Chapter Ten:
The Accident
After waking to an empty bed, I decided to get dressed and see if we were back to our busy schedule in the case. Mello couldn't be found anywhere, but Matt could and told me what to do. I spent the entire day typing away on a computer, searching for any hidden information on Kira's victims and the Police Force. Turns out, I wasn't an experienced enough hacker to break through the right firewalls.
I sat with Matt and Tease in the main area at a few minutes to midnight. Time had flown by and had worn my eyes out. I cuddled my favorite pillow and lowered the follow on my iPod before checking my phone again. No messages, no calls. Good. I was about to ask Matt what else needed to be done when Mello stormed in.
"Get out. All three of you, get out and go to Matt's car. Now!" He threw Matt's keys at him as he rushed about the room.
"What? Why? What's going on, Mello?" I asked, all of my fear and worry leaking out through my voice.
"Precautions." He didn't dare look at us. "I have a feeling that damn Police Force will be here soon. Just get out and go."
"No. Not with out you." Matt said, standing up. "I'm not- we're not leaving you again."
Mello sighed heavily and finally turned to us. "Fine. Just wait by the car, then. I'll be out eventually and we can flee." Tease grabbed her iPod that sat beside her and ran out with Matt following close behind. I went to Mello and hugged him tightly. Without hesitation, he returned the tight hug.
"Please, be careful." I whispered.
"No promises." He joked. "Now go before something bad happens." He kissed my cheek and went back to rushing around. I grabbed my pillow and ran to catch up with the other two.
Tease sat on the hood of the mustang while Matt leaned against it, holding her hand. I paced back and forth whole biting my nails. The worry was eating me alive. I wanted him to come out right that second so we could escape and go somewhere else safe…
"Relax, Sis. Everything's going to be alright." Matt said. His words barely reached me, though. I was beginning to freak a little too much. I began to lightly shake uncontrollably.
"Emily." Matt snapped. I stopped moving at the sound of my almost forgotten true name. "You have to calm down. He'll be just fine. It's Mello we're talking about. You think he's really going to accept death or anything close to that right now?"
Before I could respond, an explosion was heard. We all snapped our heads up to the partially burning building. My breathing sped up. My thoughts stopped. My blood ran cold. I watched the flames as my fear filled thoughts became reality. An explosion went off.
"Oh my God!" Tease gasped, jumping off the car.
Impulse hit. I began running off toward the building to look for Mello. I suddenly stopped when Matt wrapped his arms around me and held me in place. I hit his arms in protest, but he held on tight.
"No, no! Matt, let me go! I'm not letting another one slip away! I'm not letting anyone else from our group die!"
"I'm not letting you go. Trust in him. He'll come out."
"Mail, please!" Tears burned my eyes and blurred my vision. I continued to try and pull myself loose.
"No! He said he'd be out, remember? Believe him, trust him! If he's not out soon, I'll go in for him. I'm not letting him die, either, Sis."
I stopped struggling. My knees went weak. Matt released me, letting me fall to the ground. We watched the flames flick into the night sky. Every passing second felt like a year. With each year long second, my heart beat a little faster.
"That's it. I'm going in." Matt finally announced, pushing his goggles down over his eyes and beginning to run toward the building. Tease and waited out by the car, each of us anxiously awaiting for both of them to come out of the building. They finally came out, though, Mello hanging off of Matt's shoulders. Tease and I met them half way to discover Mello had been seriously injured. I hastily wiped my tears away, instantly putting Mello's other arm around my shoulders to help. Tease opened the back door, helping us lay him down in the back.
"I'll sit with him. We just need to get a motel or something right now." I lifted his unconscious head and placed it on my lap as Tease and Matt got in the car and took off. Matt drove as fast and as carefully as possible. We eventually arrived at a hotel. While Matt rushed to check us in, Tease got in the glove box and tried looking for some kind of a first aid kit that could help Mello. I simply ran my hand through his hair, worrying about him. He groaned lightly, opening his eyes.
"Mm…En? What…happened?"
"Shh, don't talk. You got hurt in an explosion. Matt's checking us in to a hotel right now. Just rest." I placed my hand the good side of his face, rubbing his cheek with my thumb. He weakly reached up and placed his hand on my own. I felt tears well up in my eyes again. Matt came back to the car, opening the back door and helping get the still conscious Mello out of the back. We rushed passed the receptionist, who thankfully had her back turned, and got straight into the room. Matt directed us to one of the bedrooms, laying Mello down on the twin sized bed. I rushed off to get a wash rag. When I came back, Mello was out again.
