Nine Years
Chapter Nine: Hope
He reclined his chair so he can relax a little, but relax was hardly in his mind right now. More like, worry, anxiety, depression, and etc. He couldn't control himself. He drummed his fingers on the armrest of his seat and tapped his foot on the ground below, vigorously. He closed his eyes now, beads of sweat lined up one by one. He hastily wiped them away, with his free hand; the one that wasn't drumming. When he reopened his eyes, he saw a waitress above him, looking at him peculiarly. She quickly wiped of her peculiar look and looked at him with a bland expression.
"Um…sir… is everything alright? Is the seat to rough or do you need something to drink?" the waitress said, her mind being suspicious of the young, handsome, blond before her.
He was wearing a light blue shirt with the first two buttons open and gray slacks. He had a gray tie on, but it was loosely tied around his neck.
"Thank you, but he's okay." the women next to him said. The waitress just nodded and moved her trolley car before giving him one last suspicious look.
"Joey…you need to be calm about this" the women beside him said. She was wearing a baby blue shirt and dark navy boot cut jeans, along with black boots. She squeezed his hand for comfort. "You might be in the hospital too if you don't relax hun"
"How can I be calm Mai when I kno' dat my sista' is in bed, struggling for her life!" Joey practically shouted.
"Shhh…hun. She'll be alright. We have to have faith in her" Mai said.
"Mom's right, dad" Matthew said otherwise known as Matt. He was wearing a red t-shirt with denim blue jeans. Joey looked at him and then back to Mai.
"You're right...both of you"
He leaned back on his chair and forced himself to act calm but he didn't exactly feel calm.
"What do you mean she needs insurance!?!" Kaiba shouted at the doctor.
"Mr. K-K-Kaiba, I'm t-truly sorry but it's o-our p-policy…" the doctor before him said, stuttering quite a bit.
Kaiba then grabbed the doctor by the collar mercilessly, while the doctor gained more perspiration on his forehead. "I'll give you a policy of my own if you don't take her to the emergency room…" he hissed vehemently.
The doctor, known as Dr. Yakima, did not say another word but simply nodded. Kaiba then took it as cue to drop him not caring if he landed safely.
A nearby nurse then came with a stretcher along with other nurses and they all carefully laid her down on the stretcher and immediately took her away to the emergency room.
Couple of hours later…
It was now night time at Domino city, though you couldn't tell it from the hospital. The only windows that were there were inside of the patient rooms and places needed for windows. Other then that, everything there was bright and white, as if darkness had never fallen there.
Kaiba, Shaila, and Kari sat there in the dull, plain, waiting room, eagerly waiting for news on Serenity's health. Kari and Shaila sat at the far side of the room, opposite of where Kaiba was sitting. Kari was steadily falling asleep but forced and maintained herself to be awake. Giving up, she retreated to Shaila's lap that was offered to her a few minutes ago and instantly fell asleep. Shaila on the other hand, did whatever to keep herself awake. She drank coffee and read magazines, but later on she became bored with them. She leaned on the white plain, wall behind her and fell asleep immediately also.
Kaiba on the other hand was fully awake. His new suit that was once crisp and clean was now foul and smelly and a little damp with sweat. But he didn't care. He didn't' even care for the meeting, of where he was one step away from owning the company. No, he cared for Serenity's safety now and that was all that mattered.
His mind was preoccupied with Serenity's health and the child sleeping that was before him. He stared at her as if he saw her before. He wondered what color her eyes were for they remained closed. You can't remember the person without seeing their eyes, he thought. He could feel that he had met her before.
But where?
The word she said after the accident still lingered in his mind.
"Mommy!!"
"Mommy!!"
"Mommy!!"
"Mommy!!"
He silently growled to himself as he shook of the words from his mind. He continued to look at her. Her eyes were swollen, with a shade of red on them, representing the tears she shed. The tears were now all died up, leaving them strewn across her face.
The site of her reminded him of when he was waiting in the hospital room, waiting to see if her mother would be alright. Hopefully the girl wouldn't lose her mother.
The minutes past by slowly, each second making him become overwhelmed with anxiety and weariness. He was about to rest his eyes, only for a minute, when he heard footsteps echoing in the ground below him. Wearily he looked up, seeing the same doctor he had the argument with. This caused his head to jolt up quickly.
"Mr. K-"the doctor began to say.
"Is she alright?" Kaiba said tightly; straining his ears to listen to the one word he had yearned for ever since she was put into the operating room.
"Yes but-" the doctor said. He continued to talk about her condition and what she needed to take to feel better, but the words went one ear and out the other. 'Yes' was lingering on his mind. Yes meant that she was safe. Yes meant that she was breathing. A big smile appeared on his face. He looked down though, hiding it. Involuntarily he -as if something forced him to- got up and headed towards her room of where she was resting.
"Um…Mr. Kaiba it would be better if she were to rest and-"doctor said, but one glare from Kaiba shut him up.
