An hour passed, finally causing the nurse to ask the group to leave. Megura jolted awake from the startling noise of Asami's knuckles on the window.
At first, the room was unfamiliar to her and then she remembered that she had fallen asleep. Her shoulders slumped. She sighed, feeling a little more well-rested, but a little robbed of what time she had with him.
In the matter of an hour, she had finally had the best sleep in a long while, but she felt conflicted to leave the very person who gave that to her. She turned her head to look back at Asami, who kept pointing out.
Relenting that she was out of time. Megura sighed, nodding slowly as she got up. As she left, her eyes were quick to dart back and look at Shouji. She couldn't smile though, not this time, as the realization that she had some attachment for him arose. She'd barely known him two days, and she was already fawning over his presence.
It wasn't like they were two international hit sensations who made friends with each other by the part and parcel of the local media. They were just.... two strangers and for some strange damn reason there was something about him - maybe it was his personality and the way he dressed - that made her head swell till her brain was in a fog. Like she just couldn't get him out of her sights.
She hesitated, noticing that a terrible feeling was rising up in her again. It was that sort of emotion that gave her anxiety and made her want to cry. Something that held her throat prisoner when she wasn't being her usual self.
She sighed, pushing herself off the hospital bed before walking back to the door slowly. Her feet dragged at first, but she picked them up to walk more quietly. Maybe Daichi had a point.
Shouji opened his eyes when she slid off the bed. His vision was blurry. He took a deep breath and tried to move but couldn't. The only noise that seemed to press from his lips was a low moan as he grunted while squeezing his side.
In response to hearing him stir awake, she almost felt the need to explain that she had to leave. To tell him it wouldn't be for long. Damn her impeccable hearing. She cursed herself.
She kept her back to him, wincing, but pushed the door open despite her feelings. Sliding the glass door open quietly, Megura shuffled out as the noise of the floor sweeper buzzed down the hall quietly.
She heard the door make a light click and her head turned back towards it to register the sound before she settled down. She still felt bad, but she felt well rested. When they left, it would be quite a bit of time before she went out again, though she was already aware of that.
Shouji stirred. He tried to clear his vision before she left, but he heard the glass close making him wince. The cold emptiness that followed after the silence of her departure made a hard pit at the bottom of his stomach.
He moved a little more to lay flat on the bed and gasped for breath. He hadn't realized he was going to cause himself so much pain.
He'd been able to get out of bed the last couple days, but now just the prospect of moving hurt like hell.
Shouji grabbed his ribs again. His vision was still not correcting despite waking up. Another set of laboured breaths edged out from his chest and he finally decided to hit the button for the nurse.
When a nurse walked in, the first thing she noticed was him grabbing his side. "Sir, what's wrong?" she asked quickly.
"I can't see," he barely said. He gasped as a sharp pain ran up his side.
"Lay back," she told him as he tried to curl in a ball. "We need a doctor in room nine!" She hollered back into the hall after pushing the nurse's button again.
With her next set of direction in order, she moved the hospital gown to see his stitches. They were puffy and infected.
"What's going on?" the doctor asked, walking in. He heard the nurse say something about his stitches being infected. "Start an IV of antibiotics now." The doctor's voice edged back into clarity.
The doctor could tell Shouji was running a fever without having to take his temperature. "We'll get you fixed up." The doctor said, nodding for the nurse to give him something for the pain. This would also lower his fever and put him to sleep. "Continue giving him this every 6 hours. If he's not improved in a couple days..."
Shouji was out of it. He couldn't understand what they were saying or doing. He finally passed out from the pain before the medicine really kicked in.
"You're kidding!" Bernard laughed, sitting back against his chair with a cup of black coffee.
Daichi nodded, leaning back in his office chair. "Yeah, we sat outside the house as it burned. Smith was getting some kind of satisfaction out of it. I guess a cigarette or two caught the place on fire. Found some rags and a makeshift fire... I guess someone tried to live in it." He sighed, closing his eyes. He stopped, remembering Shouji then and his smile faded, "Oh yeah... And some punk kid showed up, acting like it was his place." He sat forward. "Hey Smith!" He called, sitting forward.
"What the fuck? Was he living in it?" Bernard snorted, standing up as he went to the front and snatched an unglazed donut from the box. He dunked it in his coffee before stuffing his mouth. "Asami, you listening to this?"
"No. I'm busy." She commented, keeping her nose in the computer, "Chief wants me to find some missing suspects." She sighed. "Got a call in on possibly some dog fight outback the neighborhoods down on Calamari Street."
He rolled his eyes, "Ri-ight," he commented.
Smith walked over to them with his coffee mug, taking a drink. "What?" he asked. He looked at Asami. Damn, he'd like to...
Daichi looked up, seeing him eye Asami, and he ignored it. She was beyond him, by leagues... He snorted.
