Chapter Ten

"Where are you going, Heiji-kun?"

"Um… well… my father said I had to take care of something for him in Tokyo."

"Alright… be careful!"

Heiji wiped sweat off his face as he climbed into a taxi. Thank goodness… he thought. I thought she would be more perceptive and realize something happened to Kudou. She sure is like her father… He managed to pull himself together by the time he arrived at the hospital. At the front door was Inspector Megure.

"How is he?" Heiji asked.

Inspector Megure sighed. "Last the nurse told me was that he's in critical condition," he replied. "He has severe head trauma, and they think he may be in a coma."

Heiji cringed. "Can we go see him?"

Inspector Megure shrugged. "You can ask if you want to. I have other things to take care of…" With a small wave, he left the hospital. Heiji quickly asked the front desk if he could see Shinichi.

The nurse checked her papers. "Yes, he is currently in room 304." Heiji thanked the nurse and quickly went to Shinichi's room. He looked truly awful with the bandage wrapped on his forehead that was quickly turning red. Heiji noticed that the trash can was full of bloody bandages as well. From what the papers said, Shinichi had a blow to the head from something, most likely a lead pipe, and has head trauma and is in a coma.

A gasp came from behind Heiji. He grinned, not turning his head around. "Come on out, Ran-san," he said, "I know you're here."

Ran slowly walked into the room, her face pale. "How did you know I followed you?" she asked.

Heiji smirked. "I know that you're not the person to stay put when someone you care about is missing," he replied. "Besides, I know you two share a rare blood type, so you would have wanted to see if they needed your blood for him."

Ran stared down at her clenched fists. "Why would someone do this to him?" she asked in a whisper. "Why would they want Shinichi dead?"

Heiji sighed. "He probably saw something he shouldn't have," he said.

Ran's eyes widened. "You know where he was, don't you?" She backed Heiji against a wall, quickly growing mad. "Tell me where he was!"

Heiji hesitated. "He… was investigating…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ran cried. "I've been worried sick about him, and then Professor Agasa calls me, saying Shinichi's in the hospital! Why didn't you stop him from investigating?"

Heiji sighed again. "There was something… about his voice," he replied quietly. "Something in his voice was saying that he was worried about you, as well as the friends he's made as Conan Edogawa. He doesn't want anything to happen to you, so he wanted to finish the case quickly."

Ran shook her head. "He's always been like that…" she whispered. "He hates it when someone worries about him, and yet he worries more than anyone! Also… do you know where he was when he was attacked?"

Heiji nodded. "He was at the scene of the third child killed by a serial killer," he replied. "He said something about 'having a lead.' But apparently, the killer got to him…" Heiji was lying; he wasn't sure if the serial killer was the one that attacked him. If he was, there would be cyanide in his body and a stab wound in the arm. Instead, there was a blow to the head. Either someone else attacked him, or the culprit really did attack him that way to throw off the police.

Ran thought for a moment about something. "I think… I think I will see if he needs my blood," she said as she quietly left the room.

Heiji sat down next to Shinichi, a thought pressuring his mind. What really happened to you, Kudou? Were you really attacked by a serial killer?

Ran's biggest concern was true: Shinichi had lost so much blood that they needed to do a blood transfusion. Since his blood was so rare, they were thankful when Ran came and said they shared blood types. They took her to a room and began drawing blood.

Please… let this blood heal Shinichi…

"You're worried about the boy, aren't you?" the doctor asked with a smile. "It appears you know him quite well."

Ran nodded. "I've known him since we were young," she replied. "He is a high school detective, so he gets into a lot of trouble."

The doctor sighed, saying, "I've noticed that a lot of teenagers have tried becoming detectives and get themselves hurt. It's all because of this rascal right here…"

Ran smiled a little before growing serious again. "Do you know… if he will wake up?"

"I can't be sure," the doctor admitted sadly. "There is only a small chance that he won't wake up by tomorrow afternoon, but we will wait and see. For now, you can stay at my place when I get off work. Is there anyone else with you?"

"There is only Heiji-kun…" she replied quietly.

The doctor gasped. "Ah, I presume that is Heiji Hattori of Osaka, correct? In that case, you both can stay at my apartment! I will get off of work in a couple hours, so would you mind keeping an eye on Shinichi-kun?"

Ran thanked the doctor and returned to Shinichi's room, where Heiji was deeply thinking about something. "What's wrong, Heiji-kun?" she asked.

Heiji jolted out of his seat, surprised. "Hey, Ran-san… I guess I was thinking too much again…" He laughed a little, pretending nothing was wrong. In reality, he had been called by Inspector Megure and told that a fourth child had been murdered on the other side of Japan, showing that Shinichi could not have been attacked by the serial killer.

The fourth child killed was surprisingly someone close to one of the victims: Rika Izumi's infant sister Haruna. For some reason, no one was in the same room as Haruna when she was killed, even though she's an infant. Her mother Naomi said Haruna was taking a nap, but it just didn't make sense to Heiji. Why would someone leave their infant alone when their elementary child was just murdered? Heiji's vision started to blur, and he collapsed back in his chair.

Ran's eyes widened. "Are you okay, Heiji-kun?"

Ran's worried tone sent Heiji out of his thoughts. "Wha… what happened?"

Ran sighed and shook her head, rolling her eyes. "You are just like Shinichi…" she muttered. "You were thinking about something when you suddenly collapsed. Are you getting sick as well?"

Heiji laughed. "No," he replied, "it's just that I've been staying up a lot for the past few nights trying to figure something out on this case, but there is no evidence. Even the few things left mysteriously disappear!" He yawned and closed his eyes. "Wake me… in a couple hours…" He slumped against the back of the chair and began to snore softly.

Ran pursed her lips. "That's it," she said, "those two are going on a vacation!"