"
"Dr. Marshall said it might be a few months before they can find a donor. I'm sorry Yugi."
Yugi felt his chest tighten as the pharaoh's saddened words passed his lips. He knew that being on a waiting list was in itself another risky process. Some patients died before they could even get a successful match.
He didn't respond when Yami drew him close, and he didn't make a sound as he tenderly moved his hand in slow circles on his back. His thoughts were so jumbled and twisted, but he kept enough of his wits about him to realize how wonderful, how bitterly, heart wrenchingly wonderful it was to have a friend like Yami. Here they were, on his hospital bed, discussing his liver problem, and Yami was comforting Yugi.
Yugi tried to blink away the tears again, but let them roll down his cheeks as everything sort of sunk in. He felt his heart sliding lower and lower until he would not have been surprised to feel it beating from his toes.
"It's all right, Little One." Yami murmured soothingly, using his nickname to try and calm him. Yugi leaned closer to the pharaoh's chest, wanting to hear the familiar rhythmic heartbeat that he could listen to for hours at a time. There was something immensely comforting about the steady throb of life. He shook with restrained sobs, and for a brief moment felt ashamed for crying.
"I thought you'd get better. I thought the medicine would work… this isn't fair. I don't want to lose you to this!" He sobbed, clutching Yami's shirt gently as if he could stop him from going anywhere with the force of his grip.
"Yugi, look at me." Yami's voice became stern while he held his friend at arm's length. "Look at me, aibou."
He waited until Yugi finally made eye contact. "You are not going to lose me, okay? Tell me, have I ever been beaten? Have I ever broke a promise?"
"…N-no."
"And do you hold faith that I will be able to stand against this fight too? Am I going to let this disease beat me?"
"No." Yugi mumbled, hanging his head.
"Right." The young pharaoh smiled and hugged Yugi again. "And I promise with all my heart, I will never leave you…" He smiled when he noticed Yugi falling asleep. "Never."
Yugi tried to keep his eyes open, but the warmth of the covers and his companion's arms around him was comforting after all that time spent worrying. To see his best friend still putting up a fight was reassuring enough. Though crippled in health by his own body, he still held the familiar regal and protective streak that Yugi knew so well.
It was under that protective warmth that a thought came to his mind. But Yugi would wait until the former pharaoh fell asleep before he voiced it, knowing that Yami would definitely object to the risky idea in the teen's head.
"No," Yugi murmured, as they succumbed to the blackness. "You won't lose this battle... I'll make sure of it..."
Both Yami and Yugi's dreams seemed to swirl and merge together, until they could no longer be told apart. They were dreaming the same dream, seeing the same vision. Doctors in pristine white lab coats buzzed around them like insects, carrying needles and medicine on trays with various sharp objects on them. Every face was grim, evil, shadowed and dark with harsh, unforgiving reality.
They huddled together, trying to protect each other from the scary people, but no matter what they did the doctors advanced, bright, cold lights glinting sickeningly off of twisted metal knives.
"They're going to get to Yami," Yugi thought, panic welling in him. "They're going to do something awful, I know it!"
"Hush now..." spoke one man, in a soft voice that was cruelly edged with pleasure as he gripped his scalpel. "This won't hurt a bit..."
Yami was torn away from him, his face twisted in pain.
"It hurts, Yugi. Please aibou, make it stop..." he whimpered, tears streaking down his face.
Yugi woke shivering violently. The room was dark, night had fallen. Yami seemed unusually tense under him, and Yugi worriedly looked to see what was wrong. Yami was asleep still, but his face was contorted in a grimace of agony. Yugi slipped his hand into Yami's and let him squeeze it, hoping to offer some comfort. Tears leaked from under Yami's eyes, he let himself cry only when he thought no one was watching.
Yugi shut his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could.
"If ever mercy existed in this world, I call upon it now." He murmured, choking back tears of his own. "Please take his pain away, if only for a moment."
Gradually, Yami relaxed, and he let go of Yugi's hand with a tired huff. He sank deeper into sleep, a darkness untouched by pain and nightmares. Yugi sighed and buried his face in the crook of Yami's arm, closing his eyes.
Hushed whispers reached his ears from the hall, the secretive tone arousing his curiosity. He slipped from the bed and crept to the doorway.
"... The list is a very long one, I'm afraid." One nurse was explaining to Solomon Motou out in the hall. He was wringing a soaking handkerchief in his hands. "These organs do not just appear from nowhere."
Grandpa gave a great, shuddering sigh, and seemed to deflate under the words. The nurse went on in a gentle tone. "I do not mean to alarm you, mister Motou, but in order for your grandson to be saved, he will have to hope someone with a healthy liver dies in the near future. Now consider this, would he want to live with the knowledge that another died to save him? Might it not just be easier to spare him whatever agony he's feeling now?"
Before grandpa could open his mouth to respond, Yugi stepped from the shadows.
"No." He whispered, his face livid. "You cannot kill him."
"Yugi," the nurse said gently. "The odds of someone with a perfectly healthy liver passing away and donating it to us in such a short time is-" she stopped when Yugi stepped forward, no compromise in his tone.
"We don't have to worry about that. I'll be his donor."
"Yugi!" Grandpa was about to object, but was surprised at the what his grandson had to say.
"What if I donate half of my own liver? Won't that be enough? Please, just let me help him..."
The nurse was silent for a long moment, until she finally replied. "I'll request a consult with Dr. Marshall for you. If tests show that you're an eligible match, we still need to find out if the operation will be a success."
Yugi could've sworn he saw the nurse give a hope-restoring smile when she said that.
Yugi now stood in the lobby, near the reception desk of the ward. He glanced over his shoulder, satisfied that the blinds in Yami's room were shut. I will save you Yami, I promise.
Holding his breath, he picked up the sheet of paper and stared down at the scribbled signature on the form…
Yugi Mutou—Consented Donor.
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Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this fanfic. And be sure to take the time to review, so that I may be encouraged to keep writing more warm and fuzzy fics like this one. :D