After last chapter, this one's a bit of a breather before things get heavy again.

Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi

"In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix must first burn."

-Octavia E. Butler

Chapter 5: Doctor's Orders

Hassan set the same recorder out that he had used last time he and Marik had talked and flipped it on. The heads began spinning the tape inside as the doctor turned to the boy opposite of him.

"Now then, let's get started."

Marik swallowed hard, wringing his hands nervously in his lap as he glanced around the room. Hassan waited patiently as he collected his thoughts, writing something down on his clipboard that Marik could not see. The boy glanced at the glass of water on the table next to him and picked it up. He gulped down some, feeling the tightness that was in his throat loosen a bit. After allowing himself a few deep breaths, he was finally able to speak.

"Okay…so, what do you want me to tell you about my nightmares?"

"Well, we've already established you see another boy who seems about your age. We could talk more about him? You could tell me about other things you've seen, or things you've experienced. You didn't really elaborate much on that when we talked the first time. Whichever you feel most comfortable in talking about right now is what we can start with."

The boy shifted in his chair a bit. None of the above really sounded appealing, but the lesser evil seemed to be his double.

"I guess we can talk about the other boy…uhm…" he muttered, not knowing where to start.

"Alright," Hassan nodded, "Last time you didn't seem to know what he looked like. Have you seen any details since the last time we talked that you can give me?"

Still reluctant to say the other boy looked like him, he tried to keep the details to a minimum, "Well, he…whenever I seem him, he's covered in blood. It's on his hands, his face, and it's streaked in his hair; it's everywhere. And he doesn't seem to notice it at all."

"And that bothers you?"

He nodded, "I can't stand the sight of it…when you tried to do a blood test the other day, I…"

"You what?"

Tears were welling in Marik's eyes as he continued, "All I heard was father screaming…he was yelling at me to stop. That's why I ran away…I was just trying to get the noise to go away…"

Hassan frowned slightly, writing something down, "I'm sorry, Marik. I didn't mean to cause you any distress."

The boy sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, "I-It's okay…" He paused a moment to calm down before asking, "Uhm…were we still talking about my nightmares, or?"

"Yes, we were. You mentioned before this other boy told you he 'guards the door'. Does that sound significant to you at all?"

Marik shook his head before replying, "No I…don't really know. When he told me he guards the door, he was sitting in front of one that looked like it was shut pretty tight. He said behind it was the truth, but he wouldn't tell me exactly what that truth was…"

"I see…"

Hassan continued to write down some notes in silence, leaving Marik to fidget nervously in his seat. The quiet eventually started to get to him, and the boy spoke up, "Um, Doctor Bakura? What do you think it means?"

Hassan finished writing and looked up at his patient, "Well Marik, I can assume by the imagery and your current bought of memory loss that the door is symbolic. The door could be a figurative box that your memories are hidden behind, and it manifested itself in your subconscious as such. The fact that it was 'shut pretty tight' seems to indicate that you are closing yourself off from remembering. I'm not sure about the other boy yet, I would need to learn more details about him, but you've told me all you can remember, yes?"

Marik felt his insides clench a bit, but he nodded all the same. Hassan seemed to believe him and continued on, "Let's see…ah. I believe there was someone else in these dreams you didn't want to discuss before. Any chance I can get any information about them?"

Marik opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. He drew his legs up onto his seat, pulling his knees tight to his chest. He heard Hassan let off a frustrated sigh, "We've got to talk about this at some point. You can't keep dodging the question, Marik."

"I know that!" he snapped back, "I just…the things that happen when I…" Marik bit down on his lip, biting back the urge to be sick, "I can't stand it…"

"Alright, alright…" Hassan paused for a moment, "At least tell me one thing then. What does the other person look like?"

"He…it's hard to say…he keeps changing. Every time I see him, something about him changes. Like his body is rotting around him…but he didn't always look like that."

"I see," Hassan nodded, writing more notes, "What did he look like before?"

Marik was about to answer when there was a knock at the door. Hassan turned to look and called to the person on the other side of the door to come in. Marik felt his breath catch in his throat as the other doctor stepped through the door. Hassan said he'd left for the day. What was he doing back? Doctor Mutou stepped into the room, his right hand wrapped in gauze where the bite wound was at. He didn't seem to have noticed that Marik was sitting there. Good.

