QoH: *raises eyebrow* Well, well... The dude I was talking about in the author's notes of the last chapter actually left a review. -_-' Ok, so it was more of a personal flame than a review of any sort... Feh. It's not my fault he was in a bad mood when he found the story, and excuse me if I took a while getting it uploaded... I do have other things to do, ya know... Anyways, I'd like to thank the nice reviewers, so here goes.
kaiba-fan: Thank ya! ^_^ *wonders if she can work seto in here* hm…
Magicman/Smokegirl: hehe Yeah, I think she's cool, too. Not my fave, but whatever lol
siri: Thanks. Hm. Nobody's explained why they dislike Tea yet… lol
bakuras-sea-monkey: I'm glad I could help ya. ^_^ And thank u for reading mine, too! About the whole char portrayal, ya think so? Cool. :D It was my first time writin from a (temporarily) blind person's POV, so I wasn't sure how well I did.
no one: not a clue who this is, since they didn't leave an email, but hey, it's cool. ^_~ not sayin what's up with her just yet… hehe
DJ: ^_^ Ah, the one I owe the early release of this chappie to! You've been very patient and encouraging (not to mention a little psychic, it seems like) in the consistent emails you've sent me in the past few days. So, therefore, this chap is dedicated to you!
Diffinity: hehe Yeah, that was evil cliffy, wasn't it? lol Actually, I like Tea just fine. Like I said, this was a request fic, but it's nice challenge to try portraying Tea like this. Yeah, in the end, it'll be Yugi/Serenity, but it's not gonna be easy getting there… hehe ^_~
THANK YOU ALL!!!! :D
Chapter 3: Blind Observations
When everyone finally arrived breathlessly in front of Tea's house, Serenity could tell the damage was bad, not only from the gasps her friends let out, but also from the overwhelming smell of smoke that assaulted her sensitive nose. Of course, it had to contend with the noise for first place in the intensity department. Shouting from all sides indicated that the fire still raged, and the approaching siren of an ambulance wreaked havoc on her ears.
"Yugi!" Tea's voice cried from nearby. Evidently, she'd run and threw herself on him, because her voice was oddly muffled when she spoke next, "I was so scared!"
"Shhh…" Yugi whispered comfortingly, "It's going to be all right, now. Was anyone hurt?"
"My mom…" Tea sniffled, "They don't know…"
"Oh, Tea…" Yugi murmured, "She'll pull through. I know she will…"
Serenity spoke up, concerned, "What happened?"
"She called me with an emergency…" she hiccoughed, then continued, "She didn't say what it was, just that I should come home right away. When I got here…"
That feeling was back, Serenity noted, the one that something wasn't exactly right. Is it the time frame? Would the house really have been burning for all this time, even though the firefighters have been working on it? I don't know…
Whatever the case, she seemed to be the only one who noticed this, since the others were crowed around Tea, offering sympathy and hope. She moved closer to the girl, "You should probably get yourself checked out at the hospital."
"The ambulance people already did that, before they took Mom…"
"Serenity's right, though, you know." Bakura said quietly, "They couldn't have done a very thorough look, what with rushing your mother to the ER, and all. Besides, they might be able to tell you something when you get there."
"Yeah," Yugi agreed, "We'll come with you."
There was a pause Serenity didn't quite understand, then Tea sniffed, "Ok… You're right, you guys… Let's go…"
****
"No, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything right now, miss. Your mother is still in surgery, and until she comes out, we won't know her prognosis." The kind voice was riddled with unspoken worry. Serenity didn't think even the orderly, himself, knew it was there. Even she only noticed because she'd grown accustomed to using her other, fully functioning, senses to the best of their abilities. Well, at least being increasingly blind over these last years has done some good.
"Thank you, sir." Yugi said, then turned to his girlfriend, "Here, Tea, let's go in the waiting room, OK? It'll be better than standing in the middle of the hallway."
"I'll get some juice, or something, for you from the cafeteria, all right?" her brother offered helpfully, "Does anybody want me to look for anything specific?"
"That'd be great, Joey," he smiled, "Whatever's available will be fine for me." Bakura echoed this sentiment and Tristan volunteered to help carry it all. Serenity merely shook her head, not really feeling like having something at the moment.
After Tristan and Joey had gone down the hall, the rest sat down in the room across the hall from Emergency Registration. Wanting to do something to soothe the distraught girl, she patted her on the arm, "I'm sure we'll know something soon, Tea."
She flopped back wearily against the chair next to her, "I hope you're right, Serenity..."
"She is." Yugi replied forcefully from Tea's other side, "You have to believe that. We all do."
"Miss Gardener?" a new voice inquired gently, "I was one of the surgeons working on your mother's case. I was told you were curious about her condition. She's being moved to ICU as we speak. She came through rather well, considering her injuries."
"Is she all right, ma'am?" Yugi asked anxiously, since Tea seemed temporarily incapable of speech.
The doctor paused, and Serenity could tell it wasn't good news before she said a word. Even so, what she did say came as a terrible shock, "She's in a coma."
Tea gasped, abruptly pulling away from Yugi's comforting embrace, and bolted out of the room.
QoH: Phew. I was starting to get worried that I wouldn't make the deadline, but there it is. ^_^ Review, please!