“Shit!”  Matt kicked the door in frustration as his key failed to go into the keyhole for the third time.  He was already shaking with the effort of supporting Mello’s weight, and on top of that his keys had somehow ended up in his left hand.

On the fourth try, he finally managed to get his door open.  He dragged Mello’s dead weight through it with him and awkwardly kicked it shut again.  

The stairs were the next challenge.  Matt groaned.  He doubted that he outweighed Mello by more than a few pounds these days.  He slipped Mello’s body behind him and hauled both of his arms over his shoulders.  Then he leaned forward and hoisted Mello’s bulk off the ground.  “Pick me up, Matty,” he said in shrill imitation of Mello’s voice as he mounted the stairs.  “I blew myself up!  You’ve got nothing better to do than clean up my mess, right?”  He gave a caricature of Mello’s manic laughter before lapsing back into gloomy silence.  Mello had actually been lucky in his timing.  Three weeks ago, Matt wouldn’t have been capable of waking up to take his call.  

At the top of the stairs, he kicked the door to the bathroom open and dragged his limp burden inside.  He maneuvered Mello’s form into the bathtub as carefully as he could, and was at least able to avoid banging his once-friend’s head into the porcelain.  “This should be fun, huh Mel?  What a great way to catch up on old times!”  He began unzipping what remained of Mello’s shirt.  When he tried to remove the garment entirely, it resisted.  Matt jerked on it roughly before he realized that what it was stuck to was actually Mello’s skin.  He winced as the fabric tore free and fresh blood began to flow.

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