YAY! I got the chapter up on time! And I noticed that I am only 2 reviews away from 100! T^T You guys are the best ever! I wanna do something special for achieving this accomplishment, but idk what yet. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to put them in a review! :)

Anyway, we are getting back into the courtroom for some tension between Seto and Dr. Taylor.

Enjoy. :)

Chapter 25

Seto

Doctors have this thing about being subpoenaed: they let you know, with every syllable of every word, that no moment of this testimony will make up for the fact that while they were sitting on the witness stand under duress, patients were waiting, people were dying. Frankly, it pisses me off. And before I know it, I can't help myself, I am asking for a bathroom break, leaning down to retie my shoe, gathering my thoughts and stuffing sentences with pregnant pauses—whatever it takes to keep them cooling their heels just a few seconds more.

Dr. Taylor is no exception to the rule. From the onset he's anxious to leave. He checks his watch so often you'd think he was about to miss a train. The difference this time around is that Michelle Mutou is just as anxious to get him out of the courtroom. Because the patient who is waiting, is the person who is dying, is Yami.

But beside me, Yugi's body throws heat. I get up, continue my questioning. Slowly. "Dr. Taylor, were any of the treatments that involved donation from Yugi's body 'sure things'?"

"Nothing in cancer is a sure thing, Mr. Kaiba."

"Was that explained to the Mutou's?"

"We carefully explain the risks of every procedure, because once you begin treatments, you compromise other bodily systems. What we wind up doing for one treatment successfully may come back to haunt you the next time around." He smiles at Michelle. "That said, Yami's an incredible young man. He wasn't expected to live past age four, and here he is at seventeen."

"Thanks to his brother," I point out.

Dr. Taylor nods. "Not many patients have both the strength of body and the good fortune to have a perfectly matched donor available to them."

I stand up, my hands in my pockets. "Can you tell the Court how the Mutou's came to consult Roseburg and Lexington Hospital's preimplantation genetic diagnosis team to conceive Yugi?"

"After their son was tested and found to be an unsuitable donor for Yugi, I told the Mutou's about another family I'd worked with. They'd tested all the patient's siblings, and more qualified, but then the mother got pregnant during the course of treatment and that child happened to be a perfect match."

"Did you tell the Mutou's to conceive a genetically programmed match, would have to be available for all these treatments for Yami throughout his life?"

"We were talking about a single cord blood treatment at the time," Dr. Taylor says. "Subsequent donations came about because Yami didn't respond to the first one. And because they offered more promising results."

"So if tomorrow scientists were to come up with a procedure that would cure Yami's cancer if Yugi only cut off his head and gave it to his brother, would you recommend that?"

"Obviously not. I would never recommend a treatment that risked another child's life."

"Isn't that what you've done for the past fifteen years?"

His face tightens. "None of the treatments have caused significant long-term harm to Yugi."

I take a piece of paper out of my briefcase and hand it to the judge, and then to Dr. Taylor. "Can you read the part that is marked?"

He squints his eyes, to read it, and clears his throat. "I understand that anesthesia involves potential risks. These risks may include, but are not limited to: adverse drug reactions, sore throat, injury to teeth and dental work, damage to vocal cords, respiratory problems, minor pain and discomfort, loss of sensation, headaches, infection, allergic reaction, awareness during general anesthesia, jaundice, bleeding, nerve injury, blood clot, heart attack, brain damage, and even loss of bodily function or of life."

"Are you familiar with this form, Doctor?"

"Yes. It is a standard consent form for a surgical procedure."

"Can you tell us who the patient received it was?"

"Yugi Mutou."

"And who signed the consent form?"

"Michelle Mutou."

I turn back on my heels. "Dr. Taylor, anesthesia carries a risk of life impairment or death. Those are pretty strong long-term effects."

"That's exactly why we have a consent form. It's to protect us from people like you," he says. "But realistically, the risk is extremely small. And the procedure of donating marrow is fairly simple."

"Why was Yugi being anesthetized for such a simple procedure?"

"It's less traumatic for a child, and they're less likely to squirm around."

"And after the procedure, did Yugi experience any pain?"

"Maybe a little," Dr. Taylor says.

"You don't remember?"

"It's been a while. I'm sure even Yugi's forgotten about it by now."

"You think?" I turn to Yugi. "Should we ask him?"

Judge Solomon crosses his arms.

"Speaking of risks," I continue smoothly. "Can you tell us about the research that's been done on the long-term effects of the growth factor shots he's taken twice now, prior to harvest for transplant?"

"Theoretically, there shouldn't be any long-term sequelae."

"Theoretically," I repeat. "Why theoretically?"

"Because the research has been done on lab animals," Dr. Taylor admits. "Effects on humans are still being tracked."

"How comforting."

He shrugs. "Physicians don't need to prescribe drugs that have the potential to wreak havoc."

"Have you ever heard of thalidomide, Doctor?" I ask.

"Of course. In fact, recently, it's been resurrected for cancer research."

