It had been hours since they had arrived at the hospital, the pain in his shoulder lingered in scorching discomfort as the numbing from his procedure was slowly starting to wear off. They were able to remove the bullet from his body, as he was fortunate enough that due to the attackers terrible aim at him spared him from any serious damage. Though he wished that it wasn't that way.

He hadn't heard anything from the medical staff about Iris's condition, as soon as they had arrived she was taken away from him. Surrounded by various medical team staff members, he knew that she was in excellent hands. Seto had ensured that she would be cared for by the best of the best, so no matter what she would have a chance.

Each passing minute felt like days, he impatiently waited to hear back from anyone as he sat in on the edge of the hospital bed. He didn't want to leave, not until he knew how she was doing. Recalling the amount of her blood on his jacket and pooling around them, sent a frightening chill down his spine. Seto tried not to think of it, of how cold her body was when he held her in his arms, how any breath she took could have been her last. "I should have been there with her!" he shouted to himself.

The sound of the door opening snapped him out of his trance, "Mr. Kaiba?" he could hear the voice of the female nurse speaking his name, as she stepped through the open door. Behind her, he saw one of the doctors that was at Iris's side when they first arrived. "The doctor would like to speak with you." she announced. Bowing, she left the room.

Tension filled the large gap between them, in his white gloved hands Seto could see the various sheets and charts attached to his clipboard. "It's good to see that you're handling well, the nurse told me that they had no issue removing the bullet from your body." the doctor started. "I can send you home today with some supplies to help with your recovery, but I recommend that you take it easy for the next couple of weeks."

"I could care less about this, tell me about Iris." Seto demanded.

Removing his glasses from his face, the doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll be honest with you sir," Seto felt his heart stop. The sound of exhaustion in his voice only added to his building anxiety. "She's very lucky to be alive."

Putting his hand on his chest, "she made it."

"Barely."

"What do you mean?"

Putting his glasses back on the doctor reviewed his charts on Iris, "she lost a significant amount of blood, if she had gotten here any later I can't say for certain she'd be alive. Not to mention her blood type is very difficult to come by, but thanks to you and your connections we were able to get her all the O negative blood she needed for her transfusion." he explained.

"Is that all you came to tell me about?" Seto questioned, he needed to know if she was awake. What she remembered, anything to help him find who did this to her and make them pay.

The doctor sighed, "I was getting there sir, if you let me finish. As you are aware Miss Iris did suffer from various stab wounds, a majority of them are defensive wounds on her arms and to her side. The one to her side didn't hit any major arteries or organs, but the bullet from the gunshot wound she suffered from narrowly missed her right lung. If they had aimed higher it would have punctured it, most likely causing death." he continued, "unfortunately we confirmed that Miss Iris is suffering from severe head trauma, since this is the second time she's had something like this she has slipped into a coma."

He wasn't expecting to hear that, "where is she?"

"Follow me sir." the doctor told him, as they left the room. Walking down the hospital corridor, the dead silence sang like a sorrowful tune. Stopping before the door, "she's in here." the doctor said. Seto noticed that it was starting to get harder and harder for him to breathe as he stood before the door. Behind it was Iris, he wanted to see her. Pushing it open Seto rushed inside as he felt his heart drop. Laying in the white sheet bed was her unconscious body, eyes closed shut with an oxygen mask over her face. IV's were inserted in her arms and wrists, as the numerous bandages around her wounds were carefully wrapped to ensure they wouldn't interfere.

Seto approached her as he gently grabbed her hand, wanting to feel her grip around him, wanting to feel how it felt when he held her hand with their fingers intertwined. She would always hold onto him a bit tighter at times to be playful, or when she wanted affections. He noticed that her hands felt icy cold, as she didn't respond to his touch. "Iris," it hurt to speak her name.

"If only I had been there sooner, if I had just pushed through the pain I would have caught you! You wouldn't be like this!" the immense wave of guilt hit him like a tidal wave. She was in his grasp and due to his mistake, she slipped away only to wind up in the condition she was in.

"Mr. Kaiba, are you sure that she has no relatives that need to be informed of her condition?" the doctor questioned, "there's a small chance that-"

"I've told you already, she has no family!" he reminded him. Seto knew that if her stepmother was informed of her condition it would only make things difficult for Iris, not to mention how furious she would be, because of their previous actions Iris didn't want anything to do with them. "Station twenty-four seven security around her and her room, no one is allowed to see her without authorization from me." he commanded, until they found the person who did this to her he wasn't going to take a chance.

