Beat. Beat. Beat.
It was a familiar sound. He opened his eyes to the hospital room he'd grown accustomed to. He could see the room, but even though he swore he could feel machines hooked up to him, he saw none of that.
He grit his teeth. Someone was there. The one who gave him his hat. She smiled, placing a finger to her lips as she turned to leave the room.
He was too far gone in that moment to consider that it might be a hallucination.
"No, please." his hoarse voice wheezed, "Don't go."
"Professor?"
The hallucination faded. Luke was sitting beside him, a patch over his head from where he head-butted the guard.
"Luke?" Layton laughed, though nothing about the situation was funny, "Oh, what have I turned into?"
"Professor." Luke took his hand, "You were pushed to the edge. Nobody could have handled that."
Layton stared up at the ceiling, each memory of the previous day coming back to him slowly and out of order. He was dazed and confused, touching his face to find the bruise on his cheek and the bandaged cuts on his forehead. Both arms were wrapped in gauze, though they didn't feel particularly injured.
"I'm glad you're okay." Luke sniffed, "Jeez. At this point, you're going to give me a heart attack."
"Ah, Layton. You're awake." the voice of Inspector Chelmey of Scotland Yard, "We have a few questions for you."
Layton sat up a bit straighter, wincing at the soreness of his joints, "Alright."
Someone else sat on his bed opposite to Luke. It must be flora.
"What's your history with Mitchel Cracker?" Chelmey began, "Why did he single you out? And what could have caused such a reaction?"
Of course that would be the first question. Events were still unfolding for Layton as he continued to wake up, so he lifted his hand, "I'm sorry, Inspector. My thoughts are muddled right now. Please give me a moment."
"Of course. Take your time."
Layton tried to reach back, though the memories brought him physical pain. He landed on one of Cracker ripping his jacket off and ramming his knee into his stomach. Ouch.
"Oh my..." Layton stifled his rising anger, "That's right, he was a student who failed his midterm paper."
Chelmey bristled, "Pardon?"
"Inspector, Mitchel Cracker was one of my students. Apparently, he resented me deeply for giving him a failing grade, which lost him his scholarship."
Chelmey rose his eyebrows, "What? Twelve victims, fifty guards, a million establishments broken into and terrorized, all for one failed bloody grade!?"
"That is what he told me." Layton crossed his arms, relieved at least that he was in better shape than the previous times he had visited, "I was under a lot of pressure to give him a passing grade. My fellow professors gave him what he wanted, but I wasn't just going to hand it to him. I wanted him to earn it."
"But he didn't, eh?" Chelmey scratched his chin, "You gettin' this, Barton?"
"Yes sir!" the sounds of a scratching pencil filled the room.
"Right. Next, I simply need you to confirm something for me." Chelmey continued, "Witness statements say the party was going well until the speakers turned on to explain a little, 'game'. All the lights cut out and a gunshot was heard every five minutes until you could locate the bloke. He ended up claiming twelve lives, which would mean you were searching for him for just over an hour before he was found. Does this add up with what you remember?"
Layton gripped the bed sheets that lay over his legs. He surprised himself when a single tear rolled down his cheek. An entire hour? No wonder he went so far off the deep end.
Realizing he still hadn't answered, he opened his mouth, "Yes, that's correct."
"I'm sorry if this is painful to recall, but we really do need as accurate information as possible." Chelmey paused to let Barton catch up, "A fellow officer informed me that you were the one to knock Cracker unconscious, which puts you under some suspicion. What had been happening before that?"
"Well, he tried to kill me-!" Layton bit his tongue. Now was not the time to lose his composure, "I...I honestly don't know what came over me, I just...he threatened to hurt Luke and I..."
He didn't even really remember it. All he could perceive in that moment was his wild desperation; All of the pain and fear that had accumulated over the course of the past few months was unleashed into his final punch. An uncharacteristic act of malicious violence. He wasn't thinking at all. He just wanted Cracker rendered harmless.
"I..." Layton let his head fall, attempting to hide his expression from the inquisitive officer, "I am ashamed of what I did, but I don't regret it."
Luke covered his eyes with one hand, "Professor..."
