Chapter Thirteen: Unknown

Yami decided to take Yugi to visit Seto a week later. As they walked through the dead halls of the hospital, a sick feeling gripped them. Once they reached Seto's room, Yami gently knocked. "Come in," Joey said. Yami stepped inside as Yugi clinged to his arm.

"Oh God," Yami thought. Seto was hooked up to all kinds of machines, half of them Yami didn't know what they were for. Yami walked over to Joey, who was leaning against the wall, and Yugi went to Mokuba, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed. "So," Yami whispered to Joey. "How is he?"

Joey sighed and whispered "Stable, doc says if he doesn't wake up by the end of next month…we should start planning a funeral." Yami looked at Joey wide-eyed. "It's what they said."

Yami glared at the floor. "I cannot believe they told that to Mokuba." Both adults fell silent.

"It should be me in that bed." Joey whispered.

Yami looked at him wide-eyed again. "No—!" he started.

"Yes!" Joey whispered. "I'm the body-guard! I'm supposed…." He trailed off, taking in a quick breath. Yami looked at his friend sympathetically.

"Its okay." he said, putting his hand on Joey's shoulder. "We'll get through this…"

Mokuba sat there…just staring at Seto as the slept. That's right…he was sleeping…he wasn't in a deadly coma…Seto was too strong for that. Mokuba reached out and held Seto's hand. He squeezed it tightly. It was warm…warm with life. Seto was not going to die like this…he was way too strong. "C'mon bro," Mokuba thought. "You got through Gozaburo…you can get through this." Tears filled Mokuba's eyes but they never fell.

Yugi looked at Mokuba, then back at Seto. Mr. Kaiba looked funny with all the tubes and straws all over him…and he was breathing funny too. He watched Mokuba reach out and hold Seto's hand. Yugi wondered it he should do the same. He wondered why everyone was making a big deal out of Seto taking a nap.

The door opened and two men walked in. One was wearing a black overcoat and the other was carrying a small notepad. "Mr. Kaiba," the one in the overcoat said.

"The name's Mokuba…" Mokuba said, clenching his fists.

"Yes, well we still have some questions." the first one finished. The second got his notepad ready.

"I already told you everything." Mokuba said. They were all silent.

"Who are you?" The man in the overcoat asked Yami. Yami blinked.

"Yami Mouto," he said. "A family friend." The man with the notepad wrote that down. "And you are?" Yami asked.

"I'm the detective assigned to this case." The man said. "And this is my assistant." He said, referring to the man with the notebook. "So Mr. Mouto, where were you when all this happened?" Yami blinked again.

"At home, with my son and girlfriend." The assistant wrote that down.

"Can they verify that? The detective asked. Yami nodded. "Where's your son?"

"Yugi," Yami said. Yugi turned and walked over to his father. "This is my son," The detective looked at Yugi, who was trying to hide behind his father's legs.

"Was your father home?" he asked. Yugi immediately nodded. They were all silent again. The door opened again and a woman walked in. She had long blonde hair and shining blue eyes. She glared at the detective when she noticed him.

"What are you doing here!" she shouted. Before he could answer, she continued. "No more questions! You are not allowed to disturb the guests in my hospital! GET OUT!" She shoved them out the room and slammed the door. She sighed heavily and turned around, facing all the boys. "Welcome," she said more calmly. Yami and Joey stood stunned.

"This is our company doctor." Mokuba explained. The woman smiled.

"Dr. Samara Kaeri," she said holding out her hand. Yami and Joey shook hands with her. She then noticed Yugi. "Aw!" she said. "You're so adorable." Yugi tried to smile, but couldn't. Samara smiled and reached into her hospital coat pocket. "Here," she said to Yugi as she handed him a small candy bar. He blinked, then slowly took it.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kaeri." Yugi said.

"I'm not married." She corrected. Mokuba chuckled. Samara glared at him as she walked over to Seto's beside. "Sorry I got here late," she said to Mokuba. He said nothing. "If it makes you feel better," she continued. "I'm gonna look over Seto myself to see if he's gonna live."

