Chapter 50 – First Visitor

"I'm sorry to call you on such short notice," Dr. Kelan apologized as he greeted Tea in the same lobby she had waited in when this whole incident began. "It kind of occurred last minute, what happened, but I felt it was important enough to call you on."

"Is Seto doing okay?" she asked as she walked up to the doctor. Scanning his facial expression, she was surprised to see a smile on his face.

"Oh yes, he's doing much better than before," he answered as he turned around and began walking towards the back of the lobby and through the door leading towards the rooms. "His stats would rise or fall a bit and then stabilize on their own during these past four days, but I didn't want to startle you since they seemed to almost immediately fix themselves. I don't know whether I should be happy or not that his body feels secure after a procedure such as this one."

Tea nodded her head in understanding as the two stopped in front of the window looking into Seto's room. She glanced over to see his body still lying in bed, bandages still wrapped around his torso. The window on the opposite side of the room allowed some of the moonlight to shine through, illuminating the bed her boyfriend lay in. "Well, I need to get something quickly," the doctor stated, smiling over at her. "I'll give you some time to see him. I'm sure you've been worried these past four days."

Tea chuckled sadly and nodded her head once more. "Yeah… We've all been pushed to our limits."

"I take it Mokuba isn't doing any better than he was the first night of this ordeal?"

"He's actually doing better than all of us. I've been just exhausted from it all, and Jade…well…Jade basically broke down the night of the whole thing. I think she's about to have another breakdown soon."

"Why did she break down?" Dr. Kelan asked curiously, a frown slowly forming on his face.

"Because Seto built her this new orphanage so that we could move the kids away from the mob activity developing in that area."

"Yes…he said something about that. Oh, I'm sorry. Please continue."

"Well, Jade wanted it to be a big occasion for the kids, but when he was hospitalized… I guess she realized he wouldn't be joining us in the moving process, and that tore her apart. After all, she was more than thankful for everything he had done for her, and the fact that she couldn't show her appreciation to him really hurt her."

"Jade has a heart of gold for those kids, as does Seto," the doctor observed. "And I'm glad to know that they care for each other just as much as they care for those children. It's like their own, dysfunctional, little family." Sighing, he shook his head and said, "Well, I'll let you visit him for awhile. Take your time." And with that, he spun around and walked down the hallway before making a right down another hallway and going out of sight.

Tea slowly turned around and grasped the cold doorknob, twisting it and opening the door up. It was surprisingly warm in the room, not what she had expected. Walking towards the bed, she pursed her lips together as she tried to form a smile, but when none came, she sighed in defeat and sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked just as alive as he had the first night she visited him, which to her meant little, if any, progress.

"H-Hey Seto," she whispered, grasping his hand that was limp on his stomach. She went to say something else, anything else, but nothing would come. She hung her head as her hand began to shake, wondering why she couldn't say anything to comfort herself, when she gasped in shock at the feeling of motion. Slowly looking up, she noticed Seto's hand beneath hers moving. "S-Seto?" Her heart stopped as she glanced up.

"Surprise," he whispered, a small smile on his face as his eyes opened to reveal their blue beauty. She couldn't move; she couldn't breath. But it wasn't like the time she was in the ambulance. No, this was altogether new.

"Se…Seto?" she whispered once more, hoping against hope that what she was seeing wasn't an illusion, but the real thing. As she said this, she felt Seto's hand gently grasp hers, his fingers intertwining between hers.

"Miss me?" he asked, smirking at her reaction. Tea lost all train of thought as she flung her arms forward, wrapping them around her boyfriend, and cried onto his chest. "I take that as a yes?"

"Se-Seto!" she exclaimed, hearing his heartbeat as she cuddled up as close to him as possible in a hospital bed. "OhmygodSeto…ohmygod… You're okay. You're…okay!"

"I should hope so," he replied as he moved a strand of hair out of her face. She smiled widely up at him, tears still falling, making him chuckle. "What? Did you wish I was dead so you could take my money and run?"

"NO!" she shouted, frowning at the insinuation and tightening her grip around him. "No, I could never do that Seto! I just…missed you so much. And you're okay…you're really okay."

"I know you wouldn't do that to me," he said softly, wrapping his arms around to return the embrace. "I was just seeing what you would say."

"That's not nice," she scolded, wiping her tears away and smiling once more. "I guess I should be happy you haven't changed."

Kissing her forehead, he pulled her against his chest, emitting a soft groan in the process, before whispering, "I missed you too."

"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking up at him with a concerned expression.

"My back hurts, naturally," he answered. "But other than that I'm feeling well."

Nodding in understanding, she closed her eyes and said, "Don't you ever do that again to us. We were so worried… Jade had a nervous breakdown that night over you."

"How many days has it been?" he asked, his voice hinting a bit of worry.

"Four."

Sighing, he hesitantly asked, "Did…you move into the orphanage?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Do the kids like it?"

"We aren't sure."

At this, she felt Seto push her off her chest and hold her so that she was facing him. She could see worry and anger in his eyes, upsetting her. "What do you mean, you aren't sure?"

