149 Dream On

A/N: Eveshowrtc I hope you’re still reading this – enjoy your requested Zeppelin!

Every time when I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It went by, like dusk to dawn
Isn’t that the way
Everybody’s got the dues in life to pay

I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it’s everybody sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life
Is books, written pages
Live and learn from fools and
From sages
You know it’s true, oh
All these feelings come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
Sing with me, just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until your dreams come true

Phoenix Wright and Klavier Gavin
Hickfield Clinic
June 16, 2026, 12:05 PM

The strong pain medications Karin had administered to heal the throbbing pain in his ankle packed a meaner punch than Mike Tyson, and Phoenix had been unconscious for the better part of his hospital stay. The only times he’d been able to stay awake yesterday, when he’d first arisen, had been when Trucy and Apollo had come by to keep him in the loop of their investigations in the case of the Wocky Kitaki murder trial/missing noodle stand/panty snatching.

There was also the matter of the former lawyer needing to help solve the immediate, baffling puzzle of how to make a certain grumpy female detective commence in conversing with them instead of just ignoring their questions and pelting them with her never-ending supply of Snackoos!

Each time, he’d had to fight to stay alert during the siblings’ multiple visits throughout the day, while they’d updated him on the progress of the three stumper cases he’d put the young red attorney in charge of solving, with his eager beaver daughter tagging alongside as the investigative assistant.

That afternoon, Phoenix woke up from a hazy, drug-induced slumber to a vaguely known, yet somehow unfamiliar, harmony near his ear. He stirred slightly, but remained prostrate, keeping his eyes closed as he tried to place the melodious resonance, all the while wondering if he was awake or in slumber still.

Or was he possibly dead? Was this literal “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” heavenly sound something he was hearing as part of the afterlife?

“I’d rather die in honor than live with shame and dishonor.” Poetic thought, but right now, I ruefully acknowledge that had I actually died from that hit and run – which I have determined is proof that “divine intervention” does exist! – my name would remain in besmirched infamy. And with my reputation thus tarnished, the end result would’ve indeed been dying with dishonor and lies still tainting my legacy, the stigmatic stain which would forever haunt my daughter. For Trucy’s sake, alone, I’m grateful I survived. I not only get to remain her father, but it also means I still have another day, and another chance to try to right all the wrongs from the past seven years.

So no, he wasn’t dead. But he was hearing an angel singing. Perhaps he was just dreaming.

How do I,
Get through one night without you?
If I had to live without you,
What kind of life would that be?
Oh, I…

The angel’s silvery voice rolled over him in sorrowful waves. Swells of power seemed to rise in her golden throat, and he was unable to tell if it was the words that came from her or the beauty of the song itself.

I need you in my arms, need you to hold,
You’re my world, my heart, my soul,
If you ever leave,
Baby you would take away everything good in my life,
And tell me now…

My friends could tell me I have a nice voice, but I would never believe them again. This here… this is… an enchanted, dare I even say, a most heavenly melic sound, unlike anything I’ve ever heard in my life.

How do I live without you?
I want to know,
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go,
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I, oh how do I live?

If Phoenix was indeed dreaming, he never, ever wanted to wake up. The melody of the song and the hauntingly beautiful voice singing it, even in a cappella, were so filled with heartfelt emotion and poignancy that he felt a slight stinging sensation behind his closed lids as he listened to the poignant lyrics.

Without you,
There’d be no sun in my sky,
There would be no love in my life,
There’d be no world left for me

That inflection. That mesmerizing, hypnotic cadence. Phoenix knew it. Had been fantasizing about it for the past year during all his days and been beleaguered by it in his dreams every night.

And I,
Baby I don’t know what I would do,
I’d be lost if I lost you,
If you ever leave,
Baby you would take away everything real in my life,
And tell me now,

But unlike the unabashedly loud, warbling solo performance he’d heard resonating from the confines of Edgeworth’s bathtub in Christmas past, the vocals of this lark sounded like a different person entirely, yet he’d still know that voice anywhere.

Maya.

How do I live without you?
I want to know,
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go,
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I, oh how do I live?

But that couldn’t be possible. His former lover was getting married today and had forgotten all about him, just like he’d forced her to. Moreover, Maya hated him because he’d broken her heart for the final time when he’d told her he was in love with Iris and had reinforced her odium by throwing her locket and ring back at him, followed by that resonant slap across his face, which had echoed in the still of the night, before vanishing from his life forever.

Therefore, Phoenix knew he had to be dreaming. The ariose he was hearing at his hospital bedside could not, in any fathomable way, be his Maya Fey.

Please tell me baby,
How do I go on?
If you ever leave,
Baby you would take away everything,
I need you with me,
Baby don’t you know that you’re everything,
Good in my life?
And tell me now,

Besides, he’d known Maya for 10 years. She couldn’t really sing… not like this!

