Here's chapter 2. I own nothing.
I kept glancing at him. Why would he pull a stunt like that? He looked so helpless, lying on the hospital bed, his face pale. I chewed on my thumbnail nervously, as my eyes glanced over all the machines he was hooked up to. I didn't know what they did, but the doctor's assured me they would help keep him alive.
A groan reached my ears. Before his beautiful eyes opened, I saw him strain his scarred and bandaged arms against the restraints they had him in. When the lids parted, revealing a beautiful shade of amethyst, he glanced around, taking in everything but me; the hospital, the machines, the restraints. Finally, he looked up at me.
And I looked back. That was it. There was no smile, no tears, nothing. He looked at me and I looked at him. I knew I had to do something, so I managed a weak smile.
"Hey," I said. Lame, I know, but I had to start somewhere. He just stared at me, his eyes dull, but I knew him well enough to know he was listening, "I guess you're probably wondering how I managed to come back. Well, it turns out I was supposed to stay here all along, but returning to the afterlife merely allowed me to come back with my own body, so here I am."
I looked down at him, not sure what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't what I got. A blank stare met my gaze, and it hurt. I knew it wasn't much compared to what I must have done to him, but it still stung. With tears burning the backs of my eyes, I turned to leave.
"Atem…."
I turned back, hoping to see something else, but his eyes were still blank. They were boring into me, however, in an attempt to make me understand. We had shared a mind link before, and were able to almost read each other's every thought, but was it still there? I concentrated on lowering the barriers on my side.
I gasped as it all hit me at once. Pain. Elation. Hurt. Happiness. Anger. Joy. Confusion. Satisfaction. Regret. I could barely sort out one emotion before the next one hit, but I didn't want to close him off again, so I endured the hits. It was only when the sound of a sob made its way to me did I snap back to reality.
His eyes were squeezed shut and tears were clinging to delicate eyelashes. There were trails down his cheeks were a few of the salty droplets had managed to escape. He was straining against the cuffs around his wrists. Another rough sob escaped through his lips and he merely pulled his legs up toward his chest. Being in only a semi-sitting position, he couldn't get them all the way, but he still managed to hide half his face from me.
I wasn't sure what to do, so I settled for sitting on the edge of his bed. I hesitantly reached out and barely fingered the edges of his hair. He showed no resistance, so I scooted a bit closer. I didn't want to push him too far, so I stayed in my new spot. I had no idea what to say or how to comfort him, so I let him cry. I kept my fingers on his soft locks, but my eyes traveled his body. Though he had definitely grown a few inches, he was still small for his age. His hospital gown looked like a circus tent on his petite frame. He had stopped eating. His doctors had told me that. Losing me, he had also lost his own will to live.
I felt sick with guilt.
"Atem…." my name passed through his lips again, a desperate seek for comfort.
"No," I said, cutting him off, "Not Atem. Yami. I'm Yami," I didn't want to associate myself with a name that had caused him so much pain. Sure, I had come back with the knowledge and even the tan skin of my days as pharaoh, but I was his dark, and he would call me so.
His tears stopped, and he merely looked up at me. But his gaze wasn't the blank stare I had first gotten. It was one wrought with new emotions. Ones I wasn't sure if I would ever see again. Trust. Hope. Love.
"Yami…." The new word came from his mouth and it sounded so right. Especially when he followed it up with, "My Yami…."
Tears were rolling salty trails down my own face. He had lowered his knees back to the bed which allowed me to lean forward and wrap my arms around him. He strained against the holds on his wrists, wanting to return the gesture, but I placed a hand over his arms to quiet him. I sat back and looked him in the eye. Then I did something I always dreamed of doing, and pressed my lips to his.
It was slow and chaste at first, with me giving him ample opportunity to back away, but he pushed against me hungrily. I parted my lips and sucked on his top lip seductively. When he opened his own mouth, our tongues clashed and a groan vibrated through the cavities. I wasn't sure whose it was, but I found I didn't really care as we pulled apart for oxygen.
"I'm sorry," we both whispered simultaneously, but I placed a finger over his lips to silence him.
"No, Yugi. You have nothing to be sorry for. If I had known you were going to do something like this, I would never have left, even if it meant not getting a body of my own. That pales in comparison with your happiness."
He looked down, and I didn't need our link to feel the shame radiating from him. I watched as his eyes scanned his arms, ending on his heavily bandaged wrist and hand. Tears made his eyes glossy, but none fell. He was struggling within himself. He needed help. I couldn't be the one to provide it.
"You're going to have to stay in the hospital for a few more days," the look he gave me tugged at my heart strings, but I had to explain this to him before it happened, "You'll be upstairs in the Psych Ward. You have to prove you're not a danger to yourself anymore."
For a moment he looked as though he would argue, but he rerouted his thought process and merely nodded. He understood, and I was glad. I reached over and ran a light finger down the side of his face.
"I'll come visit every day."
And with that I leaned forward so we could share another kiss.
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