I just wanted to say thank you guys for the support! I know there's been some confusion with my stories, and the fact that you guys put up with my shenanigans means a lot. So thank you so much for the views, reviews, and favorites! Now, on with the story!
Chapter 2 : Waking Up
Beep...beep...beep...beep
He felt like he was hovering over something, as if he was floating mid-air. His breathing was labored...everything was so slow...yet coming back.
Beep...beep...beep...beep
He could feel something on his face. He instinctively knew it gave him life. He took in another breath, then another. Another. Feeling was beginning to return to him, to ground him in reality. He was no longer hovering. He was in his body. He attempted to move his hand. He twitched one finger, then the next. Another breath. The beeping noise continued. The third, fourth, fifth finger. Then the whole hand.
He grabbed something.
Another breath. It was soft. Really soft. It felt nice in his hand. He went to grab it with his other hand but found he couldn't. His other hand felt paralyzed, immobile. "Where...am I?" His first thoughts. It felt like he was coming out of a long sleep.
A deep inhale and exhale. That was when he noticed the beeping sound as a continuing process. It wasn't in his own mind. "What is...that noise?" Another deep inhale, then an act of bravery.
He slowly opened his eyes.
He felt warmth and saw it came from a ray of sunlight. A window on his left. A humming in the distance of air conditioning. His eyes began to adjust. A white room, filled with various objects. Machines surrounded him. The beeping noise, he could see now, came from one such machine. One of a few that appeared to be strapped to his chest. And his hand...the one he couldn't move...
It was wrapped in something. A cast. From his fingers all the way to his shoulder. Propped up on a little stand with a sling wrapped around his neck for support. Beyond, he saw a little table with a small vase of flowers.
That's when it hit him. He was in a hospital.
He took in another deep inhale. Placing his free hand on the mask which granted him oxygen, he saw an IV hooked to his hand and sighed. "How long have I been here?" he wondered, his thoughts now coming at a faster pace. He was surely regaining conscious. His vision was clearing as fast as his mind. "I remember... I remember the car crash. I was hit...slammed into another car. Then...nothing..."
"Mr. Kaiba?"
It was a male voice, though surprisingly soft. Seto turned to see a nurse standing in the doorway wearing blue scruffs. His long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes widened at the sight of Seto, and he carefully approached the bed, moving some machines out of the way in order to get closer. "Mr. Kaiba, are you awake?"
Seto slowly nodded, letting his hand fall to his side. The nurse blinked and gasped in surprise. "Th-that's great! Really great! How are you feeling, Mr. Kaiba?"
Seto went to respond and blinked when he couldn't. His throat was suddenly too dry. He coughed. It stung.
"Ah, here, hold on a second..." The nurse seemed to understand his plight. He turned and exited through a small doorway, which Seto presumed led to a bathroom. He listened to the sound of a faucet coming to life, of water flowing out. He slowly opened his lips and found them to be extremely dry as well. The water turned off, and nurse came back in with a small cup. Carefully, he removed the oxygen mask. Seto suddenly found it difficult to breathe, though he felt it worth it for the water. The doctor held the cup to his lips and gave Seto that beautiful liquid of life. It did little to quench a growing thirst, but it seemed to restore his throat. His breathing felt somewhat lighter as well, though his chest still felt too tight.
When he finished drinking, the doctor asked, "Do you think you need the oxygen mask?"
Seto didn't say but rather breathed out, "I don't... It hurts..."
The nurse nodded in understanding. "I'll put it back on for now. You were in a serious car crash. The main damage was to your chest. Nothing punctured, surprisingly, but you took some trauma. It's going to hurt for awhile. We're glad to see you awake, though." Patting his arm, the one not in a cast, the nurse said, "My name is Kota. I'll get the head nurse, a Dr. Fukiyama, in here right away. He'll be able to help you more than I can. Okay?"
Seto slowly nodded. The nurse seemed to smile underneath his little mask. "You're going to be all right, Mr. Kaiba. It's good to finally see you awake."
Seto didn't like the finally part. Before he could ask anymore questions, however, the nurse swiftly left the room, leaving him alone. Sighing, Seto glanced out the window, watching as a small hummingbird flew by. The sunlight felt so warm to him. So comforting...
He would have surely fallen back asleep had it not been for the entrance of the doctor. By now, his eyes had closed shut, but upon hearing the door open, he carefully managed to reopen them. Standing at the end of the bed was a big man with short brown hair. His piercing green eyes stared at Seto. In one hand was a clipboard, and his free hand was placed on the railing at the end of the bed. He was wearing a typical white jacket and sleek black pants, with the stethoscope dangling around his neck. A few pens visibly stuck out from his breast pocket.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Kaiba," the doctor greeted. His voice sounded loud to Seto. "I'm Dr. Fukiyama, the head doctor in this sector of the hospital."
"Hi..." Seto managed to sputter back.
