Yugi heard a rhythmic beeping noise. He smelled that familiar smell of bleach, whitewash, and cotton. He opened his eyes and sat up. The scene was disturbingly familiar. White, clean walls, white, clean bed, white-and-black checkered floor… It was just like when he was at the mental institution as a child. He didn't want to be back there… he didn't want to be alone…
"Yugi?" said a deep, familiar voice. Yugi looked over and saw Atem looking at him, concerned. "Are you alright?"
Yugi looked around and saw his friends and his Grandpa, all lying asleep in chairs around his hospital bed. "You're all here…" Yugi said softly. "Where… is here?" He asked. What had happened?
Atem chuckled quietly. "This is Domino Hospital, Yugi." He said. "Can you tell me… what the last thing you remember is?"
Yugi thought. He did remember…
Yugi sat at his desk, reading. Suddenly the scene around him changed. He stood up. There was only one bed in his room, and pictures of Yugi and the gang had changed… into pictures of Yugi and his parents.
A knock came at the door. "Yugi, sweetie?" Kanae's cheery voice called out. "It's time for lunch."
"What?" Yugi thought. "This can't be happening…"
Yugi's thoughts were interrupted by a dripping sound. He looked down and saw drops of crimson liquid hitting the floor. It was blood from his own nose. He felt suddenly exhausted and sat down against the wall, his vision fading.
"Yugi?" Kanae asked, entering the room. She looked horrified and ran over to his side. "Yugi?! Are you alright?!" she asked, trying to wake him.
"You're not real…" he said with the last of his strength. "You can't be…"
Everything was darkness after that. But he couldn't tell Atem he was hallucinating, could he? "I already passed out, and now I'm in a hospital." he thought. "Atem's already worried."
"I…" Yugi whispered. "I don't really know." Atem looked even more concerned.
Joey woke with a snort. "I'm up…" he mumbled. "I wasn't asleep." His sudden outburst woke the others, who noticed Yugi was awake.
"Yug', are you okay?"
"Is something hurting?"
"What can we do?"
"What do you remember?"
Their voices came jumbled and all at once. Yugi held his forehead… they were making his brain throb.
"Guys, shut up." Atem said, noticing Yugi's condition. "We're going to get the doctor in here, alright?"
Yugi nodded, and Atem left to get the doctor. Yugi lay back to ease his headache, and the others swarmed closer to him.
"Yug' man, do you remember what happened?" Joey asked, grabbing Yugi's hand. Yugi shook his head, not saying anything. They sat in silence until Atem returned with the doctor.
"Hello, Yugi." The doctor said cheerfully. "I'm Dr. Janice McClellan." She offered her hand for Yugi to shake, but Yugi didn't reciprocate.
"What's wrong with me?" Yugi asked quietly, looking down at the covers he was beneath.
Dr. McClellan was taken aback by his bluntness, but ignored it. "I looked over your case file, Yugi." She said. "I see you've had a history of mental illness."
"A history of mental illness?" Atem asked incredulously. Nakamura nodded.
"Why are you telling me things I already know, Doctor?" Yugi asked softly.
"I can see you want to get straight to the point." She said, and looked at the noteboard she carried. "You have a brain tumor, Yugi."
There was silence in the room. Tea looked like she was going to cry, Atem looked horrified, Joey looked angry, while Yugi looked like he didn't really care.
The doctor took a deep breath. She hated having to tell patients that. "It originated in the memory center of your brain, and now it has spread to your sensory perception." Silence filled the room. Janice was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. "But we can operate on it. There's a chance of brain damage but," she paused. "It's your decision, Mr. Mutou. Uh," She looked at the three Mr. Mutous in the room. "Yugi Mutou, that is. You have a chance to think about it." She said, and left Yugi and his friends alone in the room.
"Yugi…" Tristan started. But Yugi shook his head.
"Don't say anything if you're going to pity me, Tristan. And the same goes for all of you." Yugi said.
Tea fought to control the sorrow and fear in her voice before she spoke. "You… you are going to have the surgery, aren't you?" she asked with forced calmness.
