Chapter XIV: Makenai
Hello, loyal readers of this version of the Yugi-verse. First, to those of you who are about to watch the Super Bowl, we hope you enjoy the game. Thank you to our thirteen reviewers last chapter, and we know if Annie was a real person, she would greatly appreciate your love and concern for her. For those of you who don't know, in US hospitals, a Code Blue refers to a patient who is in imminent danger of death. So who was the Code Blue for? Read on!
Disclaimer: Please see the previous chapters. We're not writing this out for the umpteenth time. Thanks to the Mama Lisa website for the translation for the French lullaby that Darla sings to Sy in this chapter. Thank you.
Author's note: We are including the translation of the lullaby here. "Lullaby, child, lullaby. The child will quickly go to sleep. Lullaby, child, lullaby. The child will soon be asleep. A white hen is there in the barn. It will lay an egg for the child who's going to sleep. Lullaby, child, lullaby. The child will quickly go to sleep. Lullaby, child, lullaby. The child will soon be asleep. Everybody's good in the neighborhood. It's time to go to sleep. Very soon you'll be asleep." Again, thanks to the Mama Lisa website for the translation. Also, the title for this chapter is from the opening song for "Sailor Moon: Stars," the season that was never dubbed in English. "Makenai" means "don't give up."
"CODE BLUE....CODE BLUE...CODE BLUE, CARDIAC WARD..." The automated voice droned the message over again. Yubel had been stopped, Domino Children's was back in the right dimension, and everything was supposed to be okay. However, one cardiac patient had apparently been overtaxed in the last few minutes and was in danger of slipping away from this world.
Syrus's eyes snapped open wide. 'Cardiac...isn't that where Annie is?! ANNIE!!!' he thought. Before anyone could stop him and without a second's hesitation, Syrus ran out of the room and down the hallway. He didn't bother with the elevator and started up the stairs.
The other teen boys followed, their own hearts racing. "Cardiac...Annie," Bastion breathed, terrified it was his surrogate sister. Jaden ran and caught up to Sy as they ran to the ward.
And then..."Rev up the paddles! We're losing her!" The doctors were working over Annie's still form and they could all hear the monitors flat-lining in a steady high-pitched drone.
"No," Chazz moaned.
"She's in cardiac arrest! Move it, people!" Dr. Benson shouted.
Syrus stopped dead, eyes wide as he panted from the run upstairs. 'A-Annie...no...It's just like my nightmare...Annie,' he thought. The doctors and nurses worked desperately and finally got Annie breathing again, but they had to put her on a respirator because she wasn't breathing strongly enough. Sy was in such shock that he fell to his knees, heart racing. He felt shadows edge his vision, like the one in his nightmare. Then, he fainted, the last thing he heard being Jaden calling his name.
"Sy? SY!" Jaden yelled, getting to his best friend fast as did Zane. "He's fainted..."
A nurse came out of the room. "What happened here?"
"He fainted…he's Annie's fiancé," Jaden said quickly.
"Oh, dear...hold on..." The nurse called for assistance and it was a few minutes before Sy came around.
"Sy, come on...wake up," Jaden pleaded.
"Come on, then...wake up," Bastion added worriedly. Tyson chose to remain silent, praying in his head.
Syrus groaned, opening his eyes a little. "J-Jaden...?" he mumbled.
Jaden sat back, relieved. "Oh, man, Sy, you scared us..."
"Hey, soldier," Tyson added softly.
"Wha...what happened??"
"You passed out," Bastion explained. "Do you remember where we are?"
"Uh, the hospital...weren't we in the hospital room?" he asked, finally sitting up. Part of him had blocked out what had just happened, as the shock had been so great.
They all looked at each other. Zane was glad his brother had his head in his lap, because he had to ask, "Do you remember what happened with the hospital's power?"
Syrus thought for a moment. "It went out...right? But then a generator brought some of it back..."
