phantom // phan

its not real

~~Dan's POV~~

I  open my eyes. 

I'm alive?

Except I don't really understand what I'm seeing. The taxi I was in.  The driver being loaded into an ambulance. 

I walk closer to the scene. 

That's me. 

In the car. 

Dead.

But I'm here. Alive. But there I'm not. They've dragged me from the remains of the car. 

My neck is twisted into an impossible position, and my face and arms are covered in cuts from the glass. 

They put me on a stretcher and cover my head with a sheet.

~~~

After they've loaded me into the ambulance, another taxi pulls up. 

The passenger that stepped out was Phil.

Tears were streaming down his face. I've seen him upset, but not this upset. I try and run up to him. Yell his name. 

He can't hear me. 

Phil talks to the officials from behind the police tape. 

"Dan. Dan Howell. Where is he? Is he okay?"

The officer shook his head. "I'm- I'm sorry."

Phil shook his head. "No." He started breathing heavily. "No. No!" 

He fell to the ground. 

I didn't want to watch this. I didn't want it to be real. It wasn't real.

This isn't real. 

I kneeled on the ground in front of Phil. I couldn't cry. I couldn't talk to him. 

I could only see his pain. And do absolutely nothing about it. 

I lightly placed my hands on Phil's shoulders and kissed him on the head. 

He blinked, then shook his head.

"This isn't real." he said. "We were going to tell them, Danny. We were going to tell them about us."  he took a deep breath. "We never got married and we never adopted children and we never grew old together." He smiled through the tears as if imagining the scene. 

Then he was taken away by an officer for questioning.

I watched him walk away.