Chapter X Part II: Kyrie Eleison/ Lord Have Mercy

Hello, everyone! I know I'm updating fast, but like I said in the previous chapter, I don't like leaving cliffhangers… And I really don't like doing it when Mokuba's life hangs in the balance. He's just fallen off a building and I can't just leave it at that! So here comes part two! As usual, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything but the plot and my own characters…

Author's notes, over five years later: There were minor structural changes in this chapter.

Lisa, as she had hoped and prayed, had enough power to make sure Mokuba landed on the grass and slowed his fall. She raced quickly to the spot where he'd landed, praying all the while, please, Lord, don't let him be dead. Somehow, Mokuba had hit the ground on his belly and rolled onto his back. Lord have mercy. The little boy was unconscious and as white as a sheet. His pallor was accentuated by the fact that there was a bloody gash on his forehead. The teen doctor knelt beside her patient and felt for a pulse along the carotid artery… There… His pulse was fast and weak, confirming what she already could see. The little boy was deeply in shock and if he didn't get to the hospital, he would die. Both Joey and Tristan had pulled their jackets off and handed them to Lisa. Seto, too, had removed his trench coat. The girl placed the jackets over Mokuba to warm him, and then the paramedics arrived. They placed the nine-year-old on a backboard and put him on a gurney to take him to Domino Children's Hospital.

Lisa moved away from the ambulance to tell her boyfriend his little brother's status. "Mokuba's hurt badly and they're taking him to Domino Children's. Do you—?"

"Lisa, you ride with him. We'll follow in the limo." She nodded, wishing she could kiss him and offer some comfort, but the media presence precluded that. She jumped in the ambulance and they were off. She quickly thumbed the Contacts button on her cell phone to call the most gifted pediatric surgeon at Domino Children's.

"Hello, Jean Louise Rhodes."

"Scout, it's Lisa. Are you—?"

"I've already got an OR ready. How are his vitals?"

"His pulse is thready, his skin is clammy, both forearms and lower legs are broken, and he's clearly in shock. I can only guess at his internal injuries. He also has a minor gunshot wound to the left shoulder."

"Okay. Do you think his brother would okay immediate surgery?"

"Yes."

"Okay. We'll take him in and get the waivers signed later."

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the crime, Seto looked back at the six teenagers. "Are you guys coming?" They looked at each other, nodded and climbed into the limo. The fifteen-minute ride to the hospital was virtually silent except for one thing. Seto was again sitting in the limo with his head in his hands, and Joey decided to break the silence.

"Kaiba?" Seto looked up, agony visible in his features.

"What, Wheeler?" Even his voice showed the pain. Ordinarily, Joey would've snapped at Seto for sounding so angry, but at this moment he looked at the other boy and saw himself over two weeks previously.

First, Joey was certain he'd seen what Yugi, Teá and Tristan had seen on the way over to Duelist Kingdom when he'd tried without success to save Yugi's Exodia cards from the Pacific Ocean. And then Joey was sure Mai had seen that expression on his face when he was on his knees in the hallway of Pegasus's castle thinking that he'd lost the chance to duel Bandit Keith (along with his entry card) for a chance at the three million dollar prize offered in the championship. Losing that opportunity meant that Joey had lost the chance to save his sister's eyesight, and though what was happening now wasn't exactly the same thing, the feeling of being helpless and desperate was the same. So Joey took a deep breath.

"Kaiba, I just wanted to say… I've got a little sister and I know how it feels to feel like you can't do anything to help when they're in trouble. I was fightin' for her at Duelist Kingdom. What I'm tryin' to say is… if you need to talk, you're not alone." Seto regarded Joey for a moment, then nodded. The limo returned to silence and Mai, sitting next to Joey, took his hand in hers.

Meanwhile, Lisa had arrived at Domino Children's and Scout herself had directed the gurney into the OR. "Lisa, I'll do my best." Lisa could only nod and take the forms an orderly handed her. The teen girl quickly filled out the information… Name: Kaiba, Mokuba Richard… Date of Birth: 7-7-1994… Allergies: None…Oh, please, Lord, help Scout to save him! Lisa pleaded silently with the Almighty. She had the forms filled out quickly, except for Seto's signatures and the insurance numbers.

