In Charge

Chapter 3 – Out of Range

By Threshie

Technical Note: If you turn the viewing width to 3/4 or 1/2 by clicking the little link at the upper right side of the screen, this fic's formatting will be a LOT easier to read.

AN: In which Near gets to be awake again! He's a type of character that I've never written before, so I find writing his scenes to be a lot of fun. I hope I do him justice...I really like him in the anime/manga. (I like Matt a lot, too, but the poor guy gets less screentime by FAR, so it's easier to wing it while writing him, eheh.)

Near, you'll awaken at the count of three!

1...2...3!


Near drifted out of troubled, faceless dreams to find himself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Hearing the beep of a heart monitor nearby, he glanced around slowly, gathering from the equipment and the IV needles in his arms that he must be in a hospital.

That's right...Matt brought me here, he recalled uneasily, looking around. His memories of the night before included a hazy rush of voices, being wheeled somewhere on a cot...and then, abruptly, this. The pain in his stomach was gone...he felt vastly better, if a bit heavy-limbed still. The medication dripping into his wrists had to do with that, he decided.

He was alone in the room. Not many people would have guessed it, but being alone actually bothered Near a great deal.

One might say he even hated it.

Perhaps such feelings stemmed from the fact that his parents had abandoned him when he was very young. Perhaps it was because, intelligent as he was, he knew full-well that he was physically weaker than the majority of people he met, and could be overpowered by them.

Maybe he just didn't like people he didn't know.

Whatever the reason, he was abruptly very aware of that fact that he was in an unfamiliar, uncontrolled environment, with no one he knew around at all. Where did Matt go? He wondered, pulling the white blanket on the bed up to his chin and glancing around with a little frown.

As if in response to his thoughts, the door opened. The white-haired boy peered intently over the edge of the blanket, eying the newcomer—a black-haired man who wore glasses and a nurse's uniform—with his usual intense stare.

"And how are we feeling today...?" The nurse asked, looking a bit unnerved by the stare. He made a half-hearted attempt to smile, but the boy's gaze made it fade within seconds.

"Where is Matt?" He answered the question with one of his own, not batting an eye. "Why isn't he in here?"

"Er...visiting hours have just started again," the nurse said, a bit taken aback. He seemed to have been expecting some little kid, with the way he'd been acting at first...well, Near wasn't going to waste his limited energy with pleasantries just to make the man feel better. "If you mean your brother, though, this is the first time he's left this room all night. He's outside—I can go get him for you if you like."

"Yes."

The man seemed to be waiting for him to say something else. When the one-word sentence was all that came, he shook his head a bit and headed out the door again. So Matt had told the doctors that they were brothers... Smart. This way they can't refuse to let him see me. He was surprised that the redhead had stayed there all night, though—why not drive home and lock up the house?

In moments, Matt came inside, his red hair a bit ruffled. His eyes widened behind the yellow goggles.

"Do you guys really have to hook him up to all of that stuff?" He asked the nurse, who had followed him into the room and closed the door. "This's worse than last night—jeez, do you wait 'til I leave and then plug in more stuff while I'm gone...?"

Looking a bit irritated, the man said stiffly, "He's just had surgery—it went well, but with a case like his, we need to monitor him carefully in case of complications or infection. And believe it or not, I haven't added anything new since the last time you saw him." He turned to Near. "How are you doing? I need to know if there's any pain, especially if your stomach hurts."

Near shot the man a look that clearly said "I don't know you, and I don't want to talk to you." Flatly, he added aloud, "I feel horrible, but no, I'm not in pain." A beat later, without any hesitation, he added, "Would you please leave?" I don't like your condescending tone toward Matt.

"...Call me if you need anything," the man said after a moment of dumbfounded silence. With that, he headed out and closed the door behind him.

Near sighed, slumping back into his pillow. For some reason, the nurse's presence bothered him. He didn't seem trustworthy...not to mention lacking in bedside manner.


Matt wondered if Near knew he'd looked glad to see the redhead when he'd entered the room. What, did he miss me? No, that's stupid—he probably just didn't like that nurse and wanted me in here instead. Go figure, the only five minutes I go outside and find that nurse lady to ask why they drugged him up so much are the five minutes he decides to wake up in. He came over and sat down on the chair behind the bed.

"Hey..." He said by way of greeting, leaning an elbow on the edge of the hospital bed and glancing sidelong at Near. He'd been shocked about it when he first came in last night, and this morning it hit him again how very small Near looked, surrounded by all of this medical equipment.

He still had two IVs, one in each wrist, and little sensors stuck to his right arm and one spot near his neck that had thin wires leading to the vital monitoring equipment. He was in a hospital gown—an odd sight unto itself, as Matt had never seen him wear anything but pajamas—and without his usual baggy layers of clothing, he looked truly delicate and small.

Near watched Matt watch him. His dark eyes had a sharp intelligence to them...they would have been unnerving, if Matt wasn't used to them by now.

"Is it serious?" Matt blinked, realizing that the white-haired boy was speaking to him.

"H-huh? Oh..." He shook his head, "It could've been, but we got here fast, so you're gonna be okay."

