Chapter 28

The room was quiet. None of the current occupants made any sort of sound, they had nothing to say. There was nothing they could say. Two of the occupants were watching the third closely, watching for any sign of movement but there was none. The third occupant remained in the same position they had been in for quite some time now, laying still and silent. The only thing that was emitting some form of noise was a machine position next to the bed. It was beeping. The beeps came at a steady rate yet that did not seem to shift any of the other two occupants' anxiety. If anything, it made it worse. The two occupants were on either side of the third, both seated whilst the third lay in a bed. The elder of the two seated occupants was gripping an empty coffee cup rather hard, in fact he was gripping it so hard the edges were beginning to split. For the moment he hadn't noticed this, all his attention was on the occupant in the bed. His eyes were fixed on the figure gazing at his appearance. Whilst he gazed his grip on the cup tightened further which caused the cup to, finally, break. Solomon jumped slightly as the cup in his hand collapsed. He gazed at it for a moment before placing it on a nearby table and rubbing his face with his hands. His gaze flicked to the other person in the opposite chair, but Tea hadn't moved. She was sat quite still, one of her knees was up with an arm wrapped around it whilst she chewed the nails on her other hand. Her gazed was locked on the bed. Turning his own attention to the bed Solomon looked once again at his grandson who lay there. Yugi's eyes were closed, his breathing even yet he wasn't awake. His various injuries were clean and bandaged, but the bruises stood out loudly against his pale skin. Various tubes were attached to the back of his uninjured hand, all of which delivered some sort of medication. Another tube was resting gently across his face and underneath his nose, delivering pure oxygen to him. Resting on his chest was his broken arm, which had been encased in a thick cast after being surgically repaired. He looked an awful sight but Solomon knew that despite his looks he would be alright. He had to take comfort from that, it was only a matter of time before Yugi woke. But just when that would be they did not know. His gazed moved from Yugi to the clock and back again. He regarded his grandson for a moment before addressing Tea.

"It's time, Tea."

Tea shook her head, "You go. I'll stay here."

Solomon considered her for a moment before getting to his feet, "Well, alright then. I'll be back in a bit but call me if… if anything happens."

Tea nodded but said nothing, her eyes still had not left Yugi. Solomon smiled sadly at her before resting his hand on his grandson's forearm for a moment. He took in his appearance one last time before heading out the room. Closing the door with a quiet click he moved down the corridor, smiling slightly at the nurse behind the desk, who was watching him with a sympathetic expression. The corridor had many doors to either side which were all rooms, some were occupied others weren't. Solomon couldn't say he'd paid that much attention to the events in the other rooms, he had far more important things to keep his attention on.

Reaching a set of double doors at the other end of the corridor he stepped through them before moving down another long corridor. This corridor had large windows on either side which ushered in the bright sunlight from outside. As he walked his gaze turned to the outside world. The sun shone brightly down on the bustling town. It couldn't look more different to the way it had when they'd first arrived here. No wind, no sand assaulting them and he could actually see further then a few metres. Solomon stopped, closing his eyes for a moment as their arrival played out in his mind. He took a steading breath before opening his eyes again, resuming his journey. Halfway across the corridor was a door which led to a staircase. Climbing up the stairs he soon found himself moving down yet another corridor before pushing open another set of double doors. He smiled, half-heartedly, at the nurses behind another desk before moving to a glass door and sliding it open. Inside the room it was a similar scene to the one he'd just been apart of. However, this time it was Joey and Tristan sitting on either side of the bed and there was more noise in this room. Slow beeping from a machine standing next to the bed but also another noise. A noise which made Solomon's blood run cold every time he heard it. He felt Joey's eyes on him as he approached the bedside and took in the occupant's appearance. Atem's appearance was far worse then Yugi's. His wounds had been cleaned and bandaged; his bruising stood just as loudly as Yugi's did. One of his arms also rested on his chest, a bandage wrapped around the forearm protecting the large, nasty burn which was underneath. Solomon's eyes flicked to the light blanket resting on top of the former Pharaoh, concealing the casts which were hidden underneath. He sighed, as he thought of the damage there. The former Pharaoh had broken his hip and femur, both of which had been repaired surgically but were still a concern. But that wasn't the biggest concern. Solomon's eyes turned back to Atem's face, to the tube in his mouth. The tube that was breathing for him, keeping him alive. The former Pharaoh had stopped breathing en route from the desert and since then had been unable to on his own. Solomon closed his eyes as the voices of panicked teenagers played through his mind once again. His grip tightened on the bed rail, which creaked slightly in protest. He forced his mind away from the memory, opening his eyes and turning to the other two in the room. They'd both been watching him.