"You girls go out in the living room. I'll take care of him for now." Matt said, stripping his goggles and gloves off and beginning to remove Mello's ruined clothing. Tease and I obliged, speaking quietly of the sleeping arrangements between ourselves. We decided we should all cycle out in night watches. The other two that didn't stay in the room with Mello would sleep in the other bedroom. On this first night, Matt would stay with Mello.
.::/One Week Later\\::.
After a week of bed rest, Mello was finally showing signs of recovering. His wounds had closed, but they still needed to be cleaned and wrapped daily. He would bounce in and out of consciousness all the time, each time the amount of time he'd spend awake being longer than the last. Matt and Tease had gone out shopping for more bandages and food, leaving me alone with Mello. I had just stepped out of the shower when I faintly heard someone.
"Hey, is anyone here?"
Mello's voice. Is he awake already? I quickly grabbed the short robe on the back of the door and walked out. I peeked into the room to see him trying to sit up. I went to his side instantly.
"Don't strain yourself. Your injuries should still be kind of bad."
He looked up at me, giving me a quick once over before looking away again. "Where are the other two?"
"Shopping. We needed more food and more bandages for you." I reached for his hand, stopping short. I dropped it right next to his, clutching the sheets lightly. "So, how are you feeling?"
"How do you think I'm feeling?" He barked. "We lost the notebook, I'm injured, and now we're further behind then we are ahead!"
I clutched the sheets tighter, feeling stupid for asking. I stood up. "I'm sorry for asking." I walked out, leaving Mello on the bed. I shut the door to the bathroom, trying to calm myself before I began crying and started changing. A light knock came to the door.
"En. I'm sorry, alright? I'm just stressed. I didn't mean to snap."
I opened the door once I was clothed. "It's fine. I understand." I offered a small smile as I tried to slip past him. He grabbed my arm, pulling me into him. He held me in a firm grasp. I lightly returned the hug, careful not to hurt him.
"…I'm thinking of giving Near a little visit soon. Would you like to go?" He suddenly said.
"Near? A visit?" I looked up at him. "O-of course I'll go."
"Good. I figured you'd like to see him again, anyway." He leaned down, placing his lips to my forehead.
"Whoa, interruption….need us to leave?" Tease joked as she and Matt came back in.
"Yeah, give us five minutes." I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. She went to the kitchen putting the food away. Matt reached in the bag he carried and pulled out the bandages.
"Ready for a change?" He tossed the box at Mello. He caught it with ease.
"Sure. Let's just do it in here. I'm sick of looking at the damn design in that room."
I chuckled a little, going to the kitchen to help Tease. We put everything away quickly, sitting down at the counter looking out into the living room. We watched in silence as Matt helped Mello some with changing the bandages. Mello glanced up and caught my eye. He instantly looked back down, almost ashamed of something.
"By the way, Matt, your sister and I are going to visit Near soon."
"Near? That's a change. Why is my sister going?"
"She wants to. Besides, I don't need to be going alone, do I?"
"No, but-"
"And if I took Tease with me, one of us wouldn't be coming back. If you went, the girls would be alone and vulnerable. It's the best solution."
"Fine, whatever. But you better watch her closely. I don't want you guys splitting up. If something happened to her…" He trailed off.
"Don't worry. She won't leave my side. I'll make sure of it."
"You know, we're both sitting right here. We can hear every word you both say." I finally said.
"We know." Mello said, smirking a little.
"We just don't care." Matt added, smirking as well. Tease and I shared a look that said 'I hate guys'.
"Whatever. Tease? Will you help me with something in the bathroom?" I asked, walking backward.
"Sure. What is it?" She asked. I waited until we were in the bathroom with the door shut.
"I need supervision while I do this." I began scanning the shelves.
"Do what?"
"You'll see." I finally found what I was looking for when I open the medicine cabinet. When I pulled them out, Tease gasped.
"What are you going to do!"
"You know how people feel like they need a change when they're under stress?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'm under stress. Besides, I've been wanting to change for awhile now." I took a strand of hair between my fingers and lifted the scissors.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Tease asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. After this, I want us to go out somewhere and get something done."
"Get what done?"
"…A piercing. My nose."
"Won't Matt disagree?"
"Probably." I finally cut the strand of hair that had been waiting. With a confident smile, I began chopping at the rest. Before long, the floor was covered in locks of chocolate brown hair and my bare shoulders were being tickled by my new hairstyle. I fixed my glasses a little before turning to Tease.
"How do I look?"
"Amazing, actually. I love it!" She helped me dispose my hair cut hair then followed me as we quickly retreated toward to door outside. Mello noticed us first.
