AN: So I got a few people who said they thought Joey was stealing Yugi's wallet for a moment there. That's what it looked like, and Joey knew that, which is why she was hoping Yugi wouldn't wake up; it would have looked like she was stealing her money, not finding her address.

Back to normal time

Joey had managed to convince the doctors not to call her mother or father; Mom wouldn't care but Dad would have had quite a few things to say when she got home. The money issue was partially taken care of as well; Maria had gone around and asked for donations for her, and since everyone around here was pretty sure she was homeless it worked rather well. She had never confirmed it, but she didn't deny it either. The rest of the payment would be made by Joey, from that savings that she didn't want to use.

As soon as the others were allowed to come in, however, her anxiety came back. She requested only Tristan come in first, though, so she could ask exactly what they had figured out because of his comment.

Needless to say, the conversation was hushed and hurried because they were sure at least Bakura and Marik were trying to listen in. When it was over, Joey had confirmed that they technically didn't know anything but by now strongly suspected the truth. At least, Tristan thought some of them did. Also, they would have to answer who Tristan was talking about, and had decided to tell them it was Hirutani that Tristan had suspected. That was plausible, right? Totally.

When that was decided, Tristan left and told the others they could go in before returning to his aunt's house.

When they did come into the room (usually only five people would be allowed in but Yugi just looked so darn sad that Maria made an exception) she was bombarded by questions. From Yugi, Ryo, and Malik were questions of concern. Atem and Kaiba were mostly asking about what Tristan had said (or demanding, in Kaiba's case). Marik and Bakura were asking random questions to the whole room, generally pertaining to how much things in the room were worth and then speculating.

Since so much was going on, Joey decided to ignore those she didn't like much and just answer her friends.

"Joey, does it still hurt? Are they giving you painkillers?" Yugi asked immediately.

"Nah, I don't need painkillers. It doesn't hurt too badly," Joey grinned, effectively ignoring the blazing pain. Painkillers cost too much; she'd just grab an Advil or five when she managed to get home.

"Not even when they set the bone?" Ryo asked, horrified.

"That must have hurt," Malik frowned.

"What? Well, a little, but don't worry. I've had worse," Joey grinned giving them all a thumbs up. That did not inspire confidence.

"Joey, who did Tristan think did this to you?" Yugi asked, drawing all attention to Joey and stopping any useful side questions- even those coming from Marik and Bakura.

"Uh, Hirutani," Joey said in response. By the way she was refusing to look anyone in the eyes and fiddling with something in her right hand it was strongly suspected that she was lying. Before anyone could question her further, however, Bakura caught a glint of gold.

"What do we have here?" He asked, grin spreading across his features. His hand darted out to grab the glint from Joey, but she moved faster and buried her hand under her blankets while fixing him with a killer glare.

"None a' your business." Bakura was ready to retort, but right then (very conveniently) the doctors came back in and ushered everyone out insisting that Joey stay overnight. When the doctors finally left her alone, she pulled out her hand. Opening it, she stared at the golden winged Kuriboh necklace swinging softly from her fingers. Yugi had seen it, but if Joey had anything to say about it no one else would ever see the thing. But she could never get rid of it and she couldn't lock it away; it was far too important for that.

The next morning, Yugi arrived to pick up Joey all by herself. She was a bit late, though, because she had been pulled over twice for being underage and had to sort out the problem with her driver's license and ID.

Yugi walked into the hospital hesitantly. She had never really liked hospitals, they reminded her of needles and shots; both of which Yugi was mildly terrified of. She headed over to the front desk and felt her heart sink when she realized that it was taller than her. She couldn't even see over the edge. Before she had to commence the monumental task of getting the attention of the lady, however, she heard a commotion coming down the hallway that went to Joey's room.

Glancing around once, Yugi decided that if everyone was going to assume she was a kid she should be able to act like one, and so headed off towards the sound (which she felt sure was Joey) without asking. And, sure enough, just a little ways down the hall was Joey, hobbling along with her leg in a cast and her arm in a sling, the doctors trying to get her back but having trouble grabbing her without jostling her injuries. Joey seemed to realize their plight and was milking it for all she was worth.

"Joey, you're not supposed to be walking!" Yugi exclaimed, though she wasn't really surprised. Joey couldn't use crutches because of her broken arm, and she couldn't use a wheelchair all by herself either. She would have to have someone carting her around at all times, which Yugi knew wouldn't fly with Joey.

"Oh, Yuug! Hey, ya here ta pick me up?" Joey asked, completely ignoring Yugi's previous statement. Yugi sighed, having known that would happen, but nodded nonetheless.

"You're the patient's friend, right? Could you please talk some sense into her?!" That was the new doctor; he hadn't met Joey before today and it was made obvious by the way he referred to her as "the patient".

"The name's Joey, and no. She can't talk sense inta me; I'm way too stubborn for dat." The doctor seemed to deflate at that statement, and though he looked to his fellows for help all they did was nod in agreement. They had dealt with Joey way too many times to try to take her health into their own hands.

