1A/N--This chapter is extremely light, and almost out of the story arc. There is no angst, no depth, nothing but a vague rambling. I will be posting more solemn chapters later, but I don't think this one

sucks too badly...or at least I hope not!

Yami! Yami, please, please, stop crying, and wake up! I'm sorry that I accidently moved your broken rib, but it shouldn't be hurting this much now! I don't know why you keep begging me to forgive you, Yami, but I'll do anything you want if you just open your eyes!"

Yami's eyes snapped open, only to slam shut again at the blinding light, and the stiff, odd feeling of coldly crisp sheets beneath him. Somewhere in the strange white room, he heard Yugi's excited chatter, and felt warm hands squeezing his own in reassurance. Yami groaned as his eyes fluttered open, languidly gazing in curiosity at the room. It was sparsely white, a glimmering, sanitized room that hurt his eyes, as he scowled at the fluorescent monstrosity that filled his room with the white glare. Yugi's glowing smile came into view as he peered down at him from the silver bed rails that were raised on both sides, as Yami could only stare up at him in amazement. "Yugi! You are alive! Oh, thank Ra! But how?"

Yugi's only answer was to stoop over the rails awkwardly, and swath Yami in a welcoming embrace, mindful of the damaged rib, as he carefully

helped Yami lay back down. "And, where, exactly am I? What are these devices attached to my arm?" Yami shot a fearful glance at the strange

snakelike device that dangled from a silver pole. He stared in disgusted fascination at the small,hair-thick glint of the needle that was securely taped to the inside of his arm. And he blushed when he saw that he was dressed in an extremely immodest gown that was held shut in the back only by a frail tie. He was grateful that he was covered by the heavy white blanket. He carefully raised the blanket and found his ribs bound and wrapped in an impressive bundle of white bandages.

"Well, you're at the Domino City hospital. That thing on your arm is an IV...um..it's something we use to get medicine into your body when you can't swallow it, so it heals faster."

Yami cocked his head to the side with a scowl. "It is uncomfortable, and I do not like things that are inside my flesh." Yugi sighed. "I know it's not much fun, Yami, but you're just going to have to leave it there for a bit." Yami nodded, solemnly. "What is a hospital?"

"Well, it's where sick and injured people go to get better. I couldn't get you to wake up, even after we came out of the Puzzle, and you were in so much pain before you passed out-"Yugi shuddered. "I didn't know what to do, so I called an ambulance. When they saw your injuries, they decided to keep you for a few days. I told them that you were in a car wreck. I'm sorry, it's the best I could come up for now." Yugi glanced nervously at the clock, and grimaced. "Great, visiting hours are almost over with. Yami-"

Both of them were startled when the door opened, and a nurse in purple scrubs and kind eyes offered them a smile before coming to the side

of Yami's bed with two small medicine cups. "Yami Moto?" She asked, cheerfully, as she gently lifted Yami's wrist to check the identification on the

medical bracelet. Yugi piped up, "Yes, Mayme, that's Yami." Yami stared at her in incomprehension, as he watched her set the medicine cups on the side table. He gave Yugi a sharp glance, and gestured at her. "Who is this woman, and why is she in this room?"

The woman tapped his shoulder, and then her name badge. "I'm Corrine, the night nurse. I came in here to give you some pain meds." She

cast a meaningful glance at the bandages winking out on Yami's chest. "From the looks of your injuries, Mr. Moto, I dare say you need them."

Yami drew himself up, wincing, as he hastily attempted to arrange the gown to conceal his chest, with an annoyed huff. Yugi smiled in amusement

as seeing the Pharaoh's dignity ruffled, but gave him a sympathetic look as he silently helped arrange the sheets. The sound of running water drew Yami's attention, and he watched the nurse fill a white cup with water, before turning around. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but visiting hours are almost over," she announced with a pointed glance towards the door. "Okay, Mr. Moto, time for your pills. One for the pain, the other to help you sleep."

Yami accepted the small white cup, and wrinkled his nose at the large, strangely colored tablets. "Yugi? What is this? What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, they're medicine. They'll help you feel better. You're in pain, and you need your sleep, right?" Yugi muttered.