"Very well sir. I'll update you on her condition if there are any changes, but I do recommend you going home soon." the doctor left the room. Seto pulled a chair closeby towards the bed as he sat down. He recalled the few times he had caught her taking a nap when she first started working for him, he would always let her rest for a few extra minutes before waking her up to continue her progress. Seto found it hard to believe that a few nights ago he held her in his arms, as she slept in tranquil peace but now she was locked away in her own mind.

Feeling his phone vibrating, he dug it out of his pocket; holding it up to his ear. "What is it?"

"Big bro, we think we may have found something!" Mokuba informed him.

Standing up from his seat, "good. Meet me in my office as soon as you can." hanging up the phone, Seto took one last look at her. Bringing his hand up to her face, his thumb gently stroked her cheek. "Don't worry Iris, I promise you I'll find who did this to you. And I will make them pay."

It didn't take Seto long to return back to his office, as both Mokuba and Roland were waiting for him. "Mr. Kaiba, how is Miss Iris?" Roland questioned.

Taking a deep breath, "she's in a coma due to the injuries she suffered, but none of her wounds are fatal." he answered. "Now what is this thing you found?" he questioned them, as numerous digital screens filled his office. From the looks of them, Seto could see that there were images taken close to the cemetery, but none of them were close to the gate.

"Take a look here sir," Roland pointed to one of the screens. Looking closely, he could see a black car stopped at the end of the road. "Mokuba and I have examined all other images and from what we can tell is that whoever was in that car knew that Miss Iris was going to be at the cemetery." pulling up a different image, they could see a black mass leaving the car. "Time stamps indicate that they arrived about half an hour before Miss Iris showed up."

"So you're saying whoever did this knew her schedule and planned to strike." Seto said. Just thinking that someone could plan to do what they had done to Iris made his blood boil. "Do you have any identification on the vehicle and who it's registered to?"

"That's the problem." Mokuba said, as he pulled several other images all of which were static. "Somehow, someone was able to hack the security cameras around the time of the attack and any images we have of the car itself are edited out. We're still working on it though, at the least we can see who hacked the system and go from there." he explained.

"I see." It wasn't exactly what he was hoping to hear, but it was a start. "I'll start taking a look myself. Roland, follow up with law enforcement and see if they were able to find anything from what they gathered at the cemetery." Seto commanded, as Roland got to work on it right away. Hearing his desk phone go off, Seto walked over to it as he picked it up. "What is it?"

"Mr. Kaiba, you have a Mr. Yugi Muto trying to contact you. Shall I put them through?" Kaya informed him.

He shook his head, "fine." he said as he waited a brief moment. The little screen next to his phone showed Yugi and the rest of Iris's friends closeby, each of them looking beyond worried, especially her friend Tea. "What is it?"

"Kaiba, where's Iris?" Yugi questioned.

"Yea, now where is she?" Joey demanded as they could see that she wasn't by Kaiba's side like she normally was when she was scheduled to work. "She's not at her apartment and I don't see her standing next to you. Doesn't she work for you?" he questioned.

"We haven't been able to get a hold of her all day. She hasn't picked up her phone, we don't know where she is. So please Kaiba if you know anything at all, just please tell us!" Tea begged, as he could see her eyes were swollen from tears of worry. Seto knew that out of all of her friends, Tea was her closest friend.

Seto took a deep breath, even though he didn't get along with them well he knew that Iris would be upset if he didn't inform them of what's happened to her. He fought back the emotions he felt, as he saw that they all were letting those emotions out for him. "If you want to see Iris go to the hospital. She's in a coma." he told him. He saw their faces as sadness took over Mai and Tea, as Serenity buried her face in her brother's shoulder. Joey and the other guys just looked down at the ground as they looked more distraught than they did when they first called him.

Mokuba stood close by his brother, "Iris was attacked earlier today, both she and Seto were injured but she got the worst of it."

"I'll give you authorization to go see her, since her attacker hasn't been caught yet she's being guarded around the clock." he told them, but it didn't seem to help. He could hear Tea sobbing uncontrollably, as she left but her cries could still be heard.

Things were quiet between them as the silence and seeing Iris's friends upset over what happened to her was starting to eat at him, slowly weakening the iron wall he spent so much time building. Kaiba was about to hang up the phone, "wait!" Tristan shouted

"What is it?"

