"K-Kaiba?"

Startled, said teen almost fell over, but settled for stumbling over to the blonde's side instead.

"Jou?"

"Yeah?" The moaned painfully.

"Heh, you're awake."

"No shit, I hadn't noticed." He spat sarcastically, and then winced as he tried to move.

"I should probably inform the doctor that you're awake." He turned to leave, but was halted when he felt a somewhat cold hand grasp his wrist weakly, "Yes?"

"Please, d-don't leave me alone."

Seeing the pleading look in the once bright amber eyes he nodded and pulled a chair closer to the bed.

"May I ask a question?"

Jou nodded, a bit confused by Kaiba's actions.

"Where have you been for the last month? You wouldn't just up and run away without telling your friends, that's obvious." Kaiba was now staring intensely at the fidgeting blonde, his icy eyes attempting to read the emotions filtering through the other's brown eyes.

Noticing how uncomfortable the blonde had become he slipped his hand into the injured boy's slightly smaller one. He took note Jou's flinch as he had done so.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." Kaiba looked into the amber eyes of the blonde haired boy and for the first time saw the immense fear in those beautiful eyes, "You can tell me, you know. I won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to."

"Y-you promise?" The brunette nodded, "Well… that Monday, the last time I was in school, I kinda got home late. When I got home my dad was… a little angry with me… So to teach me a lesson about responsibility he…"

"What? What did he do?"

"He... kinda… threw me out and told me not to return until school had let out the next day." Jou explained hesitantly, conveniently leaving out the part about the beating he had also received for being late, "So I headed for the park, which is where I usually like to hang out because it's always quiet. No one ever really goes there anymore." He paused and sucked in a breath of air, then winced as it required for his injured ribcage to expand.

"What happened at the park?" The CEO prodded.

"The park wasn't empty like I had expected it to be." He looked down, "When I got there… there were these two men. They looked to be in their mid-thirties or so. I didn't notice them at first; if I had I would have gone elsewhere. I had gone to sit in right outside the gazebo to watch the stars when one of them grabbed me…" He trailed off again, "I struggled and tried to fight back, but the two of them together were too strong. The one guy behind me held a cloth to my nose and mouth while the other guy kept hitting me repeatedly until I passed out."

Kaiba gave his hand a light squeeze to show that he was still listening.

"When I woke up, they started to beat me and…" Realizing what he was about to say, Jou paused, "and that's where I've been this whole time." He finished, still refusing to meet Kaiba's eyes.

Kaiba on the other hand could do nothing but stare at the boy in front of him incredulously, "You look thinner, did they at least feed you?"

"It tasted like milk and stale bread. They had me blind-folded so I couldn't really tell."

"That's it? That's all they gave you?" He may have appeared indifferent on the outside but inside he was storming with rage. `Those bastards, they could have killed him. Beating him like that and then barely feeding him. No wonder he's so fucking skinny, I hope for their sake that's all they did to him."

"Yeah… um… Kaiba… I hate to do this to ya, but I'm feeling kinda tired… You can stay if you want, but you'll probably be bored."

The brunette nodded, though he kept his seat, "I'm comfortable, I'll just stay here and wait for the doctor. I need to speak to him anyway. Get some sleep, pup."

"Ok… Hey, um, Kaiba? Why are you… here?" His pale cheeks flushed prettily as Kaiba glanced at him.

The brunette's lips twitched in a half-hearted smile, `Sometimes that damned blonde is just so cute…' He blinked at his own thoughts, figuring it was probably just fatigue.

"What do you mean Why am I here? You don't want me here?"

"T-That's not what I meant." He jumped but winced when he realized what a mistake that was, "Sorry…"

"Sorry? Why should you be sorry?"

"For… everything…" He sounded very downcast.

"But you have nothing to be sorry for. Go to sleep Jou, you deserve it."

Jou nodded relaxing his sore body as he fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

Kaiba watched the sleeping boy closely, noting every flinch and wince. He could tell Jou was having nightmares. He reached out to stroke some of the beautiful golden locks from the smaller teen's face when Jou cringed away and winced unconsciously from the pain his movement caused.

The blue-eyes boy frowned, `I wonder what he is dreaming about.' He watched the boy for a few more minutes before his own exhaustion won him over and he too fell into slumber.