My good lord, has it been a while! Hey, everyone! I am sooo sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been so busy with school and I've been worrying about applying for college. But you know me. When I have that "ah ha" moment when working on a chapter, I can't seem to stop until it's done. So, here it is. Hope you like it :)
(Mokuba's POV): "I'm glad we got to do this tonight Seto," I told my brother as he signed our check, "I wish we could do this more often."
"Me too, kid," Seto told me as he slid the signed check to the outer edge of our table.
I was happy at first, but the end of this little bit of time together only reminded me that it would be a long while before we got to do stuff like this again. Seto had been working on a new dueling system for KaibaCorp that he said will take dueling to the next level. Combined with his normal work load, this project is taking up all of his spare time. He's been staying late at the office, which is the main reason why we're at dinner at 10:30 at night. I pretty much had to beg him to take a break.
We sat for just a few more minutes. My eyes roamed aimlessly around the restaurant. That's when I caught sight of one of the flat screen televisions mounted on the wall. What I saw on the screen shook me to the core. I wanted it to be a joke, of course, that would be a pretty sick joke.
"Seto!" I exclaimed.
My outburst seemed to startle him. "What?" he asked in shock, "What is it, Mokuba?"
"We have to go," I said, quickly getting up from the table and heading for the door. Seto came up behind me a few seconds later as Isaac pulled up in the limo. I opened the back door myself and hurriedly climbed in, Seto following soon after me.
"Where to, Mr. Kaiba?" Isaac asked from the driver's seat.
"Methodist Hospital on the Upper West Side!" I shouted to him. Without hesitation, he took off in a flash.
"Sorry, Isaac," I said to him, "but this is an emergency."
Seto grabbed my shoulders forcing me to look at him. "Mokuba, what is wrong?" he asked me sternly.
"Seto…"
(Melissa's POV): "I still can't believe it!" I said to Ana after hearing her secret.
We had been playing truth or dare for a good hour and a half, so we decided to go back down to the kitchen for something to drink.
"It's true," Hoshi told me as she took a pitcher of pink lemonade out of the refrigerator and poured glasses for the four of us, "Ana used to like Mokuba a couple years back."
I looked back at Ana, who was blushing bright red.
"So, what made you like him?" I asked her as Hoshi handed me my glass.
"He's just so sweet, you know?" she explained, "He's always been so kind. He's a good friend."
"Not to mention, he is pretty cute," Jaz pointed out.
"That, too," Ana acknowledged.
"Do you still like him?" I asked.
Ana shook her head. "Believe it or not, as we became closer, I started seeing him as more of a brother and less of a love interest. Then, the feeling just kind of went away," she explained.
"Yeah, now Sarah's all over him," Jaz pointed out.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah," Hoshi said.
"What won't Mr. White do for a merger?" Ana asked.
"Huh?" I asked, not quite understanding.
"Sarah's daddy is the CEO of the White Corporation. He's a major technological contributor to KaibaCorp. He supplies them with different machines, parts for new products, computers, stuff like that," Jaz somewhat explained.
"Okay…but I still don't quite see what Sarah has to do with that," I said.
"Well, it's Valorie too, but regardless," Hoshi said, "We kind of have this theory that Mr. White is using his daughters to get to the Kaibas."
"You know," Jaz added in, "to kind of soften Kaiba up."
"Ah, yes," I told them, "I get it, but I can't believe he would be so selfish as to use his own family to get ahead."
"Well, keep in mind, this is just a theory," Ana stated.
"Yeah, we don't know for sure that's what really goes on," Hoshi added, "It is possible that the girls do genuinely like the Kaibas."
We all kind of shrugged, unsure of the truth.
We sat in the kitchen for a little while until we heard stiletto heels clicking in the foyer.
"Oh! My mom's home!" Hoshi squealed as she ran out of kitchen toward the front of the house. When she cam back, Hoshi was accompanied by her mother; The Amethyst Seiki. She was relatively tall, well-proportioned woman who seemed very young to have a daughter my age. She had long brown hair styled in a neat French twist and wore an black pantsuit with a lavender blouse and a strand of pearls hanging from her neck. She was every more chic and prettier than Miranda let on when she last mentioned her.
