A Cry for Help Chapter 4 – The Visitor
Present day- Mello
The boy walked down the corridor with purpose. Near had been in the infirmary since 10am, he must be awake after three hours of rest Mello thought to himself, trying to repress the growing feeling of anxiety in his stomach as he got ever closer to the room in which his rival lay.
He wanted to get to the room before he was forced to apologise by Roger. He was going to make his own decisions. For once, he would control his own life.
Mello, so consumed in his own thoughts, continued to his destination. Matt, walking in the other direction, exiting the infirmary, attempted to make any contact at all with the frustrated blonde to no avail. The best friends' paths crossed for the first time without communication (be it verbal or not). Mello kept walking.
As the boy rounded the corner, he came to his senses and noticed a tall, suited figure in the doorway to the room; Roger.
Shit! He thought to himself, Why does he need to be here? I should go back. The boy turned to leave when the man in front of him sensed his presence, turned around, and looked Mello right in the eye, then turned back to Near, continuing his conversation.
"Well, you sure have enough energy to talk. You appear to have another visitor." Roger shifted to the side to let the frustrated boy through. Mello looked up to make eye contact with the boy in the bed in front of him, who sighed at Mello, then spoke.
"Mello"
This time it was Near who looked to the ground and broke the ongoing stare between the two rivals after some time, before shaking his head, sighing, then finally, speaking once again.
"Why are you still so angry Mello? You got your revenge, didn't you?" The younger boy's speech just caused Mello to become more enraged. It wasn't just his words, it was the questioning, yet careless tone to his voice, the neutral look on his face, the slight smirk on his lips, and just everything about the boy at that moment in time.
Mello, becoming more and more angered by the second, tried to distract himself by looking at Near and seeing him as his rival, but as a complete stranger. He noticed how little of the hospital bed the boy took up, how he had a small cut on his lip from him presumably biting it, how only one of his eyes was not covered by a bandage, how his snow white hair stuck out in all directions from both sleeping and the bandage being in place. After focussing on these minute details for a few seconds, Mello calmed down enough to be able to talk to the younger boy.
"How's your head?" Mello said, trying to make small talk after the seemingly endless silence that had been forming between the two boys. Near raised his hand to his head, touched it lightly, and winced quietly.
"Better than it was. I don't have concussion and the nurse says that it should heal soon." Silence fell for the fourth time on the conversation. Although it was Near who was the worst at polite small talk with people, he was able to talk to Mello like he was speaking to Matt, or anyone else for that matter. Mello on the other hand, normally couldn't look at Near without feeling either uncomfortable about being around the emotionless albino, or enraged at whatever comment he might make, let alone have a normal conversation with him. Mello had run out of questions that would lead to an answer he wouldn't find irritating. Near shifted slightly.
"So Mello, is there anything you particularly came here for?" Mello heard the shuffle of Rogers feet outside the infirmary door: he was watching the boys, waiting to see if one will apologise. Mello couldn't be sure if Near was intentionally manipulating their conversation to achieve that result or not. Near wouldn't care about an apology, he never did. When someone accidently knocked the card tower he had spent a whole day building, he just told them that he didn't mind and said that "what's done is done" bullshit. He just didn't care.
Although Mello was his friend for years, and
now his competitor, Mello sometimes felt he hardly knew anything about Near or his true capabilities.
Should he apologise? Of course not! Mello wasn't sorry for what he did, he didn't feel guilty. No, that wasn't how he was feeling. He was just, disappointed in himself to be honest. Violence has always been his last resort when it comes to his emotions and he thought that he would be able to outsmart the instinct to fight when it comes to Near.
The blonde paused for a second, then replied.
"No. Just wondered what was taking you so long to get back to class. Speaking of which, I need to go and do some homework, so I guess I'll see you later." After just reaching the door, his path was blocked by the tall elderly man, towering over Mello.
Roger stood there for a moment and glanced at both Near and Mello, then spoke in his usual calm tone of voice.
"Ah Mello, good to see you here. But boys, before we part I need to speak to you both quickly. Mello, take a seat." He extended his palm towards the chair at Near's bedside, "Go on. You're not in trouble" after following Rogers instructions and sitting down, he glanced at Near to be met with the boy's eyes also looking at him. Even though that moment lasted an instant before Near tuned his head back to Roger, it was enough time for Mello to see something different; uncertainty. Near had no idea what was going on. It was strange.
Mello looked back to Roger, a puzzled expression on his face "I got a phone call from someone you two might like to meet."
AN: Hi again! I have good news: It's summer now so I will have more time to write. Yay! So hopefully I will be able to write a butt-tonne of stuff to post. Actually, by the time I post the next chapter it will probably be Halloween because I'm going to save up chapters again so you don't have to wait so long for a new chapter. it might take a while though. Just don't expect anything from me for ages. I'm posting this to get me motivated to write more chapters today…please review and things ^_^
Until next time my few readers, Lollylion out
Update: I'm writing the next chapter and it should be out sooner than expected. However it is going to be relatively short. thanks ^_^