…Or could she?

And singing was most definitely what this songbird was accomplishing. Sweet-sounding and lyrical, it put Phoenix’s previously acclaimed crooning voice, and even that of the original artist whose song she was serenading him with, to utter shame.

His beloved Maya – at least the one he was hearing in this wonderful, most lifelike dream – was a most glorious songbird, something he’d never previously envisioned about her. It made him wistfully ponder what other mystery talents she might possess, ones which he’d been mindless of when they’d been together.

How do I live without you,
I want to know,
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go,
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I, oh how do I live?
How do I live without you?
How do I live without you baby?

Phoenix was afraid to open his eyes, for fear the singing would halt. He was even more terrified that if he even remotely moved an inch, his mellifluous lark would disappear as suddenly as she’d arrived.

He couldn’t possibly bear that.

And so, he simply kept his eyes closed, and let those golden-throated vocals soothe him back to a delightful la-la land.

He wasn’t sure how long he dozed for again, but when he stirred again, he heard the strumming of a guitar, playing an unmistakably eerily, yet familiar tune, by his bedside. He tilted his head towards the melodic sound, recognizing the instrumental piece as one by Led Zeppelin, although he couldn’t place the name, and for a moment, he inwardly panicked.

Oh, sweet Jesus, don’t tell me I’m not dreaming, and even worse, I am now actually hearing “Tangerine”! It’s the day of my ex-girlfriend’s wedding, and I don’t need to hear the tormenting, fresh hell of those 81 words to only further rub salt into the gaping lesions of my soul!

He stiffened as he braced himself for the oncoming lyrics, which he knew by heart.

Measuring a summer’s day, I only finds it slips away to grey,
The hours, they bring me pain.
Tangerine, Tangerine, Living reflection from a dream;
I was her love, she was my queen, And now a thousand years between.
Thinking how it used to be, Does she still remember times like these?
To think of us again? And I do.
Tangerine, Tangerine, Living reflection from a dream;
I was her love, she was my queen, And now a thousand years between…

Phoenix relaxed somewhat as he realized that he’d been mistaken; the reflective and relaxed expert chords being played were similar, but separate, from the short but sweet tune, which would have been way too emotive for his freshly wounded heart on the day of his former lover’s nuptials. He couldn’t quite place this particular melody at all, but he would have recognized it as a distinctive Led Zeppelin cover easily enough.

His lids fluttered open, and the vision that greeted him was so out-and-out unexpected that he needed to squinch them shut and rub his eyes with his fists, positive that the pain-relieving morphine given to him was causing hallucinations.

After all, he’d previously thought he’d heard a halo-bearing entity, and these blessed winged beings of the Twilight Realm were conventionally blond, weren’t they?

But aren’t these holy cherubs also generally female? Of course, the golden presence I’m presently regarding is certainly pretty, like a girl …

“Herr Wright.” The deep, masculine voice now unmistakably heard was most definitely not Maya’s.

So, he had been dreaming after all.

Stifling a sigh of disappointment, the patient reluctantly opened his eyes and struggled to sit up.

Klavier Gavin was standing there before him, and his acoustic guitar, which he’d obviously been plucking at, was placed on the visitor’s chair, down by the foot of the bed.

“Mr. Gavin.” There was a surprised grin on Phoenix’s face at the sight of the flaxen-braided
rock god/prosecutor. “This is most unexpected.”

“I thought I’d soften the shock of my unforeseen presence with some get-well music by my favorite British rock band.”

“Led Zeppelin. I knew the group, but I couldn’t place the name of that particular track.”

“Bron-Yr-Aur.” Klavier shuffled his feet awkwardly. “The name in Welsh means Golden Beast. It was a reference to the gleaming sun off a cottage in Wales of the same name. I was hoping you’d appreciate a fittingly soothing piece, in light of …um, everything that’s transpired.”

“Very nice indeed. I um, could have sworn I’d heard actual singing while I was slumbering, but I guess the riffs from your live guitar were mingling with my subconscious,” Phoenix murmured faintly. “Er, how are you?”

The prosecutor bore a Get Well Soon card and a bottle of platinum-labeled grape juice, one that looked to be quite expensive.

“I am quite well, thank you.” He set the card and bottle down on a side table. “Better than you, it appears.”

“Don’t let the huge bandage fool you.” Phoenix chuckled slightly. “It’s just a sprained ankle.”

“I am most skeptical about the fact that you would be admitted these last couple of days for something as minor as a sprained ankle, Herr Wright.” The Gavinners star raised an eyebrow as he saw the floral bouquet from Trucy and the larger one from Gumshoe and Maggey, which had arrived that morning. “I’m happy to see you have no shortage of well-wishers, although it’s also inconceivable to me that they would have sent you flowers over such a minor issue?”

