AnimeKiwi369: Well, I'll let the torture slowly start to stop...now!
Akiza: And how does updating do that?
AnimeKiwi369: It does that by getting the story closer to the end, where I don't have torture.
Akiza: Where's Copper?
AnimeKiwi369: I figured since she's unconscious in the story, I'd use someone else as co-host.
Akiza: Why not Lane, John, or Raven?
AnimeKiwi369: I've only really used you, Copper, and Rikki, and since I didn't use you in my last update, I'm using you now.
Akiza: Let's just get on with this.
AnimeKiwi369: Okay. First off, this chapter is what goes on in several characters' minds. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or its characters. I only own my OCs and the storyline. And I apologize if any character(s) are too OOC.
Chapter 21
Thoughts
Akiza took a deep breath as she went down the last step. She looked at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed. She decided she was going to call Copper before anything. She had to know if her daughter was safe. It would eat her heart with worry if she didn't. The psychic went into the kitchen, putting the test in her pocket. She looked at Yusei who was leaning against the counter waiting for her while his mother was sitting at the table.
"What did you need from upstairs?" he asked curiously.
"Can that wait a minute, honey?" she asked, "It's been twenty minutes. Copper's still not home."
"All right." He responded as she reached for the phone.
It rang just before she grabbed it. She picked it up and looked at Kalin's cell number. She hastily answered it.
"Kalin, you have the worst timing." She informed before the former Dark Signer could say anything, "I was just about to call my daughter."
"Akiza put this on speaker." He said on the other line, "Both you and Yusei need to hear."
"All right." She responded, putting the phone on speaker. She turned towards Yusei, "He wants both of us to hear something."
"What is it, Kalin?" the dark-haired man asked.
"It's about Copper." He said. Both of the Signers felt their breath hitch in their throats.
"What about her?" they asked simultaneously.
"She was in an accident. I don't know what happened." The ice-blue-haired man said, "But it's pretty bad. The ambulance is on the way to the hospital now. Misty's calling everyone else, starting with your parents, Akiza, and then Martha."
"We'll…We'll meet you at the hospital." Yusei said, slowly.
"All right." The other man replied, hanging up.
The dark-haired Signer looked at his wife. All the color from her face was gone. She turned towards him, her lips trembling. Her heart felt like it had shattered. He felt the same. He looked at his mother, who was standing up. She heard the conversation. He took Akiza's hand as he grabbed the keys. The dark-haired man felt her tug on his arm a little to catch up. She clung tightly to his upper arm as he locked the house and went into the garage.
Nan followed her son and daughter-in-law to her son's car. Though she didn't feel as heartbroken as they did, she did feel the sting. Copper was a sweet girl. A sweet girl that loved her parents. She obviously didn't want to worry them. What had happened? The two Signers got in the car, the burgundy-redhead shaking with tears pouring and the dark-haired one shaking slightly.
Yusei drove to the hospital as fast as he could without breaking the speed limit. He and Akiza quickly got out of the car when he parked and rushed into the emergency room, Nan following close behind. Kalin was leaning against the wall, his head hanging slightly. His eyes were closed.
"Kalin," he addressed, getting his friend's attention, "Where's Copper?"
The former Dark Signer looked at the two Signers and brunette, "They just took her into surgery. It's really bad. Her duel runner's outside by the way with her helmet. I told the head surgeon Copper's name and that you were her parents before he went in, so he'd know when he came out, when I saw him. And I asked him how long the surgery would be before he went in. He said probably a while; she was in critical condition."
"No." Akiza whispered, her nails digging into her husband's arm, "Yusei, I don't want to lose her."
"I don't either, Akiza." he told her, pulling her close as he sat on a bench.
"Yusei, I don't care if I'm pregnant again!" she cried into his chest, letting the secret slip, "I don't want to lose our first baby!"
"Wait, what?" he asked as the psychic realized her slipup, "You're pregnant?"
The female Signer pulled back and nodded numbly, "That was what I was going to tell you before Kalin called."
"Why didn't you tell me?" he inquired.
"I didn't want to stress you out." She responded, looking down, "With everything with your mother, I thought that this would only make you stress more. I'm sorry."
The blue-indigo-eyed man tipped his wife's chin to look at her, "Akiza, It's all right. We can discuss this later. Right now, we need to be here for Copper."
"Right." She agreed, sitting up straight, staring at the bright sign for surgery. She held tightly to his hand as Nan sat on the other side of him.
A few minutes passed before Hideo, Setsuko, and Martha arrived, just as worried about Copper as her parents.
"Where is she?" the redhead's father asked.
"In surgery." the dark-haired Signer answered, not looking at his father-in-law. He gripped his wife's hand tightened a little.
"Do you know what happened, Yusei?" Martha asked and he shook his head.
