Dead or Alive

Chapter 2: Where are you? (1)

I was no longer in my apartment, but instead, was looking at a sheet of white. I later realised that I was, actually, looking up at a white ceiling. I felt someone touch my right arm, so I turned my head to see who it was, but was overcome by dizziness. My head spun, I squeezed my eyes shut, and my hands flew up, instinctively, to cover my face. The hand that had touched my arm grasped it and gave it a slight squeeze and a shake, but my head was hurting too much to try to check who it belonged to. After a few torturous moments, the pain receded and I was finally able to turn and get a good look at the person beside me. I was immediately greeted by a familiar face. Well, saying face wouldn't be completely accurate.

[Are you okay?!] The PDA she held displayed.

'Yeah...' I say. 'But... how can you-' and then I realised what had happened. A dream? Impossible! It felt so real!

['How can I' what?] I realised I had paused for too long

'Oh... uh... nothing.'

[It's fine if you feel a little dazed. You were in a coma for 4 months, now, after all.] My eyes grow wide as soon as I read the little characters displayed on the screen.

'Coma?! For four months?!'

[Yes.]

Saying that it's a little too hard to digest would be a lie. It almost like being hit by a freaking freight train! Of course, that simile wouldn't be applicable to Shizu-chan. Shizu-chan... If that really was a dream... why did I dream of him doing something like that?

'How... I mean, what happened, that caused me to go into a coma?'

[You mean to say that you don't remember?]

I sighed. 'My dear Celty, why would I have asked you if I did?'

[Oh... yeah... that's true. Well, you kind of fell down]

I raise an eyebrow. 'Just fell down?' My mouth curves up from one end. 'That surely wouldn't make me go into a coma for four whole months, black biker-san.'

She slumped her shoulders, as if sighing, and started typing again. After she was done she showed the PDA to me. It read: [It looks like you were dealing information with someone, but the deal went wrong and they were going to shoot you. But... well... things happened and instead, you slipped and hit your head hard against a ledge, causing you to go into a coma. You should be glad your skull didn't break...]

I frowned. "Things"? What "things"? 'What do you mean by 'thi-'

'Ah! Izaya! You're awake! Finally! It's been four months, you know!' An overly cheerful voice cut me off. 'We were going to give up and cut your oxygen supply, you know? Mercy killing and all. Good thing you woke up before we did tha-' Shinra stopped speaking mid-sentence when he saw the glare I was giving him.

'You were going to do what?' I hissed, my voice seething with rage.

'Hey! It was just a joke! Just a joke!' Shinra raised his hands up, palms outwards, as if he were surrendering. 'Anyway, how are you feeling right now?!' He tried to smoothly change the subject and failed pathetically.

'Like shit.' I groaned. I still felt slightly dizzy, even after that small bout.

Shinra laughed. 'Of course you do! Anyway, let's check your vitals and see if everything's running the way it should.'

That was when Celty left the room and let Shinra do his work. After a few rounds of check up and a question-and-answer session, which contained questions that had answers that Shinra should've already been knowing, Shinra finally said 'okay, you are good. Though, that feeling of dizziness and confusion may stay for a week or so.'