“Oh, that’s because of the circumstances that led me to be here with the said ailment,” Phoenix smirked as the rocker pulled a chair up next to his bed.

“So, I heard from Fräulein, er Detective Skye,” Klavier nodded. “I’ll have you know, Herr Wright, that I very nearly ended up joining you in this hospital had that hellcat gotten her way! It took no less than two police officers, one of whom was Chief Gumshoe, to pry her off me!”

“You don’t say!” While his visage was the epitome of pure innocence, Phoenix had a good idea where this line of conversation was headed and would allow it to continue; he was enjoying the prelude too much to fill in the blanks himself. “Whatever for?”

“Hell hath no fury like a woman who hath her hero wronged.” Klavier grimaced at the memory. “If the other men had not so quickly intervened, I imagine she would have been successful in her throttling endeavors when we discussed you.”

Atta girl, Ema! Boy, am I ever lucky you’re on my side!

The spiky-haired man barely resisted a mocking guffaw and managed to somehow keep a neutral expression. The tiny brunette had been an excitable, even giddy teenager when Phoenix had known her, but he’d seen glimpses of how that feistiness could be quickly morphed into ferociousness even back then, and he almost pitied the other man for having been at the receiving end of it.

Almost, but not quite.

“There is no excuse for violence, however noble the intentions though,” he mused thoughtfully. “So, I take it you had her arrested and charged with assault then?”

“Mein Gott!” The blond man looked horrified at the allegation. “Perish the thought! Whatever do you take me for, Herr Wright?”

Phoenix raised a jagged eyebrow, the look on his face undoubtedly stating: are you sure you want me to answer such a loaded question?

“That is, do you think so little of me that I would actually incarcerate the woman I lo – I love to work with?” Klavier amended hastily, flushing slightly as he saw the pianist’s derisive expression. “That was a rhetorical question by the way!”

“It certainly wasn’t baseless conjecture on my behalf,” the poker champ stated simply. “I am all too familiar with how important it is for you to expose people who you’ve deemed to have done wrongdoing.”

The prosecutor reddened at the heavy implication behind the innocuous-sounding words and shifted nervously in his seat.

“Apparently, she did some investigating regarding your current circumstances,” he stated uncomfortably. “Consequently she discovered the details about the incident you were disbarred over.”

“I see.”

“For reasons that have been unclear to me, she’s never really been a fan of mine,” the German mumbled. “Also, despite being my subordinate, she takes great elation in contemptuously dubbing me a glimmerous fop, making all my efforts to befriend her nil. However typical it is for your underlings to be icily civil with you is one thing, but it’s quite another when they rebuke your every effort at the courtesy and simply – despise you so headily, and in such an undisguised fashion.”

“That’s quite the claim,” Phoenix commented idly. “Are you positively certain she hates you so thusly?”

“Ja. Unequivocally and irrevocably so,” Klavier replied miserably. “Any chance I ever had with her, er, I mean, had in befriending her whatsoever have been completely vanquished after this whole series of unfortunate events came to pass.”

Phoenix wanted to be sympathetic, he honestly did; it had always been in his nature. However, it was impossible for him to feel anything but a small gleam of satisfied pleasure upon hearing how the prosecutor who’d unwittingly set into play the devastating chain of life-altering circumstances that had cost him the love of his life was now facing similar pains of his own with Ema. The former lawyer was no fool; he could plainly see that this was more than a case of mere professional-based grumblings of insubordination.

But while he wasn’t too big of a man not to internally somewhat revel in the prosecutor’s heartache and misery, he was too big a man to gloat out loud: “well, how do you like them apples, Arschloch?!”

He could certainly think it, though!

Klavier seemed grateful when Phoenix didn’t take the opportunity to triumph at his sad plight, which the other man was most entitled to do.

“Detective Skye spared me none of the gory details of your accident. Despite how dearly she holds you,” he added with a touch of wistful envy. “She nevertheless appears to find the particulars fascinating – scientifically speaking, of course! Were you truly thrown 30 feet?”

“You bet,” Phoenix affirmed smugly. “I also went head-first into a telephone pole, you know.”

“Achtung, baby!” Klavier winced. “So, all the legendary tales of your divine luck were not exaggerated! It’s a miracle you’re still alive, ja?”

“What can I say? I’m a total badass.” Despite Phoenix’s dry tone, a hint of pride laced his words. “Scientifically speaking, though, neither medicine nor Dr. Hickfield believes in lady luck. Therefore, it needs to be ensured that I have no internal injuries lurking about. Hence, my reluctant admission here.”

As his visitor cringed at the mention of the doctor, the hobo snickered.

“The real doctor, not the pink-haired pervert who dresses like one.” There was a moment of silence, and then he looked the younger man straight in the eye. “So, tell me something; did you come here to shower me with your get well wishes, or is there anything, in particular, that I can do for you?”

