The humerus is the bone in the upper arm.

The ulna and radius are the two bones in the lower arm.

The tibia is the larger bone in the lower leg, and the fibula is the smaller bone in the lower leg.

A 'grade three' injury to the knee is the worst 'grade' in describing a knee injury, and refers to how badly the ligaments were torn (though, with proper rehab, it is possible to recover from a grade three knee injury).

Chapter 8

"Interpol made most of the arrests…only one operative got by them and the Taskforce managed to capture him. I heard they also got that 'Snake' guy that was after ya. Kudou was dead-on about Bourbon. They caught him shortly after we left. Only two operatives died…Gin, and some other guy that shot himself before he was captured."

Kaitou nodded from where he lay on the hospital bed.

All three had separate rooms, and it was currently the day after they had initiated the fight. Heiji was the only one that could actually move around, though he technically wasn't supposed to be out of bed, either.

Loose ends were still being tied up by the FBI, CIA, and Interpol, but Heiji estimated that it wouldn't be long until his parents were contacted and they took the next flight into Tokyo.

Currently, he sat on a chair next to Kaitou's bed, dressed like his other two friends, in hospital garb. There was a bandage around his head, and the rest of his injuries were hidden by his cloths. The worst was three broken ribs from Vodka's point-blank bullet and the repaired bullet wound to his left thigh that was now wrapped and had him on crutches.

Kaitou's worst injury was his right leg from the knee down. He had made his previous injury worse, and now had a grade three sprained knee from torn ligaments, as well as a break in the fibula and a fracture to the tibia. Needless to say, he wouldn't be on his feet for quite some time.

He also had a bandage around his head that dipped down to cover his right eye, though the stitches were just above the eye from the cuts given to him by his monocle. He also had a couple bruised upper ribs, but he could deal with that better than his leg, which was currently elevated from the bed.

Shrapnel wounds…all three teens had those. Kaitou's right hand was bandaged, and they were sure Shinichi's left was.

"How's Kudou, by the way?" Kaitou questioned.

Heiji sighed. "Still unconscious. They're only lett'n family in…though, his father's been busy with Interpol, and his mother is still with Agasa-hakase and that tiny neechan in hiding till they sweep the professor's house and the Kudou place and make sure that it's all safe…so, no visitors."

"He was the worst off…I was worried for a moment…he passed out shortly after they got him on the gurney. Did you happen to hear of his injuries?"

Heiji nodded. "Yea. That, they told me, since I was involved in this entire mess. He's actually not that bad off, if one doesn't count that he almost split his head open sometime dure'n that tumble ya told me about."

It was a story that Kaitou would probably remember for the rest of his life…how Shinichi nearly took himself out with the Boss and the two went over the cliff. He hadn't heard what they talked about on the way down, but he had heard and seen the two hitting the cliff walls…the 'cracks' and other nasty sounding noises…

So, of course, he naturally told Heiji when the teen detective first poked his nose into his room that morning and found him awake with a frown on his face.

"That's prolly the worst of it. He's got a couple bruised ribs like you do. I guess he got most of his broken bones from that tumble. Fractured his left fibula, another fracture to the left humerus, both bones in his lower left arm broken, and of course nearly have'n his skull split open. That's just form the fall."

"Geez…"

"Yea. He also had some bullet graze'n to his top right shoulder. Then again, we all had some of that."

Kaitou chuckled and held up his right arm. It wasn't visible, but he had a bandage just above his elbow where he had been grazed by a bullet.

Heiji rolled his eyes, but continued, "And, like you, has his hand bandaged. Except it's his left hand and not his right. One of them blew out his belt early on. He's also got some bruising and scrapes to his back. Prolly from when he hit the bottom of the lake."

"So…it's mostly the head wound that's the worst…"

"Yea. But, they said there's no danger to his life. Despite the type of injury, they said he's lucky. There seems to be no damage to the brain. Course, they'll know for sure when he wakes up, but they're say'n he should still be the same Kudou we all know."

"All know to be a crazy bastard, you mean."

Heiji grinned. "Yea…but he'll say the same about me. And, probably you. After all, he bodily slammed the Boss off the cliff and, due to inertia, was forced to join him. You, on the other hand, was the one that voluntarily jumped off the cliff."

"I had wings."

"And we all know how long they lasted…"

Kaitou gave him a dry look.

Heiji chuckled, then winced. "Ah…laugh'n is bad. Though, I'm glad you're just as suicidal as Kudou. He wouldn't be here if you hadn't done that."

"I wouldn't be here if he hadn't knocked the Boss aside."

