A/N: :D :D xD I apologize for rating my stories M when there is no lemon there xD

Leave Out All The Rest

Chapter Thirteen

The way from school to the hospital seemed as though it was a hundred of miles long. When in fact, all it took him to reach his destination was a time span no larger than seven minutes. Of course, amidst the hustle and bustle of the ER, his frustration increased tenfold when a redheaded nurse scolded him for being whiny and insistent and told him to wait.

Waiting was something he did not like to do, especially not now. However, he found himself forced to stay put and do just that…wait. After the first half an hour, he understood really, why the nurse had so coldly scolded him. The emergency room of any hospital wasn't a place he regularly went to, so, to see so many human beings in pain…he realized that even though worry was gnawing mercilessly at his insides, he had no choice but to accept that here…he wasn't the priority.

After only forty-five minutes, his reason and logic were rewarded, as the redheaded nurse once again returned to him, looking grimmer and more haggard than she did just minutes ago. He didn't even remotely feel like bashing her into next year like he had been planning to do just half an hour ago. He understood, really.

Even as he was thoroughly questioned when he said he was here for a Yami Motou, he didn't blame her. In fact, he was eternally grateful for the aggressive way with which she treated him initially when he asked to see Yami. He was vaguely reminded of a lioness defending one of her cubs, but again, he understood. Especially when she told him that she had just been with Yami a few minutes ago.

But after understanding why she was being so aggressive like that, worry started stabbing at his heart because she looked like she was about to be sick, for some reason, even if she was supposed to be trained enough to be able to handle seeing injured people. He realized, even before she explained to him that Yami had been taken into surgery right now, that Yami's condition seemed to be worse than he thought.

However, the worry did not make him forget to tell her of Yami's former dependence on drugs. He had already guessed that they needed to know such a thing and he had been right, because the moment she heard that, she excused herself and went rushing down the corridor, to return a few moments later to tell him that she was informing the doctor of what he just told her.

She had seen the worry appearing on his features and quickly assured him that Yami's injuries, although horrifyingly brutal, weren't life-threatening. At least, not after Yami came to them so quickly. It somehow didn't make him feel all that better, because he knew Yami was in a very rough shape.

So, he automatically tried to think of something else.

"Did anyone call the authorities about this? I am sure there is some procedure you must have followed," he asked, persistently pushing away the images of Yami when he had been in the middle of fighting the nasty withdrawal from his drug addiction. He didn't need to think of that right now. He didn't want to.

However, she nodded, mumbling, "Someone should be on their way right now to his house and someone else should be on their way to his guardian's workplace to arrest him. We carried out a rape-kit procedure on Yami's…request, or what seemed like it when he first spoke to me," she paused a little, contemplating something for a bit, before adding, "We found semen and hair samples and enough damage to prove that whatever happened back at the kid's place was no where near consensual." She paused once more, that faraway look on her face resurfacing, before she mumbled, "I hope he is getting arrested right now."

Seto knew that that should be what was happening right now. Which meant that, once again, he had nothing better to do other than sitting there and waiting. He had hoped that if, by any stupid chance, the hospital did not send someone to arrest the son of a bitch even when they had such solid evidence…he thought perhaps he could busy himself and his thoughts with something other than the worry gnawing mercilessly at his insides for Yami.

Seeing his slightly pale features and the upset expression on his face, the nurse gave him a sympathetic smile that could have been more accurately described as a slight grimace, and tried to reassure, "I am sure he is going to come out of the OR in an hour…maybe less. They shouldn't take a lot of time, since they are just patching up an internal bleeding…"

The simple little phrase, 'just patching up', which seemed so puny to her, made Seto's stomach coil up in disturbingly tight knots. After making sure that Yami was really okay, he wanted to make sure to take him by the side and smack him, letting him know that it was not cool at all to put himself in so much pain. Somehow, he had known. He had known that this was Yami's original plan; to get himself all fucked over –literally and metaphorically—so that this time, the evidence couldn't be ignored. It was a smart plan, yes, but that did not mean that Seto could easily accept it as the only solution to this whole situation. No matter how much the bastard deserves being chucked into a dark cell underground and left to suffer there till death came and claimed him…it just didn't justify one second of Yami's pain.

