(I own nothing)
~Chapter Eleven~
"Well, that wasn't a complete disaster..." I mused to Marik once we were back at his house. "Isis knows what's up, and she seems to approve, so that's a huge relief."
"As if she wouldn't approve. She's really sweet. I like her a lot." I rolled my eyes.
"And you're completely flaming. Listen to yourself right now." He stuck his long tongue out at me (not to change topics, but he has the longest tongue ever! Seriously, that thing is huge! I know, I know. That's what she said. Ha ha, funny).
"Oh, hush. It's not like you mind. All your friends are flaming, too, from what I've seen of them."
"Well, that may be," I admitted, feeling a little guilty, "but they're not even out to me, so don't say anything to anyone."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. It's weird about Patrick, though," he said, jumping back to our previous subject. "He's such a massive dick- not that he has one- but he really is good for your sister."
"I know!" I sighed, exasperated. "That's what pisses me off the most. Because he's such a jerk to me, but I can't hate him, because he's so good to Isis.
"Nah, you can hate him. He's mean to you. So what's on your agenda for tomorrow?"
"Not much, I guess... what's up with you?" He looked mildly uncomfortable.
"Well... my parents are visiting, and my mom wanted to come see the house and see how I'm holding up. So I'll probably go grocery shopping in a bit, so there's some food in the house tomorrow when she comes, and then do some tidying up. You need anything from the store?" I scratched my head, trying to think.
"Not really... shouldn't you invite your mom to stay for dinner, though?" He groaned.
"Shit. I didn't even think of that... she'll probably expect it, too, and I can't fucking cook. I'm fucked."
"Well," I suggested timidly. "What does your mom like to eat? I can maybe cook something..." He stared at me in wonder.
"What? You can cook?" I nodded, not offended that he sounded so amazed. "Marry me, Malik. Shit... I dunno. What can you cook?" I ran through the options in my mind.
"W-well... your family is from Egypt, right?" I stammered, my cheeks red. "Does she like Egyptian food?" Marik nodded, his eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, actually. She really likes Egyptian food, but she can't cook worth shit either."
"Well, then how about a nice grilled chicken and rice dish? Does that sound okay?" He nodded.
"Yeah, she'd love that... you're a lifesaver, babe. Make a list of what you need, okay? I'll get ready and leave in a few minutes. Unless you wanted to come, too?" I shook my head, my blush deepening at his praise. I was pretty worn out from the rest of the day.
"You should probably call her and actually ask her to stay for dinner, just so she knows."
"You're so smart... I'll be back soon. Call me if you need anything." he kissed the top of my head sweetly, and I smiled back at him. As soon as he was out the door, I began tidying up. I wanted to help as much as I could- not that I was concerned about impressing his mother, either. After a few minutes, I heard a knock at the door. "Did you miss me?" I called, puzzled when I didn't hear a smart remark back. "Marik? Did you forget something?"
"M-Malik? Is that you?" Came a muffled but familiar voice.
"Bakura?" I opened the door, horrified by what I saw. "Dear Ra, what the hell happened to you?" I helped a bloodied Bakura stumble into the apartment. "I'll call an ambulance." I reached for the phone, but he shook his head.
"No, don't call anyone. I don't want the police to get involved in this."
"But you're bleeding all over the place!" I protested- as if he didn't already know this. "What the fuck happened?" I demanded. He opened his mouth to reply, but ended up just coughing up blood. "Fuck!" Not that I was freaking out, or anything. "I'm calling Marik." He nodded, clutching at his stomach. I dialed Marik's number, but it went straight to the voicemail. "Fuuuuck!" I rushed into the bathroom, bringing out an armful of towels. "Here, lay down or something." I spread them on the sofa, but Bakura shook his head.
"No, put them in the bathroom. I'll bleed through the towels; don't wanna get Marik's couch all bloody." He sat down on the floor in the bathroom. I dialed Marik's number again. This time, it rang, but then went to voicemail.
"Shit, Bakura! He's not answering! What do I do?" I was panicking. He coughed, wincing in agony and clutching at his abdomen, where blood was steadily oozing from a wound that I couldn't see. "Ra, what happened?"
"J-just a s-squabble," he rasped, his voice hoarse. "Don' wanna talk about it n-now... towel?"
