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.

xXx

Narrative POV

Time Skip – The Next Day (Day 14)

"So, wait, what exactly happened yesterday?" Aster asked, raising his hands up to stop Jesse mid-sentence.

Jesse sighed and sat down, propping his feet up on the table of the waiting room, where they were all sitting. "Dr. Yates tried to kill Alexis…twice."

"Why?" Atticus asked.

"Because I could identify him as the man who hit us two weeks ago," Alexis said.

"Wait – that was him?" Syrus gasped, jaw dropping. Alexis and Jesse nodded. "WHY!"

The pair looked at each other before looking back at Syrus. "He didn't exactly say," Jesse lied smoothly, Alexis nodding.

"There has got to be a reason," Bastion said, placing his chin in his hand.

"I'm sure there is," Jesse agreed. "But he didn't divulge it to Lex or me."

Everyone looked at each other, obviously in shock that the doctor who was taking care of one of their closest friends was the very man that put him there. They all sat there in silence, simply trying to absorb this new information.

After a few minutes, Morgan asked, "So now what?"

Everyone looked up and at each other. Slowly, Zane said, "We can't continue to stay here." He looked down at his hands, which he was clenching and unclenching, as everyone turned to stare at him. "We've argued too many times and given in too many times to leave this hospital and enjoy our vacation, which ends in a week."

"But, Zane," Sam began, lightly touching his arm.

He just shook his head, stopping her. "No, Sam, there are no buts. We've fought too many times over this same issue, and look where we were; back in the hospital." He looked at everyone. "The man who hurt Jaden is caught, so we can all go on and enjoy the remainder of our vacation."

Syrus raised a shaking finger and pointed down the hall toward the ICU, saying, "But Jay…"

"Won't change any time soon," Zane finished, eyes narrowing as if to dare anyone to say anything about his morbid point of view. "We all know that it's true; I want Jaden to wake up as much as you guys do, but we can't stay here." He sighed and shook his head, eyes closing. "Look at us, wasting our time here and arguing again!" He stood up and looked at everyone. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to skip right to the part where we leave the hospital and spend the day actually having fun, just like Jaden would want us to."

Everyone looked at each other before sighing and standing up, leaving Jesse and Alexis sitting.

"All right, Zane, you win," Aster said, rubbing his hand over the top of his head. "I just hope you have some plans to keep us all very busy for the next week."

Zane's lips curved up lightly at the corners. "Don't worry, Aster; I have plenty of things to keep us busy." He jerked his head to the exit and everyone left, leaving him standing there with Jesse and Alexis. He didn't say anything, only walking over and dropping a piece of paper in Jesse's lap.

Jesse picked it up and looked up at Zane curiously. "What is this?"

"My phone number, because I know you don't have it. Call me if you and Alexis decide to get out of the hospital again; I'll let you know where we are," Zane answered.

Jesse looked back at the paper before smiling softly and nodding. "Sure, okay, Zane. Have fun."

Zane opened his mouth to answer, but closed it and nodded. He turned and left, leaving Jesse and Alexis. Jesse shoved the paper into the front pocket of his jeans before sighing and dropping his head against the back of the couch, eyes drifting shut.

Alexis lightly touched his leg. "Are you okay?"

Jesse didn't answer.

"You're still worried about Claire, aren't you?"

Again, Jesse didn't answer, but the way his jaw tightened was answer enough.

Alexis sighed and patted Jesse's thigh before standing up, grabbing his hand and yanking him up. He staggered slightly before looking at her confused. "What?" he asked.

She tugged his hand, making him walk with her. "Come on, I'm not letting you sulk a minute longer."

He frowned. "I wasn't sulking," he muttered. She looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. He sighed and shrugged. "Fine, I was sulking, so what?"

"So, we're going to get to the bottom of your problem," she said.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

She stopped and smiled at him, pushing open the door next to them. "We talk to the source."

Jesse's face paled when Alexis tugged him into Claire's room. "Alexis, no, please," he whispered, the echo of Claire's screams bouncing around his head.

Alexis just patted his hand and pulled him into the room until they were standing next to Claire's bed; she was asleep, face peaceful. Her arms were bandaged and her wrists were shackled to the bedrail, most likely to keep her from hurting herself again if she was to experience another in between episode like the day before.

