Note: Sorry it has taken so long, this chapter had been written since forever but I couldn't find time to edit it properly. Now it's done, fortunately! I know no one's used to read about Matt being that psychotic but I'm into a process of writing fics showing other sides of Matt and Mello, although with Lionheart and Too Sexy For My Shirt, I tend to make Matt different while Mello is still Mello. Oh wait, I made Mello different in I am Someone (I almost forgot LOL).
Mello woke up in a jerk. His body was shaking uncontrollably, making him come back to his senses as he tried to focus on his surroundings, his eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light, unable to recognize the place, the bed, the furniture. Even the window wasn't at its usual place.
Looking harder at the few he could distinguish in the semi dark room, he instinctively let his hand creep to the other side of the bed, and the feeling of Matt's warm body beside him calmed him down.
But another feeling, an unpleasant one this time, took over. Where were they? The bed was comfortable, and the carpet under his feet as he slipped from the mattress, trying to stand up, was soft and thick. But it wasn't a place he knew, and he didn't remember arriving here.
As he shakily took a few steps to the door he could distinguish on the other side of the room, gazing around him to spot clothes or at least something to cover himself, as he thought they were in a hotel room for some reason Matt would explain when he would wake up, he felt something run along his thighs.
He knew the feeling and wouldn't have thought much of it if he had at least remembered having sex with Matt before going to bed. His anus felt sore, like if they had made it rough, which was even more surprising.
Everything was beyond his understanding, the new place, the fact he couldn't even remember Matt taking him, but his train of thought was suddenly broken as he crumbled to the floor, already exhausted by the few steps he had taken.
Breathing deeply as he felt a nausea gain him, laid on his side on the carpet, he waited a few minutes, then stood up again, with difficulties. Matt was still lightly snoring, completely worn out by the packing up, moving to this new apartment, long drive and overall process, totally oblivious of the noise in the bedroom as he was deeply sleeping.
Mello reached the door and cracked it open. The other side didn't look like a hotel corridor, more like an apartment.
Oh, right, they had moved, now he remembered vaguely Matt telling him so...
The worry disappeared as he reached for the pile of cardboard boxes in a corner, and rummaged through them until he found the one containing clothes. He pulled a striped shirt out of it and put it on, uncaring that it wasn't his, as he shivered slightly.
Supporting himself on the walls, Mello made his way from room to room. Kitchen. Toilets. Bathroom. The one he was searching for. As he lit the neon lamp on, he discovered the bathtub with relief, and actioned the tap to fill it. Matt was a heavy sleeper so there were few chances that he would wake up because of the running water's sound if he hadn't already with the noise Mello had made a little earlier.
Spotting a box in a corner, he found a few supplies. He smiled. Matt was adorable. Weird that he had moved them here without Mello knowing, but adorable all the same. Well, Mello had probably known but his current state seemed to put his brain upside down, it would get better later. After all, it was unlikely that Matt had taken such a decision without asking him first...
Adorable to have chosen a place with a bathroom just like Mello had described once, with a huge bathtub next to a window giving on a beautiful sight. Mello had always imagined relaxing in hot water, looking at the view to empty his mind. And through the glass, as the sun was rising, the blond could now see a beautiful park, with more trees and flowers than he had seen in his whole life. Even Wammy's gardens couldn't compare.
But feeling that bad was frustrating. Mello didn't appreciate the sight as he slid in the not yet filled tub, uncaring for the slight burn of the hot water, he was feeling way too nauseated, his whole body ached and trembled, and he had almost fallen as he had climbed in the tub. His head was starting to act like if his brain was trying to escape through his pulsating temples, and as he tried to rub some water on his face, his hands got covered with blood smearing from his nose.
"Fuck..." he muttered, as he washed the blood away and began to scratch his skin nervously. He was itchy all over, even on places where he hadn't been burned in the explosion.
He had all the difficulties in the world to wash himself, rubbing the piece of soap in his hair as he had no shampoo, and rinsed himself quickly as it ran into his eyes, stinging.
He didn't have the courage to get out of the water. With arms encircling his knees, he just sat in the water, and dozed off.
-
"Mello! Oh my God Mello!, No! Oh fuck Mello wake up!"
Horrified, Matt stirred the body out of the water, his arms giving in under the pressure of fear taking over his body as he discovered his lover's body inanimate, head under water. He immediately searched for a pulse as he began to try to reanimate the blond he had just laid on the cold tiles of the floor.
"Mello! Don't do that to me, oh fuck Mello, don't die!"
Mouth to mouth, Matt put into action what he had learnt at the orphanage, trying to bring his lover back to life.
But the blond wasn't breathing anymore, no matter how much Matt tried to make him.
The redhead ran into the living room, picking up his cell phone, and called an ambulance as he rushed back into the bathroom, panicking as the heart massage didn't seem to work either.
The emergency staff was quick, ringing to the door only four minutes later. Four neverending minutes during which Matt hadn't stopped trying to save Mello.
Just as the men entered the bathroom, Matt having let the apartment door open for better access, Mello started to cough, vomiting water.
"Mello! Oh Mello..." Matt allowed himself to break down and cry now that the panic left place to relief mixed with worry. He knew all too well what kind of damage such a long lack of oxygen could do, moreover when he didn't even know for how long Mello had been like this. But Mello was alive, and that was all he could think about for now, as he tried to brush the wet strands of hair out of his boyfriend's face, barely registering the men pulling him gently away to access the blond.
"Please, let us take care of him." one of the emergencies' staff said, taking charge of the redhead, softly directing him to the corridor by the shoulders while two others gave proper care to Mello lying in a puddle beside the bathtub.
