Chapter 16

"Yugi, what is that?" Anzu asked, pointing at the tube underneath his blankets. It disappeared to a tall-rectangular plastic box that was standing on the floor. It was filled with a viscous fluid that Anzu didn't want to name.

"Hmm? Oh!" He said, following her finger. "That's my chest tube. When I got here, my lungs had collapsed. This helped to reinflate them. They're supposed to remove it today."

Chest tube?! Collapsed lungs?! Anzu was horrified by what she was seeing and hearing. News like this was overloading her system. She fought to keep her face neutral. What had bothered her the most was hearing how nonchalant Yugi was about all of this. He sounded like he was reading a story. Jounouchi had told her how flippantly he had told the Kaiba brothers how he had been stabbed.

Maybe Yugi has had enough time to process this all by now? Perhaps this was a temporary normal that Yugi had already learned how to adjust to. She was having trouble taking all of this in.

Or maybe…?

Was Yugi detaching himself from the situation? Was this normal after the kind of trauma he'd suffered? Or abnormal? What was that word that therapists like to use? Dissociation? It was as if Yugi hadn't accepted what had happened, and he had detached himself from his experience. Through every horror that Yugi had survived, both supernatural and natural, she had never seen Yugi so shaken that he couldn't bounce back. She had never seen him so thoroughly emptied that he couldn't recover. He had always accepted the challenges head-on and had risen to the occasion.

But now…

Now, it seemed that Yugi was choosing to deny that this obstacle even existed.

It terrified her. It was as if he were lost and was choosing to stay that way.

"Anzu?" Yugi asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can you…get off of me?" He sounded like he was ashamed to be asking. "…It… hurts,"

Yugi never thought he'd ask such a thing from her. Before now, he'd always craved her touch. She looked at him, realizing then that she was still clutching him from their introductory hug. She had been squeezing him. She recoiled, as if she had touched a hot stove.

"I-I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean—

"I know," Yugi gave her a sympathetic smile. He touched his chest as if he could rearrange everything underneath. "Don't worry about it. So, how's school? I want to hear everything,"

"School?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Here he was, lying in an ICU bed after surviving a horrible murder attempt, and he was asking about something so mundane as her schooling?

"Uh, it's fine," she said. "School is hectic. I barely have time to breathe, much less do anything but dance,"

"Knowing you, you're in love with it," Yugi said, giving her a grin. He pushed a button, and pain medication flowed into his veins.

"I'm absolutely in love with it," she said, letting out a joyous breath. If Yugi wanted to distract himself by talking about her, she'd indulge him for a little while. "I love New York! I love the school. I love the atmosphere, I love who I'm dancing with. I'm learning so much,"

"I'm really happy for you," he said. He looked like he was and wasn't just saying it to be polite. "I wish your friends could be there to share it with you. I miss you,"

Feeling like it was the one safe place to touch, she gripped his left hand and squeezed gently. He shook her off, but only to lace his fingers through hers.

"I miss you, too, Yugi."

"A few things have changed since you've been gone," he said, taking his hand away. "There's been some…big changes. I'm glad you're here. I'd like to talk to you about it."

"Oh?"

"I saw Atem again," he said, watching her face carefully.

"You did? Even without the Puzzle?"

"Hmm-hmm," he murmured. "I, uh," He tried to rub the back of his head, but winced. It hurt to raise his arms too high as his scar tissue pulled and tugged at his wounds. "I died. Atem met me after,"

"You…died?" Anzu struggled to say the words out loud.

"I haven't told the others yet. I'm still…working through it myself. Can we keep it between us for a little while?"

She could say nothing. Yugi had died. He had died! And he was just… he was just stuck in this stage of numbness. She could have missed him completely if she hadn't come home.

"I think Atem—

Before he could continue, a quick rap at his door broke their reverie as Yugi's nurse walked in.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know your girlfriend was here, Yugi. I came to take out your chest tube. Ready to get that thing out?"

"My- she's not—the chest tube?"

"Yep," the nurse said, laying her tools on a metal tray. Another person in scrubs walked in with a large machine on wheels. "Our tech is going to take an X-ray of your chest, we'll get the tube out, and then take another X-ray to make sure you're all good. Before you know it, you'll have one less line taking up space in your body,"

Are ICU nurses allowed to be this bubbly? Anzu thought, slightly annoyed.