Jesse just shook his head. "She's asleep, let's go." He turned to leave but Alexis clasped her hand around his elbow and pulled him back, ignoring the way he gasped and the gooseflesh that now covered his arms.

"Jesse, relax," she said, rubbing his arm.

Jesse closed his mouth and shook his head. "How can I relax when all I hear are her screams?" he whispered, voice torn. His body suddenly tensed, making Alexis squeeze his hand harder.

"You won't be able to put those screams to bed if you don't talk to her," Alexis insisted, pulling him in front of her so he was standing next to Claire. "I'm going to go talk to Chris downtown; he wants my statement for his case against Dr. Yates. I'll be back in an hour."

He looked up at her, eyes wide and terrified. "You're leaving me here alone?"

She smiled softly at him. "Relax, Jesse. She's your girlfriend, not a monster; you'll be fine." She turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Jesse was half tempted to sprint from the room the second he was sure Alexis was gone and wouldn't drag him back. However, before he could make his great escape, the chains linking Claire to the bed rattled; he froze.

Someone sighed and whispered, "I always thought I'd see Jaden shackled to a bed, not me."

Jesse swallowed and slowly turned to see Claire's eyes half lidded. He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest when she turned her glazed eyes up at him. She blinked a few times until they cleared and the two of them were staring at each other.

"Jesse?"

He swallowed again and whispered, "Yeah?"

She shifted up in the bed as much as the chains would allow her and stared at him confused. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "'Course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you look terrified."

He quickly covered his face with his hands, turning away from her as he tried to compose his expression. "Do I?" he asked, voice muffled by his hands.

"Yes," Claire said.

Jesse took a deep breath and turned back to her, giving her a charming smile. "How about now?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, you still do. Jesse, what's wrong?"

He sighed and turned back around, grabbing a chair and pulling it over to Claire's bedside, sitting down. He grabbed a bobby pin from the table beside the bed and bent it open, breaking it in half. He moved over to the cuff around Claire's wrist and put the broken end of one of the pins into the lock. As he moved the pin around, he asked, "Do you know why the doctors put these on you?"

"Not really; every time I've woken up, a nurse came in and immediately put me back to sleep." She looked away from him and at the door. "Speaking of which, why isn't one here yet?"

"I don't know," Jesse answered. He sighed and shoved the pin into the lock, popping it open and freeing Claire.

She lifted her hand out of it and stared at it before looking at Jesse in shock. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

He moved closer to her and grabbed her hand, linking their fingers. "Ma would sometimes accidently lock me out of the house and I never had my key, so I had to learn to break into my own house." He shrugged. "It isn't that big a deal." He looked back at her. "Anyway, the nurses didn't tell you anything?"

Claire shook her head. "No, why? What happened?"

"Yesterday you were supposed to be discharged," Jesse began.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Then why am I still here?"

"Because when the nurses came to wake you up, you started screaming and crying and thrashing around. That's why your arms are bandaged; you tore the IV drips from your arms." He rubbed her arm, as if to show her exactly what happened.

Claire stared at him for a few minutes before whispering, "I don't remember any of that."

Jesse nodded. "I figured you didn't."

"Why'd I do that?"

"The doctor said you were caught in an in between state, when you're awake but you think you're dreaming," he explained.

Claire nodded. "That makes some sense."

Jesse nodded again before squeezing her hand and asking, "Claire, what were you dreaming about?"

She snapped her head up and stared at him, eyes wide and terrified as all of the blood drained from her face; her hand became limp in his. "No-nothing," she whispered in a rough voice. Jesse could see that the dream – or nightmare – was flashing across her mind like a vivid movie.

"Claire…" he began but she cut him off.

"What did I do yesterday? While I was stuck in the weird awake but not awake state," she clarified.

Jesse flinched and looked down. "You basically screamed and cried like a child, yelling at and trying to hit anyone who got close to you. If they touched you, you screamed louder, like they were hurting you." He took in a shuddering breath before continuing, "And when the doctor had a syringe with a sedative, you started screaming even louder, telling him to stay away. Two male nurses had to hold you down while he injected you; by then you were sobbing uncontrollably as you apologized."

Jesse looked up at her, seeing that she looked even paler than before, her eyes hollow as she pressed her lips tightly together. "Claire, what happened?"

She shook her head slowly. "Please."

"Please what?"

