Ointment

Disclaimer: I don't own Mello, Matt, or anything related to Death Note. If I did…sniffle…what happened in…sniffle…chapter 99…sniffle…wouldn't have happened. TT

"Are you awake?" I vaguely heard Matt ask from the doorway. All of my senses were numb—dulled out by the throbbing pain that had consumed part of my face, neck, and back.

Grunting, I slowly sat up. I'd spent the last several days on this cot recuperating from the explosion. My burns were pretty bad, but not life-threatening. Even if they had been, I wouldn't have gone to the hospital. That would've been the same as admitting defeat; the same as letting Kira—and Near—win. Something I cannot do.

Matt walked up to me holding a box labeled triple antibiotic ointment. He told me previously that he'd seen some at the drugstore when he was out for some cigarettes and planned to use it on my burns. I don't remember when that day was. I've pretty much lost all track of time.

"Give me your chocolate," he said with his hand out in front of me and his eyes cast down.

I gave him a death glare. He knows better than to ask for my chocolate.

He looked up at me, "Look, man, you've been really pissed off since whatever got you burned happened, and when you're pissed off, you bite your chocolate messy and hard—like you're trying to kill it. When I put this stuff on your face, I don't want chocolate stuck all in it."

There were over one hundred caustic remarks I considered saying to him, but instead I simply mumbled "whatever", took one last harsh bite, and handed over my half eaten chocolate bar. I mean what does it matter, anyway? Right now, not even my chocolate can soothe me.

After placing the chocolate on the table, Matt carefully pulled my shirt off. Technically, it's not my shirt—it's his. My shirt was burnt from the explosion, and either way, it was too tight to be wearing with my unhealed burns.

He threw the shirt on the cot, and then proceeded to pin my bangs up and to put my hair in a ponytail. Linda would have a field day if she could see how girly I probably look now!

Sitting down beside me on the cot, Matt began to apply the ointment around my eye. I think it's cold, but I can't be sure.

Matt stopped abruptly and after several seconds said, "…sorry." Quickly, he ran to the other room.

I could obviously tell that he'd spilled some in my eye. He obviously couldn't tell that I'm pretty much blind in that eye now. I guess I'll tell him later…probably. It's not really that important.

Matt returned with a towel in his hand, and lightly dabbed at my eye making sure not to wipe off the rest of the ointment. About a minute later, he moved down to my neck. It's then that I realize there's a rhythm to his motions—the same rhythm I've been subconsciously breathing in stride with.

Closing my eyes, and then opening them slowly I recall how our relationship has always been this way—one of us leading, the other subconsciously following. Of course, I'm usually the one leading, and as soon as I'm better that's how it'll be again, but for now I can be content with things this way.

As he moved down to my back, he asked casually, "Dude, how'd you get such a bad burn anyway?"

I grunted stoically in response. He doesn't need to know what happened. The less he knows, the less likely it is for him to get in trouble with the police or Kira or both.

"It looks like you set yourself on fire," he continued neither prying nor giving up. He knows I won't tell him anything, but laying out what he thinks makes it easier for him not to worry about it, especially when he doesn't have a cigarette or video game to occupy his mind with, "or like you got caught by a bomb or something. Man, if we hadn't met up, what were you going to do?"

This was a rhetorical question, but I couldn't help but try to answer it in my head. What would I have done if I hadn't run into Matt when I did? With another grunt, I went back in my mind to that day.

I don't know how many days after the explosion it ways, all I know is that I had spent each of those days wandering around with an old coat I'd found on the street wrapped around me while trying to figure out a way to get myself some help. By that time, my burns were so painful, and I was so tired that I could barely move. I was so exhausted and in pain that the only thing keeping me going was the desire to capture Kira to avenge L and beat Near for once in my life.

Trying to think of some place I could get help without getting caught, I shuffled into a small shop for a chocolate bar. They were all I had money for at the time. When I finish recuperating, I'll take some money out of the savings account of Mike Quail, my alias. I have more money in there than I can count—all from my late parents, grandparents, and L.

As soon as I walked in the door, Matt noticed me. His eyes grew wide, but he knew better than to say my name out loud. I'm wanted for kidnapping and murder after all.

He quickly grabbed a chocolate bar from the shelf behind him and placed it on the check-out counter along with a pack of smokes and some AA batteries. Once we walked out the door, he handed me the chocolate bar, and told me he had a small secluded apartment where he could tend to my wounds. At that moment, I was too afflicted to realize that he could tell I was wounded because of my lethargic movements.

Now that I really think about it, Matt has saved me from a lot of unpleasant consequences. When we were seven, he took the wrap for me when I super-glued Near to a chair (man, that was the most hilarious prank in history). It was also Matt who broke my fall when I fell out of the tree behind the house; and when I got lost during the thunderstorm the year we met L, Matt was the one who found me. Hmm…I guess Matt is kind of like my safety net.

I looked up at the clock. Matt had finished applying the ointment awhile ago, but now, he was solely rubbing my back comfortingly. Closing my eyes, I tried to get lost in the rhythm he'd created. It felt nice to not think about anything.

My eyes shot open as he suddenly stopped several minutes later.

Standing up, he wiped his hands off on a nearby rag and picked up my chocolate bar. He handed me the chocolate bar and said, "You have to keep that stuff on for awhile. Until I take it, be careful with this thing." He reached into his pocket. "I'm going out for a smoke."

"Hey, Matt"," he looked at me surprised. These were the first non-mumbled words I'd said to him all day, "you got any plans for once I'm out of here?"

"Nope," he said with a smirk as he took out a cigarette and opened the door.

"Good," I said licking my chocolate as he walked outside and closed the door.

A/N: There you go. Something else involving Matt and/or Mello. I seriously think I'm currently obsessed with them. Anyway, I hope you liked it. I came up with it last week before I went to sleep, and after revising it several times and returning from my vacation I decided to put it up here. Please R/R. SHA.

oh one more thing, if someone could please tell me what chapter Light's confrontation of Mello is and if it goes for more than one chapter which one is the last one? all my sources are failing me and I can't remember off the top of my head. It would be greatly appreciated.