A Bloody Path
S. Hawk: Welcome to Chapter 3!
Y. Hawk: Shut up, just drive.
Cabbit Girl a.k.a. Chaos: But I'm driving.
Y. Chaos: Why can't I drive?
Chaos: Because you don't have a body.
Y. Chaos: Details. (Group hears helicopter overhead)
Seto: Why you damn (censored), go to hell!
Chaos: Rated for Seto's potty mouth!
S. Hawk: Chaos, just drive. (Looks at driver's seat. Chaos is nowhere to be seen.)
Y. Hawk: Who's driving? I don't have a body.
Black Kitty: Meow. (I can't reach the pedals.)
S. Hawk: Great another new character.
Y. Black: Meow. (We're not new. We just haven't been introduced.)
Seto: Die! (Throws BEWD card at S. Hawk) Damn I missed! How could I miss?
Chaos: (grabs BEWD card.) Mine now!
Seto: Give me my (censored) card back!
Y. Chaos: No.
S. Hawk: You came back!
Chaos: I never left. I just temporarily retreated.
Black Kitty and Y. Black: Meow (Yeah right.) everyone gets out of Seto's car and runs in every direction
Seto: You don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and thankfully not me!
Y. Chaos: You don't but I do! Mwuhahaha!
Seto: No you don't.
Y. Chaos: Details.
To reviewers: I'm actually getting reviews! Thank you all who wish for me to continue this story. I actually feel like this story should be continued. I personally like it, which is odd, because I'm very cynical of my work. Thanks for the encouragement.
Yamiko: Thanks for telling people about this fic. I was feeling lonely without any encouragement.
CG: What about me?
S. Hawk: You don't encourage me. At most, you distract Kaiba while I'm writing this fic. Does anyone besides me hear a helicopter and swearing?
Kikoken: I'm not going to abandon this story. As for Serenity running for it, Kaiba would have chased her down. He is very persistent. Especially, if you happen to take his car, his millennium rod, and his BEWD card. To give Serenity some credit, she was willing to jump out of a moving vehicle. It takes guts (or extreme fear) to do that.
Chapter 3: Denial
Domino Hospital
The limo pulled up to the Domino Hospital, which surprise Serenity. She had expected Kaiba to take her directly to Kaiba Corp. She wondered why they were at the hospital. Kaiba climbed out of the limo when it stopped and went in without waiting for his new personal assistant. Serenity wondered what would happen if she ran for it. She expected Kaiba to chase after her if he really cared. She was about to try when a strong hand grabbed her arm. "Not trying to run away, are you?" Kaiba came back to the limo when he realized that his employee wasn't with him.
Kaiba dragged Serenity into the hospital and straight to the front desk. The receptionist recognizes the two considering Kaiba was just released yesterday. "Mr. Kaiba, what brings you here today?" The receptionist was trying to be polite while Kaiba was glaring at her. She did notice the scared look on the girl's face and then she noticed the vice grip Kaiba had on the girl. She believed something was going on but she didn't want to lose her job so she didn't ask.
"We're here to see the mutt." After seeing the blank look on the receptionist's face, Kaiba said, "Wheeler. Joey Wheeler. We're here to see him." That made more sense to the receptionist and she looked up the information. "Mr. Wheeler is now in recover. Do you wish to see him?" The question upset Kaiba to a very bad degree. If anyone has ever seen a volcano starting to explode, that is what Kaiba is looking like at this point. "DO WE WANT TO SEE HIM! OF COURSE, WE WANT TO SEE HIM! WHY ELSE-" Kaiba was prevented from shouting the rest thanks to Serenity. She felt sorry for the receptionist and Serenity did the only thing she could do: she smacked Kaiba with a clipboard. Unfortunately, Kaiba recovered quickly and glared at Serenity. He didn't say a word. The silence was starting to become eerie and the receptionist broke the silence by telling them where Joey was.
Kaiba ignored the receptionist and continued to glare at Serenity. He directed Serenity to go down the hall by pointing with his hands. Serenity obeyed because she was extremely terrified of Kaiba. He directed her to Joey's room and then he grabbed her by the wrist. Kaiba dragged Serenity straight to Joey's bedside and he said, "Mutt. Wake up! Your sister is here." Joey opened his eyes and turned to look at Serenity and Kaiba. Joey glared at Kaiba then he held his hand out for Serenity. Serenity took the hand and Joey asked, "Why are you with that sleazeball?" Kaiba reminded Joey of their bet. Joey couldn't do anything at this point. He wanted to hit Kaiba but Joey was in no condition to fight.