"What?" Bernard shot his attention back to Daichi.
"Who was that punk loitering around the house?" Daichi asked, leaning back in his chair casually.
"Hardly worth mentioning." Gretchen interrupted, leaning out of her cubicle. "Those guys are a dime a dozen with all the parties and drugs in this city."
Bernard lifted his coffee in cheers to her, "Agreed," he commented, "They typically just OD and graffiti the streets."
"Oh, that shit stain? You remember that kid that almost got trampled to death at the rave a week ago?" he asked. "That was him," he said taking a drink.
"Shouji Takumi?" Hodge peaked out behind his desk to join the conversation. "His sister is the new intern for LGS. Hand picked by the Chief himself. She's like a genius or something," he added.
"No fucking way! This kid has either shit luck or he's just plain trouble." Daichi said in shock. A devious grin spreading across his face. "You're sure?" he asked, tossing the photo from one his files across the desk to him. "This little 'shit'? Shouji was the same kid?" he asked, a plan hatching mid-thought.
Bernard turned, "Woah!" he started, "Since when were you-?"
"I saw him in the hospital the other day. He got the shit kicked out of him real good." Morgan stated, walking in. "We've been looking for the culprit. I've yet to ask what happened. I'm waiting for the doctor to give clearance for him to talk to us," he sighed.
Gretchen shook her head, pulling her headset back over her ears, "It's a waste of time! You'll never find anyone."
"No, I know, but someone filled a report about one party goer injuring several people severely," he sighed. "I've got four more like him in ICU."
Daichi shook his head.
"Yeah, three guys and a girl. It's hard to tell, but they found them out back in the ally. Someone claims the guy probably fled that way."
Daichi's interest perked, "You sure that wasn't a stampede? No way someone could harm that many people in that short of time. I heard you guys were there in minutes."
"No, not really," Morgan answered. "It took us about twenty minutes to get to the scene. I guess someone called in a noise complaint. We were taking our time. Then we saw people fleeing the lot in a panic and had to flip the sirens on."
"Oh yeah," Gretchen nodded. "I remember. Kaylee got the call and dispatched you guys." She rolled her eyes.
"What does it matter?" Fiona asked. " About the Shouji kid anyway," she finished.
"He's street scum. He calls it art, we call it vandalism. It's trash, he's trash," Smith told her.
"His house burned down and you guys are acting like..." Fiona said, trying to reason with them.
"It wasn't his house," Daichi cut in, his eyes narrowing. "And if he was there, it's called squatting. Which is illegal and merit for jail and a fine," he said, cutting her off.
"Oh, damn!" Bernard laughed, "Chill! Chill!" he started, lowering his hands at Daichi, "She's just speaking her mind. Have some sympathy for the kid, he probably has no parents."
"He doesn't," Morgan cut in, his voice a solemn bell in the conversation.
Asami looked up from her computer then and looked at them, "Is anyone going to do their work today?" she asked, scraping her badge from the desk as she pinned it on. She turned to walk out, her long white hair waving behind her in a ponytail. She turned her head as it flipped over her shoulder. "Or are you going to sit on your asses and make the public have good merit for us being shitty at our job?" she huffed, walking out.
"Oh! She's fire!" Dan laughed from the back, whistling after her. "Go Asami!"
"Mm... Hate to see her go. Love to watch her leave." He smiled.
"You can't hit that. Or should I say, never?" Bernard snorted.
Morgan rolled his eyes in disgust, "Get over yourself, Smith," he huffed, walking away.
Daichi refrained to comment, but he heard Gretchen utter 'pig' back behind her cubicle. He sighed, "Come on, Smith. Rounds," he grumbled, getting up.
"Whatever," he said, getting up to follow Daichi out.
Bernard burst into a fit of laughter at his response as they left.
The street was mostly quiet as the two crossed into the alley from the street. Tensei gazed up at the slack mohawk John had, contemplating his hair preference despite his moral compass and lack of enthusiasm about his appearance.
Unaware, and with little consciousness of himself, John scratched at the back of his head. He had been tossing ideas of the week's work in his mind between his time at home, playing with his instruments. Tensei had caught him as he had crossed part way through town and decidedly walked alongside him on his way into work.
"Man," John breathed, closing his eyes. "I can't believe Nobuko convinced you to work one night."
"Nobuko said... Who was it? Selene? She called off on an emergency." Tensei frowned, his hands shoved in his coat pockets as they made their way to the bar. "She offered me free drinks for an entire night. It's hard to pass up when it's probably a straightforward way to a good night." He mumbled.
"You really lay it on thick, huh?" he asked, exasperated at Tensei's idea of what a good night entailed with the entice of a little liquor. "Don't you have hobbies?"
"No." Tensei told him shortly.