I DO NOT own Death Note!

Thanks everyone for the great reviews on chapter 14! Reviews drive my writing forward! I love all my fans! If anyone has any ideas for this story, or an idea for a different story you would like to see me write, just let me know...I'll see what I can do. I'm currently working on getting a one shot finished but it's taking a while, keep getting distracted with other stuff, like my original writings I do...and school...and other...stuff....like writers block ~.~ But anyways...my mind has been working in "NEED TO WRITE" overload recently. Hope you all enjoy chapter 15...its a little fluffy...but I like it!


Near woke to semi-darkness. The only light in the room was coming from the open door to the hallway and the lights on the machines next to the bed. He tried to lift his arm to push his hair out of his eyes and bit his lip at the sharp pain that radiated from his elbow to his fingertips. He glanced down at his arm, remembering that the doctor had told him about all the broken bones. He looked at his other arm and wasn't surprised to see Mello was holding his hand.

Mello's head was laying on his thigh, one arm over his legs and the other laying on the bed, his fingers gently wrapped his hand. He was asleep. Near wanted to talk to him, but he didn't want to wake him.

Near took a deep breath as his chest threatened to tighten up. He carefully tried to extract his hand from Mello's. He winced slightly when Mello stirred.

Opening his eyes, Mello took a moment to focus and notice that Near was watching him. "Near? Are you okay?"

Near nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. He extracted his hand from Mello's and pushed his hair out of his face, using the back of his hand to wipe hurriedly at the tears sitting in his eyes.

Mello sat on the edge of the bed and took Near's hand again. "You sure you're okay? I'll go get the doctor if you need anything."

"No. Please don't leave me." Near lost the battle with his emotions as tears ran hot down his face.

"Oh, Near." Mello put Near's hand against his face. "I wont leave you. I promise."

Near took a deep breath and felt himself relax some at Mello's words. "Will you lay here with me?"

Mello rubbed the back of his head and looked back at the door, making sure no one was watching them. "I can't, Near. Not until I ask the doctor if it would be okay. I don't want to get in trouble. If I do anything stupid, the doctor is going to kick me out and I wont be able to come back."

Near's bottom lip trembled as he watched Mello. "What business is it of theirs if you lay with me?"

"He's your doctor, Near. If I lay in the bed with you it could hurt you."

"I don't care." Near closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand. "I want you to hold me. I'm scared." Near whispered it so low, Mello could hardly hear him.

"I would have to step out of the room for a minute to find our doctor. Is that okay? I'll be right back." Near swallowed hard, but nodded. Mello gave his hand one last gentle squeeze before leaving the room.

Mello found the doctor quickly. He was sitting at the nurses desk writing in a file. He looked up when Mello approached and frowned. "You cant be wandering around the hospital, Mello."

"I know that." Mello frowned right back at the man. He didn't like him for some reason. "Near is awake. He wants me to hold him. Roger said I had to ask you first."

"No." The doctor looked down at his work after saying the word.

Mello felt anger well up inside him. "Near is scared. He is hurt, and in pain, and he is scared. And all he wants is for me to hold him. Are you saying no because it could hurt Near? Or are you saying no because Near and I have had sex?"

The doctor looked up at him, as did several nurses who were standing nearby. "Keep your voice down. While your sexual relationship concerns me, I said no because Near is in a very fragile state at the moment. The injuries to his abdomen shouldn't be disturbed yet and if you climb into the bed with him it could reopen or exacerbate one of his injuries. Do you understand?"

"Yes. But Near's physical condition is not the only thing in a fragile state. You don't know him like I do. Near never lets his emotions rule him. Until recently, I didn't think he even felt emotions. He is in there crying because he is scared and he wants me to hold him. If I go in there and tell him no he is only going to feel worse. So what do you suggest I do, doctor?"

The doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Alright. I'll go in with a nurse in a moment and we will try to find a way to move Near so there is enough room on the bed for you. But if we cant move him, you need to accept that. And if we can, I don't want one of the nurses coming to me and tell me that you are behaving inappropriately. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes, thank you." Mello went back to the room and felt his heart ache at seeing Near clinging to his blanket, holding it tight around him. He was shivering slightly, tears slowly running down his face. He looked instantly relieved at seeing Mello again. After sitting down and taking Near's hand again, Mello told him the news. "The doctor is coming in a minute with a nurse to see if they can move you enough to let me lay with you. But if they cant, then I cant."

