Chapter 10 – An Ending Nightmare
[Sorry for the lack of updates once again x_x; I have a lot of other fan fictions to work on but my brain has been going on and off at random points when I –want- to write! ;-; Besides that, this isn't going to be the last chapter so don't get your shirts in a knot. Oo; And no, this story hasn't
been forgotten... yet. Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Yugioh.]
It was another slow day at the hospital as Kaiba waited in the waiting room. Today was the day that the breathing tube would be taken out and he wanted to be the first one at Chikara's side. He ignored the comments of the others, saying why worry about anything and that everything was going to be fine. He had been waiting for the good part of the morning and he was starting to get impatient. Finally, he saw one of the doctors and all he needed was a nod before he was on his way to see her.
"Mister Kaiba, you may see her now." Said the doctor as he crossed his arms.
Kaiba immediately stood up and walked past the doctor, to Chikara's room. He walked in the door to her room quietly and saw her sitting up in her hospital bed. He made his way up to her and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, searching her face with his eyes for any discomfort.
He held his breath, waiting for an answer... if Chikara would even speak to him or anyone ever again.
"...I'm fine." She answered, looking up at him. "Seto."
"I-" they both started but stopped.
"Go ahead." Offered Kaiba. "You first."
Chikara nodded slightly and sighed. "I'm... alone again, aren't I..."
Kaiba was a little taken aback from that statement and his eyes darkened a little. "Not completely. Look, what happened wasn't your fault, okay? It was the fault of those idiots who were driving the truck. Not yours, nor your parents. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise."
Chikara stayed silent and nervously tugged at the sheets on her bed.
"Come on now..." said Kaiba. "Don't be like that. Everything is going to be okay. All the others are going to be here to see you soon. If there's any problem, I'll take care of it for you."
"I suppose so... Seto, could you get me a drink from one of machines, please?" She asked quietly.
"Alright. Any preference?" He asked, getting a no for a response; then he left.
As soon as Kaiba walked out of the room, Chikara quietly slipped out of her bed, grabbing the thin white bed sheet, as well as a broom nearby and peeked out into the hallway. Knowing that Kaiba had to walk all the way to the front of the hospital, she made her way to the stairway and carefully made her way towards the roof. She winced and placed one hand over her bandaged side, feeling the pain starting to surface again. She opened the door to the roof and was surprised that it opened to the inside. She shrugged and stepped outside and closed the door, jamming the door shut by looping the broom through the handles of the door and the doorway. She sighed slowly and sat down, resting her back against the door.
When Kaiba returned to Chikara's room, he found that it was empty. He glanced around the room with his eyes, setting the can of juice on the rolling table. He walked back out of the room and swept his eyes across the hallways, seeing no sign of her.
A doctor walked up to Kaiba. "Is something wrong, sir?"
"... Have you seen the young woman who was set to this room?" He asked hesitantly.
He received a skeptical look from the medical official and groaned when the doctor found the room empty, starting to get nervous.
"That's impossible. She's not to be released for at least a couple more days!" Said the doctor as he adjusted the glasses on his nose.
As if the sense of timing couldn't get any worse, it did. From the lobby, came Malik, Ryou, Yugi and the others. Kaiba sighed and just walked out of the hospital for some air.
'Not again,' he thought to himself as he looked up at the sky. 'What's with her and hospitals...'
Something caught his eye towards the upper levels of the hospital and he took a few more steps back to take a better look. He saw a sheet almost flying over the edge of the hospital roof then it was roughly pulled back. He raised an eyebrow, letting his mind wander of why that would happen. He walked back into the hospital, past the group of doctors that were going to arrange retrieving groups and walked to the stairs, shutting the door quietly then running up the stairs, almost two at a time.
Chikara sighed, sitting back in front of the door and closing her eyes. 'What am I going to do... everything still hurts and I don't know what went on for the past day or so...'
She inhaled slowly, regretting it immediately as she started to cough violently, holding back little sobs from the realization of her situation. She covered her face with one hand and shook her head slowly, tears starting to slide down her face uncontrollably. Kaiba heard the muffled crying from the other side of the door and ran into it, trying to open the door. Locked.
