"Now that is what I'm talking about!" Mai exclaimed, sounding pleased as she snapped the bra clasp closed between Anzu's shoulder blades. She wrapped her arms around Anzu's stomach from behind and rested her chin on the teen's shoulder. "I told you this red would look lovely against your skin, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did," Anzu conceded with a small blush as she observed herself in the mirror the way the red lace bra lifted and supported her breasts. She was tempted, so very tempted, to buy it.
After seeing Anzu's drawer of inner- and under-wear, she'd clicked her tongue in disapproval and insisted on taking Anzu out to Victoria's Secret for a spree. When one of the shop assistant's had offered to help measure Anzu to check that she was wearing the right size, she'd felt uncomfortable, so Mai had offered to help her instead. And she'd been helping ever since.
"How much did you say this one was?" Anzu asked, twisting around and reaching for the tag, but Mai grabbed it before she could and covered the price.
"If you want it, you got it! Don't worry about the money, just let me spoil you!" Mai smacked an affectionate kiss on her friend's cheek and ripped the tag off the strap. When Anzu looked at her in shock, Mai smirked and said, "Wear it out of the store. I'll still pay for it at the counter. Be sure to grab the rest of the set on your way out." Mai released her and pulled away to start gathering together the things they'd decided to buy while hanging the rejected merchandise on the hooks for the employees too gather and return. Anzu reached for her shirt and started buttoning up the pink blouse, hoping it was opaque enough that the red didn't show through the fabric. She was only halfway through buttoning it up again when her phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the caller: Yugi.
"I'll go pay for these while you finish up," Mai said with a smile.
"Alright. Thanks again, Mai."
Mai slipped out of the stall and closed the door swiftly as Anzu answered her phone.
"Hey Yugi, what's up?" Anzu delicately held the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she continued buttoning her shirt.
"Anzu, I'm so scared! Kaiba said that one of our friends had attempted suicide, and I didn't know who else to call, I'm just so worried, and—"
As soon as Yugi had mentioned suicide, Anzu had dropped her phone, then fumbled to catch it before it hit the floor. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
"—What are we going to do?" was the last thing Anzu heard through the phone.
"Okay, okay, we just need to calm down a bit. We'll start calling our friends to just make sure that they're alright. You call Joey, Tristan, and Serenity, and I'll call Ryou, Duke, and Marik. I'm at the mall with Mai, so I know she's fine. When you've spoken with the others, call me back and let me know."
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Yugi sounded marginally calmer than he had before. "Thanks Anzu. I'll talk to you later."
They hung up, and Anzu dropped her phone into her purse, her hands shaking slightly as she tried to process this info.
"Sweetie? Are you alright in there?"
Mai's voice at the door made Anzu jump. She went to the door and threw it open, grabbing Mai's hand and pulling her back into the stall with her.
"Whoa! What's—"
"I think Ryou's in trouble!" Anzu burst out, then explained what-all she knew from her call with Yugi. "Remember that night when he slept over, when he said that he'd considered suicide before?" Anzu's eyes started watering as the thought of Ryou, depressed and hopeless, trying to take his own life, entered her mind. "Oh, this is all my fault!" She started to cry, and Mai quickly hugged her and hushed her comfortingly.
"Don't blame yourself, darling. You can't blame yourself for his depression. There's only so much we can do to help him."
"But I could have done more!" Anzu protested. "Besides, that's not all..." And Anzu explained how she had found Ryou in the park, and he'd given her necklace back, and how she'd hit him. That was a week ago, now, but it still made Anzu feel like a horrible person, even more so now because of what had happened.
"This is all speculation right now, love," Mai sad calmly, taking some tissues out of her purse and dabbing gently at Anzu's running eye make-up. "How about you finish getting dressed, we go out to my car, and we make those calls to confirm that your friends are safe. If we can't get a hold of Ryou, we'll go to the hospital and see if he's been admitted. Okay?" She curled one finger under Anzu's chin and tilted her face upwards, gracing her with a gentle smile that Anzu reciprocated.
"Okay." Anzu took a deep breath and accepted the second tissue Mai handed her, using it to dab at her eyes. "I just hope he's okay."
When Ryou woke up in the hospital, he was confused at first. Why was he here? What had happened? He recalled being on the ledge and not knowing what to say so that he could get down without getting into any trouble. Then Bakura had taken over and... What had he done?
Ryou sat up carefully, trying to determine if he had any physical injuries. There were none that he could detect, but his mouth tasted awful and dry. Nobody was around, so maybe he could just sneak out without anyone noticing. He unplugged the IV catheter from his wrist and removed the wired patch stuck to his chest that was recording his heartbeat. He was wearing a hospital gown, which left too much of his skin exposed, making his skin start to prickle with goosebumps. He saw his clothes folded in a stack on a chair and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, reaching for them and putting on the Millennium Ring before reaching for his boxers and jeans. He dressed as quickly as he could, not sure how much time he had before someone came to check on him.
Bakura, what the hell did you do?
I didn't let that ambulance go to waste, that's for sure.
Do you have any idea how much a stay at the hospital costs?
Doesn't matter; we're skipping out on the bill, anyways.
We're getting out of here altogether. I don't belong here.
Well, technically, you do, since you drank a bottle of cough syrup while standing out on a ledge.
So that's why we're here.
Yes, you're quite a troubled teen. Clinically depressed with expression of suicidal tendencies, or so they claimed.
