Return of the Wild Gang Chapter 04
By Chikorita-Trainer1
M
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO.
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Panicking, Joey shook while cradling Yugi in his arms, trying to think of what to do.
"J-Joey…" Yugi struggled. "call 911!"
"I don't have a phone, do you?" Yugi shook his head.
"Ah-haugh!" he sobbed, coughing up blood.
"Hold on Yugi, I'll think of something. Just don't talk and please don't cry, save your strength, please!" begged Joey.
"I don't 'anna die… 'oey!" Yugi coughed again. Joey finally found a phone in the basement. He called 911, and stayed on the line until they told him it was OK to hang up. Still an a pinch at the moment, he continued to try to make Yugi feel better. Blood was dribbling from his mouth now. Joey spied a box of tissues and seized it. "Yugi here, let me just wipe dis…dere ya go, Pal," Joey gently wiped the blood away from his friend's mouth. Yugi started to slow his sobs and shut his eyes. Assuming he had only passed out and not…not…well anyway, Joey removed Yugi's blood-covered hands from where he'd been clasping at his injury, and stuck his own fingers inside. Yugi's abdomen was small, so it couldn't be too hard for Joey to reach in and find the bullet. Feeling around in the muscle tissue, he finally found the small, lead bullet. If da cops find a bullet in you, Yugi they're going to send me to jail. But I promise you'll be alright! After a brief panic attack Joey managed to find some kind of cloth. He didn't know if it was clean or not, but he didn't have time to be sanitary; the doctors would take care of that anyway. He pressed the cloth onto Yugi's wound, clotting the blood. When he heard a siren, he bolted, leaving Yugi there.
"What's the case?" said a paramedic.
"A young male, major blood-loss, suffering from what appears to be a stab wound!" doctors shouted to one another.
Police came to investigate Hirutani's basement. Luckily for Hirutani, he and his gang had made for parts unknown.
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Joey ran as fast as he could to Mai's apartment. When he got there, he was crushed to find that she wasn't home. He quickly stuck a note to her door, telling her to meet him at the train station that night. He didn't tell her that he feared for her life. If he didn't go along with Hirutani, he was certain that the gang would target the ones he loved. They'd already gotten Tristan, and now even Yugi was mixed up in it.
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Meanwhile, Tea, Tristan and Solomon Mutou, Yugi's grandfather, had gotten the news of Yugi. Solomon was the only one allowed to see his grandson, but he insisted that the nurse let his friends come and visit, too.
"Yugi?" Solomon asked gently. Yugi was asleep in the bed, dressed in a gown, with an IV stuck inside him. He had just received a blood transfusion from a donor, and was now being fed oxygen through some tubes in his nose.
"Can you hear us?" asked Tea. Of course Yugi could not acknowledge his friends or family.
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Later that evening, Monday still, Mai came running down to the station to meet Joey, who still had his suitcase.
"Joey, I'm here. What's going on?"
"Mai, um…look; my dad went to jail and I got nowhere to go, so let's you and me ditch dis town and go get married on our own," said Joey.
"You mean…elope?" asked Mai.
"Well, see we could stay with my mom. Until I make enough money to get us a place and--" he was cut off.
"Joey, why didn't you just ask to stay at my place?"
"Because…um," Don't let her find out about the gang! You'll scare her.
"Joey, if we're going to be married you can't keep secrets from me. Now tell me what's been going on!" she demanded. Joey sighed, and led his love into a restaurant in the food court.
"Whew, alright Mai…I'm in a lot of trouble. If I don't skip town sooner or latuh I'm going to prison. I haven't been telling you stuff lately…and I'm sorry, 'cause dat's no way to treat your fiancée. I've been working for a gang I used to be in, lead by dis creep Hirutani. I used to hang with him back in junior high. Anyway, he tricked me into dealing drugs…and dat's where I got da money. And dere's dis prep school across town who's gang wants to fight Hirutani's gang, and he says if I don't stand and fight with him he's going to turn me in." Mai just stared, completely disgusted.
