Chapter Twenty Eight The Healing Process

There was no sign of her at all. Worry clawed at him, forcing him to consider the many possibilities that could be going on.

I should have went with her, he thought, turning his gradient orbs to stare at the only remaining man in the room. Halle and Commander Rester had gone to find her, and were no doubt scourging the streets in their search.

Gevanni stared back at the white haired man with level eyes. Both knew how fragile the plan had been, but both were trying not to act surprised that the infamous Luck had not yet returned in the hour they had been waiting.

The thought of losing his beloved had occurred to Nate. Their relationship was the least they had to worry about. As long as they could get out of this alive it was good enough for him: as long as he didn't have to have to guilt of her death forever engraved in his mind. But he was getting ahead of himself, he quickly reasoned, and turned to stare heavily out the window at the sudden downpour of rain.

It was only 2 in the morning: an hour and a half after his love had left. She was supposed to have returned an hour ago. It took only 20 minutes to reach the Southern province in which Lucky Avenue was located, and Alice was only supposed to have stayed just long enough to catch a sight of Mello or Light. As soon as she was sure she had seen them, she was supposed to have driven back here. But...the white haired man's hands fisted in anger and worry: she had ignored the plan and gotten out of the car.

Now anything could have happened to her.

"Don't worry, Near," Gevanni's voice suddenly cut through the air, "I think their back."

The gradient orbs rose again, this time locking onto his fellow SPK's face before suddenly turning and realizing he was right.

Through the glass doors one could easily see two figures walking toward them. Dare he hope...?

Getting up from his chair, Nate stepped forward and his eyes widened in horror as the glass doors opened. Commander Rester and Halle walked inside, their faces downcast in shame. In his arms, lay the lucky woman who shaped Nate's life from the very beginning.

Halle looked at Nate, her eyes pleading, "We found her about twenty feet from her car, in this condition."

Her mask was gone, and her face had a few scratches on it that leaked blood onto her pale skin. Her arm was twisted at an odd angle and was obviously broken. Her suit was bloody and scratched: the zipper was suspiciously hanging down just above her cleavage. Not the usual place she kept it at, Nate thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Bring her to...my room," his soft voice weakly commanded, changing his mind halfway through when he realized he wanted her to be with him, and not alone. He gestured for Halle to follow. Commander Rester bowed his head and sent Gevanni a comforting look before disappearing from the Main room and heading toward my private quarters.

She was laid on my bed, her broken body pressed down into the pillows.

"Leave," Nate whispered to Commander Rester, and he did as he was told, heading back to the Main room.

Halle sighed and sat on the bed, turning to Nate and saying, "We need bandages and ointment. Get a brace as well, for her arm."

He nodded, disappearing into the bathroom to look for the needed supplies. Bringing Alice to the hospital was out of the question. She was obviously Luck right now, and it was a bad idea to do anything with her until she was in her right mind.

When he returned with the bandages, Halle had already begun to ease the leather suit off her. Nate's eyes ran down her naked form, taking in the bruises that littered her arms and waist. There were hardly any cuts here: the leather had done it's job nicely and protected the tender skin beneath. But the bruises...Nate handed Halle the healing supplies and she sighed, finally pulling the last of the leather from her friend's body.

"What happened to her?" Nate asked, his voice scratchy as he sat gently beside Alice.

Halle's voice was barely more than a whisper when she replied, as though she was afraid of how the man would react, "Isn't it obvious? She was tortured."

She felt him stiffen beside her, and focused all her attention on putting cream over the bruises.

Nate hadn't needed to ask the question; he had eyes and could see the tormented bruises and aches that scattered his lover's body. It was true: he had guessed the moment he saw the way her suit was haphazardly placed on her body. He let out a short breath and brushed away the gold bangs as they fell in front of those closed lids.

"Hold her arm straight," his companion ordered softly, and he reached down to comply as he watched her tie the brace tightly on Alice's arm in order to prevent further breakage.

"That will do for now," she murmured, and sat up a little, "Help me turn her on her stomach."

