Dawn was just breaking over the City of Angels when the detective arrived. Edgeworth was still standing outside the hospital room, but now he was watching Maya. The light streamed through the open windows, bright and pathetically chipper. Edgeworth had never seen such a beautiful sunrise: orange fading into purple, streaked with a distinctive cheerful pink, the same pink as Wright's favorite tie.
Edgeworth heard Gumshoe's footsteps coming down the hallway, and the detective skidded to a halt next to him. "Came as... fast as I could... Mr. Edgeworth," he panted, and straightened up. He seemed about to add something else, but stopped as Maya shifted, talking inaudibly in the room. "Oh good, Maya's here."
"Yes, she hasn't been here long," Edgeworth murmured. He hadn't even known an early express train came from Kurain; Maya had gotten to the hospital around six o'clock, and had barely managed to say a word to him before ducking into the room, gluing herself to the side of the bed. Edgeworth had spoken to the nurses on her behalf, saying she was Wright's foster sister. It was more or less true, after all.
Gumshoe's face was sunken in misery, his shoulders slumped; it was the same expression he'd worn throughout most of Edgeworth's stint as a defendant. "Gee, poor Mr. Wright. What happened? Do you know?"
Leave it to Gumshoe to dredge up the subject Edgeworth wanted to discuss the least. He swallowed, knowing that eventually he would have to tell both the detective and Maya why Wright had been shot in the first place. "Yes. He, er... let someone into the office who was on the run from the police. The man was armed, and when he realized that Wright couldn't help him..."
It was a cop-out, and he knew it, his stomach twisting in a knot. But Gumshoe, bless his gigantic, good-natured heart, didn't notice, and didn't inquire further. "Well, that's real nice, pal," he said, fuming at no one in particular. "Mr. Wright was probably doing his best to help, too! Have we caught the jerk yet, Mr. Edgeworth?"
Edgeworth forced himself to shake his head, calmly. "No. We have fingerprint identification, but he's still running, armed and dangerous."
Gumshoe made the closest noise to a snarl that Edgeworth had ever heard, and was silent. They both stood, watching Maya. She'd been talking to Wright nonstop since she'd arrived, every once in awhile reaching up to smooth his hair, or rub his shoulder encouragingly. It was enough to break your heart.
Suddenly her head bowed, her topknot drooping discernibly. Edgeworth couldn't tell if she was still talking: but after a moment her shoulders began to shake. He couldn't move: he should go in to comfort her, but his body had frozen.
He'd never been so happy to have the detective with him, as he was in the next moment. "Oh, no," said Gumshoe. Without another word, the detective went into the room, and put his arm around Maya's shoulders.
She looked up: words were exchanged that Edgeworth couldn't make out. Gumshoe tugged her upright, and she fell against him, to be helplessly led out of the room.
Strangely enough, when Maya came through the doorway, she looked up at Edgeworth with streaming eyes, and leapt away from the detective, throwing her arms tightly around him and pressing her face to his vest. Hesitantly, he put his arms around her. After a moment, it felt right, although the guilt at being the one to comfort her was electric.
"I'm so sorry, Maya," he finally said, as she sobbed uncontrollably. "But you know he'll be all right. Remember Eagle River? He fell off a forty-foot cliff and emerged with nothing but a cold."
It was hard to tell, but Edgeworth thought that between the sobs, Maya managed to say, "I know." And of course she knew. Even if Edgeworth had been slowly building a relationship of sorts with Wright, Maya would always have the upper hand. Except for when she was in Kurain, the two of them were inseparable: she even stayed in his apartment, exactly as a little sister would.
"Maya," he said suddenly, knowing he had to tell her. "Maya, I need to say something. Can you listen for a minute?"
She looked up, sniffling, eyes red-ringed. Momentarily she moved back, hugging herself with her arms. "Y-yes," she managed to say, and took a deep breath, bravely drawing up her chin. Edgeworth was filled with admiration. "W-what is it?"