"So why aren't you with her?" he asked as they all turned their attention to Kaiba. "She was with you when it happened, and now she's in a coma!" Tristan started. "The kindest, most caring woman we know and is our friend is in the hospital in a coma and you're not there with her! She cares so much about you and you're just sitting at your desk working!" he went off. "Don't you even care about her?!"

"Tristan calm down!" Duke yelled.

"Just take it easy!" Joey tried to settle his best friend down.

Seto snapped.

"Don't you think I want to be there!?" he began venting. "I wanted to stay at her side, but the person who attacked her is still out there! And I won't rest until I find them and make them pay!" he hung up the phone.

Burying his face in his hands Seto shook his head. In the past he had come so close to losing his younger brother as the devastating thoughts of his failure to save him hurt him. But now. Having someone he let into his life, who had finally returned into his life, was the one of few people who was able to make him smile was not at his side. "Before I can see you again, I promise that I'll find who did this to you Iris."

"Iris…." she thought she heard her name. "Iris….. Time to wake up." the voice called out to her once again as she stirred.

"Five more minutes," Iris muttered, as she turned onto her side. Hastily opening her eyes, she quickly shot up. Bookshelves filled to the brimnes with various literary works adorned the walls of the study, the crackling of the roaring fire behind her as the light sweet scent of the burning wood danced in her nostrils. She knew this place, she had been here before. "Hang on….where am I?"

Forcing herself to stand up, her gaze shifted upward. Above the large dark ornate mantle was a portrait, depticing a man and a woman. Her eyes widened in shock, she knew the ones in the painting. "No way," she whispered. "This can't be real."

"Well I hate to say that it is, but well… it is." turning her attention to the familiar man's voice, Iris's jaw dropped. The sound of his laughter, a sound she hadn't heard in years made her heart nearly jump in saddened joy. He looked just like he did the last time she saw him. Short black hair that faded silver towards the sides of his head. Wearing the same black suit style he liked best along with his favorite silver silk tie that contrasted with his dark blue eyes. "It's good to see you kiddo."

"Dad?" she spoke, tears welling up in her eyes. Iris ran towards him, "dad!" Wrapping her arms around her father, Iris let her tears spill from her eyes. She could feel her father returning the hug back. It had been years since she had last hugged her father, since the day that he protected her at the cost of his own life to save her own.

"It's been a long time." he said to her, as she pulled away wiping the tears from her eyes. "A little over five years now."

"Yea it's been a long time," Iris smiled. "Dad, I really miss you."

Patting his daughter's shoulder, he flashed a small grin. "I missed you too, but I think there's someone here who's missed you more than I."

Iris looked at him in curiosity, as the sound of someone walking towards them caught her attention. Covering her mouth with her hand, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Standing a few feet away from her, she was a little bit taller than Iris. Long dark ebony hair reaching to about her shoulders were curled ever so slightly, as the light short sleeved lavender dress she wore complimented her fair skin tone. Light blue eyes looking at Iris in joyful contempt. "Mom?" Iris whispered.

"My baby," she cried, walking over to Iris pulling her into her. She held her tightly against her. "To think the last time I held you, you were just six months old." she said. Putting her hands to her daughter's face, "look at how beautiful you've become, that boyfriend of yours better treat you well. He should be lucky to have such a gorgeous flower at his side."

Iris laughed, "I'm pretty sure he does."

"I knew that you were going to be stunning from the moment I was pregnant with you, and not to mention how intelligent you are! I knew that you'd be talented-" Iris heard her mother ramble. She may not have any memories of her, but the way she spoke to her about how happy she was and proud she was made her feel elated. Ever since she was young all she wanted was her mother to tell her things like this, to make her feel cherished and loved. "I swear your father-" she stopped as she felt Iris hugging her again, "my sweet baby."

Iris hugged her mother tightly, she could smell the subtle rose perfume on her dress. The same scent she smelled when she was at the graveyard, "so it was you."

Nodding her head, "yea, I appreciate you visiting your father and I. I know it took a lot for you to do it all by yourself."

She couldn't believe it. Her own parents were here, holding her, hugging her. Though something came to Iris. She had dreams before of reuniting with her parents, but there was something different about this dream. It felt real, the way her parents held her, the tears in her eyes. Iris had experienced lucid dreams before, but never to this degree. Pulling away, Iris took a step back. "Hang on…. Why does this feel so real?" she questioned them.

