"You're just... Slightly ill. But you're going to be okay. They're going to fix you right up so that you won't feel a thing," Edgeworth spoke uncertainly, his eyes watering slightly as Mr Burgess's words constantly echoed in his head, haunting him, never leaving him alone.

'However there is only a 50 percent chance that we can achieve that.'

'Only a 50 percent chance,'

'50 percent chance,'

"I-I'm going to be okay?" Phoenix smiled as he heard the new 'false-hope' which he'd been fed;
"D-Does that mean I can go home? Th-That we can be together again?" The prosecutor didn't know how much more he could take - how much more he could deny reality and lie, blatantly lie, that everything was definitely going to be 'okay' straight to his boyfriend's face.

....... But he said it anyway.

Perhaps it was the sincere innocence and trusting nature of the spiky haired man before him, perhaps it was the fact that he didn't have the heart to crush a man who'd only just escaped being abused's heart so soon...

Perhaps he was genuinely scared that they were going to lose each other forever.

"I promise you that, when you get better... I'm going to take you home again... And we're going to be... Together...." Edgeworth's wavering voice broke off as he bit back tears.

So much for staying strong for him.

"A-Are you alright?" Phoenix meekly tapped the prosecutor's shoulder, struggling to raise his head from the soft pillow beneath it.
"Yes, I'm fine.. Don't strain yourself,"
"O-Okay." The defence attorney stopped attempting to lift his head and clutched the prosecutor's hand tightly for his own sense of security, terrified of losing him again. Edgeworth returned the grip, finally allowing his welling up droplets of emotion be free as they streamed down his cheeks, smiling through the tears;
"I love you so much. You know that, right?" The prosecutor leant over to place a subtle, tender kiss atop his unsuspecting boyfriend's forehead - who's cheeks instantly turned a pretty, salmon pink.
"I-I love you too," He mumbled, left in a daze due to the luke-warm, tinglingly soft, sensation which was imprinted upon his skin at the simple touch of the other man's lips. Edgeworth drew the, padded, blue hospital-chair closer to Phoenix's bed-side and perched on it, leaning forward so as to get a better view of his boyfriend's dear face.
"A-Am I safe now..?"
"Do you recall what happened to you?"
"A bit..." The defence attorney stammered.
"To answer your question, yes, you are now safe and sound - I promise you,"
"G-Good.." Phoenix sighed in relief, staring at the room around him with weary eyes - looking as if it were the first time he'd truly taken in his surroundings.
"I-It was scary without you," The defence attorney briskly added, shivering beneath the duvet.
"It was scary for me without you, too," Edgeworth firmly nodded, clasping Phoenix's hand tightly again;
"Do you want to know how they did it? How they kidnapped you? I've put together the evidence in my head, and... I think you, of all people, deserve to know," The defence attorney was unsure of how to answer.

Did he want to know? Was he curious?

When there was no response besides Phoenix's lifeless staring into the distance, the prosecutor took his cue to continue;
"The night before they took you away... A video-camera was placed in our room within your office - inside the yellow toy which we thought had been a part of one of Trucy's magic tricks. They used the bathroom window to get in - I know that because I found it open, and you never, never, open it," The defence attorney blurted;
"That's true. I-It gets cold if I open it, so I don't.."
"Using that camera, they could track our movements from a remote place. It gave them a perfect vantage point. They used this to know whether you responded to them ringing the doorbell on the night they took you away," Phoenix pursed his lips tightly at the mention of that night, trembling slightly. Edgeworth brought his shaking hand closer to his chest to insure him that he was safe as he spoke;
"But waiting for you to wake up in the middle of the night once in a blue moon would be too 'hit and miss', so they placed some special insomnia-inducing powder within some of the ingredients in your kitchen - which you must have unknowingly ingested at some time or another -, which was presumably placed at the same time as when they installed the video-camera," The defence attorney stopped moving altogether and intently stared into Edgeworth's eyes with his own glittering ones, completely taken in by his astounding logic and possessive clutching of his hand against his dark-grey waistcoat.
"From then on it was plain sailing. They waited for you to wake up in the middle of the night due to some sort of nightmare provoked by the powder and rung the doorbell. Being the kind soul you are, you decided it would be disrespectful to leave the person at the door be, and so you left the bedroom in order to answer the door," Phoenix shuddered at the memory, blushing feverishly as the prosecutor brought his cold hand up to his cheeks, nuzzling it lovingly with his warm skin.
"You answered the door and spent time looking around for whoever had rung the bell, which gave them enough time to-"
"Th-That's not all I did... Th-There was a parcel for me..."
"They left a parcel for you?" The prosecutor brought his boyfriend's hand away from his face reluctantly and went back to tightly holding it for reassurance;
"Y-Yes,"
"Then that made it even easier for them. You must have picked up the parcel..." Edgeworth waited for the defence attorney to give some kind of indication that he was on the right track before continuing.
"... And then, whilst you were examining it - unprotected - they used the bathroom window to sneak into the office behind you, and bam! They injected you in your arm - which must be why we found traces of your blood having been wiped away around the whole room," Phoenix innocently widened his eyes;
"Th-They injected me..?"
"Yes. Look," The prosecutor instantly rose from his seat in order to pull back the duvet covers ever so slightly, exposing his boyfriend's arms, and gestured to the small, sore, pinprick upon one of them before hastily covering him again.
"I-I hadn't even noticed.." The defence attorney goofily laughed, feeling slightly bashful.
"And that's how they kidnapped you. The injection contained some sort of sleeping drug and you instantly fell unconscious without a fight - so I'd be none the wiser," Phoenix bit his lip uncertainly as the prosecutor gravely stared back at him, hatred stirring in his mind.