"He IS going to live!" Mokuba shouted, standing up and knocking down his chair. Joey walked over to him.

"Mokuba, it's okay," he said.

"No!" Mokuba shouted, turning and facing Joey. "No it's not! It should be you in that bed! NOT SETO! No one cares about you!" Joey showed no reaction. "You have no family, you have no life…" Mokuba started to cry. Joey pulled him into a hug.

"Shh," Joey whispered. "It's okay, everything will be okay." He took Mokuba out the room. Samara, Yami and Yugi were left. Samara cleared her throat, making Yami look at her. "I've seen worse," se said. Yami said nothing. Samara began her examination over Seto. Yami watched her check the machines and jot down notes on her clipboard. Yami picked up Yugi and walked over to the bed.

"May I ask you some questions?" he asked.

"Yeah," Samara said casually.

"Where was he…?" Yami trailed off.

"Three inches from the heart." She said. Yami shivered. He looked down at Seto. Yugi leaned on Yami's chest. Yami held him close.

"What are his chances?" he asked. Samara hesitated, thinking.

"Well," she started. "The doctors say he has a thirty percent chance of coming out of this, but I plan to prove them wrong." Yami said nothing. "Mr. Kaiba's a really good boss…I hope I can help…I owe him a lot…" She fell silent. Yami looked at her, smiled slyly, and raised an eyebrow.

"A crush maybe?" he thought. "What's your relationship with Kaiba?" he asked.

Samara blushed a deep red. "Uh…well…he's my employer…" she said. Yami smiled again. Samara continued to work. Yami asked her a few more questions about Seto's condition, then he left. As they were driving home, Yugi looked at his father.

"Is Mr. Kaiba gonna die?" he asked. Yami hesitated to answer.

"Yugi," he started. "There's a chance that he will…and there's a he won't…all we can do it hope…" Both of them fell silent. Yugi looked out the car window.

Later that night, after Yugi went to bed, Yami went back to the hospital. As he approached Seto's room, he saw the two detectives were back. They were talking to Mokuba and Joey. "Mr. Mouto," the detective greeted. Yami nodded.

"Do you need more answers from me?" Yami asked them.

"No," the detective said. "We're just here to explain the evidence." Yam nodded again. "Well," the detective continued, "From the bullet we discovered, or rather received from the surgery, we've found out this." The men were silent, so the detective continued. "First off," he started again. "We still don't know what kind of gun was used to shoot Mr. Kaiba."

"How can you not know!" Mokuba asked, almost yelling. Joey put his hand on Mokuba's shoulder.

"Well," the detective said. "We thought it would be, most likely be a pistol but the bullet was either too small or too big for every gun we tried." The men were silent again. "Also," the detective continued. "There were no grooves or markings on the bullet."

"What!" Joey and Mokuba shouted. Yami blinked.

"I'm not familiar with guns…" Yami said.

"After you pull the trigger," Mokuba explained "As the bullet passes through the gun it turns and as it turns the gun leave very distinctive marks. That's how bullets are matched too guns; but these idiots are saying there's no markings; which is impossible!"

The detective sighed. "Also," he said. "The angle he was shot at doesn't make any sense."

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

"Well, from the angle, it looks like someone from the Heavens shot him…" the detective said. Yami, Joey, and Mokuba looked at each other confused.

As the month of January crept by, Mokuba slipped into a depression that only got worse at Seto's death-date got closer. Joey had decided to live with Mokuba so he wouldn't do anything drastic. Once the end of January hit, Mokuba lost all hope. Yami and Joey did their best to keep Mokuba with them, but it only seemed to be getting worse. On February first, they decided to go visit Kaiba. This time, Seigyoku tagged along. Once they reached Kaiba's room, Yami stopped Seigyoku and whispered "Trust me, it's pretty bad." She nodded.

"I SAID GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Everyone blinked.