"Yeah...do you remember what happened after that?"
"Yubel...Usagi...something about Code Blue..."
The doctor who'd been working on Annie came out of the room with another nurse. "Syrus?" It was Doctor Benson.
Syrus blinked in surprise. "D-Dr. Benson??"
"Sy...You passed out...did you hear the Code Blue?" the doctor asked gently.
"Yeah...but after that it's kind of foggy..."
"Let's bring you into Annie's room...I just called her family from the third floor...this isn't good, son..." Sy's friends and brother moved close to him in case he passed out again.
"Sy...it's going to be okay," Jaden whispered, staying right next to him.
Syrus frowned worriedly as he followed the doctor into Annie's room. 'What could he mean...?' he wondered.
Annie was lying in the bed and this time, a new machine was in the room. It was... "She's not breathing on her own," Bastion said before he could stop himself.
"Private Annie," Tyson breathed. Zane and Jaden tightened their grip on Sy. They got Sy in a chair fast.
It was a good thing they did, because he wasn't sure his legs could have held him up anymore at the sight and Bastion's explanatory words. "But...but...why??" was all Syrus could barely choke out.
The doctor swallowed. "Syrus, let's get her parents up here...I need to tell them too." His eyes were very sad. Chazz abruptly left the room, clenching his fists, knowing somehow that something horrible had just happened.
It seemed like an hour, but was only 5 minutes before Alex, Kathy and Bobby Hanson got up to the room. "What's happened?" Kathy asked, her eyes fearful.
Syrus looked up at them wearily, before returning his gaze to Annie. 'That's what I want to know,' he thought. His voice had momentarily failed him.
Dr. Benson looked at the Hansons. "Is it all right if these boys hear, too?" Kathy couldn't say anything now, so the doctor looked at Alex.
The worried father nodded. "Of course. They are her friends. I think they should know..."
"Okay...I just had to be sure...Annie is in a coma...it looks as though she had another heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. That means her oxygen supply was disrupted and that put her into a coma. She may or may not come out of this..."
Kathy began crying into her husband's arms and Bobby asked the doctor, his brown eyes wide with pain, "She...might..."
Leonard Benson nodded sadly. "She's very weak..."
Alex held his wife close, though tears were filling his own eyes. Syrus, meanwhile, was shaking as his hands clutched his knees. He gritted his teeth as the tears poured out, sky blue bangs covering his eyes. 'Why...WHY?! Why does this have to happen??' he wondered, emotions running rampant.
"Sy?" Jaden probed. "Are...you...of course you're not okay..." In another rush of emotion, Sy ran to his surrogate and blood brother. He needed some kind of comfort, and they were the closest he could get besides his parents.
"Sy...shh...I'm going to get Mom and Dad," Zane murmured.
"Your dad's on his way," Bobby managed, his hazel-brown eyes tearing. "Your...your mom's finishing up in neo-natal...everybody's okay there..."
"How...how are we going to tell the girls?" Bastion wondered.
"Sy...it's..." Zane wanted to tell his brother everything would be all right, but the words died in his throat.
"Syrus...talk, will you?" Tyson asked.
"W-Why," he mumbled, face buried in Zane's shirt. It was all he could manage in his current state of emotional turmoil.
The four young men enveloped Sy in a tight hug for a long moment, not wanting to leave him. "We...have to tell the girls," Jaden managed.
"I'll stay here with Sy," Zane said. "Jaden...we'll be okay."
"Sy...I'll be back in just a little bit, okay?" Jaden said, not wanting to leave. But he knew he had to. Syrus managed a slight nod, still holding onto Zane for support. He wasn't crying as badly as he had been, but was still an emotional wreck.
Jaden, Tyson and Bastion headed down the stairs. Chazz was waiting for them at the door. "I waited down here...It isn't good, is it?" Jaden shook his head. The four walked out of the stairwell and down to the room.
