"Am I ever going to get to see the doctor?" Noa whined for the third time since Seto had returned to the exam room with him.
Seto groaned. The padded chair in the exam room was slightly more comfortable than the plastic chairs in the waiting room, but it still wasn't doing him any favors.
He lay outstretched on the table, the paper strip beneath him rustling every time he shifted his body around. He had changed into a hospital gown while Seto was out. His bare legs were stretched out on the table. His right foot had already begun to show signs of an ugly purple bruise.
Seto couldn't expect that Noa was any more comfortable than himself, but he had to know that complaining wasn't likely to help.
Noa gave a heavy sigh. "Did Mokuba answer the phone?"
"He did."
"What did he have to say?"
"He hopes you feel better soon."
"I will, once I can see an actual doctor. The pain reliever the nurse gave me isn't strong enough."
"I'm sure it's better than nothing," Seto said, to try to curb Noa's comments.
Just as Seto was considering scouting out a vending machine with bad coffee, a nurse in floral scrubs entered the room. As bright as her outfit was, the woman slugged along like she couldn't wait to get home and put her feet up.
"Kaiba?" she called, looking up from a clipboard.
"Finally," Noa stressed.
"The doctor has asked me to bring you to another room so he can take some x-rays."
"I don't want to hobble anymore," Noa said in a tired voice.
Seto stood and gestured to his brother's foot.
"He'll need some assistance walking."
"I'll bring a wheelchair," she said in a dull voice and disappeared.
"I don't need a wheelchair," Noa complained. "I need a doctor."
"The wheelchair will help you get to the doctor," Seto said in a tone thick with false enthusiasm.
"Crutches would do just fine," Noa snipped.
The woman returned and unfolded the chair beside Noa. She held the chair in place while Seto worked to lower Noa into it.
The nurse pushed Noa's chair to another room and helped Noa into another seat. The room was empty. After another round of silent waiting, the doctor finally made it into the room.
The man's eyes were glued to the paper chart in his hands.
"I'm told you have a possible fractured bone, Mister Kaiba, is that correct?"
"My ankle's broken," Noa said, with a sharp glare at Seto.
Taking advantage of a moment the doctor took to study Noa's outstretched foot, Seto narrowed his eyes shaking his head.
"Don't start," he muttered quietly.
"Ahh!" Noa burst out, wincing as the doctor brushed his hand over his foot the same way Seto had.
"We'll want to take some x-rays to be sure. How did this happen?"
Noa glanced at Seto, who was still glaring back.
"I tripped," but his tone was severe.
"Can you be more specific?" the man asked, glancing between the brothers.
Seto moved forward a half-step.
"He tripped over an item I mistakingly left in his path. It was an accident."
"I see. This sort of thing happens all the time. I recommend you try to be more careful in the future," he said to Noa. "I'll be back in a moment. I need to gather my equipment."
The doctor strode out of the room.
"What was that?" Noa demanded when the room was empty.
"What?"
"You, just jumping in there. You made the whole ordeal sound so… trivial."
"It is trivial. Perhaps the consequences aren't, but I don't understand why you're trying to spin this like I personally took a baseball bat to your leg out of malice."
"I never said that!"
"You didn't have to. It's in your tone every time you speak to me. I just didn't want you telling the doctor I'm responsible for something I didn't do to purposely hurt you."
"But you didn't try real hard to prevent it!"
"That's enough," Seto said, heading for the door, hands in the air. "I don't need to take this. Call me when you're ready for a ride home."
After a few hours and two cups of coffee that tasted worse than he'd expected, a nurse emerged from the hallway. She made her way into the waiting room where Seto sat cross legged, tapping his fingers on his knee.
"Are you Mister Seto Kaiba?" she asked as she approached him.
"I am. What's the news?"
"Your brother will be fine. However, I'm afraid we're going to have to keep him overnight. You can go home for now, and we'll call when Noa is ready for a ride home."
"Why are you keeping him?"
"He's currently still medicated for the pain, and the doctor believes it would be best if he rested a bit longer."
Seto rose from his uncomfortable chair, stretching out his back as he did so.
"We'll call you when you brother is ready for a ride home, sir."
"Fine," he said.
He said goodbye to the nurse and walked out of the lobby, the keys to Noa's car already in his hand.
Seto strode into Kaiba's Coats at ten to six in the evening. The lights to the storefront were all shut off, the room fairly dark, but the door remained unlocked. He heard voices in the back room.
"The old man let me stay late sometimes," a loud female voice sounded. "The keys are up here, but you have to take them with you when you go."
A silhouette stood out against the lights of the workroom. Seto recognized the wild shape of Atem's hair instantly.
"I'm sorry, we're closed for the night," Atem called.
"I should hope so, at this hour."
"Oh, it's you." The form of his silhouette shrugged.
"Wonderful to see you, too," Seto said. He walked past the man and into the back room.
Miss Vivian Wong, an athletic woman Seto presumed was in her upper twenties or early thirties, was the only person in the shop aside from Atem.
"Mister Kaiba," she said.
Seto couldn't tell if she sounded startled, or pleased to see him.
"Miss Wong," he greeted. "Where's Daimon?"
"He had to go home," Atem explained. "Something about a problem with his back?"
"The old man needed to get horizontal for a while," Vivian elaborated.
"I see."
"He'll probably retire soon."
"This industry is on the cusp of losing a whole generation of workers. But that's not the problem I'm concerned with right now."
"What's the problem, boss?" Vivian asked.
"Is your brother alright?"
"He'll be fine. But I'd like to know who authorized either of you to close shop."
"…It doesn't appear to be that challenging," Atem said. "We're only shutting down the steamers, and—"
"And counting down the cash register, and taking home the spare keys. This is a security issue. I didn't authorize either of you—"
"With all due respect Mister Kaiba," Vivian stepped in, "Your father authorized me. I know I'm young compared to the gentlemen I'm rubbing elbows with, but I've been working in this shop since you were in middle school. Kaiba Senior let me close up dozens of times."
"Daimon is the only keyholder besides my brother and myself. He should have been here, or he should have shuffled the rest of you out and locked up."
"He was in a lot of pain, Sir," Atem defended. "Even asking him to close out the cash register would have been a lot to ask after his back went out."
"I suppose I could have given him one of my famous Wong Family treatments like I did last time," Vivian offered. "He didn't sound like he was up for it, though."
Seto glared at the woman.
"Unless you're a certified chiropractor, don't kick my employees."
Atem flashed a puzzled look.
"She performed a "treatment" on him once that she swears is supposed to heal back problems."
"And he said he hadn't felt that free of pain in years!"
"It lasted less than an hour."
"Treatment is supposed to be re-administered."
Seto rolled his eyes. "I said no."
"You're so "by-the-book", Mister Kaiba."
"I have to be."
"Relax once in a while, huh?"
She took a moment to sling her bag over her shoulder, pausing to blow him a kiss.
Seto stared at the woman as she headed for the door, finding himself feeling stunned. She was, after all, a very striking woman.
"Goodbye Atem. Goodbye Seto." She stroked his shoulder as she passed him.
Seto was certain it was meant as a platonic gesture, but he wondered if it might have been more as he watched her leave.
When he returned his attention to the room, he noticed Atem's intense stare. His eyes flashed a burning challenge at Seto.
"This can't count as a third strike," Atem declared.
"Can't it?" Seto countered. "Who makes the rules in this game?"
A/N: Personally, I've always loved Vivian Wong. I know she only had a short appearance during the Grand Prix episodes, but I love the way she asserted herself on Seto and Yugi. She's beautiful and gutsy, the kind of girl I always pictured Seto to want to be with.