Painful Memories: Part III: Consequences

Straight Talk

The last person Kaiba expected to see when he next opened his eyes was Anzu. She was browsing her cell phone in a chair that had been pulled up to his bed. Of all the people who he thought might give the smallest interest in whether he lived or died, Anzu was probably the last one on that list. Well, second to last if you counted Joey. Her eyes flicked his way and she brightened.

"How are you feeling?"

He had to swallow down the dryness in his throat, "Singed."

"Your hands were burned, and part of your arms as well." She gestured toward them as though Kaiba didn't know where his own arms were. Though after she pointed them out to him, he couldn't hold back his surprise. Seeing his hands wrapped up in thick bandages and laying on his chest made him notice the pain. He of course tried to move his fingers, which only made them hurt worse.

"Damn..." he muttered, and laid them back down again. The first thing he thought was that it was going to be difficult to do any texting to Mokuba, and then he realized he wouldn't be able to type at all, and a cold ball of realization formed inside. He would be practically cut off from the world, and worse yet, he would have to rely on everyone else there to do things for him. At least Pegasus was there, but that was only a small consolation. He really didn't want to make Pegasus send texts to Mokuba, or type up emails for Kaiba Corp. Their relationship had been on rather equal terms before, and Kaiba wasn't sure if he wanted to ask Pegasus to lower himself to be his personal assistant. He should have brought a bodyguard or two, he realized for the second time since they had arrived in Egypt.

"It's not that bad," Anzu said. "I mean they thought you had burned a lot more than that. They said your arms were engulfed completely! Ishizu was thinking the bandages would only have to stay on for a few days, maybe a week at most."

Anzu probably thought she was helping, but the very thought of going a week without being able to type on his phone or even browse the internet was simply terrifying. "Just... shut up. I don't want to hear it."

Anzu's eyes went wide, but she didn't say a word. Kaiba knew he hadn't seen her in two years, but that was definitely not the typical Anzu response. If she was pissed, she would say so, and then regale you with all the reasons why you were a terrible person because of it. Kaiba had been on the opposite end of those talks so many times he could almost estimate her words. She looked just as angry this time, but something was holding her back. Something was keeping her mouth shut. Kaiba looked around the room, he didn't see anyone else there. Why was she so interested in being nice to him suddenly?

"What is it?" He asked, "Obviously you have something you want to talk about. I doubt the others were begging to watch over me while I was out."

She hung her head and looked away, obviously embarrassed.

Kaiba sighed and pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Just spit it out. You've probably been sitting here trying to figure out how to ask it for hours. I'm not likely to give you a second chance." He wanted to throw something in about wasting his time, but he was injured and really wouldn't be able to do any work for a week. How the hell could he say she was wasting his time?

She gripped her legs and stared at the edge of the bed. "When you were taking up the Rod, I was... curious."

She paused, and Kaiba tried to fold his arms in annoyance, but found he couldn't with the pain, so he laid them at his sides instead. "Well?"

She looked up at him with tears threatening to pour. "Did you see the Pharoah there, I mean, Atem? I mean, when you fought that thing, did you actually see him?"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, "Why?"

"Well... I mean, I... I just wanted to make sure he's still okay! They were saying he might not be alive, and..."