Chapter Text
Beep... Beep... Beep...
L sat by Light's bedside, keeping his cold hand clasped tightly in his own. The irritating sound of the heart monitor slowly chipped away at the last of his sanity, yet he feared every microsecond he couldn't hear the wretched shrill noise. He tried to distract himself by looking down at the white bandages wrapped around Light's head. His hair had been cut where they needed to operate. It wasn't as bizarre as L had expected, and was growing back quite well, but it was still strange to see on Light. He would certainly have some opinions on it when he woke up.
If he woke up.
L couldn't stop himself from thinking back to a week ago, when he had come up with an in hindsight terrible plan which would force Light or Misa's hand if one or both of them was Kira. He had believed in all certainty that if Light or Misa had the power of Kira, Superintendent Yagami would die before his weapon could be fired. Soichiro had understood that, and maybe on some level he had hoped he would be dead and his son could get away, but he had expressed the belief he would be able to pull the trigger.
He couldn't remember if he had told Soichiro the gun had been armed with a blank for the desired effect to push Light and Misa's psyche to the limit, instead of being unloaded. He thought he had, but after this, he wondered if he had somehow forgotten. Would things have been different if he was sure?
In any case, this was the reason some places in the United States required people to take tests before being given access to firearms, instead of detectives who had forgotten the critical detail of shockwaves.
After talking to Light through the car, he had quickly noticed that his friend seemed to be in pain, and when he actually got to the task force headquarters, L had seen the tiniest of details but had proven to be deadly.
He noticed blood in Light's ears, and one of his eyes was much more dilated than the other. And as he explained the necessity of the handcuff, he noticed there was a sheen of sweat on Light's forehead. But it was Misa's angry shrieks that were the final straw before Light crumpled into a heap on the carpet, startling L enough that he stumbled a little too.
Everything after that moment became a blur of shouting and sirens and Light being carried away. The next thing L knew, doctors were telling him and both of Light's parents that Light's skull had fractured and pieces had wound up in his brain. He needed immediate emergency surgery. Later, they found out the shockwave from the blank had been the cause.
Which led him back to the present moment, even if he would rather be anywhere else. Light had been in a coma for a week and showed no signs of waking up. He had been moved from the hospital to the task force headquarters, and L hired the best doctors in the world to tend to him, but even they were barely able to do anything. Light had only scored a 4 on the GCS multiple times now, barely above the lowest score that wasn't brain dead.
Blanks were dangerous, lesson learned. But it had been realized too late, and the doctor said that even if Light did wake up, there was no doubt other issues would arise. Some potential problems which could appear included but were not limited to a permanent vegetative state; seizures; vertigo; paralysis of facial muscles or losing sensation in the face; loss of one or more of his senses; swallowing problem; dizziness; the list went on.
And then if that wasn't bad enough, the idea Light would no longer be the person he used to be. Personality changes, or loss of that extraordinary intelligence. And for L, who had finally found someone who could be considered his equal, selfishly hoped that at the very least Light's brilliance remained.
Looking around Light's room, he saw there were countless gifts since it had quickly gotten out that Light Yagami, the brilliant son of Chief Soichiro Yagami, had suffered a severe head injury and wound up in a coma. Nobody knew any details, just that there was an accident, and Light might not get out of it alive. But L growled a little, having gone through the gifts delivered and noticed most of them were love letters and girls saying they would be by his side. L had shamelessly burned those notes, but he left the flowers be.
What L did know about Light and had learned was Light had a liking for seashells, so he left a seashell on Light's nightstand, one every day he remained in a coma. It was all he could do, and every time he tried working on the case, he found himself coming back here. Sometimes he would sit there and talk about the investigation, knowing Light probably couldn't hear him.
He brushed his thumb absently on Light's hand. At the moment, Light had been turned on his side to avoid blood clots, and he looked dead, skin ashen, and the rise and fall of his chest hard to pinpoint.
"Oh, you're here."
Misa's voice snapped L out of his thoughts, and he looked up at her with tired eyes, "Hello, Misa-San. I came to visit Light-Kun."
Misa scoffed, "It's not like he's going to be killing people while in a coma, so how about you get back to catching the real Kira?"
"I'm allowed to take breaks from time to time." L knew Misa hated him, and frankly, she was so unbearably annoying that he found that while actively hating her required too much energy that could be put towards catching Kira, he did dislike her. There was a mutual animosity between them, but worry for Light was something they shared, so for Light's sake, they hadn't attacked each other yet. But if she talked one more time about how she and Light were going to get married when he woke up, L was going to kick her with no regrets.
He noticed a small leather notebook in her hands, "What's that?"
Misa looked down at the notebook, glancing between Light and L before reluctantly taking a seat beside him at Light's side. L grimaced at the scent of her perfume, before remembering it was not proper etiquette to bring up something few cared about. He wouldn't usually care, but this didn't feel like the place for an argument. "It's a coma diary," Misa said. L noticed there were little heart stickers stuck to the cover. "I've been writing down everything that happened since Light..." she trailed off, looking anywhere that wasn't him. She had to find the will to continue her explanation, "So when he wakes up, he can catch up on everything he missed." She held up the notebook in front of her face, trying to read it through for anything she missed. "Matsu is the only one talks to me. I don't know why, but Monchichi doesn't seem to like me."
Monchichi? She must be talking about Aizawa. L could take a few guesses as to why Aizawa would dislike Misa, and none of them felt like his place to bring up. He decided to focus instead on the other thing she said. A coma diary? That was actually kind of sweet. Not that L was ever going to admit it, much preferring to say nothing. He knew it probably consisted of lots of "I love you" and sentimental crap along those lines instead of useful information. However, seeing as Light had gotten his skull fractured and had brain damage, having facts thrown at him the moment he awoke was not the best idea.
Misa looked down at Light with wet eyes, her body trembling, "When do you think he's going to wake up?"
"I don't know," L replied. "But I like to believe he's too stubborn to actually die, and he will wake up to help us catch Kira and clear his name. He might leave us waiting for a while, but he will wake up."
But he didn't know who he was trying to convince—Misa to make her shut up and not start bawling dramatically on him, or himself to prevent fear and guilt from crashing down on him.