The sunlight pierced through the thick clouds for the first time in two months. It glistened off the windows of the buildings along the paved streets of London, welcoming the change from the constant rainfall of the previous dreary days. One lone man in a brown top hat admired the dappled light as he let his teacup warm his fingertips.
He wasn't always one for cafes, but during early morning when the breeze was cool and the sunlight was weak, many people were either still asleep or at work, leaving small businesses relatively empty and peaceful. And of course, he was always one for a good cup of tea.
"Professor!"
Layton looked up from the window, catching his young friend Luke wave from a table where he sat with his mother, Brenda. He picked up his bag to move to the empty seat across from his mentor.
"What are you doing here?" Luke's smile was bright, "I thought you didn't wake up early in the morning."
"That's exactly what your father used to say." Layton laughed, placing his teacup on the table, "I managed to get all my work done early last night, to answer your question."
"You should go to bed early every night." Luke let his gaze drift out the large window, "Maybe you'd see me more often, since me and Mom come here every day."
"Hm. Perhaps." Layton brushed off the topic. He'd already had an earful from everyone he knew, "Every day?"
"Yep. I always get a hot chocolate." Luke gingerly sipped from his tall mug, "They make it with extra whip cream here."
The two lapsed into silence as Luke pulled out his notebook to jot something down, tapping his pen to his lip as he thought.
"Hey Professor, something troubling came up the other day."
Layton tried to get a glimpse of Luke's notes, but the boy covered the page with his arm before he could see, "What sort of troubling?"
"Troubling as in mysterious." Luke leaned back in his chair to review what he'd written. He was tall enough now that his feet almost touched the floor, "I've been hearing all about it, but the details don't add up. They keep contradicting each other. I wish we had more information, because I'm sure that it would make more sense if-!"
He was interrupted by the shattering of glass.
Layton jumped from his chair. The window beside the counter had exploded into shards of broken glass, and the rock that had broken it slammed into the register. The cashier screamed, covering her head and shoulders to shield herself from the broken glass. Someone stepped through the new opening, lifting the rock again to hold it over his head threateningly.
"Gimme all the money in the register, or I'll bash yer skull in."
"P-Professor..." Luke trembled as he gripped the handle of his bag.
Layton narrowed his eyes, "Hey!"
"Oi?" the intruder was wearing a black hood which obscured most of his face, "Is that the famous Professor Layton I see?"
"Step away from the counter!" Layton carefully stepped through the sea of broken glass.
"Or you'll do what? Beat me up? With arms like that!?"
"Professor, look out!"
The rock sailed over Layton's shoulder as he just barely managed to dodge. Luke yelped as the rock landed near him.
"Luke!" Brenda ran to him, "Stand up! Let's go!"
Layton jumped away from another blow, bringing his fists up to protect his head. The criminal threw a few more punches, and one of them connected with Layton's jaw. The recoil threw his hat off his head, but he tried to ignore it as he brought his arms up to deflect his attacker, his feet just finding purchase on the polished floor.
"PROFESSOR!" Luke ran to grab the tall hat.
"Luke! Call the police!" Layton swung his fist to deflect another blow, just making out Luke and Brenda disappearing behind the counter to find its phone.
"You ain't gettin' outta this so easy!" the attacker shot his hand out to grab the collar of Layton's jacket, "You think you can be a hero all the time!? Don't make me laugh!"
Almost there. Luke was already dialing. If he could just stall long enough...!
"Let me go!" Layton tried to twist out of the man's grasp, but he'd already got a hold on both sides of his collar. His feet lifted off the ground as his hands went up to the hands that were restraining him, dangerously close to suffocation.
"You put up a big fight for someone so small. I'm impressed, Layton."
Layton tried to at least see beneath the hood to catch a glimpse of his identity, but it was no use. He couldn't even see the man's eyes.
"Still. Not good enough."
"Professor, NO!"
Layton was thrown over the man's shoulder. The sound of shattering glass echoed across the small building, and off the buildings outside.
He'd been thrown upside-down through the giant window.
He landed on his head, and a sickening Crack! reverberated through his skull as he fell onto his back in the street. His vision blacked out. The sharp pain was all he could register in the confusion of screaming bystanders.
"Professor!" Luke grabbed his hand, which was turning pale from the shock, "Professor, can you hear me? Are you okay? Wake up!"
Layton tried to focus on the sound of Luke's panicked voice. He tried to reach out, tried to say something, but he was quickly shutting down. All that came out was harsh, irregular breathing.
The world was still completely black. His hearing was muffled. He was losing his grip.
The last thing he registers before losing consciousness is the distant wine of police sirens.
Layton awoke to the sound of a heartbeat monitor, slowly counting each beat as it kept track of his weak pulse. His eyelids felt heavy, and he could hardly feel his limbs as his thoughts were slowed to a crawl.
Beat. Beat. Beat.
The next thing he became aware of was the hot sticky bandages on the back of his head and around his shoulders and back. The memories were coming back to him slowly, and he realized that something was holding him just above the bed in a sitting position, enough that anyone could have access to the bandaging if they wanted. Three more beats. He counted them.
Beat. Beat. Beat.
It took him one more second to realize that someone was sitting on the mattress beside him. It wasn't hard to guess who that might be.
"Luke!"
Luke looked up at the sound of Clark Triton's voice, "Dad..."
"Are you alright!? I came as soon as I heard!"
Layton tried to move his mouth with any sense of coherence, "Luke?"
"Professor!" Luke shifted further onto the bed, "I've been here all day! Are you okay!? Don't scare me like that!"
Layton squeezed his eyes shut as he attempted to lift his arms. They were too heavy, so all he ended up actually accomplishing was making them shake uncontrollably.
