Pulled to Pieces
Just as Joey had expected, the day had dragged on slower than a geriatric tortoise. Still, noon came and went, with Kaiba remaining motionless and unconscious. It wasn't much of a surprise; whatever they sedated him with was strong, and that combined with the fact that Kaiba hadn't slept for who knew how long meant there was a possibility he'd be out for the rest of the week.
Well, maybe not, but it seemed plausible to Joey.
He leaned back in his chair and eyed the telephone near the hospital bed, which he'd noticed a couple hours earlier. He'd spent that time debating himself on whether or not he should risk using it. Sure, Kaiba looked dead to the world for the foreseeable future, but with Joey's luck, the second he got ahold of Yugi would also be the second Kaiba would wake and get ahold of him. And like Mokuba said—the guy was off his rocker to the point he attacked the person he loved the most in the world.
But on the other hand, Tristan was probably still hanging at Yugi's, and could likely be convinced to bring him a phone charger…
Ultimately, it seemed worth the risk. Joey carefully approached Kaiba's bedside, taking note of the soft, consistent snoring that became more audible the closer he got. Smirking, he reached for the receiver mounted right above the bed, and quickly dialed Yugi's number before moving away as far from the bed as the corded phone would let him. It only rang once before the familiar cheery voice of an elderly man greeted him at the other end of the call.
"Game shop, how can I help you?"
"Hey, Gramps! It's Joey. I'm lookin' for Yugi, is he around?"
"Ah, Joseph, I've heard you're probably having quite the day…oh, Yugi! Phone for you!"
Before Joey could even respond to Yugi's grandpa's statement, his friend's voice piped up on the line, a comfort he didn't even realize he needed at the moment.
"Joey?"
"Yeah, it's me! Just wanted to check in, Kaiba's still out. How's the little guy?"
"The same, actually. He finally fell asleep about an hour or so ago. We tried to call you to see how things are going but couldn't get through. I finally managed to convince him that if something happened you'd call though," Yugi said. "Tristan said your phone probably died."
"Yeah, well, give him a gold star for cracking the case," Joey sighed, rolling his eyes. "But hey, that's actually why I'm calling-if he's still there, can you have him bring me my charger? It's in his truck."
"Uh, sure, he went to go pick up some snacks Mokuba asked for, but I'll send him when he gets back," Yugi assured him. "So Kaiba's all right then?"
"Thanks, man. And yeah, nothing new on this front. I think he's hibernating. Probably won't wake until spring."
Yugi chuckled, and Joey could almost see him shaking his head. "All right. Keep us posted, let me know when your phone is all powered up."
Joey bid his friend goodbye and quickly went to hang up the phone. As he did so, Kaiba moaned and shifted slightly. Joey jumped back, bracing himself, and watched as Kaiba finally started to wake up. His eyes opened slowly, then blinked rapidly, as if to get his focus, and after he seemed to do so, he drew in a long, slow breath before weakly raising himself up on his elbows and surveying the room through slightly squinted eyes, thanks to the the bright hospital lighting being ironically inhospitable to the freshly awakened. When Kaiba finally discovered Joey leaning against the wall to his right, a slightly watered-down version of his characteristic glare flickered across his face as he let himself drop back on the bed, muttering to himself as he rubbed his eyes roughly with the heels of his hands.
"Hello to you, too, sleepyhead," Joey taunted half-heartedly, somewhat surprised that this was the reaction his presence was receiving. He relaxed and flopped back down in the chair. "So what's up?"
"Considering you're here, for some reason, I'm sure you're already aware," Kaiba responded, and although his voice was crackling from being asleep, it was still full of the bitterness Joey had come to expect; however, his face told a different story—one of defeat. The blonde simply nodded at first, but when the silence became too thick to handle, he decided to thin it out by going for broke.
"Yeah, we got the story, all right. All the way from Mokuba being sick, to you being a lunatic, to him calling you by your father's name, and ending with you being an even bigger lunatic when you told him you wished you didn't have a brother and attacked him."
At first, Kaiba didn't respond. He didn't move or speak at all, and if Joey hadn't been able to see that he was staring intently at the ceiling, he would have thought that Kaiba had passed out again.
"I didn't mean it," Kaiba said, his voice quiet and flat.
Joey leaned back in his chair and stretched, crossing his arms behind his head. "That's what I told him. You've been dealing with things and just lost control. But you and I both know that, yeah, you did mean it."
Kaiba's head snapped towards Joey, his eyes glowing with indignation. "Absolutely not. You have no idea how I feel about my brother, so—"
"Actually, yeah, I do. I've seen it, Kaiba," Joey interjected, standing up and crossing his arms. "No matter how hard you try to keep Yugi and me at arm's length, we keep getting pulled into your family drama one way or the other, and even if you don't want to admit it, we've seen you go through a lot. We've even been through a lot along with you. We know who you are. I mean, I won't say it's always a favorable view—"
"Wheeler. Get on with it already," Kaiba interjected, rubbing his temples. Joey couldn't help chuckling a bit and mentally patted himself on the back—he knew that Kaiba knew he was right, so he pressed on.
"Plus I'm a big brother too, and I know how hard it is to always worry about a sibling when you're still a kid yourself. Yeah, I was forced to grow up apart from my sister. And I love her to death, I really do. But there were times growing up where I wished I didn't have someone to worry about when there was nothing I could do about it. Not to mention how much I missed her. And I know you had the opposite experience, which I can imagine is even harder—you were all each other had. He looked to you for everything, and that's a lot of pressure." Joey let out a long exhale and shook his head.
"It's okay to feel that way, Kaiba. It doesn't mean you love him any less. It means that, contrary to all evidence, you're human. Now stop pretending you're not and get your act together. There's still a kid that needs you. And I know you need him, too."
Even though Kaiba's response was to just lie there unresponsively, Joey knew he'd been heard and was right. Otherwise, Kaiba would have been tearing him a new one. He walked over so he was standing right beside him, shrugging his jacket on again.
"Look, I'm going to go out and wait for Tristan. I'll let the nurse know you're awake now. I'll be back later to see what's going on." Kaiba grunted in response, and the second Joey exited the room, he couldn't help breaking into a huge smile. Perhaps he had a future in motivational speaking.
[A/N: I know, I know, late update. But hey, at least this one ends on a positive-ish note! Updates will still be a bit sporadic, but I'll try to be better about it. As always, I appreciate reviews and feedback! I hope everybody's doing well and staying safe through this crazy time we're going through!]