Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Fraudulant Shadows ❯ Awaken in Too Much Time ( Chapter 4 )

Fraudulent Shadows

Chapter 4

Awaken in Too Much Time

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Joey wasn't numb in his hands and chest anymore, just cold. He could feel his fingers twitch involuntarily. The blood was reawakening his nerves and trying to warm up his body. His lashes were frosted and hard to open without some small amount of pain. However, when he could finally open them partly, he saw a world of metallic and white ice surrounding him. He noticed a small window, but thick frost enveloped the glass, making it hard to see through it. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, wanting to call for some aid, but his lips were so dry and cracked, it even hurt to close them back again. It felt like centuries since he last talked, almost forgetting that he even could to begin with. He watched as his warm breath evaporated into the air. At least he was breathing. "H-hel-help…," he weakly demanded. His hand reached for the door, or what he thought was the door. He could see a curving outline that suggested it could be the exit. "Help..." His voice came stronger, but not loud enough. He pulled his hand back away from the door abruptly. The frost was so cold; it stung before he could touch it. He was afraid the floor would be the same, even though he still didn't have any feeling in his toes or legs. "Help!" He finally exclaimed, despite the soar dryness ripping away at his esophagus.

The door cracked and cringed as it slowly opened upwards, flooding the small pod with light and a small amount of warmth, but still cold. Maybe it was appropriate. Joey knew that if too much warmth hit him, it would probably give him a heart attack. He scanned the room, searching for other life forms that would be moving. "Where…is everyone?" He asked aloud. He noticed that there were other cryogenic pods, keeping the bodies safe and mended, but that didn't exactly comfort him. He wanted to know if someone was there to give him something warm to wear, instead of standing starch ass naked in a frozen time chamber. He wrapped his arms around his body, shivering violently to keep warm. A brown flash surprised him as it hit him in the face.

"Here, this should keep you warm," a soft, comforting voice recommended.

Joey pulled the sheet away from his face and wrapped it around himself, forming it into a robe. "Who's there?"

A young man with short, thick blue hair and violet eyes stepped out from beside the pod. He stood no taller than Joey. He wore a heavy, black coat with wool on the inside of the collar and safety glasses to protect his eyes from the cold ice that always emitted from the pods. "Are you alright, Joey Wheeler? Can you feel everything in your body?" He asked quickly. He stepped into the pod part way and slowly yanked the blonde teen out. He observed Joey's body intensely, making sure he didn't find any scars or fractured bones. "It appears that you have recovered quite nicely everywhere else, but..." He stepped around Joey and lifted his blonde hair from around his neck. "But you still have a scar on your neck from the accident. That's where you went flying out of the windshield and the broken glass scratched you. It was pretty bad when they brought you here. We thought it might have broken your neck. However, it didn't, so you're really lucky." He grabbed a clipboard from one of his giant, coat pockets and marked something down.

"I…don't feel lucky," Joey mumbled as he watched the man look up with a smile.

"Don't worry. Everyone that has come back successfully have the feeling that they're still ill or in an accident, like in your case. But that'll improve soon enough," the man explained. "By the way. My name is Anui Bidge, and I'll be your physician."

Joey nodded. "You sound like you know what you're doing."

The man chuckled. "Is there anything you need?"

"Yeah! Some clothes, a warm bed, and a hot bowl of soup," Joey sincerely mumbled.

Anui laughed. "Follow me. I'll get you some clothes and there'll be someone here to pick you up shortly. You'll then have all the soup that you want."

"Who's picking me up?" Joey asked.

"I believe his name is Ryou Bakura. He says he's one of your friends."

"Ryou? Oh, now I remember. He made it out of the accident all right then. That's good. He looked awful when I last saw him."

As they both approached the exit, Anui peered back at Joey from over his shoulder. "From my understanding, Ryou Bakura is one of the many special people who were so close to death, he somehow pulled through it as if nothing happened. It's rather spectacular for someone to do that. They also said he should have died instantly from the crash."