"How did that happen?", "How long has he been in the water?", "Are you from the same family?", "Please fill this form."... questions fused all over, from when they left the apartment and Matt hopped in the ambulance, following Mello laid on a stretcher, to the hospital's counter, making him dizzy as he couldn't focus on anything else than what had just happened, and the fact he had almost lost Mello once again.
Once he was left alone beside the bed where the blond rested under respiratory help, Matt broke down and cried silently.
"Mello... I need to give you more, you see, I need to sleep sometimes, and I can't keep an eye on you then, it's my fault what happened, I should have given you more tranquillizers... you wouldn't have woken up, it's all my fault... I'm sorry, I'll protect you better now..." he sobbed, whispering to himself.
-
Mello shifted, stirring Matt out of his thoughts. The redhead had spent the last four days beside the hospital bed that the blond hadn't left once. He had remained unconscious, letting the doctors in expectancy as to how his brain had taken the accident.
Matt had refused to go, forcing the nurses to accept his presence at night although it wasn't allowed. One had thought that it was cute to see how dedicated he was, but the others had just been simply scared when he had coldly stated he would stay with or without their consent. A strange light in his eyes had dissuaded them from opposing.
The blond sighed before stirring and opening his eyes slowly.
He was barely registering that the room had changed once again that Matt was on the border of the bed, taking his hand.
"Mello? Are you awake?" the tone was weak, the voice trembling.
"'att... What a'... I... 'oin..." Mello stopped, the feeling of something in his throat suddenly registering.
"Shhh... it's ok Mello... You're ok... you're gonna be on your feet soon. Don't worry, I'm here." Matt deposited a soft kiss on the blond's forehead, nuzzling his cheek before caressing it lovingly.
He then took a few seconds to squeeze Mello's hand and kiss his palm, and called the doctor to tell him the blond had woken up.
A little later, after the doctor had checked Mello's state, removed the respiratory help and the nurses had taken care of him, Matt left the room reluctantly and, after crossing a long corridor, entered a large office, sitting in a leather chair as the doctor gestured him to do so.
"Hello Mister Link. I wanted to see you about your friend's state. I didn't tell you earlier because it wasn't the time to do so, but I guess now you must be slightly relieved, and can hear what I have to say."
"Is there a problem?" Matt felt his guts wring. Would Mello suffer from the accident? Would he be reduced to a vegetative state, was his brain damaged?
"The good news are that your friend will probably be able to recover all his capacities, although the damage risk was high. Only time will tell but from the first check up, he seems to react very well to stimuli. His speech coordination is good and so it's a good proof that there wasn't any serious damage done, particularly since he was able to talk normally although he just regained consciousness, once the respiratory tube was removed. You had the right reflex by practising a heart massage as well as ventilate him all along until the ambulance arrived. But after receiving the results of the blood analysis, there are a few questions I'd like to ask you."
Matt, from that moment, knew what it was all about. He had expected it, and thus he was prepared. He had had time to think about it during the last four days, from the moment he had seen the nurse collect blood from the blond.
"Go ahead, I'll do my best to reply to all of your questions." he replied, trying to sound cooperative although he hated the intrusion in his and Mello's private life. It was their problem only what Mello or him had in their veins.
"Do you know if your friend has difficulties to sleep?" the doctor asked first.
"Yes, he takes pills sometimes, he is very anxious because of his work." Matt simply replied. He knew how to drive into this to make it sound simple and convincing.
"Do you know what kind of pills?"
"Not really, I see him take some sometimes, but I never really checked what it was, I guess sleeping pills or something like that. But he's reasonable, you know, I never see him take more than one from time to time, not even every night..."
"Well, we have found a large amount of various substances in his system, and it is obvious he drowned because he took too much that night."
Matt faked surprise. The morphine was long gone from Mello's system, so it was unlikely they had discovered it. But the valium and the anaesthetic had surely been detected. Valium addiction was something common, but the anaesthetic was something hard to explain, even him knew it.
"I don't know what to say, I'm shocked... I never thought he could... I mean, he knows what he is doing, he's not stupid... he knows too much could kill him!"
"I'm sorry, I know it's hard to hear, but sometimes, stress can make us act irrationally and it's not an isolated case. What worries me the most is the anaesthetic found by the laboratory. Valium is an easy prescription, but not anaesthetics."
"Oh... this I can explain. As you saw, he has been burnt to third degree, when we were still in Winchester. It was not very long ago and just before we moved here, he had needed care and they had to benumb him because of the pain. But how could he take valium in such a short time after! He should have known!"
"Mister Link, I know it's something you probably don't want to think about, but I have to ask anyway: did you friend ever show suicidal tendencies?"
"NO! Of course not! We are happy together! It's just an accident!"
"Please calm down, this is only a question I had to ask, since we're talking about that kind of substances, there's always a possibility it wasn't an accident. I know it's hard for you, but if there is any clue showing it could have been made on purpose, you have to tell me, because we won't be able to prevent him to do it again if we aren't aware of the problem."
"I understand, but I really can promise he never wanted to die, actually, it's the opposite, we have a lot of plans, we just moved in our dream apartment, we have good jobs and a lot of money and there's nothing wrong in our life!"
"I see. Well, we will have to keep him under observation until the end of the week at least. His departure from our service is bound to how fast he will recover, but I'll keep you informed after every check up for a more precise date."
"Thank you."
Matt exited the office, sighing in relief. Mello suicidal? What a joke! They were so happy together!
Shaking his head, he directly came back to Mello's room, to find his boyfriend scowling at him, sat in the bed.
"Matt... I need to talk to you..."