"Please don't make me tell you," she whispered, voice broken as tears spilled from her eyes. Jesse tried to find something in him that would allow him to argue with her, to make her tell him what made her have that nightmare – which ended up giving him his own. But the way she pleaded with him, coupled with the tears, stopped the argument before it formed.

So Jesse sighed and let go of her hand, standing up and shoving the chair back where he got it. Claire didn't look up at him as he leaned across her. Using the other half of the bobby pin, Jesse freed Claire's other wrist from the shackle before sitting down next to her and gathering in his arms; she gasped as she adjusted against him.

Jesse kissed the top of her head, whispering into her hair. "Okay."

That one word broke Claire, and she clutched the back of Jesse's shirt as she pressed her face into his chest and sobbed. Jesse simply pulled her tighter against him and rested his cheek against the top of her head, rocking her gently as she sobbed.

Whatever the nightmare was, it was a secret burned too deep into Claire for her to tell him – yet. Jesse may have kept his life an open book for all to read, but he knew from the moment he began to talk to Claire that she wasn't like him; there were parts of her she kept to herself and refused to let anyone else see.

Jesse was patient, and he loved her more than words could describe, so he would wait for the time when Claire opened all of herself to him. He just hoped she wouldn't torture herself much longer before she finally does.

xXx

A red, rubber ball hit the tiled floor of a darkened room, a boy clad in black nearly invisible. He caught the ball and looked up at the boy his age resting in the bed in front of him. The boy in black sighed and bounced the ball to his right.

"For someone who has been lying in a darkened hospital room for almost two weeks, you still look tanner than me."

Chazz sighed again and grabbed the ball, clutching it in his hand as he stared at Jaden. "It's so unfair." He threw the ball across the room, catching it when it bounced back. He lounged back in the chair he was seated in. "Always the center of attention without ever meaning to." Chazz smirked. "But even I wouldn't want to be in your place."

He sighed again before tossing the ball across the room, hand shooting up to catch it as it bounced back. "Still, you seem to be the only one anyone cares about." Chazz sagged back against his chair, arms falling limp at his side. "Even I'll admit I'm worried about you." His back straightened when he realized what he said. "Not that I'll ever admit that to anyone who can hear me."

He leaned forward, placing his chin his hand as he shook his head. "Who am I kidding? Everyone knows I'm worried; I haven't been exactly hiding it from everyone." He looked up at the still body a few feet from him. "It's so unfair. Just when I begin to realize what a good friend I have in Jaden, he gets put in the hospital."

Chazz groaned and raked his fingers through his hair. "What am I saying? Realize? I've always known what a good friend I had, even if I never acted like it." He looked up again, eyes locking on the softly beeping heart monitor. "He really has the biggest heart I've ever seen."

He sighed and walked over to Jaden's side, folding his hands around the metal rail attached to the side of the bed. He stared at Jaden's peaceful face before whispering, "I hate myself for never telling you that you are the first true friend I've ever had. I hate myself for making it seem like I hated you, when that was never the case. I hate myself for knowing that I'll never be as good as you are." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Okay, everyone is going to start wondering where I am, so I'm just going to say it and get it over with," he muttered. Chazz shook his head quickly before opening his eyes and staring at Jaden. "You're the only person I feel close to, Jaden, the only one who makes me want to be better in so many ways. If you died here, in this hospital, it's like you're quitting, like you're giving up everything, and that's not the annoying Slifer I know."

He grabbed Jaden's hand and held it tightly between his. "So you better wake up soon, Jaden, because you're stronger than this, stronger than anyone I've ever met or anything I've ever seen. You can do anything, so now you just need to wake up and prove to everyone else that you can."

Chazz dropped Jaden's hand and turned, leaving the room without another word or a backward glance. In Jaden's hand that Chazz held tightly remained the red rubber ball he kept bouncing. The limp, tan hand holding the ball lay there. Suddenly, the fingers twitched and the heart monitor blipped. All too soon, the hand fell limp again, the ball rolling away and falling to rest against the body hidden beneath the sheets. The heart monitors steady beat returned but the atmosphere in the room changed, became charged. One could say the room itself grew hopeful.

xXx

Huh, funky ending, but I like it! : )

Okay, normally I bash Chazz like there's no tomorrow, but I really like the guy, so I gave him so reprieve here. That and I really liked his confession. I thought I kept it very "The-Chazz" – like. I could be wrong, but I really think I did.

Anyway, please review!

-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-

-o-Mel-o-