Heartaches

Chapter 49

By KellyQ

Carly pulled back when she was done cleaning the scratches on Yusei's face. "Anywhere else that hurts?" she asked, pulling off her Latex gloves.

"My shoulder, but I can take care of that," Yusei answered quietly. He rose to his feet, placed his hand on the edge of his shoulder, and pushed it in.

Carly just watched with slight fear and awe when she heard his bones come together. Carly winced. Was it dislocated? She thought watching Yusei rub his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," Yusei answered quietly, "and thanks for helping."

Carly bit her lip. "Sure. We could be friends, too, right?"

A light smile made its way to Yusei's lips. He walked up and grabbed his bag. "I don't mind ... any friend of Jack is a friend of mine."

Carly slowly nodded her head. "Uh ... how did you and Jack end up together?"

Before Yusei was going to share a little, his cell phone beeped. Good. Saved. I wasn't ready to tell her how we got together anyways, Yusei thought, feeling a little paranoid. "Thanks for the help and when I have time, or if Jack does, you'll get some questions answered."

All Carly did was nod her head and watch Yusei walk out. That went .. well, she thought. Carly had hoped to keep Yusei long enough to get him to talk about Jack. Maybe I should just let things be like Misty suggested. A smile made its way to Carly's lips and she felt her cheeks turn pink. Carly shook her head. She didn't have time to think about her. Carly still had a job to do.

Stepping out of the office, Carly made her way to the front desk just to see Yusei getting off his cell phone. The look on Yusei's face was grim and he looked tense. He walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, allowing his body to hunch over. Yusei's cell phone dropped to the floor with a clang, and he rested his elbow's on his knees, bringing his hands to his face.

It wasn't long before Carly saw Yusei shake and tears dripping off his chin. Carly bit her lip, wondering what she should do. She was about to make her way over when movement caught her eye. Carly turned her head to see Crow run up with Akiza following close behind.

"Carly! Go get room 224 on the second floor ready! We have a new patient!"

It took a moment for Carly to even register that Akiza was getting her attention. She blinked a few times before it clicked. Carly turned and ran down the hallway to get the room ready. I wonder who the patient is? She thought, putting on some Latex gloves again and getting things ready.

Once she was done, Carly made her way back to the front desk. The sight before her was shocking. Three kids, Jack, Mina, Trudge; and Crow and few nameless faces that she had never seen before. Who were, Aero, Blister, Rally and the twins.

"Is the room all set?" Akzia asked, turning to face her.

Carly nodded her head. "Yeah. But what's going on?"

"Martha fell when she was helping some of the kids clean their rooms," Akiza explained.

Behind Carly's thick spiral glasses, her green eyes widened. She fell? How can that be! By this point, the kids were crying louder, saying that it was their fault for even asking.

Carly bit her lip, stepped up and knelt in front of the kids. "It wasn't your fault."

"What if she never gets out of bed again?" The child wailed. "I know that she's sick, but I don't want her to -"

"That's enough!" Jack barked, startling everyone. "Stop crying and grow up!"

He had been trying to tune the kids out and focus on Yusei and his sore arm. With everything going on, it was hard not to, especially when the kid was about to say that Martha was going to die. Jack didn't want to picture that. It was hard enough to see the sweet old woman in a world of pain and there wasn't anything he could do.

"What he means is that Martha's going to be alright once she rests," Yusei said, hoping that his words comforted the kids.

Martha slowly opened her eyes, feeling that she couldn't breathe easily. Her back hurt and her head throbbed. An oxygen mask was over her face to help her breath. Martha knew that she was in the hospital. She slowly turned her head to see Doctor Smith checking things over.

After a moment of silence, a sound of patting feet moving down the hallway reached their ears. Martha smiled sadly when the kids came rushing in. The three kids, Jon, Mitch, and Taka ran to the right side of the bed, balling again. The others came in a second later.

Doctor Smith could tell that it was a little too much for Martha to have everyone look at her in the state she was in now.

"We should let her rest," Doctor Smith said, shooing everyone out. "When things calm down, I'll let you guys see her."

They all grimly nodded their heads, before walking out. The group made their way back to the lobby. The kids were crying again. The twins looked depressed, and Rally was beside himself with worry.

"How about I take the kids out for some ice cream," Aero suggested.

"We have some ice cream here," Carly informed.

Akiza shook her head. "I don't think the kids want one flavored ice cream."

"Going to an ice cream parlor does sound like fun," Jon spoke up. The other two boys nodded their heads.

Aero smiled. "Then it's decided." He turned and made his way to his small car. The other three kids followed.

Leo cheered. "Alright! Hot Fudge Sundae, here I come!" He bolted out the door, but stopped when he realized that his sister and Rally didn't follow him right away. "Aren't you guys coming?" he asked Rally and Luna, turning to face them.

Leo chuckled when he saw Rally hesitate. "Oh come on! Don't tell me you haven't had ice cream before?"

"That's not it," Rally spoke up quietly, a troubled look on his face. "I want to stay with Martha." All eyes were on him. Rally turned to look at Yusei. "Can I stay and help out?"

Yusei knelt down and placed a hand on Rally's shoulder. "It's not safe right now, and I don't think Doctor Smith would like someone lingering out in the hallway."

"I could look after her," Carly offered. Everyone stared at her strangely. Leo burst out laughing, and Carly started to feel embarrassed.

"You didn't know that Rally was a boy?" Leo asked in between laughs. Luna moved behind her brother and hit him on the back of the head with her hardened fist. "Ow! Why'd you do that for?"

Carly gasped in shock. She stared at Rally and that's when she noticed that she was a he.

"I'm sorry about that!" Carly apologized. "I had no idea."

This point, Yusei had stood up and moved back.

Rally smiled. "It's okay," he reassured. He averted his attention back to Yusei. "Are you sure that I can't help. I mean … I can help protect you so you don't get hurt any further than you have!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Yusei can take care of himself! Now come on! Let's get some ice cream!"

Without warning, Leo grabbed Rally and dragged him down to the parking lot.

Blister shook his head. "I better getting going … but are you sure you're going to be alright?" Blister asked Yusei, noticing that his friend was holding his arm to his chest, and a small strip of cloth was taped on the side of his forehead.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," Yusei answered, quietly. Blister nodded, turned to follow Leo, Luna and Rally.

"I can give you something for pain," Carly offered, remembering that Yusei's arm was dislocated, and he had popped back in place.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage, Miss, Carbine?" Mina spoke up for the first time since she and Trudge had arrived. The housekeeper had a sour look on her face, and anger was in her eyes.

Carly turned to face Mina. "You again?" she frowned. "I don't know what your problem is, but I'm just trying to help! Yusei hurt his arm and I want to make sure he's okay!"

" 'Make sure he's okay'? As if!" Mina fumed, getting into Carly's face. "You're trying to break Mr. Atlus and Mr. Fudo up by making sure that Mr. Fudo is crippled!"

"For your information – miss - I hacked into Godwin's file and found that Rudger had beaten and raped Hakase –"

"When did this happen?" Jack cut in sharply, giving Mina a piercing look.

The young housekeeper flinched and stepped back. "I ...I'm only looking out for you and Mr. Fudo!" she said in a rush, bowing.

Everyone was so focused on Mina they had forgotten that Yusei just heard who raped his father. It made him feel even sicker that Rudger was the one who did it, and Godwin didn't do anything to make his brother pay for his sins.

Crow glanced and saw that his friend was in shock and seemed to hold his breath. Crow's eyes widened when Yusei dropped to his hands and knees, and started to cough up blood.

"Yusei!" Crow cried with fear laced in his voice.

To Be Continued …