Chapter 6: Stubborn as a Mule

Luna pulled her hair up into a high ponytail as she waited for someone to answer the doorbell at the Kaiba mansion. "What's taking so long?" she muttered aloud.

Finally, a flustered maid opened the door. "Can I help you?" she asked, touching her hair to make sure it was perfectly coiffed.

"You must be new. I'm the babysitter. I'm here to watch Mokuba?" Luna sighed, checking her watch. She had been close to being late when she arrived, and now she was late. "Can you let me in?"

"Now's not a good time. The masters are…not up for visitors right now."

"But I'm-" Luna protested, but was interrupted when the maid's earpiece crackled.

"Where is my babysitter?!" a strained voice demanded scratchily, loud enough that Luna could hear it. "She should have been here by now."

The maid turned pink in embarrassment. "Come in and see Master Kaiba." She curtseyed and let Luna in.

Luna headed upstairs and went to Seto's office. She knocked. "Come in." came a scratchy voice she barely recognized as Seto's.

"Seto, what's going-" Luna opened the door and her eyes widened as she took in the CEO. The teen was sweating heavily, shirt soaked through and his dark hair matted to his forehead. He looked awful. "What are you doing out of bed?" she demanded, striding over to his desk. She touched his forehead, which blazed. "You're burning up!"

"It's nothing." Seto reached for a stack of papers and Luna noticed his hand shook a little. "I need to work."

"No, you need to get to bed." Luna grabbed his arm and yanked, but his strength, despite being sapped by the illness, was still strong. He resisted. "You stubborn mule!" she snapped. "You go to bed right now, Seto Kaiba!"

Seto looked up at her. "Look, you have the best of intentions, but I need to get this merger worked out."

"Seto Kaiba, you get your butt out of that chair or I'll-I'll-" Luna was so angry that she was speechless.

"You'll what?" Seto raised an eyebrow.

Luna stormed out of the room and went to look in on Mokuba. She was shocked to see him bundled up in bed. He saw her and gave her a wavery smile. "Luda." He whispered, stuffily.

"Aw, you not feeling well?" Luna touched his forehead, which blazed. "You poor guy. I'll get you something to help. You just rest, unlike your brother."

"Is he oka-" Mokuba sat up as he spoke, but the sentence ended in a coughing fit.

"Lay back down and I'll be back." Luna headed into the bathroom and grabbed a wash cloth, which she got wet with cold water, a thermometer, a glass of water with a straw, and a Tylenol according to its dosing instructions. She headed back into the bedroom and set the items on his bedside table. She held up the thermometer. "Under your tongue."

Mokuba opened his mouth and she stuck the thermometer under his tongue. She waited until it beeped and took it out. She clucked her tongue in disapproval. "103.5. You are definitely sick. These will help." She handed the glass of water to him and held the straw for him to drink. She handed him the Tylenol and he took it, taking a drink of water. She placed the cold wash cloth on his forehead. "Is that better?" she asked, smiling faintly.

"Yes, thank you." Mokuba nodded a little.

"I better go check on your brother. He's working on a merger." Luna rolled her eyes.

"What merger? He finished the latest merger last week." Mokuba looked confused.

Luna frowned. "I wonder what merger he's working on then. I'll go find out."

Luna made sure he was tucked in and left the room, heading to Seto's office. She knocked and when she didn't get an answer, she opened the door. Seto was asleep with his head on the keyboard of his computer, his face pressing several keys at once. Fighting back a laugh she went over and lifted his head, resting it against the back of the chair. She picked up the phone and dialed Rolland's number. "Rolland it's Luna. Can I get some help? Master Kaiba is not feeling like working right now and I can't get him to his room alone."

"Yes, Miss Luna. I'll be right there." Rolland replied and hung up.

A few minutes later, Rolland arrived and helped Seto to his feet, carrying most of his weight as they headed to Seto's room. Rolland set Seto on the bed as two maids came in with a pair of pajama bottoms and a long sleeved shirt. "I figured that you wouldn't feel comfortable dressing your boss, so I called in some reinforcements." Rolland explained.