Kaiba told Serenity that she could say good bye to her brother and that they were heading to work. Serenity said her goodbye and went to follow Kaiba out the door. Kaiba suddenly stopped causing Serenity to run into him. Kaiba had a smirk on his face as he told Serenity to go to the bathroom and change into her uniform. Serenity's face went pale but she followed his orders. When she came back, both Kaiba and Joey gasp at her. Joey gasped because his sweet, innocent sister was wearing a tight uniform that was revealing. Kaiba gasp because he saw a very cute girl in a tight, revealing uniform. He observed how beautifully the dress expresses Serenity's womanly form. He would have been drooling at this point but Kaiba caught himself. He placed an unemotional expression on his face and told her to follow him to the limo.
As they were heading to the limo, Kaiba couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful Serenity looked. He mentally slapped himself. Seto! What are you doing? You are not attracted to this...this (female dog reference)! She is nothing! She's worse than nothing; she's a Wheeler! You are not attracted to her! You can't be! Kaiba has a serious case of denial and Serenity is oblivious to it. She is too worried about what Kaiba was going to put her through.
They entered the limo and headed to Kaiba Corp. As they traveled, Kaiba placed a CD in his electronic system. The band sounded familiar. It was Evanescence! Kaiba listens to Evanescence! That is so cool. I love this band. Maybe Kaiba isn't so bad.
Even In Death
Give me a reason to believe that you're gone
I see your shadow so I know they're all wrong
Moonlight on the soft brown earth
It leads me to where you lay
They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home
CHORUS:
I will stay forever here with you
My love
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
Some say I'm crazy for my love, Oh my love
But no bonds can hold me from your side, Oh my love
They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me
Chorus
And I can't love you, anymore than I do
Evanescence (1)
The trip to Kaiba Corp was pleasant for Serenity for a while. Listening to Evanescence, she temporarily forgot the situation she was in. When they arrived at Kaiba Corp, the realization hit her. She was in major trouble. Serenity decided that this was her moment to be tough. She held her head high and marched alongside Kaiba into the building.
Kaiba Corp
The building had people rushing all over the place. It was really hectic and a person could be lost easily in the shuffle. Kaiba just walk towards the elevator and the people appeared to flow around him without touching him. It was amazing to Serenity how all these adults feared the 18-year-old.
"Are you coming or what?" It sounded more like a command than a question. Serenity followed Kaiba to the elevator and they headed to the top floor. During the elevator ride, Serenity noticed Kaiba. He was still rigid and intense but she noticed that he was less rigid than when he was around the employees. She could feel as he relaxed a bit. Given the change was as minute as the difference between absolute zero and one degree above absolute zero, she didn't put her guard down.
Kaiba and Serenity eventually made it to the top floor where Kaiba's office is. The office is bigger than her entire house is. The office was very fluid in the way it was designed. The furniture was arranged in a free-flow design that was supposed to promote the work energy in the room. Serenity was surprised that Kaiba actually would have his office like this. She expected a cold, threatening environment to be Kaiba's office. Instead, she finds a soothing room that promotes energy. She can't believe Kaiba believes in stuff like that.
"I have an interior decorator design this room. I don't really care what it looks like as long as it doesn't look like...HIS...office." Serenity looked at Kaiba for a moment. She could feel his hatred at someone when he said that. Who was that guy that Kaiba doesn't want to be like? Was he someone that was mean to Kaiba? Why do I even care? I mean, Kaiba can do what he wants and it's none of my business.
"Wheeler! Why are you staring at me like that?" Kaiba brought Serenity out of her thoughts and she blushed for zoning out in front of him like that. Kaiba just rolled his eyes and went to sit down at his desk. The desk was made from redwood and so was the rest of the furniture. Serenity had never seen redwood before and she probably never sees it anywhere other than Kaiba's office. Serenity was so entranced by his office that she didn't noticed as she knocked the coffee machine by Kaiba's desk over. The real problem was that the scorching hot coffee spilt onto the person sitting at the desk. Kaiba really didn't appreciate that. He couldn't believe the girl who knocked him out twice had just spilt coffee on him. He was very upset and Serenity knew it. She had never seen someone with steam coming from his ears before. The truth was that the steam was from the coffee but Kaiba was so mad that he could have had steam coming out his ears.
