Heartaches

Chapter 45

By KellyQ

"A friend of mine is having some health problems right now," Godwin explained. "What are you doing here?"

Godwin and Yusei were standing in the cold, white hallway of the hospital.

"Looking for you," Yusei answered calmly, even though there was intense look in his eyes that held anger.

"Oh. Is that right?" Godwin responded.

"Yes. You promised to help me, and I'm here to see if you're man enough to follow through."

"Help with what, exactly?" Godwin pretended to be confused. Yusei stared at him even more intently. "Oh wait, I'm remembering vaguely. Something about..."

"Does the situation with Kiryu ring a bell?" Yusei reminded him.

"Oh yes. Have you found anything on the tape?" Godwin asked calmly.

Yusei didn't answer. He just reached into his bag and started fishing for something.

Godwin watched Yusei uncomfortably. He knew where this was headed, and he didn't want to have that discussion with Yusei right now, not here in the hospital while his brother was recovering from a stroke.

"No. But I found something," Yusei said pulling out the newspaper clipping. "Something that I'm sure you're familiar with, since you're part of the police force..."

Godwin just stared straight ahead, not knowing how to answer.

"Recognize this piece of news, Godwin?"

"Well..."

"I figured as much. Now, about that help …"

"I would suggest that you either place him in a group home or in a foster home," Godwin suggested, pulling out his cell phone when it beeped, and put it to his ear. "Yes? I'm coming. Don't worry about it."

Yusei narrowed his eyes as Godwin walked past him. A Friend, huh? He thought watching Godwin disappear around the corner. Yusei glanced down the opposite end. He made his way to Rudger's room and slowly opened the door, but he didn't go completely enter the room.

The sight before Yusei shook him to the core. Rudger lay in bed, an oxygen mask strapped to his face, and an I.V. taped to his arm. Looking closer, the older man was resting.

Yusei lowered his gaze, stepped back and closed the door soundlessly.

Yusei's friends, hand been waiting for him, looked up when they saw him making his way toward them. Yusei's expression hadn't changed since he found out that Rudger. Akiza (who joined them shortly after he left) studied him for a moment. She felt sorry for Yusei and the others. She knew how they felt about Martha. She was like a mother to them.

Rally ran up and hugged Yusei. "Yusei ...? Are you alright?"

Yusei just nodded his head, and that's when he noticed that Crow, Martha, and the twins were not present.

Yusei glanced down at Rally. "Why didn't you go home with Martha?" He asked.

Rally cringed a little, feeling bad. He didn't mean to be selfish. He didn't want to be sent away or lose his friends whom, he had just started to trust.

Trust, that was something that was hard for him to find in people. Rally adjusted his shawl and stared down at the floor. Yusei studied him for a moment before he knelt down and hugged him.

"I'm scared," Rally murmured, clutching on to Yusei, "I mean ... what's going to happen -"

"Have faith," Yusei murmured back. Rally nodded his head. "Things will come out alright." Yusei pulled back and rose to his feet.

"I can take him home," Akiza offered, stepping up placing her hands on Rally's shoulders. "He's staying at Martha's, right?" Yusei nodded his head. Rally glanced up at her; he had to admit that she was beautiful, and her soft touch was warm and safe.

Jack watched Yusei closely. He could tell that something was bothering Yusei besides Martha having cancer.

Once Akiza and Rally were out of earshot, Yusei lowered his gaze so that Jack couldn't see his eyes. After a moment, Jack finally spoke up.

"Spill it, Yusei! There's something else that Martha said to you that she didn't share with the rest of us!" Jack demanded, stepping right in front of his boyfriend.

Yusei cringed. The blond-haired teen glanced at the duffel bag, and he realized that it was Martha's.

In anger and jealously, Jack yanked the bag off Yusei's shoulders. The spiky-haired teen landed on the floor with a light thud. Yusei sat up, wrapped his arms around his knees, and rested his head between his knees. Yusei wasn't in the mood to fight; he was still shocked at all the news; it made his stomach turn with sorrow, guilt, and disgust.

Jack glanced down at his boyfriend and stepped up. He casually placed the bag next to Yusei, and knelt in front of him. Jack reached out and gently rubbed Yusei's hips.

"I ... I feel so helpless ..." Yusei murmured allowing his emotions to surface.

"What did Martha say?" Jack asked quietly.

He moved back so Yusei could unzip the duffle bag and pull out a newspaper clipping. Jack took it and glanced at it as he rose to his feet.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like punching Godwin's face for letting who ever did something disgusting - like rape - slide.

