Disclaimer: Nope, I STILL DON'T OWN ANYTHING you insecure little people.

Hey! This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers: Ayako Kadori, Super-nanny, ManatheAuthoress, IamaCatlover, Sukara Nodori, RoseAngeI, and I THINK that's it. If I forgot someone please say because I'm not a bitch, honestly.

Ryou was lying in the hallway of his house, struggling to breathe. His Yami had left him beaten and bloody, and he had no means of finding help. He knew one of his ribs was broken, or maybe more. He was thinking about Lola. There was a song that reminded him of her.

'You're not alone. You never will be…

I'll always be here, where you can find me,

I'll never leave you, I want to stay forever,

Walk hand-in-hand, along the shore.

You're beautiful my love, I wish that I could see your face again…

And now I'm dying, without your love to comfort me.

I wish that I could hear your voice, singing like an angel,

You're beautiful my love, I wish that you were here.'

Lola didn't tell her supervisors she was going out. She didn't want to be hassled. She needed to explain, to tell him everything was all right and please would he talk to her. It was cold outside, and the autumn leaves were tossed around in the air, catching in her hair and brushing her cheeks. She shivered and hugged her jacket closer to her. 'Ryou…' She whispered. 'I'm coming to explain… I hope you'll understand.'

Ryou ended the last verse of the song on a sad note and breathed. He couldn't sing anymore. It hurt too much. He wanted to see Lola, to tell her he was sorry. He hadn't meant to be so hostile towards her. Suddenly the door slammed and there was Bakura, standing over him, smiling cruelly.

'You can't take it, can you hikari? I knew it, worthless. Stupid. WEAK.' He spat the last word venomously and grabbed Ryou's upper arms.

'What… are you… doing.' His hikari managed to whisper, although it was agonising.

'I'm taking you upstairs. We don't want people getting suspicious, do we little Ryou?' He whispered harshly, starting to drag him up the flight of stairs. Ryou struggled to breathe even more. When he was on the landing, Bakura nudged him into the corner where no one can see him. 'I'm going out, hikari. Don't move. Don't call anyone. Be a good little boy.' And he hurried back down the stairs. Ryou didn't hear the door close.

Lola was getting colder. It had started to rain now and her hair was sticking to her face. She knew she should go back to the house, but she needed to see him. To explain to him. It was number 7 on the main streetwalk. She remembered him telling her if she ever wanted to call over. She couldn't wait to see him.

She reached the gate and stopped. Perhaps she shouldn't call in. But she was desperate. Then she realised the door was open. Ryou acted cautiously, even Lola already knew that. She opened the gate slowly and gradually made her way up to the front door. She peeked into the house. Everything was dark. The curtains were drawn and there seemed to be no movement. Lola was getting worried. 'Ryou?' She called out cautiously. Nothing. 'Ryou… are you here?' She called, a little louder. A thump in the house made her jump. She walked inside the landing and grasped the banister. Her breathing was shallow. She took the first step and stopped. She shouldn't do this, it was an invasion of privacy. Another thump. Despite her conscience, Lola carried on up the stairs. She looked in the bathroom, no one was there. She turned around.

Lola screamed. 'RYOU!' She was paralysed in fear. He was lying on his back, his hand twitching and his chest going up and down. He sounded hoarse. She rushed over to where he lay. He was covered in beads of sweat and felt too hot. He was trembling and it sounded like he was struggling to breathe. Her hands shaking badly, she smoothed his hair away from his forehead and fetched a wet flannel from the bathroom, pressing it to his head. She guessed he was dehydrated and after chucking some water over his face, gave him a glass of water to drink. His temperature was dying down but he was still shaking. Lola decided to dial 911, to get an ambulance.

'Ryou? Ryou can you hear me? It's Lola, Lola Forsythe remember?' Ryou looked at her. He nodded in a distant manner. 'Oh god.' She said shakily, keeping an eye on the street downstairs. 'The ambulance is coming, just try and calm down, Ryou please.' Lola's fear was overridden when the blare of sirens came into their street. She rushed downstairs and banged frantically on the window of the vehicle, panicking. One of the paramedics took her to one side while the other brought Ryou, still shaking, downstairs and onto a stretcher. By now, a whole crowd had gathered outside the scene. The paramedics tried to calm her down but upon seeing Ryou she flew into a panic and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She kept pointing at the stretcher where her friend lay but was restrained while they forced an oxygen mask over her mouth. They made her sit down and take deep breaths. Lola, in a moment, calmed down.

'Listen. That boy's my friend, well, more than that actually. I was going to his house and I found him like that. He said he lives with a flatmate but that doesn't matter! You have to let me go with him! Please… PLEASE!' The paramedic looked over at his partner, who gave a slight nod and helped Lola into the back of the ambulance and shut the doors.

