January 31, 2011
4:19 AM
(About an hour before L wakes up)

Standing next to his patient, Mido anxiously waited. He hoped it would work, but at the same time he was doubtful that this was the right thing.

I'm beginning to play God... Kira played God.

Am I going too far?

He looked around for something that might distract him, but there wasn't anything of much interest in the room. A counter-top. A few cupboards. A clock. A couple chairs.

The doctor yawned.

Dammit, why do I have to feel so tired now, of all times?

Well, he supposed, it was four in the morning. He could sleep in a chair... No, he shouldn't. His patient could wake up at any time. Or it could be in a few hours. Or six...

He could get a short nap in, couldn't he?

He glanced at the chair longingly, and after a moment of mental debate he gave in and sat down.

Without realizing it, he was asleep in seconds.

5:22 AM

L's eyes bolted open.

Kira-Light-Watari-Investigation-Criminals-Heart-Attacks-

Death.

...

He was supposed to be dead.

Actually, no - he had been dead. He knew that much for a fact.

But... this didn't feel like death.

With that thought in mind, he cautiously sat upright.

A... hospital? After quickly scanning the rather sparse room, he knew that's where he must be. Some kind of hospital. It was confirmed when he looked down and realized there were some IV needles stuck in his left arm.

L heard a snore. After a moment of confusion, he noticed a man - doctor? - in a white coat asleep in the corner. By habit, he mentally figured the man's measurements. About five-foot-eleven. Maybe 160 pounds. Chestnut hair? L couldn't quite remember what shade of brown chestnut was, but it sounded nice enough for him. L noted that this doctor needed a haircut. It's possible he's been down here for several months...

L then realized he doctor wasn't wearing a name tag that he could see. Smart man, he thought. If I were Kira and I knew his name, I could kill him.

Then he realized something else.

Light-kun... no, just Light... Light is Kira.

And I may be the only person in the world who knows.

L would have jumped out of the bed immediately and left the hospital as quickly as possible, but he knew that would have been incredibly stupid. There were IVs in his arms, for crying out loud.

And he wasn't completely sure where he was.

Or what year it was, for that matter.

Also, he was hungry.

...Well, the obvious solution was to wake the doctor up. L estimated that the chances he could help were at 99.9%, and the last tenth of a percent only applied if he hadn't gone outside in the last year.

What can I get his attention with?

After looking around, L noticed that next to his bed there was a vase with daffodils. He wasn't sure what it was doing there (it wasn't as though there would have been any visitors for him, after all), but he figured it would work alright. With his normal habit of using only his thumb and third finger, he removed the flowers, set them on the table, and deftly threw the now empty vase against the wall.

Well, the vase was mostly empty, anyways. L hadn't considered that the water for the flowers would have made such a large wet spot on the wall. Oops.

But either way, it had served it's purpose. The doctor awoke with a start and looked around dazedly. "What-?"

"Could you get me some tea with lots of sugar?" L asked innocently.

The man's eyes landed on him and grew to an impressive size.

"...Or maybe just sugar in general...?" L tried again.

For another moment, the doctor didn't move. Slowly he blinked.

"...My God," he finally gasped.

L cocked his head and studied him. Green eyes... "Are you American?"

The doctor, bewildered by the rather random question, shook his head. "English-Japanese."

"Of course. May I have some tea? Heavy on the sugar."

The doctor finally snapped out of it. "Ah... sure..." He quickly turned to leave.

"Has Kira been caught yet?"

L hadn't even planned on asking that, but the question had slipped out.

The man stopped briefly and turned to look back at L. "No," he said simply.

He stiffened. "...Oh."

The doctor must have sensed that L was tense, because he added, "They haven't caught him, but he hasn't killed anyone for a year now."

That very easily might have been the best thing L could hear, but his mind was plagued with doubts.

Kira is no longer killing? If that's true, then Light has probably died... At a 94% chance, at least.

But he might have given up. Those odds are about 2% or maybe less... Light doesn't give up easily...

Or it could have been something else...

What happened while I was dead?

"You said you wanted sugar?" he heard the doctor ask.

"...Yes," L replied numbly, "sugar. Lots and lots of sugar..."