He sighed and leaned forward in his seat, burying his face into his hands. He had been sitting there for another half an hour after the nurse left him. Every time any doctor passed by, he would look up, hoping that perhaps this was the one in charge of Yami.

When Téa arrived, breathless and cheeks flushed with worry and the exertion of trying to cover up for her own post at school and Seto's, she found him in that exact position. As she approached, he once again raised his head to stare in her general direction, hopeful that this time, someone was going to update him on Yami's condition.

When he saw who it was though, he sighed and looked away once again, waiting till she took a seat beside him until he told her what he had been told just minutes ago.

She went silent for a while. Seto sensed that, just like him, she wasn't able to really gather her wits long enough to form a coherent sentence. Obviously, the situation had never been bad enough to actually require any surgical interference.

Finally, it wasn't too long after her arrival that finally, someone came out to give them any update on Yami. Halfway through it, Téa had to excuse herself and walk away because she couldn't hear the ridiculously vivid descriptions of the various injuries Yami acquired. Seto bemusedly, in dark morbidity, wondered why doctors seemed so fond of giving so much detail… was it something they learnt in school?

His distracted thoughts were pulled together once more when he asked where Yami was. Getting proper directions from the middle-aged doctor who was speaking to him, he walked over to Téa, who was barely able to keep herself from being sick, but unable to halt the twin tears that raced towards her delicate chin. He took her wrist in her hand and led the way to where the man described the room's location.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was concerned the most about seeing Yami at the moment and making sure he was okay, he would have had enough time to gape in mortification at the fact that Yami was placed in one of those rooms in the recovery ward, with someone else. 'Normally', it would have been unacceptable and someone would have paid dearly for this, but really…nothing about Yami's still body lying in the bed that seemed too huge for him, was normal. There was nothing ordinary about him lying so passive as the nurse adjusted the IV buried into his hand.

So, for now, he mirrored Téa's footsteps towards the bed, for once not thinking of how much the service could be improved. Téa took Yami's right side and he took his left as they both stared down at him and as the nurse muttered, "He should come to an hour or two from now. Use the button at the side there to call me when that happens."

Seto thought he should tell her that he wanted Yami to be moved somewhere else, all by himself, but his entire attention was focused on Yami so he couldn't gather himself enough to try and say anything yet. His hand automatically rose up and reached for Yami's. Gently, he held it, careful not to IV line delicately perched in Yami's blood vessels, providing him with what made the pain more bearable.

Téa's hand was hovering above Yami's face, but she paused just as she was about to touch it. However, seeing the way it was too pale and the scattered bruises on his cheek as well as the long, shallow cut on it, she changed her mind and instead settled onto gently patting the scattered locks of blonde hair, prevented from falling onto Yami's face by the bandages that were wrapped around his forehead.

Seto swallowed and looked away from Téa's hand, only to meet her eyes. He knew…that the look in her eyes…the way she looked so overwhelmed, horrified, sad and sympathetic, yet hopeful and relieved…he knew that that look mirrored his own.

This was not how he had wanted this whole mess to end. He did not want it to come to having Yami looking so broken on the hospital bed. And he never wanted him to feel the pain he would certainly feel the moment he woke up.

Yet…somehow, it was all right. Yami may look so broken now, but in everyone's eyes, he was stronger than all of them combined to have survived what he survived. And the pain may be too much to bear without shedding tears and making sounds of pain…but it was bearable, because then Yami would know after that…he was free. Finally, thankfully, he was free.

Seto, although he did not feel like it, sensed the corners of his lips curling ever-so-slightly in calm, slightly-bitter smile, which was so slight and feeble that, to onlookers, may have been thought of as a simple, serene expression. His gaze dropped away from Téa's and he studied Yami's face intently, looking beyond the bruises and the paleness. And there…he saw peace.

True to the nurse's words, Yami started stirring about two and a half hours later. Seto was sitting on the edge of the bed, still on Yami's left side, while Téa sat in the chair on the opposite side. Little words were exchanged between them, because words seemed too…unsuitable in the silent, dreadful, anticipation-infested atmosphere inside the recovery ward. Whatever communication was done was mostly through silent stares and facial expressions.