She felt it start moving and moved over to Ryou. He had calmed down and his eyes were fully open, looking at Lola. 'Ryou… it's me, I found you really badly hurt in your house… what happened? Can you tell me?' Ryou shook his head and looked away. Lola felt her eyes sting again. She didn't want to see Ryou so hurt, it was too much. She couldn't see him like that. She suddenly felt Ryou's hand try and grasp her own. She clasped it tightly and moved closer to him until they reached the hospital. The ambulance stopped abruptly and the doors were suddenly thrown open where a bunch of doctors and nurses and other paramedics were waiting with a wheeled stretcher. Lola felt herself being grabbed and thrust into the crowd of doctors. She started shouting.

'NO! DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME! I HAVE TO BE WITH HIM! HE NEEDS ME! PLEASE LET ME STAY WITH HIM! PLEASE! PLEASE!' She was grabbed again and she felt herself being forced into a wheelchair and another oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. She struggled against it. She ripped it off and tried to run to Ryou but someone caught her arm and looked round to see a doctor injecting her with something. 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING! STOP! I NEED TO BE WITH HIM! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T…' But she suddenly felt too drowsy and everything went dizzy. She staggered around and suddenly she felt herself collapse, instant blackness enveloping her mind.

The first thing she saw was a white room. Very white. With bright lights and a green curtain drawn halfway across. She blinked a couple of times and things started to come into focus. She found that she was in a bed, and a throbbing pain in her neck, back and head. People were walking around outside with clipboards and she groaned, trying to sit up and see where she was. Lola remembered a falling feeling but she must've blanked out.

'Lola Forsythe?' The voice had come from a person standing next to her. It sounded like a trumpet blaring in her ears. She nodded vaguely. 'OK. My name is Nurse Donovan and I've been informed you have suffered from a sever panic attack, is that correct?'

'What?' Lola said drowsily, blinking again some more times.

'A panic attack. Outside the hospital. Do you remember?' Lola nodded.

'Was that what it was? A panic attack? I remember this crowd of your people and someone sticking a needle in my arm, and Ryou… where's Ryou? Where's Ryou?' The nurse nodded and scribbled something on her clipboard.

'Ms Forsythe, I believe the injection you are describing was probably a sedative to calm you down. You have been asleep now for approximately two days and seventeen hours, combined with the general anaesthetic from the oxygen mask. You are probably experiencing back and neck pains, which could be concluded as concussion. I believe you came here with a Mr Ryou Bakura?' Lola nodded vaguely.

'Concussion…?' She asked, confused. 'Sedative? General anaesthetic?' Nurse Donovan nodded.

'We shall have to keep you in for a few more hours to run some scans to check your body functions are working properly, and if you'd like to see your friend, he's in Ward 23 for Fractures and Bone Breakages. Finally is there anyone you'd like me to call for you?'

Lola shook her head. 'My parents died a year ago. When can I see Ryou? I want to as soon as possible. Is he recovered? What happened to him?

'Your friend suffered from a broken rib and other minor injuries like bruises and a few cuts. We're waiting on your X-Ray appointment now.' Lola closed her eyes. What had happened to her?

'Nurse Donovan?' Lola opened her eyes again. A young-looking trainee nurse had wandered in with a pink slip of paper. 'We're ready to see Ms Forsythe now in the Radiation X-Ray room?'

Nurse Donovan nodded. 'Good.' Lola tried to lift her head to see what Nurse Donovan was doing, but her head was suddenly jerked by the movement of the bed she was on. It felt weird. She stared up at the ceiling until the bed underneath her was wheeled into a dark room and a straighter bed under the direct glare of an unusual looking light. /Must be the X-Ray/ she thought to herself, as a man in a green baggy t-shirt and trousers came over.

'Lola Forsythe? You need to come onto this bed now so we can examine you properly. If you'd just take my hand, that's it.' As Lola stood up, she felt blood rush down from her head and she felt temporarily dizzy before everything came back into focus and she laid herself down on the bed. The light was moved up to her head and it went brighter. She could see the bone structure of her entire head on the black slips of translucent paper above her. She didn't have any injuries, but they still insisted on taking her for a CAT scan. After the uncomfortable journey down to the laboratory, she was made to lie on a soft rectangular board, had all her jewellery removed and was told to keep utterly still.