"Hassan, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you."

"Well…I'm with a patient right now…"

Doctor Mutou blinked, looked around the room, and frowned, "You are?"

"Of course he's-" Hassan stopped when he looked back at the other chair and the child was gone, "…Marik?"

Marik held his breath, not daring to look out from behind Hassan's desk. He had to get out of the room and find some place to hide. Somewhere neither would find him. But he still didn't know the hospital that well, so it might be tricky. Hassan called to him again, but still the boy did not respond. He heard the doctor stand up from his chair. The office wasn't very big, so it wouldn't take him long to be found. Marik glanced towards the door. It was still slightly ajar. Maybe he could slip out unnoticed if he was quiet enough. He quickly breathed in before moving out from behind the desk and hurrying for the door. Hassan looked up from checking behind Marik's chair in time to see him reach for the knob.

The boy locked eyes with him and Doctor Mutou for a brief moment. Heart pounding, he flung the door open and took off down the hall. Hesitating a bit out in the main lobby, Marik bit his lip unsure of where to go. Hassan was calling after him, but he paid little mind. Finally he decided to go to the left and down another corridor. The hall ended in a door, which he flung himself against. It swung open, causing him to nearly trip from the momentum. Managing to stay upright, Marik kept moving forward; his arms pumping at his sides as he ran faster. He came to a set of stairs and attempted to sprint up them, but had to stop when he reached the top of the first flight, feeling a bit winded. Looking back he saw both doctors emerge from the door he had just come through. Doctor Mutou was the first to notice him and pointed in his direction.

His breath quickly returned and Marik flew up the second set of stairs. The hallway past them yielded very little, and Marik wondered if they would catch up to him. Scurrying further ahead he noticed an open door, the sign above it reading 'Library'. It might be a long shot, but Marik decided to go for it. He slipped through the door way as quietly as he could and ducked under a nearby table. He thought he heard them out in the hallway speaking with one another, but neither doctor entered into the library. It seemed, for the moment, he was in the clear. At least he thought he was until one of the chairs at the table shifted. Marik quickly spun to look at it, started by the sudden movement. He blinked when he saw it was Ryou, and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Ryou? What are you doing in here?" He asked.

"I came up here to read after you left. I should be asking you what the hell you're doing in here. I thought you had to talk with my Uncle?"

"I…did," he paused, still catching his breath, "But…"

"But what?"

"It's…complicated. See, I bit this doctor this morning…"

"Wait…you bit one of the doctors?" Ryou asked, moving to sit on the floor.

"Yeah…I did," Marik muttered shyly as he wrung his hands, "He…looks like someone I've been having nightmares about. And he tried to give me a sedative shot after I'd just woken up from a really bad one…"

"Damn…and my Uncle says I'm a problem case…"

"Hey! It's not like I'm proud I bit him! I just…didn't want to go back to sleep."

"Easy…I was joking…" Ryou sighed, his face softening a bit.

Marik looked at him a moment before he replied, "Your jokes aren't very funny…or nice."

"So I've been told…"

The boys sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before Ryou spoke up again, "So who was the doctor you bit?"

"Well…I don't know his first name, but…Hassan and the nurse who helped me last night called him Doctor Mutou."

"Oh damn… Doctor Mutou's not that bad of a guy. I've talked with him a few times and he's cool."

"Yeah well…if you'd had the nightmares I had, you wouldn't have been so sure yourself."

"What do you mean?"

Marik swallowed, his throat feeling dry just from thinking about the bad dream, "Do you ever go to sleep and not realize you are? You still feel like you're awake. Still feel pain? That's how my dreams are now…I can't even tell what's real sometimes. When Doctor Mutou walked into my room after I had woken up, I thought for sure I was still trapped in the dream. Heck, I could be dreaming right now and not even know it…" he chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair, "He looks…just like the man…no, the monster, who's been tormenting me whenever I dream."

"You could have seen him before at some point while you were awake?"

Marik shook his head and hugged his knees, "No…I've been dreaming about this…thing…since I first got here. Before I'd even seen Doctor Mutou. And I was hoping I'd never have to again, until he stepped into Hassan's office…"

"Ah…so that's why you're up here."

