Disclaimer:
DR: *While staring at screen and typing* I don't see why you're so upset at me. All the reviewers like the story.
Dragon: You made Maka get raped…why wouldn't I be upset?!
DR: For God's sake, Dragon, it's just a story. No need to get worked up.
Dragon: You just…don't understand. T_T Why poor innocent Maka? Why not Blair?!
DR: *Mutters* Because Blair would like it.
Dragon: *Sigh* You're fucking impossible. Anyway, shouldn't you be writing a disclaimer? You know, like saying you don't own Soul Eater?
DR: I dunno what you're talking about.
A/N: Best part about this chapter is I'm writing it during my fifth-period study hall…dressed as Soul! xDDDDDD Anyway, judging by the reviews, I'm doing well, so all that brain-racking research has paid off! :D I hope this chapter works out okay as well. Enjoy! :D
Trust No-One
Chapter 3:
As the police were leaving with their evidence and whatnot, Soul was tearing down the road in his Camaro, headed for the hospital. He tapped the steering wheel nervously, going as fast as he could without going insanely far beyond the speed limit. Sure, five more miles per hour wasn't much, but because of his recent brush with a rather abrasive police officer, chief, whatever, he was a little paranoid.
Soul glanced in the rear view mirror, wetting his lips and pushing the gas pedal a little harder when he saw no police. The same questions spun through his mind while he made his way through the city streets, slowing down only slightly to make the turns: Was she okay? Had she woken up? If so, was she panicking? Was she asking for him? Was she scared, maybe angry at him? Was she already being prodded with more police and inquisitive doctors? If she was, he knew she'd panic. She'd want him there with her, at least. She'd be confused. She'd be scared. She'd cry…
Soul had to force himself not to force the pedal to the floor at that thought.
The parking lot was only about half full, but it was still too full for Soul's taste. He drove around near the ER entrance for a little bit before he finally found an open spot, which he practically screeched into. In the blink of an eye, he had parked the car, turned the engine off, shut the door, and was running up to the entrance.
The glass doors slid open automatically and Soul ran up to the lady at the desk there, behind the glass pane. She looked at him disinterestedly, and Soul didn't give her time to ask what he was there for.
"Where'd they take Maka Albarn?" he gasped. She raised an eyebrow and looked back down at her records.
"And who are you, sir?"
"Her partner. Soul Evans."
She nodded slowly. "Well, Mr. Evans, I'm afraid I can't let you see her."
"Why not?!" He growled impatiently.
"Because she's not clear to have visitors yet. The doctors and police still need to look her over, and, at least to my knowledge, she's not even conscious."
Soul bit his lip, searching for something to argue with.
"You can wait in the waiting room through the main entrance until she's given the OK for visitors," the woman told him dismissively.
Soul couldn't argue, and he knew it. With an irritated sigh and a thousand little worried knots in his stomach, he shoved his fists in his jacket pockets and stalked out of the emergency room, defeated.
The first sense she got back was touch, feeling. And from where she was, she could tell that she was lying down on some kind of mattress, a cot, probably. Then she got sense of smell. Wherever she was, it smelled...clean. Sterilized, even. This confused her slightly. Since when had the house ever been this clean…or cold? Soul wasn't cold. He was never cold. He was always warm and smelled like cedar and cologne.
When Maka finally awoke, she opened her eyes to a very bright, white room. There were three people standing over her, two women and a man, all in mint-green scrubs with masks over the lower half of their faces. Maka looked around for a little bit, disoriented, while her sense of sound came back to her. Was she in a…hospital? When had she gotten here?
"Hey…" she heard the male speak. His voice echoed faintly in her ears. "Can you hear me?"
Maka nodded slowly, squinting against the light. One of the women, a brunette with her hair in a ponytail, raised a small flashlight.
"Look over here, miss," she told Maka, before shining the light in her eyes. Maka had her hand defensively half-raised when the intense light was suddenly gone. She heard the woman murmur something to the redhead next to her before the man grabbed her attention again.
"Miss?"
She looked at him inquisitively. "Where…where am I?" she asked quietly.
"You're at the Death City Hospital, miss. How are you feeling?"
"I…I don't know…c-confused…" Maka was slowly starting to panic.
"Well, that's normal, I suppose. Do you think you can answer a few simple questions for us?"
She nodded slowly. "I-I think so…"
"Good," he said. The redheaded woman came up to her, pen poised behind her clipboard.
"Miss," she asked gently, "what's your name?"
"M-Maka…" she murmured cautiously. "Maka Albarn."
The woman nodded, writing her answer down. "When were you born?"
"July seventeenth…"
"Year?"
"1997."
The woman nodded. "Very good, Maka. Do you know the date today?"
Maka nodded. "The eighth of April."
She furrowed her brow. "Hm…" she wrote something else down. "Maka, do you remember anything before this?"