Standing next to her mother, Iris watched her father wrap his arm around her. "Oh Iris." her mother spoke. "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

He patted his wife's shoulder, "allow me to explain it to her." he said to her. "Iris think back, think back to what happened to you."

Searching her mind, Iris could feel the sharp pain in her arms and body returning. Falling to her knees, she screamed as the agonising pain controlled her body. Like a flash before her eyes, she looked down at her hands as they were covered in thick crimson liquid. "That's right," she panted as the pain slowly started to get worse. "I was attacked in the graveyard." The sound of a gun being fired echoed in her ears as the searing pain shot through her. And then the pain vanished. Startled by the instant relief, she looked up at her father.

"Iris, your mother and I may have passed but right now you're in limbo." he told her. "You have a choice; either you move on, or you return back to your body." he simply told her. "But before you make a choice there are some things I need to tell you, things I should have told you before my own untimely death. After that….. You'll need to make a choice."

Standing in his office, Seto looked over the various files and documents that he needed to review before he unveiled his latest update for his duel disk. The sound of heels clicking in the space distracted him, as he looked up from his work. "You know you should get some rest. You need it." her voice was like a sweet melody to him, removing only a portion of the stress he felt.

"There's too much that needs to be done." he told her. She looked exactly the same as the day before the accident, the way her long dark hair was half pulled up; a few stray locks framing her face. Bright blue eyes full of worry, as the sparkle of the necklace he gave her couldn't match the glimmer in her beautiful eyes.

"I doubt that you could get much done with that duel disk on your arm," she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Have you finished everything for it?"

"As much as I could," Seto answered her. "I've had to do a lot of things in your absence." he set the papers down

She scoffed, "well if you gave me a day I would have had everything done."

Seto couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm sure you would. I don't know anyone else who has the same work ethic as you." he walked up to her, he knew that he couldn't touch her. She wouldn't have the same feel, the same warmth that he loved. "Iris…."

She tilted her head, "yes?"

"Can you forgive me?" he asked her. Seto couldn't get the image out of his mind. The last moments before she ended up in the hospital, her eyes that were once vibrant had lost their luster looking at him; the last time he was able to look into them.

"Do you really need to ask?" she questioned him. "It's not your fault, if you hadn't been there I probably wouldn't have survived at all." she explained to him.

Seto shook his head, "maybe this was a bad idea."

"Well why don't you come see me?" she asked him. He looked at her in shock, "I know you haven't come to see me since the day I was admitted to the hospital." Seto knew that he didn't program any of that information into the simulation. "So please Seto, stop blaming yourself. Just please come see me."

Before his eyes Iris vanished, as the digital walls around him disintegrated leaving him to be consumed by darkness for a brief second. A row of lights illuminated the space, turning his head to the sound of the sliding door. "I suppose you're the one who added that little detail," he spoke to his brother.

"You know it's true." Mokuba said, "you haven't gone to see her once since she was admitted over a month ago. Don't you think it's time to see her?" Mokuba had gone a few times himself to go see her, and knew that Iris's friends had also dropped by to see her when they could but Seto didn't. "I get that you want to find the person responsible, but you should go see her. It wasn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself!"

Taking hold of the papers, his eyes scanned over the information over and over again. There was nothing that could help him figure out who it was, even with his own technology someone was able to hack into his systems preventing him and law enforcement to gather any additional information in regards to her attack. Seto had his own list of suspects but every lead he had wound up as a dead end, the stress of it alone ate at him; so many nights he couldn't sleep. "Seto!"

"Look Mokuba I'll go see her eventually." he answered his brother.

"So you're just going to continue locking yourself up here in the station?" Mokuba interrogated. His own brother hadn't returned home since the day of the accident, he locked himself away from space, like he was keeping himself from reality. "Iris wouldn't want you to do that. She would want you to be at her side, so that when she wakes up you'll be the first person she sees." he tried to reason with his brother once again, "if you were in a coma, I know Iris wouldn't leave your side. She'd want to be there for you." Mokuba left his brother with that, hoping that this time he managed to get through to him.

"So if what you're saying is true then…?"

Nodding his head, "yes. And that's where you'll need to start looking if you want to find the person who attacked you." he finished explaining to her. "You're the only person who has the key to finally finish what I started all those years ago."

