As if witnessing the Flea having a seizure wasn't bad enough, Shizuo was now tasked with touching him. Shrina was too occupied trying to contact Namie to be of any use, and Celty's shadows could only do so much - Shinra had ordered her to wrap them around Izaya as loosely as possible while still doing their job in case he had another seizure. Shizuo knew that all it would take would be a sharp turn around a corner for Izaya to end up lying in the street, hence the steadying hand that he was forced to keep on Izaya's torso under Shinra's watchful gaze. The Flea felt so bony without his coat on - Shizuo could feel his ribs beneath his thumb and a sharp hipbone brushing against his little finger. He'd always known that the Flea was a scrawny little shit, but actually touching him like this made Shizuo uncomfortably aware of how effortless it would be for him to break every bone in Izaya's body. He could have seriously hurt Izaya in the past if he'd really wanted to, but he never had. What had stopped him? Swallowing awkwardly, he turned his attention back to Shrina, averting his eyes from the Flea (although it was hard not to look at him when all he could see from the corner of his eye was Anri worriedly glancing over her shoulder). Shinra was mid-conversation with Namie, looking increasingly pale and agitated by the second.

"I know that...yes. Please Yagiri-san, it's an emergency...if you don't help him he's going to end up with neurological damage...he could even die...Yagiri-san, you know that status epilepticus is a medical emergency!...Yes, as I said, he's already had two tonic-clonic seizures without waking up in between; I've tried to rouse him but he's completely non-responsive...Yagiri-san, I can't follow the pathway alone - I need someone to analyze his bloods and help prepare the correct amount of the solutions...Please Yagiri-san, I don't know what else to say…"

Shizuo's free hand darted out and snatched the phone from Shinra before he knew what he was doing. Although Shizuo was pretty sure that there was already something wrong with Izaya's brain, the thought of him attaining (more?) brain damage or seizing so much that he died made Shizuo's stomach churn. He was repulsed, revolted, furious at the people that had put them in this situation... All he wanted to do was go home and go to bed, not have to deal with seeing the person that he hated most in the world in this state when it made him feel so fucking confused. At the same time, a part of him, no matter how uncomfortable it made him, wanted to stay until Namie came and the Flea was out of danger.

Suddenly, Shizuo felt the muscles beneath his hand contract sharply. His eyes flew to Izaya in alarm, expecting him to have another seizure, but instead he saw vomit and bile dripping onto the carriage floor.

"Ugh, God, he just threw up everywhere!" Shizuo exclaimed, before realizing that he was still holding the phone to his ear. Shinra's frown deepened, and he rose to wipe Izaya's mouth with his already dirty coat, concerned that Izaya might inhale it. "This is going to need a dry clean." He mumbled wearily.

"Heiwajima Shizuo? Look, I'm not interested in-"

"Listen, Namie-san: I hate the Flea more than you do, but I'm helping out for Shinra. If you don't help him, you'll have to live with the fact that Shinra asked you for help, but -because you didn't - someone died. I'm sure your little brother wouldn't like his big sister as much if he knew that, and he'd definitely find out because you wouldn't be able to buy him nice things anymore."

On the other end of the line, Namie tensed at the mention of Seiji. She turned slowly and looked at her brother's face, unmistakable love and pain in her eyes. They were watching a film together in her Ikebukuro apartment. It'd been difficult to get Seiji on his own, seeing as he was so inseparable from Harima Mika. Namie had had to threaten sending Mika back to Yagiri pharmaceuticals for Mika to tell Seiji that she was busy with her girl friends that evening, and it was 100% girls only. Of course, Mika would much rather spend that time with Seiji, but she had to keep up good impressions, right? Seiji had complied, because part of loving somebody was respecting their wishes, and wasn't there a saying that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'? Maybe if he didn't see her for a few hours he'd love her even more!

Inside, Namie was screaming. She'd worked so hard, so hard, to get her brother on his own for a bit, and now it had all been destroyed. She knew that Heiwajima Shizuo was right. Working for Izaya gave her a generous pay, and if she did lose her job she wouldn't be able to afford sending Seiji presents constantly...but Namie still wasn't convinced that she was really needed.

