Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. I wish I do.
--Chapter 7--
--So Near--
It was a very unpleasant weather that day. The wind blew strongly whistling against the cold stone walls of the building surrounding her yet there she was dressed in thin, ragged clothes walking pointlessly about desperately finding shelter. The white-haired girl grasped her large belly as the child inside made another struggle for freedom and kicked hard. The child was too excited to be allowed. Every kick was a pain for the girl and she was sure that any moment, her water bag may break.
Eleanor River continued her pointless wandering about the streets of London, trying not to think about the bitter thoughts that kept haunting her nights for the past months. She loved him so much; she left the grand life she once led. She was once a very prominent agent in their society. The money kept rolling in for her as she went out to do dangerous feats, risking her life every time she fulfills a mission. She's a very smart agent that the leader of their society adored her so much, she was put in some kind of pedestal that she was envied by her co-workers.
Everything was turning out fine for her until she met Donald. He was very handsome for a trump that lived most of his life on the streets. She did not took notice of him first thinking that some other guy from a higher walk of life would be more fitting to ask her hand. But Donald cannot be daunted by any of the harsh words she had thrown upon him. He was a very persistent guy and after a little more persuasion, Eleanor finally gave in and fell inevitably head over heels for the poor man. He was glad for the whole thing and Eleanor felt quite the same. For her, Donald was her escape from her dangerous way of living, chasing after criminals or other enemies of their organization. She had probably escaped death more times than a normal cat with nine lives could. Her dates with Donald were bliss and everything was memorable. The first time they held hands, the first time they hugged, the first time they kissed and the first time they made love to each other. Donald then surprised Eleanor by asking her to live with him. Marriage was not his thing. It takes so much time and money to organize. And he never had much of the latter.
Eleanor agreed with Donald and decided to leave her job for good, earning many insults and threats from the society. She explained everything to Donald and he understood that they had to go into hiding if they wanted to live peacefully and without any bother from any agent the organization may send to go hunting for Eleanor. And so they left for London. They had lived peacefully for about a year until everything crumbled to pieces.
Eleanor found out that she was pregnant with Donald's child. She was confident that Donald will be glad about it, probably promising her that he would work hard to raise the child properly and that he'll find a good job so that one day, he may buy a house for them to live in and probably ask Eleanor her hand in marriage. But everything that Eleanor had expected from the man she had loved went topsy-turvy. He went out at night for long periods of time that it tired Eleanor so much waiting for him to come home to the shabby apartment they had rented for themselves. He refused to answer her every time she asked him what was wrong and assured her with empty words that he was just getting over the primary shock of finding out that he was going to become a father.
And one day, he never came home for a whole day. Eleanor waited patiently for her beloved to come home. But he never returned the next day and the next one after that. It was when Eleanor started wondering. A quick search around the rather small apartment told Eleanor everything she needs to know. Donald had left her for good, taking all the money they had with him. She had only stayed one more month on that apartment before she was kicked out of the building because she cannot pay the rent anymore.
Heartbreak did not suit her well. She tried to find a work but no one will accept a pregnant and broken woman who was always reduced to tears whenever she remembers the bitter past she had shared with her Donald. He had destroyed her completely. In the months to come, nobody could ever recognize the once great agent that Eleanor had been. She was reduced to wandering in streets asking people for alms which they reluctantly gave her and living off stale bread given to her by kind bakers who thought that the child she was carrying needs nutrition. It was a very far cry from her former life that she had once led.
Eleanor bit her lip, trying to suppress her tears from pain and grief as the baby she was carrying gave another sudden kick. She could see a tall building nearby. If only she could get inside for a little shelter. She knew it was going to be a stormy night the way the cold wild feels wet to her cheeks. She was on the gate of that building now, clutching on the gates for support. The pain was becoming unbearable now. She turned her head to see the large sign telling her the name of the large establishment. The Wammy House. It was an orphanage. She smiled a little to herself knowing that people in an orphanage won't be mad at her for going into labor in their front gates. She searched for the intercom and pressed a shaking finger onto the button. A cool female voice spoke from the other end.
"Hello? This is The Wammy House. How can I help you?" It spoke.
"I -," Eleanor gasped as she felt a wetness trickling down her thighs. Her water bag had broken.
"Miss if you don't speak now, I'm hanging up," the voice on the other end seemed a little bit irritated now. Eleanor never had the chance to speak again as she collapsed on the cold street, clutching her large belly in agony. Her vision became blurred as tears of pain escaped her. A figure approached her.
Lira had seen it all happen in front of her. She happened to be sitting on a low-hanging branch of a tree near the gates, whiling away time by watching people pass by. Suddenly, a frail-looking figure caught her eye. It looks like a very weak woman who looks like she was on the last months of her pregnancy judging by the large size of her stomach. Lira saw it as she tottered across the road and onto the gates, clutching the cold metal of it for support. She seems to be experiencing a great deal of pain. Lira saw the woman press on the intercom and then collapse on the pavement, clutching her stomach, screaming in pain.
Lira had acted according to her instincts. She climbed the stone wall and jumped to the other side, approaching the weak figure of the woman. She took one glance of her and saw a trickle of wetness coming from between her thighs and took in the pain registered on the woman's face. It was all enough to tell her that the poor lady was going to labor. Lira turned around and pressed the button of the intercom. Before the cool voice could even finish her sentence, Lira had already shouted in agitation.
