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Chapter 3

A week had passed and L had been monitoring Dr Thompson constantly. He had cameras in both her living quarters and her office and had both phones bugged. And in a week she had done nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary. He had just watched her attend to a split lip and a blackened eye between two youngsters who had a history of pummeling each other. While treating them she had spoken to both of them about the reasons for the fight, and then had separated them under the pretext of further treatment in another room where she spoke to one alone and then the other to hear their sides of the stories. Upon hearing their reasons, she asked each of them to come back and visit her at different times the next day, as she realized the problems were a little deeper than appeared and would take more time to smooth out between them.

He pressed a button on his desk. Within moments Watari answered.

"Yes, L?"

"You may remove the monitoring equipment from both Dr. Thompson's office and living quarters. I am satisfied that she is not involved in any suspicious activities."

"Very good, I will tend to it immediately."

"Thank you, Watari. And please bring her to see me tomorrow when she has a free period. I believe it's time we met."

"I will let you know what time she is available." L released the intercom button and began eating the strawberry shortcake in front of him. He was satisfied that she was exactly as she seemed to be, and now he wished to meet her.

As Christine was making notes in each of the boy's files, there was another knock on her office door.

"Come in" she called and watched as a tall, blonde teenager entered slowly. He looked uncomfortable, while at the same time trying to look confident. He looked almost too pretty to be a boy, with his shoulder length blonde hair and fair features, wearing a black sweater and black jeans.

"What can I do for you…"?

"Mello, I'm Mello," he said, "It's not for me, one of my friends is sick and he won't come to see you. I would have made him but he's too sick to walk". Christine stood up from her desk, walked over to where her bag was and then walked towards the door, ushering Mello to show her the way.

"Can you tell me what his symptoms are?"

"Well, he's been a pain in the ass….I mean he's been in a bad mood for a couple of days but today he's totally not himself. He won't even get out of bed. I think he has a fever but he wouldn't let me touch him. I came to get you because he's been throwing up too." She looked down into an extremely worried young face that immediately shifted when he realized she was looking at him. She patted his shoulder.

"You've done the right thing, Mello," she told him. "And try not to worry, I'm sure he will be fine." Mello nodded and gave her a small smile of relief. They stopped in front of one of the many dorm type room doors and Mello opened it, bringing her inside, leaving the door open behind him.

She saw another young man prone on his bed, bright red hair matted to his forehead with sweat. She could tell he was in pain by the movement of his legs under the covers, and he was trying hard not to groan. Next to him sitting on the floor by his head was a figure in white, another young man with a shock of white hair who was holding a bag, ostensibly in case the sick young man had to throw up again. She walked over to the bed and sat next to him, putting her bag on the floor. She touched his forehead and flushed face.

"I'm Doctor Thompson, I'm going to find out what's happening here. What's your name?"

Matt struggled to speak. "M..matt" he gasped out, finally allowing that groan to escape. Christine moved the covers down exposing his chest. She reached into her bag and pulled out her stethoscope and listened to his heart and his lungs.

"Matt, I need you to tell me where the pain is." Matt pointed to his stomach and then tried to protect it as she placed her hands on the area he pointed at. She gently moved his hands away and began to slightly press on his abdomen. When she touched a spot on his right side he cried out, the sound making both Mello and the boy at her feet jump and press forward towards him.

"I'm sorry, Matt but I have a pretty good idea about what's wrong now. It could be one of a couple of things, but I'm leaning towards your appendix right now. Whatever it is it's nothing I can treat here, so we are going to transport you to the hospital. Do you understand?" Matt began to tremble and shook his head back and forth.

"No, no I…don't….want…" Christine held his hands in hers to calm him and then gently touched his face.