Iris felt like her head was about to explode, so much of her memories were beginning to return to her as the new information she learned was nearly more than she could handle, it was like her brain was being filled with so many different things that it was about to meltdown. "I feel like my head is going to burst!" she shouted. Feeling a hand on her head, Iris opened her eyes to see her mother standing before her.

"Don't start overthinking, that's one trait I hoped you didn't get from me." her mother smiled. "Iris…. I know it's a lot to take in, but you need to make a choice now."

"Choice?"

Nodding her head, "you can either leave your old life behind and move on like your father and I have. Or, you can wake up from the coma you're in and return to your life back on Earth." she reminded her. "Iris we won't make the choice for you, we only want what's best for you. You've been through so much, and it breaks my heart thinking about all the pain and suffering you've had to endure because of my departure."

With everything she just learned, Iris didn't know what to choose. So much had happened in her life, but was she ready to go back to it? To finally face everything once and for all? Or to stay and be with her family? Her heart felt like it was torn. "I choose…."

Feeling a warmth in her hand, Iris's eyes widened as she could hear a voice.

Seto sat besides her bed, just looking at her made the pain he felt more unbearable. But he needed to be here. Taking hold of her hand, he gripped it tenderly. He missed the feeling of her hand in his own, as he could see the bandages that were once wrapped around her arms were gone, exposing the healing wounds on her arms. He hadn't said a single word to her since his arrival, taking a deep breath Seto knew that it was worth a shot. Even if she didn't respond, at least it would be better to talk to her than any simulation program.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to come see you, but every time I thought of it….. I just remember seeing you falling from those steps and how…. How I wasn't able to catch you in time." he spoke to her, but got no response. "I hope you can hear me Iris, because," Seto took a moment. "I'm sorry, I should have been there to protect you. I blame myself for letting this happen to you, I know you didn't ask me to come with you but I should have been there." he apologized to her, but she still said nothing to him. "Iris, please wake up. Your friends miss you so much, I know they've come here to visit you every chance they get and talk to you but I don't know if you can hear them. But most of all…. Nothing is the same without you Iris, I miss you every day that you aren't awake. I already lost you once and I can't imagine losing you again, so please open your eyes, Iris." his grip on her hand tightened slightly.

Seto missed hearing her voice everyday, he missed listening to her laughter and her gossiping chat. He yearned to feel her arms wrapped around him in her tight hugs, to see the glistening shimmer of her crystal blue eyes. His heart ached with pain everyday that she wasn't awake. Feeling her hand move, he watched as she started to turn her head slightly. His heart skipped a beat, as he could see her eyes starting to open up slowly.

Iris felt her eyes strain as they adjusted to the brightness of the room, a numbing pain surged in her arms and body as her vision started to focus. Looking to her side, she could see Seto sitting close to her. "Seto…." she weakly said his name, her throat felt dry like she hadn't had any water in years. Looking closely she could see the dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in weeks.

Standing up from his chair, he cupped her cheek. "You're finally awake." he said to her. After a little over a month she was finally awake once again, "Iris, I'm so sorry." he apologized to her once again, "please forgive me."

Iris knew what he was referring to, "Seto… I never blamed you once and I never will." he could see tears in her eyes. "I was just so happy that I got to see you, I thought I was going to die." Iris suppressed the pain she felt as she wrapped her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder.

Carefully wrapping his arms around her, "you don't know how much I missed you." he said to her. Holding her in his arms felt like a dream, one that he didn't want to wake up from. "Iris, do you remember what you said to me that day?" he asked her.

Shaking her head, "I remember seeing you and that's it." she told him, as part of that event was still a bit foggy.

Pulling away slightly he locked eyes with her, "Iris, I love you." he said to her.

Her eyes swelled with joy, "you do?"

"Even before all of this, you were the only thing on my mind. And the thought of losing you again broke my heart," the wall that he had spent so long building crumbled, he let her into his heart and he didn't want to ever let her go. "When you told me that you loved me that day, I knew that if I did lose you I would never be able to recover."

Iris couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Seto…. I love you too." she told him, as she felt immense gratification to finally say those words to him. "I don't remember saying it before, but I'll say it now and every single day. I love you and I will only ever love you, Seto Kaiba."

As they held each other in their arms, Iris knew that she made the right decision. She finally found happiness, and she wasn't going to let it go.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this update! So just giving a heads up, it may be awhile before the next update, but I do hope to have it posted by next Sunday at the latest!

Stay safe out there my lovelies!