I can't say they're wrong, Ryou thought bitterly, wishing that he could argue with such a diagnosis. He discarded the hospital gown on the bed ans slipped on his sneakers before approaching the door as calmly as he could. If he could just walk out of here as if he'd been visiting a friend and act like he wasn't doing anything wrong, then he would have a chance at walking out of here without being caught.
He tucked his identification wristband inside the cuff of his hoodie sleeve—he didn't know if the lavender color of the wristband meant something special, but this was a hospital, so he wouldn't be surprised if the colors were significant—and slipped out of the doorway, turning to the left and casually walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets. He considered pulling the hood up to cover his distinctive hair, but wearing a hood indoors would only look suspicious. He avoided meeting the eyes of any nurses or doctors, afraid that if he looked directly at them, they'd be able to tell that something was wrong, that he didn't belong. He was almost to the stairs when one of the female nurses, clad in aqua scrubs from head to foot, stepped in front of him and held up her hand.
"Excuse me, sir, you need to return to your room and wait for the doctor to see you," she said firmly. There was kindness in her eyes, though, which meant that Ryou might have a chance at talking his way out of this.
"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken," he said with a smile, adopting his most charming expression and tone. "I was just here to visit my brother, and I'm on my way out now."
She lifted an eyebrow at him in disbelief.
"People get us mixed up all the time, it's understandable," he said graciously, forgiving her misidentification. He started to edge around her, but she didn't seem fully persuaded.
"Can I please see your visitors' band?" she asked, her hand outstretched to receive his hand, making Ryou feel nervous.
"Oh, here it is." He held up his wrist and pulled the sleeve cuff back slightly, enough for the white tab with his name and info printed on it to stick out, but quickly covered it again, starting to step away.
"Sir, I need you to—"
Ryou pretended not to hear her, and while he normally would have felt a twinge for being rude, he had more important things on his mind right now.
"Thank you for your help with him!" he said, waving as he started walking past her. "I really appreciate it!"
She was still trying to get his attention as he walked away, picking up the pace as he felt his heart beat more rapidly. He'd been caught, but not stopped, even though she was still trying to stop him. As she caught up with him, she pulled on his sleeve, jerking him to a stop. It was harder for him to keep smiling.
"Sir, I need to see your entire wristband—"
"I don't belong here," he said suddenly, voice insistent and sad as he kept his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt. "Please just let me go; I don't belong here."
She tried speaking again, but this time she was interrupted by someone else.
"Ryou!" Anzu had just emerged from the door leading to the stairway, and the instant she saw him, she could keep from calling his name. She went straight to him, throwing her arms around him an hugging him tightly. Relieved to see her, Ryou hugged her in return.
"Ryou we were so worried about you."
That was Mai's voice, and for a moment, he was squashed between both Mai and Anzu as they hugged him. Mai released him, but Anzu didn't, which was fine by him.
"Thank you so much for taking care of him." Mai thanked the nurse warmly, taking charge of the situation. "When he ran off, we had no idea where he'd gone, and I was so afraid that he was going to hurt himself somehow."
"And what relation are you to the patient?"
"He's my little brother, and I absolutely love him to pieces, but he's always had problems, bless his heart." Her hand fluttered to that cardiovascular organ as a small sigh escaped her lips.
"You're his sister?" The nurse seemed incredulous.
"Just because he's adopted doesn't mean I love him any less," she declared, as if it were something she'd explained a hundred times. "No matter how many times I say it, though, he doesn't seem to fully believe me."
Ryou didn't see Mai throw him a pitying look. He was too caught up with Anzu, who was whispering tearful apologies into his ear as they embraced. He murmured sad assurances, trying to assuage her sense of guilt as he let her presence soothe him. He was only listening to Mai's story with one ear and half his mind.
"He's been seeing a doctor for a while, but it's always been a struggle getting him to open up, and sometimes we can't always tell what's going to upset him or set him off." Mai continued prattling with such conviction that Ryou almost believed her. "Anyways, thank you so much for caring for him, but it'd be best if we brought him home to see his own doctor. Where can I sign him out?"
Mai began to take care of the paperwork and paying the bill while Ryou and Anzu continued to hold each other, neither of them ready or willing to let go. Anzu was relieved to see him alive, and Ryou was relieved that someone had come looking for him.
"I love you, Ryou. I don't want to see you hurt."
"I love you too, Anzu," Ryou whispered back. He hadn't said it the first time she'd told him that, but he was saying it now, because now he knew it to be true. They remained caught up in each other as if they'd been separated for years, only brought back to the surface of reality when Mai informed her "brother" and his girlfriend that they were cleared to leave, but Ryou had only been released on the condition that he'd be immediately admitted to a psychiatric facility in some capacity. As they moved towards the stairs to leave, Ryou was holding Anzu's hand.
They stayed close to each other and Mai as they left the hospital through the main lobby, Anzu explaining how they'd known to come looking for him at the hospital, adding that she'd told Yugi that Ryou was fine as soon as they confirmed he'd been admitted to that hospital. He thanked her for her discretion, relieved that he wouldn't have to face their other friends concerning this. He wouldn't know what to say to them, or if they'd even stay friends with him. The less they knew, the better off they were, the safer they were.
"Where are we going?" Ryou asked as he and Anzu climbed into the backseat of Mai's convertible together.
"I'm doing what I told the nurse I would do: I'm taking you home."
Please review if you want to see what happens next!