It didn't escape him that he wasn't upset or nervous so much as abjectly frightened. He knew Maya would be angry, and was past the point of trying to convince her not to hate him, but the thought of it still sickened him. "This..." he faltered for a moment, then plunged in. "He called me, Maya. That's how the police and the ambulance got there so fast. The shooter let him have one phone call, and he called me for help. I thought it was a joke until I heard the gunshot."
There was nothing else: nothing she couldn't infer from what he'd already said, anyway. Edgeworth looked through the window at Wright, his chest rising and falling regularly, but not of his own accord. He added softly, "If he dies, I murdered him myself."
There was a long silence. He finally glanced over at Maya; her face was turned down to the floor, her eyes squeezed shut in what looked like pain. Gumshoe was just staring, his mouth actually hanging open.
Just when Edgeworth thought he might actually have to say something to break the stillness, Maya spoke. "But—but you didn't do it on purpose," she said tearfully. "Right?"
"G-good God, of course not!" Edgeworth said, gasping a little. "I can't—I can't say it wasn't my fault, but... it was a mistake." He swallowed. "It was a stupid, irresponsible mistake that no good friend would make. But it was mine."
To his astonishment, Maya reached out and grasped his hand in both of hers, trembling and doe-eyed. "And you're here now," she said softly. "Don't blame yourself just because—"
Now it was her turn to stare into the room at Wright, brown eyes filling with tears again. She bit her lip, started to say something, then hesitated again. Eventually she said, "You can't blame all of this on yourself just because Nick trusts everyone. It's no wonder you thought he was joking, Miles."
It was such a serious statement that, coming from Maya, it almost sounded precocious. Especially since she'd called him Miles: she always seemed hesitant to do so, probably because he and Wright consistently referred to one another by their surnames. But worst of all, it was exactly the thought Edgeworth had been trying to repress for the last several hours: the horrible wish to let Wright shoulder at least some of the blame.
At the same time, he moved forward to embrace her as she put her arms around him again; Edgeworth put his cheek to the top of her head, a rush of pity and sickness washing over him again. For a few minutes, the three of them just stood there, stricken with grief. Then Edgeworth glanced into the room, and almost jumped out of his skin.
"What? What is it?" Maya asked immediately. Then she followed his gaze and sucked in a breath of shock. In tandem, they broke apart and hurried into the room.
Wright's lashes fluttered, his eyes visible for a moment as they dashed to the side of the bed. Edgeworth stood behind Maya as she took Wright's hand in both of hers. "Nick?" she asked in a trembling voice. "N-Nick, we're here... Maya, and Miles, and Detective Gumshoe." Edgeworth couldn't see her face, but he sensed from her voice that she was trying to smile.
Wright's eyes opened ever so slightly, just enough to show the glint of irises. He looked up at them, and Edgeworth felt the dread in his heart lessening somewhat as Wright recognized them. "Hey, Nick," Maya said softly, almost sobbing out the words. "Please don't worry about talking or anything, we just wanted to come in and say Hi." Her small hand rose up again, laid itself softly on his forehead.
Edgeworth thought he was mistaken: the oxygen mask and breathing hoses underneath obscured Wright's face. But when Maya giggled a little hysterically he knew he wasn't just imagining it. Wright had smiled, ever so faintly, his eyes closed again.
"Go ahead and go back to sleep if you can, Nick," Maya said finally, sniffling back the last of her tears. "We'll be here."
There was a hiss as the door opened behind them, and a nurse came in. "Hey," he said angrily, "we only let you guys in because you pulled rank, but three people is too much. Out. Now." He came forward and began fiddling with the instruments, and whipped out a clipboard. Pausing, he looked at them again. "Out!"
Gumshoe obediently followed orders, but Maya leaned forward and kissed Wright's forehead. "We'll be here," she told him, and left the room holding Edgeworth's hand.