"Chikara?" He asked, trying to slow his racing pulse down. "Open the door, please!"
There was a quick silence, with exception of sniffling but the door was not unlocked.
"You're not in the condition to be outside yet. They still have to run some more tests to make sure that there is no permanent injury. For the love of god, Chikara, open the door!" Kaiba said more quickly, pressing his ear against the metal barrier.
There was another moment of silence then the 'lock' slowly slid away. Kaiba opened the door quickly and found Chikara sitting there, trying not to cry. He kneeled over to her and embraced her in a tight hug, resting his chin on her head.
"It's okay... I know how you feel... Mokuba and I are here for you at the very least... It's okay if you want to cry..." He said quietly, stroking her head.
Chikara looked up at Kaiba with her tear-stained face. "What am I going to do..."
Kaiba took one hand and placed it on one side of Chikara's features, gently wiping the tears away. "Continue where you left off... Come on, you're much stronger than that..."
Chikara looked down again and footsteps of people sounded from the stairs. Kaiba looked back, seeing a few doctors and Mokuba with them.
"Seto! You found her!" Mokuba exclaimed, pushing past the doctors.
Kaiba nodded, looking up at the doctors.
"Mister Kaiba, we have to bring her back inside. She's not well enough to be walking about on her own." One of them said. "It is a wonder on how she got up to the roof so quickly, even at all."
He nodded again, looking back down at Chikara and whispering. "You just have to back inside... everything's going to be fine, I mean it..."
Chikara stayed silent, more tears falling from the edge of her jaw. She reluctantly got up, wrapping the bed sheet around herself and was guided back down the stairs carefully, keeping her gaze low and avoided any eye contact with people. Her foot slipped on the edge of a stair and she started falling back quickly as she winced from the still weak ankle. Kaiba, being right behind her, took a swift step forward and caught her before her back made contact with the metal step. He gently pulled her back up and picked her up with one arm underneath her knees and one supporting her back.
"It's alright now... I've got you..." He said quietly, making sure his grasp was proper.
Chikara timidly put her head on Kaiba's shoulder as the CEO carried her down the stairs with much care and caution until they reached the first floor. Her eyes drifted over to the worried faces of ones who were waiting for her.
'Friends...' She thought quietly. 'They're still here waiting for me...'
After being carried for a bit, she was carefully placed back on her bed. She sat there quietly, keeping the sheet wrapped around her as she glanced around at the people around her. Malik looked the guiltiest and kept averting his gaze when she looked at him.
"The docs said you're gonna be here for a few more days at least, Chikara. Then you can go home and finally get out of this damned place." Joey said, trying to raise the mood.
"That's right." Yugi nodded.
"So much for half of the summer vacation..." Tristan said before Téa kicked him in the shin. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Don't be so selfish!" She scolded. "You still have plenty of time to do nothing!"
"Yeah, but it's a month shorter now!" Tristan almost whined, hanging his head down. "And that's when-"
"Don't you even start!"
"But it's true!"
Chikara silently watched the two argue about the lost vacation time and looked back at Kaiba, who was glaring cold daggers at the fighting.
"Do you two mind? If you haven't noticed, you are being quite disrespectful... Tch, shouldn't have expected any less from you..." Kaiba scowled.
Chikara sighed quietly, closing her eyes as thoughts of what she should do continued to pester her. She had nothing left and nothing to go back to. '... But that's not entirely true...'
She noticed the room go quiet and she opened her eyes, finding that the arguing had died down and some people had already left... most likely from Kaiba telling them to.
"Chikara..." Malik spoke quietly, causing her to move her gaze to him. "What do you wish to do... after you're out of here..."
Chikara slightly bit her lip, not really thinking of it earlier. "I... don't know..."
"First of all, it would be a good idea for you to get settled back at home." Kaiba said, crossing his arms as he watched Malik warily out of the corner of his eye. "Then... Well there is no need for explanation of what needs to happen next... It all depends on how you want it done, Chikara..."
The hospitalized girl lowered her eyes to her hands. "... They need a respectable burial... but we're not in Egypt... I really wish... they weren't gone..."