Near didn't look away, didn't blink, but he didn't question the reply, either. After a long moment, his gaze slid down to his own hands, which were busying themselves by crumpling the edge of the blanket and crinkling it back and forth. The faintest hint of a frown came over the smaller boy's face, and his right hand came up almost automatically to twist a lock of his hair around one finger.

" ...So, what happened? What is wrong with me?" He spoke softly, not looking up. Matt understood. Nobody told him what's wrong with him. He won't say it, but he doesn't believe me when I say he's going to be okay. He wants to decide for himself, I guess. Thankfully, the nurse had explained this to him just a few minutes ago out in the hallway.

He took a deep breath, "The doctor said your appendix burst. Acute appendicitis, I think was the official diagnosis. They had to do emergency surgery and take it out, and it basically put a bunch of toxins into your abdomen, so you have to stay in the hospital for awhile until they make sure there's no chance of infection." He doesn't look happy at all... It took a lot to make Near frown enough for anybody else to see it; usually his expressions were very subtle. Matt only recognized them now because he'd had years to learn to.

The white-haired boy slowly scanned the room with his eyes, barely moving at all otherwise.

"...I see." He sighed faintly, "Have you told L yet?"

"No, I was kind of..." Matt fidgeted, trailing off. I can't really say I didn't even think of it because I was too busy worrying about you...though that's pretty much the truth. That sounds stupid, though... "Um, I-I left my cell phone at the house." It was the truth, now that he thought of it—his phone, last he saw it, was sitting on the coffee table. Right next to the couch where his Gameboy was...

"You're right, though—we should let L know what's going on. They probably have a pay phone around here somewhere...I think I saw one in the hallway." He glanced back at the door and stood, shrugging. "I'll go call him now."



He's leaving?
Near felt a twinge of...something in his chest. Something a bit like panic.

"Matt," he heard himself say, as the redhead started to open the door. The name had come unbidden—he hadn't intended to say it, but it had just slipped out. What am I doing? Of course he has to leave the room. He has to go call L...think about it rationally, he chided himself, irritated at his own discomfort.

He didn't want to be left alone.

He didn't like it.

He didn't like not liking it. How childish...

Matt turned, blinking. "Yeah?"

No, he couldn't allow himself to be that pathetic...even though he wanted more than anything right now for Matt to come back over and sit back down and just stay there...

"..." Near sighed, pulling the blanket back up to his chin. "Please come back quickly."



Matt nodded and left the room. Closing the door behind him, he paused, frowning thoughtfully. Okay, maybe I imagined it when he looked glad that I showed up, but that just now wasn't my imagination—he didn't want me to leave him in there by himself. He crossed his arms, looking down at the toes of his boots. It was probably because Near always had some assistant with him, he decided. No Gevanni or Rester to boss around, so he wants me to be the substitute...figures.

Some part of him knew that that wasn't the truth, but he didn't want to think about it right now.

Right now, he had to call L.

Locating the pay phone he'd noticed earlier, he snagged the receiver from its cradle and dialed L's cell phone number, thankful that it scrambled itself five-fold over the line and thus made the great detective's number untraceable. Wouldn't be very smart of me to leave his phone number around for somebody to trace back to him...

After three rings, someone picked up.

"Hello...?" The voice was most certainly L's. Matt could almost see him holding the cell phone by his thumb and pointer finger, dangling it carefully next to his ear.

"H-Hi, L, it's Matt," he started a bit shakily—for some reason, because he had to be the one to tell L about what happened, he felt almost like he was confessing to doing something wrong. You didn't do anything bad, he told himself uneasily, Well, except maybe some speeding...but c'mon, it was an emergency. He won't be mad over that...

In truth, he'd never seen L get mad over anything, but he still had the irrational fear that if the detective was displeased with him, the world may as well be ending. It's probably the same for Mello and Near, I guess...without L, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves.

Realizing that the subject of his thoughts was waiting for him to add something to his introduction, the redhead added hurriedly, "Um, I'm not sure how to say this...Near's in the hospital. I'm calling from there, actually."

"What? Why is he in the hospital, Matt?" L sounded concerned, but remained calm, as Matt had expected.

"H-his appendix...kind of burst," the redhead said, feeling sheepish. There was no way to talk about internal organs exploding that didn't sound disturbing, really... "Anyway, I drove him to the hospital, and they say he's gonna be okay now. I-I just thought you should know."

Silence, then Matt envisioned the black-haired man's nod as he said, "Thank you for telling me, Matt. Which hospital?"

Oh, good, he's gonna come and take over and I won't have to be in charge anymore, the redhead thought in relief, rattling off the name and address without paying much attention as he said it.

"...All right, that's far enough away. Please stay there for now; you should be safely out of range."

"Range?" Matt asked, blinking. Range of...what, exactly?

"The case here has gotten rather complicated, and I'm afraid Mello and I can't come back yet," L explained...which really didn't explain much at all.