Chelmey thought for a moment, "So you admit to it, then?"
"I see no reason not to." a sudden jolt of horror straightened his spine, "Wait, he didn't die, did he!?"
"No, he didn't die, but he will be in hospital for awhile until we can arrest him. I only wish we could've gotten inside sooner. Sorry about that."
Layton's legendary brain was finally catching up, "I doubt it would have helped. It was pitch-black inside, and I found no evidence that there were any snipers within the building."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Why? Was I mistaken?"
"Well, we do have plenty of men in our custody who are suspected of being the shooters, but though the victims were definitely shot with something, there was no other evidence of a gun at the scene of the crime." Chelmey shrugged as he turned to leave, "I only tell you this because you've been helpful to us in the past, and if you can help us with any details, well...you deserve to have the full story. But enough about that, I'll let you rest for now."
His footsteps faded down the corridor, Barton not far behind.
"You really are a lost cause, Professor..."
"Hm?"
Luke's eyes were hidden beneath the rim of his blue cap, until he shouted, "You're an idiot!"
Layton reeled back.
Flora cringed, "Luke! Don't yell in a hospital!"
"I can't believe that after all of that, when your face and arms were covered in blood and you could barely even stand, you had the nerve to ask us if we were hurt!" Luke kept on shouting like he would never get another chance, "Trust me, Professor, seeing you like that is the worst pain I've ever felt! Never do that to me again!"
Layton leaned forward to gather the sobbing boy into his arms, "Luke, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, I was just so..."
Luke nodded in the embrace, "I know. We all were. Just don't do that again. No more near-death experiences, okay?"
Flora joined in the hug, and Layton wrapped his arms around both of them.
"Okay." Layton shook with unresolved tension, "No more near-death experiences."
Luke waited for a second, "And...?"
"And?" Layton's grip loosened so the children could look at him, "What else is there?"
"You're professor Layton." Luke said simply, "You can figure it out."
In response, Layton reached further back in his memory for any other reasons Luke could be upset with him. His attention landed on the crumpled ticket he knew was still in his pocket.
"And...no more doing things by myself." Layton recalled all the time he'd spent in the dark all by himself, an involuntary shiver running through him, "I never should have split us up. I was only putting myself in more danger. I'm sorry."
That seemed to be the right answer, because Luke's voice lost all its careful hostility, "Good, and make sure you actually remember that, or my name isn't Luke Triton."
Layton leaned back against the pillows, feeling more exhausted than he ever had in his whole life. The ache in his muscles and joints, the way his heartbeat pounded against his growing headache. No amount of all-nighters could have given him such a need to rest as everything that had transpired, but he wasn't quite done talking yet.
"I thought you'd been shot."
Luke flinched away, his hands still holding tight to the professor's.
"I heard a gunshot so close to where you'd left to. I almost expected to hear you scream." Layton let the tears fall freely, not in despair this time, but in pure elating relief, "The whole way up the tower, I was afraid that I'd missed him on a lower floor, and now he would find you and kill you. I tried not to think about it, but I was so sure I would lose all of you, without even a chance to say goodbye..."
His voice was too shaky to continue. He covered his face with both hands. Layton was no stranger to grief. He had lost so many loved ones over the course of his life, but even when he thought he could live with the growing void in his heart, just when he was sure he'd gotten used to it, someone else would be taken and the grief would be back like an unwelcome guest.
"I'm so happy..." Layton lifted his hands so the children could see his true, genuine smile, "...that wasn't the case."
"Professor..." Flora dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve.
Luke laughed, wiping his own tears away, "I understand. If you died, I don't know what I would do..."
Layton's tears stopped in response to his exhaustion, "Let's not think about that now. All four of us made it out with our lives. If you ask me, that's cause for celebration."
"Celebration?" Emmy poked her head into the room, "I'm up for that after going through hell...Professor, have you been crying?"
Layton relaxed, his fingers trailing the bruise on his face, "Yes. Even gentlemen cry sometimes."
Emmy smiled as she knelt by the bed next to Luke, and the four shared one last hug before Layton finally drifted into beautiful, dreamless sleep.
A feeling of calm washed over him. They were okay.
He was okay.
THE END
