14. Volunteer
Atemu groaned softly as his eyes fluttered open. 'What happened?' Atemu thought with a groan, sitting up when what happened hit him. "YAMI?!" Atemu called out, a nurse rushing into the room.
"What's wrong?" the nurse asked in a startled voice, coming over to check the boy over.
"Where's Yami? Is he alright?" Atemu asked, looking around the room. He found that he wasn't in the same room anymore. "Where am I?"
"You're in neurology because you slammed your head and blacked out. You've been unconscious for a few hours. The doctors will have to come back and check you over before they decide if you get sent back to rehab," the nurse explained.
"What about Yami? Where is he?" Atemu asked with a frown.
"I don't know a Yami. We weren't told anything about him," the nurse responded calmly. "Even if we were, we wouldn't be able to tell you anything without his express permission."
'Stupid blood rules,' Atemu thought darkly, glaring at his blanket as the nurse did her thing.
"I'll go and tell the doctor that you're awake," the nurse said as she turned and left the room.
Atemu looked up when Amanda walked into the room with another boy that looked a lot like a pale version of Heba.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Atemu. We were actually going to see you in rehab but that didn't go to plan. This is Yugi, he's a volunteer here," Amanda said with a smile, pushing the shy-looking pale boy forward.
17-year-old Yugi is a 5' man with pale skin; round cheekbones; a button nose; large, round amethyst eyes; thick lips; small muscles; and tricoloured hair shot around his head in five large spikes forming a star. The base is black, and the tips match his eyes, blonde lightning bolts framing his face. He has three to the right of his forehead too and two to the left with one small one exactly in the centre of his forehead.
Yugi is dressed in navy blue slacks with a matching jacket that is unbuttoned to reveal the black muscle shirt beneath. Black sneakers cover his feet and two-inch bands cover his wrists, biceps, and throat. Two belts are wrapped around his waist too.
"And who are you?" Atemu asked with a frown.
"My name is Amanda. I work in the ICU, but I also lead the hospital volunteers," Amanda explained with a slight bow and a hand against her chest.
"Are you a volunteer, Yugi?" Atemu asked, looking at the boy who nodded. "And why are you coming to see me?"
"The social workers thought you needed someone to talk to. You've been here for weeks and haven't had anyone to talk to. They were concerned about you becoming isolated. It's a massive risk considering you're in hospital," Amanda explained.
"I don't need help from a social worker," Atemu growled, raising an eyebrow when the boy flinched.
"Be nice on him. He needs the credit for school and you're the only long-term patient close to his age. Older people can't seem to connect with him," Amanda scolded with a frown.
"What about Yami?" Atemu asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Who is Yami?" Amanda enquired, tilting her head slightly.
"He's the John Doe that got transferred down from the ICU," Atemu explained.
"You can talk to him?" Amanda asked. "He only speaks a foreign language?"
"That's because he's not from this nation and he's not from this time either," Atemu responded.
"Not from this time?" Yugi asked curiously, finally finding something that caught his attention.
"What does that mean?" Amanda asked with a frown.
"Exactly what I said. He's not from this time. He remembers his life thousands of years ago when Pharaoh's still ruled the people. In fact, he remembers the boulder slamming into a building that fell on him and crushed him. He remembers the Pharaoh of the time ordering a sarcophagus so a spell could be placed over him to keep him from dying," Atemu explained.
"Wow… I want to hear more!" Yugi replied, almost bouncing in excitement.
"This is crazy," Amanda muttered.
"No, the crazy part was when he summoned a dragon in front of the police officers," Atemu replied with a smirk.
"A dragon?! I wanna see~" Yugi responded.
"Is he always this hyper?" Atemu asked with a frown, narrowing his eyes at the boy.
"No," Amanda sighed, pinching her temple. "He snuck into the lolly draw and ate a tone of candy. He also stole an energy drank too which isn't helping him."
"That's why you're trying to dump him on someone?" Atemu asked with a raised eyebrow, seeing the nurse and a doctor walking towards the door. "He can stay. But I may get moved."
"That's fine. He knows where to meet me at the end of the day," Amanda said, stepping aside for the two new medical personnel. "Behave while I'm gone, Yugi."
"I will," Yugi responded, watching as the nurse and doctor walked over to Atemu. "Bye," Yugi waved as Amanda left.
"What are you doing?" Atemu asked when the doctor shone a torch in his eyes without warning.
"Checking your pupils," the nurse explained with a cheery smile.
"Warn me next time or you may just get punched," Atemu growled, hearing Yugi giggle slightly at the response. "Just how old are you, Yugi?"
"Seventeen," Yugi answered with a smile.
"You sure don't act like a seventeen-year-old," Atemu muttered under his breath.
"Do you know what happened to you?" the doctor asked, drawing the tan teen's attention back onto him.
"Some dick raped Yami so I tried to stop them and got shoved. Then I woke up here. I assume I hit my head considering the way you guys are treating me," Atemu responded bluntly.
"How badly did you want to call them dicks too?" Yugi asked with a knowing smirk.
"More than you could ever know," Atemu responded with a smirk of his own.
