... a new beginning (part 1)
He must have passed out again and by the time the young man opened his amber eyes he found himself in a bed which felt awkwardly familiar to him. Slowly he settled in an upright position and looked around. Despite the dim light Jou noticed the too white walls of the room. His arm was hooked to a tube that was connected with a little bag of some transparent liquid that kept dripping slow but constantly, invading his body. Jou went on with his observation.
He found the window and through the half closed curtains he could see that it was already dark outside. All the lights in the room were turned off so the only source sending such a soft and gentle light to him was possibly the moon. Even through the curtains he was able to feel its presence and although he didn’t know why it set him at ease. Still, something bothered him in the back of his mind.
Jou gazed out of the window for another while then turned his eyes towards the bedclothes. Slowly questions began to form in his head. How did he get here? He didn’t feel any pain so why was he even here? What was going to happen to him? Something felt wrong but he couldn’t point it out. Thousands of questions opened up on him and he had started to feel a little dizzy. Due to his head getting heavier and heavier the blond decided to lie down again.
When he closed his eyes for a few Minutes a pair of sapphire blue ones suddenly flashed through his mind. Jou’s eyes snapped open again and he finally knew what was wrong.
Something was missing.
A shiver ran down his spine as the boy had managed to fight himself into a sitting position again, looking around in the room desperately only to realise that there wasn’t even another bed that could have contained a person nor was there anyone in the armchair that stood in the corner of the room or on a chair next to his bed.
He was completely alone.
The blond sank back into his pillows closing his eyes halfway and biting his lip. Thoughts and questions started to rise again leaving the blond in sheer discomposure. He felt lonely and wished for someone to answer his questions. Still, he couldn’t think of a face or a person to show up. There was nothing, as if he’d never known a single person.
His memory was empty.
Jou didn’t know how long he had been lying there lost in thoughts staring through the ceiling as a soft knock on the door caught his attention. Slowly his eyes slid to the side glancing at the door that shifted open silently.
~°~°~°~°~
“What do we have here?”
“Male, 18 years old. Concussion and a great potential of memory loss, reason unknown yet.”
“The name is?”
“Jounouchi Katsuya.” A deep, composed voice answered and a pair of blue eyes had been fixed on a blond boy panting and sweating heavily.
“Fresh injuries as if he got beaten up recently and a wound on the head that looks like it got treatment some days ago, high fever and lost consciousness on our way here. Already gave him something to lower the fever.”
“Oh, I remember him. Take him to room 2 and order a complete check up. I’ll inform Dr. Shirayoshi.”
“Mr. Kaiba,” the medic turned towards the brunet “I’m sorry but you have to wait here. We’ll send someone to inform you on his condition later on.”
Seto stopped in his tracks and regarded the doctor. For a few seconds he had paused thinking then straightened his back. “That’s not necessary. I got more important stuff to do rather than puppy sitting. I still have a company to attend to. Inform me when he wakes up and is able to answer some questions.” With those words said he had handed the man a contact card had then turned around and left the hospital gripping his cell phone on the way calling his driver to pick him up.
Seto sat in his office browsing through papers and statistics but somehow it was hard for him to stay concentrated because of a special pair of amber eyes that refused to leave his mind. What had that stupid mutt done to lose his memory?
But what had shocked the brunet certainly the most was the look of the blond’s body. Every time the blond had come to school with new bruises he had acted as if he had gotten in a fight in his neighbourhood even though this seemed certainly not true now that he thought about it. Seto had seen the blond dropping his carefree smile as soon as none of his friends would notice. Back then, Jou was vulnerable but Seto never made a move on it. He had kept silence about it out of reasons he didn’t understand himself.
The pup had promised the punk not to get himself wrapped up in ridiculous fights where he couldn’t win when they started their friendship. Seto didn’t think that the blond would break a promise to his very best friend without a very good reason behind it. He treasured Yuugi and his friendships the most. So what could have driven the boy to lie to his best friend and why had he looked like being in so much agony? It was definitely far more than just guilt and regret that the boy had felt.