"Yeah," the olive-skinned boy replied, nodding.

"I see. And, not to sound like my Uncle or anything, but have you told him about this thing that keeps trying to hurt you in your dreams?"

"Well…a little…"

"What's 'a little'?"

"Just that he's there. He doesn't know what he's done or what he looks like…and now that I know he looks like one of the doctor's I don't think I can tell him. He'll just think I'm crazier…"

Ryou gazed sadly at the other boy in front of him, "Hey, I know I'm not the best example since I always get into fights with him, but my Uncle isn't the type to judge like that. It's part of his job for one thing; for another he genuinely tries his best to help his patients. Even if they are…difficult like I am."

"You might be right…but I still have a hard time feeling like I can trust anyone around here. None of them really know what I'm going through, no matter how hard they try to understand…"

Ryou nodded, rubbing his left arm self-consciously. Marik noticed that it was still bandaged, and wanted to ask about it again, but decided it better not to. After all, Ryou looked like he was finally getting more comfortable around him. He didn't want the other boy to think him rude. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Now that his heart had slowed, he noticed his body felt heavy. Like the earth was pulling him into it. It was no doubt because of the little amount of sleep he had been getting.

"Hey, you alright?"

Marik looked up at Ryou and nodded, "Yeah just…finally feeling how much sleep I've actually gotten."

"Now that I can understand," the white-haired boy replied with a smile.

Marik returned the smile until he heard two sets of footsteps enter the library. He froze and looked towards the door. Hassan and Doctor Mutou had just entered the room; the former looking right at him. Panic leapt through him and he scrambled out from under the table and attempted to make a break for the door. But as he attempted to push past the two adults, he felt Hassan grab hold of his left arm. The child screamed and tried to pull free, but the doctor gripped him tighter. Ryou watched the scene quietly from his seat at the table; his eyes shifting between the two doctors and Marik. Marik looked up at Doctor Bakura, eyes tearing up with anger and fear. Hassan returned his gaze with a glare of his own.

"I've had just about enough of this, Marik! First you attacked my nephew, then a member of hospital staff. Now you run away during a therapy session. You mind telling me what's going on?"

Marik shook his head, still trying to free his arm when he heard Doctor Mutou speak up.

"Hassan, ease up on him, he's just a kid…"

"You stay out of this Yugi; it's not your concern. He is my patient, and I will deal with him."

Yugi frowned, holding up his still bandaged hand, "Oh yes. Clearly his biting of my hand was none of my concern."

He looked over at the boy still in Hassan's hold and walked closer to him. Marik looked up at him when Yugi bent down to his level. Hurriedly, he ducked behind Hassan, using him as a shield.

"Marik, you know I'm not here to hurt you, right?"

Marik shut his eyes tight, burying his face into the folds of Doctor Bakura's white coat. He heard Hassan sigh as he did so, the doctor letting go of his arm and stepping to the side. The boy looked up at him. Doctor Bakura looked back, his arms folded over his chest; a frown set deep in his face.

"I believe I told you that you were going to apologize?"

Marik looked over at Doctor Mutou, feeling his body trembling. He hugged his sides to get the feeling to stop, but it persisted. He didn't want to speak to the man, let alone apologize. Marik turned away feeling like his entire being was vibrating. A low chuckle rumbled in his ears. It got progressively louder until his ears began to ring with the reverberation. Marik clamped his hands over his ears, whimpering softly to himself. His head began to feel foggy. As if it was slowly being enveloped by a sheet of cotton.

"Marik, enough with this avoidance behavior…turn around and apologize."

His whole body was numb. Like he was still in it, but all feeling had suddenly vanished. Almost as if he was being held by someone. Marik wondered if he should have been more concerned in that moment, but he felt too content to care. To not feel anything was far too comfortable.

"Marik, I won't ask again…" he heard Hassan warn, his tone very stern.

The words tumbled from his mouth before he even realized he was speaking, "Just fuck off already you shitty, excuse of a doctor…"

"E-excuse me?!" Hassan said, taken aback.

Marik sensed his body turning around, the doctors coming into view. His lips curled upwards into a sneer.

"You think you can help me? No one in this damn place even knows what goes on in my head. You're just fumbling around in the dark, hoping the answer will leap out at you! Well I've got an answer for you right here," the boy growled, lifting his hands up to his face. "You. Can't. Help. Me!"

