Tourniquet

Chapter 3

"Worthless! Pathetic! Thick-headed! Weak!"

"Anything else?"

"Y-you… You…"

She was at a loss for words, so angry that even insults seemed useless. She just wanted to punch something… Unfortunately, they were speaking over the phone.

"Is that the only reason you called, or was this important?"

Franziska growled in pure frustration. "It's been three damn days, Miles Edgeworth! Either get to the hospital, or get back to work!" With that, her phone hit the cradle.

Miles Edgeworth stood still, listening to the busy tone on the other end of the line. After a few moments, he too turned off his phone and let it simply fall to the floor. Well, he wasn't about to go to the hospital, so he supposed he should just go into work. It would at least make her stop yelling at him…

Oh wait… Nothing could make her stop yelling at him. She really seemed to enjoy it. Still, he couldn't place his finger on it, but something was different. He wasn't sure if it was her or if it was him, but there seemed to be a new vibration, a new feeling. He had no idea what it was; all he knew was that she seemed different to him. It had all started that night just a few days ago when they had encountered each other in the darkness. It somehow made him feel so much more defensive around…everyone, even her, as if there was something new to hide.

Reluctantly, he straightened himself up and began his ascent upstairs to his bathroom. All he had done these last three days was sleep. He hadn't eaten, and hadn't even showered since the first day. The worst sort of depression had overtaken him, and the only reason he was going in today was to try and get his mind off of it all.

However, as he stood in the shower, allowing the water to rinse away any remaining blood, his thoughts drifted away from him again. His thoughts were as scattered as the tiny droplets of water and seemed to escape him just as easily. He couldn't stop thinking about it, about that trial, about Wright's betrayal, and about her. He watched the red water as it swirled down the drain at his feet, reminding him of himself, slowly spiraling downward into nothing.

He didn't even notice when the water began to cool and became freezing. He had just been simply standing there for an hour before realizing where he was again. Now shivering, he turned off the water and took hold of his towel, pressing it against his face and breathing in the fresh smell of it. The cloth had been warmed from the steam in the bathroom and was somewhat of a small comfort for him. Finally, he dried himself and dawned a suit, not even bothering to iron it. He didn't even mess with his hair; he just let it fall where it would, still soaking wet.

It took him about twice as long as normal to drive to the Prosecution Offices, and to his annoyance, Franziska was standing near the entrance, her arms folded and a scowl upon her lips.

"And what the hell took you so long?" she snapped at him.

"Does it matter?" he replied flatly. "I came in, didn't I?"

The gray-haired woman wrinkled her nose in displeasure at him. "It looks like you just rolled out of bed and into the car."

"Pretty much." Without another word, he strode past her, and at that precise moment, something rather strange happened to her.

As he passed, his hand had brushed her arm ever so slightly, and as if an icy wind had just hit her, a shiver ran down her spine. Shocked, she stared after him, but he didn't even seem to notice. 'What…What was that?' she thought, horrified at her reaction. That had never happened to her before. It had scared her, but for some reason…

…she wished it would happen again.

"Ah, Mr. Edgeworth, nice to see you're back. What-?" The man stopped when Edgeworth didn't. Miles didn't even pay him any attention, but just kept walking. He still had three more flights of stairs to trudge up before reaching his office, and he was determined to get there without any distractions.

"Mr. Edgeworth?"

It took him only about a minute or so to finally reach his destination. He let his briefcase drop to the floor and he himself slid down into the chair behind his desk. With a heavy sigh, he leaned his head against the back of it, beginning a session of 'Count the little dots on the ceiling.'

After about five minutes of this, his phone rang, nearly causing him to go into cardiac arrest. While attempting to compose himself, he lifted the phone from the receiver. "Edgeworth," was the greeting he gave, in no mood to even pretend he wanted to be there.

"Hi, Mr. Edgeworth! Are you feeling better?"

There were a few moments during which his brain was having trouble catching up with the series of events, and he couldn't quite figure out why a small child was calling him at the office. Finally, it clicked, however. "Oh… H-hello, Pearl. I'm…okay…" He wasn't really sure how to make conversation with a nine-year-old.

"Great! Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya will be so happy! We were all really worried about you! How did you get sick?"

