Near shook his head, croaking something and looking rather upset at the idea.

"Near, what is it?" Matt leaned closer to the boy's mouth- trying to hear him through the mask. "What's wrong?"

"He's likely suffering from hypothermia." One of the nurses stated. "We have to make sure he's stable."

"No... Mello..." Near choked, weakly, staring up at Matt. His eyes were shutting as he lost consciousness.

"He'll be here soon Near, I promise!" Matt said as he was pushed away and Near was wheeled off. "...Shit."

He looked back down the hall and then towards the doors Near had been drug through. What the hell were they going to do now?

--Scene Change--

Zero let out a soft groan as lights swam around him. There was a quick beeping that went along with the pounding in his ears - or maybe it was the pounding in his ears - and people speaking in rapid voices that he couldn't understand.

"He's coming to!" Someone called before darkness overtook him once more.

When his eyes opened once more they were clouded and he felt heavy. The beeping had slowed, but it was still pounding in his ears.

"I don't care, I'm gonna see him!" The voice was so distant- slow like it was passing through water.

The world was still pretty much in black and white- wavy and hazy like in a dream.

He was vaguely aware of something inside of his throat, but he couldn't really feel it. His entire body was numb and he felt like he was floating... it was almost like being a kid again and being given drug after drug while things were done to him...

"Get off me!" Suddenly there were footsteps- echoing in his head and in his chest even.

Someone was coming and coming fast- he could tell even in his foggy, drug-induced state that they were. They seemed like small steps, but it was hard to tell. Suddenly the was the sound of his door crashing open- how familiar that was to him...was he going to be taken again...maybe there was even more than one of them this time. The bed shifted and face came into view. Not the face of some sex craved pervert, but the face of a little boy- his eyes wide with concern.

"Zero?" He called. "Zero!"

Zero... did he know that name? Zero...

"Without Zero, there would always be something. Always one, or two… or so on. Zero means that there is nothing. When there is no one in a room, there are Zero people there… if there was no Zero, every room in the world would have to have a person."

He felt himself frowning. Who had said that...? Was it... important...?

"Are you insulted? Zero is a very important number."

...A very important number...

"...Zero?" The little boy reached out and touched his face with his fingertips- they were so cold against his skin right now.

Was that face familiar? Where they familiar with each other?

I am nobody...

Zero... because not one person wanted him..

I am nobody...

He couldn't be Zero... because he was wanted... right?

More people came in then, grabbing the boy and trying to pull him away.

"No, he's hurt!" The boy fought- they always fight.

Was he fighting for him?

He wanted to call out to the boy... to tell him to stay... he tried and tried but then the pain started. Every vibration burned and every burn hurt and every hurt caused him to yell, making his throat vibrate even more.

"NO!" The boy screamed. "Don't touch me! Get off! HELP!"

He was ripping off the sheets as he was drug away- his fingers curled into the fabric.

"ZERO!" He cried out- reaching for the Asian boy on the bed.

The teen heard the heart rate machine speeding up, but all he could feel was pain. All he could hear was his own screams.

Then the darkness swallowed him back up.

--scene break--

Mello was jostled awake as the plane landed and blinked around.

"Nghm?" He rubbed his head. "Fuck, we here?"

He looked out the window as the airstrip came up on them.

As the plane came to a stop he was escorted onto the strip, where a large red truck was waiting, the driver an Asian man that Mello didn't really know, but Near seemed to be quite fond of.

"F." Mello offered with a nod that made his head throb with jet-lag. "Ohh...Wammy's?"

"Hospital," F informed, motioning for Mello to climb in and reaching over to buckle the blonde's seat belt, since he knew he wouldn't do it himself. "Zero is alive, I haven't heard word of B, and Nancy just told me Near was admitted."

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Mello exclaimed. "What happened!? God damn Beyond! I'm gonna kill him this time, I swear to God! I don't give a shit what Near says!"

"Apparently, Next stabbed Zero," F explained as he began driving. "Beyond left with Near, who somehow broke free. Near stole an ambulance, drove to the graveyard around the back of the forest, where Matt and Next found him half frozen to death in front of Naveen's grave."

"What?" Mello blinked. "Next couldn't have...I mean...he hasn't...not since...and Near, is Near okay!?"

"I don't know," F admitted. "Nancy didn't have any information when she talked to me..."

"Shit...who's keep an eye on things at the hospital?" Mello demanded. "Who's with Near? Matt? Next?"

"Matt," F informed. "I'm not sure where Next is. I'm also not sure if Beyond is still alive, nor what Near did to him."

"What Near did?" Mello blinked. "He stole an ambulance, what was that about?"

"I wish I knew," F whispered, frowning. "He isn't acting like himself... he's being impulsive and reckless. It reminds me of his brother..."

"Don't ever say that again." Mello said firmly- his tone very dangerous.

F turned to look at him, his expression blank. He said nothing more, turning back to the road after a few seconds.

"...Has anyone called K?" Mello asked after a long silence.

"She is the one that saved Zero," F informed as they pulled up to a stop light.

"But what about her diagnosis of Near?" Mello asked. "Has she even seen him? And is Zero conscious and talking?"

"Near, from what I understand, was just suffering from hypothermia," F explained, starting down the street again. "Zero awoke momentarily and then began to panic. He screamed with a tube on his throat and may have damaged himself further. Its possible that he lost his vocal cords."

"Panicked?" Mello repeated. "What the hell!?"

"I do think that if I woke up in a hospital, I would be quite upset too," F hummed.

He pulled into the back parking lot of the hospital.

"I'm going to see Near first." Mello said- as though F would have assumed otherwise. "I want time alone with him, understand?"

"Don't tell me," F scoffed at him. "Tell Matt."

"I'm gonna throw him out!" Mello hissed. "I can't believe he let this happen!"

He charged the front doors.

--Scene Change--

Near was wrapped up in enough heating blankets to melt the North Pole and was being forced to suck oxygen from a mask, but other then that K assured him that he would be just fine.

Matt was seated in the chair beside his bed- looking exhausted and tense as he double checked all of the equipment hooked up to Near before going back to the tightly wrapped bundle on the bed.