Slightly shorter than the last chapter and thank you for the follows and reviews . As with last time this is entirely fictional and as far as I'm aware Phan is not canon.

Phil POV

The hour and a half it took from Dan's admittance to being taken off to surgery seemed to drag on forever. I hated seeing him in so much pain, curled in on himself in an attempt to relive it. Then more pain was caused making him flinch and cry out like a dying animal tearing my heart in two but I had to be brave for him like he said he'd be for me before we had even met. This time though it was me comforting him when the majority of the time - despite being four and a half years my junior – it was the other way round. Every time I worried about the radio show or something the phandom were saying even when the milk incident happened a month or so back he was there telling me it was going to be fine and not to worry. It didn't feel uncomfortable or weird it was just different Dan liked to deal with stuff on his own in fact I could only think of three times in the whole time we'd known each other - the days before and after his surgery in 2010, the existential crisis he went through whilst dropping out of university and throughout the hospital stay he had a couple of months back. Running a hand repeatedly through his hair as the doctor explained potential surgery I could see the look of worry form on Dan's face as he tried to take in what the doctor was saying and the same look turn into surprise as he was knocked from his thoughts by the coolness of the gel used for an ultrasound. Continuing to stroke his hair to distract him from the pain, I watched his face slowly relax as he started to doze off to sleep. I felt awful when I had to wake him so he could know what was going on. The final diagnosis was acute appendicitis that had unfortunately ruptured and caused acute peritonitis aka an infection in the membrane that holds everything in the stomach together. He was headed up to surgery as soon as they could get him in to clear out the infection and stop it from spreading throughout his body. Essentially they were hoping to do the procedure the way a traditional appendectomy was preformed through an incision on his right side just slightly longer but if they got in there and the infection had spread more than expected the incision might have to run from his bellybutton to the bottom of his abdomen. Safe to say Dan wasn't too impressed with that because quote 'it goes too close to my penis'. After a chat about how he didn't need to worry about the phandom or the radio show and just needed to get better because everyone would understand he was taken away to the operating theatre. I was led to a waiting room where I was reminded of what we were both told earlier about how the surgery could take between 2 and 5 hours as they would have to wash out the infection.

After being informed the surgeons had started I left my phone number with the receptionist in case I needed to be notified of something before heading home to pack some essentials Dan might need. En-route back to our flat I phoned his parents to let them know what was happening as there hadn't been a chance to before. By the time I got back to the flat it was half nine in the morning and I was hoping to be back at the hospital within the hour. Grabbing his rucksack I packed it with things he would need over the next few days including various pairs of pyjama bottoms and t-shirts – anything other than a hospital gown which I know he would be complaining about as soon as he was aware enough. Making sure his phone charger, DS and a couple of books were also in the bag I sent a quick tweet telling people to send him get well vibes as he was poorly before heading back to the hospital via a corner shop to grab something quick to eat as I hadn't eaten anything since the night before. By the time I got back to the hospital it was nearing quarter to eleven and just over fifty minutes later I was told the surgery had gone as well as they had hoped, a surgeon would be out soon and that Dan was in recovery. Relaying this onto his parents – who were travelling out here – I waited patiently for the surgeon. After an agonising ten minutes my name was finally called and I was led back to a small conference type room where the surgeon that had operated on Dan was waiting. It was explained to me that despite the added complication of part of the bowel tearing slightly when the appendix ruptured the surgery went as well as it could have and that Dan had been left with a drain in to remove any excess fluid that might still be gathering. I thanked the surgeon before being directed towards the ward where Dan who was still recovering from the anaesthetic had been transferred to.

Asking at the nurse's station which room I was shown to the room. There were two other patients in the room both talking quietly with visitors, a third bed was empty and the fourth – where Dan lay – had a set of curtains drawn round it for privacy. Peeking my head through the curtains to make sure there were no nurses checking on him before making my way to the chair beside his bed. He looked so peaceful lying on his left side still recovering from the anaesthetic induced sleep; an oxygen mask placed over his nose and mouth – reminding me of the two previous hospital stays; IV's providing fluids, morphine and antibiotics; two tubes ran from under the sheet into bags attached to the foot of the bed – one I assumed was the drainage tube and the other I concluded was a urinary catheter; and all the equipment he had been connected to before the surgery reminding me that no matter how peaceful he looked he was still very poorly. Taking his hand that was free from IV's I held it, no particular reason for doing so other than making sure he was still there. Rubbing my fingers up and down his had as if I was soothing him I began to notice his eyes flicker.

'Phil' he spoke with a hoarse whisper shifting the oxygen mask off his face 'Is that you?'

'It's me buddy, how you feeling'

'Like crap, it hurts'

'What hurts Bear?'

'My tummy Lion, my tummy'

'See this button here' showing him the PCA machine and pressing the button for him 'it will give you some morphine if you press it like I did'

'mhmmmmm, sleep with me Lion'

'Don't think I can Bear, you just had a pretty big operation and still very poorly'

'But I want you to, don't care… doctors say, you'll make it better, only you'

I think it was that line that caught me off guard and changed my original decision.

'Ok but only until you fall asleep'

It took quite an effort avoiding all the tubes and wires he was attached to whilst constantly reminding myself that hospital beds were not meant to be shared by two men over six foot tall but finally I managed to slide in beside him. Wrapping his arms round his chest and nuzzling his hair with my nose I gave him the comfort he wanted and deserved – he had been through a lot already today and it was only approaching one in the afternoon.

'I love you Lion' he murmured slowly falling asleep snuggling in closer to me'

'I love you too Bear' kissing his head and drifting off to dreamland too.