"D'you remember when I used to stay the night at yours?" Lofty's voice carried to the bed across from him where Max lay. They'd been relieved of the incessant beeping a couple of days ago when the doctors had agreed it was safe to move them back onto the paediatrics ward.

It was back to the pink elephant-based interior design.

"That was always so good… One day we're gonna do face masks again Loft" Max smiled weakly, his face brightening at the giggle that arose from the other bed.

"And… You can play the ukulele again?"

"Of course! What's a sleepover without Luke the Uke?"

"I think Dylan and David would let you stay over…" Lofty mused.

"And my grandma will always love you Lofty, she still stands by you being allowed over anytime"

"You'd want me over?"

"Well… You are still my boyfriend?"

"Of course!"

"Then that's my answer"

Lofty smiled and reached a hand tentatively across to Max's bed, and upon feeling his boyfriend's hand pawing at his blanket, Max took it gently, suddenly cocking his head to the door leading out to the corridor.

"Want to go for a wander?"

"What?!" Lofty couldn't help but laugh as the typical cheeky tone made reappearance in his boyfriend's voice.

"A wander… I heard there's a pretty insane roof garden somewhere..."

"But… we're…"

"We must be dying, am I right?" Max chuckled, sitting up carefully and dropping Lofty's hand as he pulled his hoodie from his locker.

Lofty smiled. This was the Max he knew, and he'd missed it. "We must be" he joked back, sitting up too and flicking his curls back as Max dropped his hoodie over Lofty's small frame.

"It suits you" He smiled, reaching out to crush a curl from Lofty's cheek gently. "You look awesome by the way"

"My hair hasn't had a wash in eight days, during which I've had a tissue infection, been pumped with a truckload of anaesthetic and hibernated so much National Geographic might confuse me with a grizzly bear." Lofty joked sarcastically. He looked down, fiddling with the hospital bracelets wrapped loosely around his left wrist.

"Well by those standards, you're even more stunning" Max grinned at him and placed a hand beneath his chin, lifting it so their eyes met. He leant forward, taking Lofty's hand again and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, watching in adoration as Lofty's eyes fluttered shut.

As he pulled away, he helped Lofty to stand and quickly, but carefully, guided him off the ward; they only just made it through the door as the nurse turned to face it.

Muffled sniggers arose and were choked back down between the two boys as they sped down the corridor and to a fire exit, closing it swiftly behind them. It opened up onto some fire escape stairs, towering two floors above ground level, where the car park for the ED could be seen. Paramedics ran across the ambulance parking spot like little green ants and Lofty caught his breath.

"I'm a bit scared about this Max…" He admitted.

Max's eyes flicked up to meet Lofty's brown ones. "Me too…" He whispered, looking up a little. Drizzle coursed down like a falling chain, unbreaking. "D'you think we should go back?"

"I'm not that scared!" Lofty giggled softly, squeezing Max's hand to comfort him. Max giggled back, and gently helped Lofty up the stairs.

When they finally reached the roof garden, admittedly only after one flight of stairs, they collapsed against one another, and the drizzle slowly faded away as the clouds broke apart. Beams of sunlight flooded down between the cracks and glowed along the streams of rainwater and Max leant up against a wooden bench, Lofty in his arms.

"Sky looks nice" Lofty whispered, enjoying the relaxation of finally being back with Max; this was the feeling he'd craved for over half a year and he wasn't going to waste it now.

"It does" Max whispered back, his face pressed into his boyfriend's hair, "I'm not gonna let anyone move you, okay?"

"Thank you" Lofty turned and pressed his face into Max's chest and Max held him as a sob escaped his throat. "I-I'm so s-sorry" He stuttered, hiccoughing. Max rubbed circles into his back reassuringly and rocked him slightly, waiting for Lofty's sobs to die down chokingly as his grip on Max's shirt relaxed.

"You're okay, you're okay" He whispered, softly.

"Th-nk you" Lofty whispered, sniffing as he leant against Max gently for support, painfully aware of both his chest and Max's bandaged stab-wound.

"I can see a hippo" Max announced, reaching one arm up towards the sky. Lofty turned his head a little and giggled thickly at the cloud, tinged pink at the edges by the fading sun.

"It's an elephant…It's got a nose" Lofty whispered back, sniffing again.

"Nonsense, hippos have noses too" Max spoke with a fake sincerity in his voice and Lofty giggled, burying his face back into Max's chest.

"Not long ones" He drew out the "s" in a young child's voice, giggling softly.

"Don't discriminate… It's a pretty hippo" Max replied and Lofty sat up again, wiping the tearstains from his cheeks.

"Sorry"

"What for? It can be an elephant if you like darling…"

"'M sorry for being pathetic" Lofty whispered, unable to make eye contact with his boyfriend and instead staring at a very interesting pinpoint in the distance. If he concentrated hard enough, maybe his attempts to make out the pub sign would make him disappear into his head.

"You're not."

Lofty span back to real life, his head unable to fixate on the sign any longer as he took Max's words in. "Sorry…"

"No need to apologise… I can see a – Fuck!"

"Fuck is a verb Maxie" Lofty mumbled, not moving his gaze from his boyfriend's shoulder.

"No fuck fuck fuck, get up, shit!"

"W-what is it?"

Max pointed silently, holding Lofty by the elbow. A man stood, silhouetted against the sunset on the other side of the roof.

"Shit." Lofty whispered, frozen in shock.