"So...what happened? Is everything all right??" Violet asked. By this time all three girls were awake, and worried.
The boys took their positions, holding the hands of the women they loved. "Lex..."
"Spanish Rose..."
"Violet, darling," Bastion began, "Annie...is...in a coma..." He barely managed to keep his voice steady.
Rosa gasped, eyes wide with shock as she placed her free hand over her mouth in horror. "Oh no...Senorita Annie...poor Senor Syrus," she whispered, heart aching for the couple.
Alexis reacted in much the same way as Rosa, placing her other hand on Jaden's. "Annie," she muttered, tears coming to her eyes. However, Violet seemed to be in a state of shock, not even blinking after hearing the news.
"She's hanging on...but...the doctor doesn't know if...Annie's going to make it," Jaden said to Alexis. "Sy's falling apart..."
"She's gotta make it," Tyson said, his eyes burning with pain.
"Violet...darling..?" Bastion asked, trying to get her to talk. "Please, love... talk to me..."
Suddenly, Violet's eyes teared up, and she moved as close to Bastion as she could in her current position. "No...s-she can't die....she can't..."
Bastion held her hand tightly. "She's fighting..." Violet had gotten a little stronger, so the young man pulled his fiancée into a hug. "Don't you give up, either."
"I w-won't, but....Bastion-baby, she was the f-first friend I made at Duel A-Academy. She's my b-best friend," she choked out, holding onto him.
"I know...darling, I know...and..." Bastion couldn't hold back his own tears anymore.
Jaden swallowed hard. "This shouldn't be happening..."
Yubel suddenly appeared beside Jaden, frowning guiltily. "Jaden...this is all my fault. If I hadn't done what I had, maybe this wouldn't have happened..." For the first time in a very long time, the winged duel spirit was having a serious pang of conscience. For she had realized that her actions not only were causing people pain, but that she also was responsible for nearly taking an innocent life. She was sorry, not because Jaden had told her to be, but because she now actually cared. This girl had done absolutely nothing to her, and had been part of saving her and now that girl might die because of Yubel's selfishness and anger.
Jaden looked at Yubel. "Yubel...I don't know anymore...I just wish...Annie's either going to make it..."
"Or she's gonna go meet the Great General," Tyson concluded sadly. The teachers had remained in the room, but after the shadow force field had dissipated and they'd heard what happened to Annie, Joey, Yugi, Seto and Kisara had exited the hospital to the crowd waiting outside. Tea knew when Yugi walked out.
Mai could see it in Joey's eyes, but she asked anyway. "Joey? Hon? What happened?"
Joey sighed and pulled his wife into a hug, needing her strength and comfort. "You guys remember Annie, right?" he asked.
The adults who had been outside, waiting fearfully, nodded. "Yeah...oh, man, Joey," Tristan said, instinctively pulling his wife to him as TJ and Mylie moved to their father and mother. "You aren't saying..."
"I'm afraid so. Guys, she had another heart attack...and now she's in a coma. They're not sure if she'll make it," he explained sadly.
Serenity's eyes widened in surprise, heart aching for the teens. "Oh, no..."
Tea moaned softly. "No..."
Between the time that the shadow bubble had formed and the time it had dissipated, Mokuba and Rebecca had brought the Kaiba clan. "Mom...you can do something, can't you?" Jamie asked his mother. Kisara pulled her youngest son into a hug, wordlessly.
Mokuba groaned. "This is really bad..."
Rebecca nodded in agreement. "Those poor kids. I hope things turn out okay for them..."
"We can't do anything this time," Yugi sighed sadly.
Ishizu sighed too. "This is one of those times...I wish I had the Millennium Necklace back."
Yugi looked at her. "Yeah...when you passed it on to me and Joey was in trouble...I knew he was going to be okay...these kids don't have that..."
"All they can do is hope and pray for the best. I just hope it'll be enough," Serenity stated sadly.