"No change?" He asked.

Joey shook his head, "No change."

Solomon sighed, turning his gaze to the once King. His eyes traced one of the more minor cuts to his face. What had happened to him? To both of them? Both had fractured their skulls in the fall along with the other bones they'd broken but Atem bore injuries which just weren't consistent with the fall. How would a fall cause such a serious burn to his forearm? Well, the answer to that was it wouldn't. Despite not knowing what exactly had happened they knew that there was no way that burn had be inflicted by accident. As the doctors had told them, it was far too deep and large to be an accidental burn. More evidence to suggest that something else had taken place was Atem's abdominal wound, a wound which had injured some of his internal organs but which had also been repaired despite that it was still serious. Once again, there was no way a fall would have caused that. But then, who had done this? And, perhaps more importantly, why had they done this?

Letting out a sigh Solomon looked away again, once more turning back to the two boys. As he did Tristan stood, offering Solomon his seat. He smiled as he moved around the bed and sat in the vacated seat. Tristan quietly exited the room, neither of them needed to ask where he was going. Since their arrival at the hospital the four of them had made sure that neither Atem nor Yugi was ever alone. There would always be two of them sitting with each of them. The boys seemed to switch more than Tea did. For some reason she hardly left Yugi's side, that was not to say she didn't come to sit with the former Pharaoh, she did, it was just far less often than the others. Their best guess was guilt. They knew she felt betrayed by Elijah and therefore guilty for spending so much time with him over Yugi and the others. The others knew that there was something between Yugi and Tea, even if they weren't fully aware of it, so they'd not made any comment to her. Solomon's gaze rested on the screen nearby, watching as a green line on the screen jumped up in time with the slow beeping. But it was too slow, consistent but slow... far too slow.

"He'll be ok." Joey said quietly, he must have been watching him, "Atem will pull through, he always does."

Solomon's eyes did not leave the screen, "I hope you're right Joey, but he is not in good shape."

"That's never stopped him before. Just you wait and see Gramps, he'll be fine. They both will."

Looking over to Joey he saw him fold his arms, his gaze intent on the figure before them. Joey's faith in both of them was admirable, but would it be enough this time. Clearly Atem had been through some major trauma. He may have a will of iron and seemingly always pulled through even when the odds were against him but this was different. He was only human, as human as the rest of them and if the human body endured too much trauma well, an iron will might not be enough to survive. Leaning back in the chair, he rubbed his eyes. He'd not slept much in the few days they'd been here, none of them had, there was too much to worry about. For a short while there was silence apart from the machine which continue to beep. But then there was a knock and the sounds of the door sliding open. Both Solomon and Joey turned to see a tall, dark haired doctor lingering in the doorway. The doctor smiled slightly before motioning to Solomon, indicating a wish to speak privately with him. He bit his lip slightly as he got to his feet and made his way outside, he could feel Joey's eyes on him. Stepping out the door the doctor slid it shut before placing a comforting hand on Solomon's upper arm.

"How are you holding up?"

"I just want them to be alright." Solomon replied, looking straight at the doctor.

He knew that the doctor wasn't here just to check up on him. Sure enough the doctor sighed before lowering his hand and replying.

"Yugi will be alright. It's only a matter of time before he wakes. I'd be surprised if he doesn't regain consciousness in the next twenty-four hours." A pause, "Atem… I'm more concerned about."

Solomon stared at the doctor, waiting with bated breath.

"We did more scans this morning and I'm afraid he's still bleeding internally. Whether this is a new bleed or something we missed I cannot say. The good news is that it's not a huge bleed, but I do think we should fix it."

"You mean another operation?" Solomon glanced back, looking at the former Pharaoh through the glass, "Can he take that? You've already done this multiple times to him."

The doctor sighed, rubbing his face, "If he weren't in such critical condition, I'd be inclined to leave it and see if it will resolve itself. But he's already lost so much blood I don't want him to lose any more than necessary."

