Pearls

Chapter 22

Ever had one of those days where you worry about someone and their well-being because after quite the most bizarre, exciting or possibly unfortunate incident they began to act differently either in a positive or negative way? Like one day they were completely fine but the next day they're a changed person. Ever had that happen to you or to someone you care about? 

Well that's what happened to me when Phoenix came stumbling into the office, the next day, his clothes a bit misshapen and a tired look in his eyes. Actually, scratch that. His whole face looked tired!

"Nick, what happened to you?! Are you alright? Pearly, get a pillow for Nick and put it on the couch! Here, Nick, place your arm over my shoulder... that's it. Now come this way please."

Phoenix didn't so much as grunt as I helped him to the couch, taking note of any physical damage to his body. Thankfully, there was none that I could see and we continued to stumble across the floor before Phoenix flopped onto the couch and stopped moving. When I say he wasn't moving, I meant that he immediately fell asleep and began to snore.

"Geez, he's a loud sleeper. Pearly, thanks for your help. Can you keep an eye on him while I go get more pillows and a blanket for him?"

"Yes, Mystic Maya. Do you think he'll be okay? He doesn't look well."

"I'm sure he's fine, Pearly. He was out all day and night with Miles. I hardly think Miles would've let anything bad happen to Nick."

Pearl nodded as I left the room, heading to the linen cupboard for spare pillows and blankets. Edgeworth surprised me. He said he'd return Phoenix shortly after he had "kidnapped" him but instead he kept him for the whole day and night without any notice. Calling either of them through their phones proved useless after the 16th or 17th call. Detective Gumshoe wasn't much help either since he was busy on a case Edgeworth assigned him. Visiting them was out of the question since Edgeworth sounded pretty grave when he first spoke over the phone to me.

Hopefully when Phoenix wakes up, if he ever wakes up, he can tell us what happened and explain why he was so tired coming into the office. Come to think of it, he's still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Did he even go home last night?

I realised now that I had been standing in the one spot for quite some time now. I doubt Phoenix had woken up though so it shouldn't matter but Pearly, despite being only some distance away from her, would probably worry that I've gotten lost or had some sort of accident trying to reach something. With that being said, why on earth do we keep the blankets on the top shelf? 

It's only ever been me and Pearly who sleeps here with the occasional few times when Phoenix works a late night. Sometimes I wish I were just a bit taller. Phoenix has it easy being able to reach the shelf this high.

After grabbing a chair from my room, I managed to grab what I need and returned to the main room. Pearl stood watch over Phoenix who was still snoring away but it wasn't as bad as before. Laying the blanket over him and adjusting his head to fit more pillows beneath him, I joined Pearl on a different couch and stared at the sleeping attorney before us. "Has he done anything while I was gone?"

"No, just snoring," Pearl responded sadly. "Are you sure he's okay? Mr. Nick has never done this before. I tried to see if he was sick but I don't know what I should be looking for."

"Hm, he doesn't look sick. Everything about him seems normal except that he's extremely tired. I think he just needs some sleep, Pearly, then he'll be A-okay when he wakes up." My smile didn't seem to have an affect on her, unfortunately, so I tried to compromise. "It'll all be okay. When he wakes up, he'll be able to tell us everything that happened yesterday. We could even ask Miles what happened, if you want?"