Yami nodded. "Medicine is what we take in modern times to help that. Go ahead and take them, Yami, you'll feel a lot better." Yami stared at them, suspiciously, and glared at the nurse. Yugi blushed. "I'm sorry, Mayme, he's never been in a hospital before, so he's a bit nervous."

She stared down at Yami, with considering compassion, but Yami scowled resolutely at the pills and dismissed them with a regal shake of his head.

"I will not ingest any substance that leaves me unconscious, Yugi. I refuse to take them."

Yugi opened his mouth to plead, and argue, but was stopped by the nurse's hand on his shoulder, and a sly shake of her head. She pointed silently at the IV pole, as her gaze slid down meaningfully at the needle in Yami's arm. "Very well, Mr. Moto. If you don't want them, it's alright."

She gave Yami a bright smile, and Yugi watched uneasily as Yami smirked in triumph. "Maybe it would help you relax if Yugi stayed for a bit?"

She suggested, as she crept over to the IV pole. "My lady, I apologize for my manners, and I appreciate your kindness." He intoned. The nurse only shook her head in tolerant amusement, as Yugi slid back into the plastic chair beside Yami's bed. Yami did not see her adjust the release mechanism that would soon flood the unaware king's veins with a sedative. Yami stared up at her, vaguely troubled, as he suddenly found the mighty urge to yawn. He heard Yugi's soft suggestion, muffled by the vapid, comfortable fog that seemed to grip his mind. "Maybe you would feel better if you lay back and relax?" The sedative, unknown to Yami, was already at work, as the nurse set a soft pillow behind his head. He was unresisting as she lowered him into a supine position, and only yawned as she carefully arranged his sheets around his injuries. Yami felt Yugi's hand rubbing his arm in farewell, as Yami squeezed it in answer, too drowsy to speak. Before he had time to even think, his eyes closed, and his head lulled. He resumed his characteristic snore, as the nurse tucked the blanket around him. Yugi lingered, hesitantly, as the nurse gently shooed him away. "Don't worry about him, Yugi. He will feel much better after he gets some needed rest. You can visit him tomorrow. He's already recovering well, sweetheart. You'll be able to take him home soon." Yugi smiled, gratefully, as he gave Yami one last look. The Pharaoh's face lost its clenched look of pain and had slackened into the strange slumber of the drugged. "Good night, Yami." Yugi whispered as he carefully slid his

arm out from Yami's hand, and with a concerned frown, carefully laced up the gown's front, as he recalled Yami's flush of indignity. The nurse clicked the light off, and quietly steered Yugi to the door.

"I am sorry that he had to be sedated in such a way, Yugi. But, it was either that, or let him sit there and endure that broken rib, and the pain of his other injuries." Yugi nodded, thoughtfully. "I know. It's just...I hate lying to him, and he's so weak right now..."

The nurse shushed him with a wag of her finger, before straddling the hand against her broad hip. "But that will change, Yugi. Yami's not permanently injured. Aside from the broken rib, and just the general trauma of that wreck, he will be able to go home. He's bruised, and sore,

and will be for a while, but aside from those scars, he should recover completely.

Don't worry if he seems to be a bit...confused and distant by this whole thing. Hospitals aren't exactly the kinds of places that cheer people up, you know. Yami seems like a very, very tough young man. He'll be just fine, Yugi. Now...why don't you go home, and get some rest yourself? You're no good to him if you're too exhausted to see him tomorrow like you promised."

With a kind nudge, Yugi found himself being escorted to the exit, the nurse trailing behind him. "Yugi, go home!"She insisted in a kind but firm voice. "You know that he is going to be watched at all times, and we will call you if there is any change at all."

It was the flurry of activity that roused Yami, as he awoke to the rattling of a meal cart, and the snap of the overhead lights being flicked on so abruptly. He instinctively jerked, but winced and curled an arm at his side with the bruised rib, and was grateful to see that it did not hurt nearly as much as it did before. Curiously, he watched in silence as a rather harassed looking woman wearing the same green scrubs as the rest of the morning shift hastily raised the side table She positioned it across his bed, then dumped a plastic covered dish before him, complete with a plastic fork and a spoon still in its wrapping. She slammed down the carton of milk beside the tray, and

pulled away the cover. Yami watched as she ripped open the salt and pepper packets, showered the yellow-crayon shaded eggs with both, and proceeded to hack the

greasy meat into pieces. A very burnt biscuit sat on a paper plate beside it. Then she stopped, and looked down at him.

