Utsumi Kaoru closed her eyes slowly and lay limp against Yukawa's chest. She shivered a little and then, Yukawa felt her breathing steady. He peered down, and saw that she was resting before laying her carefully on the bed.

He could not remember the last time he felt as drained, and her voice kept ringing in his mind Help me… She kept saying, whispering until she fell to the effects of anesthetics.Now, she was sleeping soundly but the sight he witness minutes before would haunt him, she was sitting up in bed pulling the thin tubes from her arms and doing so, she was bleeding out , she looked like an injured and confused animal who was trying to get away from people hurting her.

She stopped resisting when he stepped in, put his hands around her arms and brought her close to himself. It was déjà vu, since he could only remember the first and last time, he had his arms around her. And that was 6 six years ago, after the 'red mercury' incident. It seemed that he was the not only person who remembered that night. The nurses were able to put back the tubes quickly and neatly, she did not struggle but would not let Yukawa leave. He stayed throughout, and had her close him and waited for her to fall asleep. Kusanagi on the other hand, spent the time meanwhile to talk to the doctors attending to her medical needs. They were still discussing outside the ward. Yukawa could hear them talk in strangely raised voices, instead of a calm conversation. He looked at her sleeping form for one last time that night, before reaching out for his coat on the chair nearby. Yukawa turned away and made his way to the door, he was about to open them when it swung open from the other side. "Yukawa. Is she alright now?" Kusanagi asked, he peered over to the sleeping girl then back at the physic professor. He nodded. "What is the prognosis?" He asked, catching Kusanagi off guard, "It appears she is suffering from temporary loss of sight and complete loss of hearing." "But I guess you already knew that." Kusanagi added on, he did observe the professor not speaking to Utsumi but used touch to stop her from over reacting. Yukawa walked out from the ward, "What is the prognosis?" he asked again, having a feeling that Kusanagi was trying to hide something. The detective clenched his fist tightly, and punched the lift button harder then he normally would. "Not good." O00o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o

Yukawa had an uneasy night; he tossed and turned all evening. His head filled with rapid images of what he had seen earlier that evening. Presently, Yukawa sat still and upright against an old black leather sofa, his eyes may be closed but his mind and brain was not thinking of resting just yet.

It was strange for him to feel in this manner, he had hardly worried about things or persons but this was an exceptional case. Throughout his six years working with her, it was the first time Yukawa genuinely feels concern for the detective. His eyes peeled open slowly, and they glanced at the ceiling light above. He kept an unmoving gaze and breathed deeply.

"The prognosis is poor, the doctors say they are going to do their best to help her see again but hearing is another problem…"

Yukawa shook his head slightly; hearing his own memory speak was unusual for him. He would not have remembered these if it had not concerned her. But he was shocked nonetheless hearing that the detective he had worked with abet unwillingly was not going to be the same…

BZZ BZZ.

Yukawa titled his head a little to the left, and saw his phone vibrating on the lamp desk. He reached out and picked it up.

"I am listening…" Yukawa said in a dulled toned voice, he recognized the number earlier though it was a quick gaze at the screen. The first four numbers too familiar to forget in this life time, especially, this was probably the thousand times Yukawa had received the call from him.

"Yukawa Sensei, I got some bad news. The criminal escaped custody! He might make his way to the hospital Utsumi – kun is at..."

Kusanagi did not complete his sentence but both of them could feel the fear sinking in through their mind, Yukawa thought his blood froze up for a minute, the message begun to sink in a couple of seconds later. He slipped into his custom made brown cloth shoes, and shut the door hastily behind him.

"Meet me at the hospital, 30 minutes." He said, and hung up the phone.