Thank you so much for reviewing! It really makes me want to keep writing as fast as possible~ I really like this story as well, that's why I'm doing daily upates right now. :3 I know there isn't ANY shipping going on right now, but I'm setting it up! It'll happen soon!

This chapter is kind of lame in my opinion, but the next one is where Malik talks to Bakura for the first time~ ;)

Ryou blinked slowly, his head feeling like it was about to explode. He rubbed his eyes gently so they would focus in the bright light. A hospital room?

"Ryou! You're awake!" a loud and familiar voice called out.

"Malik?" Ryou mumbled, sitting up. "What am I doing in a hospital?"

"You feinted at Kaiba Corp," Malik said, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. "The nurses said everything is normal. You just went into shock. What happened on the phone?" That's when Ryou remembered.

"Oh no," he sighed, his lip quivering in fear. "The phone! I heard him! It was him! Tell me this is a dream, Malik!"

"What?" Malik asked, confused. "Who? Was it your father?" Ryou shook his head.

"Worse," he said, pressing his fingers against his temples in an attempt to quiet his pounding headache. That's when Malik caught on, jumping up off of the bed.

"No way! Do you think it was really him?" Malik asked, eyes wide. "Wait! I saw the pharaoh just now! He was in the hallway!" Ryou thought he was going to feint again.

"T-the pharaoh? If he's here, then it must be true," Ryou sighed, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes. This had to be a bad dream! "Malik! I can't do this! I can't do this!" His pulse started to raise and the machine hooked to his arm started beeping frantically. A nurse rushed in seconds later, checking the machines before giving Ryou a small shot. The machine stopped beeping and Ryou collapsed back on the bed, breathing heavily but he appeared to be sleeping now.

"I'm sorry, sir," the nurse said. "We're going to have to ask you to leave so that he can rest. He just went into shock again. I don't suggest taking him out of the hospital until you find out what's triggering his attacks."

"Well I think I have an idea, but I'm going to go investigate on it," Malik said, frowning. "I'm going to stay in the hospital though, so if he asks for me, just page. I'll be here in an instant."

"Of course," the nurse smiled. "You two must be very good friends. I'm sure he'll be fine, especially with a friend like you by his side."

"Let's hope so," Malik said, turning and exiting the room. He would have to ask the pharaoh some more questions.

Yugi opened the door to Bakura's room, a firm frown in place. He found the ex-thief in the same place, but with another tray of food on his lap. This one had several different options of meat on it.

"Ah, welcome back, miniature pharaoh," Bakura said, putting down his fork which had a rather large piece of steak on it. "Is Marik up?"

"Yes, but that's not what we're here to talk about," Atem said, following Yugi inside and shutting the door. He narrowed his eyes as he leaned against the door, hands shoved in his pockets. "What did you do to Ryou?"

"Ryou?" Bakura asked, his eyes suddenly furrowing in confusion. "Why? What happened to him?"

"He's in the hospital now," Yugi sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Malik said he feinted at work. Now we aren't blaming you, but we're trying to find out what happened."

"I'm blaming him," Atem muttered, rolling his eyes, but Yugi elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

"Well, the truth is, it is probably my fault," Bakura said, leaning back. He looked troubled as he glared at the wall in front of him. "I called him."

"What?" Yugi exclaimed, balling his fists up tightly. "I told you that was a bad idea! No wonder he's gone into shock!"

"Well I didn't know he would freak out," Bakura tried to defend himself. "I just wanted to apologize to him, that's all!"

"I told you," Yugi sighed, collapsing onto the plastic hospital chair. "He hasn't been doing well. He has severe anxiety and panic attacks. I would too if I Atem had used me repeatedly and even stabbed me in the arm!" Bakura was taken back, guilt twisting in his stomach. He glared away from the two spikey haired men, trying to ignore the immense amount of pain he felt.

"I know," he finally mumbled, setting his tray of meat down on the bedside table and staring down at his hands. "Can you leave? I want to be alone now." The sudden change in Bakura's tone was frightening to Yugi. He sounded so upset and worried.

"Yeah, I guess," he said. "But we'll be back soon. Marik wants to see you, so we'll take you to him in a little bit. I don't think he's ready to be moved, but I think you'll be fine."

"Yeah, yeah," Bakura said, still not looking up. His hair was hiding his face, but Yugi was willing to bet that he was on the verge of tears, which is not something Bakura would've ever let himself do before, even if it was just a trick.

Yugi just sighed and pushed Atem out the door, closing it after them, an exasperated huff leaving his body as he slid onto the floor.

"I'm glad to see you, Atem," he said, chuckling almost sadly. "But this is really stressful. I have to trust him. He was almost crying in there."

"I understand," Atem said. "I'm still not letting my guard down, but I'm starting to believe him as well."

"Good, so it's settled," Yugi nodded. "They'll come live with us until we figure out why you all came back." Atem was about to answer, but suddenly, an angry Malik appeared, running down the hallway towards the two. He stopped, out of breath, and leaned against the wall.

"Yugi! Pharaoh!" he exclaimed. "Ryou's in trouble! He said that on the phone today...that Bakura called him! And it was actually him! Alive!" Yugi bit his lip nervously. This was horrible. Ryou was certainly terrified and if Malik found out about his darker half being alive as well, things could get messy. But then again, you can't just hide that forever. "Yugi? Did you hear me? This is terrible!"

"Malik, please," Atem said, his deep voice trying to calm Malik down gently. He put a hand on the Egyptian's shoulder. "I promise that it is ok. We'll make sure that you guys are going to be fine." That wasn't a lie, at least.

"Well first we have to find him," Malik said. "Who knows what he's planning to do this time. Poor Ryou." Yugi looked over at Atem, silently asking with that glance if they should tell him. Atem shrugged in response, and Malik instantly noticed.

"What? What is going on?" he asked, frowning and crossing his arms. "You're hiding something. What do you know?" Yugi sighed heavily, putting a hand on Malik's shoulder.

"I need you to calm down, don't overreact, and just listen to what I have to say." Malik froze, suddenly terrified. Something was very wrong and he could feel it. "We know where Bakura is." Malik's reaction was instant as he pulled away from Yugi, anger clear on his face.

"You knew he was back and you didn't tell us?" he growled. "How could you? Where is he? We have to get to him before he does something bad!"

"Malik, he's not dangerous," Yugi insisted. "He's actually in the hospital. He's weak and sick. He just-"

"He's weak?" Malik asked. "Good. Let's kill him while we still can! Who knows? What if he tries to bring...you know who back?" Yugi could see the fear flashing in his friend's eyes, but he just had to tell him so he wouldn't find out from someone else.

"Malik, sit down," he said, hoping to say it gently.

"No! We have to do something!" the Egyptian yelled.

"Malik! Stop!" Yugi tried calming him down again, but to no avail. Atem was getting tired of this. Malik obviously wasn't going to calm down any time soon.

"Marik is back too," he finally said, crossing his arms and preparing for the worst. He didn't have to wait long, because Malik feinted only a second later.

"Great job, 'pharaoh'!" Yugi sighed, smacking his darker friend on the arm.