I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE!
Sorry about the long ass wait for new content to Sex Ed!! I've been busy with school. But I wrote two new chapters today that I hope you will all enjoy. Damn...I did a lot of writing this week. I wrote a 3 chapter Bleach fic...Byakuya/Renji...and two new chapters for Sex Ed! I will probably write more tomorrow if I'm not busy. I'm on a roll here. Well...hope you all enjoy!
One side of him was so warm. Near cuddled under the blankets and tried to roll into the warmth of Mello's body. He hissed I pain and straightened back out as the stitches in his stomach pulled. Near opened his eyes as a gentle hand pressed his shoulder and held him with his back flat on the bed.
"Don't try to move to much, Near." Mello's voice was soft as he spoke close into the smaller boys ear.
"I wanted to be closer to you. You're so warm. My other side is cold."
Mello smiled slightly, but there was still a tightness around his eyes. "I would change sides of the bed. But then I would have to move you and the doctor would get mad. Besides, that arm is broken and I don't want to hurt you." Mello wrapped is arms around Near and tried to cover him with as much of his warmth as he could.
"Mmmm. That's better. Why am I so cold?" Near shivered and wiggled slightly against Mello.
"You lost a lot of blood. And you're hurt. And you are on a lot of different medications. Those could all be factors." Mello rubbed his cheek against Near's hair. "Feel better?"
Near nodded. "A little. I want another blanket."
"I would have to get up. Or at least move enough to use the call button for the nurse."
"Please don't get up. I finally got comfortable."
Mello reached on the other side of Near until he could reach the call button. He pressed it and waited impatiently until the nurse arrived. She frowned disapprovingly at the sight of the two boys curled up against each other in the bed. "Did you need something?"
"Near wants another blanket. He's still cold."
The nurse nodded and walked to the bed. She took put a thermometer in Near's mouth and took his pulse from his wrist. "Your temperature is still a little low. Other then being cold, how are you feeling today, Near?"
"Alright. I'm comfortable now."
"You aren't in any pain with Mello laying against you?"
Near shook his head. "Why would that hurt? I wasn't comfortable until he was laying here."
"I see. Well I will go get you a warm blanket. Remember not to try to move to much yet." The nurse left the room and came back with a blanket that felt like it just came out of the drier. It was hot and Near sighed when the nurse laid it over them. "Is that better?"
"Yes. Thank you." Near used his good hand to pull the blanket up tight under his chin and around his neck.
"I will be back in about 20 minutes with lunch for both of you. You may need to help him eat, Mello. If you cant do that then I will."
"I can feed him. Is it okay for him to eat already?"
The nurse nodded. "He will be on a liquid diet for a few days so we can monitor his digestion. Then we will add soft foods for a few days. And if he does well on those he may eat more solid foods."
Near smiled. "Thank you for talking to Mello. The other nurses and the doctor seem to try to ignore him."
The nurse smiled back. "As long as Mello doesn't hurt you I don't see why he shouldn't be here if it makes you feel better. Just be sure to be careful, Mello. Alright?"
"I will. Thank you." The nurse nodded again and left. Near sighed again and Mello looked at him. His eyes were closed and he was smiling. "Are you sure you feel alright?"
"Yes. My head just feels a little fuzzy. Probably the medication. It isn't really an unpleasant feeling. And the warm blanket is making my body feel tingly."
"Tingly?"
Near opened his eyes to see Mello grinning at him. "That is the only word I can think of at the moment to accurately describe the feeling."
"I'm glad to hear you can still talk that way." Mello pushed a lock of hair out of Near's eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"The head injury. The doctor said it may affect your mind. But I don't think it has if you can still talk that way. That's all."
"I see." Near tried to shift slightly again, only to bite his lip in pain and frustration. "Mello, can you…" Near stopped and made a small noise before looking away.
"Can I what? I'll give you anything you need, near. Just tell me."
Near blushed and opened his eyes to stare at Mello's chest. "Can you move up some and put your arm under my head?"
