Okay, this chapter may be a little confusing because of the amount of time that I skipped. Believe me, I wanted to spend so much time on Baby Yugi, but I've already spent way too much time with him as an infant, but now I have to move on. So, Remember that by the late middle, Yugi will be a year and a half, or simply put, eighteen months.
---
The Darkling Triplets, as they were called in childhood, drove to St. John's Mercy Hospital as fast as they could. At a red light, Bakura and Marik switched places, with Marik snickering and calling out "Chinese fire drill!" during the process. Now he was the driver, speeding by doing 75 mph in a 40 zone. When they reached the hospital, Atem ran out of the car, Yugi clutched to his chest while Bakura had to use his knowledge of law to talk Marik's way out of a ticket.
Atem ran to the Emergency Room desk. The lady that had been there the day he found Yugi was there. Trying to catch his breath, Atem began to speak. "Please … my son is sick …" The ditzy, blonde nurse blinked.
"… Again?" Atem leaned in close to her face with a look of murder in his eyes.
"Yes, again!" To prove this, Yugi coughed and started to whine. The lady called one of the nurses, who took Yugi away from Atem, despite his reluctance. He could hear his baby boy crying for him all the way in the other room. Tears were streaming down Atem's face. His child had never been sick before, and he didn't know what to do.
After a while, he started to fill out the forms the lady at the desk had given him. Bakura and Marik were somewhere in the hospital, either causing trouble, or in the cafeteria … causing trouble. In order to keep his thoughts from going haywire, he tried to amuse himself by playing a few games he'd downloaded on his cell phone, but everything just reminded him that Yugi was sick and needed him. He started pacing around the waiting room, nibbling on his nails out of anxiety. Already, it'd been three hours; shouldn't someone have said something about Yugi yet?
Finally, about four hours later, Dr. Manteuffel called Atem's name. "Atem, can I talk to you for a second?" Atem dashed out of his seat and began to walk with the doctor down the hall.
---
"How is he?" Manteuffel sighed.
"Remember how I said that his immune system was very weak?" Atem nodded. "Well, now it's even weaker … it seems he's caught a form of the West Nile Virus."
"WEST NILE?" People who were around them stopped and stared at Atem when he yelled.
"Shh … I said it was a form of West Nile. Good thing you brought him in now so that he could get the proper treatment. If you didn't things would have progressively gotten worse. Usually, people don't know that they have it and think it's just the Flu; when they find out, it's too late." He looked through the glass at the child in the plastic crib. "Good thing it wasn't too sever … we're going to have to quarantine him for forty – eight hours, though."
"No!" The doctor looked at Atem with surprise. The young man glared at his child's doctor. "No, I want to be with him now!"
"But Atem, he needs the treatment first!"
"Give him the treatment, and then let me see him. I refuse to go two days without holding my son!" Manteuffel sighed. He knew that even though the two were not blood, Atem cared more for Yugi then most of the other parents he'd seen.
"Fine, we'll give you a vaccine and quarantine you with him." Atem nodded. If Yugi had to be quarantined, then Atem would be right beside him. Manteuffel led him to one of the labs to get the vaccine and then change out of his clothes and into a hospital gown. Atem entered the quarantine chamber and saw his small son in the plastic crib, crying. That was his 'hold me' cry. It was as if he knew Atem was right there and wanted his father to hold him right then and there. Atem walked over and looked into the crib before picking him up.
"Shh … it's alright, Yugi … I'm right here …" He gently picked the baby up and rocked him in the rocker that was in the room. "Shh …" Yugi's cries softened to whimpers and hiccups before stopping all together. Atem wanted to bring Yugi's panda bear stuffed animal, but Manteuffel said that while he was quarantined, it was strictly prohibited. But, there were other, safe toys in there for him to play with. Even though Yugi still had a fever of 103.6, he still smiled and chewed on some of the toys in that were in the crib with him.
Atem cradled the boy in his arms. He sat him upright on his arm, while Yugi continued to chew on the ear of a stuffed rabbit. A little while later, Yugi's lilac irises looked directly into Atem's rose colored ones. It was like the infant was asking his new father to take the pain away. Atem smiled sadly and kissed Yugi on the forehead while he repositioned the baby in a laying pose in his arms. "I'm so sorry, Little One … but there's nothing more I can do … I with there was …" Yugi started to whine a bit, but when Atem tightened his embrace, the whining stopped. Soon, the young man began to caress the infant's cheek, knowing how much he liked it. In response, Yugi nuzzled it while emitting a soft yawn.