Seto and Team Yugi burst through the main doors of the ER. "Lisa," Seto said and pulled her into a hug. She held him as tightly as he held her for a moment. "What's happening?" he asked, looking her in the eyes.

"He's in surgery; Scout said delaying wouldn't be wise. They're putting him under."

"But he's…?"

"He's alive, but his condition is critical. Oh, you need to sign these." He picked up the forms she held out and quickly signed them.

"What are his chances?"

Lisa took a deep breath, and answered, "Scout never quotes the odds on these cases and I think she's right to do it." She quickly walked down to the proper desk, handed the receptionist the forms and returned to her boyfriend's side.

"Leese," he said in a strangled voice and pulled her into a hug again. She just held him for a minute and could sense the puzzlement from the teens in the ER corridor.

Lisa released from the hug and said, "Let's go into a waiting room, all right? If you guys haven't called your parents, you can call them from there. Does anybody have a cell phone?" Teá nodded, as did Duke and Seto. "You'll need to turn them off until we get to the room. Cell phone signals do something to the equipment here." They each walked in silence to a waiting room not too far from the ORs. The three teens with cell phones turned them back on, and calls to parents, guardian and in Seto's case, trusted security guard were made. Lisa excused herself for a few minutes to go to the doctors' locker room. As she walked down the hallway, she did what she often did. She prayed. Then she headed to the locker room where she changed into a pair of periwinkle blue sweats, white athletic ankle socks and white sneakers with blue accents.

Lisa quickly returned to the waiting room and sat down next to her boyfriend. "Anything yet?" Seto shook his head.

"Our parents and Yugi's grandpa are coming," Teá said. "They're bringing stuff for us to change into."

"Okay," Lisa said. "There are bathrooms down the hall so you guys can change."

Seto added, "Roland's bringing me a change, too. He sounded… upset." His voice had become shaky. "Leese…" She hugged him, but this time he needed and got a kiss. The other teens in the room had their suspicions confirmed.

"Oh. My. Gosh. You guys," Teá said, stunned.

Lisa broke the kiss first. "Oops," she said, looking at Seto. But he wasn't upset.

"I wanted us to be out in the open," he said softly. "Not necessarily like this, but…" he trailed off. Then, the adults arrived.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," Teá greeted a brown-haired, blue-eyed woman and a brown-haired, brown-eyed man who hugged her.

"How's…?" Then Tristan's parents arrived, followed by Yugi's grandfather. Lisa introduced herself, and noticed that Teá's parents had brought clothes for their daughter as well as Mai, and Tristan's mom and dad had brought clothes for their son, Joey and Duke (Lisa quietly noted that Tristan's wardrobe was ample). Yugi's grandfather had brought him a pair of gray sweats, socks and fresh sneakers and, to Yugi's slight embarrassment, his Dark Magician stuffed toy.

"I thought someone here might need this, Yugi."

"Um… thanks, Grandpa." Despite his age, the fifteen-year-old boy found himself hugging the plush toy.

"So how is Mokuba?" Rose Gardner asked.

"He was in critical condition when he was brought in," Lisa answered softly, telling them the boy's injuries. "But he's still alive and he's being worked on by one of the best pediatric surgeons in the business."

"He seems like such a sweet little boy," Amanda Taylor said. "How could somebody do what that monster did?"

"I wish I knew, Amanda. I see some pretty bad things in this hospital and I don't think I'll ever understand people who hurt kids."

Roland chose this moment to arrive. "Mr. Kaiba?" Seto looked up from the chair. The bodyguard had a bag with blue jeans, a bright blue sweatshirt, socks and sneakers. "I thought you might need a change of clothes. I… I'm sorry I wasn't there, sir."

"You had the day off, Roland," Seto said woodenly, "it wasn't your fault. If anything, it's my fault." Seto trailed off. Lisa looked at her love, but wasn't quite ready to say anything yet. The parents, grandfather and bodyguard stepped outside with the young doctor as Seto headed to the bathroom to change.

"Should we stay put?" Sam Taylor asked.

"Yeah, should we stay here?" Ben Gardner queried.

"It's going to be a long night, probably. You might want to ask them if they want you to stay," Lisa answered, tipping her head toward the group. Solomon Muto nodded.

