In Safe Hands (PuzzleShipping)

Chapter 61

Atem had no idea what to do. He needed to find someone. Heba told him he needed to find someone by the name of...

Yugi.

He looked around, still in the arms of the woman and the man who hugged him tightly. They both gasped when they realized how little time they had.

"Oh! You must come with us." She said, gripping his arms and looking him straight in the eyes, "We don't have much time to get this done."

Atem nodded slightly, still not able to process what exactly was going on. He went through what all happened that day, which was already strange enough.

First, he had a dream in which his dead lover came to him and told him to go to the hospital because his brother needed help. Then he said something about a guy named Yugi. Atem couldn't believe exactly what was going on. He had to be going crazy if all of this was happening.

Next thing he knew, he'd see Heba in someone else.

Atem was led by the two down the hall into a nearby room. He sat down and turned his arm over, exposing his vein, like he was supposed to.

"So, what's your name?" The woman sat beside him, taking care of the needle and all, "My name is Mana. And that there is my friend, Mahad."

The man turned and smiled, still slightly relieved. He waved in his direction.

"Nice to meet you." Mahad grinned in a friendly way.

Atem waved back.

"Atem." Atem introduced himself, being sure to choose his words carefully so that they wouldn't think he was crazy by any chance, "I...was told to come here by a friend. He said that you guys could have used some help."

Mana nodded.

"You have no idea." She said, "A very close friend of ours is in a very bad condition, and he was losing blood faster than what we could keep with. Thank you for coming here when you did."

Atem shrugged and smiled.

"Well, I had nothing better to do today." He chuckled, "Honestly, I would have come here anyway just to have something to do!"

Mana and Mahad both slightly laughed at his joke. Mahad stuck the needle into the vein, some of the blood going through the tube into a pouch attached to it. Atem never liked needles, so he found himself slightly shuddering when it was stuck inside his arm, even though he had seen worse than little needles.

He had gone through rains of machine guns and even several stab wounds that were now mere scars on his stomach and chest. Surely he could have braved a flimsy little pinprick of a needle. He was a big boy, which was a name his lover gave him.

He still answered to it in the army and would for as long as he lived. He made that promise to himself when his lover died. Sure, some of the guys there would make jokes out of his nickname, but he would just leave it be. He knew it was all for fun and games, so he let them do it. He didn't mind. He actually prided in it.

Soon, they took the needle back out, and Atem felt kinda light headed. That was until Mana walked in with two cookies and a carton of juice. She set it down in front of him.

"Here. Drink and eat this." She said, grinning slightly, "It should help to replenish your energy and help your heart regenerate that blood."

Atem nodded.

"Thanks." He said, grinning in return, "This actually looks really good!"

Mana giggled and shrugged bashfully.

"They are one of my own homemade cookies." She said, "I made them myself!"

Atem took a bite and nodded. "Yeah." He said, "These are really good."

"Wish I could have one..." Mahad playfully muttered, teasingly pouting and making Atem snort with laughter, "I love my Mana's cookies."

Mana only playfully rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on, Mahad." She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, "Did you just give up almost 3 pints of blood for a friend?"

Mahad only stuck a tongue out at her, slightly laughing. Mana looked from him and back to Atem, shaking her head.

"Well, thank you so much for your donation. You seriously..." Her voice trailed off for a second, "I think you saved our friend's life by providing this. Thank you so much."

Atem went a little red, not really knowing exactly what to say at that. She giggled.

"If you want, you can go visit him. We have someone else in there right now, but I don't think he'll mind you going in." Mana said, "His name is Yugi. He and our friend were closer than, I think, we could ever be."

Atem perked up at the sound of the name. He needed to find the man named Yugi.

"But anyway, thanks again." Mahad said, in the doorway with the red pouch in his hand, "You can go when you want to."

Atem nodded, finishing his cookie and going on to the juice as they left. He sat back, now not as light headed, and also planning to maybe step into the room for a bit, and talking to Yugi.

---

Yugi's eyes widened.

"A m-match???" He stuttered, standing as his jaw dropped.

Mana beamed.

"Yes!!!" She slightly squealed, "Now, we have just enough for maybe even months if Yami's outlook gets better."

Yugi felt his gaping mouth go into a smile. And then a beam.

"This is fantastic!!!" He called happily, careful not to be too loud, "Who made the donation?"

"A man named Atem." Mahad said, hooking up the new pouch of blood and filtering it into Yami's sleeping, thin body.

Yugi gasped. He knew that name from Heba's letter.

He was here???