As the last four words left his lips, Marik began to rake his nails hard down the sides of his face. The fresh pain began to clear the fog in his head, but he found that he still couldn't control his arms. He felt his heart leap in fear, and he began to scream; his nails digging even further into his skin. Tears poured from his eyes, mixing with the tickles of blood that began to flow from the scratches. Hassan rushed over and grabbed hold of his hands, pulling them off his face. Marik squirmed, trying to pull his hands free, but the doctor didn't relinquish his hold.

"Stop touching me!" he screeched.

"Not until you've calmed down!" Hassan shouted back.

Marik shrunk back under the doctor's tone, trying to curl into himself and hide. But Doctor Bakura wouldn't let him, holding the child's body firmly in place. After a time, Marik realized his fighting was getting him nowhere, and he simply began to sob. Hassan said nothing to him in the moments that followed. He didn't speak until Marik started to calm down.

"Yugi, go get some gauze, hydrogen peroxide, and antiseptic ointment, would you?" He looked down at the skin and blood stuck under Marik's finger nails and grimaced, "And a pair of nail clippers while you're at it…"

Doctor Mutou nodded and left the library. Ryou continued to watch his uncle and Marik in silence as the older man examined the scratches.

"Marik, why did you do this to yourself?"

"I…don't know," he sniffed, trying to rub his nose on his hand that the doctor was still holding tight to.

"No touching your face…I want to get it cleaned up."

Marik gave a small nod and sniffed again, "It hurts. How bad are they?"

"Bad enough, Marik," Hassan sighed, "I think it best that tonight I have you put on watch."

"Watch?"

"I don't want you hurting yourself again so I'm going to have the nursing staff keep checking in on you."

"I don't need-"

"Marik, you're not arguing with me on this. It's for your own good."

The boy sighed and looked down, "Fine…"

Hassan let go of one of his hands to pat the top of the child's head, "It's going to be alright…"

"No it's not…everything is getting worse…"

"Have some faith in me will you? I'm going to help you through this. I promise."

A chair scrapped harshly across the floor drawing Hassan's attention to his nephew. Ryou shut the book he had been flipping through before he headed for the exit without a word to either of them.

"Ryou? What's the-"

At that moment, Doctor Mutou came back into the room carrying the supplies that Hassan had asked for; nearly getting run over by the teen in the process. He blinked before turning back to his associate and the young boy. Marik shrunk back a bit when Hassan stood up to get the items from him. He thought he heard Doctor Bakura say something about Ryou before Yugi nodded and left the room again. Hassan went back to Marik and bent down.

"I'm going to need you to close your eyes for a bit. This will probably sting."

Marik nodded and did as he was told. There was a pause as the doctor poured something onto the gauze pad before he started dabbing at the cuts. Marik flinched, clenching his teeth to keep himself from crying out. The burning continued on for a few moments longer before Hassan told him he could open his eyes. The doctor reached for the tube of ointment and gently applied it to the scratches before taking some of the gauze pads and taping them over the wounds to keep them clean.

"There we go," Hassan sighed, patting Marik's head; only to have the boy swat it away.

"I'm not a dog…stop doing that all the time."

Doctor Bakura frowned at the comment, but said nothing in response. He took hold of the Boy's wrist and told him to hold out his fingers. Marik did so reluctantly and looked off to the side as Hassan first cleaned the blood off his fingers then proceeded to trim his nails down to the quick. When he had finished the doctor stood back up and looked towards the door. His face taking on a somewhat worried expression, and Marik idly wondered if he was thinking about his nephew, but he didn't care enough at that moment to ask. The boy started walking towards the door, not wanting to be in the library any longer when his doctor spoke up.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Nowhere really…just don't want to be here…"

"Fine then, I'll take you back to your room. Try and get some rest since you've been sleeping so little."

"Yeah, sure…" Marik muttered.

He highly doubted that sleep would bring him any sort of comfort or peace. He would give anything to not dream again. He wondered how long he could go without sleeping. Marik decided he'd give it a try when he returned to the small cell of a room he had been given. What other choice did he really have? He had to do something to stop the nightmares. Doctor Bakura nudged his arm, and he started walking.