"Well what should we do? You're going to bleed to death!" I told him, handing him a clean towel for him to press against the wound.
"D-do you have... access to a-a car?" He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, a trickle of blood running from the side of his mouth to his chin.
"No-maybe!" I remembered Ryou's car at the last second.
"See if you c-can get it... t-there's a doctor I know-" he broke off, coughing and wincing again. I was already dialing Ryou's number. He picked up on the third ring.
"Hel-"
"Ryou, I need your help," I blurted, interrupting him.
"What did Marik do? Did he hurt you?" He demanded, venom in his voice.
"No, just... I don't have time to explain, I need you to get here now."
"Okay, okay. Where is it?" I gave him the address (to enter into his GPS). "Okay, according to this, I'll be there in six minutes. You're lucky I'm so close."
"Thank you so much, Ryou. I'll make it up to you, I swear." I turned to Bakura, who was breathing heavily, his bloodstained teeth clenched in pain. "He's on his way, just hold on a little longer, okay?" He nodded. I tried to call Marik four more times, but he must have been in a bad area for reception, because it kept going straight to the voicemail.
"M-Malik," Bakura whispered hoarsely. "Go t-take down..." he gasped in pain. "...the shower curtain. Otherwise... I'll g-get blood in your friend's car..." I couldn't believe that even in this state, he was still worried about something like that. He had a point, though, so I did as he asked. "Besides," he added, smirking. "If I don't make it, you'll need something to wrap the body in."
"Bakura!" I shrieked, horrified. "That's not even funny!"
"I'm s-serious. Either I'm gonna d-die, or I'm not. No sense in pretending... that it c-can't happen." Okay, he had a point, but still! "Hand me the phone." I did as he said. "Hey, M-Marik, it's Bakura." He broke off coughing. "I'm at your house, a-and I'm k-kinda dying... Malik and his friend are taking me to 'that' doctor. So I'll hopefully s-see you later..." He hung up and turned to me.
"How can you be so calm about that?"
"Like I said, it might happen, it might not. Nothing we can really do about it, is there?"
"Well, no, but... No, you're not going to die!" Something horrible occurred to me. "Oh gods, Bakura... you didn't get hurt from something that had to do with me... did you?"
"Malik... don't worry about it. I-I'm not going t-to talk about it now..."
"Bakura, don't die because of me! Please!" I could feel the tears streaming down my face. Too many people had been hurt because of me...
"Besides, I have to be calm about it, if I don't want to die. If I get all upset, it will make my heart rate go up, and I'll bleed out more quickly. Just trust me on it." It sounded like this wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with something like this.
"Well yeah, but-" Just then, there came a loud honking from outside.
"Thank the gods! Help me out there." I supported Bakura, helping him stumble to the minivan.
"Shit, Malik! What the fuck happened to him?" Ryou demanded as Bakura painstakingly lay the shower curtain out on the car seat.
"Hell if I know; I've been trying to figure that out myself. He says it was a 'scuffle.'" Ryou rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah. That explains everything." Bakura turned his attention to Ryou.
"Well, h-hello there, gorgeous," he rasped, wiping another drip of blood from his chin. "What's your name?" As expected, Ryou's pale skin flushed bright red.
"Um... I'm Ryou..." He seemed at a loss for words, which I knew meant that he found Bakura attractive, too.
"I'm Bakura. Well, n-now that I've seen you... I feel a little less inclined to die..." He said, with what sounded like a cross between a laugh and a horrible cough. "L-let's get going, yeah?"
A/N: Oh, the suspense! I know, I'm a very mean person... don't worry, though. you won't have to wait too long to find out what happens... I've got most of this chapter already written, even if it's not typed. :)
*many thanks to soundofmadness223*
my rat, Ren, died... it was really sad. I was holding her when she died... she got sick, and I took her to the vet (twice in two days- talk about a hefty vet bill), and they gave her antibiotic shots and medicine, but... it didn't help. Poor Raissa (one of my others) kept looking for her... :'( I got a baby rat, though, and I named her Mei (like in "My Neighbor Totoro!), and she's really cute. she loves Lacey (my cat) and my other rats, Raissa and especially Phoebe (although I think Phoebe has another tumor... gotta get that checked out too). I love my rats. :)
let me know what you think. :) reviews make me HAPPY.
~alex~