"Can you step out, hun?" The nurse said, nodding at Anzu. "Only one person needs to be radiated in this room." Anzu stepped out, but could still see everything due to the glass walls. She gave Yugi an encouraging smile and a wave.

They placed a small lead slab behind Yugi. It felt cold and hard, hurting his spine. Fussing with Yugi's EKG lines to get the best shot, the tech tugged and pulled at him, inadvertently pulling at his bandages, making Yugi's pain increase exponentially. He inhaled sharply through his teeth. Sonofabitch! He thought, seeing stars in his vision.

"Take a breath in and hold it," the X-ray tech said in a bored tone, completely apathetic. Everyone in the room stepped out of range of the radiation. A beep went off on the machine.

"Breathe normally," She said. After she pushed a few buttons on the touchscreen of her machine, her eyes went wide. No longer looking bored, she furrowed her brows as if lost while looking at a map. She made him do everything over again as she took another shot. She removed the slab from behind Yugi and looked at the image on the machine. Her face was still quizzical. Looking alarmed, she pulled the nurse to look at the same image, trying to get her opinion.

"Is everything ok?" Yugi asked.

They ignored him, staring at the X-ray image on the machine, then at Yugi, then at the machine again. The tech turned the lead board over in her hands as if looking for answers or a defect.

The nurse walked over to Yugi and gently pulled down some of his bandages. Her eyes flitted up and down his chest, looking for something specific.

"Something wrong?" Yugi asked, slightly alarmed. Anzu had watched enough. She had been chomping at the bit, anxious about their behavior. It was never good when healthcare workers looked anxious over a patient, especially seasoned emergency and ICU healthcare workers. It had to take a lot to shake their poker faces, they had to have seen it all by now.

They looked at Yugi like he'd grown a second head. Apparently, they hadn't seen it all.

"Take another image," the nurse suggested.

"What's going on?" Yugi asked, trying to get their attention. They completely ignored him.

"I already took two. The images don't change,"

"Scroll to the one they took when he rolled into the ER."

"Nurse, please—

Yugi asked over and over, trying to get their attention.

Answer him. Anzu thought, mentally urging them to listen. If they didn't stop soon, she'd have to step in.

"There's nothing there, see. It's not there, then it is," the tech said, sounding afraid as she stared at her machine.

Yugi lost his temper.

"Can someone, please, tell me what the fuck is going on!?" He shouted. If he could've thrown something, he would have.

"Yugi—

"No! Dammit!" He yelled. "Stop talking about me as if I don't exist! Fuck! I'm. Right. Here. Look at me and tell me what the fuck is going on!"

Anzu had never seen him like this before. He had never shouted and sworn at anyone, especially not at adults. He'd always been polite, sometimes to a fault. She'd expected this from Jounouchi, but not Yugi. Rage and anger twisted his face into something she hated to see on him. This wasn't Yugi, this was someone pretending to be Yugi.

"Yugi," Anzu said gently, touching his arm. He refused to look at her. He didn't even acknowledge she had touched him.

Something that she was afraid to admit aloud tugged irritatingly at her brain. Yugi was hurting, not just physically, but he had been damaged in the worst way possible. It was as if vital pieces of himself had been dropped along the way to physical recovery. The best, most important parts that made him Yugi seemed broken or missing.

Yugi is lost. Anzu thought, heartbroken. Yugi is hurting…

She felt completely powerless.

A few weeks had passed, and so far, Atem and Mana thought they were behaving pretty well in public. They both agreed to keep their relationship a secret at Mana's insistence until Atem could speak to Mahado. – "We need to talk to him soon," – Atem had said. There were no shared glances or whispers between the two of them in front of other people, but every chance they got, they stowed away to private alcoves or secluded halls to meet.

When they met, Atem felt like his skin was the only thing holding him together, keeping him from going everywhere all at once. Sometimes, he found it hard to breathe, especially when he kissed her.

Mana hadn't seen Atem this happy in a long time. For her, 'happy' didn't feel like a strong enough word. She'd never gotten drunk before, but had seen enough idiots to know what they looked like. She wondered if it was possible to be drunk on emotions, because that was what this felt like. She was drunk from him, taking the prince in, letting him swirl and carry her away, which felt exhilarating and frenzied. When he kissed her, her hands and feet would melt as her entire nervous system felt like it was on fire wherever he touched her.