"I don't know." Yugi said shortly.
Everyone felt very uncomfortable. They had so many questions… but they didn't want to upset Yugi.
"Yugi," Atem started. Yugi looked at him. "If you've had this brain tumor, then you would have had side effects. Have you… noticed anything?"
Yugi looked down again. "I guess I need to tell them what's been happening…" Yugi thought. "At least I know what's wrong now."
"Guys…" Yugi said. "Ever since a few days ago, I've been noticing things in my memory." Everyone leaned forward, interested. "I… I remember when I was little… my parents were murdered." Tea looked horror-struck. "But… I've suddenly remembered other things… like another world, where my parents never died. I was just a schizophrenic in a mental institution… and all of this…" He waved his hand to signify his surroundings. "…was just a figment of my imagination."
"Yeah, but," Joey interrupted. "You've never been in a mental institution, right Yug'?"
Grandpa cleared his throat, and Yugi looked sad. "Yes, I have." Yugi said very quietly. All of his friends were disquieted, shifting in their seats.
Yugi continued. "Now it's like I have two sets of memories. What happened… and what would have happened if my parents were still alive."
"Yugi," Grandpa said in an assuring voice. "You know we're real. After everything we've experienced together…"
"He's right, Yugi." said Tea. "This feeling of friendship we have just can't be fake."
Yugi looked at them and their nervous faces. Then those faces began to fade, and other ones replaced them.
"Yugi?" said Ichigo. "Son?"
"Can you see us, sweetie?" Kanae asked.
"Mom… Dad?" Yugi asked, shocked.
"He can see us!" said Kanae, relieved. "But why couldn't he see us before? What's happening to him?"
Dr. Yoshida shook his head. "The effects of the electroshock therapy seem to be reversing."
"Well, we'll do it again, right?" said Ichigo anxiously.
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Mutou. We risked enough brain damage doing it once, we can't do it again. Not after everything we've found out. We'll have to resort to traditional methods."
"What do we have to do to keep our son?" Kanae asked, holding Yugi protectively. Yugi leaned into the touch, the motherly embrace he had lacked for so long.
Yoshida looked Yugi in the eye. "Yugi?" he asked, getting his attention.
Yugi looked back at him. "Yes, Doctor?"
"We need you to fight this, Yugi. We need you to do everything you can to stay with us, where you belong."
"No, no, I can't. They're my friends, I can't leave them."
"They're not real, Yugi. They're just tricks. You have to realize that. Take your time, but remember us."
Yugi flashed back to "reality" in an instant. The gang had backed away from him, disturbed. Dr. McClellan was speaking to them.
"He's in the middle of a hallucination. His symptoms are increasing in frequency. We'll have to operate quickly if we want to avoid serious brain damage."
"Guys?" Yugi said faintly. "What…?"
Atem came close and knelt down next to him. "Yugi, you were hallucinating." Atem put his hand on Yugi's cheek. "You need to have this operation."
Yugi didn't know what to do. "Could you guys… leave me alone for a while?" he said finally. "I need to think for a while." Everyone nodded.
"Of course, Yugi." Atem said, getting up to leave. "We'll be outside, just let us know when you're ready."
Yugi lay down and curled into a fetal ball. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he found himself back with his parents.
"He's coming back to us." Yoshida said.
"Yugi," Kanae entreated. "I know about your 'otherworld'. I know that you went on grand adventures with your friends, and that you found a way to write your story so that you had a close brotherly bond with this 'Atem'. But we're here for you, sweetie. We love you, and we want to be with you forever."
"Son," Ichigo said. "In the last few months, you haven't had many adventures, have you? You've just been living life with these fake friends of yours. You have family here, Yugi, and you can have friends too. Just stay with us." He pleaded.
Yugi stopped. Everything he had believed before he met Atem completely was completely disproved… and now he was a part of a world with magic, monsters, 5,000-year-old pharaohs… none of it made any sense at all.
"Mom, Dad…" Yugi said. "I want to be with you again. Help me. Tell me what I have to do."