"Alright, so you two are even, then."

Kaitou was silent a moment, then spoke in a quieter voice. "I thought I was dead. I thought he was dead. For a moment…I thought none of us would walk out of this. Neither of us knew what happened to you, and we were facing down someone that can put 'pro assassin' on a job application. That guy…Kudou has guts to hit him directly. Call it 'animal instinct', but I couldn't get near him if I wanted to."

Heiji's smile dropped as he listened. He had only heard from Kaitou what happened up on the cliffs. Frankly, it scared him. Not just the stories of the Boss and his attitude, but at how close both of his friends had been to losing their lives. He had come out of the place with Shuuichi, and knew the guy was also in the hospital but would be fine…but the guy also had more training than they did.

None of them would forget what they went through anytime soon, if ever.

"A million thoughts ran through my mind when he destroyed my card gun. 'I'm dead', 'this is it', 'he's gonna kill me', 'nobody will know'…only Jii knew where I was, and just the general location. He visited before you did…told me about how he saved Kudou from the lake, how Kudou immediately ran off to find me after waking up…"

Heiji listened silently.

"I didn't know Kudou was on his way. I thought I was on my own. I thought I was as good as dead. He was toying with me, Hattori. The entire chase, I thought I was the one chasing him. But it was the other way around. He was the one luring me to the top of the cliff where there was no cover to hide behind. Either by him putting a bullet through my head or forcing me to fall off the cliff…he knew that outcome from the start."

Heiji resisted a shiver at those words. He remembered the feel of being hunted down in the lowest basement of the warehouse, but both he and Shinichi had known that they would be targeted by the sharpshooters of the Organization.

Kaitou, however, had gone after the Boss thinking he was just another member of the Organization that had managed to escape.

"It wasn't a game like Kid heists usually are," Kaitou continued, then took a shaky breath in and let it out. "It was real. I was being hunted, and I didn't even realize it until three-fourths of the way through."

"He won't be gett'n out of prison," Heiji spoke quietly. He didn't quite know what to say, but he knew he had to say something to try and reassure his friend. He could tell, though Kaitou wouldn't admit it, that the other teen was still freaked out from it.

He heard from Shinichi, and Kaitou himself, that the goofy teen was a master of what was called 'poker face'. Hiding behind a constant mask. He actually thought that Shinichi did a good job of that, too, though the guy didn't do it on purpose most of the time like Kaitou did.

Heiji would probably be telling the same information to Shinichi once the teen woke up, too. "He and the rest of those bastards are go'n straight to the highest security prison in the world, and they ain't ever gonna get out. There's enough evidence against them, even from the first stages of investigation, to put them behind bars for life. Even the best lawyer wouldn't be able to negotiate a lesser sentence."

Kaitou was silent a moment, then let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.

Heiji waited silently, something he usually wasn't very good at, as he sat on the chair.

Finally, Kaitou opened his eyes and managed a weak smile. "We really did it, then. We really won…"

The teen from Osaka smiled back. "Yea. We won."

It felt more definite when it was actually said aloud.

They had won.

The door opened just then, and a slightly annoyed nurse stood there. She looked around only briefly before her expression darkened when her gaze landed on Heiji. Her foot began to tap in annoyance.

Heiji gulped and had one of those comical 'oh, shit' expressions when he saw her.

Kaitou watched on in amusement.

"Hattori-kun!!" the nurse gritted out. "How many times have I told you to stay in bed!? You have three broken ribs! Three! And a recently stitched up bullet wound to your leg! And, for the love of…where did you get those crutches? I thought I hid them well for sure this time!"

Despite his stammering, Heiji managed to sputter out, "I'm a detective! I found them!"

The nurse slapped her hand to her forehead, then stepped aside and pointed in a gesture for him to leave. "Back to bed. Now! And you're going to get quite a lecture for leaving your room again, young man! Honestly…!"

Though Heiji was made to feel like a naughty child, it was actually reassuring to hear Kaitou's laughter in the background as he stumbled to comply with the scary nurse.

Wednesday afternoon at Beika Hospital soon became "parents' day". The three teens had been brave, but they were still minors. And thus, when parents got wind of where they were, they freaked out a bit.

Yukiko finally managed to get to the hospital when her husband gave her the 'all clear' that the house was fine. She was a nice contrast to Yusaku's silent concern over their son. She came with both Agasa and Haibara…Agasa, who panicked in his own way while Haibara was shell shocked.

Shizuka Hattori flew in the second she got the news that her son was in the hospital…and, brought her husband, Heizo. It was like a mirror of the Kudou family…the mother being frantic while the father watched on in silent worry.