"... All you can do now is move on..." Malik replied quietly. "I know it's hard... I lost my mother when I was only a baby... Isis told me... And my father... he..."
"My past is none of his business but you know what we mean, Chikara." Kaiba cut-in, not wanting Malik to go into any details. "Whatever you feel like doing for your parents, it can be arranged... Just let yourself heal up and everything will be alright..."
"... Thank you..." Chikara closed her eyes once more, lightly holding the bed sheet.
The room fell silent and Malik got up from the chair uncomfortably, walking out of the room without another word. Kaiba was the only one left with Chikara and he sighed quietly, slightly catching her attention.
"I have not told many people this..." He said, sitting down on a chair by her beside. "But when Mokuba and I were very young, our parents had passed away and I didn't have the heart to tell my brother that they were gone... We were sent to an orphanage and things went from bad to worse..."
"Seto... Why are you telling me this..." Chikara asked, looking at him slightly.
Kaiba simply put a hand up and continued, keeping his gaze averted. "It had been a long while before I had come up with a plan for someone to adopt us... There was this one man... Gozaburo Kaiba... He was a real stiff collared business man that could not back down from a challenge, even one by a child... I had never lost a chess match with anyone in the orphanage... and that businessman had never lost any competition or match that he played... until he met me. He had visited the orphanage one day and hated it... it was obvious... and I stopped him, challenging him that if he lost a chess game to me, he would have to adopt Mokuba and I; no strings attached..."
Chikara watched the elder Kaiba retell the story of his childhood and she lowered her gaze, saying nothing.
"Of course, he lost because of his own arrogance... and I knew his strategies... He ended up taking us in and he really despised us... Forced me to study constantly and gave Mokuba a really hard time since he was younger. He constantly rejected my programs and ideas for games, saying that he was focused on making war weapons instead of making useless trinkets, as he put them... And he regretted the mistake..." Kaiba paused, deciding to leave one detail out until he thought the time was appropriate. "He...disappeared one day and I took over the Kaiba Corp business, getting rid of all his useless work and started into the gaming industry... made a fortune from it and Mokuba and I have been fine ever since. What I'm trying to tell you is that everyone has had hard times in the past within some point of their lives... All you have to do is get through it and move on..."
"But... they were taken away too soon..." Chikara did not meet Kaiba's gaze. "I won't be able to handle anything without them..."
"That's not true... It just takes time... you'll never forget them and you'll be just fine... Trust me...I know from experience and I'm not trying to be cruel or anything childish like that..." Kaiba sighed. "Just let one thing happen at a time..."
A nurse walked into the room with a chart, seeming to check a few things over before she spoke up in a cheery voice. "Everything seems to be healing nicely and properly but your ankle will have to remain in a hard plastic ankle brace since a lot of pressure was put on it from the past few weeks. Your shoulder has nothing else wrong with it with exception of it needing to heal properly back in place. I'd advise you not to do any strenuous work until the muscles are not stretched as much. Other than that, you're good to go in a few days!"
"... That's... great..." Chikara said hesitantly, less convincing than she meant.
"Oh, before I forget, there are a few release papers to be signed and looked at before we can let you go by Friday. Is there anything that I can get for you before I leave?" The nurse asked.
"No, everything's fine... Thank you again..." Chikara replied, not looking up.
"Have a nice day!" Then the cheerful nurse left with the clipboard to attend to other patients.
"Just try to get some rest and don't worry as much, alright...?" Kaiba asked her, taking a slow glance. "If there's anything you need, just ask me... I'll do the best that I can to help you..."
Chikara nodded as her only reply, shifting her gaze to the window. 'They're really gone... and it's barely been a year since I've been in Japan... I cannot go back to Egypt... I'll just have to stay here...'
[This chapter is a tad shorter because I ran out of ideas unless I wanted to rush everything in one shot xX Sorry about that and if there's any spelling mistakes, I've most likely missed them a lot because I just finished typing this at one in the morning _ I'll try to start the next one as soon as possible yet I have a whole lot of other fan fictions to attempt to update! Sorry for the wait!]