"Matt, I can understand if you're scared. But I promise you, I will be there and I'll make sure you will be fine. You may need to have your appendix removed, and it may be something else altogether but I'm not going to know for sure until I get you there and we run some tests to be sure. You will be fine no matter what and after a few days you'll come back here. You must trust me." Matt opened his eyes for the first time and looked at her. The deep blue and the intensity of those eyes struck Christine as they bore into hers. After a moment he nodded and then looked over at his two friends and tried to smile, and nodded again. He grimaced as another pain hit him.

"Stay with him, I'm calling to get him to the hospital, I'll be right back" she told them and ran to her office.

L had reached to turn off the feed when he saw Mello walk into her office. Curious as to what he would want he waited to see what he had to say. He moved closer to the screen as he heard Mello tell the doctor why he was there. He leapt up as he heard him describe the symptoms as they walked out of the room. He immediately hit the intercom.

"Watari, one of the trio made need to go to the hospital, please have the car ready"

"Immediately" was the quick reply and L hurried from the room.

He arrived at the boy's room as Christine was beginning her examination. He stood by the door watching, thumb at his mouth, not being seen as all eyes were on her and Matt. He stood still and silent until Matt cried out, then turned and left, moving down the hall quickly. He stopped at Christine's office, going in and over immediately to the file cabinet, quickly skimming files to find the right one.

Christine arrived at her office; eyes fixed on the phone on her desk and ran in. She stopped short when she saw the figure at her file cabinet, rifling through her files.

"Who are you and what the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded. The figure turned and she caught her breath, realizing it was the same man she had seen across the room of the auditorium. He appraised her coolly and walked towards her.

"Have you diagnosed Matt's symptoms?" he asked totally ignoring her questions.

"What? How did you know about that, I just left him!"

"Yes, I know, and there isn't time to answer how I know, he needs immediate attention. Have you diagnosed Matt's symptoms?" he demanded again in a tone that told her he would accept nothing but the right answer.

"I have an idea of what I believe it is. I'm leaning more towards appendicitis. I came in to get him to the hospital.."

" I was checking to see if he had a history of gastrointestinal symptoms; there is the possibility of gastroenteritis…"

"There is that possibility but I'm fairly sure it is his appendix. I don't have time to argue with you over a diagnosis, and especially since I have no idea who the hell you are and why you thought you could just waltz into my office and go into my files! Now I have to call.." She watched as she could see a hint of anger flare in those impossibly large eyes, and then just as quickly as it flared it disappeared. He closed the file.

"Watari is waiting with the car. I was preparing to alert the hospital as to all the possibilities so there would be little time wasted. I will go back and carry Matt to the car, you call the hospital and let them know we are coming and join me at the car." He walked past her and into the hall.

Christine was absolutely furious. Who the hell did he think he was ordering her to call the hospital and meet him at the car? If time wasn't so important she would have darted after him and made him tell her just that, but the reality was she had to do just what he said to make sure the hospital was ready when they arrived. If what she thought was true, his appendix was ready to burst and there was no time to waste.

She ran back to the room after making the call to find him softly talking to the other boys in the room, reassuring them that Matt would be okay and to go to bed. They both hugged him and did as he asked without question. She was surprised to see how easily and carefully he lifted the boy from the bed, making sure the blanket was still around him. He certainly didn't look as strong as he appeared to be, and yet he lifted Matt with ease and carried him past her towards the entrance. She had to sprint to keep up with him he was moving so quickly.

As he had said, Watari was waiting with the door open so all he had to do was slide in with the moaning boy in his arms, and she slid in beside them.

"Are you sure it's advisable that you accompany him to the hospital?" Watari asked him.

"Please get us to the hospital as quickly as you can" was the only answer he received.

Watari closed the door and immediately got into the driver's side, taking off at a quick speed.

She watched in fascination as Matt leaned his head against this odd man's chest, while he spoke softly to the boy, assuring him he'd be fine and that he'd be with him the whole time. This seemed to soothe Matt, calming his trembling and slowing down his breathing.

Who is this man and what is his relationship with these children? She had to know.