A sarcastic laugh sounded inside his head, and his lips curled in a reflective manner, but he tried to keep his voice calm and smooth while speaking to this girl. "I…uh…I was outside in the rain for too long." It sounded so incredibly ridiculous, but it was the first thing that came to his mind: the rain.

When the girl spoke again, she sounded shocked. "Mr. Edgeworth! You're a grown-up! You should know not to do that!"

"Grown-ups make mistakes, too," he said, wishing to end this conversation. He felt oddly uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure why. At the same time though, it sort of made him feel just a bit better. Someone so innocent and carefree actually had a desire to speak with him, a man full of bitter hatred and manic depression. It just made him feel slightly cleaner somehow.

"Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Yes?"

"Can we all come see you now? Please!" Young Pearl dragged out the last word to give it emphasis, sounding so hopeful. Miles thought for a moment. He didn't really want to see anyone, especially not Wright, but he knew he'd feel guilty for saying 'no' to the child. 'Damn it, Wright. You did this on purpose, didn't you?'

"Look, Pearl, I…" He hesitated, trying to figure out how to do this kindly.

"Mystic Maya says you can come to lunch with us if you want to. Please, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Pearl… I… I have a lot of work to catch up on, and-"

The little girl laughed, to his bewilderment. "Mr. Nick said you'd say that! You work too much, Mr. Edgeworth. You have to have fun sometimes."

It was as she was speaking that Miles noticed Franziska leaning against the doorframe of his office watching him as he struggled to communicate with the child. "Uh…" He had no idea what to say. "Well, I…"

"Come on, Mr. Edgeworth! We'll meet you there in an hour, okay! Mr. Nick says he'll pay for it! See you later! Bye!" With that, she hung up the phone.

Edgeworth just gaped at the spot above the door, unable to believe that child had just decided to make up his mind for him. He put the phone down and stared at it as if there was something strange about it.

"Going somewhere?"

He snapped his head up to look at Franziska, who hadn't moved from where she stood. She was smirking at him, as if enjoying his struggle. "Uh… I…guess so…"

"Isn't that strange?" she said, coming into the room. "You haven't gone anywhere in three days and now you've suddenly decided to go and hang out with Phoenix Wright."

"Franziska, I didn't decide to do anything. I just-"

"You're just a sucker, Miles Edgeworth."

Miles put a hand on his forehead and leaned back in his chair, a large sigh escaping him.

"Look, I came in here to give you this," she said, reached across his desk to place a manila folder before him. "It'll fill you in on the case we're working. If you look here…"

She had begun to open the folder to point something out; at the same time, however, Miles had reached up to open it himself, causing his hand to rest on top of hers. Both surprised, their eyes met for a brief moment, and then he turned away, removing his hand as he did so. Both of them were doing the best they could to keep the bright red tinge from their cheeks.

Franziska cleared her throat awkwardly. "Um… As I was saying," she opened the folder, "this here is the summary. It's not quite organized yet, so it's sort of in a strange place."

As she talked, she was looking down at the case file, reading upside down. Miles took this opportunity to watch her without her notice. He was wondering why she was even reading this to him in the first place. He could figure it out on his own. However, he wasn't really listening to her anymore to see if there was an important reason; he was too busy staring at her. Now, he could think of no reason to justify why he was staring at her; he just felt like doing so.

"…And section 4 was left out after…" She looked up at him when she felt his gaze on her. Their eyes met again, and she expected him to look away in embarrassment, but he didn't. "U-uh…" Now she was the one feeling strange again. "…I-I think you can figure it out…the rest of it… Um…" She brushed some hair out of her face and stood up, trying not to look at him again. "Okay… I'm going…"

He continued to stare intently at her until she turned and vanished from sight down the hallway. Still, he watched the spot where she had been, feeling something rise up within him. It was like a surge of energy, a shot of pure adrenaline that had made him want to leap over the desk, tackle her to the ground, and not release her. It wasn't anger: he knew for sure it was something more.

After a few moments, he remembered his recent phone conversation. He still had about twenty minutes before he would have to leave. He sighed and picked up the case file, beginning to flip through it with a complete lack of interest. There was only one thing on his mind at this point, and he almost felt wrong for thinking such things.

Still, the reaction he had received from her had really pleased him in some way. It let him know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had influence, power over her for the first time he could remember.

A smirk curled his lips. So, what did this mean?