[Sorry for the lack of updates once again x_x; I have a lot of other fan fictions to work on but my brain has been going on and off at random points when I –want- to write! ;-; Besides that, this isn't going to be the last chapter so don't get your shirts in a knot. Oo; And no, this story hasn't
been forgotten... yet. Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Yugioh.]
It was another slow day at the hospital as Kaiba waited in the waiting room. Today was the day that the breathing tube would be taken out and he wanted to be the first one at Chikara's side. He ignored the comments of the others, saying why worry about anything and that everything was going to be fine. He had been waiting for the good part of the morning and he was starting to get impatient. Finally, he saw one of the doctors and all he needed was a nod before he was on his way to see her.
"Mister Kaiba, you may see her now." Said the doctor as he crossed his arms.
Kaiba immediately stood up and walked past the doctor, to Chikara's room. He walked in the door to her room quietly and saw her sitting up in her hospital bed. He made his way up to her and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, searching her face with his eyes for any discomfort.
He held his breath, waiting for an answer... if Chikara would even speak to him or anyone ever again.
"...I'm fine." She answered, looking up at him. "Seto."
"I-" they both started but stopped.
"Go ahead." Offered Kaiba. "You first."
Chikara nodded slightly and sighed. "I'm... alone again, aren't I..."
Kaiba was a little taken aback from that statement and his eyes darkened a little. "Not completely. Look, what happened wasn't your fault, okay? It was the fault of those idiots who were driving the truck. Not yours, nor your parents. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise."
Chikara stayed silent and nervously tugged at the sheets on her bed.
"Come on now..." said Kaiba. "Don't be like that. Everything is going to be okay. All the others are going to be here to see you soon. If there's any problem, I'll take care of it for you."
"I suppose so... Seto, could you get me a drink from one of machines, please?" She asked quietly.
"Alright. Any preference?" He asked, getting a no for a response; then he left.
As soon as Kaiba walked out of the room, Chikara quietly slipped out of her bed, grabbing the thin white bed sheet, as well as a broom nearby and peeked out into the hallway. Knowing that Kaiba had to walk all the way to the front of the hospital, she made her way to the stairway and carefully made her way towards the roof. She winced and placed one hand over her bandaged side, feeling the pain starting to surface again. She opened the door to the roof and was surprised that it opened to the inside. She shrugged and stepped outside and closed the door, jamming the door shut by looping the broom through the handles of the door and the doorway. She sighed slowly and sat down, resting her back against the door.
When Kaiba returned to Chikara's room, he found that it was empty. He glanced around the room with his eyes, setting the can of juice on the rolling table. He walked back out of the room and swept his eyes across the hallways, seeing no sign of her.
A doctor walked up to Kaiba. "Is something wrong, sir?"
"... Have you seen the young woman who was set to this room?" He asked hesitantly.
He received a skeptical look from the medical official and groaned when the doctor found the room empty, starting to get nervous.
"That's impossible. She's not to be released for at least a couple more days!" Said the doctor as he adjusted the glasses on his nose.
As if the sense of timing couldn't get any worse, it did. From the lobby, came Malik, Ryou, Yugi and the others. Kaiba sighed and just walked out of the hospital for some air.
'Not again,' he thought to himself as he looked up at the sky. 'What's with her and hospitals...'
Something caught his eye towards the upper levels of the hospital and he took a few more steps back to take a better look. He saw a sheet almost flying over the edge of the hospital roof then it was roughly pulled back. He raised an eyebrow, letting his mind wander of why that would happen. He walked back into the hospital, past the group of doctors that were going to arrange retrieving groups and walked to the stairs, shutting the door quietly then running up the stairs, almost two at a time.
Chikara sighed, sitting back in front of the door and closing her eyes. 'What am I going to do... everything still hurts and I don't know what went on for the past day or so...'
She inhaled slowly, regretting it immediately as she started to cough violently, holding back little sobs from the realization of her situation. She covered her face with one hand and shook her head slowly, tears starting to slide down her face uncontrollably. Kaiba heard the muffled crying from the other side of the door and ran into it, trying to open the door. Locked.