"All we know is that she was in a crash on her duel runner." Kalin answered their foster mother.
Akiza wasn't paying attention to anything as she thought of what could've happened. She couldn't imagine her daughter getting so banged up she'd need surgery. Copper had had surgery before; but that was a simple one. The Signer wondered what caused her daughter to crash. The young girl didn't have any enemies. Except Sayer…
That hit her hard and fast. She could see her former mentor's face. Her hands clenched into fists, getting her husband's attention. She began to shake from anger. Her parents, husband, mother-in-law and Martha and Kalin noticed.
"Akiza?" Yusei asked.
"I am going to kill Sayer if it's the last thing I ever do!" she shouted, getting more attention than needed in the hospital waiting room.
"What are you talking about, sweetheart?" Setsuko asked, surprised by her daughter's outburst.
"That…That person was the one that hurt my little girl!" she answered angrily.
"But he's in The Facility." The dark-haired Signer pointed, before he realized something. He clenched his own fists, "He must have gotten someone that was in Arcadia to do his dirty work for him."
"Yeah." His wife agreed, "We'll deal with him later."
He nodded as they became silent again, holding hands tightly. Their friends arrived a little while later, worried. Lane seemed especially worried. Nearly everyone knew why. He was head over heels for the dark-haired girl.
A Few Hours Later
Copper was still undergoing surgery. But they didn't know how it was going. They hoped it was going well. The two married Signer were probably the most worried, Lane, the Izinski's, Martha, and Nan probably followed closely behind. Then John and Raven and the others were following.
Akiza didn't think she'd been more worried as she rested her head on the dark-haired man's shoulder, tears slipping. Even when her husband was in that eleven and a half surgery twenty years ago, she didn't think she'd been this worried. She could even dare think of life without her daughter. It was something she didn't want. Life without the dark-haired girl wouldn't be worth living, even if she was going to have another child. All the burgundy red-haired woman wanted was to hold her daughter close.
Yusei felt as though he knew what his mother had gone through after Zero Reverse. He felt so torn up and close to tears even. He couldn't live without his baby girl. His world had been based nearly all around her since she was born. He didn't want to lose her. He felt this was his own fault. Yes, Sayer's lackey had made her crash, but if he hadn't thought she was just with friends and made his wife wait twenty minutes, she probably wouldn't be in surgery right now. He clenched his free hand into a fist again as his other hand tightened in his wife's.
Lane was nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other and biting the inside of his cheek as he stood near his father. He was praying that Copper would make it through. He had a feeling he'd never find anyone as good as her for him. If she didn't pull through without him telling her his feelings, he'd never forgive himself. His chest hurt from the knowledge that he may never get to tell the dark-haired girl his true feelings. He felt his father rub his shoulder a little; Kalin knew his secret that wasn't so secret.
Raven was counting in her head to keep from going hysterical over her best girl friend. She was up around the ten thousand area. She didn't know who she was going to talk to if her best friend didn't make it. She'd only have Lane and John left as best friends and she was crushing on the blonde boy she was sitting near. She wouldn't have anyone to talk to about girl things. Yes, she had her parents, but it wouldn't be the same; she'd feel strange telling her parents about some of the things she told the dark-haired girl. Plus she wouldn't have anyone have to do sports with.
John was thinking about what would happen if Copper didn't make it out of surgery. He wouldn't have his friendly rival anymore. Dueling wouldn't be the same without the dark-haired girl. She kept him from fighting with Raven because he liked her. She kept his Atlas ego in check. She was the one that he went to for advice normally. Who would he go to if she didn't make it? His mom? No. Carly always smothered him with too much when he went to her for advice. His dad? No way! Jack giving good advice only came once in about three blue moons. Not very often. His sister? Nope. Cadie was his sister and she was only ten—almost eleven. He'd go to Lane, but the ice-blue-haired boy was his best guy friend; and he needed advice on most things himself.
Martha was looking sympathetically at Yusei and Akiza as they sat close. She didn't want her foster son and his wife to lose their only child. Copper was all they had. The female Signer looked a bit different, in a familiar way, though. The dark-haired man she had raised was tough, but there were some things that even he couldn't help but break down over. But he bottled up his emotions mostly; this wasn't one of those times though. And the redhead had to feel broken; she was always close to the dark-haired girl. If Copper didn't pull through, Akiza would never get over it.
Hideo Izinski looked down at the floor as his granddaughter continued to undergo surgery. He hated Sayer even more than before. He had gone too far. His granddaughter was very strong, but was also very fragile. The aging Senator felt for his daughter and son-in-law. He remembered when he had been childless for several years because of what had happened with his own daughter's psychic abilities. Though he hadn't been much of a father before, Hideo had still missed his little rose. The senator didn't want his daughter to go through the same. He hoped Copper would be all right.