"WHEELER! YOU HAVE BEEN HERE LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES AND ALREADY YOU HAVE CAUSED ME TROUBLE! JUST SIT IN THAT CORNER!" Serenity ran to that corner really fast. She just there not sure what to do. She was frightened out of her mind.
"What should I do around here?" Serenity asked so quietly that Kaiba could almost not hear it.
"YOU COULD PLAY WITH YOURSELF IN THAT CORNER FOR ALL I CARE! JUST STAY OUT OF MY WAY! STUPID (dog reference)!" Serenity didn't know what to do. Kaiba looked deranged and it was really scaring her. She wondered if he really did want her to "play with herself". She would feel awkward doing that. Kaiba realized what he just said and told Serenity not to do that in his office. "Do that in your own home, Wheeler. This is a professional workplace. Now, you are to sit at that desk outside my office. Answer the phone and handle the paperwork in your inbox. You also answer to any of my commands. Do you understand?" Serenity gave a solemn nod. "Good. Now get to work!" Serenity got out of the corner and ran straight for the desk outside Kaiba's office. Before she was out the door, she heard Kaiba tell her to make more coffee. She did as she was told.
Serenity went to fill the pot with water to make the coffee. She finished that task and headed back to Kaiba's office. She opened the door a crack to see what mood Kaiba was in. Kaiba was shirtless as he headed towards the closet in his office. Serenity watched in amazement at how physically fit Kaiba was. He has a very tone body even though he was on the thin side. Serenity saw that Kaiba's arms are wrapped up in bandages at the forearm down to his wrist. She began to wonder why he has those bandages. What are those bandages for? Did he hurt himself? I don't care if that bastard did hurt himself. He deserved it, I bet. He does look good. That tone body of his could make a girl melt if she never talked to the guy. WTF! I think he spotted me!
Serenity stood up and walked through the door like nothing happened. She went straight to the coffee machine, prepared the coffee grounds and filter paper, poured the water in, and turned on the machine. She gave a winning smile at Kaiba and went straight to her desk. When she made it out of the room, Serenity let lose a huge sigh. I was cool and collected! I didn't panic! I rock! Go me, I rock! As Serenity was thinking this, she did a little dance.
Unfortunately for her, Kaiba opened the door slightly and saw her little victory dance. What the hell? The girl is nuts. Look at her dance in front of my office. I wish I had brought my camcorder. I could have used it to blackmail her! DAMN! Note to self; bring camcorder with you when you're around Wheeler. "Having fun, Wheeler?" Kaiba said those words so darkly that the lights turned off. Actually, Serenity hit the light switch when she jumped from Kaiba's comment but the previous sentence sounds so much better. Serenity just lost five years of her life in one short second.
(Censored Serenity thoughts because she is embarrassed) I can't believe I allowed Kaiba to see me do that. I am never going to hear the end of it from him. I wonder how the others are doing?
Kame Game Shop
Yugi was sitting at the counter of his grandpa's game shop. He had taken over the job of running the game shop for his grandpa. Yugi was sitting around waiting for anyone to come in. However, the shop was empty. It was going to be a long day. Yami decided this was a good time to talk to Yugi. Yugi, have you finished giving clothes to that doll yet? It seems like it is taking you forever to finish it. Yugi reminded Yami that the last doll was still at the police station.
The police weren't sure what happened to the guy they arrested. All that was left of him was a doll. A real demented looking doll that resembled the guy. They decided to keep it in custody.
A phone rang. Yugi went to answer it. He discovered that Joey was doing much better and that Joey wanted some of his friends there. Yugi told this to Yami. Yami didn't look too thrilled at the idea of going to the hospital. It was the mention that Isis and Malik were there that Yami took over Yugi and ran straight to the hospital. Yami, you could have asked before you took over. I finished the spirit doll by the way. It's in my backpack. When we- Yugi was interrupted as Yami stopped and went back for the backpack. Okay, nevermind. I guess that crush you have on Isis is really strong huh? Yami ignored his light side as he continued down the street towards the hospital.