---
Soon, dinner was served. Atem was able to eat whatever the cafeteria was serving while Yugi was fed with a bottle of the most nutritious formula that St. John's Mercy carried. Atem loved feeding Yugi. He loved hearing the soft moans and suckling noises Yugi made whenever he was enjoying his liquid food.
Suddenly, a knock on the glass window caused Atem to look up. He saw his two brothers waving at him. Bakura pointed to the phone hanging on the wall and signaled Atem to go to it. He did so after putting Yugi back into the plastic crib. "How ya holdin' up?" Bakura asked. Atem smiled and shrugged.
"It's alright; as long as I'm with Yugi, I'm not complaining." Marik snickered.
"Now ya know what it was like for me in Rikers!" Atem rolled his eyes.
"I think it's a little different from Rikers, Marik. For instance, I'm not the one under constant watch, and if I drop some soap, no trauma comes afterward." Bakura cackled loudly and pointed at Marik, knowing how much it bugged his oldest brother when he did that. Atem smiled; it was lonely in this small room without his brothers to talk to. "So what are you boneheads up to?"
"Oh well, I was busy pickin' up some new clients here, while some of us were wandering around, mixing up people's medications!" Bakura said, looking at Marik. The oldest of the triplets shrugged innocently. Atem chuckled; that was so like Marik.
"New clients? How'd you pull that off in a hospital?" Bakura sassed for a few seconds before answering.
"You'd be surprised at how many patients here are victims of accidents, so I convinced them that they needed good lawyers like me to represent them." Atem nodded while he listened.
"Wow, finally a place where your profession has an upside look at things." Marik harshly slapped Bakura on the back.
"Yeah, every time ya announce it in a bar, ya clear the whole place out! It's a turn off!" Atem and Marik had a good laugh with that one.
"Hardy har har, at least I've got money, ya oversized gorilla!" Marik shrugged.
"But it never gets ya laid!" Atem and Marik both laughed. Suddenly, Yugi started to fuss again.
"Well, as much fun as this has been, duty calls." Bakura nodded.
"Peace out; and don't go gettin' sick or I'll have ta auction off yer house!" With that, both left the middle Darkling Brother with his child.
"Hey, is everything alright, Yugi?" The child spotted his father and giggled, even though his face was still boiling. Atem picked him up and brought him over to the small hospital bed in the corner of the room. He knew Yugi would want to snuggle before they both gave in to sleep. He lay down with Yugi on his chest while he rubbed the boy's back with his left hand and kept support with his right. With a pacifier in his mouth, Yugi would sleep like that through the rest of the night.
---
The next morning, tests were done on both Atem and Yugi. Yugi had more tests since he was the one with the virus. They just had to make sure that he didn't pass it on to Atem. Once the tests were done, Atem watched a little TV while Yugi was spread out on the floor with a blanket, chewing on a stuffed animal and talking to himself, making Atem chuckle.
Soon, a knock on the door was heard, and Dr. Manteuffel entered. Atem turned off the TV and picked Yugi up. "Well, the tests all came out negative, which means that neither of you are infected anymore, so that's good news."
"So then we get to go home?" Manteuffel chuckled and shook his head.
"Not quite, you still have a few more hours, just to make sure that the virus is completely gone." Atem groaned. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to last in this small room.
"Can't we at least walk around the hospital for a little while?"
"I'm sorry, Atem, but that's strictly forbidden while you're quarantined. We can't risk an outbreak."
"But you said that we weren't infected anymore!"
"Even the smallest virus cell can grow into an outbreak; how do you think the Black Plague started?" Sighing again, Atem decided to drop the subject.
---
The next day, after more tests were done, Yugi was officially deemed 'cured' and was able to go home. From that point on, things were rough, but for the most part, went smoothly. About three months later, Yugi learned to crawl, and with some speed to boot. Atem had to buy baby gates to keep Yugi out of the places that he didn't want the baby to get into like the basement, or his office.
