Resurrection
Chapter Two
Malik glared down into his dinner tray. Or rather, dinner bowl. Sickly grey oatmeal sat there. He prodded it with a spoon, making a face at the way it jiggled. He looked up at the nurse, Yuki, who was watching him expectantly.
"I am not eating this," Malik said. "It's oatmeal."
"Mr. Istar, you really should eat it. I know you want something more substantial. But you've been on IV fluids for a very ling time. Your stomach has to start off slowly."
"No, Malik said, after a few moments. "I can't eat this because I am allergic to oatmeal. Wouldn't something like that be on my chart?"
"Oh," Yuki's face went bright red. "That wasn't anywhere on your chart."
"Lucky for me that I have my memory intact." Malik mused. "If you have some couscous, that will do just as well."
"All right then," Yuki picked the bowl up, pushed the dinner tray out of the way to the side and headed for the door.
Malik watched her for a few moments. "Didn't my sister tell you that I couldn't eat oatmeal?"
"No," Yuki had a slightly puzzled expression on her face. "There's never been a Ms. Istar here to visit you."
Not saying anything, Malik fiddled with the IV tube that was running into his arm. It had been a full week since he had woken up and the only person he had for company was Yuki, his nurse. Yuugi hadn't come back since that day. Malik was starting to feel more than a little abandoned and isolated. Maybe he should ask if he could get a roommate when Yuki came back; or maybe even some newspapers or maybe a working remote for the TV in here; something anything for him to do. The door creaked open slightly and he looked up to see a bit of voluminous blond hair sticking in.
"I told ya Yug, this was a stupid idea! You musta been outta your mind!"
Malik sighed as he blocked out the sound of Jounouchi's voice, pulled the blanket over his head and curled up slightly against the pillow. At least Jounouchi's voice was clearly recognizable. He glanced up every few seconds, seeing Yuugi file into the room, followed by all his friends. If what Jounouchi said was true, he had no clue why some of them even bothered to come along. If they didn't like him in the slightest, why had they even bothered?
"Oh, this is great!" Jounouchi's voice was exasperated now. "We all come and he's fast asleep!"
"I'm sure he wants to see you all." Yuugi said, his voice interspersed with footsteps.
"Are you crazy? What if that nurse comes back in here? You know what happened the last time we tried to wake him up and she caught us."
"Good point there, Jou." Yuugi said with a laugh.
Malik paused before he sat up suddenly, throwing the blanket back. "I certainly don't know. Would you care to inform me?"
That seemed to garner quite a variety of reactions. Jounouchi jumped as if he saw a ghost, Seto had the same slight scowl on his face and Shizuka looked mildly startled. Anzu screamed at the top of her lungs before fainting dead away. Otogi looked vaguely surprised, while Ryou had a huge grin on his face. Mai looked torn between amusement and irritation. Yuugi meanwhile was shaking his head as he picked Anzu up and seated her in the chair.
"That's one way to let everyone know you're up," Yuugi murmured in a slightly amused voice.
"You're telling me," Jounouchi said weakly as he clutched at the material of his shirt. "Nearly gave me a freakin' heart attack!"
Yuugi grinned as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Sorry about not coming by sooner, Malik. I wanted everyone here and some had to fly in."
"Fly in?" Malik asked.
"That's right," Jounouchi said. "I had to fly in all the way from South America!"
"South America?" Malik intoned slowly. "Why?"
"That can wait until later," Seto said suddenly. His blue eyes scanned Malik critically. "Have they fed you yet?"
"No," Malik's reply was somewhat hesitant; what was Seto Kaiba doing here? "They gave me oatmeal. I can't eat that, so I asked for something else."
Seto gave a small snort but seemed sufficiently satisfied. "Is that nurse getting your dinner now?"
Malik nodded his head, followed by another satisfied sounding grunt from Seto. "Couscous."
"Good, your stomach should be able to handle that."
Malik looked at Seto with slight bewilderment before he shifted his attention back to Yuugi; Yuugi he could deal with. "So, what's been happening during the last five years?" he tried to make his voice sound light-hearted.
"Oh, everyone's been busy," Yuugi said. "Anzu's still studying dance, but she's going to leave for America next year. She got a big scholarship. Otogi's game has really taken off in Europe, and he's working on it full time now. Shizuka paints and studies art history at Tokyo U."