"Chikara?" He asked, trying to slow his racing pulse down. "Open the door, please!"
There was a quick silence, with exception of sniffling but the door was not unlocked.
"You're not in the condition to be outside yet. They still have to run some more tests to make sure that there is no permanent injury. For the love of god, Chikara, open the door!" Kaiba said more quickly, pressing his ear against the metal barrier.
There was another moment of silence then the 'lock' slowly slid away. Kaiba opened the door quickly and found Chikara sitting there, trying not to cry. He kneeled over to her and embraced her in a tight hug, resting his chin on her head.
"It's okay... I know how you feel... Mokuba and I are here for you at the very least... It's okay if you want to cry..." He said quietly, stroking her head.
Chikara looked up at Kaiba with her tear-stained face. "What am I going to do..."
Kaiba took one hand and placed it on one side of Chikara's features, gently wiping the tears away. "Continue where you left off... Come on, you're much stronger than that..."
Chikara looked down again and footsteps of people sounded from the stairs. Kaiba looked back, seeing a few doctors and Mokuba with them.
"Seto! You found her!" Mokuba exclaimed, pushing past the doctors.
Kaiba nodded, looking up at the doctors.
"Mister Kaiba, we have to bring her back inside. She's not well enough to be walking about on her own." One of them said. "It is a wonder on how she got up to the roof so quickly, even at all."
He nodded again, looking back down at Chikara and whispering. "You just have to back inside... everything's going to be fine, I mean it..."
Chikara stayed silent, more tears falling from the edge of her jaw. She reluctantly got up, wrapping the bed sheet around herself and was guided back down the stairs carefully, keeping her gaze low and avoided any eye contact with people. Her foot slipped on the edge of a stair and she started falling back quickly as she winced from the still weak ankle. Kaiba, being right behind her, took a swift step forward and caught her before her back made contact with the metal step. He gently pulled her back up and picked her up with one arm underneath her knees and one supporting her back.
"It's alright now... I've got you..." He said quietly, making sure his grasp was proper.
Chikara timidly put her head on Kaiba's shoulder as the CEO carried her down the stairs with much care and caution until they reached the first floor. Her eyes drifted over to the worried faces of ones who were waiting for her.
'Friends...' She thought quietly. 'They're still here waiting for me...'
After being carried for a bit, she was carefully placed back on her bed. She sat there quietly, keeping the sheet wrapped around her as she glanced around at the people around her. Malik looked the guiltiest and kept averting his gaze when she looked at him.
"The docs said you're gonna be here for a few more days at least, Chikara. Then you can go home and finally get out of this damned place." Joey said, trying to raise the mood.
"That's right." Yugi nodded.
"So much for half of the summer vacation..." Tristan said before Téa kicked him in the shin. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Don't be so selfish!" She scolded. "You still have plenty of time to do nothing!"
"Yeah, but it's a month shorter now!" Tristan almost whined, hanging his head down. "And that's when-"
"Don't you even start!"
"But it's true!"
Chikara silently watched the two argue about the lost vacation time and looked back at Kaiba, who was glaring cold daggers at the fighting.
"Do you two mind? If you haven't noticed, you are being quite disrespectful... Tch, shouldn't have expected any less from you..." Kaiba scowled.
Chikara sighed quietly, closing her eyes as thoughts of what she should do continued to pester her. She had nothing left and nothing to go back to. '... But that's not entirely true...'
She noticed the room go quiet and she opened her eyes, finding that the arguing had died down and some people had already left... most likely from Kaiba telling them to.
"Chikara..." Malik spoke quietly, causing her to move her gaze to him. "What do you wish to do... after you're out of here..."
Chikara slightly bit her lip, not really thinking of it earlier. "I... don't know..."
"First of all, it would be a good idea for you to get settled back at home." Kaiba said, crossing his arms as he watched Malik warily out of the corner of his eye. "Then... Well there is no need for explanation of what needs to happen next... It all depends on how you want it done, Chikara..."
The hospitalized girl lowered her eyes to her hands. "... They need a respectable burial... but we're not in Egypt... I really wish... they weren't gone..."