"Hello girls," she said as she entered the kitchen behind Hoshi, who was carrying one of the two grocery bags her mother brought home.
Then, she caught sight of me. "Oh, hello," she said to me, "You must be Melissa. Hoshi told me how she made a new friend. It's so nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Seiki," I told her, "My sister's a huge fan!"
"Oho, is she, now?"
"Yeah! You're one of her absolute favorite designers!"
"Well, I'm always happy to hear that my work is appreciated," Ms. Seiki said with a smile, "So, you girls finally ready for some homemade pizza?"
"Yeah!" we all shouted in unison.
"So, what took you so long to get home, mom?" Hoshi asked as her mother began to unpack the ingredients she had bought specifically for tonight, "Your call saying you were one your way home was an hour and a half ago."
"I know. I'm sorry it took so long, sweetheart, but I was stuck in traffic. There was a pretty bad accident on 77th," Ms. Seiki told us.
"Oh no!" Hoshi said, "Was anyone hurt?"
"I saw an ambulance, so unfortunately yes."
"What about the car?" Jaz asked, "How bad was the damage?"
"The Hummer was smashed in it's front, and the poor Escalade didn't stand a chance."
I choked on the lemonade I had been sipping.
Escalade. Oh god. Please. No.
"Um, Ms. Seiki. Do you remember any specific details about the Escalade?" I asked her, praying I didn't hear what I didn't want to hear.
"Hmm, well, it was white, one of the newer models it seemed like… Oh! I do remember the shiny blue rims because I wanted some just like them on my Fiat, only in purple. It's a shame the thing was totaled."
My heart stopped. That was Miranda's car. My only sister and her two best friends were in an accident. They could be seriously hurt, or worse. My mind went to the worst possible place. I got up from where I was sitting and faced away from everyone else as I began to cry.
This can't happen. Not again. Please, god, let them be okay.
I pleaded and prayed over and over in my mind as the tears trickled down my cheeks.
"Melissa, are you alright?" Ana asked.
I said nothing, but a rather loud sniffle escaped me, giving it away that I was upset.
"Melissa, what's wrong?" Hoshi asked.
I tried to stifle my sobs as much as I could in order to be able to answer the question. I turned back around to face the group. However, as soon as their eyes were on me, I could feel myself starting to lose my control over my emotions.
"That was my sister's car. My sister and her friends were in that accident," I said, breaking back into sobs. The girls and Ms. Seiki gasped.
"Oh my god!" Jaz exclaimed.
"Girls, grab your coats," Ms. Seiki commanded, "We're going to Methodist Hospital."
We rushed to the front door, grabbed our jackets off the coat rack, and hustled out the door into the night.
Please, god. Don't take them from me.
(Miranda's POV): Vicky and I made it to the emergency department of the hospital where we were greeted by a receptionist in the department lobby.
"How may I help you?" she asked as we walked up to the counter. I, still in a bit of a panic, spoke up.
"I'm Miranda Carlisle. My friends were in an accident and I received a call telling me they were here. Do you know where they are?" I asked. The receptionist, sensing the panic in my voice, quickly stood up from her seat.
"Yes, of course," she said immediately, "Please, follow me."
She led us down a long hallway to the recovery rooms where we found both Macie and Joey, sitting on the ground in absolute silence with sullen looks on their faces. Macie then looked up and saw me and immediately freaked out.
"Miranda! Oh my god!" she exclaimed on the verge of tears, "I'm so sorry! The guy came out of nowhere! He totaled your car! I'm so sorry!"
She stood up, and I hugged her tightly.
"Mace, I could care less about the car," I assured her, "I'm just you're ok."
Macie tears began to stream down her face as I parted from the hug. "Not everyone," she said, doing her best to suppress her sobs.
That's when I remembered that neither Molly nor Yugi where to be seen. I began to panic even more.