A small hand slipped into his, "Are you awake?"
Layton focused on his sporadic thoughts. It was difficult to breathe, but he tried to anyway. In and out. Slowly.
Beat. Beat. Beat.
"Yes, I'm awake." he finally said, softer than he would have liked, "Though I am incredibly confused. What happened?"
"You flew through the window." Luke rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater, "That criminal picked you up like you weighed nothing! I tried to wake you up, but I think you were in shock and there was so much blood..." he shuttered. "I thought you were going to die. I thought that the whole way here."
Layton was recalling each event that had transpired before waking up here. He remembered the robber, the fight, the broken glass...
"I'm so sorry you had to see that." he tried lifting his head from whatever was holding him in place, but he was simply too weak, "You rode in the ambulance?"
"Of course I did! I wasn't going to leave you when you could have died at any moment!"
Layton forced himself to wake up the rest of the way, tightening his free hand into a fist.
That was when he noticed something.
"Hershel, is it true?" Clark sat down at his other side, "Did you fight a bank robber? Did he throw you through the window?"
Layton didn't hear him. His mind was reeling from the lack of sensory input. He blinked a few times. Still nothing.
Clark leaned forward, "Hershel?"
"Am I blind?"
The words came out so hushed. He had hardly breathed it aloud, but it echoed through his mind like a broken record. He cast his eyes all around the room, knowing all about harsh hospital lights from previous visits, but even though he swore his eyes hurt from the light, the world around him remained completely dark.
Nobody spoke, so he tried again, stronger this time, "Did the impact blind me?"
Clark sighed, "Luke, what exactly did the nurse say?"
"Um," Luke's grip on the professor's hand tightened, "H-He said that the Professor suffered massive brain damage when his head hit the pavement. Combined with the broken glass, it almost gave him a...hem...hem-o-rrha-gic stroke? Whatever that is. Anyway, he said the damage was bad enough that the professor would likely never see again."
"Never?" Clark was clearly horrified, even if Layton couldn't see him, "He'll probably be blind for the rest of his life?"
Luke gulped, "That's what he said."
Layton wasn't entirely sure how to process this information. On one hand, blind people weren't necessarily crippled. They could live perfectly normal and happy lives as long as they were accommodated in a world were most people could see, but...
He just never imagined it would happen to him.
He grit his teeth when another sensation hit him; Pain. As he was waking up, the bandaged wounds on his body were flaring up like they were on fire. It wasn't as bad as before, but it was demanding his attention nonetheless. The monitor sped up in response to his distress.
Beat. Beat. Beat.
"Why does it hurt so much?" Layton lifted his arm to touch the bandaging on his head. It was dry of blood on the outside, but even touching it with delicate movements was making the pain worse.
"That'll be the painkiller wearing off." Luke left the bed to stand up, "Should I ask them to get more?"
"That would be ideal." Layton let his arm fall to his side. How was he going to live like this? How much longer would he have to stay here before he could even walk again? Sure, the crippling weakness would be stifling, but even if his body made a full recovery, what would he do about his eyes?
"Hey." Clark set a gentle hand on Layton's shoulder, "I'm so sorry, but you can make it through this, alright? You're alive, that's what matters right now. The rest can come later."
Layton realized he wasn't breathing thanks to the pain, so he forced himself to inhale so he could answer, "Thank you, Clark."
He heard footsteps as the door was opened wider, and a second later he heard something to his left, and the pain began to ease up. He sighed in relief.
"Is that better?" Luke's voice again.
"Yes. Very much so." He felt Luke's hand return to his own, and this time he had enough strength to give it a gentle squeeze.
"Heheh." Luke sniffed again, holding onto the professor's forearm like a lifeline. Layton imagined he was smiling.
"Hey guys, visiting hours are almost over."
"You can't make me go!" Luke leaned into Layton's side, "I'm staying all night!"
"Luke..." Clark warned.
"He's your friend too, Dad! Don't you understand!? He's only been blind for less than a day, I can't leave him now!"
Layton held the boy close with one arm as he began to cry, "Luke."
"I'm not leaving you, Professor! You can't make me!"
"Luke, listen to me." Layton whispered, "That's it. Hush now."
Luke buried his head in the crook of Layton's neck, but he did slowly start to calm himself.
"I'm not going anywhere." Layton soothed, "I know you saw something frightening happen to me, but you don't have to be with me twenty four hours a day to know that I'm in good hands."
Luke's voice was muffled by the fabric of his shirt, "But if you died while I wasn't here, I would never forgive myself."
There were sadly too many stories where a patient was perfectly fine in hospital only to spontaneously die when no one was looking. It was incredibly rare, but it was also rare to live at all after a shard of glass aided by the concrete tears your skin and cracks your skull.
Layton held the trembling boy closer, "Well, I don't plan on dying anytime soon, but is there something you'd like to say in case you won't get to say it later?"
Luke's grip loosened just enough to pull away, and Layton realized his self-proclaimed apprentice must be looking up at him. He didn't bother to turn his head or even his eyes. What was the point if there was nothing to see anyway? He did offer a smile though, even if it was kind of tired.
"Um..." Luke twisted his fingers together, "You were always there for me, weren't you? I don't want you to be alone in the dark for so long. Just..." He rested his head on Layton's shoulder, careful not to disturb the blood-soaked bandages, "If...if I have to leave, just remember that I will always be your apprentice. Oh, and don't die. That's important too."
Layton laughed, "I'll do my best."
Clark gently guided Luke away from the bed, "I promise you, we'll come back tomorrow."
Luke gave a frustrated sigh, "Okay. See you later, Professor."
"So long, Luke."
The door closed, and the room was plunged into silence.