“Both,” Klavier returned staunchly. “Do you remember our last conversation, Herr Wright? Seven years ago?”

“I hit my head, remember?” Phoenix responded with a shit-eating grin. “Ergo, you’ll have to beg my pardon, Mr. Gavin. Do refresh my memory, please, and thank you.”

He remembers damn well! Klavier grumbled to himself, his eye twitching involuntarily from repressed frustration, yet still opted to humor the hospitalized beanie-wearer.

“I was in the gallery for your murder trial two months ago. I never miss one of Kristoph’s courtroom appearances if I can help it, although I had no idea that you were the defendant in my brother’s case this time.”

Phoenix didn’t speak but merely lifted his brows at the mention of his nemesis.

“After your acquittal, I acquired the records of the trial, all of them.” Klavier took a deep breath before continuing. “I also obtained Kristoph’s records of the time he had represented you.”

The German had expected an explosive reaction from the former defense attorney at this disclosure; such was privileged information, and the prosecutor had no business pouring over those records without a bloody good reason.

Yet the older man simply nodded.

“And?” He prompted.

“I am now exacerbated with doubt vis-à-vis your guilt in the forgery scandal, Herr Wright.”

“Whatever brought that about?” Phoenix queried mildly.

“It’s a gut feeling. I can’t quite explain it,” Klavier said slowly. “But I also can’t ignore it. I was hoping I could see the evidence you’ve gathered over these seven years. I presume there is sure quite a bit by now, ja?”

“I have nothing at all conclusive, Mr. Gavin.”

“Nevertheless, I want the truth.” Klavier’s azure eyes were almost pleading. “Now, more than ever… I need the truth.”

You can’t handle the truth!

The disbarred attorney scrutinized the blond man silently with a combination of curiosity and suspicion for several moments until finally, he spoke.

“If the good doctor won’t release me tomorrow, I plan on signing myself out against medical advice. Stop by the office after the trial. I’ll give you a copy of most of the file.”

“All of it?”

“As an undefeated poker champion, I tend to keep my cards close to my chest at all times. Hence, I can’t very well show you my entire hand before I’m ready to call, now, can I?”

“Danke, Herr Wright.” The prosecutor moaned quietly at the card puns, then rose from his seat and graciously inclined his head at the bedridden man. “I shall see you on the morrow.”

“Definitely. Good luck tomorrow, Mr. Gavin.” Phoenix flashed that now familiar wicked grin. “You’ll need it.”

“Whatever for?”

“Your opponent, Apollo Justice … is a genius.” The card shark tilted his head. “Or did you not realize that by watching my trial?”

“Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to evaluate his performance.” Klavier cocked a half-smile. “You didn’t really give him a chance to provide one.”

The DILF threw back his head and laughed wholeheartedly for the first time in forever.

“Well, you most definitely will get your golden opportunity tomorrow, won’t you?”

“Indeed. Get well soon, Herr Wright.”

Phoenix was still smiling slightly as he lay back on the pillows. Maybe, if he were lucky, he could fall back into that wonderful dream again – the one where he heard that angelic voice softly crooning about an endless love, which, although had only lasted for a season in his existence, would remain etched into his heart and soul for a lifetime.

Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice
Hickfield Clinic
June 16, 2026, 12:15 PM

Phoenix drowsily closed his eyes as Klavier exited the room, but then jerked awake when he heard his daughter’s happy squeal as she hugged him. Apollo was at her side. He returned the effusive embrace and looked over Trucy’s shoulder at the pensive horn-haired defense attorney.

Resigned to the fact that sleep didn’t appear to be in the cards for him, the patient swung his legs over the bed and carefully rose to his feet, hobbling ever so slightly as he moved to stand before the young man. He noted that Apollo was eyeing him with the same determined, intense look he’d worn the last time Phoenix had last seen him at the courthouse two months ago; when he’d been told that his former idol had made him unknowingly present forged evidence.

It was the exact same expression Apollo had worn right before he’d punched his ex-idol squarely into his undeniably deserving face!

The spiky-haired man hesitantly took a step backward so that the bed was directly behind him. If the youngster decided to unleash his inner Mohamed Ali again, he wasn’t sure his precarious ankle would be able to withstand the impact to keep him upright this time, and he didn’t want to aggravate any of his injuries, however mild they were, any more than necessary.

“Ah, the prodigal attorney returns!” Phoenix greeted him warmly. “Welcome, Apollo. I heard you did well in the trial today. Here to discuss something? I could use a little diversion…”

“Mr. Wright!” Apollo’s Chords of Steel were in full effect. “Tell me what happened seven years ago. Please! I want to know. I need to know!”