"Yugi will probably tell me to go home. He worries about me. Lisa, are you all right? You look upset."

"I'm worried. My boyfriend's little brother is in surgery and I wish there was more I could do."

"Teá thought you two were maybe an item a week or so ago, but she wasn't sure," Rose said. "Well, Ben, speaking of our daughter…" The adults each headed into the waiting room, and one by one, the kids told them that while they each were glad Mom, Dad or Grandpa was willing to stay, they should go home.

"I'll stay with them," Roland volunteered. "When I left home, my wife told me I should stay here until we knew for sure about Mokuba. Lorelei feels bad that my principals don't have a mother of their own."

Lisa smiled sadly at this. My mom thinks the same way. She feels bad they don't have a mom. And so, after some quick hugs and goodbyes, the adults left except for Roland.

"Hey, Yugi?" Lisa asked when she'd sat down again.

"Yeah, Lisa?"

"That stuffed toy… how long have you had it?"

Yugi flushed slightly. "Well, I've had it since just after I moved in with Grandpa. He got it for me because I stopped using my teddy bear after…" He took a deep breath and Teá put her arm around him. When Yugi had composed himself, he released from Teá's hug and continued, "I got him after my mom and dad died in a car accident. I was three when it happened, and my dad didn't die right away. So I had nightmares for a while after it happened."

"I'm sorry, Yugi," Lisa said softly. She stood up and walked over to him. "Is it okay if I give you a hug?" He nodded, stood up and let her hug him.

"Thanks, Lisa. You're so nice," he said, smiling up at her in a similar manner to Mokuba. The resemblance of Yugi to the much younger boy was so strong, it made Lisa tear up.

"Lisa," Yugi said, noticing, "he'll be okay. He's gotta be."

Lisa moved to wipe her tears. "Thanks, Yugi." He walked her back to her seat next to Seto.

"He'll be okay, Kaiba," Yugi said softly, looking at his rival, hoping the other boy would become his friend. The teens all talked about non-consequential matters after that for a few minutes, trying valiantly to dissipate the tension.

And then Mai asked, "So how long have you two been dating?"

Seto answered, "A week and a half. I asked Lisa the night I was really recovering from the flu if she wouldn't mind seeing me socially. She said yes." He said this dully, as if it had meant nothing, but Lisa knew otherwise. He's shutting himself down so he doesn't feel the worst of it.

It had been nearly an hour since Mokuba had been raced into emergency surgery, and now Seto got up and began to pace like a caged cat. "What's taking so long?" he asked. His voice was gaining some emotion and Lisa could sense and see his panic.

"Seto," she said, "he's only been in there an hour. Trauma cases can take a while. And Scout is very thorough. She doesn't rush through because she doesn't want to go back in unless it's absolutely necessary. She's going to make sure he's okay, honey."

"Has…" The teen CEO struggled for words as he sat down next to his girlfriend again. "Has Scout ever failed to save a patient, Leese?" His eyes had gained some life and were now giving the young doctor what she referred to mentally as "the laser gaze," a very intense gaze.

"To my knowledge," she answered gently, "Scout has lost three. The damage was very heavy, she said." Seto's eye, alive for a few minutes, dulled again, looking as lifeless as she'd ever seen them.

"My mom was healthy when she had what they called a normal childbirth and she still died," he said with no emotion in his voice. Yugi and everyone else looked at the brown-haired blue-eyed teen boy.

"Your mom died having Mokuba?" Yugi asked, looking really sad.

"Yeah, and then my dad…began to lose it. He killed himself when Mokuba was four. And…" Seto's voice dropped to just above a whisper. "Everything went wrong…"

Lisa knew that both Gozaburo Kaiba and Richard Delaney had killed themselves but for some reason she hadn't known about Seto and Mokuba's mother. She softly laid a hand on his shoulder and he again pulled her into a hug and then he began to really cry. She gently rubbed his back to give him some measure of comfort. The other six teens were stunned, seeing Seto Kaiba like this. He was actually acting… human. Sure they'd seen him act somewhat human, but to see him like this was definitely not normal. Lisa could sense this very strongly, but for the moment didn't mention it.

