Chapter 2

Luke did his best to suppress the bleeding until the ambulance came. After that, there was little he could do. He had to wait in the halls of the hospital while doctors urgently tended to the badly hurt professor. The wait seemed to last a century as the poor apprentice agonized over what had happened to his mentor.

Luke held his sweater in his hands as he waited in the hallway of the hospital. The material now showed as much red as blue, stained with fresh blood. Luke's eyes welled up with tears as he clutched the garment, staring into the bloodstain. This was all his fault...

"Excuse me," A nurse suddenly said to Luke. "Can you tell me his name?"

"Huh?" Luke murmured.

"What is your father's name? We need to formally admit him."

Luke realized that the nurse was referring to the professor.

"Oh, he's not my father..." He explained.

The nurse looked confused.

"Oh?"

"He's my friend." Luke elaborated. "And I'm his... apprentice."

"I see." The nurse accepted, although she still seemed confused. "Well, can you tell me his name? And would you like to call your parents?"

"Yes, please." Luke replied. "And his name is Hershel Layton."

"Hershel Layton? The famous professor?!"

Luke barely nodded.

"My goodness... I mean, thank you. Let's get you a phone to call your parents."

Luke cried into his bloodied sweater after calling his parents. It had been painful to explain what had happened to the professor, especially the part where he'd run off and left his mentor to be ganged up on. Luke couldn't forgive himself for that.

"LUKE!"

Luke looked up to see a rush of pink coming toward him. It was Flora, who looked as upset as he was.

"I heard what happened! Is he okay?!"

"I don't know..." Luke said as he shed a tear. Flora started to cry too.

"Son!"

Luke now saw his parents approaching.

"We picked up Flora on our way here." Clark Triton explained. Brenda Triton knelt next to her son, presenting a clean blue item of clothing.

"I brought you another sweater." She said with concern.

Luke took the sweater and put it on, but he still held onto the stained one.

"Darling," Brenda said sadly. "I'm so sorry this happened!"

"You were very brave, Luke." Clark praised.

"No, I wasn't..." Luke disagreed. "I let him get hurt! I ran away and then he..."

Luke couldn't finish before another rush of tears dropped from his eyes. Clark put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"This wasn't your fault, son." He reassured. "It will be okay. Let's just get you home, and then-"

Several heavy footsteps came through the hallway.

"Not yet!" A deep voice interjected.

The determined shape of Inspector Chelmey strutted up to Luke with Constable Barton in tow.

"I've been informed that the boy has witnessed a crime, so I'll be taking his statement now."

Luke shook his head furiously.

"No! I don't want to talk about this anymore! I just want the professor to be okay!"

"Pull yourself together, lad!" The inspector ordered. "You must tell me what you know so we can find the low-lives who did this!"

"Luke..." Clark said as calmingly as possible. "I know you're horribly upset by this, but the only way you can help the professor right now is by telling the inspector what happened. The police need to find the people responsible for this crime."

Luke hesitated. He didn't want to relive the events again, but he was overcome with guilt. Letting the professor get beaten up had to be the worst thing he had ever done. He had to make up for that by helping in any way that he could, and right now the only thing to do was give a statement on the crime.

"We were just walking..." Luke began. "And then a woman asked the professor to walk her somewhere because she didn't have an umbrella. I didn't want to, but the professor agreed. Then that woman led us into a shady alley and... and these men ambushed us. One of them pinned me to the wall and threatened me with a knife, but then the professor saved me and told me to... run... So I did... And when I came back he was..." Luke stopped, overwhelmed by the trauma of the events.

The inspector asked a few questions, which Luke answered to the best of his ability. Barton took notes, though he seemed uneasy. Finally, the inspector described his opinion on the matter.

"We've had reports of some muggings with similar circumstances, people being lured by a woman needing help and then robbed by a gang. Figures this would happen to Layton. Gentlemen tend to fall victim to such crimes."

Luke's blood boiled. He scowled vengefully at the inspector.

"Are you blaming the professor for being a gentleman?!" The apprentice demanded.

"What? No!" Chelmey defended. "I'm just saying it makes sense."

At that, Luke made a lunge at the inspector, but was quickly restrained by his parents. Chelmey stumbled back.

"Ungh!" The inspector grunted. "Teach that child some manners! You won't try to remove my face again, boy! Come, Barton. We're leaving."

Chelmey walked away, but Luke continued to struggle against his parents.

"Luke, stop!" Brenda begged.

Luke ignored her.

"STOP IT!" Flora screeched.

Luke ceased as Flora got his attention.

"That isn't going to help!" Flora said decisively. "I'm angry too, but the professor wouldn't want us to freak out like this!"

Luke loosened up, returning to his seat.

"You're right..." He agreed.

"Let's just go home, Luke." Clark implored.

"Not now." Luke protested. "I don't want to leave until I know the professor is okay."

As if on cue, a doctor came down the hallway. Luke recognized this doctor, he was the one who had taken the professor away on a stretcher.

"Aren't you Luke?" The doctor asked. "The boy who was with Professor Layton?"

"Yes!" Luke replied anxiously. "Is he okay?"

That's it for chapter two! Please review if you liked it!