Lee dove to the ground, catching the limp body of the CEO in his arms.

"Seto!!" Mokuba shouted.

"Mr. Kaiba!"

The crowd gasped and the cameras zoomed in. Lee felt for vital signs, eventually nodding to Dr. Wu. Seto Kaiba had fainted. His pulse, though, was racing. His body was quite warm to the touch, but he hadn't even broken a sweat.

On Lee's order, Mokuba radioed for the circling helicopter to land on the dueling field. In a matter of minutes, it had lifted off again with Lee and the Kaiba brothers aboard.

Dr. Wu was stuck with the tremendously unpleasant task of trying to end the press conference. All he could really do was repeatedly try to assure the dueling world that he had not just killed Seto Kaiba. But it looked like he was just left to take the fall. The competing duelists, meanwhile, were granted a short reprieve. And one very lucky individual would be making it to the next round of the tournament unscathed. Seto Kaiba would not be returning to compete.

By the time he awoke to the sterile smell of a hospital room, the tournament was over.

"Big brother!!" Mokuba shouted. He draped his arms as best he could over Seto's body. "Oh thank goodness… We were so worried!"

Seto groaned, and looked around. Lee was standing over him as well.

"I had to pull a lot of strings with my old boss, but we were able to get you checked in without much of a media circus." He added. "I know you wanted to avoid hospitals, but the dragon pushed you far beyond what you can handle on your own. Or even what I can handle."

Suddenly, Seto's eyes grew wide. His hands flew down to his abdomen, surprised that the dragon egg was still there. He only now realized that he was wrapped in all sorts of wires, with different instruments measuring both his vitals and the dragon's. There was also a series of IV lines going into a major vessel on the side his neck.

"Is it…"

"It's all right." Lee was quick to reassure him. "I don't think your little fainting spell had much of an effect on the dragon. We still detect a heartbeat, and it's perked up quite a bit in the last couple of hours."

Only then did the exhausted Seto Kaiba slump back against the stack of pillows.

"One minute I was feeling all right, and the next…"

"You fainted, Mr. Kaiba." Lee continued. He glanced at Mokuba for a moment, and wondered if he should even continue. He also wondered if he really had a choice. "You were severely dehydrated. And given your latest blood workup, malnourished as well. You should consider yourself lucky that all you did was faint."

"I'm… tired." Seto chose his words carefully. He closed his eyes, but he was still very much awake.

"Mr. Kaiba, I don't want you to focus on what happened at your press conference, but you need to make a decision. I don't know how long you'll be able to keep this up, even under medical supervision. At what point are you willing to abort…"

"Never." His eyes snapped open. "I've come this far, and I don't intend on quitting."

"Mr. Kaiba, please…"

"No." he insisted. And if glares could kill, Lee would have been on the floor in under a second.

"Very well." Lee sighed, watching Seto close his eyes again, this time with the intent to fall asleep. "Rest. You're going to need it."