"Good morning, Izaya-kun. How are we today?"
Shinra smiled reassuringly as he made his appearance, as discreet as ever. Izaya narrowed his eyes on him.
"'We' would be just fine if 'we' weren't tied down like this. So drop the 'we' talk. I thought only nurses did that anyway. You'd make a great naughty nurse, though."
Shinra was nonplussed and merely nodded.
"I see that you seem to be doing just fine. Lunch will be ready soon but first why don't you tell us how you got those cuts."
Izaya stared past him.
"I have no clue of what you're talking about."
"It's alright, let's just keep you here for observation."
It was not a conscious decision but Shizuo receded to the background as soon as Shinra arrived. He did not know how handle the burden of interacting with Izaya on his own. As strong as Shizuo was he was all too aware that he was using Shinra, short and boyish Shinra, as a shield of sorts. His respect for the doctor was growing fast.
"Shinra-sensei, if you do let me go right now you will match your girlfriend in lacking a head. How does that sound?"
"Ah, yes. But let me change your bandages first."
Shizuo placed himself between Shinra and the brewing violence he sensed irradiating from Izaya. Instinct alerted him more than anything else. Izaya cackled.
"So you got muscle head here to act as your bodyguard?"
"Shinra is trying to help you, show some gratitude."
Izaya made a display of pretending to consider this.
"Oh? Is that so? Where would I be without my dear friends! No wait, I'd actually be free instead of- no wait, I see what's going on here. Need an organ donor and I'm the pick of the day? And these cuts, was that practice?"
Shinra merely adjusted his glasses.
"I thought you didn't know about any cuts."
A slow pattern of blood spread over frayed gauze. Izaya balled his hands into fists with enough strain to dig his nails into already weakened skin. His voice dropped to a low predatory tone filled with vicious intent.
"Don't try to mind fuck me, Shinra. No one mind fucks me."
"I'm not trying to confuse you. But Izaya, can you tell me how you got here?"
Izaya stared at him unfalteringly.
"I don't remember. You've drugged me."
"I gave you a tranquilizer because you were hurting yourself."
"My head hurts. Just shut up."
Shinra's attitude changed gears from his mild soft ways to a confrontational sharpness.
"You need to hear this. Those wounds, you did that yourself."
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."
It was a litany circling unto itself as if to avoid the many gaps through which chaos was made visible. Izaya shook his head repeatedly.
"I won't shut up. Izaya, you are sick. You're out of control and need help. That's why you're here-"
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."
Shizuo could not take any more of this. He shook Izaya by the shoulders and tried to establish eye contact.
"Snap out of it already! What is wrong with you!"
Izaya shifted his gaze to Shizuo. His focus was off. Everything was off.
"Shizu-chan…? Don't let him hurt me. Shizu-chan, please. He's going to cut me open and- and- you'll protect me, right?"
The naked plea made cold sweat break all over Shizuo's body and paralyzed him. It was far too pathetic and because of that it disarmed him completely. From a distance Shinra paid close attention, wisely stepping out of the scene for educational purposes.
"You're afraid of Shinra? He wouldn't hurt a fly."
Shizuo glanced at Shinra for confirmation as he made as if to undo the straps. A nod was his only reply.
"Not Shinra- they."
Shizuo unbuckled the leather constrains and helped Izaya sit.
"Who's 'they'?"
Izaya looked around as if he expected an ambush to spring from the very walls. His hands clenched and unclenched in a panicky rhythm. Then he brought them to his head, rubbing bloody bandaged fingertips on his temples.
"My head hurts."
Shizuo sat in bed with him. The white hospital gown clung to Izaya's body precariously as if it was too big for the battered body it contained. Shizuo could see bandages crisscrossed underneath it, covering his heaving chest.