Nate wasn't sure why, at first, but as he assisted Halle with the small task, his breath caught in his throat. Alice's skin shown, though not in a good way. Her raw flesh took a strange shape: one not unlike the scar he had seen not two weeks before: the shape of a clover.

Tentatively, Nate reached out and caressed the burnt skin, his eyes unbelieving, "What...?"

Halle didn't even spare him a glance as she immediately began pouring alcohol on the wound, displacing the germs that had no doubt gathered around the cuts. She all but threw the bottle down as she reached for ointment and began spreading it all over the scars in calm, controlled movements.

He felt so helpless, sitting there, only able to watch. Gripping the sheets, he pulled them over her legs and lower regions, not liking the fact that she was naked. Though it definitely helped that Halle was here. He didn't want to have to ask another man to come in and fix her up, even if it was an act of rescuing.

Halle glanced at him and murmured, "Get her some clothes."

Without another word, she turned back to the task at hand and Nate hurried to his girlfriend's room to get the fabrics from Alice's drawers.

He returned with pajamas, and saw that Halle was beginning to wrap Alice's back with bandages.

Halle looked at Nate, "Come here and help me."

He complied, leaving the clothing on the base of the bed and helping Halle as she fixed the broken body in front of them.

It seemed to take forever. As soon as the last piece of white bandage had been rolled around the slowly healing scar, Halle sighed, standing up.

"I'll dress her," she said, eyeing the clothes Nate had brought, "You look exhausted. Go get some rest."

Nate only looked at her, "I'll allow you to dress her, but I'd rather not leave her alone."

Halle sighed, but nodded as he left the room. Turning back to her unconscious companion, she began finishing the healing process.

*Page Break*

At first, I didn't realize what the blackness swirling around me was. A dream...? Or a memory. But it wasn't either. My breathing was controlled, at least: not too fast and not too slow, as if I was asleep. But I didn't feel like I was asleep: I felt like I was thrust into a black world without any recognition on how to escape. I felt sore...almost heavy, as though I couldn't move my muscles. I felt...hopeless: weak.

Something touched my hand, and my body wanted to react...but I still couldn't seem to move. A soft stroke appeared on my wrist, gentle and sweet, as through someone was watching over me. Was I alone in this dark place...?

I wanted to wake up: to see who it was beside me. To see if I was still with those horrid men...or was that a dream?

I struggled to open my eyes. It seemed like forever until I did, and when they were open, I was blinded by such a light that I had to close them immediately. But my action seemed to get a response, at least. There was a voice- a familiar, adoring voice that was suddenly at my ear.

I frowned: what could this voice possibly have to say? I opened my eyes again, this time longer, and they began focusing on my settings.

I could see white hair falling into my face, and energetic, gray orbs not two inches from mine.

"Alice!" his voice exclaimed, lips curving upward in an irresistible grin.

Before I could even take a breath, warmth flooded my mouth as he pressed his lips to mine in a fervent, worried kiss.

I don't know why I did it, but I made a noise and pulled away, turning my head from him in nervousness as memories of the other night burst through my mind.

When did it happen...? Last night or last week? Just long how had I been out?

"...Alice," his voice, now breathy as he pulled back and looked down at me, apology written in his normally emotionless eyes, "You been out for three days, and I've been worried sick."

As if reading my mind, he smiled a little, and I could feel my breath being taken away at the sight.

"Nate..." I croaked, throat dry and swelled. Taking a hand, I placed it on the tender organ and closed my eyes in anguish.

There were no words spoken as he held a water glass to my lips, carefully helping me as I took a shaky sip. I was so thirsty...I gripped the glass and splashed some water on my shirt accidentally. There was a chuckle and Nate tilted the glass up more for me.

I was surprised when he didn't ask me what happened: by now he would usually have me at his every whim, spouting details of the night and telling him what I had learned.

Eyes closed, I took a deep breath, feeling as though it was the first time I was able to breath, and in a soft, whispered voice I murmured, "Nate, Mello...he never came...he sent people there for him. Probably to show us he had more control than we thought-"

But Nate only shushed me, finger to my lips as I opened my eyes. His own orbs were filled with sorrow and understanding, "I know. He was here. He explained it all to me."