What is it with young lawyers demanding the truth from me today? Did A Few Good Men play in a re-run on the boob tube last night? I certainly wouldn’t know, since I don’t have cable on this hospital TV – because it’d cost extra! Good thing I have all those DVDs to kill time!

“I see we’re in a zone of no preamble required already.” Phoenix didn’t even blink. “You certainly didn’t waste any time getting to the point.”

The greenhorn didn’t say anything, just continued to study him with that earnest expression, so the beanie-wearer gave the condensed version of the infamous trial of the “magnificent genius” which had made all the headlines. He closed by summarizing that he was defeated by the 17-year-old newcomer prosecutor, Klavier Gavin, and in shame, left law forever. And that was all.

“That’s all?” Apollo protested. “How could that be all?!”

“What do you mean?” Phoenix’s typical deadpan mien was in full effect.

“What about what they were saying on the news about the forged evidence?!” The red attorney cried plaintively. “They said you forged evidence and had your badge stripped from you!”

Seven years ago, if he’d been asked this question, especially by somebody who he knew at one point had held him in high esteem, Phoenix would’ve been devastated to have fallen so far from grace in their eyes. However, he had become deadened inside over the years and learned to harden his heart against almost everyone and anything.

You can never force somebody to be loyal to you. I learned that a long time ago.

Phoenix had already been to hell and back. He no longer feared the judgement of any living creature, nor the consequences of what they thought of him.

If you care about what people think about you, you will end up being their slave. Reject and pull your own rope.

“Tell me, how does it feel?” The ex-defense attorney’s steely gaze bore mercilessly into the boy’s stricken one. “How does it feel to stand here before Phoenix Wright, the Forgin’ Attorney himself?”

“H-how does it feel?” Apollo reeled back, completely slack-jawed. He desperately didn’t want to believe it was true; Mr. Wright had been his hero since he was a youth! But how could he overlook what had happened at his first trial?

Tell me it isn’t true! The anguished hazel orbs stared at the anterior Ace Attorney imploringly. Please!

The pianist let out a bark of mirthless laughter at the distressed look on Apollo’s visage. Discovering that his former hero indeed wasn’t what he was cracked up to be might sting a little, but the kid would get over it and ultimately be alright; he was a trooper.

Just like Phoenix himself had been.

A man born with the energy of the new sun will always struggle to make dreams come true. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen… someday.

“I don’t see you jumping to my defense on this one. Maybe I did forge evidence, maybe I didn’t. It doesn’t really matter now, does it?” He asked quietly, gazing steadily at the defense attorney with an inscrutable expression.

“B-But… Detective Skye hinted that Prosecutor Gavin was partially to blame for what happened to you!” Apollo exclaimed. “She hates his guts because of it!”

“I’m not an attorney anymore,” Phoenix declared flatly. “That’s the only truth you need to know.”

The case was closed, and Apollo knew it. He blinked back unexpected tears of agitation. His turmoil of emotions was interrupted as Trucy suddenly let out a loud outraged cry of indignation.

“Aaaah! Daddy!” The magician wailed, having just noticed the rogue bottle of grape juice Klavier had so thoughtfully brought; and so foolishly left out on clear display. “You snuck some grape juice in again!? The doctor said you weren’t supposed to drink that here!”

“Trucy.” Phoenix’s voice was calm. “Look at the label.”

“Oh. Deep-Sea Mineral Water. That’s fine, I guess.”

“I switched the labels.” He shot Apollo a surreptitious wink while his daughter busied herself clanking away at the electric keyboard by his bedside. “Don’t tell Trucy, OK?”

What can I say? The boy shrugged helplessly. The man loves his grape juice!

“Anything else?” Phoenix inquired calmly, noting the lawyer’s silence. It was a clear dismissal, but still, Apollo lingered for another moment.

“Well actually, there are a couple more things,” he admitted sheepishly as his sharp eyes scanned the room.

He’d meant to probe a bit more the other day but had figured it would be impolite or irrelevant. After his last line of invasive questioning about Trucy’s paternity, however, he figured the topics of the keyboard and DVD shows inundating the room were fairly safe topics. He peered over at the instrument his partner in crime was still merrily tapping at, in an attempt to play an off-key version of Queen’s “It’s a Kind of Magic.”

“A child-size, mini electric piano?”

“Gotta practice.” Phoenix shrugged. “Wouldn’t want my fingers to get stiff. A pro always keeps his weapon close at hand. Shall I play you a tune?”

“Uh… no thanks.”

“Ah, how unfortunate.” The pianist sighed with melodramatic lament. “I so rarely get a chance to play.”

At that exact moment, the comely Nurse Jenson breezed in, a tray of the presumed slop the hospital passed off as food in her hands.