Mello smiled and did what Near asked. Once he was settled, Near turned his head into Mello's chest and sighed deeply. "Better now?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"I will need to move to feed you. But after you eat we can lay like this again for as long as you want."
Near nodded against him. "I'm not really hungry though."
"It's alright. But you still need to eat a little bit."
"I'll try." Near fell asleep, cradled by Mello's body.
Mello looked up almost half an hour later when the nurse returned with their lunch. She was setting the trays on a bed table where Mello could reach them when Dr. Smith walked into the room.
"Hello Mello. How is Near today?" The doctor opened Near's chart and began making notes again.
"He's better. I was just about to wake him up so he can eat something." Mello tried carefully to extract his arm from under Near's head without waking him, but failed. "Sorry, Near. Lunch is here. Do you think you can eat?"
Near blinked a few times, trying to clear the haze of sleep from his head. "I can try. I'll have to sit up wont I?"
"That is why I'm here." Dr. Smith stepped up to the side of the bed and pulled the table back so he could rearrange the blankets over the boys.
"Should I get up?" Mello moved to do just that but the doctor put his hand on his shoulder.
"You can stay there. You may be of some help." The doctor took Mello's hands and placed one on Near's chest and the other very carefully on a part of his stomach that wasn't injured to badly. "When I lift the bed, I want you to very gently make sure Near stays put and doesn't try to sit up." The doctor looked down at Near. "Do you understand, Near? Try not to move or it will hurt. Let the bed sit you up. Try to keep your muscles relaxed. If it hurts, let me know and I will stop and let you get used to the position for a few minutes. But I would like you to sit up for a while. So you can eat and to help your body heal. Do you understand?"
"There is no need for you to ask me if I understand, doctor. If I require further clarification, I will ask a question. But to answer you, yes I understand. Do not try to move. Tell you if I feel pain. Sitting up will help me eat and help me heal."
The doctor blinked and looked at Mello. "Is he always such a smart ass?"
Mello's lips twitched. "No. I'm the smart ass. Near is simply a logical person. He doesn't really understand sarcasm or unnecessary questions or explanations."
"I know the meaning of sarcasm. Sarcasm is usually ironic statements meant to injure someone verbally."
Mello laughed. "See what I mean? Near, I know that you know the meaning of the word. What I meant is that you do not understand why someone would use sarcasm."
"Well, yes. That is true." Near looked up at Mello, completely at ease. Not a trace of confusion in his eyes.
Well the doctor was confused. Mostly by the Mello and Near talked to each other, or to others for that matter. He was beginning to see what Roger had been talking about when he said the boys weren't normal. "May we begin?" Near nodded and the doctor put one hand on Near hip and used the other to press the button to raise the bed. It went well for a while, then Near winced and twisted under their hands. Derrick let go of the button and used both of his hands to steady Near. "Easy. Just relax. What hurts?"
Near hissed and twisted again. "My stomach. It hurts."
Near started breathing very fast and his skin turned pale. "What happening to him?"
The doctor laid the bed back down and pulled the blankets off of the boys. "Stand up please Mello." Mello did as he was told and Derrick pulled up Near's gown. He pressed his fingers around Near's stomach until he made the boy scream in pain and pass out. "Shit." Derrick hit a button on the wall that made an alarm sound and lights flash in the hall.
Mello looked at the doctor with panic in his eyes. "What's happening? Tell me what's happening!?"
"Near is bleeding internally. We checked very thoroughly to make sure we got all of the glass while we were sewing him up. But I think we may have missed one. Internal bleeding doesn't usually cause pain unless it has just happened. When I sat him up, something shifted and he started to bleed. I need to get him back in the operating room and stop the bleeding and check again for any glass."
"How could you have missed something?" Mello walked around the bed and grabbed the doctor by his coat. "If he dies, I swear to God I will kill you. You fix him you son of a bitch." Mello released him and pushed him toward the bed.