"Ah," Malik looked at Shizuka, noticing a small square in her hand. "Is that something you've painted?"
"Yes." She said a bit shyly as she walked up to the bed and placed it on his lap. "But don't open it until we're gone. I don't want to be embarrassed."
Malik gave a hesitant smile of his own before looking back at Yuugi. "What about everybody else?"
"Seto still runs Kaiba Corp, and Mokuba is taking a bigger role in things," that earned a disparaging snort from the brown haired CEO. Yuugi simply smiled and continued. "Mai here is something of a movie star now."
"Mai Valentine, at a theatre near you," Mai said with a wink and a smirk. "And don't be shy, all right?"
Malik felt his face go bright red. He stared down at the wrapped package intently.
"Hey Mai," Jounouchi piped up. "That jerk still botherin' ya?"
"You don't know the half of it," Mai said. "I seriously think he's into pain and whatnot."
"Anyway," Yuugi said pointedly. "Ryou writes fiction novels-"
"Dreadfully dark depressing stuff mostly, which seems to fit the nihilistic, eschatological trend in the market these days." Ryou mused.
"-And does computer graphic design." Yuugi said. "I hope no one else is going to cut me off." After a few moments silence, he continued on. "Jounouchi is in his third year of university. He's studying…what are you studying, Jou? I can never remember; it really doesn't seem like you at all."
Jounouchi sighed. "It ain't that hard to remember. I'm studyin' to be a biologist. I'm in the Amazon basin right now. You wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen!"
"That…really doesn't seem like you at all." Malik said slowly.
"What can I say?" Jounouchi shrugged.
"That you actually started studying and found something you're good at?" Seto offered in a slightly amused tone.
"Shaddup already!" Jounouchi said, his face going red.
Malik smiled slightly. "What do you do now Yuugi?"
"I'm in university too. Third year of my psychology degree." Yuugi smiled. "And that's pretty much everyone."
"Oh," Malik didn't say anything for a moment. "Where's Isis? I thought she might have come with you guys. Or is she somewhere else?"
Nervous glances flitted through the room, no one saying anything for a moment. After a few moments Yuugi sighed before he spoke.
"She is somewhere. One day, we'll take you to see her."
Malik looked at Yuugi with curiosity; that certainly hadn't sounded very good at all. It would be better if he just changed the subject. "Um…Jounouchi?"
"Yeah?"
"Just what was a bad idea?"
"Huh?" Jounouchi looked temporarily puzzled but then remembered. "Oh yeah! Hang on a minute!"
Malik watched as Jounouchi bounded from the room, only to call for Seto a few seconds later. What surprised Malik even more was that Seto actually went, without so much a grumble. He glanced at everyone else, puzzled beyond belief. They seemed slightly amused and indulgent. Apparently, quite a bit happened while he was in that coma. The loud knocks and muffled curses from Jounouchi, as he and Seto manoeuvred the box into the room. They deposited it at the foot of the bed, Jounouchi's expression wary.
"If Yuki asks," Jounouchi said, leaning in conspiratorially. "You didn't get it from us, all right."
"All right." Malik agreed. "What is it?"
"Only the latest gaming platform from Kaiba Corp!" Jounouchi beamed. "Plus the newest games. When Yug told me you'd woken up, I figured they hadn't done anything to this room, so everyone chipped in and got you this. Should help with the boredom. Got some RPGs, motorcycle racing games," Jounouchi flashed him a smile at that. "You name it, it's in here. Plus, the controllers are wireless, so you don't need to worry about cords and all."
"Thanks," Malik said inclining his head slightly. "You really didn't-"
"What is the meaning of this? Visiting hours are over!!"
Malik winced as he glanced up to see Yuki framed in the doorway, her expression blazing with rage. "They came to see me?" he offered weakly; there was no way he'd dare say anything else when she was in a mood like this. On the bright side, Yuki's outraged voice had roused Anzu to full alertness.
"Outside visiting hours, Mr. Istar, which ended a good five hours ago!" Yuki bellowed. "All of you, out! Now! Out! Out! Out! You can see Mr. Istar tomorrow."
