Disclaimer: Gah, I'm too lazy to be imaginative today. No, I don't own Yu Gi Oh!.
Carlson stood just outside the door, hands clasped behind his back, prepared to wait all night if need be for news on Master Mokuba's condition. He had returned from his errands several hours earlier and had been waiting here since.
He could hear muffled sobbing coming from inside. He wondered briefly which of the Kaiba brothers was making the sound, then decided that he didn't really want to know.
As he waited, he thought back to the rather interesting conversation he had had with the woman Joan as he brought her to her home. It still made his head spin to think about it.
Flashback:
She hadn't wanted to leave, it was clear. He hadn't wanted to take her away, not after the long, sad look she had given his boss, but orders were orders, and he did his job. She didn't resist as he took her arm and pulled her away.
Then the doctor had come in, and delivered the news that Master Mokuba might be permanently handicapped. A sense of cold horror had come over him; he couldn't even imagine how Mr. Kaiba was probably feeling.
They left after recovering from the shock as well as they could. He led her down to the parking garage where he had left the limousine. He hesitated before opening the door to the back seat for her. He wasn't supposed to ask questions, but he doubted that she would tell anyone if he did.
"Excuse me, ma'am… but could you tell me your name?"
"It's Joan," was her reply. Well, at least he had a name to go with the face. It wasn't much use to him, but it was something.
They exited the parking garage, and he got on the highway. The only words spoken were Joan giving him directions to her apartment, but he couldn't stop himself from glancing back at her in the rearview mirror from time to time. Why did Mr. Kaiba hate her so?
She startled him when she said, "You want to know why Seto acted the way he did, don't you?" She must have noticed him looking at her.
"Well… yes. Mr. Kaiba's never really a warm person, except with Master Mokuba, but I've never seen him act that way before. And I've known him for a long time."
He saw her hang her head before he returned his attention to the road. "He hates me," she said softly.
"I could see that, ma'am. Do you know why?"
She had stared at him for a long time, as if weighing him up, deciding if he was worthy to know her secret. He could feel her eyes boring into him even with his own eyes fixed firmly on the road, not watching her. Finally, she spoke. "He is my son."
His hand slipped on the steering wheel, he was so shocked. He swore as the limousine swerved into the next lane andquickly straightened them out. There had been enough accidents tonight; he didn't want to add another one.
Glaring at the many blaring horns all around them, reprimanding him for mistake, he pulled over to the side of the road. When the vehicle was safely pulled out of the way of oncoming traffic, he turned around to face her.
"He's your what?"
She gave him a steady look, not seeing any reason to repeat herself.
Carlsonswore again. He generally tried to keep from such obvious shows of what he was feeling – it didn't befit one of Mr. Kaiba's goons – but today had been a little too stressful for him to handle.
"That's impossible," he protested. "I've known Mr. Kaiba ever since he was adopted by Gozaburo. His parents are dead."
"It's a complicated story, Carlson. But I'm not lying."
He stared at her for a long time. He prided himself at being an excellent judge of character, and something was telling him that she was speaking the truth.
"I believe you," he said finally. "And I can understand why Mr. Kaiba's so upset."
She hung her head again. "As can I. But it wasn't completely my fault that I was away for so long–"
"That's not entirely what I meant," he interrupted. "Mr. Kaiba doesn't like havin' people suggest to him that the world might not be the way he's always thought it was. It takes a long time to convince him of somethin' that goes against what he feels is fact. In all honesty, ma'am, he's prob'ly afraid of you, as much as anythin'."
He had received silence at this comment, but he thought he saw a glimmer of recognition in her eyes.
He had brought her home then, but not before deciding to do everything in his power to reunite the Kaiba brothers with their lost family.
End Flashback.
Carlson's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of the door behind him opening. He turned around to Mr. Kaiba standing in the doorway.
"Carlson," the CEO said. Carlson did his best to ignore the rasp in his voice, and he pretended not to see the tearstains onthe boy'sface.
"Yes sir?"
"Inform the…" he stopped, as if continuing was too painful. Fear coursed through Carlson. What could be so bad that Mr. Kaiba could say it? Surely, Master Mokuba hadn't…
"Inform the doctors that my brother has reawakened."
Relieved as he was that his fears hadn't been proven correct, Carlson still needed to ask one last thing. "Sir… What about…?" He couldn't finish.
Mr. Kaiba knew what he was trying to say. He shook his head. "No, Carlson. He can't."
Carlson closed his eyes as his boss returned to his brother. So the doctor had been right. Master Mokuba's spinal cord had indeed been permanently damaged. He would never walk again.
He sighed. He didn't want to think about what this would mean for the boy. He didn't want to think about what it would mean for Mr. Kaiba, either. He had been given a job to do: fetch the doctors and inform them that Master Mokuba had woken up. He would focus on that, instead.
He set off down the hall in search of the nearest doctor.
Seto closed the door softly behind him, walking back over to his brother's bedside. Mokuba's eyes were wide and filled with tears, his expression one of stark terror.
"Carlson is going to fetch a doctor, Mokuba. We'll see what they can do."
"B-but they will be able to do something, right Seto? Right?"
Seto gave him a bleak look, not sure how to answer. "They'll do everything they can, Mokuba."
Panic overtook the little boy. Seto doesn't think they're gonna be able to do anything! He thinks I'm gonna be stuck like this forever and ever! He burst into tears, overwhelmed by everything that had happened to him that day.
Seto reached over, hugging him. "Shh… It'll be okay, kid, I promise you. Whatever happens, it'll be okay."
"But you don't think they'll be able to fix me, do you, Seto? You don't think they'll be able to make my legs work again," he sobbed.
"I don't know, little brother. I really don't. There might be something they can do. But if there isn't, I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure you are just as happy as you were before. I promise."
"'M scared, big brother. I'm so scared…"
"…I am too, kid."
This startled him. "But you never get scared!"
"Sure I do. All the time. I just try not to show it."
"Really?"
Seto nodded.
"I wish I didn't get scared. I wish that…"
"Yes?" his brother prompted.
"…I wish that this had never happened."
"Me, too. But it did, and we have to be strong now."
"Strong like a Blue-Eyes?"
Seto smiled at the reference to his favorite Duel Monsters card. "Yes, Mokuba. Strong like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
"Do you think that the Blues-Eyes ever gets scared?"
Seto paused, thinking the question over. "I don't know. It doesn't appear to. But maybe it just hides it very well."
"But no matter what, it's always strong, right Seto?"
"Right."
Suddenly, they heard the sound of voices outside the doorway. Carlson had returned with the doctor.
Mokuba stiffened, fear taking hold of him again. Seeing this, Seto bent forward and murmured to him. "Remember, kid. Strong like a Blue-Eyes."
Mokuba nodded, watching the handle to the door turn as the person on the other side opened it. Strong like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he repeated to himself.
The door opened. Like a Blue-Eyes…
The doctor stepped inside.
He would do his best to be strong, for his brother's sake. He didn't want Seto to see him scared. I will be strong like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon…
He repeated the phrase over and over to himself as the white-coated doctor stepped over to him.
"Well, hello, Mokuba. How are you feeling?"
Strong like a Blue-Eyes.