Chapter 3

"Let's split up… Maybe we can find him, Hershel."

"Right, Emmy. Let's do that." I nodded, agreeing. Emmy nodded and ran off, heading towards Horse Guards Road.

I decided to go down Bridge Street. I ran as fast as possible, racing past people. People stared at me funny, but I didn't care. I raced across the bridge and past the Eye, accidentally ignoring anyone asking me what I was doing.

That's when I found Chelmey. "Oi! Layton! Get your arse over here!" he demanded fervently.

"Hmm?" I looked at him puzzlingly. "What seems to be the problem?" I walked over to where he was standing.

The sight shocked me. "L-Luke…" His face was pale as the moon. One of his arms was bent out of shape, the bone sticking out. He appeared to be moaning 'ow' every two seconds. A frothy white substance appeared around his mouth.

"Son, you're so brave!" said a nurse. She was short in stature, with orange hair and dark blue eyes. She was wearing blue under her white nurse uniform. "I'm surprised you aren't crying so much!"

"Sorry for throwing up on your shoes, ma'am…" he moaned apologetically.

"It's fine hon. I'm used to it. Nurses have to be, or we wouldn't have any jobs."

"What happened?" I asked the nurse.

"He fell from a building about twenty feet off the ground. He's really lucky. Usually people are more seriously hurt from these kinds of falls. He's lucky he didn't break both of his arms."

"He fell headfirst?" I was suspicious of this, since he would have broken his head or his chest, depending on which way he landed.

"That I don't know." She looked at me curiously.

"Hmm…" I thought for a moment. What could cause a compound fracture? I thought. I heard footsteps coming. I turned around to see Emmy.

"What happened, H… Professor?" she asked, her mouth agape. I shook my head because I wasn't sure.

"Emmy… This nurse thinks he fell, but I don't think he did." I pointed to the compound fracture. "He would have busted his skull or broken his clavicle, breastbone or a few ribs, depending on he fell. He could have even decapitated himself."

Emmy took out her notebook and began scribbling something down. "Professor, this could be a gunshot wound."

"Emmy, don't be silly…" I sighed. "There would be more than one entrance. I don't think he fell from 20 feet. I think he fell from a much shorter distance than that."

"Professor, let's not rule out any possibilities. It could even be a sword or stick-like weapon."

"Maybe you're right." I looked down the road to see an ambulance coming. "Looks like the ambulance his here. Thank you, Nurse…"

"Camille, but most people call me Cam."

"I'm Professor Hershel Layton." I held out my hand. "Charmed." I smiled slightly as she shook my hand.

"Like the hat. It's really cool."

"Thank you, Cam."

"You're welcome! Would you like to ride in the ambulance with us?"

"Yes please." I nodded. "Can Emmy come too?"

"Of course she can. There's enough room. I'd prefer it if you stayed out of the way, though." She walked up to it. Another nurse appeared, helping her open the door. Very carefully, they put Luke onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Emmy and I got in and sat down next to Luke. He didn't look so good.

While Emmy and I were away, I directed Chelmey to stay next to him.

Emmy and I were sitting in a coffee shop together.

"What are you going to do about poor Luke? Imagine the medical bill," Emmy stated sadly.

"You're right. I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

"Hershel, you have a lot of cash."

"I do… but…"

"But what?"

I wasn't ready to pop the question. "My money is protected by a very complex puzzle. I've forgotten how to solve it. I haven't opened it in fifteen years."

"You're kidding, right? The Hershel forgetting how to solve a puzzle?" she started laughing hysterically until a tear fell from her face. Though I was a bit humiliated by this and by lying, I gave in and started laughing too. Some other people in the café stared at us. We stopped laughing and decided to leave.

I felt a weird sensation when we walked back to the hospital. It was as if someone were watching us.

Luke was fast asleep by the time we got back. Chemely, sadly, looked half-asleep too. He must have been exhausted, watching Luke for almost two days straight.

"Chelmey." I shook him on the shoulder. "You should go home."

"What? Huh? Oh. Goodbye, Layton." He sleepily walked out of the room. How was he supposed to get home? I sure hope Barton was nearby.

