QoH: *imitating Sassy from Homeward Bound* im bad, im bad, im bad… hehehe :D
Chapter 15: Stand Up For The Light
Serenity rubbed her tired eyes as she attempted to focus on the TV on the opposite wall the next morning. "Why do I even bother…" she muttered to herself, giving up on the screen to gaze out at the cloudy sky.
"Bother with what?"
Her brother's voice sounded curiously from the door, and she snapped her head in his direction with a grin. To her dismay, however, he'd brought company in the form of Bakura, Mai, Tristan, and (here's where the disappointment comes in) Tea. Pasting on as genuine a smile as she possibly could, she scooted herself up on the bed, "Hi, everybody. What's up?"
Joey grinned, shrugging as he plopped into the chair beside her bed, "We just wanted to check up on ya, see how they're treatin' ya and all that."
She gave him a half-smile and shook her head as the others took their own seats around the room, or chose to remain standing, "I'm just bored out of my skull, that's all. There's not a whole lot to do when you're stuck in bed like this."
Tristan laughed from his perch on the air conditioner, "Yeah, I don't doubt it. You should be out of here in no time, though."
"How's Yugi doing? Have you heard anything?" Serenity looked around at her friends, "The only people I've seen all day have been nurses coming to check my vitals, and they can't tell me anything."
Mai nodded as she sat on the end of her bed, "Yep. We figured you've been starved for info since you landed in here, so we found his doctor and tortured him until he talked." She said this in complete seriousness, as though they'd actually done it.
Bakura chuckled, leaning against the wall beside her sibling, "Torture in the form of flirting, you mean," he winked at Serenity, "I think it was more torment for Joey than anybody."
Joey jumped up and pulled an aggravated face as he growled defensively, "Ya right! That guy was at least eighty!"
The white-haired teen raised a brow calmly, "Come off it, Joey. You remember how Kemo reacted to her up at the castle? I wouldn't have thought it'd happen, this being the "needle-headed goon," after all, but the man turned five shades of red just at the notion of doing something for her. You know he was charmed by her, as that doctor was just now."
"As is any other dude who's not dead, comatose, head over heels for somebody else, or just completely insane," her brother sulked, crossing his arms.
"I don't know, Serenity, was that a compliment?" Mai wondered with an amused expression, tilting her head.
She grinned widely, "That's as good as you're going to get at this point, I'm afraid."
"Hey, you're s'posed to be on my side, Sis!" Joey yelped, whirling on her.
"I guess she just doesn't know where her loyalties should lie, huh?" Tea commented with a well-hidden smirk.
A wary jolt streaked up Serenity's spine and her eyes darted to her "friend" as she straightened slightly, speaking in a quiet, sure voice, "I know my allegiances, and they are in precisely the right places. I wish I could say the same for some others."
Joey, Mai and Tristan blinked, each having the identical expression of "I feel as if I should be on the plane that just buzzed straight over my head." Bakura glanced at Serenity and shook his head almost imperceptibly. She sighed mentally and flashed him a small, grateful smile before turning to the others, "Enough about that, anyway. What about Yugi's condition?"
Her friends all grinned as her brother announced grandly, "He's doin' great. He woke up not long before we got here."
She gasped and made to scramble from the bed, only to be stuffed back in immediately. Scowling up at them irritably, she put her hands in her lap in defeat, "Well, what am I supposed to do, then? Just sit here?"
Tristan smiled and shook his head, "What you can do is get better. That's the best thing right now."
"Yeah, and while you're at it, ya can tell us who did this to you guys." Joey added with a determined look on his face.
"Joey..." Serenity said warningly, eyeing him. Rats. He did that on purpose. He knows my half-explanations aren't going to fly with everyone here. Particularly her, but he's not aware of that. Yet.
"Not this time," he replied and folded his arms again, a sign of his stubborn refusal to back down from the subject, "We want names, where they took you, and anything else you can give us."
"How can she tell you all that, Joey? She has to have been pretty traumatized by everything that's happened." Tea put in, sounding rational to most of the others, but Serenity knew she was trying to issue a warning.
So, that's the way of it, is it? She smiled very slightly to herself, thinking, Well, that's just fine. "Sorry, but all I know right now is that it was somewhere in the industrial district. I remember a lot of old warehouses."
