A low buzzing noise came from the paging system on Akizas desk. The small red light began to flash on and off rapidly as one of the nurses on duty began to furiously try to wake the sleeping doctor. She had been in the hospital for the past week spending almost every waking hour attending to the tidal wave of never-ending patients. School was back in session, which meant flu season was upon them and this year was shaping up to be the worst they'd ever seen. Children could be heard coughing from every floor of the overfilled hospital.

She had a soft spot for kids after being around Leo and Luna back in the old days. Back when she would duel to save the world. Now she was saving it in another way, saving it by saving sick kids in the children's hospital when she wasn't on call at the large general hospital downtown. It was hard work but the rewards in her eyes were worth it. Children smiling as they were able to go back out and play, families thankful she was there in time to save one of their own on the brink of death, it helped her sleep good knowing she was doing good in the world.

The only downside: the shitty hours and only sleeping three on a good day. With a low grumble, she reached her hand over to the paging system pressing down the talk button and letting out a sigh. "What is it, Lacey? Can it wait a few more minutes?" the redhead groaned, rubbing her face with her free hand "I've got a good…shit, I had thirty minutes left…"

"I wish it could Doctor but we need you to look over a few patients. Room 4 just got their chest x-rays finished and room 6 has blood work back. Room 5's fever won't go down and Room 7-"

"All right, all right I'll be there in just a but…let me freshen up first" she cut off the nurse, letting out a long sigh before letting go of the button "What I wouldn't give for a shower about now…" she leaned over and took a sniff at her coat, nose wrinkling at the smell. By her count, it had been at least 36 hours since she was last able to really change into something that didn't reek.

"I have a feeling its going to be another few hours till I can get a proper shower" Akiza sighed, stretching her arms above her head and hearing a crack in her back, shivering at how lovely it felt "Finally that popped" she stood up from her chair, walking over to the door and flicking the lights on in her office, her eyes taking a few moments to adjust.

Her time was normally spent at the children's hospital so it made sense that she made herself at home in her office. Behind her on the window sill lay her old duel disk, still in working order. She learned a thing or two from Yusei about upkeep and the kids who had extended stays certainly enjoyed being able to duel a few times when she had the chance. A miniature rose bush and succulents were littered across the sill with pictures of her time in Domino City scattered around.

There was a group photo of the old 5d's team, one of Luna and Leo at their graduation from Duel Academy, Jack with Carly celebrating one of his many victories, and many others from their adventures. One she kept near and dear to her heart though was one of Yusei, smiling as she caught him working on a new project in the garage. It was one of the last times she saw him before leaving for med school. She would find herself admiring the photo often, feeling her heart flutter as she held it. If there was one thing she regrets, it was never contacting Yusei over the years.

She stayed in contact with Luna and Carly to catch up on what the boys were doing. They would try to get her to call him, even an email to see about meeting up when she would return to visit her parents during the holidays, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. An excuse she would always tell herself was he was busy working in his lab or that he had other things going on in his life that were more important. Although she kept in contact with Luna and Carly the two hardly knew what Yusei would be up to. He was reclusive almost, burying himself in his work, trying to make improvements to make New Domino City an even better place to live.

Akiza glanced at the pictures before turning to the small coat rack in her office. She had come prepared for her shifts bringing extra coats just in case. She slipped off her dirty one and grabbed a fresh one, walking over to the attached restroom to give her face a quick clean. After a quick brush of her hair, she tied it up once more into the bun she normally wore letting her long bangs hang down to frame her face.

"All right Akiza. Just a little more and then this stint will be over. Then you can relax for two weeks." She told herself, pepping herself up for her patients. With a small smile, she made her way out of her office, ready to give it her all for her patients.

-x-

The hours ticked by slowly as she went from room to room taking care of each child under her care. It didn't help that some of the parents were testing her patience complaining how long they waiting for her. With a sigh and a smile, she politely explained that she was occupied with paperwork relating to their insurance. A little white lie to cover up her short nap in her office. It worked well enough and that's all that mattered to her while she took vitals and ordered what needed to be ordered to make their child feel more comfortable.

