Author's Note: See, I wouldn't make you guys wait too long ;) Here's chapter 14!

Matt's head was spinning as he opened his eyes. Bright overhead lights made his vision blur. He rolled over onto his stomach and saw white sheets and an equally pale floor that was so polished it gleamed nearly as much as the fluorescents. The room was stark and cold, and the light was giving him a headache.

He closed his eyes for a while. He was dimly aware of another person's presence in the room, but he was too far out of it to wonder who it was. He drifted, maybe sleeping, maybe awake, maybe in between, until he felt fingers run through his hair and down his back.

He turned, his eyelids fluttering once again. The first thing he saw was Mello, then he realized where he was.

A hospital room.

He bolted upright and instantly felt Mello's arms around him, comforting him, forcing him back down.

"It's okay, Mattie. Calm down. I'm right here, they can't hurt you anymore."

Matt rested his head against Mello's neck, trying to make sense of it all. Everything had gone kind of foggy, but he slowly started to remember. L and B taking him from Wammy's. Seeing his father. And last of all, the gunshots.

Was that why he was in the hospital? He didn't feel like he'd been shot. He felt fine. Mello hijacked his train of thought.

"You feeling okay? You didn't get hurt but we brought you in just to make sure those bastards didn't do anything. They didn't do anything, did they?"

Matt shook his head. His mind was spinning with questions. Who got shot? Was anyone dead? He remembered, all of a sudden, that he had spoken once while in captivity. Could he do that, now, when he was back in a situation that didn't absolutely demand it?

He felt a drop of water on his face and thought for a moment that he was crying, then looked up and realized that it was a tear but it belonged to Mello. His Mello, who no one pushed around. His Mello, who had never cried in all the years that Matt had known him. His Mihael, the strongest person he'd ever known.

"I'm just so happy you're back," Mello whispered. "I was so worried, baby. I promise, as long as I live, no one will ever take you away from me again, okay? I love you so much. You're safe now."

It wasn't clear whether or not Mello realized that he was saying this aloud, but his eyes finally focused on Matt as the redhead reached up and gently wiped Mello's tears away. Matt had to try, right... "Mihael..."

Mello stared at him for a second, then lost control. He pulled Matt into his lap and buried his face in Matt's hair, sobbing. "Mail... Oh, Mail..."

Matt started crying, too, the outlet of so many confusing emotions going through him at once. He held on to Mello as tightly as he could. "Mihael," he repeated. "I love you, too, Mihael."

They sat like that for a while, in each other's arms, until there was no trace of their tears except for red eyes.

"I'm still confused," Matt said quietly. "I heard guns. Four of them."

Mello sighed. "I was dreading this part. Listen, when the lights went out, everyone sort of panicked and assumed the worst. We're not sure how the lights went out, exactly. It's possible someone was trying to get away with a kill, but I think it would have been too risky when everyone was armed. It probably happened there all the time; it was an old place..." Matt waited for him to continue.

"Two of the bullets," he said finally, "didn't hit anyone. One missed altogether. Must've gotten buried in a wall. The other hit a bookcase, and it wasn't attached to the wall, so it fell over. It broke Light's leg, but he's alright."

"What about the other two?"

"I heard that was your dad. And all the crap he put you through," Mello muttered.

"Don't change the subject," Matt whispered.

"I'm not. I was just gonna say I hope you didn't inherit his shitty aim." With that, Mello pulled up his shirt to show his boyfriend the bandage wrapped neatly around his stomach.

Matt gasped and sat up straight. "You didn't tell me you were hurt!" he accused.

Mello's lip twitched. "It honestly isn't nearly as bad as it looks. Barely nicked me. Didn't hit anything important, anyway. Just a little clip in the waist."

Matt was hardly listening, tears welling up in his eyes. "He hurts everyone I love..." he murmured. Suddenly, his eyes turned to steel. "Where is he?"

Mello sighed. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about..."

"The fourth bullet," Matt whispered.

Mello nodded gravely.

"Where?" Matt expected it to be somewhere serious. He could tell just by the way Mello was looking at him. He was expecting to hear that his father had taken a bullet to the stomach or even a less crucial part of his brain. He was expecting to hear that his father was in a room somewhere in this very building, probably in critical condition.

But somehow, he just wasn't expecting it when Mello said, "Straight through the heart, Mattie. He's dead."

Matt let this sink in. He shook his head. "I don't care."

Mello looked at him. "You sure?"

"Yeah. He was no excuse for a father. Is it horrible if I'm almost a little happy?"

Mello chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "You picked the wrong person to ask that question."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

A/N: I'm so glad the site is fixed! Two days without logging in, I almost died!

This chapter's really short, but I promise to make up for it with a quick update, yeah? Next week is April Vacation, so hopefully I'll be cranking out fanfiction... not like I have anything better to do with my time...

Review, if you please :)