Joey and Tristan looked at each other and nodded as Mai came over and hugged her, telling her she hoped she got better soon. What those guys were thinking, she didn't want to guess at. She smiled up at her blonde friend and nodded, "I will, thanks."
After they left, she sat back and grinned a little, "You're awake... I'm so glad, Yugi." With the happy news, the sky outside suddenly looked much clearer.
****
That night, Serenity played Cat's Cradle with a wayward string she'd tugged from the bottom of her gown as she waited for Dr. Tamahome to come with her official release papers. Since the news of Yugi's improved state, she'd been on pins and needles, anxious for the chance to see him with her own eyes.. She let out a small giggle and clapped her hands together, effectively ruining her intricate weaving as she flopped back on her pillow to grin widely at the ceiling.
"Well, are you in a bouncy mood?" Tea asked sarcastically as she leaned against the doorframe, smirking.
"What are you doing here?" Serenity eyed her distrustfully as she pulled the string from her fingers and balled it in her fist.
The short-haired brunette gasped as though she were mortally offended, yet the cruel twist to her lips suggested that she was rather amused, "Am I not allowed to visit my friend while she's the hospital?"
"Hah," she laughed shortly and sat up, "Cancer would be more of a friend than you."
Tea's eyes narrowed as she stalked further into the room, "What gives you the right to think you can trash me like that any time you feel like it?"
Serenity shot her a disbelieving look, "What gives me the right? You actually have the gall to ask me that as though you're so wonderful and caring?" She put her legs over the side of the bed and faced her enemy head-on, "All right, I'll tell you what gives me 'the right,' if you're so fascinated! Yugi put his trust in you, gave you everything he had, that's why! Now I have a question. Why did you think you could just rip his heart out and do the Macarena on it?"
"He's a pathetic, useless little runt. What other reason do I need?"
She gaped at the girl as if she'd just announced she was joining the Peace Corps and donating all her worldly belongings to the homeless, "You're doing this because he's short? Dear Kami, I've never heard such a lame excuse in all my life. Why did you go after Yami, then? They do share a body, if you'll remember."
"When he takes over, he's taller, and much sexier." Tea shrugged carelessly, "Besides, Yami's powerful, don't you get that yet? Yugi's nothing without that ancient spirit. If it weren't for him, the brat would probably still be getting beat up every day and playing his little 'games' all by himself."
"Ok, let me get this straight." Serenity put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes in irritation, "You wanted Yami because he has all this 'power,' and whatever, right? For all this, you're breaking the spirit of such a great, loving guy?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it."
"You're disgusting," she shook her head and looked away, only able to stomach the sight of such an entity for so long.
"Oh, and you're so much better? Pure and perfect Serenity? Give me a break." Tea laughed spitefully, "You're the one with designs on my boyfriend, after all."
Serenity glared at her and replied in forcibly calm tones, "Don't you ever put me in the same category as you. Yugi's so much better than how you describe him, and I only admire what I know to be the truth. I'm nowhere near the sleazy harlot you are."
She gripped her arm and jerked her roughly, "Shut up."
"Take your slimy hands off me," she pushed her away and stood up, glad they'd taken the needles out earlier, "I can't take your taunting anymore. I've been pushed as far as I can go."
Tea took up an aggressive posture, her fists up, "Oh, yeah? What do you intend to do about it?"
"There's only one thing you should know, she advanced on her adversary carefully, ready for anything.
"And what would that be?" she glowered and attempted to circle her.
"You're going down!" Serenity thundered as she spun around and gave her a roundhouse kick across the face, sending her sprawling on the floor. Bending down, she dragged her up by the collar to stare straight into those mocking icy-blue eyes, battling her opponent on a level that went beyond the verbal and physical as the alarms triggered by the disturbance screeched around them.
QoH: heehee! :D CATFIGHT! =^-^= btw, hey, DJ! lol I dunno if u will remember what the heck im talking about, but theres a reason i chose the title i did hehe ^_^ has 2 do with a certain song… *attempts 2 just look innocent, since she cant whistle worth a hill of beans*
Anhksenpaaten: _ I saw nothing wrong with the title you had beforehand, hikari.
QoH: ^_^() ive got my reasons…
Serenity: lol Yeah, I think she wants to use that one later!
QoH: :P lol hey, whos writin this fic? newhosits…. REVIEW PLEASE! :D