It amused Seto how much he and Téa worked so synergistically together. Perhaps the people picking the head students in school really knew what they were doing. They really made a good team. Between them, their hands, single words and the air around them itself, worked on trying to lull Yami out of his comatose state. For the past two hours, it seemed as though the only thing that mattered was to bring Yami back to them and to see his eyes opening.

And as Seto felt the very slight, almost imperceptible, twitch of Yami's little finger in his hand, the brunet straightened and as if on cue, Téa did the same. Two pairs of blue eyes met very briefly for just a second and in the short-lived stare they shared, Seto told Téa what she needed to do the most right now.

And he wasn't disappointed, as Téa got up from her chair gracefully, leaning down to very, very gently brush her lips against Yami's bandaged forehead, giving his right hand the smallest squeeze, before letting go and walking out, leaving them alone.

Seto focused every bit of his attention on Yami, who, in response to Téa's sweet, friendly touch, started renewing his efforts to wake up. The little twitch Seto felt now developed into a definite, unmistakable curling of the rest of Yami's fingers around the brunet's white hand, accompanied by the barest of sounds, a small groan of discomfort. Seto made sure to squeeze Yami's hand which had moved, trying to make sure that Yami knew that once he opened his eyes, he would see a friendly face. The gesture had its intended effect. Yami seemed to pause ever-so-slightly and, as his crimson eyes slid open just a fraction, his bandaged head turned to Seto's general direction.

The brunet smiled gently and made sure he was in Yami's line of vision. He tried to put in as much warmth into it as he could, and he triumphantly noticed that again, it seemed to bring about the desired result, as the corners of Yami's mouth twitched slightly in a faint smile.

"Hey you…" Seto spoke in a whisper, mindful of the nasty concussion the effects of which Yami must be dealing with at that moment. He leaned down slightly so he could kiss the left side of the top of Yami's hand, making sure never to jostle the IV.

Yami's eyes slid shut for a few seconds, and Seto patiently waited for them to open once again, and when they did, they were glittering, but in a way Seto hadn't seen on them yet before. Instead of glittering with tears, the crimson orbs shone with new light of hope that put to rest Seto's unease that perhaps all the pain Yami was suffering right now was not worth it.

"You scared me," Seto commented, his free hand brushing a stray lock of golden hair away from Yami's cheek, from where it had fallen when his boyfriend turned his head while waking up.

He was so glad to feel Yami's hand tightening ever-so-slightly around his fingers. He was even more delighted to hear him speak, even if it was as low as the whisper of the wind to the world at an early summer morning. "Got messy. Sorry about that."

"Got messy?" Seto asked with a slight chuckle, shaking his head lightly and leaning closer to place a small kiss on Yami's cheek, before whispering in his ear, trying to lighten up the mood, "You're still as gorgeous as ever. So nope, not so messy…"

"Easy for you to say…" Yami, voice getting stronger, muttered tiredly. Seto drew back to stare at him, so he added, grimacing in discomfort, "I feel like a huge, throbbing mass of pain…"

Seto felt his insides churning with anger slightly, as he recalled the detailed account he had been given regarding Yami's injuries, but didn't let it show. Instead he kissed Yami on the cheek once again and drew back to press on the call-nurse button beside the bed. "Well… that's a bit expected," he mumbled, staring at the dazed expression on Yami's face, not knowing if it was because of the concussion, or if it was because of the pain.

There was silence for a few moments, in which Yami's eyes closed for a bit, a blank expression surfacing on his face. Seto swallowed thickly, knowing where and when he had seen this look on Yami before.

Quickly, he grabbed Yami's hand giving it a small squeeze. Yami's eyes opened once again, looking at him in a pained, questioning way, so he firmly stated, "You don't have to do this so silently anymore, Yami."

Yami looked at him for a few more moments, as though unable to comprehend what he was told, before his brows furrowed in discomfort and he whimpered in low tones, "It hurts…"

"And that gives you more of a reason to be as noisy as you want to be," Seto reassured, the backs of his fingers gently caressing the skin on Yami's cheek.

