Turnabout Labyrinth

[IV]

[A/N:] Everyone, thanks for not being mad at me for the different chapter lengths. I've had people complain about it in other stories. Blazibla, you have a good point, please bear with me through this chapter and see the rest of my notes at the bottom of the chapter.

"Nick, you look like you didn't get any sleep at all last night." Maya said worriedly as she followed her boss into the courthouse.

"I slept." Phoenix replied. "I just didn't have a good night's sleep."

"What happened?"

"I got a phone call last night that Edgeworth had had another seizure last night. He was alright when I got there, and then he got worse later that night. So I ended up staying there overnight. You're not allowed to tell anybody that, either." Phoenix warned her.

"What happened that made him worse?" Maya whispered as they stopped at the elevator and the lawyer pressed the button for it.

Before he could answer, however, someone else spoke up.

"ATTENTION MISTER PHOENIX WRIGHT!"

Both of them, as well as everyone in the near vicinity, covered their ears.

"Why are you using that microphone inside the courthouse?" Phoenix shouted back.

Meekins shrugged. "MISTER PHOENIX WRIGHT, THE DEPARTMENT HAS SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU!"

"I'll answer them! Just turn that thing off!" Phoenix replied. "And I won't answer any questions until you do!" He watched as the officer turned the microphone off and then asked, "Well?"

"We need to examine your car."

Phoenix and Maya looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Meekins. "My car? What for?" Phoenix asked.

"We got a tip that there might be evidence in your car."

"Evidence for what? I have like five cases' worth of evidence in my car."

"Evidence for what happened to Mr. Edgeworth, of course!" Meekins explained.

Phoenix and Maya looked at each other again, and then Maya expressed their understanding of the situation. "Huh?"

"Mr. Edgeworth? Pssst…Mr. Edgeworth?"

Edgeworth reluctantly opened his eyes and saw Kay Farday grinning at him. He closed his eyes again.

"Mr. Edgeworth! Don't go back to sleep!" She cajoled.

With a sigh – so much for making up for the sleep he had lost last night – Edgeworth opened his eyes again.

"I was worried for a minute there. You were so still I was afraid you were dead!" Kay told him.

"Kay, do you see this machine next to the bed?"

"Yes?"

"Do you hear it beeping, and see how the line on it is moving?"

"Yes."

"That is how you should have known that I was alright. If I wasn't breathing it would be setting off an alarm." Edgeworth explained.

"Ooh."

"How did you know I was here?"

"I talked to Gummy last night and he said you were in the hospital, so I thought I'd come by and see you." Kay told him. "And look!" She rooted around in her bag for a moment and then pulled out a DVD. "I thought you might be bored, so I brought you something to watch. I know you really like this show."

It was a DVD of Season Three of the Steel Samurai show.

Edgeworth considered it for a moment. "Did you bring something to watch it on?"

Kay smiled. "Sure did!" She said, pulling a small laptop out of her bag.

"Very well. I can't promise I'll stay awake for the whole thing, though."

"What do you mean, evidence in my car? Why would I do anything to Edgeworth?"

Gumshoe rubbed the back of his head. "That's what we're trying to figure out, pal," he told Phoenix. "All I know is we got a call last night and someone said there was evidence related to the case in your car."

Around the precinct, the sounds of quiet working went on.

"You guys can search my car if you want." Phoenix said after a moment. "You won't find anything. At least, nothing pertaining to this incident. And it's not really my car. It's a rental car, and it has to be back by the end of this week."

"Nick, we have to be in court in ten minutes." Maya, who had been sitting nearby, reminded him.

"I'll be in court if you need me, Gumshoe." Phoenix said as he turned away.

"Sure thing pal. Don't worry about it, we'll get this sorted out." Gumshoe promised.

Phoenix nodded and tossed the car keys down onto the desk. Then he left, followed by Maya.

Determined to put the matter out of his mind and do the best job he could for his client (who he firmly believed was innocent,) Phoenix went to court.