"That's Ryou for ya," Joey smirked. "I can't wait to see him again. How long have I been in that pod anyways?"

"For nineteen years," Anui replied.

"T-that's how long it took me to heal?" Joey asked astounded. "How bad was I hurt?"

"You were close to death, Joey. Your friends and family wanted us to do our best to save you. So we did."

Joey sighed and peered down at the floor and stated, "everyone would have changed then. I wonder what they're like now."

"I know that Yugi Moto is a teen therapist and he works here in this building as well. He's a pretty good one." A faint blush rose to Anui's cheeks. "He liked talking about you. You were his closest friend."

"Yeah, we've been through a lot together." He noticed the blush on his doctor's face, but decided to ignore it. It was probably nothing to worry about anyways.

"I'd also recommend him if you have any problems you might want settled," Anui suggested.

Joey nodded. "I probably will after what I'll be going through."

"Awe! It's not that bad. There are many who have had successful lives to live." Anui reassured.

"What happened to the ones that didn't?"

Anui became silent as they stepped out of the frozen room and into the hallway. He then sighed with disgust as he finally responded. "They…committed suicide."

"Are you serious?! Oh gawd! What am I going to do?!" Joey exclaimed as he fell to the tile floor on his knees. "I don't want to kill myself just because I couldn't find somewhere to work or a place to live. I'd rather have died in that car accident!"

Anui winced and turned to help Joey back up onto his feet. "Don't talk like that! Seto Kaiba has already gotten you a job and a place to live. You'll do fine, Joey."

"S-Seto? Ha…ha…I knew I could always rely on…him…" Joey spoke as if he was delusional. His eyes appeared soulless. "Seto…always did care about me."

Anui hugged him close and stroked his hair gently, hoping it was calming the teen. "Let's get you dressed and something warm to drink before Bakura arrives."

Joey nodded reluctantly.

Anui led the teen to his office and shut the door. He handed Joey some clothes and a cup of cocoa.

Joey sat in front of Anui's desk and immediately became lost in his thoughts. He would sip his hot chocolate for a few moments and then look as if he was in the deepest space of his mind and then back to sipping. It continued like this for twenty minutes.

Anui began to worry that the cryogenic freeze had given the teen some side affects. It happened rarely, but maybe Joey was just an exception. He excused it when someone knocked on his office door. "Come in," he demanded softly.

A white head pocked into the office with his sharp eyes already focused on the blonde sitting in front of Anui's desk. "I've come to pick up Joey."

The teen registered that someone had called his name and he apathetically looked at his visitor. His eyes widened in astonishment when he realized who it was.

To Be Continued.

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A/N:

Joey: *whacks a bunch of cantaloupes and watermelons at Sisco*

Sisco: X_x Ouch! What did I do?

Joey: The lack of updates! When are you start going to update a lot?

Sisco: *is busy rubbing the back of her head and wiping the juice off*

Joey: Are you listening?

Sisco: You know? That really hurt!

Joey: -_- You weren't, were you?

Sisco: Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say again?

Joey: Never mind! *snorts*

Sisco: ^o^

Seto: Apparently, she keeps getting busy or just isn't very enthusiastic about updating it.

Sisco: Well, I can't get enthusiastic when I don't have anything to inspire me! I need inspiration, damn it!!

Alister: Does that mean you want reviews?

Sisco: >_> What do you think?

Alister: Just asking.

Seto: Why don't you tell everyone why you named Joey's doctor, Anui?

Sisco: Well, it's sort of why you're called Seto.

Joey: He was named after an Egyptian God! What's your point?

Sisco: Well, what does Anui sound like, stupid?

Joey: >=P

Seto: Anubis!

Sisco: ^-^ Well, aren't we just a smart CEO.

Seto: … -_-;

Joey: … *snorts*

Alister: …