He opened the door slowly, shoving in his head only and not the rest of his body, he saw her pale, fragile body on the white covered, metal, bed, with white sheets on top of her. An I.V. cord was in her right arm. A white bandage was wrapped around her head and a cast was on her right leg. The leg cast was hung up a little over her bed for better comfort. A clear tube was in her nose. He entered the room now, for a better look at her. Her eyes remained closed, giving him a sense of idea that she was still unconscious.
A stand was next to the bed, with a monitor on top and her belongings that she had before the accident; a purse, a wallet, pen, make-up, etc. He opened her wallet, not for her money, but because he wanted to see something inside it if she had any; pictures. He saw a wallet sized picture of a group of people, with the background being decorative with blue clouds. He saw her with that smile that lighted up any room even in the cold and despair, Joey with his goofy smile-which managed to even out the picture- and his hair neater than usual, Mai, also with a bright smile but not brighter than Serenity's, a blond haired boy with a wide smile and bold, bright, chocolate, eyes.
The boy must be the child of Wheeler's, he thought comparing him to Mai and Joey.
He also saw the girl that was sleeping in the waiting room. He knew what colored eyes she had now; cerulean. It lighted up the picture also, her smile was wide and had dimples –it looked adorable- big, bright, shiny eyes, like her mothers. He admitted that it was the second prettiest eyes but the first prettiest smile he had ever seen, with Serenity's hazel eyes being first. He couldn't tell if the child's smile was first or Serenity, both were so alike. He wondered where her husband was, even though he really didn't want to see him. He only wanted to look through the pictures to see if he was decent looking. He flipped through more of her pictures; pictures of her and her daughter, Shaila, her family, mostly containing Joey, Mai, and the young boy. None of these pictures had the husband in them.
Divorced? Unwilling to raise the child? Dead? He thought.
He continued to ponder with the thought. Then to his surprise, a light shone across Serenity's face. He looked out the window, seeing it was a full moon that glistened in the night sky, it's beam right on Serenity's face.
Why hasn't Mokuba called me? He thought.
He got out his cell phone to see if there were any messages but he didn't have to. He had turned of his cell phone, like all people did when they entered a hospital. He thought it was best to leave now when something on her wrist caught his eye. The moon light reflected it.
"Hmm?"
He walked over to her and gently picked up her wrist, being really careful not to disturb any of her functions. A small smile came upon his face when he saw her wrist. A ruby and diamond patterned bracelet rested on her wrist.
She kept it, he thought.
Flashback…
"Your birthday is not over yet" Kaiba said as he took out a small well wrapped box.
It was night now, in San FranciscoCalifornia. There was a half moon; its beams stretching out to the ground and stars plastered across the night sky. Both of them had come back from an exquisite dinner with Joey, Mai, and Shaila, celebrating Serenity's birthday. Serenity wanted to spend some of her birthday with Kaiba…alone… so both were now in his hotel room.
"You didn't have to get me anything. I have you and that's enough" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind placing a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Stop being modest and open it" he said, taking off her hands off of his neck and placing the box on her palm.
"What is it?" she said sitting down on his lap now.
"You won't know until you open it…right?" he said wrapping his arms around her slim waist while resting his head on her shoulder.
"I guess so…" she said, eying the box curiously.
She carefully ripped open the wrapping and ribbon. When all of that was gone, she was left with a scarlet velvet box. She looked at him curiously, while he motioned with his head to open it. Turning her attention towards small box again, she opened it, revealing a ruby and diamond patterned bracelet, the rubies and diamonds circling all the way until it hit the fasten.
"It's beautiful…" she said breathlessly.
"Yes it is…" he said taking the bracelet out of the box flipping it over. Small letters where imprinted on it, but she couldn't see. She took the bracelet gently out of his hand and held it up to her eyes.
'In the time I've known you, I always thought you were beautiful but now I got you something that equally -if not as beautiful as you- as I ever thought you were.
He took the bracelet out of her hands and fastened it on her hand.
"How did you get it all to fit?" she asked curiously and honestly while he laughed at her words. "What…" she said innocently.
"Thank you" she said and placed a soft kiss on his lips, which soon became a heated and passionate, one that lead on to other things.
End Flashback…
Making sure that it was the one he gave her, he flipped it over seeing the same words imprinted on it. He smiled knowing that there still might be a little hope. Thinking it was better now to completely leave, he turned towards the door when he saw the little girl, in the doorway. She was awake now, rubbing her right eye and yawning a little bit. Both just stared at each other.
"Is my mom alright?" she said breaking the silence.
He looked at her with a bland look. He said nothing and didn't do anything.
"I t-take y-your silence as a no" she said, tears starting to well up again.
"Uh…she's alright." he said quickly and emotionless. He didn't want her to start crying again. "I should go now…" he said taking it as cue to go. He felt uncomfortable in the room now, with her daughter and all. He started walking out of the room when Kari grabbed his wrist. She let go abruptly when Kaiba looked at her with a confused and glare look, mixed into one.
"I…uh…I-I have to t-tell you something"
(A/n: I'm done! My internet was down…again! Well I fixed it and now it's okay. Uh…anyway …please review! .)