"I'm going back in there," Kisara said.
"Mom...can I do anything?" Noah asked.
Kisara met her oldest child's eyes. "You can pray, angel..." She headed back into the hospital and up to Annie's room.
Zane was still holding Sy tightly. "Kisara," he said, looking up. "I'm staying here if that's all right... Kathy...Alex...Bobby...I'm sorry I couldn't stop this," he apologized.
Alex shook his head. "Now, Zane, don't start blaming yourself. You had about as much control over this as we did."
"Zane...honey...sometimes...all you can do is be there and pray and hope," Kisara said gently. "Syrus...sweetie," she coaxed, "angel...she may come out of this..."
Syrus looked up at Kisara, eyes still filled with tears that had yet to fall. "B-But...what if she..."
Kisara got Zane to let Sy go and pulled the small boy into a hug. "Let it out, sweetie...it's okay to cry..." The tears fell once more, body shaking with quiet sobs. Syrus didn't know what he would do if he lost her. Kisara just held him and rocked him. "Shhh...you love her so much...I know...I know...shhh..." Syrus sniffed a little, unable to stop himself from clinging to her like a child. It hurt to think about Annie being gone forever, never to come back. "Syrus...it's all right to hurt...you don't want to leave now, do you?" she asked.
He shook his head. "N-No..."
"Okay...okay...Zane, honey, go get your mom in the maternity/neo-natal ward, will you?"
"Yeah, Kisara...Sy, I'll be right back with Mom..." Syrus nodded, having stopped shaking. However, tears still fell from his now red and puffy eyes.
Zane ran from the cardiac ward on the fourth floor to the other end of the hospital. "Mom!" he called as he got into the neo-natal ward and saw his mother.
Darla had just finished up with her last patient, and was taking a breather on a bench. She looked up in surprise when Zane ran over, especially at his tone and expression. "Zane? Honey, what's wrong??"
"Mom...you need to come to Annie's room...Something...happened..."
Darla's eyes widened, and she instantly stood. "Tell me on the way!" she said as the two started running, a little slower this time since she was older.
They moved together. "Annie had another heart attack, and she went into cardiac arrest. The doctor managed to revive her, but...she's in a coma, Mom, and they don't know if she's going to make it..."
"Oh, no. This is terrible! How's Sy doing? Is he all right??" Darla asked worriedly. She knew her youngest son must be going through something he shouldn't have to deal with at this age.
"Sy's a wreck, Mom...when he heard Annie flat-line...he passed out. Kisara's spelled me so I could run get you and the Hansons are all in the room. But...Mom, he can't take much more of this...and Annie's on a respirator..."
She knew by mother's instinct that she had to be there for her son, and somehow ran faster. "We have to be there for him, Zane. Right now Sy needs his friends and family for support more than ever before."
"Mom...what if it's not enough?" Zane asked in plain fear.
Darla looked at her oldest son, a mixture of fierce determination and frightened sadness in her eyes. "All we can do is hope and pray, honey. Sometimes it comes down to just that."
Finally, they got to the cardiac ward and to Annie's room. Kisara was sitting in a chair with Syrus, rocking him like a baby. "Oh, thank goodness, Darla. Sy really needs you," she said gently.
Zane grabbed another chair for his mother so she could sit down and take Sy. "Here, Mom," he said. Darla quickly sat down, only pausing a moment to regain her breath before pulling Syrus over to her. He instantly clung to her like he had when he was a little kid after he'd had a nightmare. And, like she had years ago, held him just as close and rubbed his back comfortingly.