Yami once again briefly closed his eyes, muttering between small gasps of pain, "I don't like being noisy…"

The nurse chose that moment, while Seto was rolling his eyes at Yami's stupid stubbornness, to enter. She was quickly followed by the same resident doctor who Seto had spoken to outside in the ER before he came into the room. Oh great, more medical details, Seto dully thought as the man directed all of his attention to Yami, while the nurse went about fussing over him and checking his vitals.

"Hello Yami," the man said in his stupid, cheerful tone. Seto wanted to grab him and take him by the side somewhere to smack him around and ask him what was so fucking happy about the whole situation. However, he kept quiet, scolding himself for his impatience in his mind as the older man resumed, "I'm Dr. Cormack, and I am in charge of you during your stay here with us."

Yami nodded slowly, careful not to show whether he trusted the man or not.

Not the least but affected by Yami's lack of interested interaction with him, Dr. Cormack resumed speaking in his cheerful tone, approaching the foot of the bed and picking up a clipboard from where it was hanging on the small table, "I understand you probably feel like I am the worst physician in the entire world, considering that you shouldn't be feeling this sober right now…"

Seto watched Yami's expressions, seeing that indeed, Yami was thinking of that exactly.

"But I am sorry we had to give you a much lesser dose of morphine than usual," the older man said, a regretful, yet firm, tone overpowering his words. Understanding flashed in Yami's eyes, just as Dr. Cormack resumed, "We were told by Mr. Kaiba of your former dependence on opium drugs, and if we use a higher dose than this, I am afraid it will send you back to square one, regarding that addiction."

Seto shifted in discomfort, figuratively feeling a small bit of the pain Yami must be enduring at the moment, and not liking it the least bit. It made him so angry…that even now, even when Yami went through so much to avoid any more problems caused by that addiction forced on him without his consent, it still made him suffer so badly.

Yami, however, when Dr. Cormack paused, waiting for him to react, gave a curt little nod and mumbled, "'Tis okay. I understand."

"I repeat, Yami, I am very sorry, but I trust you are more than capable of handling this," Dr. Cormack firmly assured.

Seto wanted to kick him out right then and there, because really, Yami has been handling so much on his own and proved to be capable of doing so, for so long. He didn't want Yami to handle anything more than this.

He was literally seeing red about all of this, he missed the point where the older man started repeating to Yami the same, detailed description of what was done to his body. However, he became aware of what was going on once more when Yami's hold on his tightened ever-so-slightly and he spoke, interrupting the doctor, "I…I don't want to hear all of this."

Seto silently turned his gaze to Dr. Cormack who, to his slight surprise, seemed relieved.

"Oh thank God…" the man said, depositing the clipboard on the tiny table at the foot of the bed once again, before moving back, away from the bed again, so he could ask, "Well then…do you want to ask anything? I'll try to answer to the best of my ability."

Yami's eyes flickered over to Seto briefly, giving the brunet insight on the turmoil raging inside him, which was evident in his tone when he once again turned to the man and asked what Seto was expecting him to ask, "What…happens now? Did you get any evidence against…against him?"

There was no doubt as to who the 'him' was, and Dr. Cormack thankfully picked up on that quite easily. "Yes, Yami. We have managed to obtain a semen sample, as well as traces of skin tissue from your fingernails. I am pretty sure there was more evidence at your house, which was considered a crime scene by the police the moment we called them." Yami was silent for a long time to follow after Dr. Cormack's reassurance.

Seto's hand automatically tightened around Yami's, trying to ease the grief that was so overwhelming, it managed to break through the unbeatable fortress of the expressionless façade Yami had perfected. The tanned skin was too pale, paler than usual and obviously it was not because of the pain only. The crimson eyes, although clouded with pain and slight drowsiness, were tinged with the unmistakable traces of fear, regret and torment… the sight was too devastating…

"Yami, I want you not to bother yourself with thinking about…your guardian anymore," Dr. Cormack's voice was firm this time. Yami blinked and his vision cleared from the anguish that overtook it for a bit, as a questioning expression surfaced. "He has been apprehended by the police. The evidence we obtained and sent to the crime lab is solid. Nothing can ensure that he will be coming out of this. And that is why, I need you to focus on trying to recover instead of worrying whether that monster will get what he deserves or not. Okay?"