Then, there was Kaitou's mother, who came in with Jii. She had been just as harried, but thankfully, didn't bring Aoko with her.

The doctors actually threatened to throw the group out of the hospital if they didn't quiet down…especially when Heiji got in an argument with his father over what he did and his mother over being too dramatic. One could hear the shouts of 'ahou' throughout the corridor.

The ones that worried the most were the ones there for Shinichi, since he had yet to regain consciousness. He wasn't in a coma, but since he did sustain a head injury, they wouldn't have completely knowledge of the extent of the damage until he woke up.

Yukiko frowned as she held her son's hand lightly. She didn't want to touch the bandaging job on his head, so the only option was his hand. And since his left was also bandaged and in a sling, that left his right.

She looked up when the door opened.

"How's he doing? Any change?" Yusaku asked as he closed the door to the room behind him.

Yukiko shook her head. "The monitors show that he's in stable condition, but he hasn't woken up."

Yusaku sighed and walked over to gaze down at his son.

"Shouldn't we tell Ran-chan? I think she'd want to know he's in the hospital…"

"I doubt Shinichi would want Ran to see him like this," Yusaku replied.

"We can't not tell her…"

"Only if she asks, I suppose. Can you imagine how shocked she would be? She can finally see him again, and he's unconscious in a hospital. That's a bit much."

Yukiko sighed and gazed down at Shinichi. "Yea…I suppose so…" tears rolled down her cheeks, and she let go of Shinichi with one hand to wipe them away.

"Yukiko?"

"Something happened…but nobody will tell me. How he got this injured…he came back to us, but…nobody will say a word. Do you know what happened, Yu-chan?"

To her surprise, Yusaku shook his head 'no'. "I got a call from the Kuroba boy's assistant, Jii-san. He just requested back-up and a medical squad to come in via helicopter due to the area. All he said was that both Kaitou-kun and Shinichi went after the Boss. He knows nothing of the details afterwards, if he's telling the truth."

"Perhaps I should ask Kaitou-kun…I can't ask Shin-chan…"

"Maybe you should. It might do him good to talk to someone…he won't with his own mother. That boy is too much like Shinichi."

"Eh?"

"You were an apprentice under his father…there aren't many people he can really share memories about the man with."

Yukiko had stopped asking her husband how he got his information long ago. "Didn't you ask the other boys, yourself?"

"Before their parents came, yes."

"And they didn't tell you?"

"Heiji-kun seems to know what happened, by his body language when I asked, but refuses to speak of it. All he'll say about whatever he heard from Kaitou-kun is 'not my story to tell'.'

"And Kaitou-kun?"

"He gets a closed expression and stops talking. It's a sure sign that whatever happened frightened him greatly, but he won't say a word. Not even to the investigators that asked about the Boss's injuries and how they caught him. He won't say a thing."

Yukiko frowned. "Surely he's told his mother or that old man helping him…?"

Yusaku shook his head. "No."

"So, the only one he's told is Heiji-kun, and he's keeping mum about it…"

"At this point, I'm more worried for the mental health of Kaitou-kun than the investigation. If he keeps something so frightening that it causes him to detach himself from the rest of the world bottled up…he's headed down the road to psychological damage."

Yukiko frowned.

"Go on…his mother is with Heiji-kun's parents and Jii-san right now, out of the rooms of the teens to let them rest. You'll do more good to Kaitou-kun than here right now. If Shinichi wakes up, I'll come get you."

Yukiko hesitated, then nodded. "Alright." She gave Shinichi's hand another squeeze, then left the room.

Yusaku sighed and sat down in his wife's vacated chair. I hope that you can trust in us, or at least one of your friends, to talk about what happened when you wake up, Shinichi. Then again, knowing you, we'll have to pry it out of your stubborn mouth.

Kaitou was asleep when Yukiko walked in, but that didn't deter her. Rather, she just pulled over the chair that his mother had occupied earlier and sat down.

Looking at him, she was shocked at the similarities that the boy had to Shinichi. Though, Kaitou was a little more solidly built while Shinichi was more on the lean side…but it was hardly noticeable since it was only a slight fraction of a difference. They appeared to be the same height…she wasn't going to estimate weight since the experience of being shrunk probably messed a little with her son's own weight. Even their hair was similar…except that, while Kaitou's was more unruly, Shinichi's was almost always neatly combed.

Both boys also, apparently, had a habit of putting up a mask and hiding their own feelings deep within themselves. If Yukiko didn't know better, she'd think the two to be cousins, if not twins.

