Chapter 7: The Crash
The phone rang in the Reynolds house a half hour later. Hailey hurried to answer. "Reynolds residence, Hailey speaking."
"Hailey, it's Yugi. Is Hali home yet?" Yugi asked, worried.
"Yeah, Atem dropped her off a half hour ago. She seemed a little upset, though. Why?'
"Atem hasn't shown up. He should be by now." Yugi asked. There was a beep on his end. "I'll be back, there's someone on the other end."
Hailey waited, glancing at Hali. "What's wrong?" Hali asked.
"Atem hasn't come home yet." Hailey told her. "Yugi called to see if you were home."
Hali paled. "What if something horrible happened?"
Hailey was distracted when Yugi returned, sounding scared. "Hailey, there was an accident. Atem's been taken to the hospital. Will you two meet us there?"
"Of course." Hailey answered. She hung up and turned to Hali, telling her what happened.
Yugi and Grandpa arrived at the hospital just as David, Hailey, and Hali arrived as well. "Yugi, did they say how bad it is?" Hali asked. It looked like she was crying, but no mascara was running.
Yugi shook his head. "They just said he swerved to avoid a truck and ran off the road. The driver called the police."
As they entered, a nurse immediately got up from the waiting room. "Are you here for Atem Mutou?"
"Yes, how is he?" Yugi asked.
"This way." The nurse said, motioning to a small room down the hall. The group felt a sense of foreboding as they followed her into the room. She shut the door behind them and locked it. "Sit down."
"He's dead, isn't he?" Hali said, in a flat voice.
"Heavens, no!" the nurse exclaimed. "But it's not good news."
"Why didn't you take us to him then?" Yugi asked, close to tears.
"He's in surgery." The nurse explained. "He is very seriously injured. Surgeons are having to drill a hole in his head because his brain is swelling from the crash. According to the paramedics, the car landed on the driver's side. He hit his head on the ground. There was glass in his head as well."
"Any good news?" Hali asked, desperately.
"Not really. We've got him stable. His arm was broken and so is his leg. Also broken ribs."
"Will he be all right?" Grandpa asked, after a moment of shocked silence.
"Hard to tell." The nurse said. "The next day or so will only tell. If he wakes up, he will be more likely to recover. He won't wake up until the swelling goes down."
"Sounds like all we can do is pray." Hailey said, hugging Hali.
Hours later, a surgeon entered the waiting room. It was after midnight now, and the group was asleep. As the surgeon moved closer, Yugi awoke first. "Doctor, any news?"
"He's finally out of surgery. The swelling will hopefully go down as his brain heals. Now, the only thing to do is wait. You can go in to see him. He's in recovery until sunrise where he'll be moved to the ICU."
"Thank you." Yugi said and they were led into recovery. The area was dimly lit, and Atem was lying on a bed, head wrapped in gauze, arm and leg propped up. "He looks awful." Hali murmured, going over to his bedside.
"Come on, Atem, wake up." Yugi encouraged, taking a seat on his other side.
"It's my fault. I dented the car. He probably was distracted." Hali whispered.
"It's not your fault." Yugi assured her.
Late that afternoon, Yugi and Hailey had gone to get lunch for them while Hali refused to go. "I need to be with him." She insisted.
The two left and Hali sat there, watching Atem's chest rise and fall. Suddenly, she saw his head fall to the side. "Atem?" Hali asked, jumping up.
She looked hopefully at him as his eyes fluttered open. "Uh…" he groaned.
"Atem, you're awake." Hali looked relieved. He made a feeble movement to sit up, and she raised the head of the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired…" Atem closed his eyes for a moment and Hali feared he had gone unconscious. Finally, he said, "What happened?"
"You were in a car accident." Hali said, brushing a hand across his cheek. "You scared us."
"I'm so tired…" Atem said, his eyes closed.
"Rest, Atem. I'll be here." Hali said. Atem fell asleep at once.
Yugi entered the room with Grandpa and saw Atem was sitting up. "Is everything all right?"
"Better than all right. He woke up finally." Hali said, smiling.
Yugi looked sympathetic. "You must be tired."
"No, really!" Hali said, as a nurse entered. "You believe he woke up, won't you?"
The nurse checked the printout coming from a machine beside the bed. "Mr. Mutou? Can you hear me?"
"He's awake?" Yugi asked, hurrying over to his side. "Atem?"
Atem gave a groan and cracked open an eye. "Lemme sleep." He groaned in a childlike voice.
"I'll notify the surgeon." The nurse said and left.
"I'm so glad to see you're awake." Yugi said, smiling. "Welcome back.
"Yeah, yeah…" Atem grumbled and went back to sleep.