Chapter 6

It actually took Jou a lot longer than expected to get out of the hospital. He had to learn a lot of things, not only things he forgot when he was in a coma, but things his body wasn't used to.

He had lost a lot of muscle in his legs, being bedridden for so long. I took him walking a few times, and it was hard to watch. He took baby steps, like a child learning how to use their legs for the first time. He needed to build up his strength before he went home with me.

So, everyday when I went to the hospital, we would talk for a bit and then walk down the hallways.

He was eating solid foods soon. The IV was still in his hand, because he needed the extra sugars, but he was able to eat. No steak and potatoes mind you, but food that wouldn't have to be put in a blender. This whole food thing was another journey as well.

"What's this?" Jou held up a fork in his hand. I wanted to smack the back of his head, and exclaim, 'foolish boy, remember how you would shovel forkfuls of food into your mouth at every meal? You have to remember what THAT is.' But I didn't.

"It is a fork Jou, you eat with it."

He looked at the foreign object, and then at me, somehow, missing the piece of the puzzle.

"Here, I'll show you." I stabbed a carrot on his plate, and shoved it into my mouth. When I gave it back to him, he did the same.

"Exactly."

However, the poor plate got quite a beating, being stabbed a number of times with that fork. Although, I had to admit, watching him murder the plate was quite funny, and for the first time in 18 months, I found myself genuinely smiling.

I imagined that if I ever had a child, this is how it would be like. Teaching them how to brush their teeth, go to the bathroom. Telling them to eat everything on their plate, and comb out their hair. But I must say, I did a pretty good job. I mean, I didn't exactly have a father figure I could have looked up to, but I understood what needed to be done. Having a kid wouldn't be that bad. 'Well,' I thought, 'Jou didn't exactly wake me up at 3am and want to be fed.'

I talked to Yuugi when he came to visit. Even some of Jou's other loser friends came along, and he remembered bits and pieces of their lives. Again, probably because they came and saw him at least once a week when he was in here.

Anzu, the yippy girl I remember from dueling both Yuugi and Jou came often with Yuugi. She didn't look different, and she didn't seem to hate me as much as that bloke Honda did. He glared at me anytime I looked his way. I had always assumed that he had a thing for Jou, but I never really knew. I suppose he was glaring at me, because of my absence in this whole situation. I didn't really care to tell you the truth.

I saw Bakura once and Otogi a few times. But I never saw anyone from Jou's family. I mean, I knew who his father was; I had met him on more than one occasion. He had thrown a lamp at me that day Jou moved out of his house, and I never saw him again. Good riddance, in my opinion.

I had never met his mother, and I had met him sister rarely. I knew Jou was angry at his mother for the divorce, but I also knew he loved his sister very much. Come to think about it, he hadn't mentioned her yet. This concerned me.

"Do you remember your sister Jou?" I asked him, on one of my visits.

"Shizuka? I remember her. I will always remember my sister Seto."

I suppose I had some comfort in this, but not much. And you can very well guess why this bothered me.

I asked him again what he remembered. It seemed like, as the days went on, bits and pieces of his memory came back. It was a slow process, but one that gave me hope; hope that one day, he would remember his feelings for me.

"What do you remember now?"

Jou spoke of a picnic with his sister and mom. He talked about the beach house again, watching Mokuba splashing in the waves. For the first time, he spoke of his father. I had assumed that he was the dark man he had talked about earlier, and he spoke about him, with assured fear and remorse. No wonder, Jou's dad was usually drunk and abusive.

"I remember walking out of my house. I think it was the last time I saw my dad, because I can't remember anything after that. There was a man waiting by a car. He embraced me, and then we drove off."

I snapped my head up when I heard this, "Do you remember anything about that guy? The one you said embraced you?"

Jou struggled with his thoughts again, "No, not really. He was tall though, taller than me."

Should I tell him I was that man? Or should I let him figure it out for himself? I assumed his memory would comeback, so I left it there. By this time, visiting hours were over, so I grabbed my things, gave Jou a wave, and left the hospital.

It was hell, when we first started dating. I hadn't really told Jou how I had felt about him. I mean, I didn't really tell anyone when I was feeling anything. I can't explain it really; I guess it is just one of those things that happen. You know, someone asks you ten years from now how the cheerleader and the band geek ended up getting married, and you need to ramble on about this and that after school was over, and how they met in college. Well, I guess I am getting carried away now. But it DID just happen, for the record. It was AFTER it happened that things got bad.

Jou was always someone who valued his friends. I, never having any, didn't really know what to expect out of a relationship, so I just went with the flow. Unfortunately, the flow consisted of lurking around when we could, going out late at night, making excuses to friends and family about our absences.

