Chapter 40

Christine had to practically fly to keep up with Matt. He had been awake the entire flight over, pacing most of the time, trying to reach Mello on his cell phone to let him know they were on their way. He had only reached him once and he had cried hearing how much pain he was in. The hours felt like days and they couldn't get off the plane fast enough. He bolted thru the terminal until she reminded him they had bags to pick up and then outside to a taxi.

As they checked into their hotel she asked that a taxi be called for them so it would be ready after they dropped their bags off. She let the front desk know that she was a doctor and was here to pick up a private patient and make sure he returned home safely for further treatment of an injury hoping that when she did return with Mello there would be no questions asked. The went into their rooms and dropped off the bags, she going through her medical bag to make sure she had what she was sure she would need to get Mello stable and back here. She wouldn't allow herself to think that they could have arrived too late; no matter what he'd done he was still her Mello. She'd asked for and received adjoining rooms and everything seemed set.

Matt hadn't said much and she understood. He now turned to her and she could see the same fear she knew was reflected in her own eyes in his.

"I have a feeling where he is won't be the safest area in the world. We'll need to be careful and to get him out of there as quickly as possible." He said trying to think clearly and she nodded.

"I understand, Matt. I'll wait till we get back here before I do a thorough examination. I'll just get him able to move and then we'll be out." Matt nodded and they left for the lobby.

The cab driver seemed genuinely confused that people coming out of that fancy hotel wanted to go to that area of town. Christine could see the hesitation in him and thought quickly.

"I know this must seem strange, but I have a rather troubled son who has managed to get himself into a little trouble and needs me to get him out of it yet again. Only this time he's managed to injure himself. I'm a doctor so I'll be able to treat him and get him home." She saw the driver nod his understanding, his eyes in the mirror going from suspicious to understanding.

"These kids today, they run off to here or NY without thinking and end up in trouble," his gaze shifted to Matt noting both passengers shared the same vibrant hair color.

"It's good you have another son to help you, out. This area's pretty dicey…"

"Don't worry we don't intend to stay long," she reached into her purse and pulled out a $50.00 bill and held it up into the rearview mirror, "This plus the fare if you wait a few moments as I get my son." The driver smiled and nodded.

"My pleasure, Doc." He answered and stepped on the gas.

Commander Rester watched Near play with his toys in the middle of the room. He had a play area set up that was completely filled with toys of all types and he spent every waking hour there. He was no longer surprised by the incredible brilliance of this soft-spoken child like young man, but he was still baffled by his thought process, the unorthodox way he was running the SPK. He was sure he had his reasons, but being used to being a man of action he was having difficulty with all this watching and waiting. He turned and looked down at the young man who was adding more layers to his Lego fort.

"Near, I think it's time you tell us your thoughts on the case." He looked to Linder and Geovanni for backup. They both nodded and focused on Near.

"This new L is too foolish and Kira is too active. According to L he knew that all the mafia members were going to be killed on the day they raided because Kira contacted the Japanese Taskforce and told them. What a joke. He doesn't tell us why they all immediately believed it but they did. Kira knew the force had the notebook but because of certain Mafia deaths he realized the notebook was in evil hands. And they succeeded in getting the notebook." Near's normally stoic face twisted in disgust as he went over the scenario.

"Well that seems like a consistent story to me," Halle started and was startled when Near punched through the Lego wall with a robot.

"No, it isn't," he nearly spat, "If Kira can contact the taskforce, why doesn't he get the notebook back? I can understand Kira teaming up with them, but if he can contact them, why not threaten them to get his notebook back? Furthermore, there are rules for using it, why would he allow them access to information on his murder weapon? He may not have known they had it originally from Higuchi but he certainly knew it once the gangsters got involved why isn't he taking it back?" the others were nodding.

"You're right", Rester agreed, "Why DOES the taskforce still have it?"

"I've had my suspicions from the start, but since this unbelievably convenient deal between the taskforce and Kira, Kira and taskforce are obviously connected. No, if Kira is actually within the taskforce, then L is Kira." He got the reaction he expected, but nothing they said would beat the anger that was boiling inside him at that statement. He knew his L had to be screaming in anger knowing that what he had created and gave his life for was being raped and destroyed by Kira. No matter what he had to he would destroy Kira for this. He would expose and humiliate him for what he had done and continued to do to L. With every last breath in his body he would destroy him

Matt compared the address he had written down with the building they had pulled up in front of. He opened the door and leaped out of the car. It was a one-story building with half of the windows blown out, crumbling walls and a front door that was hanging off the hinges. Matt ran through the door quickly surveying the inside. Apparently it had originally been some kind of hostel or boarding house, there were doors along the hall he was in, or the remainder of doors, and he could see there were filthy beds and broken furniture in the ones that were open. He heard Christine come in behind him as he walked forward, looking frantically from one room to another.

"Mello! Where are you, say something, we're here! Goddammit Mello…" he suddenly heard coughing and a groan. He pinpointed the sound and headed in that direction.