During the final hour of her shift, she tackled the massive pile of paperwork that accumulated over the night. She was close to falling asleep once more in the middle of signing her name till a knock on the door caused her to snap awake. The doctor scheduled to relieve her arrived and before he got the chance to ask where he needed to begin, Akiza was already grabbing her bag.

"I know what you're about to ask and don't worry everything is all organized and set up for you to take over without an issue. Keep an eye on room 7, the little guy is having some issues breathing, looking like pneumonia. Room 5's parents are a nightmare so have fun with that and Lacey can help you with whatever you need" She moved around the room like a mad woman, grabbing her dirty coat and pushing the empty bags from her snack breaks into the garbage can next to the desk.

"Don't suppose there's anything else I need to be aware of?" the doctor watched as Akiza fixed up the room, wanting to leave him as clean of a workspace as she could manage at the moment she had to clean.

"No no that's basically it. As I said, Lacey can help till her shift is over. By then you should be all right" she stuffed the dirty coat into her messenger bag, taking off her current one to keep from being asked if she was on call "Well…I'll leave you to it. Don't work too hard" she gave the other doctor a light pat on the shoulder before exiting her office, walking as fast as she could to the front entrance of the hospital.

Despite knowing how to drive she often took a taxi to work especially during her longer shifts. The last thing she needed was to get into a car accident by falling asleep at the wheel. Her usual taxi driver waited for her outside giving her a wave. "Look who finally escaped? Headed straight home tonight? Or do you need me to swing by somewhere and grab you a bite?"

"Just straight home Cliff but thank you for the offer" Akiza opened the door to the backseat, tossing her bag to the other side of the car before relaxing into her seat "How has your night been? A lot of customers?"

"Eh, not too many. Most people are at the game or the concert downtown right now so after I take you home, I'm gonna work for that crowd. Keep them drunk idiots from driving" the old man flicked on the meter. He was kind enough to not charge Akiza for when he was idled waiting for her but she made it up to him by giving him a nice tip.

"Hopefully no one vomits in the back seat again. It reeked back here for a week" she chuckled, watching as Clint lifted up a small trash can from his passenger seat to show her.

"Don't worry missy. I've got it covered" he set the can back down and adjusted his hat. Underneath his hair had been thinning and he had been self-conscious about it, often fixing his silver hair to cover the growing bald spot. Akiza had been kind enough to get him a hat, one of the many little things she would do for the elderly man. He was willing to pick her up and take her to work at any time. The man worked endless hours to keep himself busy. The past few years had been rough on him; losing his wife, son moving away, and being all alone had taken a toll on him. If it weren't for picking up the little taxi job and meeting Akiza, he wouldn't know where he would be.

"Thank goodness" she chuckled, her phone begins to vibrate in her bag. She dug through to grab it seeing there was a new text message from her mother. Typically on Sundays, they would chat over video call to catch up. Mrs. Izinski was always worried about Akiza ever since she moved abroad and decided to stay. Akiza understood and reassured her every time they chatted she was doing fine hoping to give her mother some comfort. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her mother to send her messages every once in a while but being so late at night she couldn't help but wonder something was going on.

"Hey, there sweetie. It's mom" even though her name was clearly in her daughters phone, it was a force of habit "I know its nowhere near close to the holidays but your father is having a bit of trouble" Akiza could feel her heart skip a beat from worry "Would you be able to come home for a bit? You'd know more than anyone if there's something that can be done"

Trouble? What sort of trouble could there be? Her mind raced over what it could have been. Maybe it was heart problems or it could have been he just came down with something. Without any hesitation, she replied back to her mother letting her know she would be on one of the next flights back to New Domino City.

"So got any plans for your time off?" Clint inquired.

"Looks like I'll be headed back home."

(Thanks for reading the first chapter to my return to YGO fanfics! I hope to update this every Sunday unless something comes up (such as being away on a trip). I've been binging 5D's and couldn't help but write about my absolute favorite pairing.

I don't have plans for how long this will be but I know that there will at least be 10 chapters. Will there be more? Possibly. Less? Unlikely. But I hope you stick around to see where everything goes! I've got a real doozy of a story planned :]

- Gus)

(EDIT: Punctuation errors have been updated as best as I could manage 3 )