"Mace, are the others ok?" I asked her. Macie was so upset, she could barely speak. Joey got up from where he was sitting. I could tell by the look on his face that the news wasn't good.
"The Hummer hit the passenger side of the car, which was where Molls and Yugi were sitting," he explained, "All the doctor's told us is that Molly's got a broken arm and Yugi got taken into to surgery for some reason."
I heaved a great sigh. I wasn't in any way glad that my friends were hurt, but worse things could've happened, and for the sake of my sanity, I'm thankful they hadn't.
"Miranda!" I suddenly heard a higher-pitched voice yell from down the hall. I turned around quickly in surprise to find my little sister sprinting in my direction.
"Melissa?" I questioned in shock as she came barreling towards me, nearly knocking me over as she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist.
"Miranda, I was so terrified!" she sobbed, "I thought I lost you."
I knelt down beside her and did what I could to comfort her. "I'm not going anywhere, Lissa," I whispered to her, "I couldn't just leave you like that."
I parted from her and made her look in my eyes. "I promise," I assured her. I wiped the tears from her cheeks and made her straighten up.
"Wait! If you didn't get hurt, then who did?" she asked.
I looked back to Macie, who once again had a look of pure misery on her face. I brought my attention back to Melissa.
"Melissa, Molly and Yugi got hurt in the accident," I told her. I hated having to tell her. I hated seeing her so shaken.
"Oh no," she said, "Are they going to be ok?"
"Well, Molly has a broken arm, but she'll be alright," I explained to her.
"What about Yugi?" she asked.
I thought for a minute. He was in surgery, but that could end up any way. The outcome of that was up in the air. I took a deep breath.
"He's in surgery right now, Lissa, but I don't know anything else," I told her. I could see the sadness in her eyes. I pulled her in for another hug. That's when a thought occurred to me.
"Lissa?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you find out about all this? Weren't you guys doing, you know, sleepover stuff?"
"Well, we were. Then Ms. Seiki came home and told us all about the accident. I told her it was your car, and she drove us here as quickly as possible."
"Well, that was very nice o…MS. SEIKI?!"
Just then, right on cue, the rest of the sleepover group came around the corner. Following behind them was her. Amethyst Seiki. I mentally pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. There she was. One of my favorite designers of all time in the flesh.
"Is everything alr…" she started until she saw me. She seemed to study me for a moment.
"Oh my god…You're Amethyst Seiki!" I shouted, "I am a HUGE fan!"
I saw her begin to smile, while at the same time, start to look somewhat bewildered. "Hi. You're Melissa's sister?" she asked, still studying me.
I nodded.
"I'm sorry, but you look so familiar, but I don't…" she said, when suddenly, it seemed as though she realized something, "A-are you, by any chance, related to Lilliana Carlisle?"
"Y-you know my mother?!"
"Oh my goodness! That's why you look so familiar! You're a spitting image of Lilli!"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Seiki, but how did you know my mother?"
"She used to work for me back in the day! She was one of my favorite models..."
I stood there in absolute shock. I had no idea my mother had, at one time, worked with one of my favorite designers.
Just when I was about to ask even more questions, suddenly, a door opened behind us. A doctor stepped out of the room we were standing outside of. He saw me and walked over. He had my full attention.
"You're Ms. Carlisle?" he asked me.
"Y-yes sir," I answered.
"I'm Dr. Fields. I've been tending to Ms. Cook and Mr. Moto."
"Of course. How's Yugi, Doctor?"
"Mr. Moto has a few broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken nose."
"Oh my god."
"Well, with the seriousness of the accident, it could've have been much, much worse. He's very lucky."
"Yes, of course. Is it alright if we go in and see our friends?"
"Well, he just came out of surgery and we're still running a few tests, but you can come in after the tests are completed."
"Thank you, Doctor."
With that, Dr. Fields reentered Yugi and Molly's room. I turned back to the group of girls.
"Ms. Seiki, thank you for bringing my sister here," I said before kneeling down in front of Melissa.
"Alright, Mini Me. I think it's time you got back to your party," I told her, giving her a small smile.
