Don't Forget To Remember Me

Sleep

"How..." was all Seto could manage to say before sudden chest pain stopped him. She gently pressed a hand to his chest, murmuring softly for him to pause and take a deep breath, slowly, until the pain passed. When the pain was gone, she moved her hand to his forehead once more and brushed aside his bangs again.

"I just came back from a trip to Egypt with the Doctors Without Borders organization. I was helping treat women who were the victims of domestic violence when I met Ishizu Ishtar." Kisara spoke slowly, calmly, as if she wanted to make her very story a lullaby for him. "She was volunteering as a translator, but even though I've never learned Egyptian, I had no problem understanding it. She and I became friends, and when I started having visions, I confided in her. She was able to help explain them to me, and eventually she showed me some things that helped me remember it all. I met her brothers, and they told me about you and the Battle City tournament and all of it." She smiled sadly. "All this time I was working for KaibaCorp as one of your doctors, and I didn't even realize that I knew you." She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead and sighed disapprovingly. "You're burning up, Seto. Have you ever had the flu before, maybe as a child or even as an infant?"

"No, never," he murmured, still staring at her in awe. Still trying to process the fact that she was right here in front of him, he hadn't yet reached the point of hating himself for being too ill to even kiss her properly.

"Have you ever even had a cold? Stomach flu? A twenty-four-hour bug?" She asked, somewhat dubious. He shook his head faintly, and she dropped her hand from his forehead to his own hand, locking their fingers together so that he could give her hand a faint squeeze."And you've never gotten a flu vaccine?" Again, he shook his head. "That means that you don't have an antibodies in your system to help you fight the virus, which is why you've reached such a severe state so quickly."

"Why did you become a doctor?" he asked softly, gazing up at her with those sapphire eyes that photographs could never quite do justice to.

Kisara blushed. "When my little brother was born, I was eight years old, and I was in the delivery room with my mother. My father was holding her hand, and I wanted to watch. Mom thought I'd be grossed out, but I kept asking, and she got sick of saying no. That was when I knew what I wanted to do with my life." She glanced down at Seto with a blush. "I didn't end up specializing in that field, but I did specialize in pediatrics, which is why I'm here for you now." Seto had pulled their clasped hands closer to his head, his eyes half-closing as he listened to her story. Kisara took this as a reminder that, sick as he was, he needed sleep. "Now, it's time for you to take your medicine and go back to sleep. You won't get better if you don't sleep."

"Sleep is for the weak," Seto grumbled automatically. That had been his motto for a long time, and although he was better at getting sleep now, he wasn't fully convinced of its necessity.

Kisara gave him a mildly disapproving glare. "You have insomnia," she stated, confident enough in her deduction to not ask him if she was right.

"It hasn't been so bad this past month," he defended, pausing as his breathing became difficult again. He managed past the discomfort, squeezing her hand as he did so. Her expression returned to one of concern.

"Still, you need to sleep, Seto," she insisted. "If you get much worse, I'm not sure if I'll be able to justify keeping you out of the hospital." Seto's face twisted in distaste in response to this, and she felt that she'd found her bargaining point. "So if you want to stay out of the hospital, you need to get better, and in order to get better, you need to take your medicine and get some sleep." She gently released his hand as she turned to the nightstand and began to portion out the pills for him, jotting down on a chart how many of what medication he was taking and making note of the time. It was standard procedure in order to avoid accidental overdose. She helped him sit up before handing him the pills and a bottle of water. Seto accepted them wordlessly, taking all of the pills but one, which he handed back to her.

"I don't need a sleep aid," he said stubbornly, his eyes flashing with amusement as a faint smirk tugged at his lips. He'd known it for what it was because none of the nurses had given it to him throughout the day, and she had just been telling him off for his reluctance to sleep.

Kisara sighed and took it back from him, along with the water. "Well, I figured it was worth a shot," she said, not even attempting to hide or apologize for what she'd done. Seto lay back down, looking vaguely troubled.

"Are you going to stay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm on duty all night, so yes," she answered honestly. He seemed content with the answer, for the time being. He sought out her hand once more, and she offered it, holding his tightly as she brushed the pad of her thumb across the back of his hand. He stared at the ceiling, now fighting just to keep his eyes open.

"I still can't believe that you're here," he murmured, sounding sleepier by the moment. It simply took too much energy for him to focus on conversation for as long as he had when the illness was taking such a toll on him. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she whispered back, hesitating for only a moment before she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Now go to sleep, Seto. I'll be here when you wake up."

It didn't matter how intelligent or rich he was, or how strong was his willpower. Not even Seto Kaiba could withstand the symptoms of a severe case of influenza.