The doctor smiled at his response. "It is so good to see you awake. You had us worried there for awhile."
"Not by choice," Seto thought. His sarcasm was quickly returning, though his body still felt like it was moving in slow-motion. He never realized how deep or how many breaths he took before; now, each one felt like a minor trial, with life being the end reward.
"No doubt you have a lot of questions, but I want to briefly examine your vitals before we sit and talk, if that is okay," the doctor stated. Seto watched as he walked over to the beeping monitor, writing down a few numbers and probably some notes on the side on a sheet of paper attached to his clipboard. He then walked around the bed and examined the IV, doing the same with that. Finally he turned to Seto. "I'm going to examine your chest. Take deep breaths..."
Seto looked at him in confusion when he realized what was going on. Seto was in a patient's outfit. The doctor carefully wrapped his free arm around his shoulders and pulled him up to a sitting position. Seto hissed in pain, and he clutched the doctor's jacket. Closing his eyes, he heard the doctor say, "Focus on your breathing. In and out. In and out."
He didn't know what else to do, so he did just that. In...and out. In...and out. The cold metal of the stethoscope on his back. In... The metal moved from one place to the next. And out. "Okay, now the front," the doctor warned. Seto felt the metal on his chest. It felt like ice moving around the little patches already connecting his chest to the beeping monitors. "Breathe in..." He did so. "And out." He exhaled. "Again." Seto inhaled and exhaled, feeling the metal move haphazardly about.
The doctor finally took it away and carefully laid him back down on the bed. "Well, though it probably felt like you walked through Hell, your vitals are actually pretty good. Considering what you were through." He watched the doctor enter the bathroom, listened as the water ran. Seto wondered if he was getting him another cup of water. Sure enough, he came out with one. Approaching him, Fukiyama asked, "Can you hold this?"
Seto wanted to. He hated the idea of this man giving him water. But when he went to lift his arm, he found it surprisingly weak...and thin. His eyes widened. "H-How...?"
The doctor removed his mask and gave him the water. Seto swallowed it greedily. His mind was clearing up and now...now he wanted answers.
"You have been out for four days," the doctor began, taking away the cup and replacing it with the oxygen mask. He set the empty cup on a nearby table next to the cup the nurse had given him before pulling up a small chair. Seto turned to look at him. "The first day, you were in intensive care. You took some severe trauma to your chest. Breathing is going to hurt you for awhile, I'm afraid. You also broke your arm, hence the cast."
"No fucking shit," Seto wanted to shout. He peeked over at his arm before returning his gaze to the doctor.
"You look to be aware, though, and your vitals are stable. Very good signs. I firmly believe you'll recover by the end of the week, at least enough to get you out of here. You're going to have to do some physical therapy, however. You didn't break your leg, but some of the muscle was damaged. We'll need you to come in and do some exercises once you're released in order to make sure you're healing properly." Tapping his clipboard, he asked, "Do you remember what happened?"
Seto nodded.
"Tell me."
He wanted to scream at this guy. His voice cracked instead. "I... I was hit by a car. On my motorcycle." His voice sounded terrible. "I spun out of control. Was pinned between my bike and another car."
"And you would be dead if you hadn't worn your helmet," the doctor added, smirking at him. "I was so happy when I saw you come in with one. You don't know how many we lose just because they were free-riding without one."
Seto decided it best not to mention that he himself had done that once or twice. Instead, he asked, "You said...I've been here for four...four days?"
Dr. Fukiyama nodded. "That's right, four days. Looks like your memory is holding up. A very positive sign."
"That's why he's being obvious. He wants to know if I have amnesia."
"As I said, you were in intensive care the first day. We were worried you'd slip into a coma. But you pulled through. You're very resilient. We managed to move you here the second day, and you've been lying here since."
Seto took in a large inhale and slowly exhaled. Four days... He didn't like the sound of that at all.
"Is there anyone you would like me to notify of your awakening?"
Seto's eyes blinked. "Mokuba..." His eyes widened as he stared at the doctor. "Mokuba... Where is my little brother?"
The doctor glanced down at his watch. "At school, at this time of day. But school lets out in another hour or so. I will give him a call then. You should be able to see him tonight."
The thought of his brother's smile made Seto smile. That, or the morphine. He had to be on some drug if what the doctor said was true. He felt nothing in his legs, and if he needed physical therapy...well, he should be feeling something. Though he couldn't imagine how much his chest would ache if it hurt this much with the drugs.
"In the meantime, I'll go write down your statistics and let you rest," the doctor stated. He stood from his chair and smiled down at Seto. "We're happy to see you back. You had us all worried there, but we're happy to see you're strong."
Seto merely watched as he exited the room. He briefly wondered if Dr. Fukiyama said that to every patient who woke up three days after being in intensive care. "Whatever..." Sinking back into the cushions, he glanced over at the warm sunlight once more. He allowed his eyelids to close.
He inhaled, and exhaled. And fell fast asleep.
