Fever Dreams

CHAPTER 4

The first time L became aware that things had seriously gone wrong, it was because Watari was shaking him awake and talking to him. L ignored Watari at first. The man was so annoying, couldn't he tell it was time to sleep? L kept drifting back to sleep, and he was cold again, so he clutched desperately at the blankets.

Then Watari pulled the blankets mostly off and L woke up for real. He reached, trying to grab, but Watari took firm hold of his shoulders and said, "Ryuzaki, I was attacked and locked in a room. Aizawa heard me pounding on the door and let me out, but the lock had been smashed so he had to unscrew the hinges. Many of our cameras stopped functioning, and the computer systems have been wiped, even the back-ups. There was also a fire in the evidence rooms. The sprinklers in there did not function and neither did the fire alarm. Everything was destroyed."

It was a lot of information to process all at once. L's head throbbed, and his paranoia was at a fever pitch. He had to do something. He tried to focus. All the shadows in the room seemed extremely sinister. His gaze flickered back and forth between the shadows, looking for an attacker.

L said, "Turn on all the lights in here."

They did, and then it was so bright it was almost painful. L glanced around the room, blinking, stunned. Aizawa, Soichiro and Watari were all standing there, looking expectant, and Dr. Yamane was sitting in a chair right by the side of the bed. L tried to remember what he had been doing earlier. He had been thinking about something very important. A shiver ran through his body, and he just wanted to lie down again.

L turned to look at Light. Nobody was there. He pulled on the chain and saw the break, the last link twisted and mangled. He held up the chain, letting it sway in front of his face, his eyes following the broken link back and forth. The rhythm pulled him in, made him feel giddy. He kept watching the movement, fascinated by the way that distorted, dull reflections of the room appeared in the shiny metal links and slid across their surfaces. Then Watari was shaking his shoulders again.

Watari said, "What should we do?"

L said, "Dr. Yamane and Light are both Kira. You need to arrest them at once. We need a bigger chain for Light. He can bite through this one."

Watari said, "You cleared Light several days ago, and the doctor was never a suspect. What reason do you have for suspecting them?"

L sighed and tried to lie down. The reasoning had been very clear in his mind earlier, but now he couldn't seem to dredge up any justification. It was all so complicated, and his head kept throbbing, and he was desperately cold.

Soichiro said, "I gave Light permission to go home. I've called several times. His mother keeps checking on him. He's safe in bed."

Watari said, "Send Mogi to watch the house from the outside, to make sure Light doesn't leave. Do not let Mogi approach him directly."

Then Watari pulled L into a sitting position and said, "Do you remember what happened on the roof? That was the first mystery, before these others."

L said, "Light said I was dying, he said..."

L concentrated, tried to remember. "... he said he couldn't stop... if I moved, I would die. I had to stay there..."

It was getting too hard to think. L was flushed, his head throbbing more fiercely the longer he sat upright. Everything was far too complicated. It could wait until morning. It had to.

L heard a note of anger in Watari's voice as Watari said, "Did Light rape you?"

"No," L mumbled sleepily, and tried to lie down, but Watari's hands wouldn't let him.

Watari said, "Dr. Yamane, I do not think Ryuzaki knows what he is talking about. Do you have a rape kit with you?"

The doctor said, "Yes. It is in my car downstairs."

Soichiro said, "My boy would never rape another man."

Watari was saying something in return, but L was drifting away too quickly, and he couldn't catch it. The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake once again. He blinked and looked around. He was in a different room, on an examination table.

Watari said, "The doctor is performing an examination. He will need to touch your private areas. If you become scared or uncomfortable at any time, just say so."

L nodded, but the words wouldn't stay in his mind. He just needed to sleep. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. He was starting to feel that swaying motion inside, the one he'd felt on the roof with Light. A burning sensation started in the pit of his stomach and rapidly moved outward in all directions, making his entire body uncomfortably hot. L shifted in place. Then he felt something inside him, and he was caught up again in the memory of Light thrusting into him, moving in and out so deliciously as L stared up into the rain, spinning into those patterns.

L gripped the sides of the table and arched his back. He said, "Light! Ah, Light!"

He tried to move against the thing inside him, but hands grabbed his hips and pinned him down. He looked to one side and saw Soichiro, then to the other side and saw Matsuda. Where was Light? L looked down and saw Dr. Yamane. He screamed. Instantly, Watari was standing beside his head, saying, "It's okay, only a few more moments."

L calmed and nodded. Then the thing removed itself from inside him, and he was allowed to go back to sleep.