AUTHORS NOTES:So, I have like no genuine excuse for this update being so late, so I'll just give you the list of excuses. My birthday was the weekend before last, work makes me really tired, I've been playing Poisoned (again), I've been drawing a lot, I've been talking to my Matt, and right now my side is killing me. I think my internal organ is malfunctioning. XD But thank you to everybody who's reading this. I seriously love each one of you. Uhm, I don't know if Near's injuries would actually happen from a drill. I don't actually know anything about being, you know, drilled? My friend actually suggested the drilling for the method of torture. My other friend suggested blender, so you can see why I went with drill. I kinda like this chapter. :D
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Death Note, Nintendo DS or The World Ends With You (Although I would kill to have that game at my disposal right now).

Two days had passed. Near was still being kept in the hospital, although they had removed him from the Intensive Care Unit. In those two days, Matt had not gone back to Whammy. He insisted on staying at the hospital every moment that Near was there. He knew firsthand the loneliness of feeling abandoned. He had felt it when Mello had left. He would not do the same to Near, even if was for a brief period of time.

For now, Near was laying on the bed, his right arm folded and held by a sling against his chest. From what Matt had gathered, parts of the muscle in his arm had been shredded, by what had been confirmed as a drill, from his arm. It had temporarily disabled his right arm, but the doctors believed that it would recover fully. Some of the other injuries had been more serious. The head injury, had it been somebody healthier than Near, wouldn't have been so bad. However, with Near's fragile state, the blood loss from that alone was dangerous. Not to mention, it is never good to sustain a head injury, regardless of health. The injuries to his torso weren't much better. Even on the slower setting, the drill had managed to puncture the boy's stomach in a few places. The doctors had him on an IV for now, deciding it best to allow his stomach to heal some before moving him to a liquid diet. From there they could move him back to a normal diet. There were other injuries as well, but Matt lacked the details of those. For now, though, he was content not knowing. His blood already boiled whenever he thought about somebody treating the boy this bad. Further details might push him towards his breaking point.

Near's eyes fluttered openly slowly. He had been sleeping. Fatigue had been a side-effect of the painkillers that the doctors had put the boy on. Matt was sitting on the couch next to the bed, staring down at a Nintendo DS. His eyes seemed fixated upon the screen, and the music of The World Ends With You could be heard faintly. He hadn't noticed Near waking up. It wasn't until Near whispered hoarsely Matt's name that the boy noticed. But when he did, he immediately shut the game off, tossed it to the end of the couch and diverted all attention to the other boy.

"How are you feeling?" questioned the gamer, moving to sit on the edge of Near's bed.

Lovingly, he ran his finger's through the other boy's hair, pushing a few stray locks of snow-colored hair away from the boy's face. Near leaned towards the touch, closing his eyes. A small yawn managed to make its way through his lips. He still felt groggy from the painkillers, although he wouldn't tell Matt though. He hadn't complained once to the boy since he got there. It was in his nature. He didn't want to burden Matt with things like that. The poor boy was already worried enough.

With that in mind, he looked over at Matt and managed a soft, yet tired, smile. "As long as you're here, I'm fine."

The boy wasn't lying completely. He knew physically he wasn't fine. That was obvious. But mentally and emotionally, the situation was easier to deal with when he had Matt by his side. He had almost been murdered. This Near had come to expect from being L's new successor, but he had expected it to be Kira's doing. But this happened before he even got a chance to wrap his mind around being L, much less go after Kira. This happened right where he had grown up. This was not Kira, this was personal. And perhaps that was what had scared Near the most. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine the face of who had done it. The hair had been darker, definitely not Mello's. He squeezed his eyes tighter, trying his hardest to remember who it was. Trying to remember what had happened before he went unconscious, however, thinking that hard made his head hurt. He decided it best not to think about right now.

Matt had noticed the almost pained looking expression on Near's face. He traced his hand across the smaller boy's face.

"Are you okay? Want me to call a nurse? Where does it hurt? Do you need more painkillers?" The gamer was panicking. Near almost wanted to smile. Matt cared so much, more than Near was used to.

"Matt," the voice was hoarse and just barely above a whisper, but it got Matt's attention although he was still asking questions. Near had to speak over him, which to his surprise he had managed, "I'm fine. Just kiss me."

"Do you--what?"

Near stared up at him, his coal eyes pleading, "I don't want to think about pain right now. You're panicking too much, and we'd be better off if you'd just kiss me. That way neither one of us would have to think about any--"

He was cut off by Matt's lips, soft and gentle, pressed against his own. The kiss was short lived, but enjoyable all the same. And when Matt pulled away, he was pleased to see a faint smile across Near's face.

Matt grinned back, once more running his fingers through the boy's hair, "I love you, you know that?"

Near nodded slightly, closing his eyes. "I love you too, Matt."

And with that, the smaller of the two fell into a slumber once more, the painkillers getting the better of him. Matt stared down at the boy. He wanted to know who had done this to him. He wanted to know how Near could manage to stay so strong. He wanted to know where to go from here. But he knew these answers would not come soon, so he rested his head on the bed and watched as Near's chest rose and fell until sleep finally found him as well.

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