The words were true and right, Seto decided, looking at Yami to make sure he was agreeing as well. Yami's face was once again put behind that mask of blankness, even as he nodded curtly.

"Alright then," Dr. Cormack said, nodding in response to Yami's agreement. "I will be checking on you twice a day to make sure you're keeping your word. I want you out of here as soon as possible. if everything goes as planned, you should be released within the week."

Yami's face seemed to lighten up ever-so-slightly at the words, but Seto missed it as he disgustedly asked, "I suppose I can have Yami moved from this…place, to a private room somewhere…?"

Taken aback by Seto's sudden and unexpected question, Dr. Cormack stared in silence for a while, before quickly saying, just as Yami glared at Seto, "Of course… I'll make sure it's seen to it as soon as possible, Mr. Kaiba…"

After asking Yami once again to solely focus on recovering, Dr. Cormack turned and left the room, followed closely by the nurse, who fussed some more over Yami, before leaving. When they were alone once again, Seto turned to Yami and raised an eyebrow when he found him glaring.

"Perhaps I like it here," Yami protested.

"No you don't…" Seto said, leaning down to put a small kiss on Yami's cheek. Before Yami could protest again, he said, "Téa's outside…would you like me to bring her in?"

Eagerly, Yami nodded. Seto smiled and went to call their friend, who, the moment she walked in, immediately headed towards the bed to give Yami the gentlest of hugs. Seto assumed his place on the chair beside the bed, watching as Yami raised his arm to return the gesture.

At that moment, it seemed as though everything was quite alright and nothing would go wrong ever again.

The next day's morning, Yami woke up to the sound of his room's door opening and closing once again. He blinked several time, trying to clear his blurry vision and breathe around the stabbing pain in his midsection. When he was almost successful in doing that, he heard Téa's familiar voice, calling out to him, "Morning sleepyhead!"

Around the pained grimace he had no choice but to let appear on his features, he smiled at her and opened his eyes to meet her blue ones, jokingly replying, "C'mon…cut me some slack, I deserve some sleep."

Her grin widened, and as she moved to the window of the spacious room he was moved to last night to open it and sunlight in, Yami thought her smile was giving the whole room its own, special sunlight. "Yep, that you deserve alright," she commented, before sitting down on the edge of his bed. His own smile widened as she stared at him, "How are you feeling now?"

"Fine," he lied. Truth was, he felt no better than he did last night. Gnawing, maddening pain rushing through his entire body ceaselessly, and without mercy. He was not going to tell her that, though.

However, he blinked in surprise when she looked at him in exasperation, "You are such a terrible liar, Yami."

"Thank you, Téa…" he sarcastically replied.

She giggled, "It's okay…really, to tell me that you are not fine. It'll help."

"Nah, it won't. It'll make you feel bad and you won't be able to do anything," Yami remarked, shifting slightly so he could be lying down in a more upright and, hopefully, more comfortable position.

"Yami…it's futile to argue with me. I may not be able to help…but to have someone listening…always helps," Téa calmly said, taking her backpack off her back and putting it on her lap. "You cannot say that I am not right about that," she added, poking him on the nose with her index finger. Yami gave her a mock affronted look so she laughed and took out a small plastic box from her bag, "I made you something to eat. Hospital food tastes like crap, if I remember correctly."

He nodded in agreement but, even though he would have very much liked to dig into the light, fluffy crepes whose smell mingled richly with that of the blueberry jam added to them, he narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Are you sure I should be eating anything right now? I mean…it looks good enough I can eat all of it along with the box but…" he paused slightly when she laughed at the expression, before adding, "I wouldn't like to add being sick to the list of things that constitute why I am so miserable right now…"

Téa seemed as though she was about to argue, but then she paused thoughtfully for a few moments before grumbling, "Aww…damn, I knew I should not have snuck in here before meeting Dr. Cormack first…" Yami watched her in silence as she got up off the bed, and walked to the door. "I'm going to ask someone…stay here."

