Again, I should warn you that there's some suicidal thoughts in this chapter.

Papyrus has stayed in the hospital for four days now. One reason was that since he didn't have a home, it was the only place he COULD stay. Another reason was because he couldn't bring himself to leave Sans alone for very long. He talked to his brother every day, he would often make up stories or sometimes tell him jokes. And while Sans never responded, it still felt rewarding just talking to him.

It was another day in Snowdin, and Papyrus had gotten out of bed. He slowly put on his outfit (which someone was nice enough to wash, he assumed it was Dr. Puff) and made his way over to Sans' room. He spoke in an unusually quiet tone. "Good morning, dear brother."

"..."

"I'm sorry I don't have a lot to say this time around," Papyrus said as he grabbed his brother's hand. "Though perhaps I could try to heal you, again. Would that be OK?"

"..."

"All right, here we go!"

Once again, Papyrus used healing magic in an attempt wake up Sans, but as expected, the green magic was flowing out of his chest. Papyrus let out a deep sigh, resting his head in his hands. "Seriously, what am I going to do with you?"

"..."

He looked over at the Magic Scanner, he saw that his brother's magic was still low...and yet, it was slightly higher then it was several days ago. In fact, his HP was at 0.5, which was quite the improvement. He hoped that eventually, he would wake up again. However, Dr. Puff said that anything could go wrong with him at any time. He could develop an immunity from the medicine, or the Soul Sickness could get even worse then it already was. But regardless, Papyrus felt that Sans was strong enough to fight off the illness.

The door suddenly opened, Papyrus turned his head to see Dogaressa standing at the door.

"So how have you been?" she asked.

"I've been doing fine," Papyrus replied. "Dr. Puff said that my ribs were getting better, too."

"Well that's nice to hear," Dogaressa said, happily. "Anyways, you haven't stepped out of this hospital since you got here...So I thought that maybe you'd like to go for a walk?"

"Um..." Papyrus gave Dogaressa a strange look. "You're...not going to put a leash on me, are you?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Dogaressa said, blushing. "I just wanted to ask if you'd like to walk through Snowdin. A-and besides, who's ever heard of a dog walking a skeleton on a leash?"

"That DOES sound silly, doesn't it?" Papyrus asked, chuckling. He looked down at Sans with a worried glance. "Still, I don't know if Sans will be OK on his own."

"I know what you mean," Dogaressa replied. "But you haven't left the hospital since you got here, so I thought you'd like to see what Snowdin was like."

Papyrus placed a hand on his jaw, he appeared to be deep in thought. Seeing this, Dogaressa patted his skull. "Well...if you'd rather stay here, then I suppose that's fine."

"...Actually," Papyrus began to smile. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to walk for a little bit."

"Oh, great!" Dogaressa said, wagging her tail. "If we're lucky, I could finally introduce you to my husband!"

"Won't that be fun~?" Papyrus said, excitedly. He looked down at his brother and gently patted his skull. "And maybe when you wake up, I'll be able to show you around, as well!"

"..."

Papyrus' smile faltered, he gently ran his fingers over Sans' skull and spoke in a more gentle tone. "I promise I won't be gone long, OK?"

With that said, Papyrus began to leave the room, following Dogaressa outside. Dr. Puff wasn't at the front desk like she usually was, she must've been cooking for the other patients.

"Shouldn't we say something to Dr. Puff before leaving?"

Dogaressa shook her head. "I'm sure she won't mind as long as you come back."

"If you say so..."

When Papyrus stepped out of the hospital, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Almost every single building and tree was covered in festive Gyftmas lights, and the trees here were actually green rather then grey like he was used to seeing. When Papyrus looked up, he saw that the snow was falling from a large fissure on the ceiling, which was sealed off thanksto the barrier. But regardless, the town looked cozy and welcoming.

"You mean to tell me that you actually LIVE here?" Papyrus asked. Dogaressa nodded. "It's small, but very cozy once you get used to it."

"I can see that," Papyrus replied. He began following Dogaressa through town, occasionally receiving curious looks from other monsters. Though he thought that this was expected, since these monsters probably haven't seen any other skeleton besides Mono.

The duo eventually stopped in front of a restaurant. At first, Papyrus was expecting something nice and fancy, but was promptly disappointed when he smelled the greasy food inside. He saw a group of rabbits speaking in a booth, as well as a drunk werewolf sleeping at one of the tables. Aside from that, there weren't a lot of people here.

"That's disappointing," Dogaressa said, "I thought it would've been break time, by now!"