"Thank you. If you would put him in bed for me that would be great." Luna nodded.

"Yes, Miss Luna." The maids nodded and Luna left the room.

Five minutes later, the maids exited the room and nodded to Luna. "Master Kaiba is dressed and in bed. You can go in and see him, but I must warn you, he's not happy. He woke up while we were dressing him."

"I imagine not." Luna couldn't resist giggling as she went into the room. Seto was sitting up in bed, propped up with pillows. He scowled at her. "You're mad at me, I suppose?"

"You don't know how much." Seto growled, the scratchiness of his voice marring the anger in it.

"You weren't listening to reason. I know that the merger you were working on is already finished. Your brother told me." Luna folded her arms across her chest.

Seto matched her body language to his. "No, I know the merger needs to be done. The company is going to be calling any minute to talk about the merger and I can't be looking like this when I video conference with them."

"You mean, they might see you as a human being who wears pajamas?" Luna raises an eyebrow.

"Image is everything in business." Seto argued. "If I don't show the perfect image, the investors would lose confidence and pull out." He shivered involuntarily.

Luna grabbed the blanket and covered him. "You need rest. The company will still be there when you get better." She assured him.

Seto yawned, his eyes closing. "I guess I can rest for a little bit."

"Good, I'll check on you in a while. You sleep and you'll be better before you know it."

Seto closed his eyes and Luna left. He heard her footsteps fade down the hallway and his eyes opened. He sat up, groaning. He felt like crap, but he had work to do. He got out of bed and walked over to the door. He opened it and slipped out only to find Luna standing in the hallway, tapping her foot with her arms crossed. "Thought you would sneak out, mister?" she raised an eyebrow.

"It's my house, I can do what I want." Seto stood straighter, although it hurt to do so.

"Even if it puts you in the hospital to do so?" Luna asked, the thought bringing tears to her eyes.

"I have work to do." Seto headed down the hall, Luna noticed, in the wrong direction to go to his office. Halfway down the hall, he gave a groan and collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"Seto!" Luna cried, running to his side. She rolled him over onto his back, patting his cheek. "Seto, wake up." She murmured. She hollered as loud as she could. "Someone help!"

A maid appeared at the door, summoned by her cry. "What's wrong?" she spotted Luna on the floor beside Seto. "What happened?" she asked, hurrying over to them.

"He was heading to his office, insisting on working when he collapsed." Luna wiped tears from her eyes so she could see the maid clearly. "Call an ambulance, please."

The maid checked Seto's pulse and breathing and shook her head. Luna's heart sank. "Master Kaiba has strict rules for that. If he has a pulse and is breathing, or his personal doctor says he needs to go to the hospital or he'll die, he does not go. I'll call his doctor and have someone help you get him to his room." The maid hurried off.

Luna sighed with relief. She touched Seto's burning forehead. "Please be all right." She murmured.

Rolland appeared at the top of the stairs and hurried over. "I'm here to help you get Master Kaiba to his room. Sit back so I can pick him up."

Luna sat back and Rolland picked Seto up gently. He carried him to the room and set him on the bed. Luna covered Seto up and tucked him in.

Ten minutes later, an older doctor bustled in with a medical bag. "I'm Dr. Takashi, Mr. Kaiba's personal doctor. And you are?" he asked, holding out his hand to Luna.

"Luna, his brother's babysitter and I guess…girlfriend." Luna blushed. "What's wrong with him?"

"I'll have to examine him to find out." Dr. Takashi examined Seto and then stepped back. "It's just exhaustion and dehydration. I prescribe bed rest and IV fluids." Luna giggled. He glanced at her. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that an IV will keep him from going very far. Can you keep it from being moved easily?" Luna sighed.

Dr. Takashi chuckled. "As a workaholic myself, I relate to him. He would need to take it with him to the bathroom. But it would slow him down. I'll get the IV bags and find him an IV stand. Make sure he stays in bed as much as possible." Dr. Takashi chuckled. "Easier said than done, I know."

