Heba blinked back his tears. He clutched Yami's forearms and looked him in the eyes, sincere and slightly angered, but more than anything, sad. He shook his head.
"No, Yami." He said, "You can't do that..."
Yami pulled away from him.
"I don't want to shrivel away on machines, bed ridden for my life!" He said, defending himself, "I want to drop dead. I don't want pain. I don't want any interventions holding off the inevitable! I want to let go!"
Heba sighed shakily.
"But...think about how the world would be without you..." Heba muttered, sniffing, "You are the hospital's heartbeat. You are their best doctor, and because of you, they have high ratings. If you leave, those ratings will fall."
Yami looked at Heba.
"It's the hospital. It'll move on. It'll go on without me." He said, turning and looking to where he saw that glowing light shining in the darkness, being the heaven that he oh-so-wanted to be a part of, "They'll still have their good ratings, high or not. They have plenty of doctors who can replace me."
Heba looked down, not caring to touch him again. He was losing this argument and he had to make Yami change his mind. He couldn't tell the future to him because it was against his rules as a spirit, but he knew Yami wasn't going to be on machines forever. After almost 4 months, he was going to be out and about.
No strings attached.
He was going to be normal.
But he couldn't tell his brother, as much as he wanted to.
"Y-Yami..." Heba sighed again, "I know...but what about your friends?"
Yami remained silent, temporarily forgetting about all the people he had formed strong relationships with over the years. Heba slightly perked up, figuring out that he had finally caught his attention.
"Mahad? Mana?" He questioned, listing names, "Jaden? ...Yugi?"
Yami still said nothing. His eyes filled with tears when he remembered Yugi. He didn't want to leave Yugi, but he didn't want to just live a life that he thought was going to be in a bed. On life supports. He didn't want that at all.
Heba reached out and grabbed Yami's hand, wrapping his wings around him in a tight, loving, and gentle embrace.
"I know it's extremely difficult making this decision. I had to make it too." Heba muttered, trying to reassure his brother, "But I, luckily, had more ease at making it than you do. I loved Atem with all my heart. He loved me back. When I had to make the choice and knew I had no chance of living, I was more content. Atem had and still has family and friends. He had many people who would be there to support him through his time of mourning. I knew I was leaving him in safe hands.
"But, you have a different case on your hands...Yugi.
"Yugi doesn't have any support if you die. His grandfather died only a few years ago, and his parents died when he was very young. His friends are never around and they never see each other. They don't even know of what's going on between he and you. He has no one. As a matter of fact, before he met you, he was very depressed and unhappy with his life.
"But when you stepped in, he opened up again. He was happy. He pulled back to earth. You changed him, Yami. He loves you more than anything, and I know you love him back entirely. Don't take that away from him."
Yami remained silent as Heba went on, feeling a lump form in his throat from everything he heard. Heba hated saying these statements, but they were true. And he didn't want Yami to do that to Yugi.
He put a hand on Yami's shoulder.
"Yugi already has it terribly hard." He continued, closing his eyes sadly as he said this. He opened them again and looked back at a portal that began to gather, showing Yugi. He was laying in bed, trying to go to sleep, but had tears streaming down his cheeks.
"You've heard him before." Heba reminded Yami with a heavy heart, "He believes that he has done this to you. He accuses himself of all this. He can't even visit you without having an extreme sense of guilt that everything that has happened is all his fault. And I have heard him say that he can't ask for forgiveness because he doesn't think you'll forgive him.
"Please Yami...if you die, he'll get even more depressed. He'll live with the idea that he was what caused your death. Please...don't do that to him."
Yami closed his eyes, tears finally escaping and sliding down his cheeks as he fell to his knees at that dreadful reminder. He burst into tears and sobbed into his hands, shaking. Heba wrapped his arms around him in a hug, feeling his own tears arise.
Yami shook his head. It wasn't Yugi's fault. He knew it wasn't Yugi's fault. None of it was. Yami had such a hard time now. He didn't want to live in pain, but he also didn't want to hurt his Aibou.
"B-But..." Yami hiccuped, nuzzling into his brother as he continued to cry, "It isn't his fault..."
Heba patted his back, cuddling him in return. He cradled him close, frowning sadly.
"You have to tell him that yourself..." He whispered sadly, "In your physical body. You have to console him and reassure him that everything isn't because of him. If you visit him in a dream, you have to understand that...he'll just assume that you're already dead. And that is the worst thing to do right now.
"...he'll then think that he was behind everything that caused your death. He'll only get worse."
Yami whimpered, nuzzling into his brother's shoulder as he cried. Heba held him closer, closing his eyes sadly. He was just as confused as Yami was when he had to make that decision. The decision that Yami was making now.
"I-I..." He whimpered, hiccuping, "I don't know w-what...to think now."
Heba sighed sadly and held him closer before finally separating from him. He looked at him sadly.
"Look, I'll give you some time to think about it and I'll leave so you can think..." He let him sit up and watched as Yami hugged his knees close to his chest, "I'll come back. If you're not back on earth by the time I get back, we can go to heaven together...just me and you."
He found that his gaze fell sad at the sound of his final statement. He stood and finally crouched beside his brother for the last time, hugging him from behind.
"I love you, big brother. And I know you'll make the right choice." He whispered reassuringly, "I only want you to be happy, and if coming home with me makes you happy, then so be it."
Yami only slightly nodded in return, deep in thought. It was so hard to make this decision.
Heba stood once more, his wings extending as he took flight, becoming just a beam of light in the distance.
Yami lay back on his back. He wanted to leave this world. To leave all the pain and suffering in it. But he didn't want to leave his Aibou.
He looked at the endless blackness that stretched out before him.
"Oh dear Ra..." He muttered, "What am I to do..?"
-------
Mana sat in the same plastic chair that Yugi did 15 hours earlier. It was 10:30 and she was leaving to go home, but decided to stop by Yami's room.
She anxiously Waited for those tests to come in. They were taking so long...they never too this long.
She held the hand she always did, gently rubbing the many bruises on the arm proceeding from it. Yami was covered in many dark bruises from head to toe, and looking at him painted her heart.
"Yami...I'm so sorry this happened..." She sniffed, feeling tears come to her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt the faintest squeeze on her hand and she jerked her gaze to the male in the bed.
Those eyes that had remained still for as long as she could remember opened as slits, their deep Crimson glow shining through as she fell to her knees, tears falling down her cheeks.
"I-It's not....h-hi....s....fault...." A low, raspy voice said.