Setsuko Izinski was looking at the bright sign so much she thought that was all she was going to see. She was nervous and curious about her granddaughter's condition. The dark-haired psychic wasn't a normal or typical granddaughter. But she loved that girl anyway. She was a grandmother, after all. Her only grandchild had always spent time with her, even if it was doing something she didn't care for; she just liked spending time with her grandmother. Setsuko had supported Copper in nearly everything she had done. She and her husband had even joined the two married Signer at a couple of the blue-indigo-eyed girl's sporting events and always went to her dance competitions. The dark-haired girl was so much like her parents sometimes; it'd be a tragedy if the two Signers lost her.
Nan almost felt déjà vu. Only this time her son was experiencing it. She looked at him out of the corners of her identical eyes. His face held so much worry and anxiety for what was happening to his daughter; same went for his wife. She remembered when she thought she lost him; she had felt so lifeless and just given up hope. Because of that, she shut down and fell into that coma. The brunette had a feeling that was how Yusei and Akiza felt. Though she hadn't known the dark-haired psychic very long, she had developed grandmotherly feelings for the girl.
Kalin couldn't get the images of Copper's wreck out of his head. He shuddered remembering the piece of her duel runner that was lodged in her shoulder. She'd been hurt so bad. And the scream that the psychic let out because of the pain, echoed in his ears. Very few things scared the former Dark Signer. That sight and that sound was one of them. He had been a bit closer to the dark-haired girl since she had come back to the past and told her tale, saying that he had been one of the first people to find out her secret in the past. It was peculiar that he had eavesdropped to find out; but he had had been a bit of an eavesdropper in the past.
Yusei rested his head against Akiza's, letting a single tear fall down his left cheek, tracing his marker. His wife reached over with her freehand and took his, so that they were holding both hands with each other. She buried her head in his shoulder as he tightened his grip on her hands, slightly. He knew that Martha was looking at them as he nestled his face in his wife's hair. The tear that had been trailing down his cheek landed on his and the female's Signer's entwined hands. Her tears were beginning to soak through his jacket. They both had the same thought running through their heads as they held close to each other: What if our little star-rose doesn't make it?
Exactly an Hour and a Half Later
The two married Signers were still close to each other as the younger kids began to start falling asleep; it was very late. Both the dark-haired man and burgundy red-haired woman looked at the glowing operating room sign. Still glowing. They looked at each other, wearing identical expressions on their faces and in their eyes. The two looked back at the sign.
It dimmed out slowly.
Yusei and Akiza tightened their grips on each other's hands as a surgeon—Copper's surgeon—walked out of the operating room, still with a mask on, carrying a clipboard. There was a relieved, yet still worried look in his eyes. He saw the group and came over.
"Mr. and Mrs. Fudo." he addressed the two Signers, recognizing them, "Mr. Kessler told me you were Miss Copper's parents."
"Will she be all right?"The redhead asked, "My little baby."
"She's pretty banged up. But she will be okay. She went into shock when she was in the ambulance and was having difficulty breathing. But we managed to get her out of that; we have her on oxygen just as a precaution, though. And her heart rate was rapid, which was part of her shock, too, but it's back to normal. She's got a moderate concussion with a miniscule crack in her skull and a hairline fracture all throughout her right arm to her shoulder and collarbone. Though it's small, it was causing her immense pain. She has a couple small fractures in her left arm too, though. Her left ankle's sprained pretty bad; as well her right wrist. About half of her ribcage is cracked and the other half broken. But most of her ribs were already injured." The surgeon informed.
"There was an incident with a psychic duelist a few weeks ago." The dark-haired man replied, "She was still healing, but now she needs to start re-healing, I guess."
"Yes." The doctor replied, "Also we got the internal bleeding to stop and sewed up her left shoulder's gash, with about fifty-six stitches, and the other bad gashes on her body. But she lost a decent amount of blood. We were able to get her some of our supply, but it wasn't enough." The doctor sighed, "And we don't get anymore of her type until the end of next week. If she doesn't get any more blood, she'll either never fully recover her strength or she may even die."
"'Die'?" Akiza repeated and the surgeon nodded gravely as more tears streamed from her eyes.
"She's still in critical condition." He replied.
Yusei felt his heart clench in his chest. His daughter would either be weak the rest of her life or die. All because she hadn't gotten enough blood. The dark-haired Signer remembered what type Copper had. He pulled away from his wife slightly. He pulled off his left glove and rolled up his sleeve. His wife looked at him curiously, wiping her eyes.
"Yusei?" she asked.
The dark-haired Signer stuck his arm out, "Take my blood. She has my blood. Copper and I both have O+."
"Are you sure, Mr. Fudo?" the surgeon inquired.