"Oh yeah," Papyrus said, looking up at Dogaressa. "Weren't you supposed to be patrolling for humans, today?"

"Yes, but I asked Undyne if I could show you around, since you might be staying here for a while."

"Hm...I suppose you're right about that," Papyrus replied. The thought of going to back to either Waterfall or New Home hadn't crossed his mind, but as long as Sans was still here, he had a good reason to stay in Snowdin. After all, there was no way he would abandon his brother in an unfamiliar town.

"Well, how about we get something to eat first?" Dogaressa asked as she walked over to the bar. Papyrus sat down next to her. He saw that a fire monster was standing behind the counter. It was a little surprising to see, since most fire monsters preferred to live in Hotland. But Papyrus wasn't one to talk, he was sure that this monster has his reasons.

"All right, I'd like to order one hamburger," Dogaressa said, happily. The fire monster gave her a polite nod before looking down at Papyrus. The young skeleton looked down at the counter to avoid eye contact. "Um...can I order a glass of milk, please?"

The fire monster didn't say anything as he quietly walked into the fire exit. Papyrus looked up at Dogaressa, curiously. "He's very quiet, isn't he?"

"Who, Grillby?" Dogaressa let out a chuckle. "He CAN talk, but he prefers not to."

"Huh..." Papyrus rested his hand on his cheek bone, "Sounds like someone I used to know."

"Anyways, has Sans gotten any better since he got here?"

"Well, his magic's coming back to him," Papyrus began to frown, "Granted, it's a slow process, but it's coming back nonetheless!"

"Well that's good to hear," Dogaressa replied. She pulled her hood down and started shaking the melted snow off of her fur. "If things go well, then I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, again!"

Papyrus nodded, a hint of uncertainty was in his voice. "Yeah...I'm sure he will."

Eventually, Grillby came back to the duo, carrying a burger and a glass of milk. Once he placed them on the counter, Dogaressa began to wolf down her burger. Meanwhile, Papyrus looked around nervously. He began to quietly drink his milk. Admittedly, this place looked like it was much more suited for his brother then himself.

He couldn't help but wonder how Sans was doing...hopefully he would wake up by the time Papyrus got back.

Sans couldn't tell where he was...His mind felt foggy, his body felt completely numb.

Was he still alive? Was he in purgatory? He couldn't tell, he was surrounded by darkness. He tried to speak, but he barely made a sound. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't obey. He knew he was weak, but he was never THIS weak.

Once again, Sans tried to move, but he could only one of his fingers. He tried to open his eye sockets, but they felt like they were glued shut. The more he struggled to move, the more he panicked until suddenly...he began to feel magic slipping through his rib cage. As this happened, pain started to erupt in his chest. To say it was unbearable would be an understatement. He wanted to cry out to someone, hoping that they would put him out of his misery. With each passing second, the pain would get worse and worse. The pain had gotten so bad that eventually, he had lost consciousness, again. If he wasn't dead before, this would probably kill him this time.

Dr. Puff stepped out of the kitchen, she was carrying bowls of soup upstairs for her patients. Her eyes were very puffy due to the lack of sleep, but she didn't mind as long as she could help other monsters become healthy, again.

Her ears perked up as she heard a faint whimper coming from Sans' room. She placed the tray on a nearby side table and opened the door. "Did you wake up, already?"

Puff's jaw dropped as she saw magic rapidly leaving Sans' chest, his face was scrunched up in agony. She raced over to Sans and placed her paws over his chest, pouring whatever healing magic she could give to him. She knew that Soul Sickness could be fatal, especially to someone so frail. Once everything had calmed down, Dr. Puff looked down at Sans. She stopped the magic from leaking for now, but it was only a matter of minutes before it happened, again.

She noticed that the IV bag next to him was almost empty. She wasn't entirely sure what happened, or if Sans was awake or not...but she certainly didn't want him to have another relapse. She gently lifted her paws off of his chest. "Let's just get you a new IV bag, all right?"

She rushed out of the room and ran downstairs. The quicker she was, the better. She knew she would have to tell Papyrus what happened. Hopefully, he takes it well.

Once they were finished with Grillby's, Papyrus followed Dogaressa to the library at the end of town. The sign at the top spelled "Librarby", he couldn't help but wonder why it was like that in the first place.

"Now, if you ever have any questions, the library can help you with just about anything." Dogaressa began to wag her tail, "Not only that, they also have a section on joke books, too."

"Er...That sounds nice, but what if you can't read very well?" Papyrus replied, scratching his skull.