"Alright, but text me when you get home," she said sternly.
I smiled at her. "I promise," I assured her. With that, she, her friends, and Ms. Seiki left.
Not ten seconds, I heard yet another voice sound down the hall.
"Oh, Miranda! Macie! Oh my god!"
It was Alea, with the Touzokus following quickly behind.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them as Alea came up and hugged me.
"We saw your car on the news," Ryou told me, "We couldn't get here fast enough."
It warmed my heart to know that they cared so much. Alea parted from me and went over to Macie, hugging her as well.
"Wait, Joey? What are you doing here?" Bakura asked all of a sudden. Alea looked up from her hug in confusion. "Wait!" she said, "If you guys aren't hurt, then who is?"
"Yug and Molls," Joey told her.
"Oh no!" they all seemed to say together.
"Yeah, Molly's got a broken arm and Yugi's pretty busted up," Vicky spoke up.
"Oh, poor Yugi," Alea said.
Just then, another voice echoed down the hall.
"Miranda!"
Sprinting towards the group that had accumulated was Mokuba. Seto followed a little more slowly behind him.
"I think the whole city knows what happened now," Vicky said as Mokuba hugged me tightly. Seto came up behind the group. Alea was the first to notice.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she bluntly asked.
Seto grimaced. "I could ask you the same question," he pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Eh, get lost, Kaiba," Joey spoke up in order to kind of defend Alea, "Don't you have something better to do right about now?"
Ay yi yi.
"Actually, Joey, we were about to head home from dinner when I saw Miranda's car on the news," Mokuba spoke up, loosening his hold on me, "I rushed off, and he just kinda went along with it. Wait, if you're here, then who's…"
"Molly and Yugi," everyone in the group said together.
"…Wow. Way to be sensitive with the young one, guys," I pointed out.
Just then, Dr. Fields stepped back outside, telling us that we were now allowed to see our friends. We entered the recovery room to find Molly in the hospital bed closest to the doorway and part of the room blocked off by curtains.
"We're still running one last test on Mr. Moto," Dr. Fields pointed out, "It shouldn't take but two more minutes."
Dr. Fields then left the room. I sat down next to Molly on one side of her bed. Joey took the other side.
"How are you feeling, Molls?" I asked her.
"A little better now that I'm all drugged up," Molly joked. Everyone laughed.
"Molls," I said, giving her a stern look.
"I'm just kidding…but, seriously. Someone, slap me across the face. I kid you not, I will not feel a thing," she continued.
Everyone else laughed once more.
"Well, you seem ta be pretty calm about all this," Joey pointed out.
"Eh, I used to break things all the time when I was younger, so I'm kinda used to it," Molly stated. Joey then gently kissed her on the forehead. "I'm more concerned about Yugi over there," she stated.
Right when she said that, the last nurse that was running tests on Yugi pulled back the curtain to create a little entrance to his area. Macie and Alea were the first to rush over, followed by Ryou, Bakura, and Vicky.
"I gotta go check up on my bud," Joey told Molly.
"Of course," she said. He kissed her one last time before walking over to see Yugi. Molly looked back to me.
"I hope he's going to be alright. I heard a pretty long list of injuries," she told me.
"Yugi's going to be fine," I told her, "He'll be in here for a while, but he'll be good as new in six to eight weeks."
"Yikes, that's a long time," Molly pointed out, "I'd lose my mind being cooped up in here for two months."
"Hm, yeah. Me, too," I stated, "I'm going to go check on Yugi. I'll be back in a minute, Molls."
I got up from the be and walked over to the other side of the room. I could hear the footsteps of the Kaiba brothers following behind, both seeming a bit apprehensive about looking in on Yugi in his current condition. Then, I got my first look at Yugi.
Talk about broken. Besides the casting around his rib cage and leg, Yugi's face all bruised from when they had to reset his nose during surgery. Not to mention all the cuts and bruises from the actual accident. I felt so bad for the guy.
"Does it look bad?" Yugi asked the people in front of me.
