Tourniquet

Chapter 2

I brought my arm up instinctively to cover my face as a bright light suddenly invaded my vision, violently waking me from an almost unconscious sleep. A groan of protest was my response as the fluorescent color of the light made me aware of the fact that someone had entered my office. I wasn't ready to awaken yet; in fact, I never wanted to rise again. However, someone had insisted on coming in here despite the door being locked.

"Edgeworth?"

'Goddamn it!' I thought to myself, now even angrier. Why did he have to come here? I made it apparent that I had no intention of speaking with him again. Persistent as ever I suppose. "What do you want, Wright?" I didn't even uncover my face before speaking.

There was a pause before I heard his voice again, uncertain and a bit shaky. "Look… I didn't mean to just…barge in on you like this, but-"

"But you did," I hissed, cutting him off. I was in no mood to converse with anyone, especially not him.

"I've been trying to call you all morning," he defended himself. "I didn't even consider coming here until noon."

Noon? Slowly, I lifted my head from my arms and turned it slightly in his direction. "W-what time is it?"

"Well…" He looked down at his wrist, and I noticed how exhausted he appeared. "…It's about two o'clo- What the hell happened to you?!"

Two o'clock? I couldn't believe I had slept that long. With a sigh, I turned my gaze back to the place where my head had lain and noticed that dried blood shown on the sleeves of my black dress-shirt and on the couch as well. I wondered how long I had bled for and whether I'd even be able to get up anyway.

"Edgeworth!"

I snapped my head to the side again to glare at him. "What?!"

He looked horrified at the sight of me, and I guess I can't blame him. "What… what did you do to yourself!?"

"Mr. Edgeworth?"

Quickly, Phoenix Wright turned to face the door and strode toward the two people standing outside of it. "No, just…stay out there."

"But, Mr. Nick, why?"

"Pearls, stay put, okay?"

Eighteen-year-old Maya Fey—the girl whose life had rested on the outcome of that case—and nine-year-old Pearl Fey; they'd both tagged along to come 'visit' me. I have to give Wright credit for being a gentleman and not allowing them to see what was left of me.

"Nick, what's going on? I told you I wanted to-"

"Maya, I know. Just… I don't think now is the best time."

"Why?"

"Maya, please…"

As I listened to his struggle with the two girls I began to try and sit up, which proved much more difficult than I had anticipated. As soon as I made a motion to get up, the sick feeling in my stomach returned in full swing, causing me to gag and my head to spin. It took everything I had to keep from collapsing again, and I finally managed to sit up while leaning against the arm of the couch.

"Come on, Nick. Why can't we see Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Please, take Pearls and go wait in the lobby. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"But, Nick-"

"Maya! Go!"

Even I was a bit startled at hearing him raise his voice to her like that, and judging by the dead silence that filled the hallway, they were as well. After a moment, she spoke again, but only one word.

"Fine."

There were a few seconds during which Wright stood in the doorway, most likely watching them walk away, before he turned to come back into the room.

"You should go with them," I said, staring intently at the floor.

"Not until you tell me what this is about?" he replied stubbornly.

"I don't have to tell you anything," I said. "I'm not your 'buddy', Wright, as much as you might think so."

"That doesn't matter," he retorted. "You can't deny that this is about yesterday's trial, and I don't understand why you'd do something like this to yourself!"

"Oh really?" I inquired. "And how do you know I did this to myself?"

He gave me an indignant look and folded his arms. "You of all people should know by now that I'm pretty good at figuring things out, and this one was pretty obvious."

As he said this, I took a moment to glance around the room. I found no sign of the sheet of paper that had been lying on the floor near my desk, and the window was now shut. 'Franziska,' was my immediate thought, and I was willing to bet she had taken care of the bloodstain in the hallway. I thought I understood that girl, but after what had just happened, I realized just how clueless I really was.

"Well, answer me."