"I see no reason to keep him here. Transfer him back to rehab," the doctor sighed. "Just make sure they know to keep doing the post-fall protocol and let us know if anything develops."
"Yes, Doctor," the nurse responded, following the doctor out.
"Aren't they going to transfer me?" Atemu asked with a frown.
"They have to call the other ward, have a bed assigned to you, and then transfer you," Yugi explained. "It's highly likely that your old bed has already been reassigned to someone else."
"You know a lot about hospital policy for someone who just volunteers here because of school," Atemu said with a raised eyebrow.
Yugi couldn't help but blush in response. "Talking to patients is the school volunteer part. Amanda sometimes needs to debrief after an incident at work and it often involves the inter-ward process. Comatose patients don't cause a lot of trouble. Other nurses do."
"Is it true that nurses eat their young?" Atemu asked with a smirk.
"Very much so… It is getting better… but some still eat the young," Yugi answered.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Atemu asked with a tilt of his head. "A nurse?"
"Oh, hell no! I'd rather burn in the pits of hell than wipe the asses of grumpy men like you!" Yugi responded, Atemu's smirk widened.
"You wish you got to see my ass," Atemu responded, chuckling when Yugi turned bright red. "Seriously though. What do you want to be?"
"A game designer," Yugi admitted, glad that Atemu had given him an out to responding to the reference to his butt.
"That's cool. I want to be a mechanic. Not for cars, that's boring. On other large equipment. Maybe that's not the right term? Is it the right term?" Atemu mused, scratching his head slightly. "Anyway, that's what I want to be. I'll get there one day. I'll make sure of it."
"I'm sure you will," Yugi responded with a smile, taking a seat on a chair beside Atemu's bed. "Why are you here, Atemu? I mean, before the head injury."
"Surely your friend and the social worker told you," Atemu growled. "Why make me repeat it again?"
"Sometimes people need to repeat what happened for their own good. Also, it's best to hear exactly what happened at the source," Yugi responded.
"I don't need to repeat it. You know what happened. How did you get roped into this?" Atemu asked, wanting to change the topic. "Surely there were other options that you could do instead of coming to annoy patients."
"Most are sports. Do I look like I'd be good at playing sports?" Yugi responded.
"I dunno. I wouldn't mind playing with you," Atemu replied with a smirk.
Yugi couldn't help but flush in response. "I get it, you're gay."
"Bi actually. Looks like you're gay too," Atemu shot back. "What's with the two belts?"
"They're good for beating people up with. One in each hand and whip the shit outta them," Yugi responded with an evil glint in his eyes.
"What happened to the sweet innocent boy volunteering with sick kids in the hospital?" Atemu smirked, liking the evil side hiding in such an innocent looking person. They always said that the quiet snap the loudest. "What if I snatch one of those belts and bind your hands?"
"I can be both," Yugi responded with a smirk of his own. "And I'd kick you in the nuts for daring to touch my belt. Then beat your ass with the two belts."
Atemu couldn't help but blush faintly in response, hands moving to his lap to help hide the bulge under the sheets. "Don't say shit like that around horny teenagers," Atemu hissed.
"You like being kicked in the balls?" Yugi asked with a raised eyebrow, seeing his cheeks get redder. "Oh my… Are you a masochist?"
"Shut up!" Atemu snapped, cheeks unbelievable red. He loved pain. It was a surprising kink he had discovered some time ago. A secret shame he had always tried to hide because that type of behaviour was unbecoming of a Sennen. Well… He's not a Sennen anymore so he could enjoy himself.
Yugi chuckled in amusement at his new friend's pain. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Why are you keeping it in mind?" Atemu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I have my reasons," Yugi smirked, the evil glint back in his eyes.
Atemu gulped slightly. "Go back to the hyper, innocent, weirdo!" Atemu tried to order, noticing he lacked the authority he remembered from Yami's visions and his own dreams.
"It doesn't work that way," Yugi responded with a chuckle, clearing his throat as he decided to have mercy on the patient. "Can you tell me more about that Yami kid? And about how he's from another time?"
Atemu blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Not really. You'll have to talk to himself when I get transferred back to rehab."
"How? I thought he couldn't speak English," Yugi responded with a tilt of his head.
"He can now. Mostly. He just needed help to understand what people was saying. It took a few days which is nothing. He's an incredibly fast learner and had motivation," Atemu answered.
"What was his motivation?" Yugi asked curiously, leaning forward in his chair.
"A culturally incompetent nurse flipped his gown up to place a urine bottle in place without bothering to shut the curtains. He was embarrassed to flash me simply because he didn't understand what the nurse wanted him to do," Atemu explained with a faint blush back on his cheeks. "He looked ready to murder her when she finally left. You shoulda heard the line of curses that escaped him the rest of the day whenever he thought about her. Every time she comes around now, he straight away yells at her to f off."
"Gotta give him credit. Not many people do that," Yugi chuckled.
"He's from a different time. He hasn't had to learn political correctness or any of that shit. He speaks his mind without repercussions," Atemu chuckled back.