Away From Home

Chapter Seventeen

By Andruindel

-----

It hurt to move when I next woke up. I groaned as I flipped onto my back, and stretched. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as I struggled to sit up, and my head was aching. There was no doubt about it, I thought as I flopped back into bed: I was sick. For a minute I was consumed by the surrealism of it all. I'd been in Death Note land for nearly two months, and I had not once felt as terrible as I did now. Being sick again was so disorienting, I could only lay there and stare at the ceiling, cursing anything that came to mind.

I cringed as someone knocked at my door. The normally ordinary noise was so loud that it made my head throb. Seeing as it took too much effort to form a coherent sentence, I pulled my blanket over my head, and grunted as loudly as I could.

"Amy? Are you okay?"

Again, I merely groaned in response. Apparently Matsuda, who was the one outside my door, took that as a sign that I was not okay. I heard the door open, and then felt my weight shift as Matsuda sat down on the bed beside me. Gently, so gently in fact that I didn't even think of resisting, he pulled the covers away from my face.

"You okay?" He asked again.

I didn't need to act, as I put on my best puppy face. I felt pitiful enough. "I'm sick, Matsu…" I replied.

Matsuda looked suitably concerned. "I'm sorry, Amy-chan!" He cried. I winced at the volume of his voice. "Do you think you can get up? We're checking out today."

I sat up, putting a hand to my head. "I guess…" I muttered. It took so much effort to climb out of bed that I almost gave up. But Matsuda wouldn't let me. He pulled me to my feet, and steadied me as I swayed on the spot. The light streaming in through the partially open curtains was painful.

"If you go back to bed, I'll shoot you, Amy." Matsuda threatened me as he went back to the door. "I'll be back in ten minutes, and I expect to see you dressed, and presentable."

"Whatever…" I mumbled as he left, closing the door rather loudly behind him. Slowly, carefully, and resenting every inch of my body for the pain it was causing me, I got dressed, and brushed my hair.

I hardly felt presentable as I opened my door several minutes later. Matsuda was just coming to get me. He smiled at me, and I attempted to return it. My attempt failed epically. He seemed to understand, though, and didn't press the matter. What he did was put his arm around my shoulders, and support me as we went into the work room.

Everything had been put back to normal. I'd forgotten that L frequently changed hotels. Curse the universe, or the gods or whatever, for making today of all days the day he would check out of the hotel. I narrowed my eyes as I entered the blinding brightness.

"What's wrong, Amy?"

I was shocked when L addressed me. L never bothered paying enough attention to me to realize when I wasn't feeling good. I turned a rather grumpy gaze on him, resigned not to answer his question. Matsuda answered for me.

"Amy's not feeling good." He said. "Actually," I shivered as he touched a hand to my face. His hands were like ice. "I think she's got a fever."

Great… That explained the insane dreams I'd been having…

L tipped his head to one side, and took several steps nearer to me. "Oh…" He said quietly. I felt half-asleep on my feet, as though I could lay down anywhere and go to sleep. Of course, I could do that anyway… "I'm sorry to hear that…" L went on.

I lifted an eyebrow incredulously at him. Since when did L care so much? No one else, aside from Matsuda of course, seemed to care about me at all. Aizawa sure didn't.

Then again…

I shuddered as I recalled the events of the previous night. Ukita had been killed by Misa, not even twenty four hours ago. Matsuda, mistaking my shudder of disgust for a shiver, pulled me closer. I almost didn't want him to; he was so warm. But it still felt nice to be cared about.

It seemed to take ages for us to reach the other hotel. And then, it took another age or two to get up to the right floor. I was feeling so miserable at this point, that I didn't even care about the elevator ride. All I cared about was getting to the hotel suite, where I could collapse and die. It's not like anyone would have cared.

Matsuda cared though, I reminded myself.

He cared enough to see that I was barely able to stand up at the moment. He cared enough to scoop me into his arms and carry me the rest of the way to the hotel suite. He even cared enough to carry me to the room I'd been assigned. No one else cared. Not even L.

