Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks. Started for Love or Lies challenge at A Dragon's Lair. Beta: Rroselavy.
Prologue: School's out Forever
SNAP!
'What the fuck?' is all he has time to think before he hears the others screaming his name and he finds himself falling.
It's probably the first branch he hits that does it. He feels a painful crack in his back and then myriad other branches are scraping at his face, limbs and torso before the canopy floor warmly greets him. As consciousness slips away, he vaguely notes the rest of the suspension cable landing heavily on top of him.
'Fucking piece of shit,' he smirks, succumbing to the darkness.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Opening his eyes, he tries to sit up, only to remember once again...
How could he forget? He can't sit up anymore, and probably never would again.
"Big brother?" he notes the questioning voice beside him.
He tries to answer, but with the tube in his throat breathing for him, he can't. He moves to at least turn his head, but the HALO prevents that. He tries to reach out a hand, but his limbs are dead, so he can't do that either. He wants to cry, but the last time he tried, the breathing tube got clogged with mucus and he nearly choked to death. Not that it would have been a bad thing if he had. What kind of life was he going to live now anyway? 18 years old and completely paralyzed. What good was he to the world?
"Big brother?" the soft feminine voice beside him prods again.
He closes his eyes, unwilling to face the worry and pity etched on Shizuka's face. He's seen enough of that look since he woke up a week ago, after three weeks in a coma.
The door to his room opens and he hears Yugi and Anzu greet his sister warmly.
"How is he?" Yugi asks.
'How the fuck do you think I am?' he wants to shout.
Soft, manicured fingers brush the hair back from his face, and his eyes fly open. Mai. He didn't hear her say anything so he had no idea she'd come in as well.
"Hey, Katsuya," she whispers glumly, her eyes reflecting worry and sadness.
He can't answer her either. Gods, Mai. What will happen to her? They'd made such plans...
"Aw, Mai, couldn't we just get married when we get back from the trip," he'd whined a month before graduation. They'd been together for more than two years and he didn't want to put it off any longer.
"Jou! I'm surprised at you!" Anzu had chided. "Don't you know that a woman's wedding day is the second most important day of her life? We need at least six months prep time, so the earliest you can get married would be December."
"That's right, love," Mai had chimed in. "And since winter weddings are a bitch to plan, I vote for March."
"March!" he'd exclaimed, before following with a pouted, "But that's so fucking far away."
"Wait," Yugi'd interjected, a confused look on his face. "If the wedding day is the second most important, then what's the first?"
"Why the birth of her first child, of course," Anzu had smiled at Yugi, who'd turned bright red.
"Of-of course," Yugi had sputtered.
It was no secret that Anzu and Yugi were waiting for their wedding night before having sex, so any mention of the subject, or anything near the subject, always brought blushes and stuttering.
Now, looking into her pained blue eyes, Jounouchi feels he's betrayed Mai, robbing her of the happiness he'd promised. Despite his best efforts, the tears begin to slide down the side of his face and soon enough the breathing tube gets clogged with mucus. Blacking out from lack of oxygen as his friends and family scream for help around him, his thoughts drift back to the events before that awful day.