Domino Hospital
Tristan was given the general tour of the hospital and he was told what he was supposed to do. He was a janitor so he mostly had to clean and sterilize the hospital floors. It seemed like an easy thing to do as long as he doesn't break anything. Tristan knew that he was going to be doing this job for a long time to pay for the equipment Mai broke. He was still fuming about how he had to pay for everything.
As he was mopping the floor, Tristan passed by Joey's room. He saw that Joey had two visitors. One was a tall, dark skin woman. The other was a shorter, dark skin guy. Tristan recognized the two as Isis and Malik. Isis was a mysterious Egyptian priestess and coordinator of the museum downtown. Malik was her younger brother. Malik was not one of Tristan's favorite people. The last time they met, Malik was threatening to stab Tristan with the Millennium rod. The memory didn't fade that easy. "Malik! Isis! What are you two doing here?"
"We heard of Mr. Wheeler's unfortunate tragedy. We came to visit him." Isis said those words in her calm, mysterious tone that she uses constantly. Her eyes had a deep brown tint that indicated that while her physical body was quite young, she has experience much during her lifetime. "Is that a problem, Mr. Taylor?"
Her calm voice made Tristan hesitate. He didn't know how to respond to such a straightforward question. Malik saw Tristan's hesitation and started mocking the janitor profusely. "Well now, I see you are as sharp-witted as always. Please, save your words of wisdom on more deserving ears. We are humble people who don't deserve it. Oh, what do we have here? You're a janitor here. I'm glad you found a job that expresses your true role in society. The one cleaning the messes of superior people." Malik would have continued but Isis decked him. Malik is not going to be getting up for a while. Tristan placed the sandy colored hair boy on a bed next to Joey.
"I see that you need to clean this room. I have learned that Mr. Wheeler will be released later today. I bid you all farewell." With that said, Isis left the room. Joey was thrilled to hear that news and he couldn't wait to leave. All of a sudden, a young doctor came in and started to examine Joey.
"My name is Dr. Reika Suzuki (2). I am here to make sure that you are well enough to be released." She gave Joey a courteous smile that he resembled someone else's smile. Something about this blue-eyed doctor that troubled Joey. He had seen eyes like these before. They were very cerulean blue. It reminded him of a very deep lake. She was very poised and Tristan had an immediate attraction to her. "Wow, she is hot! I would love to be examined by her. I think I need her to check me out. Oh, look at those eyes. Why is she staring at me like that?" Tristan once more failed to realize that he said all that out loud. Dr. Suzuki wasn't thrilled by his comments. She had spent a good portion of her life studying to be a doctor. Now, this guy is reducing her down to a piece of meat. She was not thrilled at all. She gave him a fake smile that resembled someone else's smile and then she hit Tristan into the monitor. That would add about $500 to Tristan's bill.
Reika was about to give Tristan a piece of her mind when she was paged to the ER (emergency room). She told Joey that he was well enough to be released, signed his chart, and rushed to the ER. Tristan got up and rushed after the blue-eyed doctor. When he arrived at the ER, Dr. Suzuki had already observed the situation and took action.
"The patient was in a car accident. He is suffering from trauma. The ER doctors can handle it." She looked at the nearest phlebotomist. "I want you to type (find his ABO blood type) him immediately. When he has an IV in him, I want you to get a blood sample for the CBC (complete blood count)." The phlebotomist questioned why can't she get the sample now since she was going to draw his blood for the typing anyways. Reika shot her a look of disgust. "If you run a CBC now, then hemoglobin, WBC (white blood cells), and platelets will be falsely elevated from the fluid shift." The phlebotomist gave her a blank look. "Okay, it's like being dehydrated. The amount of fluid is less than normal. The amount of cells will remain fairly high. We read CBC based on concentration of the blood cells. If we wait for the fluid level to become normal, it will give us a more accurate blood picture." The phlebotomist was impressed by this young doctor's expertise. She wondered how Reika knew all this when most doctors haven't the clue what laboratory procedures were like. "I am certified as a CLS/MT (clinical laboratory scientist/medical technologist) by NCA (National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel) and ASCP (American Society for Clinical Pathology). I also have a membership to ASCP. I was also taught by the best."
Reika looked at Tristan. He was stunned by how much information she knew. Reika smirked a really familiar smirk. "Looks like I'm more than a pretty face huh." With that, she went to take care of other patients. Tristan knew she was way out of his meager high school league. However, Tristan was always up for a challenge. He just didn't know when to quit among other things such as not walking into a nurse carrying a lot of patient samples. His bill went up another $600.
