As the door swung shut behind Mello, Near sunk to his knees and began to sob loudly, burring his face into his hands.

"Near, what happened!?" Matt knelt down and wrapped around the smaller boy. "Are you okay!? Talk to me!"

"Th... they..." Near attempted, burring his face into Matt's shirt and sobbing loudly. "Naveen... Mello... they were... they were...!"

"...What?" Matt blinked. "What happened?"

"Its all my fault..." Near cried, not making much sense as he mumbled and sobbed. "If I hadn't proposed, Naveen would still be alive!"

"What are you talking about!?" Matt pleaded. "Near, Naveen wasn't anyone's fault!"

"If I hadn't... hadn't taken Mello from him..." Near sobbed. "Mello would have... have been there... w-when M...!"

"What are you talking about?" Matt frowned. "Took Mello from Naveen?"

Pulling back a little, Near wiped his eyes. He attempted to regain some composure for a moment.

"Naveen... he and Mello were... were..."

The white-haired boy sucked in a deep breath, his voice extremely pained.

"...They were together, Matt. They were... they were a... a couple..."

--Scene Break--

"I wanna see Zero!" Treat stomped his foot angrily- glaring up at Next. "Those doctors were all over me!"

He shuddered and ran his hands over his arms- like he was wiping something off.

"They kept me from seeing him!" He stomped again.

Slowly, Next knelt in front of him and pulled the boy into a soft, gentle hug.

"I know, sweetheart," He whispered, petting the boy's hair softly. "But the doctors are trying to make sure he is okay before they let anyone see him..."

"We can make him better again!" Treat protested- though he didn't attempt to fight Next off.

"I know that and you know that," Next sighed. "But the doctors don't... and they'll just keep throwing us out... which will upset him more. So its best if we just wait..."

"But I need to see him now!" Treat whined before looking at his brother. "WE need to!"

Trick whimpered and Next pulled him into a hug as well, careful not to touch the two boys to each other.

"You'll get to," He promised. "Soon."

Suddenly, Next's cell began to vibrate on the bed, catching the ivory-haired boy's attention as as he held the twins.

Slowly unwrapping an arm from Trick, Next reached over and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"It's Matt," Already Next could tell that the redhead was distressed, "Shit went down between Mello and Near."

"I'll be right there," Next assured, before he hung up and turned to the boys. "I need to go be there for someone... do you think it will be okay if you come, or would you rather stay with Nancy?"

"Back to the hospital?" Treat asked hopefully.

Next gave a small nod before firmly saying, "But not to see Zero! Not for now, at least..."

"I want to go," Trick whispered. He was being unusually quiet and it was beginning to worry Next.

"Of course you're going." Treat turned to his brother worriedly. "Why wouldn't you go?"

"He asked if he wanted to say with Nancy," Trick replied. "I am confirming I want to go... is it Near?"

Next looked at him in surprise.

"I could hear Matt," Trick explained. "Your phone is loud."

"...Trick...what's wrong?" Treat frowned. "You're acting weird."

"I don't want to talk about it," Trick sighed, shaking his head and turning his face away.

Next knew that look - knew it from his own youth. He knew that it meant 'I want you to ask and to force it out of me.'

"Trick..." He whispered, turning completely toward the boy.

It didn't take much before Trick's eyes were filling with tears. "I don't want Zero to die!"

"He's not going to die!" Treat replied quickly- as though if it weren't said would result in something both of them didn't want. "...He's in a hospital with doctors Trick."

"I don't want him to leave us," Trick whimpered, his bottom lip quivering as he threatened to burst into tears. "He's... he's the best daddy we've ever had!"

Treat blinked now- staring at his brother in surprise.

"He's not going to die," Next whispered, frowning. "They stopped the bleeding... he'll be fine-"

"That isn't Zero!" Trick accused, pointing at Next. "That person in there... he isn't Zero! Zero wouldn't hurt people... he wouldn't let that scary man into the house to hurt us! I want Zero back! I want ZERO!"

"We're going to get him back!" Treat said- taking his brother's hand. "I saw him...he saw me...he knew me Trick."

"The only thing we can do right now is what the doctors say," Next whispered, his eyes sad. "They know what is best for him, Trick... And we can't do much more then hope."

"What if he doesn't get better?" Trick whimpered... but Next didn't have an answer for him.

--Scene Change--

It was almost an hour later that Next finally slipped into Near's room, where the white-haired boy had fallen asleep on the bed. Matt was seated on it, his best friend's head in his lap after he'd let him cry himself to sleep.

Matt was pale, his features sunken and somewhat green. Next couldn't see his eyes behind his lenses, but could guess how exhausted they must've looked by now. He was slowly running his fingers through Near's hair- a mechanical, zombie motion that was more or less all he could do at this point.

"Stay here," Next coaxed the twins, gently. "We'll be just outside if Near wakes up or you need us, okay?"

At their nod, he moved over and slowly maneuvered Matt out from beneath Near, covering the sleeping boy before he pulled the redhead out into the hall and swept him up into a gentle hug.

Matt wrapped around Next and leaned on him with an exhausted sigh.

"...He finally conked out again." Matt mumbled. "It's bad Next...real bad."

Treat looked up at Near and blinked.

"...He looks soft like Next, but it's different." He murmured aloud to himself.

"You think they're brothers?" Trick hummed, tilting his head and watching Near sleep.

"How bad?" Next pressed, gently rocking Matt back and forth on his feet.

"I don't know, but they could be." Treat looked at Near closely. "...They don't have the same shaped eyes or nose...and Next's hair is long and wavy while Near's is all curly...makes me dizzy to look at."

"...It's Mello." Matt sighed. "He...he apparently...was...He and Naveen...were an item."

Next jerked back, looking at Matt in shock... and a little bit of hurt.

He hadn't known... Mello was supposed to be his best friend, but he had never said anything...

"He's so white," Trick breathed in awe. "Next wears dark colors but... Near's in all white! And on these bed sheets... He looks like a polar bear in the snow! Cute and cuddly..."

"...Yeah...I know." Matt said weakly- looking back at the room. "Near's a wreck...and Mello's gone. I don't know where to, either."

"I'm not going to cuddle him." Treat shook his head. "He'll get all over me."

Huffing at his brother, Trick climbed onto the bed, struggling to get up onto it.

He carefully lifted the blankets and snuggled up against Near, gasping in surprise. "He's... warm!"

Treat watched in surprise as Near curled up to his brother, his shoulders shaking.

"I'll find him," Next whispered. "I can talk to him... but I don't want to leave you... You're a wreck, Matt..."

"I'm fine, I just need a smoke and some Dew." Matt waved it off.

Treat frowned and climbed up.

"Trick, don't get so close, he's sick." Treat pleaded.