One particular afternoon, as Mana left her lesson, a familiar hand pulled her aside into a secluded hallway. She had learned by now not to make noise. She could recognize his presence anywhere. Atem placed a finger to his mouth in a shh-ing motion and grinned at her. He gave her a quick kiss and took her hand in his as he whisked her away down the hall.

She could have floated.

He took her to the lower palace, somewhere they rarely went. He hadn't stopped to tell her where he was taking her. It seemed like it was a secret. Before, when they had been children, the secrets between them were only preceptors toward whatever mischief they had planned.

When they reached a set of large cedar doors, Mana could hear water breaking on stone and the sounds of frogs and insects singing before Atem could even open the door. She was fascinated; she had never been here before. She found herself in an open gallery where half of the room shared space with the Nile. Stairs that started in the room led down into the water until they disappeared completely. Large painted alabaster stone columns held up the roof. Sunlight was streaming in, giving warmth to the open area. There were white sheer curtains everywhere, blowing in the wind. Some of them were in the Nile, soaking up water like they were drinking it in. Mana could see fishing ships out in the distance and hear the hailing calls of the fishermen to each other.

"It's beautiful," she said in awe. After years of living in the palace, she had never been to this place. It took her breath away. Why was it not being used?

"I used to play here when I was a boy," Atem said. He pointed to one of the columns that had convenient footholds that a small child could use. "I tried to climb the columns. I would start here and try to get all the way up there,"

"You weren't afraid of falling?" She stared into the distance. It was high enough that, should he fall, he could have been killed or maimed. She couldn't imagine Pharaoh Aknamkanon letting his only son do something so dangerous. Perhaps he hadn't known.

"Why?" He asked, giving her a disarming look. "It's what little boys do."

"I suppose so," she said, grinning.

"I'd never get very high," he said. "I used to come here with my mother. She would play with me, she would laugh when I splashed her,"

She grabbed his hand and squeezed. She understood.

"I wanted to share this with you," he said. "I want to share this with only you."

She understood now why this place hadn't been occupied. Atem or his father had probably ordered to have this room closed. Sometimes, after someone had died, the places they had shared with the living could be painful reminders. She understood loss, having lost her own mother when she was very young. She could barely remember her, but she remembered the pain and grief.

"Atem…" Mana whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him. Even if this relationship ended badly, and the court wouldn't allow her to be with him as Mahado had theorized, she was grateful for what he was giving her now. He smiled at her. No one could smile like he could, a blended cocky grin mixed with the sheer joy that only he could express perfectly. He had a prince's smile.

"I have something for you," He reached into the small bag that was tied to his waist. After digging for a moment and hiding it in his palm he said, "Turn around, close your eyes," He knew that she hated keeping her eyes closed so he'd have to be quick.

She lifted her eyebrow with suspicion, but obeyed.

After a few seconds, she felt Atem's fingertips tease the base of her skull and her collarbone as something thin and small was wrapped around her neck.

"Ok, open," He said.

Her hands went to her neck as she'd felt the gold start to warm against her skin. She felt a slight bump in the middle where a small jewel rested.

"A necklace?" She thought out loud. He'd never given her something like this before. "Thank you!" she yelled, glomping onto him. He let out a oof at the force of her, but chuckled and returned the hug. She let go quickly, moving to find a looking glass. Finding a mirror next to the entry doors she eyed the necklace he'd placed on her neck.

It was a simple piece. A golden band with one red jewel in the center. It was her favorite color, her birth stone.

"I love it! Where did you find it?" She secretly vowed to never take it off unless absolutely necessary.

"Well…" he said sheepishly. "Remember last year? When I snuck out?"

She remembered it perfectly. Turning to face him, she gave him a look.

"I meant to give it to you much sooner, but then…"

She nodded. They knew what had happened then.

So he'd snuck out, changed his appearance, and risked being seen or recognized to get her jewelry? He hadn't had it made or sent for someone to get it for him. He'd picked it out himself. Had he developed feelings for her even then? Suddenly, his reasons for keeping secrets from her made sense. She felt ashamed at how she had reacted when he'd returned home that evening. She'd yelled at him, scolded him like he was a selfish child. She had never done that before and hadn't done it since.