"Why can't you take him to a hospital?" She asked, her suspicion growing.

Shizuo, having already asked Shinra that question himself in the hope that he wouldn't have to spend any longer around the Flea (who was insufferable even when unconscious), knew the answer.

"Shinra says that it's too far away and the ambulance would take too long to arrive. We're at his apartment now." He glanced back at Izaya, knowing that he was going to have to help Shinra move him inside any second now. "The Flea's having another seizure." He added, hoping that this information would encourage Namie to act quickly.

"Fine." Namie spat, wishing that she'd thrown her mobile out of the window after the first call.

Shinra grabbed the phone back off Shizuo. "I'll send Celty to pick you up immediately, Yagiri-san." He hung up and turned to Shizuo expectantly.

"What? How am I supposed to move him when he's like that?"

"I don't know, Shizuo-kun, but you're going to have to try. I can't treat him outside when all of my equipment is inside."

"Can't Celty make a stretcher thingy with her shadows or something?"

Shinra nodded curtly and jumped out of the carriage to explain the plan to Celty. Celty immediately did as told, and Shizuo hastily rolled Izaya onto the makeshift stretcher. "Fucking hell, he's going to fall off it if we're not careful - he's squirming everywhere!" Shizuo grabbed Izaya's arm and yanked him sideways to stop him from falling as Shinra unlocked the door and began speeding up the stairs, Celty following to control the direction of the stretcher and Anri trailing behind uncertainly. Once it was safely inside Shinra's operating theatre, Celty took her leave to collect Namie, Shooter already having taken it upon himself to transform into her usual motorbike.

"Anri-chan, please wait in the living room." Shinra requested, rooting through drawers as Shizuo lifted Izaya onto the operating table. He looked absolutely awful, his hands and face tinged slightly blue and his clothes and hair in a disarray. There was blood trickling out of his mouth again, and he was still twitching uncontrollably. Shizuo could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, bottles clinking, paper rustling and Shinra mumbling under his breath, thudding as Izaya's limbs connected with the table, wheezing gasps as he struggled for breath… It was entirely overwhelming, and Shizuo's mind seemed to stop working for a few seconds until it all came rushing back. There was Shinra pushing him out of the way and proceeding to cut off Izaya's jeans, and Shizuo stepping back, feeling that really, all of this wasn't meant for his eyes.

Finishing what he was doing, Shinra tossed the jeans into the corner of the room, noticing that they were slightly damp as he did so. He didn't say anything, focusing instead on stabilizing Izaya's airway. He knew that urinary incontinence was inevitable for a series of seizures of this magnitude, and he also knew that Izaya would be mortified if he mentioned this to Shizuo. It was lucky that Izaya always wore black and drank so little that it was only noticeable through touch.

Grateful though he was for Shizuo's help, having someone who had no idea what they were doing instead of a fellow medical professional made Shinra feel uneasy. The fact that Izaya was now lying half naked on the operating table didn't help. The last thing that Shinra wanted to do was compromise Izaya's dignity further, but it really couldn't be helped. He needed to assess any injuries that required rapid treatment and to obtain access to injection sites, and unfortunately, Izaya couldn't remain fully clothed for that. Pointing at a tray of cotton wool and antiseptic, Shinra began to direct Shizuo, hoping that he'd prove himself a worthy assistant.

"I need you to swab his outer thigh and then inject him with this." He handed a syringe to Shizuo, and Shizuo took it uncertainly.

"Me?" He asked hesitantly, looking at the syringe with confusion.

"Yes, I'm doing this." Shinra clarified, revealing that he was now cutting Izaya's shirt off. Shizuo took hold of Izaya's knee to still his leg and swabbed the skin cautiously, afraid that he'd do something wrong.

"Tap the syringe so that there's no air bubbles first." Shinra instructed, watching from the corner of his eye as Shizuo flicked it with his little finger.

"Do I need to look for a vein or anything?"