"I think ya never looked better, Yug," Joey stated jokingly. Everyone laughed, including Yugi. However, Yugi's laughing soon ceased when it had started to cause him pain.
"You alright, Yug?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, I guess the morphine hasn't fully kicked in yet," he deduced.
Then, I noticed something. Macie looked completely down on herself. She hung her head. Yugi seemed to take notice to this. I watched intently as he slowly reached toward Macie and laid his hand on top of hers. Macie sensed this and her head shot up. Yugi gave her a small smile, and she started to smile back. This warmed my heart. Even injured as much as he was, he still seemed to want to make sure Macie was ok first and foremost.
"Well, it's getting pretty late," Alea pointed out, "As much as I want to stay, I have to get up early tomorrow morning."
Alea, Bakura, and Ryou said their goodbyes to Yugi and the rest of the group. Before they all finally left, Ryou stopped in front of me.
"I'll see you tomorrow night, Miranda," he said to me.
I smiled. "See you tomorrow, Ryou," I said.
The three of them then disappeared out the door. I looked back in Yugi's general direction and found Mokuba talking to Yugi.
"Hope you feel better soon, Yugi," he said to the injured boy.
"Thanks, Mokuba," Yugi said back.
Aww, what a sweet kid. Despite his brother's rivalry with Yugi, he still manages to be a good friend. Seto could learn a thing or two from that little brother of his.
I giggled to myself at that thought, but made myself drop it when Mokuba and Seto walked in my direction. Mokuba hugged me around the waist.
"Goodnight, Miranda," he said, slightly muffled by the hug.
"Bye, kiddo," I said back to him, "Tell Isaac to be careful driving you guys home. I think we've all had enough excitement for one night."
Mokuba parted from the hug and then smiled up at me. I then turned my attention to Seto.
"Goodnight, Seto," I said, giving him a little smile. He nodded in acknowledgement and then reached over to nudge Mokuba towards the door. As he did this, though, I did see a small smile forming on his face.
As they stepped out, I turned my attention back to the others. Yugi had not averted his eyes from Macie, trying to make sure that she stayed happy and positive. His hand had never left hers.
Just then, his eyes left her for two seconds to look over at me. He looked at me in need, like he wanted me to do something for him. Then he looked over in the direction of the door and then back to me with a more pleading look. It was just then that I got the message.
"Hey, guys," I started, "Why don't we step out in the hall for a minute and give Yugi some time to breathe."
The others took my suggestion and left the room. Macie was going to stand up, but Yugi grasped her hand, telling her that he wanted her to stay. She looked over to me. I smiled softly.
"We'll be out here if you need us," I told her before exiting the room.
(Macie's POV): The room was silent. No one else remained other than Yugi and I. Well, I mean, besides Molly, but her presence seemed hidden by the half-pulled-back curtain surrounding Yugi's hospital bed.
I was so upset by this whole situation that I could barely even speak. I wished that none of this was really happening and that it was all just a bad dream that I could wake up from at any time. But the reality was that it wasn't. Molly and Yugi were both hurt, and poor Yugi got the worst of it. And no matter how much the others tried to convince me, I still felt guilty about the whole thing. Sure, the guy was drunk and came barreling through the intersection I was passing through, but maybe if I hadn't been so caught up in my own thoughts, perhaps I could have stopped the car in time before we got hit.
My negative thoughts were halted when I felt Yugi grasp my hand tighter. I lifted my head to look him in the eye. He gave me a small smile. I attempted to return one, but my efforts were in vain.
"What's wrong, Macie?" Yugi asked gently.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Look at you, Yugi!"
Yugi chuckled lightly, making sure not to cause himself any pain by doing so.
"Why are you laughing? This is serious," I scolded him.
"Are you really that concerned about this?"
"Of course I am. I feel so guilty about this."
"Mace, it's not your fault at all. The guy came out of nowhere. No one saw him coming."
"Still, I should've been more careful."
"Mace, c'mon. Stop being so hard on yourself." I sighed and hung my head once more.
"Mace, look at me," Yugi said, noticing that I was down.