Malik watched as Yuki promptly hustled everyone out. He'd caught Jounouchi glance at him then below his bed. Jounouchi must have slid the massive box under the bed. Besides, it was more long than wide; it would be more than easy to hide. He placed the wrapped package Shizuka gave him on the table beside his bed. When Yuki came back, her face was flushed red. She pulled out the tray once more and placed the bowl down. Malik smiled instinctively as he looked down at the couscous; he could smell the cinnamon and see the swirls of the spice on the surface of the porridge.
"Sorry about that Mr. Istar." Yuki apologized. "They really shouldn't have been in here. You need your rest." She plumped his pillow. "Tomorrow, the doctor will see you and discuss the options you'll have for physiotherapy."
Malik simply nodded his head. "Thank you."
Yuki beamed down at him. "I wish all my patients were like you; polite and considerate. Eat up now. I'll be back to check on you later, all right?"
Malik nodded and watched as she left. He turned his attention to the bowl and started to at slowly. Who was he kidding? Malik felt like what Yuugi had said was nothing more than a truly pathetic excuse. But who was he to judge them? They had to live out their lives while he remained semi-dead to the world. Jounouchi was a person he'd remembered as wanting to do no more work than necessary. And where was he now? Studying biology halfway around the world in the Amazon basin. He looked at his dinner, pushing it away in sudden disgust.
He was alone in a manner of speaking. Completely alone. Not even Isis could understand what he was going through. Marik's actions had far too many far-reaching repercussions in his life.
Just what could he possibly do now with his life? He was so far behind in schooling, that it would simply take him almost ten years to finish up high school as well as university. And just where would he get the money to fund that? Undoubtedly, it had cost a small fortune to keep him hooked up to all these machines for five years. There wasn't really anything else that he knew about save for motorcycles.
Malik pushed the tray away and swung his legs out over the edge of the bed. His gaze was drawn to the window as it had been for many a time this week. The sun was setting now, staining the sky with deep crimson, vivid orange and a delicate light pink colour. He hadn't even noticed it setting. He set his feet down delicately on the floor. It was icy cold and he recoiled from it instinctively.
"Perhaps you should stay in bed if you don't wish for Yuki to screech at you next."
Malik looked up to see Ryou leaning against the doorjamb. He drew his feet back up; Ryou did have a point there. But he didn't place them on the bed. Ryou came over and sat down in the chair silently.
"Weren't you supposed to leave?" Malik asked a few minutes later; he'd prefer it to be alone when he wallowed in his abject emotions.
"I was, wasn't I?" Ryou mused softly. "As well meaning as everyone is, they can't even begin to understand what it's like."
"And what makes you think you can understand what I went through?" Malik asked looking at him; Ryou looked slightly eerie, with the way light slanted in from the window, half casting him in shadows.
"Yuugi lucked out. He got the nice yami. Ruthless but still nice." Ryou started in a contemplative tone. "We got the sons-of-bitches."
Malik gave a small choked sound at that. "What was your first indication? Those twisted bargains they struck? Or was it the lengths they went to for obtaining the Sennen Items? Maybe all the backstabbing didn't tell you all you needed to know."
"Do you know what inspired me to start writing, Malik?" Ryou said.
"No, what?" Malik asked wearily; now, he really wanted to be alone.
"The guilt. The feeling that I should have done more to stop Bakura from doing all those things he did. Granted, he was very bitter about what had happened in the past, but I see that as no excuse. I needed the catharsis before I exploded. Your yami," Ryou's tone was very dry. "Was the worst. I suggest you find something to relieve stress before you become as twisted and as bitter as Marik."
Malik shivered at the name. "Don't ever say that name again." He muttered.
When silence greeted him for a reply, he looked back to find Ryou gone. Malik crawled over the bed, noticing a bound text on the seat. The book was bound in leather, soft and well cured. The gilt words and gliding gleamed in the low light.
"The Inferno. Dante." He murmured as his eyes travelled over the surface. He opened the cover and found some inscription: 'To learn the truth, one must fall into ruin.' He regarded the words for a moment before he closed the book once more and stashed it under his pillow. There was no way that he'd let Yuki take that from him. He sighed and leaned back against his pillow. He was so far in the ruins that he didn't know if he would or could even get out of them.