Dave's eyes fluttered slightly before snapping open. His gaze flicked around the room, only to reveal that his hospital room was empty and drab as ever. No one was here with him and that upset him. No Rose, no Jade... no John...

He shook his head and settled down into his bed. He felt like shit. Everything hurt and was sore. All he wanted to do now was to get up and run around. Or strife it out on the roof like he used to with Bro. Either way, he couldn't because he was plugged into a million and one machines, all beeping and dripping and whirring away. Okay, well not a million. More like five machines. Dave stared absent mindedly down at the needles dripping IV fluid into his wrist. It was honestly kind of gross. He sighed. He had only been awake for a minute and already he was bored out of his mind. Woo. Fucking. Hoo.

Maybe there was a remote somewhere so he could turn on the wall mounted TV? Yeah, there was one on the table next to him. Dave reached over feebly, just barely being able to snatch it off of the table top. He turned on the TV and proceeded to flip through the channels. The channels were as drab as the room. Finally, Dave just decided to sleep. Only, it wasn't really the good kind of sleep; it was more like the kind of sleep he would get if he closed his eyes for a while on the Metro Bus, or if he simply rested his eyes for a bit. Either way, he was still bored.

Dave probed his thoughts in the silence that seeped into his bones. He wondered where John was at this point in time. It made him a bit sad to know that John wasn't by his side, silently cheering him on. But then again, that meant that John was worrying over him, and that was the last thing Dave wanted John to do. Dave sighed, sticking annoyance on top of the growing pile of conflicting emotions.

A knock sounded at the hospital room door and Dave closed his eyes. He heard the door swing open and at least two pairs of footsteps approach his bedside.

"...should have woken up by now."

"Why hasn't he?" A familiar voice. John.

"We don't know."

Silence.

"Is there something wrong with his brain?"

"No, the MRI and x-ray came out clean."

Silence again.

"Look, kid. If you want my own opinion, sitting here worrying about it isn't going to help you. You should go home and get a good night's rest before you end up like this guy. He'll be fine."

Retreating footsteps and then the sound of a door closing.

Dave heard John shuffle towards the chair by his bedside and plop down into it. He heaved a heavy sigh before settling down into the chair. After a few minutes of heavy silence, Dave opened his eyes and slightly turned his head towards John. He watched the nervous wreck of a boy sit uncomfortably in rumpled clothes and abnormally messy hair. His eyes had thick, dark circles under them and above all, John looked excruciatingly tired. He looked miserable and worried. Dave immediately began to feel bad for wishing John was with him when he woke up. He just wanted for John to go home and sleep.

Dave inhaled sharply as he watched John from the corner of his eye. He was grateful that he still had his shades on. John sat more attentively, hoping for a response or anything really.

Dave twitched his fingers and curled and uncurled his toes methodically. He heaved a breath and slowly pushed himself up. He cleared his throat, trying to remove some of the mucus that had built up there.

"Hey," his voice was below a whisper and almost sounded like a hiss. It was clear that Dave had been asleep for a very long time.

John rushed forward and hugged Dave. Dave was startled, but after a moment he wrapped his arms around John's shaking form. John's voice was broken and jagged, "They—They said... you wouldn't wake up." He sobbed, "They... They... you're not dead!" He swallowed thickly.

Dave could feel his shirt become moist with John's tears. "We were all so worried."—He sobbed a few times—"Dave I-"

"Shh" Dave hugged him closer, "Dude, it's okay. Shh."

John smiled into Dave's hospital gown, "I know." He coughed.

They stayed like that for a long time. And during that time, Dave hoped that John hadn't noticed his heart monitors beeping twofold.