"Won't go anywhere," he sarcastically replied.

She gave another amused, sympathetic laugh before shaking her head and leaving the room in search for the nurse or Dr. Cormack.

He stared at the door after her for a while, contemplating the way everything seemed surreal. Something…wasn't right. Was it really so simple? It couldn't be, right?

He sighed and reprimanded himself for his negative way of thinking. Stop it, he said in his mind. All is fine now, he decided. It really was over and his father was safely locked away until he, Yami, gave his sentence to the police later on today. Nothing could harm him anymore.

Satisfied with the reassurance he gave himself, Yami smiled slightly and settled into the bed, closing his eyes. All he had to do now, was savor Téa's visit, laughing with her when she came back while they waited for Seto who had to be threatened to be kicked out by the hospital's security at two in the morning last night if he did not leave willingly. All was fine.

His peaceful thoughts were interrupted when the door opened once again. He didn't open his eyes, but his smile widened as he asked, "So… Dr. Cormack didn't get mad you snuck in here, did he?"

There was complete silence in the room for a few seconds. Then his eyes shot open when he heard the distinct unmistakable sound of the room's key being turned in the lock, isolating the room from the rest of the hospital. He had opened his mouth to ask why she was shutting the door, when the words died at his lips at what he saw.

Seto knew he should not have left yesterday even if he was threatened with Japan's armed forces itself. Something had gone amiss when he was away. He noticed it the moment he saw Téa who had been sitting with Yami in his room. The look on her face itself, even before she drew him sideways when a nurse came in to check on Yami, told the brunet that something went horridly wrong.

Yami was too withdrawn…which was seriously saying something, since he was always withdrawn, but this…the way he was avoiding everyone's eyes and flinched at the smallest of sounds…no, that was not normal at all. Something was wrong, Seto repeated to himself over and over again.

Perhaps Yami was worried…

Seto managed to stay still and stop fidgeting only when he managed to convince himself that that must be it. Yami must be nervous about giving the police his statement and that was why he was so quiet. That must be it.

He studiously pushed away the voice that screamed at him that it was more than just that. He had trouble doing so, however, especially when Yami recoiled when he tried to hold his hand in reassurance, crimson eyes not rising to meet his, fixed unblinkingly and with so much resolve on the pattern of the blanket on the bed.

He almost sighed out in relief when he saw two tall men who seemed to be in their late thirties, dressed professionally, walk into Yami's room, announcing that they were here to take Yami's statement against his father. He was allowed to stay, if Yami wanted him to, of course, he was told.

He was preparing himself to sit down beside Yami on the bed when he stared in shock and hurt and confusion when Yami said, "No…" he just kept staring in disbelief at Yami, wondering what the hell was going on, when Yami finally met his eyes for the first time today and added, "Go, Seto…please."

And Seto had no choice whatsoever but to turn around and leave.

He was expecting the two men to stay for over an hour or maybe two. So was Téa…

However, they came out less than fifteen minutes after Seto left the room.

Bewildered, both Téa and Seto rose to their feet, "What…? You're done…?" Téa asked, confused.

Seto kept silent for now, studying the faces of the two men, who, to his surprise, seemed just as confused as he and Téa were.

"Miss. Gardner, I have no idea what is going on, but Mr. Motou just refused to give us his statement," one of the two told them, a puzzled expression domination his features.

"What?!" Seto exclaimed.

"He said that he was attacked on his way to school…he doesn't know who his attackers are and he said that his father had nothing to do with all of this…" the other one told them, shrugging.

Seto stared at them in confusion for a few seconds; what? No, really…what?! This can't be right. Yami wouldn't…after all he went through, he would never waste a chance like this at all…what was happening? He blinked suddenly and realization dawned on him.

"Stay here for a few minutes…this is all…just wrong!" Seto told the two men.

"You think…" Téa started, a thoughtful expression in her eyes.

"Yes…" Seto said, turning to the door. He paused for a second, before turning the knob, walking inside the room and closing it behind him.

A/N: :D :D thanks for reading *rofling* I'm so sorry for rating this as M ^_^ XD when it obviously has no lemon. :D

Hathor…