How dare someone do something as outrageous as-

"Wh-Why..?"
"Hm?"
"Wh-What would anyone want with someone as worthless as me? I-I don't understand..." Edgeworth sympathetically cooed before reaching out to gingerly stroke his boyfriend's injured cheek, making sure to avoid touching his scars. Of course, through his own research, he had an answer to that, too.
"Phoenix, before I tell you this... You have to remember that you're safe now, okay? None of this will happen to you now,"
"I-I understand,"
"The kidnapper... He was a sad case, it seemed." The prosecutor licked his dry lips before continuing;
"He'd failed his exams, been kicked out of his home by his family... He'd certainly had a rough life and, with no other way to earn money, he ended up getting in with a bad crowd before, subsequently, becoming the leader of that bad crowd."
"Mm?"
"And they all needed money. It was the binding component of their friendships, you could say. So they decided, as a collective group, that they would turn to the prostitution industry." Phoenix stiffened as he sluggishly caught on to what Edgeworth was about to say. The prosecutor took a deep breath before finally continuing his explanation;
"They got into the business of kidnapping and selling young, submissive, men for their 'gay prostitution' company," The defence attorney felt his heart racing all of a sudden, grimacing as beads of sweat began to discreetly form as a result of his sudden induced fear.
"You were, evidently, one of the victims.." Edgeworth clenched his fists, forgetting that one of them still contained Phoenix's hand and causing his boyfriend to let out a forced groan due to the pain, stars of agony flashing behind his eyes and clearing his brain of all else but pain.
"Oh, sorry!" The prosecutor instantly unclenched his hands, feeling guilty as he lightly peppered the defence attorney's wrist with kisses as an apology.

Phoenix chuckled;
"It's okay. I-I'm fine, really,"
"But are you really?" Edgeworth rose from his seat and lifted the cotton duvet once again to expose the defence attorney's thin, fragile body which was currently loosely draped in a baggy blue patient's uniform - which was basically a cheaper, thinner, version of an average pair of pyjamas. The startled defence attorney widened his beautiful, twinkling, blue eyes and defensively hugged himself, curling up into a small ball and mumbling;
"E-Edgeworth... P-Please put the cover back on..."
"Why? Is something the matter?" The prosecutor leant over his cowering boyfriend, splaying his palms out upon the mattress on either side of his head in order to steady himself.
"I can understand you not trusting the doctors and nurses here to examine you, but you can definitely trust me."
"N-No, go away..." The defence attorney stuttered helplessly, avoiding eye contact.
"What?" Phoenix blushed as he felt the prosecutor's warm breath showering his neck.
"G-Get away from- A-Ah!" Edgeworth reacted quickly as soon as he noticed that his boyfriend's mood towards him was changing, due to the fact that the Permasia was taking effect again, and hastily lifted Phoenix into his arms, cradling him gently.

It seemed to do the trick.

