(Matt P.O.V)

I'd only made it a few miles away, no… barely that, before stopping. I couldn't do it.

I suppose some of you are wondering why I didn't just floor it, left Mello in the dust and just forget he ever existed. Well, the answer to that is simple, my friends…

Love is blind.

I cared for Mello like no one else, and leaving his side wasn't something I wanted to do. I didn't want the Mello I had just seen. The one so lost in the world that he was willing to kill even his once best friend. I had wanted the one I'd met the first day my life went from hell in a hand-basket, to a heaven unlike one I'd ever seen. So, I stopped my car, and planned out what to do to help my friend.

Some of you probably think that's crazy. That I'd give my love to a boy so utterly hopeless. Well, you'd be right. But, in a way, we're all just a bit crazy. And sometimes it takes a special someone to be crazy for.

In my case, it was Mello.

When I had stopped my car, I waited patiently for an idea to form. The most I could think of was kidnapping him and taking him away from all this. I mean, wouldn't it have been the simplest thing to do? Maybe he would have snapped out of it if I brought him back to the Wammy house. Then again, he might have killed me before I even got to the airport.

I had been enjoying my last cigarette whilst thinking up a plan to help the blonde, when the first explosion rung out. I thought I'd been hearing things until I looked out my car window and saw the smoke rising from behind me. At that instant, I panicked.

Thinking something had gone wrong, that Kira had gotten to him, I started the engine and floored it. Speeding my way into a U-turn and racing back to Mello's hideout. I thanked every god I knew that this car was fast and durable as hell. It made the ride a whole lot easier for me.

Not even a few blocks away now and a second explosion sounded through air. This one was bigger though. Too big.

I stopped my car then, having skid to a halt. Jumping out and running to the building, now rubble, I felt my heart quake with fear. It didn't look as if anyone had survived.

Fire was all around me as I entered the destroyed land. I had almost called out for Mello when I thought differently about it. Kira was probably here, and if not him then someone else. Someone who could have caused the explosion.

I was right too. There were other people there, but not people I would consider terrorists. They looked like military, at best, so I stayed clear of them. Making sure to travel low and silent. I didn't find what I was looking for until about twenty minutes later. Even then, I only found him because I'd tripped over his seemingly dead body.

He was out cold, and badly burnt. His breathing laboured and weak. He was wearing a gasmask but it had gotten broken, which meant his face had gotten burnt as well as the whole left side of his body, save for his left arm and anywhere his leather covered.

Mello's blonde hair had been charred, but nothing too bad. It meant his scalp would be alright, but everywhere else was either burnt, or bleeding profusely.

I took the mask off to get a good look at his face. I winced at the third degree burns over his left eye. I wondered then if he would be blind in that eye. I didn't want to take a chance and have his burns worsened by my touch, so I left it alone for another day.

Finally done with assessing his condition, I decided to take him back to my hotel room. I know I should've taken him to a hospital, but after they treated him I knew they'd send him to jail or have him executed. Besides, I was trained at the Wammy house to deal with stuff like this. In my care, Mello would make it out of this.

I was careful of his burns when I scooped him into my arms, making sure to carry him in a way where his face would get as much air as needed. I was also careful to avoid the military men as they gathered their own people. One of them looked to be dying, but I couldn't help them. My first priority was helping Mello. And, looking at the situation, I doubted they were friend to the blonde anyway.

I ran to my car when I knew I was safe from their eyes, making sure Mello wasn't jostled too badly. Once he was lying down in the backseat, buckled in and safe, I got in the driver's seat and floored it again. From there I made my way to the hotel I was staying at, looking back at the blonde every now and then to see if he was alright.

The moment I had parked my car in the hotel parking lot, I knew it would be trouble to get him upstairs and into my room out of sight. However, being more creative, I slipped a jacket onto him to hide the burns and blood, slung him into a piggyback and made my way into the hotel. Thankfully, what little length of hair he had covered his face burns, so my backstory about having my 'drunk friend' stay over in my suite worked better than I could have imagined.

Once I was in my suite, I got to work with healing his burns. I doubted that the burns wouldn't scar, but if they weren't treated properly, he might as well be considered dead.

I stripped him of his jacket and shirt to air out the burnt skin, as well as tied his hair back to keep it from getting in the way. Unfortunately, without any aloe plants around, this would take a lot longer for me to heal. I doubted I would have had enough aloe to fix this anyway, were we back home where I had a plant growing, but it was better than none at all. So, cold water and bandages would have to do for now. At least until I could go to the store and buy some aloe lotion.

Right when I finished bandaging up Mello, I got right to work with stitching up his cuts. Those took no time at all and once I was done, I stepped back and rested. It took about an hour and a half to help this guy, and I hoped with all my heart that it was worth it.

My heart was pounding now, from the stress and the fear. I had seen Mello in his lowest lows before, but this… this was too much.

'Had I not been there… had I driven away… he would've… He'd have…'

I began sobbing then. Begging, pleading to god that he'd be alright. That I wouldn't have to say goodbye. That he'd wake up and be the Mello he was before all this. I begged for my friend to come back, for Mello to wake up and hug me and hold me and never leave again.

After I cried though, I got angry. Angry at Near. It was his fault that he was like this. That Mello was so close to death. Near tipped off Kira about Mello and now he was dying!

I wanted to destroy everything in my path at this point, but I decided against it. I couldn't lose it, not at that time. Not when Mello needed me most. I didn't care about what he had become, I just wanted him back among the waking. Seeing him like this… helpless and weak… it was too much.

I crawled closer to the blonde, now peacefully sleeping on my bed. I wondered if he could hear me.

A tear rolled down my cheek. "Please wake up, Mel."

A/N: Alright, short chapter, I know, but I'm tired. Also, I may not be posting for a while. Maybe for the next two weeks. I have homework to do, and unless that's all done my chapters are just gonna suck more and more, so... yeah. :)

Reviews welcomed, as always. :)