Near nodded and tightened his hand around Mello's. Tears shimmered in his eyes as he held Mello's hand and waited for the doctor to come in. They weren't left waiting for very long.

The doctor walked into the room, followed closely by the nurse that had been in and out of the room for the last few hours. The doctor eyed the boys before stepping around to the opposite side of the bed from where Mello sat. He pulled up the rolling stool and sat down, lowering the rail on his side of the bed.

"How are you feeling, Near?" The doctor put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to Near's breathing.

"My arm hurts." Near flushed and turned his head toward Mello as the doctor lifted his gown and began pulling bandages off his chest and abdomen.

"It will hurt for a week or so when you try to move it. Does your stomach hurt?" The doctor pushed gently on the spot below Near's breastbone, making the boy moan softly in pain.

"Can you do that without causing him pain?" The doctor looked over to see Mello's eyes flaming with anger. Mello was holding Near's hand gently with the other hand while balling his other fist in the blankets.

The doctor never knew quite what to make of Mello. He had only met him the day before, but he knew the boy could be volatile. He also knew that he was very gentle with Near, and very protective of the smaller boy. "I apologize, Mello. But it is necessary. I don't mean to cause pain, I am only checking that his belly is still soft. If it belly gets hard, it could mean that he is bleeding internally." The doctor looked away from Mello after the boys eyes softened some. He looked at Near, his face still turned away, his body trying to reach for Mello. The doctor sighed, closing his eyes momentarily to block out his the memories. He looked at Near again. "I'm sorry if anything I do hurts. If it hurts to much, tell me and I will stop. But I need to look you over now that you are awake and calm enough to tell me how you feel." He paused, watching as the boys face went from paling slightly at the mention of pain to flushing when the doctor said he needed to look at his body. "Are you ready?"

Near nodded and closed his eyes, tightening his hand around Mello's. Mello held his hand in both his own, gently rubbing his thumbs over Near's skin. He fought his urge to cover himself as the doctor pulled his hospital robe all the way off and gently removed all of the bandages from his body.

Looking cautiously at Mello, considering what he had to do next. "Mello, would you wait in the hall for a minute? I need to check the wounds on Near's legs."

Mello winces and looked down at his hands as Near's tightened so tightly around his that his knuckled were turning white. "No. Don't leave, please." Mello looked up to see Near staring at him, tears spilling from his eyes once more.

Mello smiled softly and raised Near's hand to his face, rubbing his cheek against his fingers. "I have to do what the doctor says or I cant stay, Near. If he wants me to leave I have to go. It will only be for a minute."

Near started shaking his head. When his breathing and heart rate started to get to unhealthy levels the doctor laid his hand on Near's shoulder. "It's alright, Near, Mello can stay if you want him to. But I will need to take the blankets off of you to look you over. I thought you might be more comfortable with me seeing you like that if he weren't here."

"Please don't make him leave." Near looked at the doctor, his eyes blinking rapidly to clear them after the tears.

Gritting his teeth against making a statement that would only upset his patient, he nodded. "He can stay. All you have to do is say you want him here."

Near closed his eyes and visibly relaxed. The doctor watched the monitor as Near's heart rate returned to normal. "Thank you."

The doctor nodded, motioning for Mello to sit back down so he could get on with his exam. Gripping the side of the blanket, he folded it over so only Near's leg was showing. He removed the bandages, checked the stitches, and made sure the skin was pink and showing no signs of infection. When he finished with one leg he went to the other, allowing room for the nurse to come around and re-bandage Near's leg. He went over his other leg as quickly as he had the first.

Near flinched and tried to curl up his legs when the doctor reached under the blankets between his legs. Mello gritted his teeth in anger. "Where are you touching him?"

