*CRAI* Poor Near! The ending of this chapter is so sad. Near may have acted like a dick most of the time, but I also added in a human side. A tender side. ;_; Bawww!

Chapter XXIV: Near's Heart

I closed my eyes, listening to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. My fingers hadn't moved for hours. They were lightly closed around Mihael's palm. The doctors told me that he wouldn't walk properly with his right leg ever again, but other than that, he was fine. He was alive. But I still felt a nagging fear still within me. Perhaps it was a lingering fear left over from watching Near die. It was a strange and new experience for me. I had watched Raito die. I had watched Matt die. But watching Near die was strange. He always seemed invincible. But in the moment that he had died, he appeared for the first time, human. I still got sickening chills at his last words.

"I'm scared..."

There were more mysteries than answers now. Who had bombed the prison? What would become of ORION? What was I supposed to do now? How did I end up in this situation in the first place?

I knew what the answer to that question was. Everything came back to L.

There was more impending danger. Supposedly Raito was a shinigami. A human didn't need to have the heart of a shinigami to use a deathnote. So logically, he could kill me any time. But it appeared as though he hadn't yet tried. What was he waiting for? Anxiety was building in me. I felt purely vulnerable.

I jumped as I saw Mihael's eyelids twitch slightly. He groaned lightly and opened his eyes.

"You're okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine. Aside from your leg, you are too."

"Oh," he said, rubbing his thigh slightly. "What happened?"

"A pipe impaled your leg. It shattered the bone and ripped the artery, but they managed to stop the bleeding. But..." I sighed. "You'll have to walk with a cane once it heals."

"Shit," he sighed. "What happened? Who did this?"

"I don't know," I shook my head.

A small pain bloomed in my abdomen. I touched my stomach. It was probably just a gas pain. After a moment it passed.

"You alright?" he said, worried.

"Yeah," I brushed it off. "Just gas."

But as soon as I passed it off, another intense pain ripped through my lower body. I gasped in surprise. At this point, I was scared.

"Morgan," he said, with his eyes wide. "I think you should find a doctor. You're pale."

The pain wasn't ebbing, but becoming more intense. I hunched over, and then I saw the floor. It was covered with blood. I saw that the blood was running down my leg. I felt myself becoming light-headed, and it was getting harder to breathe.

"Th-there's blood on the floor," I gasped.

I felt Mihael's hands take my shoulders, and he was speaking, but I couldn't hear anything. I quickly faded into unconsciousness.

I opened my eyes to bright lights above me. I was numb all over. I was dizzy and my mind felt glassed over. I was lying on my back. There was a blanket over my lower half and my feet were in stirrups. Doctors and nurses were surrounding me. One of them bent over and looked me in the eyes.

"Can you push, honey?" she asked.

"...what..?" I moaned.

She turned her head to the group around the end of the table. "She's unresponsive," she said. "Get the forceps ready."

"What's going on?" I said. I was scared. I felt tears gathering in my eyes.

"She's fully dilated," one of the doctors nodded.

"Okay. Let's proceed. Pam, watch her vitals."

I felt cold metal touch my skin. I was still unaware of what these people were doing to me. I began breathing heavily, waiting for what was going to happen. And then I felt white hot pain tear through me. I screamed, and flailed my arms in fear. Two masked nurses came and held my arms down. They were saying meaningless comfort words to me, but I was scared and delirious, and I felt them hurting me.

"No," I gasped through the tears. "Stop. It hurts. It hurts so bad!"

"You're too weak to push," one of them said to me.

I screamed again as they continued ripping something from my body. I finally realized what they were doing to me.

"What are you doing to my baby?" I screamed.

"We have to deliver," the nurse said. "You're hemorrhaging. If we don't deliver, you'll die."

"Stop hurting my baby," I gasped.

More pain filled me, and I felt something large pass through me. The pain subsided, but I was beginning to black out again. I heard a gurgled cry from across the room. A tiny, bloody creature was wriggling in the doctor's arms. Everyone was smiling. One of them looked me, holding my hand, saying meaningless things to me.

"It's a girl," she said. "Congratulations."

The doctors carried away the tiny person in towels and placed her in a plastic case-like thing, and I lost sight of her.

"Okay," I heard a male voice say. "Let's prep her for surgery."

"Nöelle..." I breathed.

I opened my eyes again. I heard the whirring of a machine next to me. I felt somewhat normal, aside from the pain. I reached down to my stomach and I felt empty. I didn't know where my baby was, or if she was alive.

"You're awake," I heard a voice say from across the room. I turned my head and saw Mihael sitting in a wheelchair. I reached out an arm to him and he rolled his chair over to me and met my embrace. He stroked my hair lightly.

"Nöelle is a beautiful name," he said.

"Is she alive?" I said.

"Yes," he said. "She's very premature. But so far...she's hanging on."

I sighed and smiled. But he wasn't smiling. I touched his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Your heart failed," he said. "Spontaneously. You need a heart transplant. They're having a hard time finding one for you."

"Raito," I whispered.

"You're on a bypass machine right now. It will only keep you alive for only a day or two."

"Are there any bodies from the explosion that have anything viable?" I asked.

"The only person who could help you with that," he whispered. "Is Near."

"What?" I whispered.

"They managed to re-start his heart. But it was too late. He's brain-dead. They're just waiting for Roger's word to pull the plug."

"I want to talk to Roger," I said.

He nodded, and rolled his chair out of the room. A few minutes later, a sullen looking Roger stepped into the room. He stayed near the door.

"I need Near's heart," I said quietly.

"I don't know that that is what he would have wanted," he said. "I can fulfill his direct wishes, and he was never specific about organs."

"I need him," I said. "He always wanted me to need him. I know...I know he would want this," I said.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because," I said quietly. "He loved me."

Roger sighed, scratched his head, and finally, he said, "Very well. I'd rather you not die, you've been a friend of the Whammy house for years."

I looked over at the lifeless boy on the gurney next to me. I reached over and touched Near's unresponsive hand. I looked into the light blue eyes on his ghostly face. They were empty. Shallow. I reached with my other hand, and gently closed them. I couldn't bear the thought that he was not in there. I had to believe that he was still there. I held his hand to my face, feeling the warmth. I held his arm, hoping to see a twitch in his face, something. But he was silent. Still.

I pulled my gurney up to his. I draped my arm over his chest. I could feel his heart, still beating. His sacrifice. I reached over, and kissed his cheek lightly and nuzzled it.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Morgan," a doctor said from the doorway. "It's time."

END OF PART 4