The end is just the beginning

Chapter 5

Progress

Kumamoto 1997

It had been 15 months since Atemu had slipped into a coma with no sign of improvement until today that is.

Atemu's mother Tara sat faithfully next to her sons hospital bed holding his hand when she suddenly felt him squeeze her fingers. She bolted right up.

"Atemu sweetie?" she said softly and she heard him moan as if he was in pain.

"Atemu? Can you hear me?" she asked again. He mumbled something. She bent over to hear him.

"Yugi..." he mumbled. His voice sounded hoarse since he hadn't used it for over a year now.

'Yugi? Who is that?' she thought.  She didn't remember any of Atemu's friends being called Yugi.

"Yugi...no..." he mumbled again and she saw a lone tear streaming down his cheek. She wiped it away and looked down on him sadly until Atemu suddenly started to trash around on the bed as if he had a fit.

"Atemu!!!" she yelled and called for a doctor. Not a minute later doctor Takashima and a nurse came running in and tried to restrain Atemu. By now Atemu was yelling.

"YUGI!!! Partner!! Please...NO!!!" he cried out and tears streamed over his face.

"Quick,  give me a sedative!!" Doctor Takashima yelled at the nurse who quickly prepared it. Once ready she gave it to the doctor who injected it into his IV. Atemu slumbed down on the bed.

Tara was still breathing fast as she tried to calm her heart.
"Wh..what was that? Is that normal when a person is in a coma?" she said trembling as the nurse had urged her to sit down. The doctor sighed.

"I must admit that this doesn't exactly happen every time.  But I can assure you that it's mostly a sign that the patient is recovering.  But I can't be sure until we did a cat scan. I will book one right away" he said.

After a short nod he left the room while the nurse stayed behind to check on Atemu's vitals.

"Will you stay here while I make a call to his father?" Tara asked.

"Ofcourse" the nurse said politely.

Tara quickly walked out of the room and took a few deep breaths before taking out her phone from her purse to call her husband. Luckily he wasn't abroad. Ever since Atemu fell into a coma Akhenamkhanen had made sure he wouldn't have to leave abroad for business. He wanted to be there in case his son would awaken.
She punched in the speed dial and it only rang once before Akhenamkhanen picked up. He knew she was in the hospital around this time so if she called it could only mean one thing.

"What happened?" he asked straight away.

"He..he woke up. Well not exactly woke up but he started talking and then he somehow got distressed and yelled and trashed around. Oh Akhenamkhanen I was so scared.  I have never seen him like this. They had to sedate him. They plan to book him for a cat scan later today but most importantly..." she paused and her husband waited patiently for her to continue.  "The doctor says it's a sign he is recovering and will probably wake up soon. But to be certain they want to do a scan" she continued. Akhenamkhanen sighed. He knew exactly was she was thinking. Afraid to hope that what the doctor had said was true. After all this time the doctors still hadn't found out why Atemu had slipped into a coma so nothing was sure if he would ever wake up. But Akhenamkhanen would be damned to give up on his son.

"Let's wait for the results okay love? I will come over as soon as possible" he said reassuring.

"I love you" she said. She felt new tears coming up.

"I know" said her husband before hanging up. She locked the screen before putting it in her purse again. She let out a huge sigh before returning to Atemu's hospital room.
When she arrived there she saw nurses pushing his bed out of the room.  The nurse who had stayed with him while she made the call informed her they would take the scan right away and would take at least half an hour. So all she could was wait for her husband and Atemu to come back and hopefully soon get the results of the scan. She sat down on a chair while her thoughts drifted off to what had happened earlier. Who was Yugi? What happened to this Yugi person to get Atemu so upset?  Atemu wasn't stressed out or anything particularly upset about anything before he had slipped into a coma.  Not that she knew off anyway.  Maybe her husband knew who it was.

After about 30 minutes they brought Atemu back into the room again. A nurse told her the doctor would be with her shortly and left the room. Tara sat down again and hold his hand in hers while stroking it.

Akhenamkhanen rushed into the all too familiar hallway of the hospital when he saw Doctor Takashima walking from the opposite direction towards Atemu's hospital room.

"Doctor!" he called out before the men could open the door. Takashima looked up and waited for Akhenamkhanen. 

"Is there any change?" he asked while recovering his breath.

"Let's go inside so I can answer that question.  I'm sure your wife will want to know too" Doctor Takashima said calmly and he opened the door to let them both in.

"Akhenamkhanen!" Tara rushed forward to hug her husband. 

"It's alright dear. I'm here. The doctor says he has some news" he said comforting and they both said down on the chairs next to Atemu's bed while Doctor Takashima said on another chair mirroring a scene from the very first night they were in the hospital.

"I'm sure you two must be anxious to know if anything came out of the scan.  I'm pleased to inform his brain activity has increased a lot which makes me believe he can wake up pretty soon. I do have to warn you that I can't exactly tell when" the doctor said.

Tara slumbed down in her husbands arms from relief. 
This would mean there was finally hope for Atemu to recover.  To wake up.  She felt tears of joy slipping down her cheeks and even Akhenamkhanen felt the sting in his eyes. 

"Thank you doctor" he said.

Doctor Takashima smiled softly. 
"Don't thank me just yet.  Atemu isn't out of his coma yet.  And besides.  He is doing all the work. It's remarkable that after such a long time he is able to recover.  I hope for him and your sake he will wake up soon.  I have also alerted the nurses who make the rounds on this floor to keep an even closer eye on Atemu then before in case he awakens" he said while standing up and shaking their hands before leaving the room with a courtesy bow of the head.

"Oh Akhenamkhanen.  Is it wrong to feel so much hope now?  What if it doesn't happen?  That he won't wake up?  That today was just a fluke?" Tara said. Her husband shaked his head.

"My dear.  After all this time I know doctor Takashima only gives us hope if he is absolutely certain.  I do believe Atemu will wake up soon.  Btw.  You said on the phone that he sounded upset.  That he was yelling.  What did he say?" he asked curious.

"He didn't make sense. He kept yelling the name Yugi. And saying he was sorry. He even cried. But I don't think any of his friends is called Yugi.  So who is it? And what happened to this Yugi that Atemu obviously blames himself for? " Tara frowned.

"I can't say I know anyone called Yugi either.  I will ask around.  But don't worry about that.  Most important thing right now is that our son will wake up soon" Akhenamkhanen said reassuring and rubbed his wives back while they both looked at Atemu who was lying motionless on the hospital bed with the occasional light movement of his chest.