"Mello….Mello!' he called in each doorway and then he stopped. He could hear his name being called softly, followed by a cough and a pain filled groan. He looked to his left and walked into a room that seemed to be set up like a make shift hospital room. He grimaced in disgust as he looked at the filthy equipment, hearing Christine gasp behind him. He turned and saw her run to a side room he had missed and nearly gagged from the smell, and then all the strength in his body tried to escape as Mello came into view. He was lying on a filthy cot, equally filthy sheet pulled up to his neck. The left side of his head was bandaged, his right hand on top of the sheet, clutching his cell phone. Matt could see only one eye and that appeared to be closed. He ran to him, calling his name frantically as Christine got her legs under her and ran after him.

She knew immediately what that smell was, burned and dying flesh. She assumed that his face had been burned somehow as she set her medical bag on the floor and leaned over him. Matt had grabbed Mello's hand, calling his name as tears ran down his face.

"Mello can you hear me? It's Dr. Thompson, can you hear me?" She reached down and opened her bag removing her stethoscope. She grabbed the sheet to pull it back to access his chest.

"Oh my god, Mello what happened?" she whispered and Matt sobbed harder. He was bandaged down his and arm, and it was obvious they hadn't been changed in days. She listened to his heart and lungs. He was still alive but she could hear fluid in his lungs. His skin was cool to the touch and she checked his eye.

"Mello, please wake up, we're, you're going to be alright." Matt pleaded with him, squeezing Mello's hand as he talked. He felt Mello's hand move and he looked down to see the fingers trying to curl around his hand. Mello's free eye fluttered and finally opened, and looked directly at Matt, and tried to smile.

"Doctor…Christine looked up from the syringe she was preparing and saw Mello was awake.

"Took you…long enough, " Mello whispered, and then started coughing, pain etched on his face.

"Mello, we have to get you out of here immediately," Christine told him, "I'm going to give you a little something right now for pain, just enough to make it possible for you to move. I know you don't want to go to a hospital but…" Mello shook his head violently.

"Police….looking for me…police have notebook…" he got out. Christine nodded and gave him the shot.

"We have a taxi waiting for us but I don't think he'll wait for long, can you sit up?" Mello nodded slowly and Matt pulled him up, grimacing at the pain he could see Mello was in. Christine moved the sheet and was glad to see he was still dressed from the waist down.

"Alright, let's get out of here." She said as Matt wrapped his arm around Mello's waist, pulling him off the table. Mello groaned and fell against Matt, his head falling on his shoulder, fighting to keep from throwing up.

Christine led the way back out of the room and down the hall to the front door, and to the thankfully still waiting cab.

"Good thing you came back when you did, I was getting' nervous out here by myself, fifty or no fifty." He said and whistled when he saw Mello. Christine got in first and then slid over and helped Matt slide Mello in. Once in he laid the groaning Mello's head into his lap.

"Please get us back to the hotel." Christine ordered and they were finally off.

Luckily for them the hotel was mobbed when they returned, not too many people seemed to notice them as they made their way through the lobby and to the elevators. Once ion the room, Christine prepared the bed and Matt tried to lay Mello into the soft bed as gently as possible.

"Matt get those clothes and boots off of him, I need to make sure he doesn't have any other injuries and then I'll need you to get my bags and bring them in here. " Matt nodded and did as she asked. She checked Mello over and then pulled the blankets up to his waist as Matt brought her bags in. The first thing she was going to have to do was removing those bandages and see the extent of the damage, clean and redress the wounds. She would then make the decision as to whether or not he would go to the hospital; she could only do so much. She did a thorough physical to see how he was tolerating before she started any treatment. Other than the bit of fluid in his lungs, he seemed to be doing pretty well. Obviously the pain and trauma were what was keeping him in and out of consciousness.

She emptied her bags of everything she felt she needed. First thing was a thorough cleaning of the wounds, she had no idea if or when they had been cleaned properly and infection was a definite danger. First she had to determine just how bad these burns were.

"Mello, if you can hear me, I'm going to remove the bandages now, I have to see the damage. I am sorry, this is probably going to be very uncomfortable, but I don't have any choice." She saw his eye roll over to her face and a small smile appeared as he nodded.

"I'm here Mello, you hold on to me." Matt told him, both hands holding on to Mello's right. Mello then looked over at Matt and nodded, and tried to squeeze his hand.

Christine then began to remove the bandage from his face first, being as careful as she could, trying not to hurt him any more than he already was. She tried not to react when she saw what was underneath the bandage, she didn't want to make it any worse than it was. The left side of his face, all around his eye and down his neck was covered in blisters and deeply red, shiny and raw in some places. She didn't know just when the burns happened, but they had not been cared for properly, and was definitely going to be scarred. She would clean it, bandage it with gauze and she would have to start an IV, he had lost precious fluids and if she didn't start something soon he would go into shock.

Frankly she was surprised he hadn't already gone into shock, but she was thankful. She looked over at Matt.

"Matt, I need you to hang in there for him, I've given him as much pain medication as I can right now, it'll dull it but it's not going to stop it completely. I've got to clean these burns and rebandage them; it's going to be hard on him. " She gathered everything she needed, checked his blood pressure again and took a deep breath. It was going to be hard on her as well. Matt nodded and reached down and touched Mello's face and hair.

"OK Mello, I'm going to begin now." Mello nodded slowly, Christine took another deep breath, and began.