Once again, Jack's anger clouded his judgment. He turned and ran out of the hospital, with Yusei hot on his trail his duffel bag over his shoulder.

"Jack, stop!" Yusei called out.

He knew what his boyfriend was going to do, and he didn't want Jack to make some wrong choices like he had done in the past.

Yusei managed to step in front of Jack with his arms outstretched, preventing him from getting on his motorcycle. The look in Yusei's eyes snapped Jack out of his anger, and realization sank in.

"I'm just as upset if not more about what happened to my father!" Yusei said, seeing that he got Jack's attention. "But rushing headlong won't help anything! You should know that by now!"

They weren't the only ones upset about what was going on; Rally sat in the passenger seat, staring down and playing with the end of his shawl nervously. He rolled and unrolled the end of it over and over.

Akiza gave Rally a sideways glance. She reached out and intertwined her fingers with his.

"Sorry ..." Rally said, sinking further down the chair, thinking that Akzia was annoyed that he was doing the same thing repeatedly.

"Don't be. It's natural to feel scared," Akiza said, running her thumb along Rally's knuckles, "but have faith that things will be alright."

Rally nodded his head, pulled his hand away, and glanced out the window; then he turned his hazel eyes back to Akiza, taking in her beautiful features.

"So ... uh ... you're friends with Yusei, right?" Rally asked, making light conversation.

Akiza smiled. "We're close friends."

"What about Jack?" Rally wanted to know about the blonde teen.

"We're friends ... maybe not as close as I am with Yusei, but I respect him," she answered causally.

It was Rally's turn to nod his head. "I know what you mean. Jack's not that bad, even though he could lighten up when it comes to Yusei."

Akiza shook her head knowing from her own personal experience how possessive Jack got when it came to Yusei.

"Jack may have a loud personality, but he means well and doesn't want Yusei to get hurt," Akiza explained, "even though he doesn't want to show it at times when people are around ..."

Akiza dashed down the hospital hallway. When she heard that Yusei was in the hospital, because he almost drowned, she hopped on her bike and road all the way there.

Crow, Jack, and Martha turned when she burst into the waiting room.

"What's going on? Is Yusei alright?" she asked in rush, glancing around the room, not paying notice that there were two twin children there.

They both had identical teal green hair. The girl's hair was pigtails. She went by the name of Luna. The boy's hair was pulled up in a high ponytail that bushed like a Pom-Pom. He went by the name of Leo. Luna wore a red shirt and her twin brother wore a blue shirt.

Martha was about to tell her what she knew when the door to the emergency room opened and Doctor Smith walked out, with a grim look on his face.

"He's in a coma right now," he explained. "His lungs are damaged, and it's going to take a while before he heals - like his hearing and eye sight." The room fell silent. "These two managed to save him before he completely drowned."

Akizai glanced at the twins walked over to them and hugged them.

"What was he doing at an abandoned water house anyways?" Jack growled, trying to mask his concern with anger.

Akiza pulled back and her expression changed to a frown. That was a good question.

"Now that I think about it," Luna spoke up. "He wasn't alone ... someone was with him ... I think it was that famous psychiatrist – Sayer. He also had a gun ..."

Everyone, but the twins gasped in horror. Akiza's eyes clouded over with sadness and disbelief.

Jack tensed up and growled. He turned and rammed his fist into the wall, wanting to scold Yusei for doing something stupid.

"Akiza?" Rally called out, seeing that she had spaced out soon after they had arrived at Martha's.

"I'm fine," Akiza reassured, realizing that she spaced out.

Rally nodded his head and got out of the car, and noticed that Akiza had yet to park the vehicle.

"You're not going to come in?" Rally inquired.

"I wish I could, but I need to go back to work, and tell Luna I said hi, okay?" Akiza requested.

Rally nodded his head, stepped back and closed the door. He turned and walked back inside to see Leo standing there, tapping his foot and with a scowl on his face.

"Why didn't you come back with us?" Leo asked. Rally flinched and cringed. He didn't think it mattered if he stayed behind or not.

"I'm sorry," the curly-haired boy murmured. He lowered his gaze so that Leo coudn't see his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure that Yusei was alright. He looked really sad and torn ... I had to make sure that he was alright."

"You don't have to worry about him! He's tough! It's going to take a lot to shake him!" Leo explained, dismissing the fact that Yusei was more upset than he was leading on.

To Be Continued ...