Return of the Kings

Chapter 3

"So... now that we have that cleared up... that man. You said he was your colleague?" Atem asked.

"Yes." Yugi said. He opened his mouth to explain further when the door opened, interrupting them.

A nurse walked in, gently poking her head through first to see he was awake. She smiled upon seeing him and approached him kindly.

"Good morning Mr. Moto. It's good to see you awake. My names Omoi but you can call me Rika if you like. I'm just going to check some things, is there anything you would like?" She asked as she took the clipboard from the end of the bed.

"No I'm fine thank you. Can I ask what my condition is?" Yugi asked politely. He tried to sit himself up on his elbows but the pain in his ribs restricted him greatly. She saw him struggle though, pushed him down gently and took the remote off the wall.

"Here. This will help." She giggled. Pressing a button the top half of the bed began to lift. He felt a little ridiculous but he greatly appreciated sitting up now. She smiled sweetly and showed him which buttons to press for what, including which one would call for assistance.

"You have 3 broken ribs, a cracked skull, bruised muscles and some trauma throughout your body. I don't know what you've been through but it appears you were tortured. Do you remember what happened?" She asked as she wrote down something on the clipboard.

"No. If I was tortured I guess it's good I don't remember." Yugi joked confidently. She set the board down and took out a flashlight, covering one of his eyes and shining the light in the other. He winced but she seemed satisfied with his result.

"You're still concussed but that's expected. Any memory loss is expected considering how you came in. You've had 3 surgeries since coming in. One to set your ribs which came dangerously close to puncturing a lung, I'm amazed you were even able to breathe. Another to stop the internal bleeding and another to relieve pressure on your skull." She said.

"Wow I don't feel a thing." Yugi said kindly. He felt Atem smiling but he also felt his concern rising as he heard the extent of his injuries. Apparently he didn't know how bad it was.

"You currently have two types of pain suppressants coursing through you. You're likely not going to feel anything for another few hours." She said sweetly.

"How long have I been here?"

"Two days. Likely going to be staying here tonight too unless the doctor sees fit to release you." She said sweetly.

Yugi's heart raced.

"Two days!?" He asked her, his voice breaking. He looked to Atem leaning now against a wall, his arms crossed as he normally was. He shrugged apologetically and Yugi relaxed. He was disappointed he'd been asleep for so long but he understood why. His condition wasn't entirely light.

"Yep. Actually remarkable you're awake now. If I'm completely honest there was a good chance the trauma to your head might have been too great. We didn't expect you to wake up for a while yet, if at all."

"Right..." Yugi said quietly. He felt fine. He felt tightness, a bit of pain in places to be expected but on the whole he felt fine. He felt good enough to leave now... he couldn't quite understand how his condition was as bad as she described.

"You must have a guardian angel looking after you. You're very lucky Mr. Moto."

"Thank you." Yugi smiled. He glanced at Atem smiling deeply. It made sense now. If Atem hadn't attached himself to him perhaps his condition would have been so much worse. If he had survived on his own it was possible he'd still be asleep, likely not recovering as quickly as he was. Again he found himself grateful for Atem's need to step in.