The week passed smoothly with no predicaments and Near, true to his word, had dropped off everything, including the black laptop. Mello had been avoiding the topic of the upcoming tradeoff with the Lucchese's, even when Matt brought it up directly. Today was the day off the tradeoff and Mello was pacing nervously behind the couch as Jay idly flicked through TV channels smoking another cigarette. It was his tenth within the hour.
"What's the big deal?" Matt asked. He was sitting at the dining table smoking a cigarette and playing his gameboy. "All you have to do is exchange some drugs for guns."
"Yeah, the same drugs I exchanged probably ended up in you." Mello practically growled.
Matt didn't even bother looking up from his game. "It's not as if you gave me the syringe and forced me to take it. Stop going on a guilt trip. It's not very attractive."
"He's just worried they'll find out most of it's fake." Jay cut in.
Now Matt looked up. "You're selling them fake drugs. That's dangerously stupid."
"I do what Danny wants me to." Mello shrugged. "Besides all I have to do is sell the stuff and get out the hell out of there before they think to check all of it."
Matt returned to his game. He's going to get himself killed this way. Mello went over and draped his arm over the gamer's shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." He ruffled Matt's hair, knocking his goggles askew.
Matt opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Jay's cell phone ringer. They watched as he conversed with the person on the other end. He sighed heavily when he hung up.
"Time to go." He grabbed his gun from off the coffee table and put it in it's holster. He playfully pushed Matt as he walked past. "Wish us luck, kid. See you soon."
"I'll see you soon, Matt." Mello was fingering his rosary beads.
Matt grabbed Mello's shirt. "Promise me."
"I promise." Mello kissed his cheek. "I love you, Matty."
"I love you to, Mells."
It was torture, waiting for them to come back. Matt had smoked a whole pack in an hour in his agitation. I should've gone with them. That way I'd know what was going on. He jumped when the door opened five hours later. Mello slipped in quietly, a dazed look on his face.
"Mells, are you ok?" Matt ran up to him, noticing he was covered in blood. "Shit. Mel, you're covered in blood." He tried to take off Mello's shirt to see where the bleeding was coming from but Mello held his hands.
"It's not mine. Some idiot checked one of the fake bags." He was trembling and his voice was quiet. "He…pulled out his gun and aimed at me but…Jay, he…he pushed me out of the way. The bullet would have hit me." He pointed to his forehead. "Jay, that asshole's so big, it hit him in the shoulder. Everyone started shooting and a guy next to me get hit." He pointed to throat. "That when I got sprayed. Jay pulled me out of there quick though."
Matt tried to embrace him but Mello ducked past him. "Help me get clean towels and bandages. We couldn't take Jay to a hospital 'cause apparently the cops are after him. This is the only place the other Families don't know about so he'll be safer here than at the warehouse with the rest of the men. I came ahead to make sure there's no one around." He began rummaging around cabinets and drawers. "Where the fuck did Jay put the damn morphine?"
Matt gathered towels and bandages and put them in the guest bedroom. Mello was gathering the rest of the medical supplies Jay had kept handy when Jay arrived, leaning on a guy with another guy following close behind.
Mello pointed to the guest bedroom turned hospital room. "Everything's in there."
"Hey, Matt." Jay said weakly. "Told you I'd see you again. Ow…fuck you, Robby." He groaned when the guy he was leaning on set him on the bed.
"Sorry, Jay." Robby brushed his long blonde hair from his eyes with his thumb. He turned to the other male. "Gio, you have the scalpel?"
"Fuck no. You are not touching me." Jay yelled. "I'd rather do time."
"Mello, where's the morphine?" Robby asked. "Jay, if you don't fucking suck it up I'll give you a paralytic."
Jay grinned though the deathly pale shade of his face took away some of the humor. "You wouldn't." Gio left for a second and came back, sleeves rolled up, arms and hands spotless. He waited as Robby cut away Jay's shirt.
"Mello, give me the morphine." Gio injected Jay with the morphine. "Now hold him down." Matt held Jay's hand, more for support, while Mello held down his good shoulder and Robby held down his torso.
"Don't you fucking dare, you assholes." Jay growled.
"Sorry about this. Don't hate me for it later." Gio took the scalpel and proceeded to dig out the bullet. Jay's back arched and his teeth were clenched in an effort not to scream. Mello and Robby struggled to hold him down while Matt worried about Jay breaking his hand, though he suspected he was holding back. The amount of pain he was in made Matt's stomach turn, forcing him to look away for a few seconds. When he looked up Jay had latched on to Gio's shirt as he continued to pry the bullet out.
"Almost there." Gio whispered soothingly. "I can see it. Just hold on." He took a pair of tweezers and pulled out the rest of the bullet. "That wasn't so bad. You're so dramatic." He joked.
"Fucker." Jay gasped and let go off Matt's hand. Gio laughed and turned to whisper something in Mello's ear. Mello left and returned with a bottle of scotch. Jay groaned. Gio took the bottle of scotch from Mello and poured it onto the wound. Jay nearly screamed but caught himself at the last moment.
"All I have to do now is stitch it up and we're done." Gio informed him.
Matt watched, from the corner of his eye, as Mello quietly left the room. After a moment he followed and found Mello in the kitchen with a bottle of whiskey.
"It's my fault. I warned Danny against this. I told him it would happen." Mello murmured before taking a swig from the bottle. "There'll be bad feelings between the families after this…I can't believe this fucking happened."
Matt embraced him from behind. "It wasn't your fault. Jay knows the risks and this is one of them."
Mello placed his hand on top of Matt's for a second. "I know." He stepped out of the embrace and placed the bottle on the counter. He looked down at his blood-stained clothing and sighed. "I need a shower."
"Alright." When Mello was out of sight, Matt poured the alcohol down the drain. He's not going to be happy but I hate this shit. I can't let him keep drinking it. Images of his uncle raced through his mind. Sorry Mells but I have to get rid of it. He took the rest of the liquor and poured them down the sink as well.
I didn't have the heart to kill Jay off. It seemed...cruel. So I hope to have many more chapters with him ^_^
