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He tried to breathe, but he couldn't. With each exhale, it felt like glass was scratching the inside of his throat. He was going to cough, he thought, so he put a hand to his mouth to try to stifle it. He was wearing a mask anyway, didn't matter.
* cough ! cough cough !*
It was a dry cough, like the kind you get when you don't drink anything when you're sick. He felt a wetness in his mask, so he took off his mask. He looked down at his mask in his hand, it was stained with his blood mixed with it. He looked up at his defense attorney, Mia Fey, but she was arguing with someone on the witness stand. He reaches out his hand to her, trying to scream, to say anything. But nothing came out. He couldn't so much as breathe. The taste of blood still in his mouth. He looked to his right, The bailiff should be there, he reasoned. But, to his dismay, the bailiff was too engrossed in the trial to notice him. He reached out a hand to him, trying to scream, to say anything. But nothing came out.
* cough ! cough cough !*
This time, everyone took notice. His defense attorney yelled something, he couldn't hear it, the constant ringing in his ears drowned out anything else. He fell, his legs gave out. He looked at the witness stand, and he saw his Dollie. The woman he's in love with, cackling, looking at with an almost sadistic look in her face. He hit the cold courtroom ground, the last vestiges of his consciousness leaving him as he did.
He woke up as he hit his head on his desk. He looked down, he didn't have his bloodied mask in his hand anymore. He leaned back in his swivel chair. He must have fallen asleep, he reasoned to himself.
"Nick?" A concerned Maya Fey called out.
"Damn it!" He thought to himself, "I forgot that Maya and Pearls were in the other room." He composed himself, slicking his signature spikes back, "Yeah Maya?" He responded.
"Are you okay? Pearly and I heard a pretty loud thud in there."
"It was just my… My phone. Yeah, I just dropped my phone, sorry 'bout that."
"Are you sure, Nick? It was pretty loud to just be your phone."
"I-I… I put it on the top of my case shelf. That's why."
"...Nick, you and I both know that's a horrible lie."
He didn't have a response. It was supposed to be him that caught people in their lies, not the other way around! "I'm fine, Maya."
"You don't sound fine, you sound like you're on the verge of tears…"
"I'm fine, Maya."
"Nick, I--"
"Just go back to sleep. Please."
"...Fine…"
Maya said something to Pearl, but he couldn't hear it though. He went to the bathroom, maybe some water can do him some good. He turned on the sink, the water flowing into the drain. He splashed some water in his face, trying to wake himself up. He looked up into the mirror, and he saw himself, wearing a mask and a pink sweater with a yellow heart in the middle, with a big "P" in the middle of it. Behind him, he saw her , the person he thought he would be with for the rest of his life.
"Feenie", the voice rang out in his head, "I always loved you--"
He punched the mirror, cutting off the specter of her . He hadn't realized what he did, he punched the mirror—why did he punch the mirror?!
"Niiiiick?" Maya called out, more concerned than before, "What was that?"
"N-Nothing, just, uh…" He was blanking, hard, "I-I just… punched the mirror…?"
"Nick you WHAT?!?"
"I punched the mirror."
"Why are you saying it so nonchalantly?!" The door knob was rattling, Maya was trying to get in. "Nick open the door, I'm taking you to the hospital!"
"N-No! D-Did I say I punched the mirror? I-I ment I… launched the… choir?"
"That doesn't even make sense! Open the door, Nick!"
"No, I'm fine! I-I just gotta…" He was fumbling the first aid kit he keeps up the bathroom sink, trying to patch up his glass shards induced hand injury.
Maya was pounding on the door, * BANG ! BANG ! BANG !* "I swear to the Holy Mother, slumbering in the Twilight Realm: I AM TAKING YOU TO THE HOSPITAL!"
"No, I'm fine, Maya! I-I just--" He poured the hydrogen peroxide onto his open wounds, instantly regretting it. "Shh, ow, ow! Fuck!"
"Phoenix Naruhodo Wright! Open. The door."
He hadn't heard his full legal name said to him in such a stern tone before. If he had it was a long, long time ago.
He opened the door, with the guiltiest look on his face, his hand shotley bandaged, blood still dripping from his cuts.
"Nick! The fuck, dude?!"
He winced, it felt like glass was poking and prodding his neck, preventing him from speaking. "I…" He sputtered out, "I'm sorry…"
Maya took his bloodied/bandaged hand into hers, "Nick! Your poor hand…"
Phoenix looked away, he couldn't dare make direct eye contact with her. Not now.
"Why did you do that?"
Why did he do that? He didn't have an answer.
"Nick… Come on. I heard there's a hospital next to Eldoon's." Maya softly pulled on Phoenix's hand, guided him to the door.
"Alright..."