"Need anything else, hon?" She gave him an obligated smile, as her eyes darted nervously back to the full cart of other meals waiting to be delivered. Yami shook his head,

with a quiet, "No, my lady. Thank you for this...food. It certainly looks interesting." He forced a polite smile, and was surprised when she chucked him under the chin

with a wink.

"I wouldn't feed my dog this stuff, sweetheart. I'm just sorry that's what they feed you here. Say, they didn't tell me that you were polite as you are cute!" Yami flushed scarlet,as he looked down, embarrassed, but slightly flattered. "What's with that hair, though? Did you get drunk and brave, or did you just do it on a dare?" Yami raised a

questioning eyebrow, as he shrugged. "I am sorry, my lady. I do not understand what you mean about my hair.."

She gave him a coy smile, as she batted her eyelashes. Yami's eyes bulged in shock as she strode next to the bed, and peered down at him. "You mean to tell me that

your little spike and dye you got going on is natural?"

Yami could only stare in answer, as he ran a self-conscious finger down the length of one golden bang. "I will admit that my hair is unusual. But why would any sensible

human being deliberately attempt to force their hair into this monstrosity, my lady? I was born with it like this, and it matters little if I shave my head or color it into something else...it always grows back. I am sorry if it offends you, but it literally cannot be helped."

She let out a loud guffaw of laughter, and gave Yami a friendly swat on the knee. "Sure, it's real. You got a cute sense of humor, honey. I'll

give you that much. Your hair don't offend me. I just was wondering how you did it. Can I see?"

Yami allowed a wry smile. "Only if I have your solemn promise that you will not attempt to rip my hair out at the roots, and you proceed very slowly." She nodded, and

Yami obligingly lowered his head, his lips curled in amusement.

Timid fingers gently wove their way through his hair to his scalp, gently parting the hair away to look at the roots, and he felt her finger tips brushing over his temples to

the crown of his skull. He was rewarded by her gasp of astonishment as she snatched her hands away. "Wow! You weren't kidding about that hair, sweetheart. No dye,

no gel, no nothing. I guess your eye color is real, too? Purple?" Yami nodded, as his eyes fell to the eggs, and his nose wrinkled. She stared at the plate with a sly glance,

and Yami watched as she deposited another biscuit on the tray with a hasty finger drawn to her lips.

"The bread ain't too bad, the eggs are iffy, and the meat is crap. I don't think anybody would miss that biscuit, but be a good boy and keep it quiet." She gave him a dazzling smile as she huffed the cart out of the room. Yami watched as she waved. "See you later, sweetheart. Lunch should be better, hopefully."

"Good-bye until then, my lady. And thank you so much for your consideration." She called back, softly. "I'll bring you an extra cookie for lunch, hon."

And Yami was left alone with the plate of wilted food. He scowled, but raised the plastic fork to his lips, and attempted the slimy eggs. They were edible, but definitely not

something he would willingly consume on a regular basis. The meat was far too greasy for him to consider, at all, and the bread was hard, but palidable with enough

orange juice to soak it in before he attempted to chew it. He was grateful that he got an extra one, though he was not certain what to think about the nurse's comments of

his hair and eyes. He didn't appreciate her forwardness, or her ineunendos, but it did provide a flattering ego stroking, not to mention an extra bit of edible food. He had little inclination for figuring out women, or their strange ways, and was far too limited in his own experience to even try. Aside from Isis, who was more like a dear friend, and an older sister, not to mention his protector and trusted advisor, he found himself extremely wary of any coy flirtation, and chafed under any reference of him being "cute." If a woman truly proved her worth by seeking his friendship, and nothing more, he would be more than happy to give his heart to somebody worthy. But the petty games, and

the almost combative nature of so many made him recoil in disgust. If he couldn't figure out if a woman wanted him for his title, or for who he was, why risk his heart on such a gamble? It was simply not worth it.