Maka concentrated carefully, focusing on her jumbled memory. "I…I remember…I remember police sirens…yelling at Soul…wait…" she murmured, "Soul…" Suddenly, she sat up. "Where's Soul?!" she asked, panicked. "Why isn't he here?!"
The brunette woman tried to make her lay back down, but Maka wouldn't. "Where's Soul?!"
The woman who'd been attempting to hold Maka down looked at the man on Maka's other side. "Has there been any word on him?"
He nodded. "The front desk called last night and said he was looking for her. He's supposed to be in the waiting room."
"Still?!"
He nodded again. The women looked at each other. Maka looked at all three of them.
"C-can you go get him?" she asked anxiously. All of the doctors looked at each other, and Maka could tell she was going to have to do some persuading.
Soul was woken from his slumber by the man next to him nudging him slightly. Soul looked at him with a questioning glare, but he only pointed at the front desk. Soul, bleary eyed, looked around, regained his wits, and silently cursed himself. While waiting for Maka to awaken, he'd found himself staying in the waiting room overnight. He promised he wouldn't fall asleep, but he must have. Currently, the woman at the front desk was motioning him over to her. There was a man dressed in scrubs on the other side of the desk, looking at him somberly. Soul got up, stretched, and did a slight jog to get to the desk.
"Yeah?"
The secretary stayed silent, but the doctor looked at him and said, "I'm Dr. Ryan. Maka woke up and she's been asking for you. She says she won't cooperate unless you're with her."
"Sounds like Maka…" Soul muttered while he followed the man to Maka's room.
They made their way down several hallways and past uncounted doorways, each one making Soul hope it was Maka's. By the time they'd finally made it to her door, Soul's feet were tingling slightly from the walk. Dr. Ryan finally turned into a brightly lit room, and when Soul walked in, he saw Maka, looking slightly panicked, sitting up on her bed. When she saw him, she relaxed a little and opened her arms.
"Soul!" she breathed in a sigh of relief. He hurried up to her and put his arms around her waist in a reassuring embrace. She held her thin arms tightly around his neck, her chin resting on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and inhaled the familiar scent of him, the warm, spicy odor cutting through the cold smell of sterilization. Soul finally pulled away from her, looking into her eyes.
"Maka, are you okay?" he asked nervously. Maka nodded with a small smile.
"I'm alright. Better now that you're here."
Soul smiled and nodded once, releasing her and taking her hand.
"We're gonna get through this together, 'ight?" he told her quietly. She nodded, he kissed her forehead, and sent up a silent prayer that this would be over quickly.
Liz was sitting in the living room, painting her nails and watching reruns of random reality shows when someone knocked on the door. She sighed and got up, wondering who in the hell could possibly be coming to the house this early. Probably Blackstar, she figured, needing to annoy someone after the dance last night.
So she was pretty shocked to open the door and see a couple of police officers standing there instead. Some part of her brain, the part that still held her instincts from growing up on the streets, flashed a warning. Cops had never been a good thing, probably less so to Liz and her sister. The man on the left, slightly taller than his partner, flashed a badge at her.
"Officer Mortensen. Is this Death the Kid's residence?"
"Uhh..." Liz was at a loss for words, half because of fighting off her old instinct to call for Patti and shoot the man, half because she was wondering what on earth they could want Kid for. "Y-yeah...why?"
"We need to speak with him."
"About...?" she prompted.
"I'm afraid that's between him and us."
"What's going on here, Liz?" Kid showed up behind her, hands in his pockets. She turned to him and shrugged.
"I don't know. They just say they want to talk to you." She stepped aside and let Kid step up to Officer Mortensen.
"What is it you need to talk about, Officer?" Kid's tone appeared genial, but Liz, having known him for a while, could hear the caution and doubt in his voice. With another tentative glance at Liz, Mortensen told him quietly, "We need to talk to you, preferably alone. We have a few questions for you."
"I won't go anywhere until I know what's going on," Kid insisted stubbornly. Liz bit her lip as Mortensen looked at Kid intensely. That look was always bad. It meant they had something they could use against you, something they could use to put you on a figurative leash, something they could use to get you in serious trouble with. Did they really just want her and Patti because of everything that happened while-
"It's about a certain girl I'm sure you know," Mortensen murmured, making Liz tense so much her muscles almost hurt. "A certain Maka Albarn?"
Kid gasped. Liz's eyes widened. Relieved that it wasn't about her but suddenly worried for her best friend, she cried, "What happened to Maka?!"
Kid was shaking, the quivering just noticeable. Finally, he stiffly forced out, "What happened?"
Mortensen sighed. "I'll explain if you just let me inside."
"I'll tell you anything you need to know," Kid answered almost immediately. Liz nodded in agreement.
A/N: Alright, so next chapter I'll go more into detail on questioning Kid. I sure hope I put the right question in everybody's minds: "Why doesn't Kid know what happened to Maka if he was the last one seen with her?" Find out with Kid's interrogation next chapter!
Stay Tuned!