She had assumed that he had left to do something reckless or stupid. Boys had a propensity for stupidity, and Atem was not immune to boyhood nonsense. He was always testing the limits of his knowledge, his skills, and challenging himself in new ways. She'd thought he'd gone out to find new challengers, new rivals to test his abilities. Or had left out of boredom.

But he'd gone out for her.

The love she had for him in her heart swelled.

"I got two pieces, one for you and one for my mom. I had meant to give you yours on your birthday, but then she had died and I… fell. I don't know any other way to describe it," He had fallen. He'd plummeted into grief and anguish so rapidly that Mana had been afraid he wouldn't rise again. It was as if he were trapped in a pit, surrounded by nothing but darkness to keep him company. It had been laughter that had pulled him back up.

"I put my head down and before I knew it, months had gone by," he said to her reflection from behind her. "Your birthday had passed, and I had missed my opportunity,"

She turned from the mirror, clung to his torso, and slowly kissed him.

Atem felt like he was slowly burning. He felt intoxicated and feverish every time she touched him or pressed her lips to his. His heart beat in his throat. Raising his hands, he teased the skin on her arms until he pulled her in, pressing her deeper into him.

"Mana…" He breathed, pulling away from her slightly. He struggled with the words that wanted to come next, but they were stuck in his throat.

She smiled, cupping his cheeks in her hands. She gave him the courage to speak.

"I love you," he whispered, finally able to get the words out. "I love you,"

Bringing his face into hers, she whispered, "I love you."

A gust of wind blew, slapping the Nile against the alabaster stone steps. Sheer white drapes fluttered in the wind, cocooning the couple in warmth and safety, hiding their moment from the rest of the world.

"Well?" Yugi said with less venom. Part of the normal Yugi was starting to reappear as the mask of anger and rage dissipated from his face. Anzu was thankful to see him come back to himself.

"Yu-, er.. Mr. Mouto?" The nurse said, treading lightly. "Do you have any…tattoos?"

"What?" He asked, off guard. Some of the poison had left his tone. "No, why?"

"Nothing, um…special or made with invisible ink? Or lead ink?"

"Is that even possible? I have no idea what tattoos are made of besides ink."

"I..I don't know," the nurse said. She had the tech print off a picture from her machine and pass it to Yugi.

"Is this possible?" She asked, handing him the picture of his X-ray. She shouldn't have given him the image, but she was flustered and anxious. What was in front of her was impossible.

He took the picture from her, holding it so Anzu could see it too. His eyes went wide. Anzu's hand went to her mouth from shock.

It was his chest x-ray. He could see each of his ribs and the shadow of his lungs and heart. The chest tube was clearly visible.

But it was his ribs that were drawing so much shock and attention.

There, outlined on each of his ribs, was a mix of Egyptian hieroglyphs and heretic texts. He could tell that the writing was physically on his ribs, not just tattoos or imprints on his skin. The text wrapped around his ribs. He could read it perfectly, but he could not for the life of him understand what they were doing there.

Oh shit. Yugi thought.

Atem was in trouble. Every time he looked at Mahado, he wanted to vomit the truth of his relationship with Mana to him. Atem had never kept secrets from Mahado before, except when mischief was involved, which historically had also included Mana. Now, Mana and he were in an intimate relationship, and Mahado was left out in the ignorant dark. Atem had agreed to keep it from him only as long as it took for him to recover. It had been a few weeks since the incident with the snake, and Mahado had recovered quickly. He had even gone back to his studies, joining Atem in their lessons. Mana was getting more and more nervous.

"What if he responds badly?" she had said.

"Why would he?"

But Mana hadn't given a good reason.

"Please, just wait a little while?" Mana had begged, begged for him not to tell Mahado. Something else was underlying this panic that Mana felt. Atem knew it went beyond familial relationships and the studious relationship between apprentice and master.

Atem had reluctantly agreed, but had told Mana he wouldn't lie to Mahado if the occasion arose. – "I'm not asking you to"— she'd said. Mana seemed worried and fretted over her cousin more than usual, as if telling Mahado this news could break him. Maybe it was his recovery from the snake bite, but Atem knew both of them better than that. Mahado wasn't fragile! He could handle it. Besides, wasn't this a good thing? If Atem was romantically interested in Mana, shouldn't that be celebrated?