"I apologize, Near. I know it is uncomfortable. And I am not touching him anywhere, Mello. I am checking that his catheter is still secure." The doctor removed his hand and walked back to the other side of the bed, pulling the blanket back over the leg that the nurse had finished working on. "Once your leg is bandaged again, we need to roll you on your side so we can check your back. It is going to hurt for you to roll, but we will go slowly and be as gentle as we can."

"Can I help?" Mello stood from his chair as the nurse gently nudged him out of the way so she could move his blankets and IV tubes around.

"Just stand by his head. You can touch him if you want to but let us move him."

Mello nodded and moved as close to the head of the bed as he could get with the machines in the way. He put his hand gently on Near's head, running his fingertips through his hair. Near's eyes closed and his body relaxed as the nurse gently put his broken arm over his stomach and pulled his legs together.

"Okay. Try not to tense up or it will hurt more." The doctor nodded to the nurse and together they gently rolled him onto his side.

Near sucked in a sharp breath and Mello felt his teeth clench under his hand. He moaned softly in pain as he was settled on his side and took a deep, shaky breath when he was laying still again.

"Very good, Near. We are almost finished. Once we are done with your back we will settle you into the bed again. We'll move you over some so Mello can lay with you. And we will give you something for the pain we just caused you. Just hang in for a little while more."

"Okay." Near's voice was soft and strained with pain. He tried to make his body relax as the doctor and the nurse worked on his back but the pain in his abdomen was getting to be more then he could handle.

The doctor stopped what he was doing when Near started to shiver. He places a hand on the boys hip and leaned over him. "How you doing, Near? If you are hurting to much we can give you something."

"My stomach. I don't think I can lay like this much longer."

The doctor waved to the nurse and she picked up a syringe from the tray she had been handing the doctor tools from. "I'm going to give you something for the pain. It's probably going to make you sleepy. Don't fight staying awake if you want to sleep. Your body will heal faster with the more sleep you get. I will come back later when you are awake again to check how you feel." He watched as Near nodded before putting the syringe in his IV. He looked over at Mello to see the boy watching Near closely, stroking his head gently as his eyes started to flutter closed. "We're almost finished here."

Mello nodded, not taking his eyes off Near's face. "Okay."

The doctor sat back, taking off his gloves and tossing them on the tray. He pulled on a new pair and, with the help of the nurse, rolled Near onto his back again. They both took a side of the sheet under him and pulled him gently to one side of the bed, allowing room for Mello to lay next to him. The nurse left, taking the trash with her to throw away in the bio-waste bin in the hall.

As Mello moved around to the other side of the bed, the doctor put his hand on his shoulder. "You really care for him, don't you?"

Mello looked up at him, his eyes shadowed with worry as much as with the fact that he was tired. "Of course I do. What have I done to make you think I didn't?"

The doctor shifted his weight and pushed Mello back to sit on the bed next to Near. "In my experience, Mello, when boys your age engage in a sexual relationship with other boys around their age, it is usually one of two things. They do so to exert dominance over the younger, smaller, or weaker boy, or they do it because they think it will help them get something they want, money, safety, anything. Boys your age don't usually do it for love."

Mello sighed and looked down at Near. "I do love him. And we aren't like other boys our age. I am sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, though I don't know why it does. But I love, Near. I would do anything for him. And I would never hurt him."

The doctor nodded and stepped back from Mello. "Lay down. You need to sleep." He waited while Mello took off his shoes and pulled his legs up onto the bed. "Be very careful with him. Try not to bump his arm, and don't put your arm over his stomach. You can hold him, but he very careful."

"I will." Mello laid down and put his arms under Near's head. He tucked his body around the smaller body, curling his free arm against his own chest so he wouldn't put it over Near and risk hurting him. "Thank you, doctor. For letting me hold him, and for being gentle with him."

"Being gentle with my patients is my job. That includes being gentle with their emotional state. I've seen how he looks at you. He needs you to be with him." Taking up the blankets, he covered the boys before checking Near's stats once more. Before he left the room, he looked them over again. Mello was already asleep, holding the smaller boy as closely to him as he could. His arm under the boys head was bent at the elbow with his fingers trailing in the soft white hair under them. The doctor shook his head and left the room.