At another part of the hospital, Ryou was making his way to Tea when he ran into Yami. "Stupid son of a (dog reference). Watch where you going, you ass! Ryou! Is that you? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you all those things. Where are you headed?" Ryou slowly answered Yami because Ryou was still a little shaken up about his run. "I understand Ryou. Go to Tea!" Ryou followed the order and went to see Tea.
Ryou was at her bedside when she woke up. Tea looked at Ryou and then she punched him. "Why the hell did you hit me with a chair?" Bakura took over and said, "He didn't hit you. I hit you. Time for a recap!" With that, Bakura smacked Tea with a chair...again. He decided to hit a few times with a tray for good measure. Bakura gave control back to Ryou and Ryou was hauled away by the hospital security.
Kaiba Corp
As the fun adventures of the others were happening, Serenity did the work she was paid to do. She wasn't very busy considering no one called and the paperwork was very minimal. She took the opportunity to catch up on her sleep. Kaiba, on the other hand, was busy on his laptop. He worked until it was around 6:00 pm. Since Serenity and Kaiba arrived at Kaiba Corp at about 3:00 pm, he has been working for three hours nonstop. Kaiba was starting to get hungry but he ignored it. His stomach wouldn't give up. Great! Now, I'm become more like the mutt! Think of food nonstop. Might as well send the mutt's sister for some food. Kaiba turned on his intercom. The intercom has a video portion to it that was developed by Kaiba Corp. Kaiba looked at the image of Wheeler sleeping at her desk. He was not very enthused by what he saw. "Wheeler! Wake up!" With a start, Serenity awoke. "Good. Time for some food."
"Food?" At the mention of food, Serenity perked up and her eyes blazed with intensity. What is it with this family and food? She is so like the mutt. Actually, she reminds me of a cat more than a dog. A little kitty is what this Wheeler is. "As I was saying, Kitty, Time for some food."
"Kitty? Are you calling me a cat?" Serenity started hiss at that comment much like a cat. Kaiba sure has a way to pick the right names for people, doesn't he? "I am not a cat! I am a human being that deserves respect!"
"You want food or not?" Serenity became quiet instantly. "Okay, I'll give you some money to go buy whatever food looks good. If you make it back here in half an hour, then what money you haven't spent to buy an adequate amount of food, you can keep. Do you understand?" Serenity nodded. "Good. Come in here and take the money." Kaiba tossed her $100 to go buy food when she opened the door. She immediately ran to get food. 25 minutes later, Serenity came back with an armful of food. "That looks like a good amount of food. You can keep the change." Serenity was very excited about this. Even though there was a lot of food, it had only cost $40. She got to keep $60. That really made this day a good one for her.
Kaiba gestured her to put the food on a table. She obliged and sat on the couch near the table. Kaiba pulled his chair up to the table and they both started to eat. It was mostly common Japanese and Chinese food but both of them were too hungry to care. As they nearly finished the meal, one sushi roll was left and it appears that Kaiba was going for it. All of a sudden, Serenity swooped in and took the roll. "Mine." She held the roll defensively as she ate it. This surprised Kaiba a good amount.
She has guts. It might actually be fun to work with her. Of course, this doesn't mean I like her.
Kaiba isn't as bad as I thought. I could work here for a while without problem. Of course, this doesn't mean I like him.
As everyone can see, they both are still in denial.
A/N
(1) Another Evanescence song. Note that Serenity likes Evanescence too. I'm not sure if that would be true but it makes the story interesting. Seto and Serenity like the same music. Does anyone else find it funny that they are listening to a love song? They are so in denial about their feelings.
(2) The doctor is just someone I made up. I gave her a lot of credentials and she has an interesting commonality with another character in this story. I'll give a cookie for anyone that can guess right.
S. Hawk: That is the end of chapter 3.
Chaos: Tea is a meanie! She hit Ryou for no reason.
Y. Hawk: Has anyone besides me noticed that all the women in this story are a bit on the violent side?
S. Hawk: (nervous) Err... women are capable of protecting themselves?
Shizuka: Go women! Please R & R.
Chaos: Hehe. Thanks Shizuka (gives her hug)
Y. Hawk: (sweat dropped) No comment.