"Huh? But..." Matt trailed off, an uneasy feeling coming over him. It's probably nothing...he's busy, I shouldn't waste his time. He swallowed hard, "Okay. Um, Mello's okay, right? It's not...s-something didn't happen to him, too, did it?" That'd be too freaky, Near and Mello ending up in the hospital in the same week...

"No, it's nothing like that," L answered patiently. "We simply have restricted movement, and not much time to work on this case..." He paused, then sighed. "I have to go, Matt."

"W-wait..." Matt felt like hanging up would be admitting defeat. He didn't know why, but the thought of being in charge scared him. Because usually if Near and I are left alone, he's the one in charge, I guess...I'm never in charge. I'm number three, there's always somebody else around to take charge...right?

"Somebody better," the thought implied, though he didn't like to tell himself things like that. L, Mello and Near didn't mean to make him feel inferior...it was just the way that things were. They probably didn't even know that it bothered him as much as it sometimes did...

"Don't worry, Matt, I know that you can do this," L's words broke through that little self-deprecating voice in his head, bringing him back to the present. More softly, the black-haired man added, "...Matt, Near is a very reserved person, but don't let him fool you. He has never had to stay in a hospital before, and he's probably pretty scared right now. Please be kind to him, and take good care of him until Mello and I get back, okay?"

"I...I will, of course," Matt blinked, surprised by the sudden change in L's tone.

Before he could ask anything else, the detective added, "I really can't talk any more now. Call me again later, please." And just like that, he had hung up.

Matt stood listening to the dial tone for a minute or two before finally, slowly, he reached over and placed the phone back into its cradle. Near's...scared, huh? He doesn't seem scared to me—if anything, he's just a bit grumpier than usual! L always knew what he was talking about, though...so Matt figured he'd better believe him. Well, scared or not, it's up to me...Near's the one who needs to be taken care of, so he can't be in charge, and there's nobody else around. So I'm in charge.

In charge.

It was a sudden and uncomfortably heavy responsibility. After feeling like he was just "number 3" most of his life, one might think that Matt would relish being the one making the decisions for once, but the prospect actually scared him. Near was the most brilliant person he had ever met short of L...and the one in line to be L's heir. If anything happened to him while he was Matt's responsibility, the redhead figured he might as well never talk to anyone he knew ever again. Well, maybe Mello wouldn't mind...but, everybody else.

And on top of that, there was no one around to ask for help if he needed it...

It's up to me to hold down the fort until L gets back... Filling L's shoes (a bad metaphor, as he rarely wore any, but Matt wasn't up to thinking up a better one right now) was a very intimidating way to put his current situation, but surprisingly accurate. L was in charge of the house and of him, Mello and Near. While he and Mello were away, with Near in no condition to be even getting out of bed, that put Matt...in charge.

He sighed; thinking about this too much would just make him anxious, and that seemed like a stupid thing to inflict on himself. He took a deep, calming breath. I'll just take it a step at a time. What do I need to do first? Near...that's right, he didn't like me leaving. I'd better get back to his room, and I'll decide what to do next when I get there. Yeah...sounds like a plan.

Nodding to himself, the redhead made his way back to Near's room.

It was going to be a long...however long it took L to get back.

--End Chapter 3


AN: And now Matt is officially "in charge" of Near. What will Near think of this arrangement...? Chapter 4 will tell!

Trivia: This chapter's title refers to L's comment about being "safely out of range", but it also refers to Near's feelings about being left in his room alone, and to L being unable to come take over the situation for Matt. Right now, nobody's "within range" to look after Near except for Matt. Also, it refers to Matt being under Mello, Near and L in "rank" I suppose you'd call it...L's kind of genius is, for lack of a better way to put it, "out of Matt's range". Not that he isn't a genius in his own right—L's just, well...a SUPER-genius.

Has anybody else noticed how co-dependent Near is? He barely even gets up—people are always just there to hand him things. That's why I think he'd be uneasy if he doesn't have somebody nearby.

Disclaimers: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Gameboy belongs to Nintendo.

Thanks for reading!

-Threshie


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In Charge Akugi! Volume 3

Akugi #9

Male Nurse: "And how are we feeling today...?"

Near: "You aren't Matt. I don't want you in my room." u.u

Male Nurse: (Twitch) I hate kids...

Near: "Why aren't you leaving?"

Akugi #10

Near: "Have you told L yet?"

Matt: (Deer in headlights look) "No, I'm kinda scared of talking to him on the phone."

Near: "Why?"

Matt: "'Cause...then he's talking directly to me." (Anti-social gamer side now evident)

Akugi #11

Near: "Matt..."

Matt: (Turns, blinking) "Yeah?"

Near: "..." (Pulls blanket up to chin, all cute-like) "Don't leave me."

Matt: (Sweatdrop) Crap! I can't leave a little kid by himself! L can wait... (Sits back down)

Near: (Smirk) And Mello says I am bad at acting...

Akugi #12

Matt: "Um, Mello's okay, right? It's not...s-something didn't happen to him, too, did it?"

L: "No, it's nothing like that...we just ran out of chocolate and sweets, so we can't finish the case until the store ships more in."

Matt: "..." (Sweatdrop)