Chapter 5- Well, I threw in some Phinabella for all you guys who asked…although, I was going to anyway. (-; Expect more of it later on…

There will be a little Ferbnessa later in the story, but not a whole ton. Sorry guys.

BTW, sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was going to, had the chapter written and everything, but it was my birthday, so my Mom basically forbade me from the computer all day while we celebrated. I got a pie in my face! Woo hoo! But you don't want to hear about that, you want to read the story.

Continue on, and enjoy! (Oh, I realize the title is the name of a book by Kelley Armstrong...I really reccomend it! I don't own the book...I mean, it's on my bookshelf, but... you know what I mean)

I hesitated, and then grabbed the doorknob and pushed open the door into the room.

CANDACE POV

Isabella and Jeremy both look up from where they are sitting next to Phineas' bed and give me brief smiles. Isabella has Phineas' left hand tightly wrapped in hers, and Jeremy is standing over both of them with a worried expression on his face.

"How is he?" I whisper. Jeremy comes over and hugs me lightly.

"He's doing OK. You want to be alone?"

I glance over towards Isabella, who has already half stood up from the chair. "Yeah. Can I?"

"Of course," Jeremy says. "Come on Isabella, let's go."

She stands reluctantly, and then leans over and kisses Phineas on the cheek. My eyebrows shoot up, and I glance over at Jeremy, who's struggling to hide a smile. Isabella leaves the room, and Jeremy looks back at me and winks. "Wonder if he'll remember that when he wakes up."

I smile and close the door behind him, and then turn and sit down in the chair Isabella has left behind. I take up Phineas' hand into mine, just as Isabella had done, and pause, wondering what to say. To fill the time, I look at his hand, and instantly regret it. It's covered in bruises and cuts, and I rub my thumb over them softly.

"Gosh, Phin," I murmur, "you've gotta be OK. I want you here so much. Ferb needs you here. You have got to get better, if not for me, than for him. He's in a pretty bad state bro, and could use your support right now."

I sigh, not knowing what else to say to him. It hurts me so much to see him this way…..I just can't stand it anymore. "I'm sorry, Phin. I-I gotta go. Please wake up soon. God, I want you to wake up soon."

Fighting back tears at seeing my brother like this, I squeeze his battered hand gently and stand, still holding it. I begin to leave the room, but something pulls me back.

Literally.

The pressure on my hand increases and I turn slowly to see Phineas pulling weakly on it, his eyes a bit disoriented, but open. He smiles slowly, wincing as he does.

"Is…is this soon enough Candace?" he asks, his voice hoarse.

My jaw goes slack and I'm at a loss for words. Then, my mouth cracks into a smile so wide that my face begins to hurt and I'm forced to try to restrain the grin.

I throw my arms around Phineas and hug him as gently as I can. I plant a kiss on his forehead, and he grimaces.

"Bleecch," he mutters, but his trademark smile is wide on his face. I ruffle his hair lightly, smiling. "I'm so glad you're OK, Phin! You had us so worried."

Phineas' smile fades slowly until it becomes a frown. "What-what happened?"

I blink in surprise. "You don't remember?"

Phineas' frown deepens. "Not really. Perry, Ferb and I stopped the Norm-bots, and then…..well, it's kind of a blur from there."

I gulp slowly, and sit down next to him on the bed, taking his hand back into mine. "You, Ferb, and Perry got hit by the alt-Dr.D's giant robot," I say softly, forcing myself to look my brother in the eye.

Phineas sits straight up in bed, yelping softly as the full number of his injuries take impact on his body. His frantic eyes meet mine, and for an instant, I'm afraid he's going to pass out.

"Are Ferb and Perry OK?"

I knew that would be his first question. I sigh, and turn, pulling my knee up onto the bed so that I'm facing Phineas completely. "Perry….Perry's OK. He has a broken tail, and his right wrist is broken, and he's obviously covered in cuts and bruises, but he's up and about, which is more than can be said for you."

Phineas chuckles softly. "Ouch. I bet that must hurt. What about Ferb? I bet he's already up and running around. He's probably annoyed that I'm being such a slow poke."

I look down at the floor, biting my lip so hard that I taste blood, and Phineas' laughter dies away.

"Candace?"

I raise my head slowly and something in my face makes Phineas go more deathly pale than he already is.

"Please tell me he's not-"

"No, no!" I interrupt. "He's alive."

I glance away as I say the next bit, but Phineas deserves to hear it, no matter how much I don't want to tell him. "For now."

"What?" His whisper is so soft, that I almost don't catch it. "For now? You mean he could…he could die? My brother could die?"

A small sigh escapes my lips and I nod reluctantly. "Yes, Phin. He could."

I jump in surprise as Phineas whips the covers off himself with his good hand, and quickly get off the bed as he swings his legs over the edge of the mattress. He grimaces when his left leg hits the ground but he says nothing, instead pulling himself up by the bedframe with his left hand. He lets go and wobbles precariously. I grab hold of his shoulder quickly to steady him, and he leans himself heavily on me. "OK. Let's go."

