Author's Notes: I fixed the plothole from the original version, so enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Chapter 1: Pain
The wheels of the carrier rolled down the hallway of the hospital. The rapid footsteps of the nurse and doctor seemed to echo down, taking the critical patient to the emergency room. A woman with blonde hair raced down with them, her violet eyes filled with tears. She grabbed the patient's pale and cold hands, she was afraid that he would not survive any longer in this world.
Finally they arrived at the desired room, stopping the carrier by the bed, and the nurses placed the near lifeless form on it. The doctor told his assistant to attach plugs to the patient's chest to check his heart rate.
Mai stood in the corner, petrified of Joey's condition. "Please live…" she sobbed,
How did Joey ever put himself through so much agony? The world can be a cruel place sometimes, but Joey was unable to see the lighter side of it. To him, the outside world was filled with sorrow and hatred, no one seemed to care about one another. Joey wanted to rid himself of his anguish, but didn't know how.
His only decision: harming his body. Joey sealed himself away from his friends and especially his sister, Serenity, and the sole help he had was the pain he did to his body. Sure Joey would have killed himself then and there, but he wanted to die slowly. He needed to release his grief someway, no one could stop him since they did not know what he was doing.
Even Yugi couldn't prevent Joey to do this; Joey found the young duelist naïve, because as friends they should tell each other their pain. He knew Yugi would decline, knowing him Yugi would probably try to seek help.
The pungent scent of alcohol satiated the apartment; clothes laid dismayed on the floor, as a figure sat on his sofa. Syringes and beer bottles were thrown about on the table; one of the bottles slid down and fell, shattering into pieces.
That is what became of Joey. His life fell into pieces, unable to be put back together. If anyone could fix the puzzle of Joey's heart, that would be a major task. The pain he inflicted upon himself caused great damage, and no one could repair him.
Joey stared menacingly at the sharp knife, the blade glimmering in the light. This was his salvation; his only escape from reality. No one could stop Joey, as he plunged the metal within the main vein of his left wrist. Warm blood dripped from the wound, gleaming in Joey's eyes. The red liquid poured around his arm, and then descended to the floor.
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Joey cursed under his breath, because he didn't like anyone interrupting his time. He placed the bloody knife on the table, and walked to the door. The last person he used to been thrilled with seeing waited outside for Joey to open the door.
Yugi nodded to the doorway. He came to see how Joey was doing because he had not shown his face around his friends anymore. He noticed the door cracked opened, as Joey peered through the crevice.
"What do you want?" Joey asked impatiently.
"Uh…" Yugi stuttered, realizing blood trickled on the floor, "Joey, what were you doing before I came?"
"None of your business!" Joey snapped. He hid his bloodied arm away from sight.
Yugi was not convinced at all to his response. Joey wouldn't keep secrets from me, he thought. Instead, Yugi pushed Joey aside and barged into his apartment. His eyes nearly doubled as he saw Joey's arm. Did he cut himself by accident?
Joey glowered at the young duelist. "Yugi, get out!" he demanded, indicating the door.
Yugi took a closer look at his apartment, shocked to see syringes and bottles sprawled around. He stood back, frightened of what Joey might do. "What are you thinking?" Yugi asked.
"YUGI, GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" Joey roared.
"I'm not leaving!" Yugi said defiantly.
Joey's face turned red; Yugi had angered him and now he had to pay the price. He towered over Yugi and grabbed his arm forcefully.
"Joey, don't!" Yugi pleaded, trying to free himself. Joey managed to tighten his grip, the feeling made Yugi's arm feel stunned. "STOP!"
Joey released his arm, as Yugi stumbled to the floor. "Now go!" he shouted.
Yugi held his numb arm, but decided to leave. Before he did, he had a few words of advice for Joey. "You need help… Whether or not you agree, you can't persist on harming yourself."
Joey remained silent. Yugi frowned, and left the apartment. Finally Joey could resume his task. Unfortunately, he felt hungry and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. He opened the refrigerator door, seeing beer and not much to snack on. Joey closed it, grabbing an apple on the counter and returning to his living room.
"That fool." Joey muttered, biting into the fruit.
The more Joey continued eating, the less his appetite bothered him. He was only halfway done, but chose to stop. Joey dropped the apple on the table, then lied back on the sofa, his eyes slowly closed. He felt very feeble, perhaps from the lack of food in the past two days. Why would he care? This was part of his daily ritual, nonetheless.
Joey maintained slumber as fatigue overtook him. His eyes were half-lidded, the golden-brown color seemed to become clouded in an unearthly brown. Gradually, he awoken from sleep, trying to get back up, and yet, found it difficult to do so. The half-eaten apple began to decay a crispy brown coating; Joey could not endure staring at it, since it would make him hungry again.
He picked up the rotten fruit and disposed of it into the garbage bin in his kitchen. Then he went back to his living room, gazing out the window as rain started to fall. Joey felt his depression returning, and he thought it was time to repeat the cycle of anguish once more. He watched carefully at each drop of water bucketing down from the sky, each splattering upon the windowpane.
