Téa went home to an empty house. She started to cook dinner for two, despite the fact that she already knew she would be eating alone. After she ate, she put Yugi's plate in the fridge and washed the dishes. While drying the plates, she thought to herself, 'Why is Yugi and the guys going out so much? This house is so quiet without him home. I would almost say I enjoy Kaiba's company more than I enjoy being home alone…almost.' She leaned back from the sink and thought, 'Truth be told, I am starting to enjoy Kaiba's company. He seems to be an okay guy when he's not barking insults.'
Suddenly she felt two arms wrap around her waist. She smiled and greeted, "Hey Yugi."
Yugi spun her around and kissed her, "I missed you, so I decided to skip my outing with the guys," he explained, "How about we go out to eat, like you wanted?"
"Oh Yugi, I wasn't expecting you to be home so I already ate," Téa replied. She saw Yugi frown and her heart skipped a beat, "We could still go out to see a movie, if you want?"
Yugi let her go and said, "Never mind." He grabbed his jacket off the hook and started towards the front door.
"No Yugi, please. Let's go out for desert or something." Tea suggested. He ignored her and she asked, "Where are you going?"
"Out," Yugi replied simply before he slammed the door.
"What's wrong with him?" Téa asked to no one in particular.
…
The next morning Téa didn't bother fix Yugi breakfast. If he wanted to be an ass, he could make his own waffles.
She arrived at the Kaiba mansion early and knocked on the door. John, the butler opened the door for her. "Good Morning, Dr. Gardener. How are you doing?"
"Good Morning John, I am well. Is Kaiba awake yet?" she asked.
"Yes, but I warn you, he has a short temper today," the butler stated. Téa rolled her eyes and thought, 'when didn't he have a short temper.' The butler continued, "Master Mokuba was up most the night with him. Anytime he fell asleep, he seemed to have night terrors."
"Okay John, thanks for the warning," she replied.
She walked to Kaiba's room and saw Noah was already there. She greeted, "Good morning Kaiba. Good Morning Noah."
When Noah heard her voice he smiled, "Good morning Téa. You are looking particularly magnificent today. Did you get all prettied up for me?"
Téa grabbed her stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. She figured if she ignored his comments, they would eventually stop. She went to roll up his sleeve and Noah said, "Oh, let me get that."
Téa turned around irritably and said, "No, I've got it." She started to roll up the sleeve when she noticed a bruise in the shaped of a hand print. Her eyes got big and she yelled, "Mokuba!"
Kaiba breathed out as Téa called for Mokuba, after all the years that he was hurt under Gozaburo's care as a child, no one wanted to help him. Now that he was being attacked by Gozaburo's son as an adult, someone finally was trying to help. Maybe he didn't give Gardener enough credit.
Mokuba came down the stairs and gasped when he entered the room. "Who did this?" Mokuba asked as he saw the handprint.
"I don't know Mokuba? I discovered it as I was getting ready to check his blood pressure," she explained. She then said, "Help me sit him up, I want to see if there is any more damage." She pulled his shirt off and bit her lip when she saw the bruise on his stomach. "There is definitely something going on here Mokuba."
"Maybe the butler did it," Noah said, "or one of the maids."
Mokuba wiped a few tears out his eyes and stood up straight. "I don't know, but I am getting video cameras installed in his room. Téa, do you have your phone on you?"
"Yes, you need it?" Téa asked.
"I want to take some photos and send it to my phone for evidence," Mokuba explained.
Téa nodded and threw him the phone. She then asked, "Mokuba could you stay with Seto while I go grab some herbs from my garden? I want to grind them into a paste and use it as an ointment to put on these?"
Noah volunteered, "I will stay with him Téa. No one will dare put their hands on Mr. Kaiba if I am in the room."
Téa got in his face and replied, "Noah, I don't know who did this to Kaiba. But there is one thing I do know, I trust you about as far as I can throw you. Now why don't you make yourself useful and go cook breakfast or something."
Noah frowned and said, "Fine."
…
When Téa walked through the front door, she saw Yugi's coat hanging on the rack. The plants were right outside the front door. So, she dug in his pocket to find his pocket knife. In the first pocket she didn't find the knife, but she did find a scrap of paper. She looked at the paper and saw that it was a receipt. The receipt had the name Rebecca written on the bottom.
Her knees went weak and she had to hold on to the wall for support. 'Is this why Yugi has been so distant lately… Has he been chea… No, that's impossible. I am sure there is some sort of logical explanation. She folded the paper back up and placed it back in his pocket and told herself, "It's probably just a number he needed for work. Yeah, that's all it is."
She grabbed his pocket knife from his other pocket and walked over to the plants. She cut a few different herbs and placed them into a granite mortar (bowl). Once she had what she needed, she grabbed her pestle and hurried back to the mansion.
…
Téa walked in Kaiba's room and said, "I have the stuff Mokuba."
She started to grind the ingredients together and added a small amount of water to the bowl. Mokuba watched as she sat down on the bed and started to rub the ointment onto his brother's chest.
Kaiba closed his eyes as he felt her hand run across his chest. Her hands were so tiny and soft. The feeling of human contact felt incredible. The ointment had mint in it, so it was cold and seemed to tingle.
Mokuba looked at his brother and saw him close his eyes to her touch. "I think it's hurting, Téa."
Téa shook her head and replied, "No Mokuba, it's cooling the area," to confirm it she asked, "Kaiba, does this hurt?"
To her surprise, he didn't blink he slowly moved his head from one side to another. His head then dropped back down on the pillow. That small movement seemed to tire him out. Mokuba and Téa both looked stunned.
"Seto, you moved!" Mokuba said excitedly.
Téa placed her hand on his and said, "This is a good sign Kaiba, just keep trying and we'll have you better in no time." She gave his hand a squeeze.
…
Later that day, Téa focused mainly on mobility exercises. His physical therapist gave her a list of ones that would help. As she was doing it she talked about how beautiful the new park was, "There is a walking path around some trees and a large pond. To the right of the path there is a large jungle gym for the kids to play in. And, to the right is a place to buy ice cream. We should go there one day," she suggested.
Kaiba thought about what she said, and he did want to see how the new park was developing. After all, Kaiba Corp. donated a substantial amount to the construction. He looked into her eyes as she talked about the park and despite how excited she seemed about the new park, he sensed something was bothering her.
Mokuba walked in at that moment and asked, "How is he doing?"
Téa smiled, "He is doing pretty good. We did his exercises and He seemed to have an easier time eating the soup today. He is recovering faster than I anticipated."
"That's great! I came home early today to work with the security on the placement of new video cameras around the house. You and Noah can take the rest of the day off if you want," Mokuba said.
"Someone is going to be with him while this is going on?" Téa asked. She didn't want to leave until she was certain he wasn't going to be hurt.
"Don't worry Téa, I am going to stay with my brother while Roland makes sure the cameras are being set up properly," Mokuba said to calm her nerves. She nodded and said her goodbyes.