Chapter Nine - Early Morning Phone Call

Once she was satisfied that Sans had calmed down enough, Undyne went home, leaving the skeleton to his thoughts.
It had been a long, emotionally draining night and Sans had decided that it was time for him to try and get some sleep, as it was almost morning.
Usually, he'd have no trouble falling to sleep. As soon as his head would hit the pillow, he'd be out like a light, but not tonight.
He'd decided to sleep in Papyrus' room, not only did it make him feel closer to his brother, the bed was actually more comfortable so he thought that that would help him to drift off, and sure enough it did. He'd just began to slowly drift into sleep when he was suddenly startled by his phone's annoying ringtone.
Without any hesitation, he answered.

"Hello?" he answered, as his nerves got the better of him he began to shake with anticipation.

"Hi Sans" It was Alphys "Sorry it took me so long to call."

"Is Pap okay?!" Sans fretted

"Yeah, he's awake now." she replied "You wanna talk to him, I have a webcam so you can see him too if you'd like."

"Yes please…" he replied, almost in a whimper

"Okay. I'm gonna hang up and get my laptop set up, I'll be a few seconds. See you soon."

With that, she hung up.
Wasting no time, Sans leapt from the bed and ran towards Papyrus' computer. Quickly logging into the Underground's video chatting programme, Sans sat anxiously awaiting Alphys' call.
He could feel his chest tightening up as he eagerly awaited seeing his brother, wondering how he was.
He didn't have to wait long. As soon as the call window popped onto the screen he wasted no time in answering the call.
His heart began to rattle against his ribcage as Papyrus' face appeared in the call window. He didn't look good…

"Hey Pap!" he said as he forced a comforting smile "How are you?"

"Miserable, if I'm honest…" Papyrus grumbled as he rubbed the side of his face "But I'm happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too, bro!" smiled Sans as tears began to form in his eye sockets "Is Alphys taking good care of you?"

"Yeah…" Papyrus smiled back "you don't need to worry, I'm okay!"

As his brother talked, Sans could hear an emotional crack in his voice. He was clearly putting on a brave face for him, trying in vain not to make him worry.

"Bro…it's okay…" Sans sighed "you don't need to do that…"

"No, really! I'm fine…" tears began to appear "I'm okay…"

Sans could see that his brother wanted to cry but was holding in his emotions. It killed him to see him bottle everything up, causing himself more upset than he was already feeling.

"C'mon Pap…it's me…" he sighed "You can just tell me if you miss me…"

Hearing this clearly got through to Papyrus, as he began to softly sob as soon as he heard those words.

"I…I'm sorry…" he spluttered as he wiped the tears from his eyes "of course I miss you…I just…don't want you to worry about me!"

Sans wanted nothing more than to reach through the screen and hug his brother.

"Of course I'm gonna worry about you, numb-skull…" Sans giggled softly "You're my little brother, it's my job to worry about you!"

"I want to come home…" Papyrus said sadly

"I know, buddy…but it's not forever… Sans said as he put on a comforting smile "Remember, you can call me any time you like, I'll ALWAYS answer. I promise."

As they talked, Sans could see that Papyrus was still in a great deal of pain. As he cried Sans could see the strain and weakness in his face indicating that this virus was still taking it's toll on his body. Though he wished he could talk with his brother forever, he decided it'd be better to cut the conversation short.

"Listen, buddy…" he smiled softly "It's almost morning and I'm willing to bet neither of us have gotten any sleep…maybe we'd better talk tomorrow?"

"Please…just a little longer?" Papyrus whimpered weakly

"Call me as soon as you wake up, okay? I'll answer, no matter what I'm doing or where I am. I promise!"

Hearing those words made Papyrus feel slightly better.

"Okay…" he sniffed

"Give the laptop to Alphys okay? I just need to talk to her real quick."

"Yeah…goodnight, Sans…love you, brother…"

"I love you too, Papy!" Sans smiled, his heart melting "Get some sleep, buddy."

With that, Papyrus handed the laptop he was using over to Alphys, who had been standing by the bed listening to the conversation. As Papyrus laid himself down to go to sleep, Alphys took the laptop into the next room, so as not to disturb the ill skeleton.

"Hi Sans." she smiled as she sat at her desk and her face came into the frame "You doing okay?"

"Just wanted to say thanks for taking care of him…" Sans smiled "Seriously, it means a lot…"

"It's no trouble at all! What are friends for?" she gasped "And I'll keep you posted on how he's doing! Want me to get him to call you tomorrow?"

"Yes please…"

"Okay! Go get some sleep. Goodnight Sans!"

"Goodnight Alphys…and thanks…"