"Seto… We've all been so worried about your condition that we haven't really thought about it. Jade took on all the unpacking, as she felt it was the only way to get her mind off the situation. The kids know what happened; Lilith was right there. She's hurt beyond belief, and all the kids are just trying to get by without worrying about you. We haven't thought about the move, to be perfectly honest. It felt as though we were just doing it…to do it. It was very solemn and...depressing." Frowning, she reached up to touch one of his hands holding onto her arm and said, "We just wished you were there with us."

She watched as his eyes changed from worried to hurt, angry to saddened, as he released his grip on her and let his hands fall by his side. "I'm sorry," he whispered, closing his eyes and hanging his head. "I just…couldn't let her get hurt like that."

Tea smiled and embraced him once more, taking his hand with hers and holding it up against her. "I know, and we're so appreciative of what you've done. Now that we moved those kids, there won't be anything like this again. I'm just so happy that you're okay…that's all I care about right now."

Feeling him pull her close once more, she peeked up to see his eyes still closed but a smile on his face. "I'm happy to see you again too…"

"And did I say you could cuddle with my patients?" a mocking voice questioned, making both Seto and Tea blink and quickly look towards the door. Dr. Kelan smiled widely at the two as he closed the door behind him and leaned against it. "Sorry, I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Tea blushed as Seto released his grip on her and backed up against the bed, groaning once more. "See, you shouldn't be cuddling anyway. Even though he's awake, his back is still injured somewhat."

"S-Sorry," Tea said as she moved to the edge of the bed.

"Nah, it's alright. Visitors who see their friends wake up often have similar reactions. It's completely fine." Tea watched as the doctor walked around to the other side of the bed and smirked down at Seto. "You know how much persuasion it took me to convince the other doctors to let a visitor in at this hour?"

"This was your idea?!" Tea exclaimed, staring in shock at her boyfriend, who merely smirked back at the doctor.

"He wanted you to be the first one to see him," Dr. Kelan explained. "He woke up several hours ago, but we took a few tests and forced him to eat something first."

"Why didn't you call me?!"

"I…didn't want you to come in while they were testing me," Seto answered, cutting the doctor off. "I didn't know how you would react to them taking blood from me and such, so I figured it would be best to wait until the doctors had their way with me."

"Oh, Seto…the way you think about doctors will never change, will it?" Dr. Kelan asked playfully in response to his comment.

"I don't understand why you need to take a blood test for my back," Seto countered, glaring slightly at the doctor.

"It's all for general purposes, Seto," Dr. Kelan replied. "But it's all over, and we got a hold of your girl, so I think you should be thankful for that."

"I guess…"

"How long will he need to stay here, Dr. Kelan?" Tea asked, hoping to change the subject. She blushed a little as she felt Seto grab onto her hand once more, gently brushing her fingers and sending tingles through her hand and up her arm.

"Another day or two," the doctor answered. "Maybe three if his back doesn't improve by then. We hope to have him walking around tomorrow to see whether or not there's more damage. If there isn't, he may be able to go tomorrow night…but that's only if he's in peak condition."

"Okay." Standing up, she smiled down at Seto and said, "I should probably let you sleep now."

"I've been sleeping for four days, Tea," he remarked.

"Yes, but you need to get some more rest," Dr. Kelan agreed as he walked back towards the door. "Besides, as I said before, it took a lot of persuasion to allow Miss Gardner to visit, and I don't want to push that with the other doctors by letting her stay much longer."

Seto rolled his eyes as he let go of her hand but smiled up at her. "Tell Jade and the others that I'm fine," he stated.

"We were thinking of bringing the kids in to visit tomorrow," Tea replied. "Would that be alright, Dr. Kelan?"

"Probably not," he answered, frowning and biting his lower lip. "We don't generally let children in the back here, especially if we're going to be testing him and having him walk around. Jade may come, but I wouldn't let the kids in the back here."

"Okay. Maybe I can babysit while Jade visits."

"Oh…and Tea." She turned to look back at Seto, who frowned before letting out a sigh. "Call Mokuba up first thing tomorrow morning. I don't want him worrying anymore than I'm sure he already has."

Tea nodded in understanding before kissing his cheek, noticing a red blush form. "You sleep for now, alright? I'll handle things back at home." He smiled as his eyes closed, and she walked out of the room and watched as Dr. Kelan shut the door behind him. "Oh, was there something you wanted to ask me about?" she suddenly asked, surprised she had forgotten the whole reason for coming.

Dr. Kelan laughed and shook his head. "No, that was the only way I could get you to come. I convinced the other nurses that I had to ask you questions on his condition so that I could let you in, and I had to act out the part. I knew Seto was awake, and he told me when he woke up that he wanted to see you first. He said he figured you would be the most worried, Mokuba falling right behind."

Tea chuckled and shook her head. "That was a cruel joke," she replied as she began walking down the hallway.

"Good evening, Miss Gardner," he called out to her.

"Good evening, Dr. Kelan." Walking out of the main lobby and towards her car, she took her phone out of her pocket as she sat in the driver seat and dialed Jade's number. "I know it's late, but she's just as worried as I am…well, as worried as I was," she thought as she started the car up. "I'll call her up and then wake Mokuba up when I get home. They'll be so happy…" And, as Tea heard the line go through, she knew her heart would rejoice every time she explained to them that he was okay.