Mai was still asleep in the chair, her gentle snoring head lying on her arm against the lamp table. Serenity sat on the chair by the bed where the sickly Joey lay. Serenity looked at him, he was so pale yet so flush, his thin body shivering and covered in sweat. He rubbed his tired eyes, the sound of his breathing rattling grossly from his chest. He coughed hard, covering his mouth with a hand. The beeping of the heart monitor seemed so monotone and automatic, this place was like hell on earth, and yet, Joey would rather be living with Bob, the devil himself. Serenity couldn't understand it. She came to a conclusion in her mind, when she'd go home that night, she'd have a talk with mom, they had to bring Joey to live with them after graduation, the conditions from his childhood were just barbaric with all the torment and physical cruelty. It was a wonder Joey was still alive, alive… She looked at him, was he once again at death's door with this condition? The doctor tried the medication, it was only a tester, and no cure. Joey was suffering no matter what path he chose. His whole horrid life had led him to this exact moment. The divorce, it started it all, if it never happened, who knew where their life would be? Serenity wondered that, she still blamed herself, no matter what Joey would tell her, she could never get over that.
Outside, a car pulled up by the hospital. It was Tea, she had come to pick up Mai from her vigil in Joey's room.
Joey pulled his hand away from his mouth, blood dotted his hand, his eyes welled, "I can't do this." Serenity looked up. "I can't go on like this anymore. I can't take it, I'm too weak to be strong, my will is just not enough to put on a tough guy facade anymore."
"Joey." Serenity rushed over. "You're scaring me."
"Please sis." His begging eyes looked up at hers. Hers were bright and shaky with the tears of fear, his were tired and pale. "Free me."
She gasped, her eyes widening, "Joey…!"
"Please. You're an angle, grant me my wings so I can fly away, fly away from this place and never look back."
"No Joey I can't, I wont!"
"This isn't your choice to make sis, it's mine. Haven't you ever wanted to go away? Of course you've had that feeling, so you have to understand what I'm going through here."
"But, mom, she can take you to live with us."
"It's not that." Joey smiled and closed his eyes. "There's no hope for me, I've suffered every day since I was admitted here. Nobody can help, there's nothing anyone can do."
"But think of all you're leaving behind! What of your friends, what of Mai!"
Joey looked over at his sleeping girlfriend and smiled, "She will be fine, everyone will, even you. You'll see, trust me. You just have to be brave, like, how I used to be…"
"Joey…" Serenity was starting to cry, scared, as she saw her brother raise his hand with two fingers.
"We're a team, right? Don't worry, even if our physical bodies are apart, we'll always be together."
Serenity's eyes shook with the water as she raised her hand with two fingers too, "I don't want to be alone without you Joey."
"I'm big brother, after all, and big brother knows best. Right?" Joey paused and opened his eyes. "Right?"
Serenity nodded as she choked, swallowing the teary lump in her throat, "Right."
I couldn't tell you
Why she felt that way
She felt it every day
She nodded dryly and looked over at the life support plug on the other side of the bed. She got up, she didn't want to do it, and yet something inside her was telling her to do it, she knew she had to, and that was what kept her feet going. It was for Joey.
And I couldn't help her
I just watched her make
The same mistakes again
Tea called Mai's cell, it rang on silent but she got no answer. She looked at her phone confused. She hung up and began to think.
What's wrong what's wrong now
Too many too many problems
Don't know where she belongs
Where she belongs
Serenity's hand found its way onto the cord, and it somehow somewhere found the strength to yank it out of the wall. She looked up teary eyed at her dying big brother.
She wants to go home
But nobody's home
That's where she lies
Broken inside
With no place to go
No place to go
To dry her eyes
Broken inside
Serenity walked back over to the bed and looked at Joey, he closed his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you sis, for everything." Serenity wanted to cry. He was thanking her?
Open your eyes
And look outside
And find the reasons why
"Please forgive me brother, I tried, I'm sorry."
"No sis, it was never your fault, nothing ever was. You saved me sis, thank you, for always being there for me, when I needed it." Joey held out his hand to take hers. "There's something I want you to do for me, ok?"
She clenched to it tightly, "Yes brother, anything."
He smiled warmly at her, "Whatever you do, no matter what happens…. don't ever play, the blame game." Her eyes stared deeply into his, they were glazed over with a foggy daze, it was true, she could tell that he was leaving, nobody was home.
You've been rejected
Now you can't find
What you've left behind
Joey's hand began to fall limp as his life started to take its end. But Serenity noticed something facing Joey on the nightstand. It was his duel deck:
Flashback of Joey saying, "They call me" in an old Italian man's accent. "The Godfather Of The Game." End Flashback.
Her shiny eyes widened as she saw on the top face up was the card she gave him the day it all began.
"Flame Swordsman."
Be strong be strong now
Too many too many problems
Don't know where she belongs
Where she belongs
Serenity looked down at the concrete pavement of the parking lot. She stopped her memories, she couldn't take it anymore. She had left the hospital building an emotional wreck, she wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come out, almost as if, they didn't want to, secretly, as if she didn't want them to. She had done the right thing. Right…? Right.
She wants to go home
But nobody's home
That's where she lies
Broken inside
With no place to go
No place to go
To dry her eyes
Broken inside
With shaky eyes hiding back the tears of her emotions, she turned her head towards the open highway. Taking in a deep breath, she stepped forward, her left foot following her right as she walked away, walked away from it all.
Her feelings she hides
Her dreams she can't find
She's losing her mind
She's falling behind
She can't find her place
She's losing her faith
She's falling from grace
She's all over the place, yea
Tears welling up as she took one last peek back over her shoulder at the city of Domino as it grew farther back over the horizon. Inside the hospital, Mai awoke to the bustling of doctors as they soon realized the body lying in the bed was no longer alive.
"Joey!?" Mai rushed over but her face froze when she saw the calm happy look on his now peaceful face, for the first time ever in this place. She was sad but somehow deep down inside, she realized, that this was what he wanted….
She wants to go home
But nobody's home
That's where she lies
Broken inside
With no place to go
No place to go
To dry her eyes
Broken inside
Tea sighed to herself as she watched the thumb rise sideways of the confused teen as she marched on along the roadside, and she debated, on picking her up…
She's lost inside lost inside
She's lost inside lost inside
THE END5. Nobody's Home