Hey everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Enjoy the new one!
Disclaimer: If my name was Kazuki Takahashi then I wouldn't even be on this site, so, yes, I don't own YuGiOh GX.
Claimer: My series, my plots, my titles, my original characters…go get your own.
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Narrative POV
Time Skip – The Next Day (Day 12)
"So you're not going to the hospital today?" Atticus asked.
Jesse shook his head, shifting his cell phone to his other ear as he continued to fold the blankets he'd just washed and dried. "Alexis still isn't feeling any better and Claire's still drugged up, so she'll be asleep most of the day." He placed the blanket in a basket and reached for some bedding and began folding it. "So I'm going to stay here and take care of Alexis."
"Oh, okay. We're just going to hang around the hotel, maybe go to town and do a little shopping, so keep me updated, all right?"
Jesse smiled and picked up the cloth-filled basket, kicking the empty one to the space next to the dryer. "You got it."
Atticus sighed. "Thanks. We'll see you tomorrow?"
"Hopefully." Balancing the basket on one knee, Jesse grabbed his phone and hung up, shoving it in his back pocket. He sighed and hurried up the stairs, exiting the basement where the Yukis kept their laundry. Joey, who had followed Jesse down there, followed him up, nearly knocking him back down the steps. "Agh, crazy dog!"
Joey barked, ran around in a circle, and then ran up the stairs, disappearing down the hall toward Jesse's room.
He sighed and made a move to go upstairs when the house phone began to ring. He set the basket down on the couch and walked over to the kitchen counter, grabbing the phone and answering it, "Yuki residence, Jesse speaking."
"Jesse, you're still there?" Chris asked.
"Alexis is still sick." Jesse sat down on a bar stool, spinning around on it.
"Is she any better than she was last night?"
"Honestly? I'm not sure. She's asleep right now." Jesse looked up the stairs, as if she was going to come down. "I was just doing a bit of housework."
"Jesse, you're our guest, you don't need to do anything."
Jesse smiled. "Too late, it's already done."
Chris chuckled. "Funny." He sighed. "So, you're staying at the house today?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Dr. Yates isn't letting anyone see Jaden today, that's why I called. I just got a hold of Sam and she told the others."
"That explains why they're just chillin' at the hotel." Jesse sighed. "Why is Jaden suddenly not allowed visitors?"
"Because Dr. Yates is a royal prick?"
Jesse chuckled. "Maybe."
Chris laughed. "Actually, he said something about how it's 'protocol' for them to excuse visitors for a twenty-four our period."
"Okay, I don't work there, and I even know that's a load of hoey," Jesse said.
"Lauren's pissed, and she's already reported Dr. Yates to the Dean of Medicine." Chris sighed. "Anyway, I think it's a good idea to keep away from the hospital for a day."
"Yeah." Jesse sighed and scratched his fingers through his hair. "Is that all? I've still got some things to do."
"Yeah, that's all. But if I come home and find it spotless, I won't be happy."
"What was that last thing? I couldn't hear you." Jesse smiled as he hung up the phone, only after hearing Chris start laughing. He set the phone back in its cradle and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "Geez." He sighed again and grabbed the basket from the couch, heading back upstairs. He walked into his room and set the basket on the end of his bed.
"Who was on the phone?" Alexis asked, voice groggy. She rolled over Claire's bed to look at Jesse; her eyelids drooped slightly over her eyes, her face pale. She was curled into a tight ball, the blanket pulled tight around her neck.
"Chris." Jesse pulled the blanket from the basket and shook it out, laying it out on his bed. "Go back to sleep." He set the basket on the ground by his bed and moved over her side, pressing his hand to her forehead. "You're still warm."
She sighed and shook her head, making his hand fall. "I'll be fine."
He nodded. "Sure." He turned to the table at the head of the bed and picked up the small bottle there, opening it and shaking out two white pills. He grabbed the glass of water and turned to Alexis, extending them to her. "Take them."
She made a face at him, but sat up and took the glass and aspirin. When she was done, she handed Jesse the water and he set it back down. He lightly pushed her down, covering her back up with the blanket. "Get some more rest, Alexis." He turned to go, stopping when he felt her grab his wrist.
"Jesse, wait."
He turned to look at her. "What?"
She smiled softly at him. "Thank you." She squeezed his wrist once before letting go and closing her eyes.
He smiled at her, brushing some hair from her forehead as he leaned down to press his lips there lightly. "You're welcome, Lex." He turned and, before leaving, grabbed his sketch book and some pencils. He left the door slightly ajar, mainly because Joey was curled up in the corner of the room.
Jesse sighed and began heading down the hall, back toward the stairs when he paused outside of Jaden's room. He stared at the closed door, chewing on his lower lip, before sighing and entering the room. He flicked on the light, standing the in the doorway for a few minutes before walking over and sitting down on the edge of Jaden's bed. Sighing, he looked around the room, mainly at all of Jaden's pictures. His eyes paused when they noticed Jaden's acoustic guitar propped in the corner, a composition notebook right next to it.
Curious, Jesse left his sketchbook on the bed and walked over, grabbing the book, turning it over to see "Lyrics" written on the cover. Deep down, Jesse knew he shouldn't, but he found himself opening the cover. Most of the pages were filled, a lot of blank ink and scribbles, patches of blue and red. He paused when he came on the last written page. His eyes scanned the words, jaw falling slightly slack. "Oh…my…god."
Jesse jumped a mile high, the notebook falling from his hands when Joey came bounding out of his room, going down the stairs. He sighed and bent down, grabbing the notebook and setting it back where it was. He walked back to the bed and grabbed his sketchbook, sitting back down on the edge. He opened it to a blank page and grabbed a pencil. He pressed the lead to the page, hesitating for a second, before he started to sketch.
