At the Heart of Justice

Chapter 21: Nightmare

"L! L, please hold on, we're almost there!"

L's raven hair hung down over his closed eyes as his head and shoulders swayed unwillingly with the movements of the truck. Naomi was using one hand to continue putting pressure on his lacerated shoulder and the other to call Watari on L's phone. He picked up after just one ring.

"Watari! He's hurt, he's hurt bad, please- " She choked on her words and swallowed a sob in her throat. "Please help him, Watari, I can't stop it!"

"I know, I saw it happen." Watari's voice was steady and strong. "We're almost there, Naomi, hang on."

"Okay... okay, okay, okay..." Naomi repeated over and over to herself as she hung up the phone and returned both hands to the blood-soaked cloth.

"Okay, okay... L? Stay with me... Oh god, please, please stay with me."

Talking out loud seemed to be the only thing keeping her sane at the moment.

Thick, red fluid saturated the once white cotton cloth and ran in streams down L's sleeveless arm. It made a sickening, wet sound as Naomi pressed against it with all of her might, the blood seeping through her fingers and dripping down her hands, collecting in a widening, crimson pool on the metal floor where she knelt.

She kept on talking to him, pleading with him to cling to his life.

What seemed like an eternity was, in reality, a span of just a few minutes. The truck lurched to a stop and, within seconds, the trailer doors flung open. A man in surgical scrubs hopped inside and, after a quick survey of the scene, he scooped L up into his arms, handing Naomi a clean white cloth. He spoke in English, firmly and evenly instructing her to keep up alongside him while maintaining the pressure on L's shoulder.

L's head flopped back as he was picked up and his limbs swung limp as the doctor and Naomi ran into the apartment building that was home for the time-being. Naomi wondered fleetingly why they weren't at a hospital, but this was clearly not the time for questions.

Watari and two paramedics joined them seemingly out of nowhere, and everything was a blur of hurried footsteps and fervent voices. The men were speaking quickly to each other in strings of medical words that Naomi didn't have the energy to follow.

They crowded into the elevator, and the medics all knelt down, Naomi with them.

"Keep the pressure on!" the doctor holding L directed to one of the paramedics, and Naomi stepped aside as the uniformed man took over for her.

She stood to her feet and covered her mouth with her bloodied hands. Everything warped into echoey slow motion as she took in the horrific nightmare of a scene before her.

L's ripped shirt was more red than white. He wasn't just stabbed; he was torn open. The blood-soaked, cotton fabric clung to his skin like wet papier-mâché, and his entire body was completely limp.

As the medical team surrounded him, his sleeveless arm extended lifelessly on the floor, streaked with blood down to his upturned palm. Amid the frantic chaos, Naomi knelt down and gently picked up his hand.

"Don't leave me," she whispered.

The man taking L's blood pressure removed the stethoscope from his ears and shook his head, looking worried. He took out a small light and used his thumb to lift L's eyelid. He shone the light into it, moving it quickly back and forth.

Suddenly, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. L was lifted off the floor again and his hand slipped from Naomi's grasp. In an instant, the doctor and one of the medics were gone with Watari into L's apartment.