Authors Note: I have 'walking pneumonia' at the moment. It's on the outs at the moment. I was having a crazy moment in front of the mirror (that medicine really does taste nasty) and was trying to encourage myself to take the damn stuff as fast as possible. After the fact it occurred to me that it would make for an interesting story. So I made poor Yami suffer for the cause. Enjoy!

/indicates flashback/

\\amount of time during flashback\\

'thought'

"speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own this stuff. Anything here. I do not own. Nothing. Me no own. Ug.

Vile Liquid

Yami stood in the bathroom glairing at the object in his hand. The detested liquid in the medicine-feeding device was somewhat… intimidating. He put it down carefully on the counter so it wouldn't spill and looked at the clock. 10:35 PM. 'Damn, I've already been standing here for 35 minutes…' his thought was interrupted by a coughing fit. He sat down on the edge of the bath tub and desperately tried to calm his breathing. 'This… sucks.'

/Flashback/ \\Two weeks ago\\

Yami and Yugi sat together on the couch watching TV. The quiet hum of the TV was only interrupted by the occasional cough from Yami.

"Are you sure you're alright, Yami? You sound kinda sick…"

"Yes, I'm fine, (cough) I'm sure it'll go away soon."

\\One week later\\

Yami was still coughing, but now his back, lower ribs, and his head all hurt. On top of it all, he couldn't hear out of his right ear, and it was difficult to breathe sometimes now. When he did try to take a deep breath, he could hear a quiet crackling, popping noise and it felt like his chest was tightening up. So now he sat in a room in the hospital waiting calmly for his test results.

Finally the doctor (named Shawn) came back into the room, "It'll only be a moment more, we're just waiting on your x-rays…" He left the room again abruptly.

Yami gazed around with disinterest at the white, sterile surroundings. It smelled funny in there, and he didn't like it. Yugi looked up at Yami with a worried gaze. Grandpa didn't seem too worried, however. He had his suspicions anyway…

After a few more minutes of waiting, Shawn opened the door again and stepped inside, letting the door close itself. "Mr. Moto, what have you been taking for this cough?" Yami thought for a second, "Mucinex, and Tylenol for the headaches." The doctor silently wrote this all down before replying, "I see. Well, according to your e-ray here, and the other data from what you've told us and other tests, Yami here has what we call 'walking pneumonia'. This case is not too serious, but it will be highly uncomfortable," he ignored the 'no duh' look on Yami's face when he mentioned 'highly uncomfortable', "It's highly treatable. Since it hasn't gone away on its own, I want you to take one lid full of this medicine at 10 AM & PM, ok?"

Yugi nodded eagerly, grandpa smiled somewhat smugly as if to say 'I knew it!', and Yami gingerly accepted the bottle. "Thank you…"

The doctor smiled grimly, "Take with water. Lots of water. And try to rest as much as possible."

/End Flashback/

"This stuff is so putrid!" Yami grumbled, looking at the red syrup-liquid-thing sitting on the counter. He had quickly learned this… medicine was horrible tasting. As if being house bound wasn't bad enough. 11:02 PM.

Suddenly the bathroom door opened. "Yami, don't forget to rinse the cap out or it'll get sticky…" Yugi saw the glass of water sitting next to the cap still full of liquid sitting next to the sink, "Oh just take it all ready! It won't help you just sitting there."

"Ok… I know…" Yami mumbled guiltily. Yugi smiled and closed the door again.

"I hate this vile liquid." Yami spat as he stood back up. He picked it up 'I'm a 5000 year old pharaoh for Ra's sake!' Yami glared at it for good measure before looking back at the clock. 11:17 PM.

"Over the lips, through the gums, look out tummy, here it comes…" and he downed it as quickly as possible before grabbing the water and downing that too.

He smiled contently as he washed out the cap in how water. He coughed, but not with as much ferocity as before. "I'm doing better! It only took an hour and a half that time."

The end

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