So, Mr. Wright’s nurse does a special lunch delivery. Apollo was amazed at how conscientious the caretaker was in going above and beyond the call of duty. Don’t they have orderlies or candy stripers, especially for those more menial tasks?!

The defense attorney’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline as he spotted a scrumptious smelling dish of fettuccine alfredo, with chicken breast strips and crumbled bacon.

That looks suspiciously homemade! Apollo noted fastidiously. No way was that delectable dish prepared in the hospital kitchen!

“How’s my favorite patient doing?” Karin cooed, setting down the tray and smiling beguilingly at her patient, as completely unmindful to the investigative duo as she’d been the day before. “I notice you haven’t been eating the last few days. Though I can’t say I blame you, really, hospital fare being what it is!”

“The ache in my ankle truly curbs the hunger,” Phoenix admitted, flashing her a friendly smile and eyeing the food on the tray appreciatively. “Although I suppose if I ate something to go along with my pain meds, they wouldn’t keep knocking me out cold the way they do! What do you have there, Karin? It looks pretty good.”

“I didn’t want you wasting away on me, so I thought I would dish up something I conjured up with my own two little hands…” Karin’s voice trailed off as she winked suggestively. “I was hoping to tease your taste buds with something that would better whet your appetite…”

Apollo was torn between being equal parts entertained and envious by this wholly inappropriate
nurse/patient exchange, while noticing Trucy was still tinkering with her father’s keyboard and seemed completely unmindful of everything going on.

Who would’ve known the scruffy, dark, and brooding hobo vibe was attractive to women? The baby-faced lawyer idly stroked his clean-shaven jaw. I wonder if I should try growing facial hair, too! The problem is, I really can’t! It always winds up looking sparsely sprouting chin pubes!

Usually, completely clueless when being flirted with by members of the opposite sex, even the normally daft Phoenix wasn’t completely blind to the innuendo this time, and at least had the decency to blush.

“Ha-ha. Well, since you put so much care into making this yourself, Karin, I promise you I will most definitely give it a try.”

“My mother didn’t name me Carin’ Karin for nothing!” She tittered. “We can’t have all those tight and toned areas turning to skin and bones!”

Phoenix’s cheeks further reddened, which only seemed to titillate the nurse even more. She batted her eyelashes coquettishly; so hard that if she’d delivered a birthday day, it would have blown out the candles!

“No need to be so shy!” She waved her finger at him. “Your muscles need fuel to keep up their maintenance, just like you do, Mr. Wright.”

“I suppose what’s good for the gander is good for the goose.” The DILF scratched the back of his neck uneasily while trying to steer away from the conversation topics from his physical assets. “If I’m allowed to call you by your first name, Karin, I do invite you to do the same.”

“Well, Phoenix…” Karin drawled, seeming to enjoy how flustered he was getting. “My personal diagnosis of your fitness levels was purely based on those strong calves of yours that I was privy to when I was putting on the bandage on your poor ankle earlier this morning. It’s all I had to go by since heaven knows that you like keeping that physique of yours well-hidden beneath those shapeless sweats! Not to mention that you refuse to be a good patient and wear your hospital gown!”

“Yeah, I’m not going to be doing that. Those little nightgowns don’t close in the back … And there’s a draft in here.” The poker champ chuckled uncomfortably as the nurse leaned over him and began fluffing his pillow, putting him at eye level with her heaving bosom. “I don’t want to be catching a cold on top of everything else.”

“I’ll have to make sure the water’s nice and warm for your sponge bath this evening,” she purred. “And then I’ll finally get to solve the mystery of whether or not my preliminary analysis of what lies beneath that baggy attire was justified.”

“Um… I thought you told me earlier this morning that you’re going to be done this afternoon at three o’clock, Karin.” Phoenix smiled nervously as he cast a glance at the amused Apollo and oblivious Trucy, who luckily was still distracted at the keyboard. “I’d assumed I would be attended to tonight by Nurse Bertha. Er, you know, the larger, older lady with the short grey crew cut and eye patch.”

Apollo barely suppressed a shudder. He’d seen the militant-looking woman, in all her unsmiling, copiously tattooed, rolling pin arms glory! She was about twice his size and resembled more of a prison warden than any sort of health practitioner!

To top it all off, She-Hulk still has more facial hair than I do…which I guess is equal parts scary and insulting!

“The hospital is incredibly short-staffed and needed a few of us to work some overtime tonight, so I gladly volunteered my services to work a double shift.” Karin’s voice was dripping with honey. “Besides, that Amazonian Beast Woman is no Florence Nightingale! Some of my patients have said that since she’s so accustomed to treating prisoners at the Berlin penitentiary hospital, she’s got a rather brusque and rough touch which I was hoping to spare you from…”

Although undoubtedly, a much more professional demeanor! Apollo added silently. This is why they really should have cameras inside patient rooms! If Mr. Wright ever wanted to file a sexual harassment suit against this hospital, I would be a glorified witness!

