Yami Yugi stood over the hospital bed. He was exhausted, as were the rest of them, but nobody would leave Ryou Bakura's side.
The doctors had advised for the ventilator to be turned off. They had long given up on the prospect of Ryou surviving the night. And after a long battle of silences, the group of teenagers admitted that it was, all and all, probably for the best. Despite how long and how hard they fought, this was a battle that the heart of the cards could not win…
"I can't believe it…" Joey muttered to himself, looking up at Yami Yugi. "You tried so hard…"
"I know, Joey."
"If I would have only come sooner…" Kaiba sighed, leaning against the wall.
"If I could have controlled my dark side…" Malik hung his head in obvious grief.
"If I would have only figured it out sooner, then maybe…" Yami Yugi finally let a tear slide down his usually placid face. He leaned towards Tea to keep him standing. She could hardly support him, though. She had already broken down numerous times that night. And she didn't know how many tears she had left still to cry.
The door creaked open, and the people inside turned their heads.
"It's time." The head doctor whispered.
The friends cleared a pathway, Tristan finally moving from the side of the ventilator. He nodded to the doctor with a solemn sense of regret.
"I am deeply sorry…" the doctor tried to console them as he turned the dial down on the ventilator. They held their breath. Ryou's chest fell.
But it did not rise.
He removed the tube from Ryou Bakura's throat. Again, he thought he should try and comfort the grieving friends. But he didn't quite know what to say.
Thankfully, though, he didn't have to say anything…
"… A..bout time… you… took that… out… It's… hard… t..to tell you… I'm… I'm not dead… yet… with that… th..that thing… down… my throat…"
The doctor dropped the tube, and it crashed onto the floor below. The silence only made it appear louder.
"Ryou?" a collective gasp echoed throughout the room. They rushed over to his bed, nearly trampling the doctor in their way.
The boy on the bed gasped for air, drawing an uneasy first breath into his spore-ridden lungs. How painful a breath it was.
"No…" Yami Yugi corrected them. "Tomb robber…"
He cocked a small grin and smiled at them, even though it was painful to do so.
"Tomb robber. What have you done with Ryou? Is he…" the pharaoh began, but couldn't bear to finish his sentence.
"He's… resting." Yami Bakura whispered, his voice still scratchy from the endotracheal tube.
The spirit of the millennium ring closed his eyes for a second, trying to suppress the pain that encompassed Ryou's ill body. It was difficult, but he could do it. And given the impetus, he could probably help Ryou's damaged body heal. But that would take a lot of time.
"He's… resting right now…all…all right?" the thief king repeated, looking up at everyone huddling over his host's body. "He's… been through… a… a lot… I… I'll take… this shift…"
Yami Yugi nodded. By the time he turned around, the doctor had already backed out of the room.
"Thank you, tomb robber." The pharaoh whispered, "for what you did in there…"
The thief king gave a weak snort.
"Yeah… what… ever…" he eventually answered, pushing his head back into the pillow. Although the thought of the pharaoh bowing to him for a change made him grin, he didn't especially want to hear it right now.
'Thank you… yami…' a weak voice whispered in the back of his head. He mentally smiled back.
'Shhh….' Yami Bakura replied softly. It even made him smile. 'You should be resting, Ryou. I already told you. Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere.'