Two months later, he learned to stand, and soon after, to walk … more like jogging. His tiny feet moved so fast, you'd think he had a motor for them or something. He gained some weight and height, but not much. He was still a small child, even though he was ten months old. It wasn't long until Yugi was putting syllables together until he formed his first word: 'cookie'. Atem was hoping it would be 'daddy', but as long as Yugi was growing and learning, he was happy. The child that was once premature now had the most energy of anyone on the planet. Marik was the one who usually played with him the most. Bakura liked to play every once in a while, but Marik was the fun uncle. The one thing Yugi loved was juice; all kinds of juice: apple, orange, grape, fruit, or even the ever sour, pineapple. But it always had to be one hundred percent juice, not that ten percent crap. Yes, things were going great … until Yugi hit the age of eighteen months. That's when problems started to arise.
---
One day, Yugi was playing in the sandbox at the park. Atem was sitting on the bench, reading a parenting book, while still keeping an eye on his energetic son. Bakura was working on some long over due paper work and Marik was bugging some of the other kids. Suddenly, Yugi suddenly began to feel a little bit woozy and started to whine, hoping his father would hear him. Atem was so engrossed in his book, that he didn't even see Yugi get up and wander off.
When the dizzy spell had gone away, Yugi looked up, realizing that he didn't know where he was or what he'd been doing. "Daddy?" He called. He'd been to the park many times before, but for some reason, he couldn't figure out where he was. "Daddy!" Yugi started to walk around, not knowing where he was going. The little boy was very scared and didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing that came to his mind, "DADDY!" He screamed. Yugi sat down and began to cry. "I want my Daddy …" He continued to cry until a shadow covered his tiny form. It was a man … a man with a shadowy face that held a greedy smirk.
"Aw, what's the matter, Little Boy?" Yugi sniffled.
"I can't find my Daddy …" The smirk on the man's face continued to grow.
"Well, why don't we see if we can go find him?" Yugi never noticed the lust that dripped from the man's words. He only nodded and took the man's hand.
---
Atem finally set his book down and looked over at his younger brother. "I'm hungry, wanna get something to eat?" Bakura scribbled something on a paper and took his glasses off.
"Yeah, I could use something that'll clog my arteries. Whadda think, McDonald's?"
"Sounds good to me; what do you think, Yugi?" There was no answer. "Yugi?" Atem stood up and looked around, noticing that his son was nowhere to be found. "Yugi!" Marik ran up to his two brothers with a hand full of bouncy balls, yoyos, army men, and other small toys.
"What's going on?" Atem was starting to hyperventilate.
"Yugi's missing!" Bakura put his files down and stood up.
"Where'd he go?"
"I don't know, but we have to find him!" Bakura nodded.
"I'll take the lake, you check over by the swing set, and Marik, you take the pathway." All three triplets nodded and went in their own ways yelling out 'Yugi, where are you'as they did.
Atem was getting even more scared by the second. Not knowing where his baby boy was was driving him insane. "Yugi, speak to me!" He yelled. Nothing; he was so scared now. Marik, Atem, and Bakura all met up at the bathrooms. "He couldn't have gone far, his legs are too small." Bakura said.
"But what if he saw something that caught his attention? You know how curious that child is!" Marik said. Suddenly, they heard voices coming from beyond the bathrooms.
"Just do what I say, Brat!" A small cry was heard afterward. The triplets went to see what was going on. When they did, the most horrific scene Atem had ever … seen was in front of him.
"YUGI!" The boy was naked, trapped under a very tall, not too bright man. Atem elbowed the man right on the spinal cord, causing him to roll off of Yugi. "GET AWAY FROM MY SON!" Atem quickly picked Yugi up and wrapped him in his jacket. The man was now pissed off.
"I'll show you ta mess with me!" He was about to pounce when he was grabbed at the collar by Marik.
"I wouldn't do that; for you see, that's my nephew ya were hurtin', and I'd do anything to protect him." The man snarled.
"Like what?" Marik just snickered, never letting go of the man's collar.
"You see, I've been known to be some what of a cannibal …" The man's eyes widened and he wiggled his way out of Marik's grip and ran. "Get back here, you bastard!" Marik yelled, running after the man.
Yugi clutched Atem's shirt with his tiny hands. "Want Daddy … want Daddy …" He kept repeating. Atem held his son closer to him.
"It's alright, Yugi, I'm here now …" Yugi looked up with tears in his eyes. Seeing those tears made Atem want to cry, but he had to be strong for his baby boy.
"Daddy!" Yugi and Atem clutched each other like there was no tomorrow. Yugi continued to cry while Atem whispered sweet nothings to him, trying to calm him down. He looked at Bakura who was looking at his small nephew with the most sympathy in his eyes.