This time, Joey picked up a clean syringe, and searched for the drug that would temporarily cure him of his ache. He realized that he did not have any more to ease his pain, and now he had to go out, obtaining the drug from the streets of Domino.
Joey grabbed his coat hanging on the wall, and headed out, the rain continued to drip from the sky. He looked around to make sure Yugi had left before setting out on his own. The water drops poured heavily on his form, but it didn't matter to him. All he wanted was to get rid of his misery.
An upset Yugi walked back to the Kame Game Shop. He clutched his arm, hopeful that Joey did not do any damage to it. They have been friends long enough for Yugi to know that Joey would never abuse himself. Yugi didn't know why Joey was doing this, many questions formulated in his mind. He stared sadly towards the sky, the rain seemed to express his sorrow in a way, and he just wanted to get back to his friends.
He arrived home as Téa and Tristan awaited the news he brought with him. All three of them would have went to see Joey, but they decided that it was best for Yugi to go, yet they saw Yugi approaching them, and they became concerned. It seemed his visit didn't turn out good by his look of despair.
Téa stepped forward. "How is Joey?" Yugi turned away, shutting his eyes in disappointment. "Yugi?" She went over to his side to try to comfort him.
"You know Joey's father is no longer living with him," Tristan stated. "because he thought it was time he moved on."
"It's not that…" Yugi cried, as unshed tears formed in his eyes. "We need to call Serenity."
"Why?" Téa queried. She noticed Yugi walking towards the phone attached to the wall.
Yugi picked the phone from the receiver, and raised his index finger on the numbers. He paused to answer Téa's question. "I found Joey cutting himself." Both his friends became shocked.
"There can be no way he's doing that!" Tristan argued. He ridiculed Yugi's response, knowing that Joey had too much to live for. "Are you sure he didn't accidentally cut himself, like he was cooking dinner?"
Yugi shook his head. "Believe me, I think he's also drinking and taking drugs." he added.
"This is Joey we're talking about?" Téa responded.
"I know what I saw." Yugi urged. He put back the phone on its receiver, he probably would call Serenity later, but this was urgent. "Think about it, why hasn't Joey come out of his apartment for weeks?"
"Maybe you're on to something." Tristan mused.
"Joey's not likely to accept our help. I don't understand why he's harming himself." Yugi pondered. He rested his sprained arm on the counter, and pain jolted throughout his body. Yugi almost forgot about it; bruises started to develop where Joey had hurt him.
"What happened to your arm?" Tristan asked, glancing at the injured arm.
"I hope Joey wasn't responsible." Téa said. She strolled to Yugi, grabbing his arm and massaging it. She saw Yugi's darkened look, it was clear to her that Joey did, in fact, hurt him. "Is there anything else Joey might be doing?"
"That's all I saw. It happened so quickly, but he needs help!" Yugi advised. His arm continued to sore; though it was hard to believe that Joey would ever do that to Yugi. "We must alert Serenity."
"Let's hope she can convince Joey to stop." Téa said, releasing her hold on Yugi.
"Let's hope a miracle can happen." Tristan replied, slamming his fist on the counter.
A blonde-haired woman sat alone in a bar somewhere in Domino. She twirled her drink tentatively, glimpsing at the many people inside. She had nearly given up coming back to Domino City, but this time she wanted to visit a particular someone. Her eyes drifted from person to person, and she noticed a door in the far corner which seemed to lead to a room where drug dealers sold their customers narcotics and such.
Why did I even come here? the woman named Mai thought. She paid for her drink, and got off the stool. Her black leather high-heeled shoes clicked with each step she took, she ignored the gazes of the drunken men.
Mai felt disgusted of them, the smell of alcohol wafted around her as a sick sensation came to her stomach. She tugged on her jacket, and proceeded to the door, not before an angered Joey barged in.
Mai stood back in fear, wondering why Joey was here. She could have said something, but Joey managed to walk across the bar and into the other room where the drug dealers dwelled. Moments later, Joey came out, carrying something in the pocket of his green jacket.
"Joey, what are you doing here?" Mai asked, a smile appeared on her face. Joey neglected to see her and continued his way out of the bar. Mai sensed something was wrong with him, he wouldn't have just left without saying a word to her. Her eyes glared at the people who looked at her, wondering what was going on. Mai simply walked out, she had to follow Joey, but he was nowhere in sight.
She encountered the rain, splashing all over her, and pursuing where Joey disappeared to. Mai couldn't give up, she had to see him, and tell him how sorry she was that she left without a single word to him after all that happened with Dartz and the Doom Warriors. It had to be her fault, that Joey departed without saying anything to her. There could be no way he would be giving her the cold shoulder, but why did he come to the bar in the first place?
Mai's suspicion grew and she had to find him. If Joey was doing something bad to himself, she may have to stop him any way she can. "Joey, I don't know what you are up to, but I will find out." Mai declared, making her decision.
She paced down the wet streets to locate Joey's apartment. No matter what, Mai was determined to find him, even if it took her forever. First, she needed to visit her old friends, and she started to head directly to the Kame Game Shop.
Author's Notes: Just for those who have read stories from The Phoenix Dragons series, this story is not part of it. Its part of The Dark Memories series which is completely unrelated. Well, please review and no flames!