It was one day, after Atem had been forced to host more courtiers that Mahado had initiated the conversation that Mana and Atem had been so vehemently delaying.

"You've been avoiding me," Mahado said. Men and women, servants, students, courtiers, and guards filtered past them. A few gave them curious glances, but mostly ignored them.

"Have I?" Atem replied stupidly.

"What happened to me was not your fault, Your Highness. It was a decision I made for myself."

Atem blanched and had to quickly come up with a different reason. He had been avoiding Mahado, but only to avoid discussing Atem's romantic relationship with his cousin. Atem hated keeping secrets. He was of the mind that secrets made you sick, deteriorating relationships and core values from the inside out. Of course, Mahado's mind naturally went to the snake bite.

"I know that," Atem said. "I, uh," Atem squirmed beneath Mahado's gaze, something he had never done before.

"It's not the snake bite," Atem said. He hated lying, but he was a natural at it. He had a poker face that could lie for him during the heat of a duel or a challenge. Not allowing his opponents to predict his moves had been one of his best tools.

But lying to one of his best friends did not come naturally. It felt wrong, and it gave Atem a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Oh?" Mahado said, slightly confused and a little alarmed.

Atem had told himself he wouldn't lie to Mahado, but now that he was standing in front of him, he was at a loss for words. What was the right thing to do? This had never happened to him before? Atem felt lost in the weeds.

I made a promise to Mana…

"It's about Mana," Atem said, forcing himself to meet Mahado's eyes.

"What about her? Has something happened to her?"

"She and I have… Uh," More squirming. Stop being such a coward. You've tackled worse things than this! Atem said to himself.

Mahado was silent, watching the prince very carefully. He didn't like hearing where this conversation was going. The prince's behavior was odd and completely out of character for him.

"Your Highness? Lord Mahado?" Karim appeared. "You are being summoned to the court by Pharaoh. An unexpected guest has arrived."

"Who?" Mahado and Atem asked simultaneously.

"Lord Irynefer,"

"We compared this X-ray to the other one you had when you first came in. There was nothing like this on your ribs two days ago," His nurse sounded scared. The X-ray tech's eyes were still wide, as if stuck in a permanent state of shock.

He remembered being hugged by Atem in that waiting place and then… Then Atem had pushed him away, striking his chest with enormous strength.

"Uh, can you give me a few minutes?" Yugi said.

The nurse and X-ray tech disappeared quickly out the door, pulling the privacy curtain closed behind them.

"Yugi?" Anzu said carefully. Yugi handed her the picture of his ribs. "What is this?"

He pointed to a few of the hieroglyphs and started to follow along with his finger as if reading a book to a child. "These words here, they mean, 'to project' or 'to eject,' but combined with his heretic text here, it means 'to build' or 'repair',"

"You can read this?"

"Hmm-hmm," Yugi nodded. "It was a parting gift from Atem after Kul Elna."

Why didn't you tell me? Anzu thought, a little hurt. All of the walks they had shared during their last year in school, after Atem had left, and Yugi hadn't said a word. Now wasn't the time to scold him.

"What else does it say?" She asked instead.

He mouthed a few of the words as he read along, whispering a few of the words out loud. Hearing him speak another language he hadn't learned naturally was eerie. When he was finished, he took in a deep breath in and out, settling into the silence.

"It's a sort of like a spell, but…not. It's more like… a blessing," He said thoughtfully.

"A blessing?"

"A blessing for rapid healing, but…" He turned the picture sideways, analyzing it. He pointed at two of the symbols. "This here, this is an Ankh. It means life, or the choice for life, when used in this context. Combined with this Shen symbol, it means divine protection over someone's life."

"Life and divine protection?"

"I think…," Yugi's face turned pensive. "I think that Atem did this to me when I died,"

"How?"

"I don't know," Yugi said, shaking his head. "But he saved my life,"

Author's Note: 1) The carvings on Yugi's ribs was inspired by Supernatural.

2) When someone suffers a traumatic event, it doesn't end after it's over. Yugi's mental health will change as the story progresses.

3) The scene between Mana and Atem was inspired by Ever After.

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