Lu: Hello again! Yami has recovered fine.

Yami Lu: I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?

Lu: Err... no... anyway, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! On with the chapter.

Chapter 8 – To The Hospital

Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang. Serenity answered it.

"Hey Serenity," said Yugi, as Tea, Tristan, Mai and Ryou smiled.

"How are you?" asked Tea.

"I'm fine. Joey made me stay home. I wanted to go to school," replied Serenity.

"I'm sure he thought it was for the best," said Yugi.

"Can we come in?" asked Mai.

"Sure. Kaiba's at work. He'll probably be home soon. Joey's asleep," said Serenity.

"Well, it's about time he got up," said Tristan. "Where is he?"

"In that room," said Serenity. Tristan opened the door.

"He's not in here," he said.

"What?" said Serenity, running up and looking in the room. No one was in the bed, although the sheets were crumpled like someone had been in them recently.

"Where is he?" said Mai, coming up behind Serenity.

"I don't know," said Serenity.

"OK, split up and look for him," ordered Mai. "I'll look around here." The others nodded and walked in different directions. Mai entered Joey's room. "Joey, are you in here?" she called. She saw another door off to the side. She opened it and went inside. It was a bathroom. She looked around and saw someone curled up in the corner, his arms around his legs. "Joey?" she said. He didn't reply. "Joseph Wheeler, what are you doing?" she demanded. Silence. "Joey, are you OK?" she said, slightly softer than before. Still no reply. She went closer, and saw that his breathing was staggered. "Joey?" she said, even softer. As she moved even closer, his shaking shoulders made it obvious he was crying. She knelt down beside him. She put her hands under his chin, and lifted his head up. He stared back at her, eyes red from crying. He had a black eye and a nosebleed. "Joey!" Mai exclaimed. "What happened?" He turned his face away. He didn't want Mai to see him like that. "Joey, look at me!" she said. Joey looked back at her, his eyes glistening with tears. "Now, please, tell me what happened," she said quietly.

"It's... my dad," he said hoarsely.

"What did he do?" she asked.

"He's drunk," he said.

"And he..." began Mai. Joey nodded. He started to sob.

"Oh, Joey..." she said softly, putting her arms around his shoulders. He cried into her shoulder. "Joey, come on, it'll be OK," she said soothingly.

"I don't know what to do. He keeps on hurtin' Serenity and I, and we can't do anythin' about it," he said between sobs.

"Joey, you know my house is open anytime, and everyone else is willing to let you stay too," said Mai. For some reason, that just made Joey cry harder.

"I can't just keep runnin' away from my problems. I need to do somethin' about it. But I don't know what. Every time that I try and stop him hurtin' one of us, I get hurt in de process," he sobbed. Mai hugged him. Everyone else walked in, including Kaiba and Mokuba.

"What? What happened?" said Serenity, running to Joey.

"It was dad," he said. Mai hugged him again.

"C'mon, Joey. You can sleep over at my house tonight," she said. He started sobbing again.

"I can't," he wailed. "I still have 8 more days in Kaiba's house." Kaiba stood there guiltily.

"Look, just go. I won't tease Tea and Yugi, and you don't have to do what I say," he said. Joey wiped his eyes.

"Really?" he said. Kaiba nodded.

"I know what it's like to have family problems, so just go," he said. Mai stood up, and helped Joey up. He stood up, but his right leg crumpled. Mai caught him just in time.

"Joey, what's the matter?" she asked tenderly.

"My leg..." he said weakly. Serenity knelt down and inspected it.

"Oh my god. The back of his knee has been cut," she said quietly. Mai swore loudly.

"Come on," she said, helping Joey up. She quickly put his right arm over her shoulder, so there was no pressure on his leg.

"Oh my god, Joey!" exclaimed Tea, pointing at his shirt. It was bloody. Mai helped Joey back into the bedroom, and let him collapse on the bed. She lifted up his shirt, revealing several small but deep cuts and a lot of bruises.

"Oh god. Joey, what did he do to you?" said Mai under her breath.

"I'm not sure. I passed out. When I came to he was asleep and I was able to get out of dere," he said weakly.

"How did you do that when the back of your leg was cut?" asked Tristan. Joey replied "I don't know," without looking him in the eyes. Tristan knew there was more to this than Joey was letting on.

"Kaiba, do you have anything?" Mai said, looking at Kaiba.

"I don't think so, not for anything that serious," said Kaiba.

"Come on, man, we gotta get him something," said Tristan, grabbing Kaiba by his collar. Ryou pulled Tristan off.

"Tristan, he just said he didn't have anything," said Ryou. Tristan sighed.

"I'm sorry. We just gotta get something to help him."

"We should probably get him to a hospital," said Kaiba.

"Kaiba, can you provide some kind of transport?" said Yugi. Kaiba nodded. Serenity swooped on Kaiba, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much," she said. Kaiba blushed furiously.

"Err... that's OK..." he said hesitantly. Mai helped Joey up, and put his arm around her shoulders. "This way," said Kaiba, leading them out of the house.

"Tristan and I will stay behind with Mokuba," said Ryou, grabbing Tristan by the back of his shirt.

"What? Ryou!" said Tristan. "I wanna help Joey!"

"You know what, I think I might stay behind too. It's easier for Kaiba to take a small amount of people to the hospital. We'll come and see you later, Joey," said Tea. Joey tried to wave goodbye, but Mai stopped him.

"Joey, don't move much. It'll make it hurt more," she said sternly. She half-carried Joey to the car, and lay him down on the back seat. "Yugi, you sit in the front. Kaiba, you drive. Serenity, you sit in the seats at the back. I'll try and help Joey," she commanded. Serenity opened her mouth to protest, but Mai gave her a glare. Everyone did exactly what they were told to after that. Mai lifted Joey's head up, and laid it on her lap as she sat down. "Are you OK?" she said quietly. He gave a small nod. As he looked into her eyes, his eyes filled with tears again, and he looked away. Kaiba started the engine.

Lu: What do you think? Review!

Yami Lu: Are you sure I didn't ruin my reputation yesterday?

Lu: Look, Yami, let's just say that you were slightly high. OK, a lot high.

Yami Lu: Oh dear god.

Lu: Got to go. Review!