My eyes widened...Mello was here?

"He told me that he didn't know how those men were associated with you and didn't think they would go...that far..."

Oh. So he did know what they did to me. I frowned, clearly uncomfortable.

"I see," I mumbled, reaching up and playing with a strand of hair- a movement that I had picked up from the white haired detective sitting in front of me.

In a sudden rush of words, Nate began fervently apologizing to me. Staring up at him, I sent him my trademark smirk and moved my hand to touch the side of his face, "It's alright, Nate. I don't blame you for anything. It's my own fault for being so careless."

He sighed, pressing his hand against mine as he turned his head to kiss my palm, "Please tell me how you knew those men. Mello didn't want to elaborate on the subject."

I stiffened and Nate eyed me warily, knowing this wasn't a topic he should broach but taking the chance anyway.

Taking my hand back, I looked the other way and murmured, "I left Whammy's before you, ya know?" I started, and when I got no response I kept speaking, "Well...things weren't going so great for me. The money I'd brought with me was going fast...so I started to steal in order to make a living," I said spitefully, not at all happy about my past and very ill at ease with talking about it so freely.

"But nothing was improving and I knew I had to do something about it if I wanted to stay alive. So I joined a gang," I whispered, hand clenching as I thought about my past actions.

"They called me Lucky Alice and gave me shelter and food. In return I stole money for them. Well," I smirked a little, but it was lifeless, "loyalty is hard to come by in that business and I'm afraid I didn't have much of it. I skipped a few jobs. That's how I got the clover scar on my back."

Throughout my words Nate stayed silent, staring out the window as he listened attentively. He glanced at me and took my hand, spreading my fingers out when he saw my nails digging into my skin.

I gripped his hand tightly and appreciated the warmth...and the fact that he wasn't turning me away right now. I knew I deserved it.

"Eventually I got the courage to leave them and changed my alias to Luck. ...You know the rest," I finished, skipping over a few less than desirable scenes and looking up at him.

He was staring out that window again, and I knew he was trying to put it all together.

Like the detective he was, he nodded, "So you were tortured during your time there."

Dead panned, I slowly nodded, glancing down at our intertwined hands and whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

But he just shook his head, "You don't have to be sorry for anything. It's my fault for sending you out there alone," he closed his eyes, looking very frustrated, "I was stupid."

Sitting up, the blankets fell off my body and I leaned in to press my lips against his in a hesitant kiss. He opened his eyes a little and kissed back, but the look on his face was still pained.

I sighed pulling back, "Stop blaming yourself. If I had listened to your directions I wouldn't be in this mess."

In a whirl of color and need, he grabbed my shoulders and threw me into him, shocking me as he kissed me roughly. I closed my eyes and snaked my arms around his neck, bringing him as close as possible to fuel the heated kiss.

The raw moment went on for a while longer until Nate broke away and gasped out a soft, "I love you, Alice."

My eyes were still closed...and I wondered whether I was dreaming. That was the very first time he had said it to me. Smiling gently, I opened my green orbs and murmured, "I love you too."

His lips twisted upward in a grin and he leaned down to capture my lips with his again, sinking into the pillows as I tried desperately to bring him as close as possible.

So I hoped you liked that chapter of my story ^_^ Please review! It would make my day. I've been really sick (Well, it was only a cold, but I still felt like crap) and that kinda slowed the updating process down. I was gonna post this chapter days ago but I forgot about it. There's so much to doooo =( I have to write an essay comparing and contrasting the ideals of Descartes and Rousseau. Fun.

Haha So anyway I'll be posting another chapter either tomorrow or the day after, cause I feel bad about taking so damn long in updating! I've got some good ideas to put in though, and I've been busily typing up more chapter while I was stuck in my room being sick. So these past few days haven't gone to waste! =D Review, please! (And again, thanks to those who've reviewed my last chapter. I feel like I'm loosing readers because I take so long to post new chapters :'( )