"I've never been more sure." He answered, "It's my fault that she crashed because I made my wife wait to call her. I want her to have my blood. Please. I don't care how much she needs."
"She needs about three-fourths of a pint." The doctor informed.
"I don't care. I love Copper. I want to help my little girl." he insisted.
"All right." The other man replied, "If you'll come with me."
Yusei got up and followed the surgeon to a small room. A few minutes later, he returned, slightly pale, with the doctor. The Signer sat back down near his wife. He took her hand again.
"Are you all right?" she asked him in a low tone, runner her free hand through his hair tenderly.
"Yeah," he answered, "Just a little dizzy and a little nauseous."
"You don't give blood often, so I see why." She commented before turning to the doctor, "Will she be all right?" she repeated.
"Yes." The surgeon said, "But she's still in critical condition and she'll be recovering for a while." The two Signers nodded.
"Is it all right if we stay the night?" Akiza asked.
"Only her immediate family, though. Sorry, but it's protocol." the physician answered. "Parents, grandparents, siblings if she has any."
"No siblings, yet." The redhead said, touching her stomach as the others besides her husband, best friend, mother-in-law, and ice-blue-haired former Dark Signer stared at her.
"What about my foster mother?" the dark-haired man asked, "She's family too."
"I guess that would be all right." The doctor replied, "Your daughter will be in room 429. And her clothes are getting the blood washed out of them. They should be ready in the morning. We used a lot of anesthesia during her surgery, so she'll probably be out for a long while."
"All right." The two married Signers responded. The doctor left and they turned towards their friends.
"I'm so glad Copper's all right." Kalin said.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us you were pregnant." Jack scoffed.
"Oh, Jacky don't be like that now." Carly replied to her husband.
"Thank you all for being here for Copper, guys." The dark-haired man told their friends.
"It's no problem Yusei." Luna responded with an arm around Zoey, her nearly identical daughter. Daniel, her husband, had a hand on her stomach; the youngest Signer was pregnant and due in about two months, "You guys are like family."
The others nodded, beginning to leave. Lane went over to them with obvious relief; his father stood beside him.
"Would you like me to pet sit Fairwin for a few days?" he asked.
"That'd be really nice of you, Lane." The redhead thanked, "If it's all right with your parents."
"It's fine with me." the former Dark Signer replied.
"Of course it's all right with us." Misty added in, coming over to her husband along with Gabe and Mikaylan.
"Thank you." The blue-indigo-eyed man replied, "You guys know where the spare key is."
They nodded, leaving also. The two Signers looked at each other, feeling so much relief. They embraced each other tightly, fully aware their parents and Martha were watching them. Akiza impulsively buried her head in her husband's neck, hot tears running down his skin. Yusei pulled away and tipped her chin. He pressed his lips against hers, not caring that his foster mother, mother, and in-laws were watching. Both he and the psychic needed that kiss of relief. He pulled away, placing his hands on the redhead's face; she did the same as their foreheads touched.
"She's safe. Black Rose, I'm so glad." He said to her, smiling.
"I know, Stardust. I've never felt so relieved." She replied, smiling as well. They separated, still holding hands. They looked at Hideo, Setsuko, Nan, and Martha.
"Why don't we go see Copper?" the dark-haired man suggested.
They all nodded and headed for the young girl's hospital room.
Coming Up in "Lost and Found":
"Copper, thank goodness you're all right. I'm so glad you're okay; you scared us."
"M-Mom? Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…to…"
"Why aren't you with your wife and daughter?"
"I needed air."
"Yusei, your daughter needs you."
"Yes, but I'm the one that caused her to be in this situation."
"No, son. That psychic duelist did."
"But if I had just let Akiza call—"
"Yusei Ryuushi Fudo."
"Baby, I am so sorry. Please baby girl, please be fine. You'll always be my favorite little girl for all time."
"I'm your…only…little girl. It's not your fault."
NEXT TIME—CHAPTER 22: TIME FLIES TOO FAST
AnimeKiwi369: Well, there you have it. I didn't kill Copper. I'm not that cruel.
Akiza: Thank goodness.
AnimeKiwi369: So, Copper will be in the next chapter.
Akiza: How much longer will this story be?
AnimeKiwi369: Sadly only a few more chapters.
Akiza: But then it's the sequel and then the sequel to that and then the sequel to that and then the final sequel to that.
AnimeKiwi369: Yeah, basically. I'm excited for those.
Akiza: So how many reviews?
AnimeKiwi369: I was thinking between 10 and 15.
Akiza: And when will you update again?
AnimeKiwi369: Well, since it's not a cliffhanger, it'll probably be when I get between 10 and 15 reviews and a week. I'll update when I can. So please be kind and please review! And I appreciate everyone who has, will, and does! ;3