"Why did you come here?" I felt no need to explain anything to him, but he owed me an explanation. "Are you just worrying about me again? I don't need your sympathy, Wright, and I don't want it either."

"Cool it, Edgeworth," he snapped, now as fed up with me as I was with him. "It actually wasn't my idea to come here because I knew you'd be like this."

"Is that right?" I couldn't suppress that sarcastic laugh. "Then whose idea was it?"

"Maya's!"

I hadn't been looking at him while speaking, but at that point, I had to. "What?"

"That's right," he said, "Maya wanted to come here. I'll have you know she's furious with me. I didn't want it to turn out that way, Edgeworth, but I was stuck. I had a heart-to-heart with her last night, and now she wants to talk to you as well."

I couldn't help but stare at him. My mind began to buzz with questions, and it was a long time before I said anything. "Well… I'm in no condition to have a chat with her at this point."

"Like hell you aren't! You could at least speak to her over the phone, and if you can't even do that, you need to get to a hospital!"

"I'm not going to the hospital, Wright! Now get out of my office!" That death glare had returned to my face, but its effect seemed to be lessened in the daylight. His expression didn't change at all.

"Fine, I'll leave," he finally gave in, "but I think you should talk to Maya. There's no reason for you to be angry with her; it wasn't her fault." With that, he turned his back on me and left the room, closing the door behind him.

With a sigh I pulled on my jacket and did my best to stand up. I needed to get home and clean up; there was no way I could stay there any longer. I flipped the collar of the jacket up to hide what I could of my face and slowly moved toward the door. I could only hope that no one happened to be wandering down the hall.

Unfortunately, just as I was making my way toward the door, it opened again and in stepped Franziska von Karma, looking livid. I opened my mouth to say something, but she strode forward too quickly. Her hand connected with my face with such a force that it knocked my head sideways. I only gave a small hiss of pain then turned back to glare at her.

"Thanks for that," I said darkly. "I'll be leaving now."

"Not yet you won't!" In my unstable condition it was easy for her to push me backward, knocking me back onto the couch. She pinned my shoulders against the back of it and proceeded to glare at me. I just stared back at her, unwilling to fight at this point.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it was dangerous. "Do you have no thoughts?!"

"It's none of your fucking business!" I responded in the same tone of voice. "Now get off of me!"

"Not until you justify what you've done!" She wasn't going to let me up.

"I don't have to justify anything to you! And why the fuck do you care?!" We were only speaking quietly so that no one else would hear our conversation, but both of us wanted to start screaming.

"Because I'm the one who found out!" Her hand connected with my cheek again, but this time I gave her no reaction. "I didn't have to get rid of that note or any of the other things I did! I could've let the whole world find out what a weak, pathetic dog Miles Edgeworth really is!"

At this point, I was speechless. I was so angry that I didn't know what to say. I refused to explain myself to her; I didn't have to and I saw no reason to. She could smack me around all she wanted to; I wasn't about to confide anything in that woman.

"Say something!"

I kept my mouth shut, and fortunately a voice came from down the hall. "Miss von Karma?"

She turned quickly and looked toward the door, then back to me, a sigh visibly lowering her shoulders. "All right!" She stood up straight and backed away. "Fine… But I can't wait until your superiors find out about this."

I watched her leave, feeling as if the vein would burst in my temple. I just wanted to get the hell out of there, and I was tired of people altogether. One more strained attempt successfully got me unnoticed from the building, to my car, and back home. By that time it had to be about four o'clock, only two hours after I had been awakened. However, I went straight to bed after taking a few minutes to get rid of as much blood as I could. My mind was racing as I lay down to sleep, and a night of insomnia ensued.

I didn't want this; I wanted it to end. But…was death really the only way out? I could see no other option, or was it being held in front of my face? Perhaps I should have called that girl, perhaps I should have talked to Franziska, perhaps I should have just jumped when the chance had presented itself. In any case, I did none of these things. I was tired, drained, and weakened, and I felt only dread for my next rude awakening.