"... All you can do now is move on..." Malik replied quietly. "I know it's hard... I lost my mother when I was only a baby... Isis told me... And my father... he..."
"My past is none of his business but you know what we mean, Chikara." Kaiba cut-in, not wanting Malik to go into any details. "Whatever you feel like doing for your parents, it can be arranged... Just let yourself heal up and everything will be alright..."
"... Thank you..." Chikara closed her eyes once more, lightly holding the bed sheet.
The room fell silent and Malik got up from the chair uncomfortably, walking out of the room without another word. Kaiba was the only one left with Chikara and he sighed quietly, slightly catching her attention.
"I have not told many people this..." He said, sitting down on a chair by her beside. "But when Mokuba and I were very young, our parents had passed away and I didn't have the heart to tell my brother that they were gone... We were sent to an orphanage and things went from bad to worse..."
"Seto... Why are you telling me this..." Chikara asked, looking at him slightly.
Kaiba simply put a hand up and continued, keeping his gaze averted. "It had been a long while before I had come up with a plan for someone to adopt us... There was this one man... Gozaburo Kaiba... He was a real stiff collared business man that could not back down from a challenge, even one by a child... I had never lost a chess match with anyone in the orphanage... and that businessman had never lost any competition or match that he played... until he met me. He had visited the orphanage one day and hated it... it was obvious... and I stopped him, challenging him that if he lost a chess game to me, he would have to adopt Mokuba and I; no strings attached..."
Chikara watched the elder Kaiba retell the story of his childhood and she lowered her gaze, saying nothing.
"Of course, he lost because of his own arrogance... and I knew his strategies... He ended up taking us in and he really despised us... Forced me to study constantly and gave Mokuba a really hard time since he was younger. He constantly rejected my programs and ideas for games, saying that he was focused on making war weapons instead of making useless trinkets, as he put them... And he regretted the mistake..." Kaiba paused, deciding to leave one detail out until he thought the time was appropriate. "He...disappeared one day and I took over the Kaiba Corp business, getting rid of all his useless work and started into the gaming industry... made a fortune from it and Mokuba and I have been fine ever since. What I'm trying to tell you is that everyone has had hard times in the past within some point of their lives... All you have to do is get through it and move on..."
"But... they were taken away too soon..." Chikara did not meet Kaiba's gaze. "I won't be able to handle anything without them..."
"That's not true... It just takes time... you'll never forget them and you'll be just fine... Trust me...I know from experience and I'm not trying to be cruel or anything childish like that..." Kaiba sighed. "Just let one thing happen at a time..."
A nurse walked into the room with a chart, seeming to check a few things over before she spoke up in a cheery voice. "Everything seems to be healing nicely and properly but your ankle will have to remain in a hard plastic ankle brace since a lot of pressure was put on it from the past few weeks. Your shoulder has nothing else wrong with it with exception of it needing to heal properly back in place. I'd advise you not to do any strenuous work until the muscles are not stretched as much. Other than that, you're good to go in a few days!"
"... That's... great..." Chikara said hesitantly, less convincing than she meant.
"Oh, before I forget, there are a few release papers to be signed and looked at before we can let you go by Friday. Is there anything that I can get for you before I leave?" The nurse asked.
"No, everything's fine... Thank you again..." Chikara replied, not looking up.
"Have a nice day!" Then the cheerful nurse left with the clipboard to attend to other patients.
"Just try to get some rest and don't worry as much, alright...?" Kaiba asked her, taking a slow glance. "If there's anything you need, just ask me... I'll do the best that I can to help you..."
Chikara nodded as her only reply, shifting her gaze to the window. 'They're really gone... and it's barely been a year since I've been in Japan... I cannot go back to Egypt... I'll just have to stay here...'
[This chapter is a tad shorter because I ran out of ideas unless I wanted to rush everything in one shot xX Sorry about that and if there's any spelling mistakes, I've most likely missed them a lot because I just finished typing this at one in the morning _ I'll try to start the next one as soon as possible yet I have a whole lot of other fan fictions to attempt to update! Sorry for the wait!]
