Sorry for not updating for so long. Here's a ginormous 3-for-1 deal.

November 11
5:18 PM
Burger Joint
Booth #6

Maya was angry and sad at the same time.

"But why?" she whined. "Why can't you come?"

"Sorry," Nick replied. His voice was scratchy. "You were right, I think I'm sick."

"But I'm hungry…!"

"I don't want to get you infected, Maya!"

"Oh… Fine…" she murmured, her lower lip jutting out in frustration. "It's ok, I can eat without you. I'll come see you later, alright?"

"Uhh… But… you might get sick!"

"Don't worry, I have a spare gas mask at home that I can wear!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Finally, Phoenix managed to say something.

"Um… that's great Maya. In that case I guess I'll see you later… Bye."

Maya flipped her phone shut and slurped at her Coke.

November 11
5:18 PM
Los Angeles
Edgeworth's Apartment

When Edgeworth woke up he was a little disoriented. The last thing he remembered was putting the box of food onto the table. Now for some reason he was lying in bed, and the lighting was noticeably darker, and his throat stung like whiplash.

He sat up, the sudden movement making him groggy.

The swaying of the room suddenly made him remember what had happened.

Earthquake.
Fear.
Panic.
Terror.
Darkness...

His breathing skipped a little and he buried his head in his palms, trying to control the fear. Focus, focus… he tried to think of something calming, something distracting, and he suddenly remembered someone calling his name. He couldn't tell if it was young or old, male or female, but he latched onto the memory and tried to relax.

When he finally got out of bed he noticed he was still wearing his dress shirt and trousers, although no jacket or cravat. That was really odd—he was definitely not the type to wear work clothes to bed. Edgeworth rubbed one eye and walked down the hallway. His toes curled from the coolness of the floor. Where were his slippers?

He stopped by the refrigerator, pulled out a jug of water, and poured it into a big glass. But no matter how much he drank he still felt like he needed more. Crap, he thought. By California standards it was still summer. He had another murder case in a day. He couldn't get sick now! Edgeworth drained another glass, his eyes squeezed painfully together as he tried to think. He poured again. Lana is not going to be pleased, he grimaced. He picked up his cup and walked past the fridge to enter the kitchen fully.

He nearly dropped the glass.

"Franziska…?!"

What the hell was she doing in his apartment, in his kitchen, asleep at his table?

November 11
7:45
Apartment Complex
Phoenix's Apartment

Maya walked in with quite a load of goods in her arms.

"Jeez, Maya," Phoenix muttered, a cool cloth covering his forehead and part of his eyes. "How much stuff did you buy…?"

"Not much…" she wheezed, her voice tinny.

"Holy crap!" he shouted, nearly flying out of his bed when he saw her face. "I didn't think you were serious!"

"Huh?" she whined, adjusting her gas mask. "You mean this? ...Why would I lie to you, Nick?"

He couldn't see her expression, as it was obviously blocked by the huge and rather scary mask, so he decided to simply nod and clap his mouth shut. Maya approached and he flinched involuntarily, and when she pushed the bag of groceries into his hands he felt like he was being delivered a bomb. He felt a strange sense of relief when he only saw perfectly harmless items. Inside were several bottles of cold and flu medication, cough syrup, herbal pills, vapor strips, aspirin, a box of band-aids, 3 cooling packs, and a pair of small scissors.

"Maya… I don't think you needed to buy this much…"

She was pulling off her mask (he didn't stop her). Her face was shocked underneath it. "But! I didn't know exactly what kind of cold you have so I decided to be safe and buy them all! Then I thought you would have a cough, so I bought the syrup. Then I thought…" She was beginning to ramble.

"Ok, ok!" he interrupted as she began to talk about arthritis. "Thanks for the thought. I really do appreciate it."

"I also thought you might be hungry," she mumbled, pulling out a white cardboard box and pushing it into his hands.

He opened it carefully, since it had shifted slightly when he caught it. He was surprised to find a cup of chicken noodle soup, two tomato-and-cream-cheese sandwiches cut into perfect triangles, a wedge of his favorite cheese, and a cup of hot cocoa. She had guessed perfectly; just the comfort food that he needed.

"Thank you, Maya…" he said, touched. "You're so sweet."

To his surprise she blushed. He had never seen her act unsure of herself. "I-it was nothing…"

He opened all the caps and lids that the food was in, watching his soup steam for a moment. The food was still hot—she must have run all the way from the restaurant to his apartment to make sure that it would be fresh. It smelled good... familiar almost...

"H-hey!" she mumbled, her face still pink but her eyes confident again. "You should eat your food now! Don't make me nervous!"

He grinned and, obediently, picked up the chicken soup and sipped it. Maya smiled contentedly.