"Bakura," the man answered to his name, "Call the police, and report a rape." Bakura nodded and took out his cell phone.
---
Later that night, The Darkling Clan ended up in the hospital yet again. Marik had eventually caught the man who violated his nephew and gave him to the cops. Of course, it was not without a little quarrel between the ex – con and the police officers. Now, all three triplets sat in the waiting room to wait for the results of Yugi's rape. The three of them sat in silence, wondering how anyone could do that sort of thing to a child, especially a child who had already been through so much in less then a year. The waiting was beginning to drive Atem crazy. "I'm a terrible father …" He mumbled.
"No you're not; one setback doesn't make you a bad dad." Marik said. Atem looked like he wasn't even listening. Tears were streaming down his face.
"But I should have kept a better eye on him … he was right in front of me … I took my eyes off of him for one second … and then this happened …" Bakura placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"These things happen. You'd be surprised how many rape cases I represent all the time." Atem looked at him for a second.
"Any with children?" Bakura had to think for a second.
"Well … … no," Atem exhaled loudly, "But I've heard from others how much it hurts when they see kids like that."
"Is this supposed to make me feel better, because it's not doing a very good job!"
"The point is that it could have been worse."
"Like what?" Bakura shrugged.
"We could've been too late …" Atem's hands wrapped tightly around Bakura's neck, cutting off his air supply.
"Bite your tongue!" Bakura started to make choking sounds.
"He is tight, though." Marik said. Atem looked at him without removing his hands from Bakura's throat. "We're lucky we even got there when we did. Maybe we're jumping to conclusions and nothing even happened before we got there."
"What are you talking about? He was naked when we found him!"
"True, but we probably stopped him right before he got a chance to do anything." Atem stared at Marik for a second. For the first time in … forever, his older brother was making sense. Bakura tapped Atem's arm, gaining his attention.
"Air, air!"
"Oh, sorry." Atem finally let go of Bakura's throat. He inhaled deeply. Finally, Manteuffel called Atem's name.
"Atem, can I speak with you?"
---
Both the doctor and the game illustrator walked down the halls. "First of all, let me say that no rape took place." Atem sighed in relief.
"Thank God …"
"Now, may I ask how this all came about?"
"Well, we were having a day at the park, and he wandered off …"
"That's what I thought." Atem blinked.
"What do you mean?" Manteuffel sighed.
"Remember last year when I told you that Yugi's brain damage wasn't sever, but was still there, and it would have effect on his memory?" Atem nodded.
"Yes …"
"Well, we did some tests on his brainwaves, and it turns out that the damage caused to him in the womb is starting to show. We asked him if he remembered what he was doing before this all started and he began to cry, meaning that he didn't remember."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that the area of his brain that contains memory is having a bit of trouble right now. I would suggest taking him to a Child Psychiatrist, not only to diagnose him, but to let him speak what he feels about what happened. Here," Manteuffel wrote something down on a piece of paper, "His name is Dr. Shanker, and he could probably help you out more then I can." Atem took the paper from him.
"But, he's alright, right? No damage?"
"Nope; you're lucky you got to him in time." Atem sighed and went to the room Yugi was held in.
"Daddy!" Yugi said when Atem entered, holding out his arms to be picked up. Atem gladly did so.
"Yugi, I'm so glad you're alright!"
"He hut me!" (it's supposed to be like that since Yugi's still young and can't really say too many words correctly right now.)Yugi said into Atem's shirt. The young father rubbed the boy's back.
"It's alright now, Yugi. You're safe … no one can hurt you now." Yugi was still shaking when Atem sat down on the bed, bringing Yugi into his lap. "Yugi, why did you run off in the first place?"
" … No know …"
"You don't know?" Yugi shook his head. "Well, from now on, I want you to stay where I can see you, and also, never talk to someone you don't know, alright?" Yugi nodded.
"'Kay, Daddy." Atem smiled. Even after a traumatizing event like an attempted rape, Yugi still had that look in his eyes like he loved life and everything around him. Atem didn't know how the child could do that. He was a wreck, and it didn't even happen to him!"
"What do you say we get some dinner from McDonald's, hmm?" Yugi's eyes lightened when he heard 'McDonald's'; all problems forgotten now.
"Yeah!" He squealed. Atem smiled and picked Yugi up. Tomorrow, he'd look into getting a psychiatrist for Yugi to go to, even though he didn't want to. But if it would help his child live a better life, then he would do it.
---
End of Chapter