Solomon stared at the doctor before turning to look at the former Pharaoh. It was hard to ignore the multiple tubes and wires draped across him. It was almost impossible to recognise the King under all that, it was certainly a state Solomon had never envisioned seeing him in. He was acutely aware of Joey watching his every move but did not meet his eye. Instead, he stared at the pale, battered face of the former Pharaoh. Part of him hated that this was his decision, it felt wrong. This was different to making decisions for Yugi's care, somehow it felt different. Of course, Atem was as much family as Yugi was but that still did stop him feeling that in some way he should not be doing this. But if he did not make a decision then who would? He closed his eyes for a moment. If Yugi was in a position to, he'd ask him for his advice, he knew Atem best out of any of them, but that wasn't an option. But then he knew what Yugi would say, Yugi would want to give Atem the best fighting chance. A tear escaped before he could stop it. He turned back to the doctor and nodded.

"If you think that's best then do it. Just please, let's make this the last one."

The doctor once again placed his hand on Solomon's arm, "You have my word that we're going to do everything we can for him. I'll get the team together and we'll take him through within the hour."

Solomon nodded, watching as the doctor hurried away calling a nurse to follow him. Watching them go he took a deep breath wiping the escaping tears from his face before turning and sliding the door open again. Stepping inside, he closed the door behind him and once more stepped up to the side of the bed. Reaching out he set a gentle hand on Atem's upper arm, a small part of him wondering whether Atem would be able to recognise his presence despite his unconscious state. I'm sorry, he thought gazing at the pale being before him, I'm sorry to put you through this again. His breath shook slightly as he tried to steady himself, he had to hold it together for everyone. It wasn't clear how long passed before Joey spoke.

"More surgery?"

Solomon nodded.

"He'll be alright. He's going to survive."

Solomon looked at him, a heavy expression on his face, "I hope you're right Joey."

"I am." Joey replied, his gaze hard, "He will fight to the end. Don't give up on him."

Solomon shook his head, "I'm not, I just need the both of them to be alright."

Joey stood, moving to the elder man's side. He placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the man as best he could. His gaze found the former Pharaoh, white hot anger raged inside him, and he took in the visible injuries. He might not know exactly what had happened to either of his friends but the sight of them like this made his blood boil, he wanted to hit something.

"What happened to them?" He asked, eventually.

Solomon shook his head, "I wish I knew. Something other than that fall must have happened. But we won't know for sure until they wake."

"Someone must have taken them after they escaped the cave," Joey said, "But why? What for?"

Again, Solomon shook his head. Looking at his face Joey guided the elder man into a chair before taking a seat in the other. Solomon was pale, the stress of the past few days visible on his face. His gazed turned to the former Pharaoh. He silently willed both him and Yugi to pull through, they just had too. He couldn't be sure how long past but soon enough the room began to fill with people, all preparing to transport the former Pharaoh. He stood with Solomon just outside the room, watching as the doctors fiddled with various machines. Solomon looked as pale as a ghost but would not take any sort of advice from any of them, he wanted to see Atem off safely. His gaze was locked on the former Pharoah. It was only when the double doors to the ward banged open that he broke his gaze. Tristan was sprinting towards them. Both Joey and Solomon stared at him, Joey could almost feel his face paling. What had happened?

Tristan doubled over panting for a moment before looking up, "Yugi's waking up!"

Solomon's mouth dropped open slightly. His gaze darted between Atem, Tristan, Joey and back again. The relief yet disbelief clear on his face.

"You're sure?" Joey asked.

Tristan nodded, "Yes he's definitely starting to come round."

Solomon looked again at the former Pharoah before looking at Joey. Joey nodded at him.

"Go Gramps." He said, "We'll stay with Atem, go to Yugi."

Solomon stared at him for a moment before looking once again at the former Pharaoh, the doctors were beginning to move the bed he lay in. He looked back at Joey.

"Go. We've got him." Joey urged, nodding his head at him.

Solomon looked at the former Pharaoh for a final time before hurrying through the doors Tristan had just come through. Joey watched him go before turning to watch as the doctors wheeled their other friend away in the other direction. He bit his lip as they moved out of sight. Yugi was awake, that was good. But would Atem pull through? That was the big question.

My dear friends, we still have a little way to go in this story and I do hope you are enjoying it! I could reveal just how much further we have to go until the story's ends but then... that would be telling. I suppose you shall just have to wait and see. Until the next chapter my friends!