She wasn't so deep in thought that she didn't notice the way Kaitou's left hand suddenly gripped the sheet that covered him, and the sheen of sweat that beaded the side of his forehead that wasn't covered by the bandage around his head. His breathing started to come out a little harder, and his visible eyebrow had knitted as if he was in pain.

Yukiko was just about ready to get a nurse, when she realized that it was probably a nightmare. Gently, she placed a hand over Kaitou's clenched on. "Kaitou-kun?"

As if in response, Kaitou's eyes shot open. For a moment, he seemed to not know exactly where he was, as there was a sheer panic that was displayed on his face and fear in his eyes.

Then, when he got his bearings, he relaxed a bit and closed his eyes again.

Yukiko watched in morbid fascination as he seemed to realize that someone else was in the room, and the slightly tense and pained look on his face all but vanished to be replaced with an indifferent mask.

Kaitou turned and smiled weakly at her. "You're…Kudou's mother, right?"

"Yukiko." The woman nodded in confirmation.

"He wake up, yet?"

"No…he's still sleeping."

"Oh."

"Speaking of sleeping…you seemed to be having a rough time just now. Are you alright?" Yukiko eyed him critically.

"Yea…just a wacky dream…" Kaitou cursed whatever medication he was on that was making it difficult for him to keep his brave face up. I was just recalling how I was being played with and hunted like an animal…

Yukiko smiled softly, then tapped his right hand. "Now, now, young man…I might not be a detective like my husband and son, but I am a mother. I know when a young one is lying to me."

Kaitou just grinned sheepishly, and slowly unclenched his hand from where he still held the sheet in a death grip.

"If you don't talk about it, it will haunt you the rest of your life. Even so, I won't force you to speak of it. I just ask that you tell someone about it," Yukiko said.

Kaitou's grin dropped, and he looked away from her. Yep, definitely Kudou's mother. Able to strip down my layers like that… "…I talked to Hattori a bit."

"Alright. I'll accept that for now."

"Now, I have a question for you…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you in here with me instead of in Kudou's room? I mean, he's your son…I'm not…"

Yukiko smiled. "I'm worried about Shin-chan, and that's the truth. But, Yusaku is with him, now…besides, I'm not the one that will ultimately be able to help him when he wakes up."

Kaitou shot her a quizzical look.

Yukiko nearly giggled at his expression. That's right…we were out of his life, with only an occasional appearance now and then, for the past three, almost four, years. But, there was a girl that was there the entire time…

"Ya didn't answer my question, you know," Kaitou told the woman dryly.

Yukiko laughed. "I suppose not. Alright…it was Yusaku's idea. I quite agree with him…we figured you might enjoy being able to talk about Toichi."

Kaitou's eyes widened. "Tousan?"

Yukiko nodded. "I studied under him about ten years ago, learning about disguises to better my acting career."

"He didn't deserve to die."

"But, you helped catch the ones responsible."

"Yea…it's a weird feeling. When I first picked up the mantle and hat, I didn't know what to expect. As I got more and more involved, months passed and I had only found a couple men. And, not completely, at that…"

He didn't know why he was talking.

Again, he blamed the medication.

"Kaasan is happy about it, too. We all knew…there was no way his death was an accident. He was too good of a magician for that…"

"Yes…I quite enjoyed watching him perform his tricks. He was extremely talented with what he did, your father."

Kaitou smiled softly.

Yukiko giggled. "Though, I think Yusaku agrees…he certainly had fun chasing the first Kaitou Kid around."

It took Kaitou's slightly fogged brain to compute that. "Eh!? You mean, Kudou's father always tried to catch my father when they were younger?!"

"Not too young…I believe Shin-chan was in preschool and grade school during that time. But, yes."

"Did…he know? Your husband. About tousan's identity…"

"Probably. He didn't tell me anything until recently, but I have very little doubts that Yusaku knew exactly who he was chasing."

Kaitou chuckled. "That's a relief for me, then! It means Kudou won't be likely to get me arrested when I start up again!"

Yukiko muffled her own laughter. "Don't let any of the police hear you say that! Besides, it's difficult to say…Yusaku never actually caught your father."

Kaitou beamed. "Even Kudou's father couldn't catch him? I knew it! That's cause tousan was awesome!"

Yukiko smiled at the teen's enthusiasm as the conversation continued. They might not have talked about one of the things she wanted to hear about, but at least this boy, that was so much like Shinichi, was smiling and talking animatedly despite what he went through.

She chuckled at how animated the teen got as they talked about the man. I'm sure he's proud of you, too.

TO BE CONTINUED…