"S-Seto?" Mokuba said. They all rushed inside. What they say shocked them. Seto Kaiba, who was very much awake, was throwing random things at Samara.

"Mr. Kaiba, I—!" She was cut off by Seto's cell phone crashing against the wall.

"I WANT OUT!" Seto repeated.

"Big brother…" Mokuba said. Seto blinked and looked at his friends.

"Hi Moki," he greeted smiling. Mokuba ran to his brother and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Seto," Mokuba said through his sobs. "I thought I would lose you." Seto smiled sympathetically and wrapped his arms around Mokuba.

"It's okay," he said softly. Yami, Joey, and Seigyoku smiled. They decided to let Seto and Mokuba have their moment. Yami looked at Samara, who had fallen to her knees and was now shaking violently out of fear. Yami elbowed Joey gently and they quickly walked over to Samara.

"You okay?" Yami asked Samara. She opened her eyes and nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm pretty used to the rantings of men.

Seigyoku blinked at her. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Samara Kaeri." she said. Seigyoku let out a squeal that made everyone jump.

"Samara!" she said. "It's me, Seigyoku!" Samara blinked, then squealed along with Seigyoku as they hugged each other. The boys blinked.

"We were friends in high school!" Samara said excitedly.

Yami smiled. "It's a small world, huh Sei?" Seigyoku nodded happily. Seigyoku helped Samara up and they took a seat in some of the available chairs. Mokuba finally stopped hugging Seto and Joey gave him a chair to sit in.

"It's great to see you…" Joey said to Kaiba. Seto smiled as he laid back up against his pillows.

He sighed before saying "I missed you guys," They were all silent. He continued. "At times, I could hear your voices…but I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or if they were real." He sighed again. "How's Yugi?"

"He's at school right now," Yami said. "But he really misses you." Seto smiled and Yami did too.

"Samara?" Seto asked.

"Sir?" she said looking up.

"When can I get out of here?" Seto asked, looking at the ceiling. Samara thought for a minute.

"If you're lucky, by tonight." He nodded. They continued, the best they could with casual conversation. Later, Yami bought Yugi, who was very excited to see Kaiba awake. While Yugi was there, two nursed came in and checked on Seto. Samara bought Seto a release form and Seto filled it out. After the nurses left, Samara signed it and that gave Seto permission to leave. Samara and Seigyoku left the room to give Seto some privacy to dress. Joey and Yami had to help Seto put his shirt on, since he couldn't raise his hands very high. Mokuba couldn't help but stare at the stitches on Seto's chest and upper back. Seto noticed the worried look in Mokuba's eyes and hugged him firmly. Mokuba felt the tears come back, but he didn't let them fall. Once Seto had gathered his things, he began to leave. He stopped to talk to Samara.

"I want to apologize," he said. "For the way I acted."

"It's okay," Samara said. "I've seen worse." Seto held out his hand. Samara flinched first, thinking Kaiba was going to hit her, but she soon realized he wasn't and shook his hand.

"As jumpy as ever," Seigyoku said. Samara glared at her. "When are you off?" Seigyoku asked. Samara shrugged.

"You have to ask Mr. Kaiba." Samara said. Seigyoku made a face.

"Uh, do you have to call him that?" Seigyoku asked Samara. Samara blinked. "I call him 'Seto'." Samara blinked and said nothing.

"So," Yami asked. "How long have you been working for Seto?"

"Since I got out of college," Samara said. Joey and Yami stared at Samara. "About a year," she added.

"You just got out?" Seigyoku asked, shocked. Samara nodded. "No wonder I couldn't find you!" Samara blinked.

"You were looking for me?" Seigyoku nodded. Samara frowned. "I just locked myself in my studies…" she trialed off. Seigyoku smiled.

"Don't worry about it," Seigyoku said. "We're together now!" Samara smiled.

"Welcome to out little family." Joey greeted. Samara giggled as Joey playfully put his arm around her shoulders. Once they got to the entrance of the hospital, they quickly walked to their cars and went home before the press arrived.