In Safe Hands (PuzzleShipping)

Chapter 58

A week passed.

Yugi's wounds were healing at an impressive rate. Mahad was almost entirely back to his health. He was supposed to be going back to work after a couple more days in the ICU.

Yugi still lay in his bed, the sedation that he was given him made him weak and sleepy and silent. He never spoke to anyone.

But he listened.

He listened to doctors outside. He would listen to when Mana would stop outside his door in conversation with a nurse, usually Mai. She and Mana were good friends and colleagues and usually spoke about patients of there's. Mai had been assigned Yami since he had been moved to the complex ICU.

He listened carefully to their conversations, but always was heartbroken to hear what Mai had. Yugi only believed that the single reason he continued to listen was a little part of his heart that believed in hope.

But that part was rapidly getting smaller. Yugi could feel it shrinking.

He hated the fact that he was stuck in his own hospital bed, with no way of seeing Yami. Instead, he could only picture him. Which was terrifying for Yugi. He didn't want Yami to die.

He couldn't even think about that possibility without having tears spring to his eyes.

But his hope was always there.
No matter if it was just a weak light, it was always there...until one night, Mana and Mai were on their ways to the Emergency Unit, for their night shift. They had been talking, and somehow, Yami's name came up.

"I don't know how much longer He can take this, Mana." Mai's voice floated into Yugi's hospital room as they went.

Mana looked at her.

"I mean...he's been doing terribly..." Mai muttered, looking down, "And he isn't changing...at all. His nutritional status is bad enough and with his weak body that is also reluctant to function...sometimes I wonder things..."

Yugi listened, his eyes widening at the words that came from Mai's mouth. He felt a lump form in his throat. His Mou Hitori was as good as dead...no matter how much the truth hurt...it was the truth. And there was no way around it. Yami was in no condition that was easy to revive.

He still listened, no matter how much it hurt. He needed to know how his Mou Hitori No Boku was.

Mana remained quiet as Mai still went on to her.

"When I'm around him, tending to him, monitoring him, cleaning him even..." She trailed off for a brief moment, "I wonder...if we're doing the right thing. I mean, Yami isn't functioning. At all. His life quality is disintegrating faster than what we can keep up with...and I don't know if keeping him on these life supports is the right thing to do..."

Yugi felt tears fall finally as he closed his eyes and heard their voices fade. It couldn't be true.

It just couldn't be true.

Yami couldn't die.

Yugi couldn't picture it.

He didn't wanna see Yami in a coffin. He didn't want to be alone the rest of his life. He wanted to have someone to hold. He wanted to have someone who would always there. Who would always listen. Who wasn't afraid to show their emotions. Who did everything with such passion that it was almost like a song.

But Yugi didn't want Yami to finish his song...when he was only halfway through it.

It was too beautiful to end that abrupt. And Yugi didn't want that to happen. But he knew he could do nothing. He stared at the ceiling, his eyes brimming with tears that fell continuously down his cheeks. He choked back several silent sobs as he buried his face into his pillow, crying himself to sleep.

And dreaming about the life he wished he had: Where Yami was well. There was no gun man coming after them both. Yami wasn't near death 24/7.

If only it was real.

---

Another 2 weeks passed.

Yugi and Mahad both got better. They both got out in better conditions, with only a few scars. Yugi had some stitches where he had bullet holes in his head, and occasionally, he would get pounding headaches for minutes at a time, but Yugi learned to tolerate it.

And Yugi was finally able to get out after being evaluated one last time, finally being said to be healthy enough to go home.

And He couldn't have been happier.

But there was one more thing he wanted to do before he left--visit Mou Hitori No Boku. He had to have been making some progress. If not...

Well, Yugi would rather not think about it.

And soon, he was at Yami's door. He was greeted with silence and the occasional whoosh... and hiss... Of the ventilator in the room. Yami was still in his coma. Yugi got one look at him and wanted to cry.

Yami was paler than ever. He had almost no heart beat. The respirator was doing all the breathing for him. He was thinner than Yugi had ever seen. He gripped Yami's thin, limp hand.

"M-Mou Hitori..." Yugi gasped, "W-Why..?? Did this happen???"

Suddenly, Mai came in, to check in on her assigned patient, and looked at Yugi.

"O-Oh. Yugi, I never expected you to be here." She said, "I thought you would have been home by now."

Yugi shook his head, not letting go of Yami's hand. "...I-I had to come here first." He said simply.

Mai nodded. "I'm not stopping you." She said, walking over to a monitor with papers in her hand, "Just don't mind me..."

Yugi watched her programming the monitor, controlling what it filtered, when suddenly, he blurted one of the questions he had been keeping inside for as long as he could remember.

"Wh-When will he get out of h-here?" He asked.

Mai looked at him, hesitant on what to say as if she were looking for the best words to tell him.

"...not good..." Mai said, finally giving into the straight out truth, "..he is fighting an uphill battle...and is losing."

Yugi remained silent, struggling to get rid of the lump that was growing rapidly in his throat. He only listened, not wanting to show the pain he felt.

"He's been bleeding internally more than what is something we can take care of. He is losing too much blood, resulting in his pale appearance." Mai explained, saddened, "If we don't find any blood that matches his type within the next 48 hours, he won't live."

Yugi remained silent.

"I know what's you're thinking..." Mai continued, resting a hand on his shoulder, "We'd use your blood...but lost too much with those gun shot wounds...we can't take yours."

Mai went silent right then, having to leave. Yugi still held Yami's hand, trembling as he looked on at Yami, a man on machines.

...a man who was as good as dead.