He was beginning to feel slightly sorry for the pianist, who was obviously trying to maintain his composure as he tried to put the brakes on this steamroller. Even from a distance, the defense attorney could see Phoenix already had visible beads of sweat forming around the edges of his beanie, due to Nurse Naughty’s unseemly proximity.

“…Besides, wouldn’t you prefer my much more…Carin’ and gentler ministrations instead?” Karin flashed a sultry smile as she waggled her fingers in front of the blushing patient’s face, almost sweeping his reddened cheeks with her fingertips. “These are indeed hands that heal when laid upon my patients. I give an excellent and thorough scrub a dub-dub, you know.”

“Ha-ha. Er, sounds good.” Phoenix treated her to a sickly grin, at a loss for what else to say. “Um…I should get to that surely delicious lunch while it’s still hot, and stop neglecting my visitors here…”

Karin blinked, finally seeming to notice the other two parties in the room, and smiled guiltily, the startled expression on her pretty face very plainly saying: when did you guys get here?!

Indeed, it is I, Apollo Justice, The Invisible Man, who has suddenly managed to materialize at last! The lawyer thought wryly, arching a brow pointedly at the flustered nurse. At long last sighted here with my equally incognito sidekick, The Perdu Panties Performer!

The nurse was in the midst of straightening out the items on the other bedside table, which bore all the DVDs, when something seemed to catch her eye.

“Wait, what’s this here?”

Apollo couldn’t help but silently snicker as the former defense attorney attempted to be a gentleman and look away while the health caregiver made a big show of bending over at the waist so that her backside was facing him. It was nigh impossible to miss how her fitted uniform strained against her heart-shaped buttocks while she slowly reached down to retrieve the item she’d spotted.

“Urethra!” Karin crowed victoriously, waving a white piece of paper in the air. She conspicuously presented it to Phoenix facedown, as if to demonstrate the proof she hadn’t tried to read it before giving it to the rightful owner. “Look what I’ve found!”

Gah! Apollo stared at her, agog. Regardless of whether that was an oversight in exclamation on her behalf, I honestly am judging the second-rate, two-bit college that allowed this woman to become a registered nurse!

“What’s this here?” The puzzled Phoenix reached for what appeared to be some sort of note. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“I reckon it was part of your care package!” Karin flashed her gleaming set of pearly whites. “Which is so adorably sweet by the way!”

“Package?” A pensive line marred the patient’s forehead as he halted in the act of reading whatever was on the page as he gaped at the nurse. “What package?”

CLANG! CLACK! CLANK!

At that moment there was a reverberating clunking sound in the hallway, and an unmistakable resounding clang of metal, as though a trolley of bedpans and other metallic items had all gone crashing into something at the same time! Trucy visibly jumped, and Apollo winced at the clamorous, ear-splitting noise, which sounded as though it were never going to end!

However, both the hobo and Karin remained unfazed; neither appeared to have noticed the outside commotion. He just continued to stare at the nurse in perplexity, while the brunette laughed heartily in response to his baffled query, as though he’d just told the funniest joke in the world.

“Why, those DVDs right here, silly! They were couriered to the hospital front desk at the start of my shift yesterday morning, around 7:30 AM, and were wrapped in newspaper, of all things, not even the properly required parcel wrap, bonded with about 1000 pounds of cellophane tape! You would have given yourself a hernia trying to remove it all! So, I took the liberty of cutting off the binding, unwrapping the bundle, and placing the contents atop your table there. I guess that paper got misplaced in the shuffle.”

“I guess so,” Phoenix mumbled, glancing over at his daughter, who had finally ceased playing on the keyboard and beamed sunnily at him in response. “Up until now, I thought these DVDs were from our home collection that you’d brought in the night I got admitted, Truce.”

“Daddy, you are so silly!” Trucy giggled, shaking her head. “The only thing I brought were those flowers, your notebook, keyboard, and toiletries. How could I possibly have hauled a stack of DVDs that big with me on the bus?”

“I thought that was kind of strange myself,” the pianist admitted, grinning sheepishly. “I suppose I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time.”

He then cast his eyes back down at the paper in his hand, and abruptly, all traces of humor immediately died on his face; Apollo could’ve sworn the older man’s face turned a few shades paler. However, before he could determine this, Phoenix cleared his throat uncomfortably. Then, as though realizing he had three sets of eyes on him, the confused, startled expression was quickly replaced by his usual poker face as he quickly stuffed the note out of sight, into his sweatshirt pocket.

“I guess I’d better be off and let you enjoy your company, Phoenix.” Karin began sashaying out of the room, flashing the once again stolid man one final flirty wink over her shoulder. “The next time I see you, good-lookin’, it’ll be bath time.”