"Where are you two- Envy, what did you do to your hair?"
"Cut it. Got to go. Bye!" I rushed the words out. I opened the door, but Matt stopped us.
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"It was time for a change. I felt the need." I smiled sweetly at him. He simply sighed and let me go.
"If you say so. Hey, if you're going out, be careful. There are some creeps out there."
"Yes, Brother! Bye!" We rushed out, walking down to the tattoo and piercing parlor just down the street. Within a matter of minutes I was sitting in a chair, waiting for a girl to come in and give me the stud in my nose. Tease sat to my left while we waited. After about five minutes of waiting, she finally came in and did the deed. She gave me a list of rules of how to take care of piercing so it wouldn't get infected and such. We thanked her, paid, and slowly began walking back.
"So," Tease said, "I've seen the looks you give Mello lately. What's up with you two?"
"Nothing is up with us. And what do you mean by looks? I look at him the same I look at you, or Matt, or Near, whenever I actually see him."
"That's a load of bullshit. Your face softens and you look at him like he's the only one in the room. Are you crushing on him again or something?"
"You're imagining things. My face does not soften, and I do not look at him like that. I'm not crushing on Mello. All of my feelings like that vanished when he left me at Wammy's."
She raised an eyebrow and smiled slyly at me. I was about to question her look when I noticed my mistake.
"Us. When he left us, is what I meant to say."
"Right…so I guess you're still slightly bitter about him leaving all that time ago?"
"I…" I watched the concrete as we walked. I hated how well she knew me sometimes. "I guess I am. I can't help it, though. He just walked right out. I got the courage to finally kiss him and all, and then he just…he just left. It hurt, and the memory still hurts sometimes."
"It may still hurt when you think about it, but take a look at your life right now. You're back with him. Think about it: would it hurt more to still not be with him and continuously wonder about him, or just have the memory of him leaving and being able to see him everyday?"
I stopped walking and stared after as she kept walking. I blinked, looking down at the sidewalk again as her words sunk in. She had a point. It was a much better deal to be able to see him everyday and night then to not know where he was at all.
"Hey, are you coming? It's getting late. The guys might start worrying if we go any slower." She called, finally realizing I stopped. I smiled, jogging up to her and continuing our walk home.
"Hey, Matt, will do me a favor and not freak out?" I called as Tease and I walked inside. I hung my head enough to have my hair cover the right side of my face, including my nose. Mello sat on the couch, chocolate bar in one hand, remote in the other. Tease instantly went off to one of the bedrooms as Matt leaned over the counter to peak into the living room at me.
"Why would I freak? What did you do?" He asked, becoming slightly panicked.
I sat on Mello's right side still keeping my right side away from view. "I kind of went out and got a piercing."
Beside me, Mello began choking on a piece of chocolate. I jerked my head toward him, making sure he was alright. When he stopped coughing, he looked at me. He turned my head and looked at the little silver stud on my right nostril. Matt came from the kitchen and looked at it, too.
"Why?"
"I wanted a change. Besides, it's subtle, anyway. I like it…"
"It actually does look pretty good on you…" He straightened up, taking his goggles off his head. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy, I guess."
We smiled at each other as he walked away, most likely looking for Tease. I turned to Mello, who shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and opened my eyes again. "Hey, Mello?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember the day we found each other?"
"Yeah, I do. Why?"
"I just wanted to thank you for not pushing me away. I didn't realize until just a few minutes ago how happy I am that I get to see you everyday of every week. My life would still be Hell if I had no clue where you were."
He glanced down at me for a second before returning his gaze back to the television. He put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. I laid my head against his bare chest, smiling to myself.
"Just so you know, I'm glad we ran into each other. I'd probably be very lost without you right now." His thumb ran back and forth against my shoulder tenderly.
"I'm glad to hear that, Mel. I honestly am." I put my arm around his waist as he flipped through channels. "So, when do you want to try and see Near?"
"Very soon. As soon as Matt says I can stop wearing these bandages, I'll be ready to go. He has something I need."
"What does he have?"
"A picture of me. I left it Wammy's when I rushed out."
"Shit. We really do need that back. It could cause problems if it managed to leave Near's hands."
"It already has."
I gripped his waist a little a tighter, not wanting to hear those words from his lips. I shook my head lightly, pushing myself a little closer to him. "How are we going to even find him and get him to see us willingly? Seeing you might be throw him off and disagree."
"I have a plan for that. By the way, En?"
"Yeah?" I lifted my head and looked him in the eye.
With a smirk, he asked quietly, "Do you know how to use a gun?"