The doctor looked over Mello's shoulder at the nurses and another doctor rushed into the room. He barked out some orders and the nurses quickly unhooked Near from all of the machines. He turned back to Mello as they were rolling him out of the room. "Mello, I need you to stay here. I understand your anger. I promise you, I will fix him. I will not let him die. I want you to stay here in the room and call Roger. As soon as I know what is going on, I will come tell you. Alright?"
"Okay." Mello watched the doctor leave the room before turning and sitting on the other bed. He stared blankly out the window for a while before he remembered to call Roger. The man promised to be there as quickly as possible before hanging up in his ear. Mello turned to watch out the window again. All he could do now was sit and wait. Again.
"Mello, dear, you should really eat something." The nurse who was straightening out the room, preparing for Near's return, watched Mello with concern.
"He will be alright. Just let him be." Roger sat in a chair next to the bed Mello sat on. He was reading over some files he had been working on before Mello called him. He brought them with him because he didn't know how long it would take to get news on Near or how long he would be needed at the hospital.
"If you say so. But he really should eat. He didn't eat breakfast earlier either because the two of them were sleeping when breakfast was brought around. Dr. Smith said not to wake them."
"I understand. Just leave the sandwich here. Mello will eat when he is hungry enough."
Mello was listening to the exchange. But he didn't really care what they said. He didn't want to eat. His stomach was twisted in a painful knot. It had been three hours since the doctors had rushed Near away and back into surgery. He had yet to be told anything. He was so scared something bad was happening that his hands were shaking.
Mello hear the nurse leave and a few minutes later someone else walked into the room. Mello turned when he heard Roger stand. "Doctor. How's Near?"
"He is stable again. There was a piece of glass still inside of him. It was lodged in his right kidney. When we sat him up, his muscles shifted in just the right way that the glass shifted and nicked the artery to the kidney. We removed the glass and repaired the artery. We closed the hole in the kidney and we are optimistic that it will heal well. He lost quite a bit of blood again and we were forced to give him a second transfusion. We do not like giving more then one blood transfusion to a child in such a short time. It can have negative effects on the body. As such, we have put Near into a temporary, chemically induced coma. We are hoping that this will allow his body to heal faster. But the coma itself can be dangerous. I had a lengthy discussion with the hospitals top neurologist about putting a child with a recent brain injury into the coma and he has informed me that the coma combined with the injury can cause permanent brain damage if we are not very careful about the dosage of the drugs and the length of time we keep him in the coma. But we agreed that at this point, it may be the best thing for him. We are going to monitor him very closely for the next 24 hours. If his condition improves enough, we will take him out of the coma. He not, we will keep him in it for 48 hours. But no more then that. We are going to move him to the Intensive Care Unit while he is in the coma. That way he will have constant observation."
"Can I still stay with him?" Mello's voice was rough as he spoke. The doctor turned to look at him and saw his face streaked with tear. He had his arms clutched around himself. "Please."
"I don't know, Mello. Near will be in the pediatric unit, and we usually only allow a parent to stay in there with a child if the need arises." The doctor's voice was kind as he spoke. He was trying to keep Mello calm in this difficult situation.
"Near has no parents. If he wakes up and I'm not there he will be upset. I need to be with him. Please, doctor."
Derrick sighed. "I will see what I can do, Mello. I will talk to the head nurse in the PICU and see if she would be willing to let you stay."
"Can I go with you? To talk to her I mean." Mello slid from the bed and moved to stand next to Roger, who put a comforting arm over his shoulders.
"You may come with me. I will take the two of you up to see Near for a short while. If the nurse is willing to let you stay, you may stay. But this is an intensive care unit, Mello. The children in there are very sick. If the nurse says no, I want you to respect her decision and not make a fuss. If she says no, you may come back tomorrow and sit with him during visiting hours and when we take Near out of the PICU and bring him back down here, you may come stay again. Understand?"
"I understand. I wont make a scene if I cant stay. But I cant promise that I wont be upset." Mello walked to the door and waited for the doctor and Roger to pass him and lead the way to the PICU.