As the board slid her into the tube of the CAT scan, rectangles of light lit up one by one around her. She could feel the lights boring into her and she fought off the urge to cover her eyes. It was, in a strange kind of way, quite peaceful in there. Her eyes were closed and she could hear faint mutterings of the doctors and nurse behind her. After at least five minutes of these obscure discussions, she was taken back out, but not allowed to roam freely until she'd had a stethoscope examination, a blood test and a general health checkup. She wasn't put back on a bed because she had no further need for one, but was told she could have a wheelchair instead.

She wheeled herself easily around to the receptionist's desk, where she asked for the directions to Ward 23. After following the instructions (first left, go straight ahead, second left, first right then the door with Ward 23) she managed to push open the door. Unlike the Minor Injuries Ward, this one was less noisy and busy and only a few nurses walked around to check up on the patients. Lola wheeled herself over to the first kind looking nurse she saw, a young redhead like herself with sharp blue eyes.

'Excuse me? Um…could you tell me where Ryou Bakura is? I came in with him today and they told me I could visit him now.'

'Oh, you must be Lola Forsythe! He's been talking about a girl similar to what you look like, red hair, beautiful green eyes – '

'He said that? He said my eyes were beautiful?'

'Oh yes. He said they were the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. You sound very true to his words.'

'What were his words?'

'That you were very pretty and kind along with that description.'

Lola felt a blush creep across her cheeks. She hated when she blushed. Especially with her red hair. It made her look like she'd eaten out of a furnace.

'Anyway. He's in the middle bed, just over there by the window. He's been hoping you'd visit him.'

Lola blushed again and thanked the young nurse before wheeling off to the bed in question. She could see his white hair vaguely as she approached him. She stopped for a minute, her heart hammering against her chest. After she took a while to calm herself down, she wheeled over to him and was surprised when she saw him looking fully well, his nose in a book with a tray of cheesy pasta resting on his lap. She smiled.

'Ryou?' She asked, becoming aware of her burning cheeks and shaky voice. He looked up suddenly at her and smiled, a huge grin stretching from one ear to the next.

'Lola!' He said, setting his book down and putting the tray of pasta on the table next to him.

'Hi. I… um… came to see how you are.'

'I'm…I'm fine.' He said, remembering what his Yami had done to him. 'How are you? They said you'd got concussion. I visited you yesterday but you were asleep.'

She blushed. 'Oh… um… cool. Listen I've been meaning to ask you something. Why did you… why did you run away after detention? Did… did I say too much? If I did I'm really sorry.' She stuttered her question, a furious red showing her face up humiliatingly.

'Oh… I… I don't know. But I want you to know that… Oh for God's sake I don't want to talk about it!' He snapped at her. Her eyes began to well up. He looked angry.

'Ryou I didn't mean to – '

'Well you have! I don't know why that happened OK but it wasn't intentional!' Lola suddenly felt something inside her die. A piece of her heart crumbling into darkness. Ryou didn't register what he said and looked away from her.

'Oh. Ok. Well, I'll be at the Halfway House if you want me, I'm allowed to go home today… you um… you know the number… I'm going to go.' She didn't let him see what her body was threatening to do. Without another word she wheeled back down to reception, not speaking to or looking at anyone. After she was given the A OK, she was allowed to discard her wheelchair. She hailed a cab and sat in it silently until it reached the Halfway House. She paid the driver twenty pounds and ran into her bedroom, slamming her door shut and throwing herself onto her bed, heart-wrenching sobs forcing themselves out. A river of tears flowed down her cheeks and she cried out in pain as her heart felt like it was being ripped in two.

Ryou sat in the hospital still, thinking about his encounter with Lola. What was that he'd said? Something about that kiss. What was it? He hadn't been thinking that good when she'd come. He then remembered seeing something. Her eyes. They had welled up. Then he heard it, somewhere inside his head he heard himself saying those awful words.

I don't know why that happened but it wasn't intentional!

His heart gave a painful twist as he thought of what he'd said. He remembered now. He'd told her he hadn't meant to kiss her and he didn't like it and didn't know why it happened, she'd kept back from crying and gone back to the Halfway House, where she'd be crying…

'LOLA!' His shout attracted the young nurse Lola had been speaking to beforehand.

'Mr Bakura! Whatever has happened?'

'It's Lola! I said something really horrible to her and now she's going to cry! I've got to see her please let me go and see her!'

'Mr Bakura we can't – '

'PLEASE!'

'Well, I'll help you this one time, but are you sure your ribs aren't hurting anymore?'

'Honestly they're not! Please let me get out of here!'

Lola cried some more. She was lying curled up in bed, fresh tears still rolling down her cheeks. 'Oh Ryou,' she whispered. 'Please love me the way I love you. Please. I love you Ryou.'

Aww! Emotional chapter –cries-! I can't believe I wrote that. It's so sad. Next chap will be better though… no I'm not revealing! Please R and R! AS.