Emmy was sketching something in her notebook. "Hershel," she whispered. "I drew this." She pointed to the drawing. It was a picture of Luke's arm with a sword stabbing into it. It wasn't graphic or anything, but it bothered me slightly.

"That could be it." I looked at it closely. She sketched another drawing.

"See this may have been what happened…" She showed me the drawing. It was another drawing of Luke's arm, but his body was apparent in the drawing. It depicted him protecting himself from being stabbed.

I gulped slightly. "He was protecting himself…" She shut the notebook.

"Sorry, I know this is troublesome to you." She stifled a yawn.

"Here. Rest your head on my lap. I'll keep watch."

"Okay." She yawned, resting her head delicately on my legs. Her hair was so thick that I could barely feel anything.

Now, don't move your head. I daren't to yawn. I was tired, but I knew something would happen if I accidentally fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of Luke talking to Nurse Cam. I startled myself awake. "Huh?" I blinked. Emmy was gone from sleeping on my lap.

"I'll leave you two alone," Cam stated, walking away.

"Professor, you're awake!" Luke said happily. He looked much better than yesterday. "Did I really have surgery?"

"You did, Luke. You won't be able to take notes for a while, but I can certainly help with that."

"That's all right, Professor." He seemed happy, but I knew deep-down he was glum.

"Where'd Emmy go?" I asked.

"She went to get us some orange juice and cereal. She said she'd bring you something when you woke up."

"Did you already eat?"

"I had some oatmeal. It was tricky with one hand, so Emmy helped."

"Well, that was nice of her. I would look for her, but I don't want to leave you."

"What if I came along?" he asked.

"No. I'm not going to let you, Luke. You could hurt yourself again."

"Well… if you insist." His face was crestfallen. "We could ask the nurse. She said she needed some blood later…" He shuddered slightly.

"I'm sorry you're scared of needles, Luke. I'll try and be there when she does that."

"You really will, Professor?"

"Of course. Anything for my assistant."

I stepped to the door and leaned out into the hallway. I noticed Emily at the end of the hallway. She appeared to be carrying a cup of coffee and a mini box of cereal.

"Professor…"

"Yes?" I turned around.

"Emmy has been extra-nice to you. You have too. Is there something going on?"

I felt ashamed. "Well, Luke…"

"Professor! I got you some coffee and some cereal. Sorry, they didn't have any tea." Emmy walked into the room.

"It's fine Emmy. Thanks." I grabbed the cup and cereal. I looked at Emmy. She knew it was going to happen soon. I then looked Luke. "Listen, Luke…" I wasn't sure what to say. "Emmy and I are… in love."

"What?" he looked shocked. "But why? What about… Claire…?"

"I will always love Claire, Luke. My heart will always have that hole in it. But Emmy, she reminds me so much of her…"

"Professor, who is Claire anyway?"

"Emmy, don't be offended… but she was my girlfriend almost sixteen years ago." I hid my eyes with my hat. "I miss her, but the moment I saw you, Emmy…"

"W…what happened to her?"

"A time machine exploded, causing her death." I wasn't sure what to say. "It just goes to show that we should not mess with time or space. Or even memories, for that matter." I gritted my teeth. "It's why I wear my hat… it was the last thing she gave me before she died."

I didn't know how Emily would react, but she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me as tightly as possible. She started bawling. I wrapped my arms around her. "H-H…ershel…I'm sorry," she said in between her bawling. "I-I know…exactly how that…feels."

"There, there Emily." I couldn't help but shed a tear. "It's all right."

"Professor, you got me crying…" Luke sniffled.

"What's… wow," Cam said while stepping into the room. "We seem to be having a bit of a crisis. What's going on?"

"Professor's former girlfriend, Claire, who died." Luke looked at her.

"…Claire, you said?" she asked, shocked.

Holy shit, no wonder she looks… familiar.

A/N: So yeah… if you haven't figured it out, Camille is definitely related. You'll find out in the next chapter.

And now I have a predicament… I found myself crying too ;~;