"No. It's an intramuscular injection. Tssk. His ribs are broken." Shinra pressed on Izaya's ribs delicately whilst Shizuo plunged the needle into Izaya's thigh, one eye closed as he pressed the plunger down.

"What was in that?" Shizuo asked, dropping the syringe into a medical waste box set up beside the table. Izaya's broken ribs were the same ribs that Shizuo had felt under his hand earlier, and for once, Shizuo prayed that it wasn't him that had broken them.

"Naloxone, to combat the high level of drugs in his system. From my guess, I'd say that the overdose was on Gamma Hydroxybutyrate. It'd explain the vomiting and seizures, although they can be caused by overdoses of other drugs. Simon said that he'd been at Russia Sushi beforehand, so it's probable that he was spiked whilst he was there. If you add it to drinks it's nigh undetectable. Additionally, it's easily attainable and relatively cheap."

After wiping the blood from Izaya's wounds and cleaning them quickly with some antiseptic, Shinra just about managed to establish intravenous access with Izaya still jerking. He quickly went back to the drawers to look for more drugs, reurning with a handful of vials, syringes and a thin bluish cover, which he placed over Izaya up to his waist.

"You see this ampoule?" Shizuo nodded, not sure what to do or where to stand. "I need you to hold it between his cheek and his teeth, and drip it into his mouth very slowly. Can you do that for me?" Shizuo nodded again, taking the ampoule from Shinra and looking down at Izaya's face, his own brow furrowing.

"What do I do about this mask thingy?"

"You'll have to take it off for a few minutes. It's important that you give him the Midazolam now to try and stop the seizure."

Sliding the mask off Izaya's head, Shizuo watched as the attached bag inflated without the oxygen being breathed in. Gritting his teeth, he tore the plastic tab off the top of the ampoule and slowly slid his fingers into the Flea's mouth. Bloody spit coated his fingers, and Shizuo was tempted to drip the contents of the ampoule as fast as possible to get it over with. As if reading his mind, Shinra reminded Shizuo to drip it slowly.

"He'll choke and it won't be absorbed if you do it too fast." He added. Shizuo reluctantly changed the angle of the ampoule so that it dripped more slowly, wondering when the hell Namie was going to get here. He wished that Anri was the one doing this instead of him, but he guessed that Shinra had thought that he'd be more useful with his strength and how flustered Anri was. The contents of the ampoule continued to deplete until it was empty, and Shizuo retracted his fingers at lightening speed. He'd have to scrub his hands with bleach for hours to get rid of the festering feeling that lingered on his skin. Shizuo replaced the mask and stepped away, wishing that he was anywhere but here. Shinra was too busy inserting a tiny needle into Izaya's hand to notice Shizuo's repulsion, and Shizuo watched, mesmerized, as blood began to flow down the attached tube and into the vial.

"It's a butterfly needle. They're typically used with paediatric clients, but I always have to use it for Izaya; he has 'difficult' veins - like his personality, hey?" Shinra smiled sadly, keeping a hold of Izaya's bony wrist and watching as the blood slowly filled the vial. "At least I have a few in stock. It's easier to use this one right now as opposed to the needles that I use for your blood tests. The tube adds a little more flexibility to the process, so the needle is less likely to hurt him if it moves or goes all the way through the vein." There was a pause for a few seconds as they both looked Izaya up and down. His movement had diminished slightly, but wasn't at all close to completely stopping.

"Do you think that you can test his blood sugar whilst I do this?" Shinra enquired, moving onto a second vial. Shizuo nodded. He'd seen it in a movie before. Prick the finger, make sure the blood goes on the tab, wait for the machine to beep.

"I'm sorry that you have to do all of this Shizuo, I really am. I know how difficult this must be for you, considering how much you hate him. It's a real testament to your personality, that you'd still help him despite everything." Shizuo shrugged, squeezing Izaya's finger harder than necessary.

"I'm not doing it for him." He mumbled, fixing his eyes on the monitor to avoid looking at Shinra. He could sense Shinra smiling, and it made Shizuo want to punch him in the face for being able to see through his lies so easily.

"Then who are you doing it for?"