"Unbelievable," she said. "I mean, I knew you were involved with that gang but--"
"You knew!" yelled Joey.
"Yeah, Tea told me. I was just going to play dumb to see if you would come clean. Now that you have I can yell at you." Joey balled his hands into fists. "You are not skipping town Joey, and certainly not with me."
"I'm going to kill her…that squealer," muttered Joey.
"If you want to prove to me that you're a man, then come clean and fight that gang. If you die at least you'll die for your friends!" said Mai.
"Why are all my friends betraying me!" Joey yelled. "First Yugi, den Tristan, now Tea and now you, Mai?"
"Don't be a coward, Joey! Your friends are just looking out for you! You should have told them about us as soon as we became engaged. Secrets and lies never lead to anything good."
"Well what am I s'posta do? Call da cops, admit to dealing drugs and tell them that I just shot my best friend--" Joey clasped a hand over his mouth. Mai backed away.
"Y-you shot Yugi?" she asked, so devastated that her voice was just a whisper. Joey looked at his hands. Tears came to his eyes. He backed away from Mai, and ran out of the station.
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"Hey you guys, Yugi's waking up!" said Tea, joyfully. Yugi's huge eyes slowly opened halfway, and he swallowed.
"Hi," he said weakly.
"My boy! Thank goodness!" said Solomon.
"How are you feeling?" asked Tristan. Yugi just frowned and lowered his eyebrows, giving his friend a 'what do you think?' look. "Right," said Tristan.
"Oh Yugi, I was so afraid you'd never wake up," said Tea. Yugi glanced to the side to see Yami sitting on the windowsill, watching over him.
"Where's Joey?"
"We don't know," said Tristan. "But don't worry Yugi, we'll find the guy who stabbed you and--"
"Stabbed?" said Yugi. "I was shot."
"Shot?" asked everyone, puzzled.
"Uh-huh…I wasn't stabbed. The doctor who told you that must be whack as a quack," he said again.
"That's impossible, Yugi," said Solomon. "When the doctors took you into surgery they repaired your torn flesh,
which was torn apart the way a knife might do it. A bullet couldn't have stretched and torn your abdomen the way it's been. More importantly, they didn't find a bullet."
"Grandpa, I swear I was shot!" argued Yugi.
"Look, it's been a long day," said Tristan. "Tea and I were planning on staying with you until you woke up and now that you have we're going to go."
"Bye," said Tea. She and Tristan exited the hospital room, leaving Solomon to talk to his grandson.
"You suffered a massive blood-loss Yugi, it's only natural your memory of what happened is hazy. Apparently
someone called an ambulance, and the paramedics found you in an apartment building basement. You were
unconscious and someone had dressed your wound with a cloth. The police are investigating the scene of the crime right now. Anyway, it's getting past visiting hours, and I must get back to mind the shop, so I'm glad you're alright. I must go now, Yugi. Goodbye!" and with that, he left the room.
"Grandpa, wait!" but it was too late.
"Don't worry Yugi, I'll be here if you need to talk," said Yami.
"What's to talk about? You were there," said Yugi, bitterly. He lay back into his pillow and stared at the ceiling, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"I meant about how you're going to come forth. Only you and I and Joey know that it was Joey who shot you. We're
also the only ones who know it was an accident."
"I know, Yami, I know, but Joey has a such a long record that if they find out he had a gun and shot me with it he could go to jail. Don't forget, he's practically a legal adult!"
"Yugi, I can't tell the police anything. Only you can tell them what really happened. I trust you to do the right thing. Do what's right. Not what's best for Joey, but what is right." Yami then disappeared into the Millennium Puzzle, which sat on a chair beside the bed. Yugi grumbled to himself and tried to go back to sleep.
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END OF CHAPTER 04
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