Suddenly his cell phone rang and Seto had to pull himself together not to jump. He checked on who the caller was. The number was unknown still he had a faint idea who it could be. Not a lot of people had his private cell phone number. He would know if it was Mokuba or one of his drivers. His secretary was right next to the office so she would never dare to call him on his phone. That left only the option of the hospital calling him on the blond’s condition. He glanced at the clock.
It was almost 8pm and already dark outside. Seto blinked in a light surprise that he had sat there not working but thinking about the pup for hours even though it only had seemed like a few minutes to him.
He repositioned himself in his chair, cleared his throat and picked up the call.
“Kaiba.”
“Good evening Mr. Kaiba. I’m Dr. Shirayoshi from the Domino Central Hospital. I’m currently taking care of Jounouchi Katsuya. The reason I am calling is that you asked us to inform you when he wakes up. Well, he did. If you want you can see him for a while.”
Seto felt his heart pounding a little faster and he felt the sudden urge to go see the blond. Maybe he would get some answers of him now.
“I’ll fill you in on his condition when you are here. He’s on the second floor room 251.”
“I’m on my way.” And as soon as he had said that he already ended the call. After saving his work files he shut down his computer, grabbed his suitcase and coat and made his way down to the car telling his secretary to cancel his last meeting.
Seto had arrived at the hospital a few minutes later and found the room Jou was lying in instantly. The doctor had already been waiting for him.
“Mister Kaiba.” The medic greeted him politely. The brunet had returned just a slight nod as he stepped to the doctor waiting to hear what he had to say.
“Well, I’ll try to make it short since it’s late already and visiting hours are over soon. I did only a small check on his memory so far to not stress him too much. He is still suffering from high fever and the concussion so he should rest as much as possible. He lost the memory of himself. He doesn’t know his name, his date of birth or anything else concerning his past. I didn’t go further because he needs to rest properly for now. We’ll have a check on his memory tomorrow when he is feeling a little better.
We’re not quite sure why he suddenly lost his memory though since everything was fine when he left here yesterday. Concerning his state I’d say he got beaten up where a hit at the head could have worsened the concussion he already had and that way triggered his loss of memory. Since he can’t remember anything we cannot be sure.”
“That can’t be. He still remembered people and himself in school. He was shouted at by the teacher and showed no signs of not knowing who he was. He wouldn’t have reacted otherwise. But he behaved rather strange anyway. He was absent minded and slept or stared out of the window. And what do you mean he left the hospital yesterday?”
The brunet had noticed that the blond didn’t attend school for a few days but he would have never thought of him being in hospital. It had made more sense believing that the mutt had skipped school like other days.
“We’re going to figure that out tomorrow.” The doctor had looked at Seto for a moment thinking of whether to tell him or not about the blonds visit here. “You see, I’m not allowed to tell you the Details but I think it’s okay to give at least a little information since he needs help now.
Jounouchi had gotten himself in a little accident 4 days ago. He jumped in front of a car to save a child from being overrun. He didn’t get injured by the car but hit his head on the curb stone protecting the child. But besides the concussion and a few scratches he was okay. We had him in for 3 days and had released him only yesterday.”
“Suits that mutt, always saving others before thinking of himself.” Seto grumbled slightly. How could someone possibly be that stupid? Sometimes it appeared to the brunet that the blond youth didn’t care if he died protecting someone. That heroism of him seemed already like a sickness.
“People like that are rare nowadays.” The doctor nodded slightly.
“Anyway.” The brunet felt a prickling sensation in his fingers. “Before he falls asleep again I’d like to talk to him for a few.”
“Sure, go ahead. Just try not to upset or pressure him too much. We don’t want to worsen it. I’d say an hour not more. He really needs to rest up. If anything happens call me.”
Without a reply Seto had already turned towards the door. His fingers itched to just press down the latch and burst in like he always did but this time he reconsidered and gave the door a short and soft knock before entering the room that contained the youth. The brunet didn’t expect a reply and went in without hesitation closing the door behind him leaving the medic outside.
To be continued