“Yes, looking forward to it,” the poker champ answered absently while jabbing both his hands deeper into his pockets. “See you then.”

The moment the nurse had left the room, Apollo walked over to the pile of assorted DVDs, which for some reason, held his interest much more, now that he knew they were a gift, albeit still a questionable choice to give a fully grown man in the hospital!

“It’s quite the extensive collection, isn’t it?” Phoenix attempted to laugh halfheartedly, as though trying to mask the embarrassment of the earlier scenario. “There’s some I’ve never even heard of!”

Apollo glanced back over his shoulder at the older man, giving him a look of reassurance, which indicated he was fully aware the ex-lawyer was in no way responsible for the nurse’s inappropriate conduct.

It’s not like Mr. Wright did anything to deliberately encourage that sort of indecorous behavior, although, for his sake, I hope she didn’t take him saying “sounds good” or “looking forward to it” regarding her sponge bath skills as intended enticement! Of course, Mr. Wright’s polite but distracted words notwithstanding, it’s not like he really did anything to discourage that man-eater either!

Apollo pressed his index against his forehead as he mulled this over.

However, I suppose that would’ve been as pointless and futile as trying to hold back the oncoming tide; at the rate that she was going… that determined Nurse Naughty gives the term bedside service a whole new meaning!

The lawyer turned his attention to the TV shows.

“A swaying, spiraling stack of DVD cases. The Steel Samurai, The Nickel Samurai, The Pink Princess, The Zappy Samurai: Electric Bugaboo…” He cocked a questioning brow. “They’re all children’s action hero shows...?“

“This ‘kid’ I know sent them to me.” Phoenix shrugged nonchalantly; his stoic countenance as unreadable as ever. “It’ll add quite a bit to my existing home collection.”

“Huh. Like a niece or nephew?”

“Something like that.” The ex-attorney spoke with deliberate insouciance, but Apollo thought he’d noted a twinge of sadness in the words as well. Not that he was going to pry. He’d done enough of that for one day.

Funny, Mr. Wright doesn’t seem the type that kids would like?! But seeing as how they were a gift, I guess I can take some solace in knowing he’s not being frivolous with his meager funds since his daughter mentioned only yesterday that she’s worried about how the two of them are going to manage this month’s rent!

“Quite the collection,” he remarked casually. “This kid’s parents must be really generous with their allowance.”

A terse silence met the lawyer’s comment, with Phoenix levelly meeting Apollo’s inquiring stare with a challenging lift of his brows, even though he continued to say nothing in return.

“Was there anything else you wanted to know?” The ex-attorney pointedly asked, at last, when it’d become glaringly apparent that he had zero intention of responding to any of the not-so-subtle inquiries about the secret DVDs or their sender. “If not, I truly do need to get back to doing those reports that I mentioned to you the last time you visited.”

“About those … Apollo ventured hesitantly. “You’re still not going to elaborate to me on what the deal is with those reports, are you?”

Phoenix eyed him almost dispassionately for the longest moment before he finally spoke again, in a voice completely devoid of all emotion.

“I think it’s best if we kept things strictly on a need-to-know basis for now.”

Apollo bristled at the laconic response, then abruptly averted his gaze so his hurt wouldn’t show at the curt dismissal. If that was the way Mr. Wright wanted things to be, so be it – the rookie lawyer had had enough of half-truths and unanswered questions for the day, anyway!

Fine, be that way then! Damn this blasted enigmatic man and his mysterious riddles! I’m outta here then!

The spiky-fringed youngster muttered his excuses about needing to take his leave and exited the room abruptly, not even bothering with a goodbye this time, with Trucy in tow.

The moment the door closed behind the attorney and magician, the curtains on the other side of Phoenix’s bed suddenly were jerked aside with such brute force, he thought they were going to be wrenched from the hooks on the ceiling rail! The next thing he knew, from behind the drapes, as though in a scene from Hamlet, out leaped the very last person on earth he thought he’d ever see again!

The surprise visitor’s face was downright homicidal-looking as they wielded the floral bouquet in their hand like it was a baseball bat, although the slight triumphal glint in those familiar eyes indicated the unexpected guest was nonetheless basking in the satisfaction of seeing the ex-attorney’s jaw plummeting to the floor and reflectively shrinking back they advanced on him with slow, deliberate menace, nostrils flaring, eyes sparking, and looking as though steam was coming out of their ears!

Phoenix’s stunned, saucer-sized orbs and flabbergasted state barely allowed his lips to form the words.

“M-Maya?”

“You scruffy, two-timing, sleazy-ass, turd-fondling, rambling dick badger, son of a bitch!”

Aerosmith – Dream On (chapter quote)
Leanne Rimes – How Do I Live
Led Zeppelin – Bron-Yr-Aur
Led Zeplin – Tangerine