Yugi clutched the limp hand, choking back sobs.
Another life support...
Another step to death...
Another heartbreak for Yugi.
Yami was weaker...with another life support. Yugi was losing it. Yami was basically dying and this was all Yugi's fault. Every bit of this was his fault.
Yugi shook his head, Yami's limp hand remaining still as he did so. He couldn't believe it.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened.
"Y-Yugi?" A feminine voice sounded.
Yugi looked up, not letting go of Yami's hand, his eyes full of tears. He met the gaze of another tear stained face.
It was Mana.
"Y-Yes, Mana?" Yugi asked, struggling to keep his voice steady.
"We have a meeting with the board...now." She seemed to be the same way, trying her hardest to keep her voice level as well, "I-It is about..."
Yugi already knew what it was about. He looked at Yami's tranquil, unmoving face and sighed, looking down. He sadly nodded, gulping.
Mana waited for him at the door and held the door open, silent.
Yugi didn't want to let go. He didn't want to go to the meeting. He didn't want to hear what they had to say there. He just didn't want anything else to happen except for some miracle that would bring Yami back.
But it seemed as though it was too late for a miracle and that Yami was left alone. So was Yugi. Neither of them had anything.
Nothing.
He stood finally, after a few moments of debating with himself wether to go or not to go. He reluctantly, gently rested the hand down beside Yami, the blood drip wire shifting slightly. Yami remained still.
Yugi sniffed and turned. He grimly passed Mana in complete silence, going through the door. They both had the same dreaded feeling in their guts as they silently walked through the building.
Yami was on many life supports.
Which was a very grim sign.
And extremely grim sign.
He was too weak to function on his own. And this was only days after his fatal car accident that almost killed him on the spot.
Yugi couldn't help but feel terrible when he looked at the young man in the bed, seeming to be sleeping, but was in a whole world of pain and suffering all on his own.
Yugi had to do something.
It wasn't right to let him keep living in this condition,
But it was so hard to just muster the courage to let go when he couldn't even go to the meeting to meet with his surgeon team and his bosses to figure out what was sensible to do.
Which was probably going to be the choice that Yugi definitely didn't want to choose.
-------
"Alright, you are Mr. Yami Sennen's first surgeon team, correct?"
Two tall individuals paced about, looking through papers that they held. One was a boy and one was a girl.
The entire team sat at a long table and watched their bosses read from clipboards. Yugi, since he was the captain, say at the head, watching them intensely.
He nodded politely in response to the lean man's question.
"Yes." Yugi said, managing to keep his voice stable.
"Well, fantastic." The other, girl, said, "We decided to speak with you on what we should do next. He has no trace of close family or friends, so the next step is to go to a few people he works with."
The boy nodded in agreement.
"We have been thinking about this for a while." He said, "and we have been monitoring his health levels these last few days."
His voice fell and he looked over at the girl.
"He...He isn't getting better." She said, she herself saddened by this very fact, "He is only getting worse. His quality of life is disintegrating and we had been wondering where to go from here."
Yugi listened, wanting to beg that this wasn't true. He wanted hear Yami burst into a fit of giggles and say "YOU FELL FOR IT!! HAAAA! That was so funny!"
...but that didn't happen. This was reality, not Yugi's imagination.
"Let's take a look here." The boy began flipping through papers again, "His blood pressure has been extremely low, and his pulse has been almost nonexistent since he has come here. He has had to be intubated a few times over. He went into cardiac arrest when he came in, was resuscitated and was put on the ventilator, where he never came off.
"His digits have been amputated several times over. He has not been responding to any of the pain killers we are providing. He has blood pooling in his lungs that make it hard for him to breathe, making it worse. He heart rate is the lowest we have ever seen, and..
"..over all it is basically as though he is hanging on to life by the skin of his teeth.
Yugi paled with every word.
They said it how it was.
Which broke Yugi's heart.
Yami had stolen all of his heart, and now the Angel of Death had come to steal Yami from him.
Yugi looked down.
"We got with the board today and discussed." The girl spoke up, me listening to her without looking at her, "We have come up with a single plan. If we keep those tubes in his throat for too long, it could result in infection, which could quickly kill him."
"So, we have a solution." The boy finished, sliding a form into Yugi's lap, "We will give the young man one more night. He needs to wake up by then. If he doesn't...he is scheduled for relief.
"And the selected people to do it are...you group of people. The head, Yugi, will be the one to instruct the relief. That is the rule."
A hush swept through the entire room.
Yugi felt his skin go cold.
No..
No. It can't be! IT CAN'T BE SO!!!
He couldn't do that to Yami. It wasn't right at all!! It just wasn't right at all! He couldn't have the strength to do that! He didn't have the will to do what he had to.
He just didn't!
He looked down at the sheet of paper that had been given to him. He was heartbroken. At the top in bold letters, it said:
"Yami Sennen, scheduled for relief by lethal injection."
L-Lethal INJECTION???
No...
No no no!!!
Yugi couldn't accept any of this. He just couldn't. It was too much. And the fact that HE, OF ALL PEOPLE, had to do it was gut wrenching.
"I understand this must be a lot to take in." The girl said, still pacing, "Believe me. I do."
"But, this young man is in no condition to get out of the hospital sooner than death gets a grip on him." The boy muttered for them to hear, slightly pained by his words, "The longer we hold off the inevitable, the more his quality of life diminishes."
Yugi was stunned.
"We'll give him a night." The two said together, "If he doesn't wake up by then, it is our relief to occur. Nothing about it."
And they left, the surgeon team stunned, heartbroken, saddened, angered, and over all, frightened. They didn't want to do that.
Especially that of Yugi.
Yami was one of them. They all at one point laughed at one of his jokes, served with his entertaining self, and got to know him.
Yugi prayed that this wasn't happening. He prayed that this was nothing but a long nightmare that was drawing itself to a close, and once he did wake up, Yami would be there ready for him. And they would smile at each other.
He prayed that that was real. That it wasn't over.
But now, all of that was over.