One month after Tsuna had contacted the Varia, he and his friends went to visit Bel at the hospital again. The teenager's doctor had told them that Bel was still critical, trying to recover from septic shock - and now, they had to worry about the fact that the illness had done enough damage to cause his organs to stop working properly, bordering on failure.

The three younger males had taken their usual seats by Bel's side, not sure if Bel was awake or not - if he was, he was not acknowledging any of them. He was curled up into a ball on top of the blankets, his mouth hidden behind one of his hands that gripped tightly the blanket. Apart from the usual multitude of drips and IVs Bel had, there were two new, thick tubes connected to his arm, feeding back to a machine.

"What's that?" Yamamoto pointed to the bulky machine, his dark eyes soft.

"It's a dialysis machine," Tsutsumi explained. "It's cleaning all the bad stuff out of his blood."

"I thought that's what kidneys are for?" The youngest male tilted his head.

"His kidneys aren't functioning at the moment," the doctor explained. "Bel-kun is very sick and weak - he's dependent on many things to keep him going."

Gokudera sat on the edge of Bel's bed, running his hand through blond hair. He sighed as he looked at the doctor. "You said he's coming out of the shock last time, right? That he's showing improvement?"

"That's right." The doctor nodded.

"Does that mean he's out of the danger zone?" The silver-haired teenager looked down at Bel, wishing the other didn't hide his eyes - he wanted to know if Bel was awake or not.

"Well... He is, and he isn't. He's recovering from the shock, but if his organs shut down completely, there will be nothing we can do except keep him on life support. We're trying to keep his body from reaching that stage, and we can only hope that soon he'll get some strength back into his system."

"Does that machine hurt him?" The dark-haired teenager was as sweet as ever, frowning as he thought about Bel's well-being.

"It just makes him very sleepy." Tsutsumi smiled. "I think he's asleep now - he was awake when we were starting the procedure."

Yamamoto nodded, wishing there was something he could do to help.

Gokudera brushed hair out of Bel's face, finding that both of his eyes were closed tightly, sleeping. He let the bangs fall back into place as he moved his hand down the older male's body, feeling as if this was his fault.

"In good news, once - and if - he can function by himself again, and his appetite returns, we can look at letting him go home - he'll need someone to care for him, just in case. However, with how long he's been here, it's highly likely he's going to need physical therapy to help get strength back into his body."

As much as Gokudera wanted to be able to bring Bel back to his own apartment, he wasn't sure if he would be able to look after the blond - his patience was short, and he didn't have much medical experience. If he stuffed something up...

"We can do that," Tsuna volunteered. He looked at his two friends, seeing them nod in agreement.

"When he -"

"-Hayato...kun...?"

Everyone looked down at Bel, finding the older teenager was starting to stir. His hands reached out, gripping at the black fabric of Gokudera's pants, his head rising from the bed slowly. He was frowning, almost as if he wasn't entirely sure of what was going on.

"Bel?" Gokudera pulled his hands away from the blond, not entirely sure of why he did so.

"Where... Where am I...?" The younger males couldn't be sure because of the ventilator covering Bel's mouth, but the Varia Storm sounded genuinely confused, and a tad scared.

Yamamoto looked up to Tsutsumi at this, frowning. "Is he okay...?"

"It's normal in patients suffering from Sepsis," the doctor soothed. "Just soothe him."

Gokudera nodded, returning his hand to filthy blond locks. He patted the older teenager's head, not knowing what else to do.

"Hayato...kun..." Bel dropped his head back to the mattress heavily, his grip tightening on Gokudera's pants. He moaned softly, otherwise remaining quiet.

"Why's he moaning?" Gokudera bit his lip, greatly concerned - seeing Bel like this... He had never thought he'd see the day where Bel showed a weakness.

"He's still in a lot of pain." The dark-haired doctor scribbled on his clipboard, sparing a soft glance for the small group. "It may be a while before the pain recedes."

"How long until the shock goes away?" Tsuna asked, hoping Bel would be okay.

"Well, I'd give it maybe another week or two if nothing goes wrong. It was a rather severe infection to begin with, and there wasn't much we could do about it except give him antibiotics."

Bel whimpered as his frown grew. He shuddered as he felt a hand rest on his arm, but he soon tried to press closer to Gokudera, as if the silver-haired teenager was the only one who could bring him comfort.

"Please do keep in mind that just because he's showing signs of improvement doesn't mean things can't go wrong," the doctor said softly. "He could still go downhill pretty fast, so don't get your hopes up."

Tsuna and Yamamoto nodded while Gokudera just ran his hand over Bel's back, his other caressing golden locks.

"Gokudera-kun, I have to go home now," Tsuna said as he stood up. "Text me if anything happens."

"I'll come with you, Tsuna." Yamamoto followed his friend, stopping only to spare a glance at Bel and Gokudera - his heart was too big, and it hurt seeing this scene.

Gokudera just sat with Bel, eventually finding that a bony hand had somehow found his, slipping itself in to Gokudera's hold. Bel squeezed his hand, his chest rising and falling haphazardly as his body twitched every now and then.

"I'm here..." Gokudera squeezed back, helping Bel to rest his head on his lap. "I'm here..."

Bel, feeling safer and more comfortable than he had since he had been here, closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep. Gokudera stayed with him, all the while caressing the older male's body.