"Well, I'm sure the librarian could help you find something if you just ask."

"That's a relief," Papyrus said happily. "Usually I have to have Sans read everything to me."

Near the librarby was an old, abandoned house. Compared to the rest of Snowdin, the house didn't have any lights or decorations. He looked at Dogaressa with a curious gaze. "Does anybody live here?"

Dogaressa shook her head. "That house has been empty for over a year now, hence why it doesn't have any decorations."

"Oh, so the decorated houses are all occupied?" Papyrus asked. Dogaressa replied with a nod. "That's how they usually are."

"Wowie, I'm learning so much out here~!"

Dogaressa let out a light chuckle as she grabbed Papyrus' hand, leading him to the other side of town like a mother leading a small puppy. He was lead to another building, he saw there were two entrances on each side.

"Where are we now?" Papyrus asked.

"Well, the door to the left leads to the shop," Dogaressa said, pointing to the door. "And the door on the right," she pointed at the other door, "Leads to the inn. It'd be great if you want to stay for a night, but I think you'd be better off asking one of us to take you in, instead."

"Um...I'm perfectly fine with staying at the hospital for now," Papyrus replied, rubbing the back of his skull. "But that's awfully nice of you to offer, thank you."

Dogaressa patted the young skeleton on the head. "Of course! I'm happy to help out a poor puppy in need."

Papyrus bid Dogaressa farewell, he began to make his way back to the hospital. Puff must've been worried sick about him.

When Papyrus came back to the hospital, he saw Dr. Puff was napping at the front desk. The poor dog, she was clearly overworked. He walked over to Puff and gently shook her shoulder. "Excuse me, Doctor? Are you all right?"

"Hm?" Dr. Puff started to wake up, she sat up slowly and started rubbing her eyes. "I'm all right, I'm just exhausted."

"I can see that," Papyrus replied with a hint of concern. "I hope you're not over-working yourself."

"I've been fine," Puff replied as she began to yawn, "I'm just a little short-staffed for the time-being."

"Oh..." Papyrus began to frown, be quickly began to change the subject. "S-so how's my brother? Is he OK?"

Dr. Puff began to frown. "He's all right now, but earlier...let's just say that he had a bit of an episode."

"Oh god!" Papyrus said with a horrified look on his face. "H-he hasn't fallen down yet, has he?"

"I said he was fine," Dr. Puff replied, clearly annoyed. "At any rate, you should go see him for yourself."

"I will, thank you!"

Papyrus made his way upstairs, he walked into Sans' room while trying to keep a quiet tone. "So I've heard that you had some trouble while I was gone." He made his way over to the chair and sat down next to his brother's bed. He looked up at the Magic Scanner, he saw that his brother's HP had been reduced to 0.00001. Seeing this almost made him cringe. Still, Papyrus tried to stay positive for his brother's sake.

"So today, I got to spend some time with one of the Royal Guard Dogs," Papyrus said calmly. "She got to show me around Snowdin...she even told me where we could find the shop, the inn, the library, and the restaurant," Papyrus lowered his non-existent eyebrows, "although it seems like you'd like it more then I would."

He saw one of Sans' fingers twitch. He always like to believe that Sans heard him when he did that, or at least he partially heard him. Papyrus gave his brother a warm smile as he gently squeezed his brother's hand. "I know things look tough right now, but please...keep fighting for me, OK?"

Papyrus continued to sit there in silence, he gently ran his thumb over his brother's hand. He wanted to show Sans what Snowdin was like, but until then, he would have to wait for his brother to wake up.

"...keep fighting for me, OK?"

...Was that Papyrus' voice he had just heard? And if it was, what did he mean by "keep fighting?"

Sans tried moving, once again...So far, he could only move his fingers at least somewhat. Papyrus sounded so distant, like he was miles away from where Sans was. He was mildly confused when he felt someone holding his hand. But in a way, he sort of took comfort from it. He tried to wrap his fingers around what was holding his hand, but nothing happened.

He wished he could talk, or be able to open his eye sockets to see who was there. But despite being helpless, he felt safe. Even if he wasn't sure if Papyrus was there or not, he was happy to know that someone was with him.

...strangely, Sans began to hear another voice. It didn't sound as distant as Papyrus', but he couldn't help but wonder who it was. Strangely...it sounded familiar.

"Keep fighting, my child...it's not your time to fall down yet. After all, Papyrus needs you as much as you need him."

Oooooh...spooky!

Don't worry, I'll put up the next chapter as soon as possible.