"I'm going to lose him," Seto moaned. Lisa just held him softly. She had been keeping her mental shields mostly up, but at this close proximity, she was strongly able to feel his emotions. Grief was strong, but so was a feeling of…deserved torment… What? Why does he feel this way? He cried softly for nearly twenty minutes, and the waiting room was silent except for this. After he calmed down, Seto gripped his girlfriend's hand, as if to reassure himself that she was still there. She stayed next to him for another twenty minutes, then got up and headed to the bathroom.

On the way back from the bathroom, Lisa found herself wandering to the ORs. She hoped to see what Scout was doing, but instead found herself meeting an old friend. A male nurse with brown hair and blue eyes was leaving one of the operating rooms (ORs). He wasn't much taller than Lisa and he had the look of a happy puppy. "George?" Lisa called softly.

He turned and smiled. "Hey, Lisa. You okay?" he asked, coming to give her a hug. George O'Malley had attended the University of Washington at the same time Lisa had for her doctor's training and he'd become a good friend. Lisa had told George he'd be excellent in a children's hospital, and he'd taken her advice. She'd been delighted that the kind man twelve years her senior was at Domino Children's over a year before.

"I've been better," Lisa admitted. "Did you just come out of surgery?"

George nodded. "A nine-year-old. Some nutcase threw him off a building and shot him."

"Mokuba! Is he all right?" Comprehension dawned quickly on O'Malley's features.

"I almost forgot. He'll be okay, Leese."

The teen doctor threw her arms around the nurse and whispered, "Oh, thank You, God!" She was in tears as Scout Rhodes came up to the two people.

"I take it George told you," Scout said. "He's going to be okay. He's a sick boy, but he's going to make it. Why don't I go with you and we'll tell his brother?" Lisa nodded, smiling and feeling like she'd been reborn. It was 8:15 PM.

Seto and the others, meanwhile, had drifted into an uneasy silence. No one knew quite what to say to the young man who had been so cold and was now as vulnerable as they'd ever seen him. Now they were each locked in their own thoughts. Yugi, even, wasn't talking to Yami, only feeling his spirit partner's calming presence. They'd all perked their ears up as people walked up and down the hallway. Now, they heard footsteps and saw someone approach the door. Lisa walked through the door, followed by an older female doctor and a male nurse.

"Mr. Kaiba?" said the older doctor, and Seto looked up and stood.

"Are you Dr. Rhodes?" She nodded.

Seto James Kaiba's heart beat painfully, fearing the worst. Then he noticed Lisa's face. She'd been crying, but was smiling a relieved smile. Relief washed over the teen boy, but at the same time, his knees buckled beneath him. Fortunately, Joey and Tristan were close by and caught Seto before he could fall. They helped him to a chair and Scout and George moved to examine him. Lisa quickly moved next to her boyfriend and squeezed his hand. Scout checked him over quickly. "Are you all right?" He nodded, still feeling a little bit dizzy.

"How's my brother?"

"He's a very sick little boy right now, but he's going to get better. I'll start with the worst of it. He had some internal bleeding, but it wasn't horrible. We fixed that up and have made up for the blood loss. The gunshot wound he sustained was very minor and only required some stitches and some bandaging, as did the gash on his forehead. There might be a little scarring but his bangs should hide that. His forearms are both broken, and the tibiae and fibulae in his lower legs are both broken. We can't set those yet because we have to wait for the swelling to peak."

"Can… can I see him?" Seto asked hoarsely.

"Not yet," Scout answered, "but you can in a couple of hours. We're going to move him into a private room, but we just want to be sure he's all right before we move him, okay?"

"Okay. Will he be awake?" Scout shook her head.

"He's got a lot of pain medication in his system, so the earliest he'll be awake is tomorrow morning."

"But… he's going to be all right?"

The older doctor smiled. "He'll be fine."

I didn't want to break up chapter 10, initially, but its length demanded that I do it. Seto Kaiba is really changing. We saw his reaction at Duelist Kingdom when he thought he was going to lose Mokuba, and I've based his reactions partly on that. Mokuba is his balance and his breaking point. To lose that child would be losing part of himself.

Next time on "The Jedi League of Duelists…" Seto finally comes clean about his past, and Lisa reveals her own secret to the rest of the group…

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