Author's Notes: Keep 'em rolling, right? Anyway, prompt given to me by weisy, who gave me : Mud, Rain, Problems

It's raining again.

Don sits in the hospital room, watching Danny's chest move up and down as the machines around him keep him alive. Four white walls, enclosing on Don, cutting him off from the rest of the world because
Danny's been shot and it's 'touch and go', or that's what the doctor said at least. The room's silent except for the beeping of the heart monitor and the rain pattering against the window. Don's eyes are intent on Danny's face, which is pale from the loss of blood. Danny matches the walls.

Don's having problems remembering what happened. He doesn't remember walking to the apartment building. He doesn't remember hearing a terrifying pop and turning to see the suspect running out the
doors, Danny on the ground, bleeding. He doesn't remember calling for back-up and an EMU. He does remember all the blood, coating his hands he applied pressure to stop the sticky, deep red fluid, remembers the frantic, scared look in Danny's eyes, remembers telling Danny to hold on, helps on the way, please, please don't die, I need you.

Don's also having problems with leaving the room or letting anyone else into the room without him there. Aiden's tried twice to get him to leave, tried to drag him home, get him to sleep and eat, but there's no way he's leaving Danny. The doc said Danny would wake up at anytime, and Don needs to be there when it happens.

There's other problems too, like his temper (he's yelled at Mac twice already) and how it seems that he can't keep food down, but he doesn't care. He'll apologize later and eat later and sleep later, after Danny's okay and they can do it together.

There's mud on his pants. It reminds him that he hasn't changed since this morning, since before they went into that godforsaken building, where outside he slipped and managed to cake both knees with thick, blackish-brown mud. Danny had laughed at him, calling him a klutz, but it was okay and it was funny and Don had smiled and laughed. Up until the blind terror overcame him after seeing all the blood.

Don shakes his head and brushes a piece of the mud on his knee. It also reminds him of the time he and Danny and some of the boys had been playing basketball one Saturday. It was all good until it started
raining and the other guys decided that it wasn't fun to play in the rain. Don, however, thought it was a great idea because a wet Danny is one of his favorite kinds of Danny. They played a bit more
themselves until it started to thunder and then walked off through the park. Danny had started it. He shoved Don, so Don retaliated by pushing him back. It continued until Don ended up sitting in a big mud
puddle. And it ended with both of them wrestling in said mud puddle, both soaked, coated in mud, and undeniably happy. They were sick for two weeks after. "Totally worth it." Danny had said with a smile.

It's still raining. Don decides to talk to Danny. Even if Danny can't hear him. Don reaches out and takes Danny's hand in his.

"Danny." He croaks. Don clears his throat and starts again. "Danny... you listen to me. You're not allowed to die on me. You...you've come to far to just die. We've come to far. And I... I need you. More than anything. I think your insanity keeps me sane." Don leans closer and shuts his eyes. "What I mean is.. I mean, I love you, Messer, so you can't die. You're not allowed, dammit."

The hands in his squeezes and Don opens his eyes to see Danny watching him through squinted eyes. Don smiles and squeezes back, knowing full well Danny heard him.

Outside, it stops raining.