"And it was a milestone drug once before," I point out. "With catastrophic effects. Speaking of which...this kidney donation—are there risks associated with the procedure?"

"No more than for most surgeries," Dr. Taylor says.

"Could Yugi die from complications of this surgery?"

"It's highly unlikely, Mr. Kaiba."

"Well, then, let's assume that Yugi comes through the procedure with flying colors. How will having a single kidney affect him for the rest of his life?"

"It won't, really," the doctor says. "That's the beauty of it."

I hand him a flyer that has come from the nephrology department of his own hospital. "Can you please read the highlighted section?"

He nods and leans to read it. "Increased chance of hypertension. Donors are advised to refrain from contact sports to eliminate the risk of harming their remaining kidney."

I clasp my hands behind my back. "Did you know that Yugi swims in his own free time?"

He leans towards him. "I didn't know."

"He's the best on his team, number one every year." I let this sink in. "But this donation is hypothetical, let's concentrate on the ones that have already happened. The growth factor shots, the DLI, the stem cells, the lymphocyte donations, the bone marrow—all of these myriad treatments Yugi endured—in your expert opinion, Doctor, are you saying that Yugi has not undergone any significant medical harm from these procedures?"

"Significant?" He hesitates. "No, he has not."

"Has he received any significant benefit from them?"

Dr. Taylor looks at me for a very long time. "Sure," he says. "He's saving his brother."

Yugi and I are eating lunch upstairs at the courthouse when Joey walks in. "Is dis a private party?"

Yugi waves him inside, and Joey sits down without so much as a glance towards me. "How are ya doin'?" he asks.

"Okay," Yugi replies. "I just want this to be over."

Joey opens up a packet of salad dressing and pours it over the lunch he's brought. "It will be, before ya know it."

He looks at me when he says this, briefly.

That's all it takes for me to remember the smell of his skin, and the spot below his naval where he has a beauty mark in the shape of a small cresent moon.

Suddenly, Yugi gets up. "I'm going to take Coco for a walk," he announces.

"Like hell you are. There are reporters out there, still."

"I'll walk him in the hallway, then."

"You can't. He has to be walked by me; it's part of his training."

"Then I'm going to go pee," Yugi says. "That's something I'm still allowed to do by myself, right?"

He walk out of the conference room, leaving Joey and me and everything that shouldn't have happened but did.

"He left us alone on purpose," I realize.

Joey nods. "He's a smart kid. He can read people very well." Then he sets down his plastic fork. "Your car is full of dog hair."

"I know. I keep asking Coco to pull it back in a ponytail, but he never listens."

"Why didn't you just get me up?"

I grin. "Because we were anchored in a no-wake zone."

Joey, however, doesn't even crack a smile. "Was last night a joke ta ya, Seto?"

That old adage pops into my head: If you want to see God laugh, make a plan. And because I am a coward, I grab the dog by his collar. "I need to walk him before we're called back into court."

Joey's voice follows me to the door. "Ya didn't answer me."

"You don't want me to," I say. I don't turn around. That way I don't have to see his face.

When Judge Solomon adjourns us for the day at three because of a weekly chiropractic appointment, I walk Yugi out to the lobby to find his father—but Darrell's gone. Michelle looks around, surprised. "Maybe he got a call," she says. "Yugi, I'll—"

But I put my hand on Yugi's shoulder. "I'll take you to the police department."

In the car, he is quiet. I pull into the station parking lot and leave the engine running. "Listen," I tell him, "you may not have realized it, but we had a great first day."

"Whatever."

He gets out of the car without another word and Coco hops up into the vacated front seat. Yugi walks towards the station, but then veers left. I start to pull back out, and then against my better judgment turn off the engine. Leaving Coco in the car, I follow him around the back of the building.

He stands like a statue, his face turned up to the sky. What am I supposed to do, say? I have never been a parent; I can barely take care of myself.

As it turns out, Yugi starts speaking first. "Did you ever do something you knew was wrong, even though it felt right?"

I think of Joey. "Yeah."

"Sometimes I hate myself," Yugi murmurs.

"Sometimes," I tell him, "I hate myself, too."

This surprises him. He looks at me, and then at the sky again. "They're up there. The stars. Even when you can't see them."

I put my hands into my pockets. "I used to wish on a star every night."

"For what?"

"To get out of hell." He doesn't to face me. "My younger brother, Mokuba, and I were orphans at a young age. Somehow, someway, we got out of there and lived with a horrible stepfather who was filthy rich. Something I could never imagine me being: rich."

"My dad told me that a bunch of astronomers found a new place where stars are being born. Only it's taken us 2,500 years to see them." He turns to me. "Did you get along with your stepfather?"

I think about lying to him, but then I shake my head. "I used to think that I would become my stepdad one day, when I grew up, but I'm not. Somewhere along the way, I didn't want Mokuba to follow behind me in my mistakes, anyway."

The sun washes over his milky skin, lights the line of his throat. "I get it," Yugi says. "You were invisible, too."

I know that was a short chapter, and the next one is not too short nor too long...

So, what do you all think? How about you leave a review please? ;)