Jesse wasn't sure how long he sat there sketching, but he didn't stop until he was finished, and when he was, he couldn't believe what he had sketched. "Even now that it's on paper, it still doesn't make any sense." He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, his book in his lap. He looked back at what he'd drawn.
It was a large rectangle. The dominate part of the drawing was inside the rectangle, him holding Alexis as she slept on his shoulder. It was yesterday, just after she had gotten ill at the hospital. Behind his shoulder, Jaden stood next to the stall Alexis and Jesse had just been in. Winged Kuriboh sat on his shoulder and they were both staring at the mirror where Jesse was standing. In that mirror yesterday, Jesse swore he saw exactly what he just drew. Only when he spun around, there was no one behind him, he couldn't even see Winged Kuriboh.
Jesse sighed and closed his book, falling back on the bed. "But that was too real…not to be real…" He sighed and closed his eyes, turning on his side and falling asleep before he realized it.
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"Yes, Sir, I know I shouldn't have lied like that, especially to Dr. Yuki, but I had good intentions," Dr. Yates defended himself to the Dean of Medicine, Dr. Kawasaki.
The man simply folded his arms across his chest, eyes hard on the blonde-haired doctor before him. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Dr. Yates. This blatant lie will not go unpunished."
"Sir, I know it was wrong but the Dr. Yuki and her family have been here for days. It was just a little white lie to keep them out of the hospital. Besides, Jaden's friends have been causing quite a ruckus around the hospital."
"Then that is my problem to handle, Dr. Yates, not yours."
Dr. Yates bowed his head. "Yes, Sir. My apologies."
Dr. Kawasaki narrowed his eyes at Dr. Yates and looked around the hall, seeing the nurses at the end of the hall, trying to look like they were talking without listening but Dr. Kawasaki wasn't fooled. He turned back to Dr. Yates and said, "Let's continue this conversation in my office."
Dr. Yates nodded and followed the Dean. The nurses, seeing that the reprimand was over, turned and went back to work. Now the hall was completely empty. Slowly, the door that led to the janitor's closet opened and Danny stepped out.
"Whew, I thought they'd never leave," he said, looking down the hall that Dr. Kawasaki and Dr. Yates just went down. He didn't give them a chance to return, instead quickly running into Jaden's room. He smiled when he was safely on the other side. "I still got it."
His mini celebration was cut short when he could hear the steady beeping of the heart monitor. He swallowed and turned to see Jaden lying in the bed, looking like he was just sleeping. Danny had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, but he ignored it and walked over to the bed, standing at Jaden's left side.
"I can't say how many times I dreamed of being the one that put you here," Danny whispered. He cleared his throat. "Of course, that was before…before we finally talked." He sighed and grabbed a chair from the wall, pulling it to the bedside and sitting down. "Which, you know, is all my fault."
Without thinking, Danny reached out and took Jaden's hand, holding it tightly. "After my sister died, I couldn't feel anything beyond the intense pain that was consuming me. Everything hurt and every day I wished for her back, for me to be where she was, for you to be there, for me to be there with her." Danny sighed again, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "I'm an idiot."
He dropped his hand and looked closely at Jaden. "Last summer, before you knocked some sense into me, when I was still the royal dick of Ochi City, I…" Danny broke off, shaking his head and dropping Jaden's hand so he could rub both of his palms across his jeans. "Geez, I don't know how to say it."
He took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. "Okay, here goes." He took another breath and began. "Jaden, those years when I hated you, when I tried to kill you, I…I never really meant any of it. As crazy as that sounds, I never hated you and I never really wanted to kill you." He looked up and stared at Jaden's face.
"I'm not sure how to explain it, but you've always been the one, Jaden." He paused before smiling softly. "You've always been my rock, the one thing that gave me a reason to keep going." He turned away, ashamed. "When I kept trying to avenge Tamara, you were my rock in the sense that I couldn't leave this earth until I knew you had suffered for what happened to her."
"After Tamara's death, I became depressed and had a lot of suicidal tendencies." Danny took a deep breath. "When I chose to blame you, to make you pay, all of that changed." He looked back at Jaden. "Sure, I changed, too, but I never wanted to kill myself again, which is a small victory."
Danny shook his head, hands clenching on his thighs. "What I'm trying to say, Jaden, is you've always been there for me in someway and I don't want to think of a world where you can't be there." He looked away again. "Of course, you know I'd live if you…didn't, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't want to lose you."
Danny closed his eyes tightly. "When we weren't friends, I lost so many years with you and I don't want to lose anymore." He took in an unsteady breath. "I just got my best friend back and I can't stand to lose him again." He sighed and opened his eyes, staring at Jaden for a second before whispering, "Please wake up."
"Danny."
Said boy jumped three feet in their, falling out of his chair and landing on the ground. "Kaite!" he gasped as he sat up, staring at her in shock. "What are you doing here?"
She hurried over to him, pulling him to his feet. "Finding you. The doctors and nurses will be coming to see Jaden soon, so it's time to go."
He nodded and allowed her to lead him out of the room. When they were safely out of the hospital, Danny looked at Kaite and asked, "How did you know I would be with Jaden?"
She turned and smiled at him, squeezing his hand. "Because I know you."
He smiled and stopped, pulling Kaite to him, hugging her tightly, thinking, 'I don't want to lose Jaden now that I have him back, but having Kaite let's me know that no matter what happens, I won't be that scared boy who just lost his sister ever again.'
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Interesting ending…Hmmm…I love Danny though! :)
And, gasp!, Jesse saw Jaden! O.o
So many questions, very few answers.
Anyway, please review!
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-o-Mel-o-