A/N- This is what you get when I'm in this kind of mood. I hope you enjoy.

Warning!- If you can't stand extreme angst and/or severe illness, this is not for you. You have been warned.

Disclaimer- No, I don't own Danny Phantom

Your hair is limp, your skin's pale, your lips are dark. There are bags under your eyes that even your healing hasn't taken away. Your hands are clammy even as your fingers are gripping my thin ones in a death grip. Your once happy voice is thin and hoarse. That confidence you held about you is gone.

It's killing me differently than it's killing you.

You say it hurts to breathe now, that your lungs don't seem to work right all the time. You say talking is painful, like a sore throat only a thousand times worse. You say it feels like your tongue's sandpaper against the roof of your mouth, and that you're thirsty for something that isn't helping.

You know I'd wash your hurt away if I could, but I'm stuck with a cool, wet cloth and your raging fever.

You say your limbs feel heavy now, like they're made of wood and have a weight like iron. You feel like your nerves are being laid across ice, freezing your whole body with a painful sting that's unlike your cooling ice powers. You say this is a different kind of cold, one you haven't felt before, even in that portal when you died the first time. Your teeth are chattering with that cold, the one you say numbs your limbs, and I can see your lips tremble when you think I'm not looking.

I press a kiss to you high cheek bone, shivering at the too warm skin when it used to be the cool I was used to. It's so hard to think you'll make it through when it's like this, when the proof is right there and in my face and it's so hard not to grasp the fact that you might not make it. I don't believe it though. You've made it through so much, you can't let this get you, and you can't let this be the thing that takes you.

You don't think like I do though, do you? You say you can feel your control slipping away. You say your powers are out of reach, and isn't that what Frostbite said would happen this late? You say it's getting harder to believe, and I can tell you don't, not really. You say it's getting hard to keep your blue eyes open for me.

I cry every time I hear you say it.

You've given up, the rest have given up and gone home for the night. You told them to, told them to go back to their lives and work and you'll be okay, that you'll still be here in the morning when they come back, but you've given up too. You know I won't; you know I'll never give up on you.

I'll never, ever give up on you.

You say you can't feel your body anymore, that your limbs are completely foreign to you now. You say you feel even colder, your nerves aren't the only thing that's encased in ice, but your skin is on fire and I haven't been able to cool it. You say your core is gone now; that the warmth's slipping away from you and you can't get it back. You feel like your frosting over, like your whole bodies freezing even though you're on fire.

I press a kiss to your lips; savoring the way you react because I can't shake the feeling I don't have a whole lot of time left. You respond, bringing your deadened limbs up to clumsily hold my shoulder and grab my hand as I smile against your mouth. I don't even think about the risk that I could get sick, not when you say this is now the only time you feel alive.

I won't take that from you.

You're slipping now. You can't keep your eyes open, and your grip on my hand is weakening.

I'm the one with the death grip now. My eyes are blurry and my breathing is starting to shallow, but I'm not showing it. I won't give up, not on you.

I whisper, "I love you."

Instead of the happy way we used to say it, it's desperate. It's like we're running out of chances to say it, but I'm not giving up, not yet.

You smile that crooked smile that I know is only for me, the one I haven't seen in weeks, and I smile back because that's the only thing I can do. You grip my hand like a life line now, your blue eyes opened and I can't do anything but stare back at you.

"I know. I love you too." You say it and it's so strong my heart lifts because you keep smiling, and that's the best you've sounded since we took you to the Far Frozen.

You take a deep breath, and I lean forward for some unknown reason and cradle both your hands in both of mine. I think you're waking up, so I smile and squeeze the hand that isn't latched onto mine, but then you relax, all that air you gathered so strongly only seconds before slipping from your still hot lips.

Every bit of hope I had slipped away when you lost your grip on my hand and your fingers became limp in mine.

You're still smiling, and that last "I love you" still hangs in the air, but your blue eyes aren't bright anymore.

I slump forward the rest of the way, whether meaning to lean or just collapsing I don't know, and my face lands right beside yours. I press my lips to your fevered temple and let cool tears run across your skin and mine.

You're gone.

There's a choked sound ringing through the air, but I can't tell it's myself, and I clutch your limp hand in mine as I feel myself start slipping.

I probably should have mentioned the character death earlier. Probably.

Anyway, this is the first time I've ever tried this kind of thing, so any feedback is extremely welcome, whatever it may be.