I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

-----

"Amy, why do you have to do things like that?"

I looked up from the paper I'd been intently studying. L stood over me, his thumb in his mouth, like usual. His eyes met mine fixedly. It was all I could do to keep from looking away.

"What did I do?" I asked evasively. I turned back to the paper, gnawing the end of my pencil nervously. I'd been in the middle of writing something when L had interrupted me. Now I couldn't remember what I'd been about to write.

My attention was reverted back to L when he grabbed me roughly by the arm, and pulled me out of my chair. I swallowed, looking up at the dark-haired man. He was so much taller than me; I'd never noticed before just how tall he was. His eyes were hooded as he gazed down at me. No amount of mischief was visible in his eyes. I hadn't expected any, of course.

"Don't pretend you don't know…" He hissed at me. I was having trouble breathing now. L had drawn so close to me, we were almost touching. He stared at me for a minute, but I had no idea how to answer him. I didn't even know what I'd done to upset him.

A sly smirk played across L's mouth. The effect was frightening, at first. He pulled me even closer, holding me in place with an arm around my waist. I couldn't have moved even if I'd wanted to. Who said I wanted to?

I gasped as he leaned closer; as I felt his breath against my cheek.

I woke suddenly to blinding light. Throwing an arm up to shield my eyes from the light, I let out an irritated 'rawr', drawing it out until I felt sure whoever had disturbed me realized that they had invoked the wrath of Amy.

"Why must you constantly bother me?" I inquired out loud, though I wasn't expecting an answer. "Why is it that every time I finally get some time to myself, someone has to come and ruin it?!"

Whoever was in my room knew enough to tell when I was nearing the point of no return. I was just about to swing into full rant-mode, when whoever the person was clamped a hand over my mouth.

"Sorry, Amy. I didn't think you would wake up."

I had stiffened at the initial contact. It was almost instinct. But as soon as Matsuda's voice reached my ears, I relaxed, and peered at him from beneath my arm. He smiled lightly at me. At that instant, I realized how sad he looked, even when he smiled. Ukita had just died the night before, I reminded myself. And here I was complaining that I always got woken up.

Suitably chastened, I watched as Matsuda closed the curtains again.

"Since you're awake…" Matsuda started, turning to me again. "Watari's going to bring some lunch up. Do you want anything?"

My reply was instant. "Ice cream. Plain chocolate ice cream." I said.

Matsuda smiled at me again. "Okay, I'll make sure you get your ice cream." He said.

As he started for the door, a sudden thought struck me. "Thank you!" I called after him. I wasn't sure if he heard me, but at least I'd said it. I'd been forgetting my "P's and Q's" as of late… I would fix that.

For a while I entertained the thought of going back to sleep. But now that I was awake, that proved impossible. I lay there for another few minutes, shivering, and aching, but I couldn't go to sleep. I had too much on my mind. So, shaking with the effort, I got out of bed, and left the room.

The work room was brightly lit. I pulled my hood up, shielding my eyes from at least some of the light. Aizawa, L, Matsuda and Chief Yagami were all sitting on the couches and chairs in the room. There was an empty chair, but, as I considered it, I realized that Ukita would have been sitting there, had he still been alive. I shivered.

No, there was no way I was sitting there.

Instead, I settled on the floor by one of the couches, resting against Matsuda's legs. I curled into a ball, still shivering, still resenting the world. Matsuda's hand rested lightly on my head for an instant, and I leaned back into the contact, glad that at least he cared. L hadn't even looked at me as I sat down.

My eyes drifted closed, and I ended up dosing again.

--------

The funny thing is: I was actually sick as I wrote this. Ironic, or maybe just cooincidental. Anywayz... Uhm... Thanks for reading, and again, don't forget to review. Your reviews, while they may not be replied to all the time (I've been meaning to start replying to reviews again, but I never find the time), are greatly appreciated, and bring much amusement to me. And an amused Andy is an Andy willing to write more, haha.