"Phineas, maybe you shouldn't-"

"Candace," he says in a voice I haven't heard him use since the tricycle incident, "he's my brother. I want to go see him." He looks up at me and says in a voice that would make a Popsicle (or Isabella) melt, "Please?"

I nod and haul him carefully into my arms, juggling him around a bit until I'm sure he'll be comfortable. As I'm attempting to get to the door without falling over, I see that Phineas has had his right hand tightly wrapped in gauze, and his leg has a crude, but seemingly functional splint on it that looks like it was made of a chair leg. Sure enough, as I finally struggle to the door, I spot a disheveled chair in the corner of the room, covered with a towel.

Dr. D did a pretty good job.

I find the doorknob with my fingertips and manage to open the door a crack, before kicking it open with my foot, almost whacking Buford and Baljeet in the process. "Oooh, sorry guys!" I cry, hoping I didn't actually hit them.

"No problem," Buford says, finally taking his eyes off the receipt in his hand. Baljeet looks up as well, and the shopping bags both boys are holding spill to the floor.

"Dinnerbell, you're alive!" Buford yelps. Baljeet elbows him quickly, and then looks up with an apologetic smile. "Glad you're up Phineas. Candace, we had some trouble finding rubbing alcohol. Apparently, tons of people have been coming in for antibiotics to treat the injuries they got from the Norm-bots. Sorry, we only got one bottle."

"We would have gotten more," Buford interrupts, "but we got mobbed by people on the way out."

I smile. "That's OK, guys. Thanks for trying anyway. You can just put the stuff you did get in the bathroom."

Before either can respond, I hear a voice from behind me shout "This is great!"

I turn to see Carl standing there, grinning from ear to ear. "What's great?"

"My first aid skills," says Dr. D, emerging from down the hall, wiping his hands on a towel. He comes closer, and I can see that he's smiling. "Ferb is doing OK right now. Not great…I still want to keep a close eye on him, but he's better than he was."

I sigh in relief, and then look at Phineas. He's quivering and staring at Dr. D in horror. I glance over at the scientist and realize that he has blood on his hands and lab coat, which he is now frantically trying to rub off, having seen Phineas' reaction.

"Are you sure he's OK?" Phineas whispers.

Dr. D gives him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure. Glad you're up, kid. Feeling any better?"

Phineas nods hesitantly. "OK," Dr. D says. "Well, I'm going to go whip something up for everyone to eat for dinner. Who wants to help?"

"Me!" cries Buford, and I blink, not having realized that he and Baljeet were still there. I roll my eyes as Buford picks up all 4 bags from the pharmacy and shoves them into the bathroom before eagerly before following Dr. D down the hall, dragging a protesting Baljeet behind him.

I turn back to Carl, shifting Phineas slightly in my arms. "So, what's great?"

"Oh, well, I got a hold of Vanessa and she'll be here in about an hour."

"That's awesome!" I say. I could really use an extra hand right now. I didn't really want to leave Dr. D to deal with those two, and I have no idea where Jeremy and Isabella are. I look back at Carl, ready to ask him if he would go help Dr. D with dinner, only to find that he's not there.

"Great," I mutter, and head down the hall to Ferb's door. I pause outside of it and look down at Phineas, eagerly straining in my arms. "Phineas, he-he's pretty messed up. Are you sure you want to see him right now?"

"Candace, he's my brother. Of course I want to see him."

"All right…" I say, reaching for the doorknob. A hand tugs at my t-shirt and I turn to see Isabella there. Her face lights up when she sees Phineas, but she manages to keep her attention on me for a few moments more.

"I think I'm ready to see him now, Candace." As I nod, she takes Phineas' hand in hers and smiles. "I'm glad you're OK."

"Yeah, me too. I mean, I'm glad you're OK," he stutters, and I smile. I open the door and jump in surprise as a tan and furry shape darts out of the room and tackles Isabella.

"Pinky? Pinky! Whoa, calm down boy, I'm fine!" Isabella giggles. Her eyes alight on the fedora perched atop the dog's head, and though her eyes widen slightly, she says nothing.

I chuckle, and push Isabella in front of me. I follow her into the room and set Phineas down carefully in the big easy chair by the bed. His mouth forms an "O" and his eyebrows scrunch in pain.

"Oh my gosh," he whispers as he lays his eyes on his brother for the first time.

Well, what did you think? I really wanted Phineas to wake up first, so he did!

Vanessa will be in the next chapter. Yup. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, so I'll say it now- Vanessa is just there as support, not because she loves Ferb. I like the Ferbnessa pairing, but it wouldn't work out with the idea I have in mind. Sorry guys! (There is Phinabella though)

Anyways, please R and R! Thanks to all who have! (PS, I don't own Phineas and Ferb)-=