"Edgeworth..." He breathed in exasperation and awe, timidly reaching out to gingerly stroke the prosecutor's dangling strands of silky grey hair which drooped above his torso as Edgeworth shifted his arms into a comfortable position for him.
"Relax. You're so tense..." The prosecutor creased his brows in concern until his boyfriend complied, allowing his spiky black hair to be mussed as he finally allowed himself to release the tension in his muscles, his legs dangling off of the edge of the prosecutor's arms in a lopsided manner.
"There we are. You're finally relaxing," Edgeworth seductively whispered into his baffled boyfriend's ear, a small smile playing upon his lips.
"Y-Your hair's really soft... I'd forgotten how it felt," Phoenix admitted guiltily as he continued to carefully caress the prosecutor's strands of dashing grey hair with his shaking hands.
"Not as soft as my kiss, though," Edgeworth smirked as he leaned in to plant a sensual embrace upon the defence attorney's tender lips, slowly intertwining his tongue with the other man's before reluctantly allowing them to part.
"You taste of medicine,"
"A-And you taste of..." Phoenix paused, scrying in his mind for the correct words;
"You," The prosecutor laughed airily, neatly tucking a messy strand of the defence attorney's hair behind his ear, causing a small blush to creep up his cheeks.
"You're beautiful," Edgeworth breathed happily.
"Y-You're handsome," Phoenix grinned back before suddenly creating an onomatopoeic sound-effect as one of his hospital-issued socks slipped off of his foot;
"Ah!" He attempted to peer over the prosecutor's protective arms in order to see where exactly it fell to its undeniable doom, however Edgeworth simply began to walk around the room slowly, focusing on his boyfriend's pitifully scarred face.
"Don't think about the sock. Focus on me," He carefully sat himself down on the very edge of the bed, still clutching Phoenix close to his chest like a precious item, and brought his head slightly forwards so that his hair would tickle the defence attorney's cheeks.
"Huh..?"
"The hair. You said you liked it, didn't you?"
"Y-Yes... I-I love your hair..." His boyfriend glanced up at it innocently before taking another cursory glance at the prosecutor - awaiting permission.
"Go ahead," Edgeworth smiled sweetly as Phoenix bashfully reached up to lightly brush the stuff with his fingertips, only for the prosecutor to playfully whip it away out of his reach.
"Wh-What?"
"If you can catch it, you can touch it."

This was a game - certainly one that the defence attorney was more than happy to partake in.

"Y-You're on!" The prosecutor's boyfriend stated confidently, desperately struggling to use his weak arms to reach the tangible grey hair above him... But failing miserably each time. After a few moments, a lot of laughter and giggling and an exhausted defence attorney, the 2 of them stopped playing games and Edgeworth spoke;
"I win,"
"O-Only because I was at a disadvantage!"
"Give it up. You win in court, I win outside," The prosecutor chuckled.
"Wh-Whatever!" Phoenix chuckled along with him.
"Are you genuinely alright?" Edgeworth hugged his boyfriend closer to him, allowing him to sit up upon his lap rather than be constrained by being cradled in his arms all the time, and gently brought Phoenix's head onto his chest.
"I-I'm OK... Honest," The defence attorney stared into the distance. The prosecutor gritted his teeth;
"That would be all well and good, but... Unfortunately, you're a terrible liar."
"Hmm.." Phoenix forced a laugh.
"What's wrong? Your temperature is still incredibly low..."
"I-It's not my temperature. I mean, the doctors said I had a risk of catching hypothermia but, if I stay in bed beneath those covers in the warmth, I should be fine.."
"Then are you hungry? You haven't eaten in so long!"
"N-No, I ate earlier this morning... Th-They gave me breakfast," Exasperated, the prosecutor shot a glare up at the ceiling where Phoenix had been sadly staring as he walked in.

There was nothing of interest there, either.

"Then what is it? What's wrong?" Edgeworth lightly pecked his boyfriend's head.
"I-It's nothing.."
"Tell me." Phoenix tilted his head back so that they were facing each other and making direct eye-contact - in a lopsided sort of way - as he allowed himself to hesitantly continue;
"I-I just have a feeling that you're not telling me the whole truth about my recovery status.."
"Oh, Phoenix.." Edgeworth wisely swallowed his next words, aware that telling him the entire truth could destroy his fragile feelings.
"E-Edgeworth... I want to go home. T-Tell me if we can go home,"

9 months.

9 months would pass.

9 months would foresee a lot of changes, because nothing ever remains unsolved.

... But nothing ever remains solved, either.