Mello started moving as soon as the boy reached to embrace Schuldig, assuming that even if the telepath acted he wouldn't move fast enough to protect both himself and Artemis. Either one would work as a target with a large enough weapon, ad a large enough weapon was what he was certain to choose...a chair should be able to keep Schuldig's knife (his knife? When and how had that been taken?) away from his own body.

Retreat would have been smarter. They wouldn't have followed him into a hallway, and even if they did, he'd be able to find a populated area within seconds. The clinic was only a few doors away, and no one would attack him there. Unfortunately, the impulsivity that had saved Mello's life so many times before was sometimes a double-edged sword.