Luna giggled. "Yeah, I know. I've accepted that fact."

The doctor left and Luna sat with Seto, and watched him sleep. A half hour later, the doctor returned with a nurse, an IV bag, an IV stand, and an IV kit. The wheel on the IV stand squealed. "My assistant will set up the IV."

Seto's eyes opened quickly as the nurse inserted the needle into his left hand. "What the-?" he rasped, jerking his hand. He hissed in pain.

"Mr. Kaiba!" Dr. Takashi said sternly. "You just collapsed from dehydration and exhaustion. We are putting in an IV."

Seto glared at him. "You are fired. I do not need an IV!" he growled.

"Next time could be worse, Mr. Kaiba." Dr. Takashi insisted. "Your blood pressure is increased because you were dehydrated. Serious things can happen if you don't drink enough. This isn't the first time it's happened when you get to working on a project, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto scowled. Luna touched his arm. "Seto, you need to relax and let someone else take care of you, okay? Maybe we play a little nurse and patient?" she asked hopefully.

Seto's mouth quirked up involuntarily as he imagined her in a nurse's uniform. "If and only if she is my nurse." He jerked the thumb on the hand that didn't have a needle in it in the direction of Luna.

Luna beamed at him as Dr. Takashi answered. "Sounds fine with me. But if I need to do any nursing duties, I'll leave it to my assistant, okay? Since she has the nursing degree."

"Understandable. If it just takes knowledge of how to take care of a sick person, I'll take care of it." Luna nodded. She turned to Seto. "Is that okay with you?"

"As long as you treat me like an adult and not like a five-year-old." Seto scowled.

"Aww, no airplane?" Luna teased.

Seto growled, which turned into a coughing fit. Luna handed him a tissue to cough into. Seto coughed into the tissue and threw it away, smiling in thanks.

"I better go check on Mokuba while they put the IV in. I'll come back to check on you when I'm done. Can I talk to you, doctor?" Luna asked Dr. Takashi.

Dr. Takashi followed Luna out of the room as the nurse inserted the IV. "What is it, Luna?"

"What should I do about his fever?" Luna asked, rubbing her arm, nervously. "He's so feverish and delirious."

"Well, it's because his fever is high. It's over 103. Just give him Tylenol and if it's not down at least two degrees in eight hours, call me."

Luna nodded. "What about Mokuba?" she asked, nodding toward Mokuba's room.

"Let's go check on him." Dr. Takashi followed Luna to Mokuba's room and he checked his vitals. They left the room, closing the door behind them. "He's doing okay. Do the same thing with Mokuba, except do a smaller dose since he's under twelve. And do not, absolutely do not, use Aspirin."

Luna nodded. "I know about that. I'll call if they get worse."

"You're doing just fine. Just make sure they get some rest and they'll be as good as new before you know it." Dr. Takashi touched her shoulder briefly before walking down the hall. He walked down the stairs and out of sight.

Luna returned to Seto's room as the nurse left. Seto had an IV set up, and he looked annoyed. "You're still unhappy with me, I guess?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why would I be happy with you when I have this in my hand?" Seto raised his IV hand as far as he could to show the needle taped in place where it stuck out of his hand.

Luna went over to his bookshelf that stood against one wall and found a book that looked interesting. She walked back to a chair by the bed and sat down. "I'll be here when you wake up. Enjoy your nap." She said pleasantly. "And don't think about trying to sneak out. The wheel on the IV stand squeals." She settled in the chair and began to read.

Seto scowled and tried to stay awake just to be stubborn. But he really was tired, so eventually he settled down and went to sleep.

Luna decided after a while that she was tired of reading this magazine and left Seto's cell phone by his bed. She got up and headed downstairs, feeling her long day of taking care of two sick brothers, one being stubborn to the point of stupidity and having to ride a wave of emotions.

She sank into the soft contours of the couch, finding the right remote for the giant TV relaxed, totally exhausted, as she watched her favorite show.