But as he argued, from time to time, he wondered how detective Gumshoe was making out with the investigation and how Edgeworth was doing in the hospital.

This is not fair to my client at all. I can't focus on this case when I'm worried about other things. Maybe I'd better give Apollo a call when we're done…

In the middle of a witness's testimony, a police officer entered the courtroom. "Mr. Phoenix Wright?"

This is not going to be good… Phoenix thought, exasperated, before he turned to the officer. "Yes?"

"The department has some questions for you pertaining to the poisoning of Mr. Miles Edgeworth."

Hoo, this is not good.

"Well, erm," The Judge stuttered, looking at Phoenix. "Mr. Wright, how do you explain this?"

"I'm sorry Your Honor, I don't know what the police have found so I don't know how to explain it. The defense requests an early adjournment and an extension of the trial due to extenuating circumstances." Phoenix replied.

The Judge considered it for a moment. "Are there objections from the prosecution?" At the substitute's murmured dissent, the Judge banged his gavel. "The court will recess for the day. Mr. Wright, if you are going to cause such problems for the court in the future, I suggest that you arrange for a substitute for yourself."

"Yes, Your Honor," Phoenix replied. He pulled out his cell phone and handed it Maya. "In my address book you'll find Apollo's number. Call him and tell him I need a favor. Come find me when you're done." Then he turned and followed the police officer out of the courtroom.

To Phoenix's surprise, they went to an interrogation room back in the police station. "Am I being arrested?" Phoenix asked.

"No, not now." The officer replied. "We just have some questions for you. While going through your car, we found this." The officer held up a bag containing a small vial.

Phoenix looked at it, trying to remember which case it could possibly be from. "Okay. I'm sure I have a record of where I picked it up at."

"We certainly hope so, Mr. Wright, because the residue found in this bottle has the same chemical composition as the unidentified substance that was discovered in Miles Edgeworth's blood work."

The man stopped outside the hospital door and tapped on it. Kay looked up suspiciously. "Who are you?"

Edgeworth had been dozing, but Kay's words had roused him. "He's my doctor, Kay."

The man smiled as he came into the room. "I'm Dr. Hiram Milton. I'm a poison specialist here at this hospital. I'm glad to see you're doing better today, Mr. Edgeworth."

Edgeworth looked away. "I'm terribly sorry about last night."

Kay looked at him curiously but much to Edgeworth's relief, did not ask.

Milton chuckled. "It's a hospital; that sort of thing is to be expected here." The he became serious. "I received a sample from the LAPD and ran it. It matches the substance in your bloodstream, though I have yet to be able to identify the substance."

"Is there a suspect?" Edgeworth asked.

"I don't know." Milton replied. "All they told me was that it was found in the possession of some lawyer.

Feeling sudden suspicion, Edgeworth asked, "Do you know which lawyer"

"He had a weird name…uh, some mythical creature. Phoenix Wright, I think."

I was afraid you were going to say that. Edgeworth thought.

"Apparently they were sifting through evidence he had stored and came across it." The doctor said.

So it could just be that I was poisoned by one of Wright's clients. Edgeworth considered it for a moment, then shook his head.

It was never this easy.

[A/N:] Thank you, everyone, for not being too mad at me for varying chapter lengths! I've gotten called out on that before in other fandoms, actually, which is why I was so worried about it. Blaziebla, gomenasai. *bows deeply* At the time I began writing this, I did not know that Phoenix had neither a car nor a license, so I said he had a car, then I learned he didn't, and then I changed it. He's just renting the car. I don't know if this is better or not. Gomenasai!

Franziska will be coming in later on in the story. I don't know that she'll be super important later on, but she is coming. (And she is going to shake people up when she does!) Maiks-heart, don't worry. I don't plan on using too many technical medical terms. (I don't know that many of them!)

Anyway, I hope my tampering with the fandom can be tolerated. thank you for your support so far, and please review and let me know what you think.