"Sorry," Yugi apologized to the guy, knowing that having Joey as a patient was not easy. "I'll make sure she doesn't move around too much, but she won't ever agree to being carried or pushed so you might want to just settle with walking her out."

In the end, they settled and five minutes later saw Joey and Yugi riding back home. Joey had offered to drive, but everyone present had immediately shot her down so she was currently sulking in the passenger's seat.

"Joey, is it alright?" Yugi asked after a while of silence. Joey seemed to be lost in thought, staring blankly out the window while her fingers fiddled with something under the collar of her jacket.

"Huh?" She asked, pulled back to the real world and staring at Yugi uncomprehendingly.

"Your necklace. Is it alright?" Light dawning, Joey pulled said necklace out into the open. They were in a contained space, and had quite a while before getting anywhere close to home, so she felt comfortable pulling it out here. She had examined it and cleaned it yesterday; the stupid thing's wing had cut her when she landed on it so it had blood and dirt on it before. Now it shined as brightly as ever, as if it wasn't sharp as a knife or guilty of causing her so many problems.

"Yeah. Dis guy's a tough little bugger," she said, once again admiring how it shone in the light. For the sheer number of times it had been covered in something unsavory, the fact that it was still gold, much less shining, was a miracle. And how it was still in the shape of a Kuriboh, the wings not even bent, after it had been hit and landed on by things and stabbed into certain people several times, was a testimony to the amazing workmanship.

When Yugi stopped the car for a red light, she took the time to observe the necklace as well. She had wondered how Joey got a hold of it since she first saw it, it was a very expensive necklace after all, but Joey just refused to answer. She knew Joey would never have bought it herself; it was both expensive and in a shape that Joey would deem embarrassing. For the second reason, Joey wouldn't steal it either. At least not to keep and wear around.

The only hint she had ever actually given as to its origin was to let slip that she had it for years; at least six. It was very important to Joey, and Yugi could tell by the way her eyes got misted over whenever she looked at it.

Once the car started moving again, Joey shook herself out of her stupor and put the necklace back on. The rest of the car ride was used to make absolutely certain that no glint of gold could be seen from under her jacket.

Yugi and Joey walked into the shop; no one had been waiting for their return much to Joey's chagrin. Seto, from the back room, heard the door open and close. He glanced around the door frame before turning and calling up the stairs.

"The Mutt's back."

"I AIN'T A MUTT!" Joey raged, though with her leg in her cumbersome cast she was unable to run over and glare directly at him like she wanted to. Before he could reply, Ryo and Malik had run down the stairs and placed themselves between the two.

"Joey! Are you feeling alright?"

"Shouldn't you be in a wheelchair?"

"Or at least sitting down?"

"So what if I should?" Joey asked, drawing herself up to full height and tilting her chin up imperiously. Unluckily for her, there were three people in the house not nearly as compassionate as her doctors were and one of those three people saw the distress on a certain Hikari's face at hearing Joey's reply. And that person decided to rectify that.

Without a word, Bakura walked past Seto and the Hikaris and grabbed Joey by the elbow of her uninjured arm. Then, ignoring her protests, he dragged her into the living room and pushed her onto the couch.

"I'll sit on you if you try to stand," he said when Joey started to get up once more.

"You wouldn't," Joey scowled.

"Try me." That grin meant that he really didn't care if he had to brake her leg to get her to sit. Joey sat back, but didn't cease her scowling. These were going to be a long few weeks until her leg healed, and even longer for her arm.

AN/Clarification: I do not think that Yugi is weak. Nor do I think Joey is truly useless or Ryo is evil. Yet I've said all three. Why? Because it's not me speaking. Joey used to think Yugi was weak. Kaiba insists that Joey is useless. Bakura has accused pure little Ryo of being the devil (though not verbally or in so many words). As a writer, it's not my job to say what I think of the characters, it's my job to make sure you know what the characters think of each other. My opinions don't matter; I'm not in this universe, I'm just trying to create an interesting story using other people's characters. Yes, I do have personal opinions about them; I like some more than others. Yes, I'm sure if you look you can tell what my feelings are; it's the nature of writing, no one is truly unbiased no matter how hard they try. But know that I do not character bash, I don't explicitly insult characters in a way another character does not see them, and I try to keep them all in character.

I'm sure the person that sparked this rant knows who they are, but I ask them not to worry about it. I have a bit of a jumbled style; sometimes it's hard to see why I just insulted a character outside of dialogue; I probably should have mentioned this earlier. I wasn't offended by your review, I just felt like I should answer on here in case someone else got the same vibe from me but didn't review.

Sorry I'm so verbose.

Factoid #37: Joey's bone is just bruised, not broken or fractured. It's in a brace because the doctors know her enough to realize she wouldn't take it easy if they just told her to, so instead they slapped on a device that restricts movement. (Keep in mind that I'm no doctor; I have a rudimentary idea of broken and bruised bones at best, so if I get something way wrong feel free to drop me a line)