When Syrus had calmed down enough, Darla decided to do something she hadn't done in what seemed like forever. " Etre calme, peu l'un," she whispered, which means, "Be still, little one." Syrus was so surprised he stopped crying altogether for a moment, not having heard his mother speak French since he was very young. He was even more surprised at what she did next, but it comforted him to hear her sing the French lullaby again. "Dodo, l'enfant do, L'enfant dormira bien vite Dodo, l'enfant do L'enfant dormira bientôt. Une poule blanche Est là dans la grange. Qui va faire un petit coco. Pour l'enfant qui va fair' dodo. Dodo, l'enfant do, L'enfant dormira bien vite. Dodo, l'enfant do, L'enfant dormira bientôt. Tout le monde est sage Dans le voisinage Il est l'heure d'aller dormir Le sommeil va bientôt venir."
"Darla, that was beautiful," Kathy and Kisara said at the same time.
Bobby looked silently at the mothers and Zane said, "Mom...you haven't sung that since Sy and I were little...and you don't speak French that often..."
Syrus had fallen into an exhausted sleep in her arms, and she simply smiled a little at them. "Well, I knew that lullaby always did calm him down after a nightmare," she whispered.
Kathy smiled. "A-Annie was the same way. Bobby, you had to be rocked when you were really little or you wouldn't go to sleep. And when you had nightmares...you needed me to rock you back to sleep. But you wanted silence...Annie, though...she was rocked and I had to sing a little bit...She loved 'Music of the Night' from Phantom of the Opera." Kathy wiped her eyes, remembering how it had been. She reminded herself of Annie, healthy and happy, cuddling against her in the twilight evenings when Annie was little.
Alex pulled his wife into another hug at the bittersweet memory, glancing at his daughter's still form. Darla sighed. "I'm so sorry this had to happen to your daughter, Kathy. She's a very sweet girl; we've all come to love her..."
"She...she told me when she was in the hospital in Bellevue and Sy was out of the room for a bit...'Mom...even with all of the bad stuff that's happened...this has been the best summer of my life...And it's been the best two years of my life...'" Kathy buried her face in her husband's shoulder, unable to hold back the tears.
He held her close, running a hand through her hair to calm her. Tears burned at the back of Darla's eyes. "I know that...Sy probably felt the same way. He loves her so much; he'd do anything to have her be all right again..."
Zane clenched his fists, blindingly angry at this situation. 'Why, God? Give me a reason for this! My little brother doesn't deserve this pain...TELL ME WHY!' he mentally screamed at the Almighty in agony. 'Just save her...don't let my brother hurt anymore...'
Kisara sensed something was going on with Zane. "Zane...I know it hurts...It hurts so much..."
"They don't deserve this, Kisara...they don't...Annie and Sy never hurt anybody..."
Darla knew her other son needed her now, and turned to Kisara. "Kisara? Could you watch Sy for a minute?" she asked quietly.
Kisara nodded, taking Sy back in her arms. "Of course, Darla," the young mother whispered.
She stood and went to her eldest son. "Zane, it's impossible to understand why these things happen. It doesn't matter whether you're good or bad, there's always a risk," Darla explained, pulling the teen boy into a hug.
"Mom...I just look at him and Annie...I know there's a risk...but...I just can't...I can't do anything to help him...All those times I didn't...And the one time he needs something the most... I can't do anything..."
"I know, and I'm so glad that you've grown so much from your mistakes. I know you want to help your brother since you hadn't before. And there is something you can do, Zane..."
Zane met his mother's eyes. "What? What can I do?"
Darla was somehow able to smile a little for him. "Pray, Zane. That's all we can do for them right now. Pray that she'll make it through this, and that she'll wake up."
Zane nodded. "Will...you guys be okay for a bit? I need to take a walk..."
"Go ahead, Zane. We understand," Alex replied quietly.
Darla nodded. "Sy'll be asleep for a while. He really wore himself out..."
"Call me if there's any change..." Zane said.
Kisara nodded. "We'll page you, Zane..."
Zane is having a crisis of faith now as many people do when so many bad things happen at once. Annie is in a coma, the people who love her are in pain and the future is uncertain. How will Zane deal with this? Next time, join us for "Faith." Until then, please read, review and stay tuned. Thank you!