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Mello held the phone to his ear. Everyone stared. A few moments passed, and he hung up the phone. "Nothing." Mello said with a sigh.
"Let me see those numbers again." Matt said as he lit a cigarette. He looked over the numbers carefully. As he did so, the room fell silent. Mello ate his chocolate and Near swung his toy around.
"So," Near said, trying to break the silence. "Have you always had red eyes or did something happen to make them change color?"
Constance looked at him in surprise. It was such a random question, but, the silence was also getting to her, so she answered.
"I used to have blue eyes. But, after working with L on so many cases, my eyes became very blood shot. Then he died and I was tortured and I guess my eyes didn't feel the need to change back. The redness dulled down a bit, but it's still an obvious red." She looked down and stared playing with the ends of her long black hair.
"Hey guys," Matt said is a questioning voice. "This may have nothing to do with what these numbers really are, but I think this might be a list of the birthdays of some people Bryon kidnapped." He handed the paper to Mello along with a red pen. "I circled my birthday." Mello looked over the numbers and, sure enough, in perfect sequence, the numbers of his birthday were on the paper. He circled the numbers and handed the paper to Constance.
"Well," She said when she circled her birthday and handed the paper to Near. "If he knows our birthdays, he probably knows our real names."
Near circled the numbers of his birthday and handed the paper back to Matt. "Whammy House does keep the names and birthdays of their orphans' top secret. If Bryon has our birthdays, he probably has our names."
"He's telling us that even though we got away once, doesn't mean we can completely escape." Constance looked at her arms and the numerous stitches imbedded in them.
"Damn…" Mello said quite angry.
The door to the hospital room opened and three nurses walked in. One of them had a cart with hospital food on it and the other two started looking over Near and Constance. The red head looking over Near smiled as she ran her fingers over the staples in his head. The blonde that was looking over Constance took out a small flashlight and shined it in her eyes. After they had finished, the two nurses left leaving the one with the food cart. She placed a tray of food on Near and Constance's laps and walked out.
"He's playing a game with us." Matt said after he was sure the nurses couldn't hear him.
"I think it would be best if we all stayed together." Near said, twisting his hair in the way only he did. He pushed his tray over so he could more freely move his legs. Constance, on the other hand, had immediately picked up the small bowl of mint-chocolate chip ice cream and proceeded to eat it.
"But wouldn't it be easier for him to get us if we're all together?" Matt said.
"Well," Constance said sounding a lot livelier after eating some of the sweet ice cream. "He has already caught us once when we were apart. So, we might as well try staying together."
A few days later…
"Looks like you're both set to go." Dr. Black said after looking over Constance and Near one last time. "Seeing how early you woke up leads me to believe that you can leave."
Nothing new had been found out about the case within those few days. The only thing that the boys learned is that Constance ate minty things like Mello ate chocolate bars. They had also learned that she lived nearby and had enough room for the boys to move in.
The four Whammy children walked to the hospital parking lot and got in Matt's car. Matt had brought a spare change of clothes Constance but, she was so much shorter than him. She probably would have looked more normal in the hospital gown than in baggy Matt clothing. Mello had gone out earlier that day and bought Near a new pair of white pajamas.
"Turn here." Constance said from the back to the car. She and Near were in the back, Matt was driving and Mello sat shot gun.
"This is the business area of town." Matt said, looking at the surrounding buildings. "You can't tell me you live here."
"Truth be told, I don't live here. But when L died, the task force headquarters was left behind. Whammy House gave me the deed, but I didn't want to live there. Turn right. But, seeing that we're working on a case and need a place to stay, it seems perfect."
Matt pulled into the parking garage of a large silver building. He parked in the spot right next to the elevator. The four of them got out of the car, scanned their eyes for entrance, and rode up in the elevator. They entered the main room. It hadn't been touch since L died.
"I'm going to go change." Constance said, walking up the stairs. "Make yourselves at home."