"Emma, it's me, Lira. I'm outside the gates right now and a woman is going onto labor. I don't think she can hold on any longer. Send someone, quick. I'll stay beside her for the meantime," Lira shouted through the intercom. The voice paused for a while before mumbling a hastened "ok". Lira then approached the woman and kneeled beside her, pulling the woman onto her lap. It was the best she could do to make the woman feel better.
"Th – thank you," the woman mumbled in a weak voice.
"Shh, it's alright. I sent for someone inside already. We just had to wait. And don't talk too much. You'll only go weak," Lira told the woman. The woman managed a weak smile.
"How did you get here? You're f – from inside aren't y – you? H – how?" the woman stammered.
"I climbed and jumped," Lira answered indifferently as if it was something that she does normally. "I see some men coming now," Lira said and put her hand in the air, waving to get the men's attention.
The next few hours found Lira sitting with her legs drawn up to her chest much like L's way of sitting. She became so agitated hearing the screams of pain ensuing inside the room as the woman she had brought in gives birth to her child. She brought her head down trying to stem the images forming in her head of how much pain the woman was enduring at the moment. She then felt a tap on her shoulder and felt clothes rub against her bare arm. She turned to see L staring at her with those wide eyes and his hand was extended to her, offering her a chocolate bar.
"I have been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?" L said as Lira took the chocolate and bit on it gratefully.
"I was on the yard by the gates. How are the kids?" Lira asked referring to Matt and Mello.
"They can get along by themselves. They're watching the new Bruce Lee movie I had asked Watari to buy. What are you doing outside?" L asked biting on a corner of the chocolate that Lira was eating. He never bothered to bring his own.
"I wanted some fresh air. I was enjoying myself watching people pass by when I saw this pregnant woman come by the gates. She tried to talk to the intercom but she collapsed so I jumped over the wall and called from help inside and then I sat beside her until the men came and now she's inside," Lira explained and as her sentence ended, another bloodcurdling scream pierced the air, making Lira cringe.
"That sounds awful," L commented. Lira felt him shudder a little but he dismissed it and put an arm around Lira's shoulder that she was so grateful for.
"I hope she turns out fine," Lira said, glancing at the closed door of the room.
"Let's just wait to find out," L said looking at the same direction.
The two adolescents ate the large bar of chocolate in silence waiting for any news inside the room. At last, after several hours of waiting, Roger went outside and called Lira to come inside, followed closely by L. Lira saw the nurse wrapping a blood-covered baby in a white cloth as the baby bellowed out crying. Lira took a look at it. The child looks a little like its mother. She was then informed that it was a boy. She then edged closer at the bed where the woman laid panting and breathing heavily. Lira felt a sweaty hand enclose her forearm and saw the woman smiling in her direction.
"Th – thank you. Y- you don't kn – know how grate – f – ful I am," The woman managed between heavy pants.
"It was no problem," Lira smiled reassuringly at the sweaty figure of the woman before her.
"I – I wish h – he does not t – turn out like h – his father," The woman said, tears spilling from her eyes.
"Don't cry. You can make sure he doesn't turn out that way by looking after him very well," Lira replied, holding the sweaty hands of the woman.
"I – I was so near to b – being…..And th – then he came," the woman wept.
"Stop talking like that. On a lighter note," Lira said searching for something better to talk about. "What shat we name the baby?" Lira asked.
"N – Near. Name him N – Near. And t – take my s – surname. Name him N – Near River," The woman said before her eyes widened as she took one last agonizing breath and her hold on Lira's hand sagged. The woman died of childbirth. Lira was shocked and stared for a while at the dead woman's body. She never even found out her name.
"Come on," L put his hand around Lira again and hugged her. It was the best he could do to comfort Lira who sobbed quietly onto his white shirt. He did not even care if she soiled his shirt. Her grief is his grief. That, he was sure of.
Later on, the people around Lira were quarreling whether to follow the woman's last wish to name her child Near, saying that it was not really a proper name.
"I'll name him then. I was the one who brought the woman in here, didn't I?" Lira asked people around her. All nodded in agreement. She felt a squeeze on her shoulder, encouraging her to go on. "Well, then. I'll name him Nate River. Nate sounds a bit like Near. And it's a unique name. But, his nickname will be Near. Just to follow his mom's last wish. Is that alright with you?" Lira said glancing at the room at large. Everyone nodded in agreement at Lira's proposal. And so, Nate River was born into the world.
A/N: I loved writing this so I don't really care if people hated it….haha. I like putting in a little drama coz I pictured an orphan's life to be with a little bit of all emotions…lol…. Eleanor River and her Donald were just names I came up with….I don't really know the names of Near's parents..haha…
Anyway, I'd like to try something but I don't know if you would try this with me too. I'm going to play a game with you guys….from this chapter onwards, you can ask me ANY question regarding ANYTHING…..(i.e. about my OC, about the story, etc…) anything you'd like to ask me, I'm answering them. I just want to know what you guys think…heehee….I'll answer the questions at the end of the next chapters.
Oh, and thank you for all those who had left comments on the last chapter. You really made my day that time. And I never really had an idea that LxLira would be a good concept….lol… well, enjoy!