My first task was to tell my brother. I would never do anything unless Mokuba was ok with it, because he did mean the world to me. I mean, Jou does too, but it wasn't like that at first. Anyways, I didn't know how my brother would react to me, you know, being gay and all. So, I broke it to him slowly. I was relieved to find that he didn't care at all. Actually, I remember what he said to me.

"As long as you are happy Seto that is all that matters. How you get there is unimportant…unless you are doing anything illegal."

As for the relationship itself? THAT was the complicated thing. You might be surprised to find out we did get along on our 'outings'. We rarely fought, quarreled sometimes, but never fought. But on a physical level, I would have better chances growing wings and flying to the moon.

I do remember our first kiss however. Sort of ridiculously romantic in its own way. We were at my house, mansion, whatever, watching TV. Well Jou was watching TV, I was looking at Jou. He seemed content to flip channels, but I was content to stare at him. It is going to sound dumb, but the kid has really long eyelashes. It is quite adorable actually. Well, the light from the TV was reflecting on his face, which in itself was a beautiful thing.

"Jou."

He didn't let his eyes stray away from the screen, but gave a quiet "Hmm?"

"Look at me for a second."

"Alright, one sec."

"No, look at me now."

He turned his head, finally taking his eyes off the cartoon images projecting themselves around the room.

It just kind of happened. I leaned in, and just kissed him. I think he was startled at first, but he didn't seem to mind it. My hands ran through his golden locks, and his hands found their way to my neck. We spent the next twenty minutes getting to know each others mouths, necks, ears, basically anything we could get our lips attached to.

It was all really easy after that. I think we got over that initial tension that goes on with any relationship in the beginning, but I was determined to make that work.

I think it is why I have so much faith in Jou now. The beginnings are always rough, but I know we can make it work…

"I think I have everything. This bag could supply enough stuffed animals for an entire toy store."

"Let me carry it." The last thing I needed was for Jou to break a leg before we even made it out of the hospital. He gave me the bag, along with anything else that would render him unable to walk with his two feet, and hobbled over to the door.

"I think I am going to get you a wheelchair, I don't want you to trip."

"Seriously Seto, I am fine. I can walk, I promise."

I still didn't want him to walk without at least some help. Maybe a cane…

"Are you coming or not? I want to leave now."

Makes sense, the kid wanted to leave the hospital. Wonder why, the place was so nice and cozy, what, with its white walls, and Windex-like smell, he only spent nineteen months in the place after all…

"Yea, I am coming."

"Nice, nice place." Jou was looking at the marble pillars of the Kaiba Mansion. It would be a LONG time before I took him anywhere. The ride home was full of "What's that?" and, "What are they doing?" questions. My head was throbbing just thinking about it.

"Don't trip up the stairs. Want some help?"

"I am fine, I won't trip."

I didn't really believe him, but I let Jou get away with it.

"Do you remember this place at all?"

"I think so…maybe not…I forget."

"I'll show you around, you might remember something." I had confidence in that plan. A lot went down at my house; he was bound to remember something…

So, truth be told, I told Jou we were friends. I never told him we used to date, to make love, whatever. I thought he just needed to get used to everything new, before telling him that. But it was no secret that a part of me wanted him to fall in love again, fall in love with me. Or, at least remember our love…

I was snapped back to attention by my brother. Mokuba had just come down the main staircase, delighted to see Jou at our home once again. I think Jou was interested more, on one of the paintings on the wall, but he embraced my brother all the same.

Bad idea to put me and Jou in the same room so soon, so he had one of the spare bedrooms down the hall, close enough to me so I wouldn't worry where he was in the middle of the night, but far enough away, so he had time to adjust to this.

"The bed is comfy." Jou was sitting on the queen size bed, patting it with interest.

"I am sure anything is comfy after your hospital bed. Why don't you get some sleep now? I know it is only eight, but you have an appointment with your therapist tomorrow at ten, and I am sure you would want to sleep way past then."

"Yea, he said I am ok to walk now, but he wants to make sure I can move all my joints."

I nodded, "Your pajamas are in your bag," I opened his duffle up, and handed him his folded jams, "I'll wake you up tomorrow so you have the time to get ready before Dr. Takaki gets here."

Jou was already making his way into his night attire, and once he was situated in bed, I turned the lights off.

"Night Seto."

I smiled, "good night Jou."

It was almost like old times. Well, except my boyfriend was in the room across the hall, and he had no idea he was my boyfriend really. Almost like old times, but not quite.

A/N: I know, slow update, been busy as of late. Kaiba might seem a tad OOC, but oh well. Anywho, off to bed...