I did as told. His eyes were so kind and warm; a total reflection of Yugi himself. He was always so friendly and kind to me, ever since we first met. Now, I felt a smile coming on. Yugi seemed to sense my change and smiled too.
"That's much better," he pointed out.
I giggled as I continued to stare into his kind eyes. He was so sweet. Even in the condition he was in, he seemed more concerned about me.
That's when I noticed that, under the bit of bandages from his surgery, Yugi was blushing.
"You okay, Yugi?"
"Yeah, why do you ask, Mace?"
"You're kinda blushing."
Yugi got a "deer-in-the-headlights" kind of look. He turned his head away and covered his visible cheek with his good hand.
I giggled. "Yugi, it's okay," I told him. I scooted closer to Yugi and reached toward him, moving the hand covering his face. When I did this, he turned his head to face me again.
That's when I realized how close I had gotten to him. I returned my focus back to his gaze. Before I knew it, I was moving closer and closer to Yugi, as if some kind of magnetic force was bringing us together. I gave into that imaginary force and let it guide me, closing my eyes as it brought me closer. Soon enough, I felt Yugi's soft lips on my own.
After only a few seconds passed, I pulled back. I was really surprised with myself. I'd never been so forward with someone like that. It was very unlike me.
I could feel myself blushing. My cheeks felt hot; my heart raced.
I then thought about Yugi. I just kissed him! What was he thinking? Was he shocked by what I had done? Did he not think of me that way? Or did he? I looked to him for some kind of answer. He seemed to be in disbelief with a sort of dazed look on his face. At that point, I was expecting the worst.
I just made a complete fool out of myself. Fantastic.
Just then, I saw Yugi break from his daze and begin to smile slightly. I felt like the weight of my worry had been completely lifted. I smiled in relief.
"Did that really just happened?" Yugi asked in a low, soft voice.
I chuckled slightly. "Yeah," I told him, "I suppose so."
He seemed to smile a little brighter and chuckled a bit. "Good," he said.
I smiled.
"I haven't been able to find the right time or way to say this to you Macie," Yugi confessed, "but…I really like you a lot."
"You do?" I asked, still believing that this had to be a dream.
"Yeah. You're nice, fun, beautiful…I think you're amazing, Macie," Yugi told me.
I began to tear up. No guy had ever said anything so kind to me in my life. I wiped a stray tear that began to streak down my face.
"No guy I've ever met has ever been as sweet and caring and kind to me as you have, Yugi," I told him, feeling new rogue tears beginning to form in my eyes, "You're such a special guy, and I believe that I feel the same way about you."
I could tell Yugi was touched by my words.
"S-so, maybe when I get out of here, would you like to go out sometime?" Yugi asked me.
"I would like that very much, but I have one question…" I said.
"What's the question?" Yugi asked.
"Why wait? I could come here and see you. After school, weekends… Whenever you want," I suggested.
I liked Yugi. I didn't really want to have to wait a long time to see where this could go. I mean, he could be in the hospital for months, for all I know.
"You really want to?" Yugi asked me.
"Sure. I can bring you your assignments, we could do homework together; I could bring movies or something; Whatever you want to do," I explained to him.
Yugi blushed. He seemed to be surprised that I was so into the idea of us going out. Still, he seemed kind of excited about my idea and smiled.
"Well, it's getting late. I should probably get going," I said finally, although a bit reluctantly.
"Yeah," Yugi responded.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked.
Yugi smiled. "Yeah," he answered, "Goodnight, Macie."
I smiled back at him, stood up, and pulled the curtain aside to make my exit.
As I made my way to the door, I caught a glimpse of Molly. She was smiling like the Cheshire Cat, shaking her head in disbelief. I scoffed at her, but with a smirk on my face.
"'Night, Molls. We'll be back for you," I said just before walking out of the hospital room.
And there you have it. I hope you all liked it. Again, sorry about the slow updates. Senior year can be pretty hectic. But I've got a couple great chapters planned for the near future, so hopefully, I can get some more of the story cranked out soon. So until next chapter, take care, guys :)