We are the ghouls of London // PHAN

•CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX•

"No. I refuse to do so."

"Jacky, you're the only nurse on the ward at the moment—"

"Can't possibly think why. They all probably fled as soon as they saw his bloody face approach us. I know if I wasn't stuck doing Trisha's paperwork, I would have fled too, pretending it was time for my coffee break."

Phil pressed his face into his free palm, sighing as he heard the nurse and, obviously, her boss squabbling over who had the task of looking after Dan whilst he was in this ward. Looking to his right at his occupied hand, he squeezed Dan's hand tightly, as if to tell him everything would be ok without needing to use words.

After Dan squeezed back, Phil made eye contact with Dan. Making an effort, he sent Dan a warm smile in Dan's direction. Dan sent one back to him, except his was a lot weaker but a lot more strained.

Phil felt immediately sorry for Dan. He couldn't put himself in the shoes for no one wanting to come and look after him whilst in the care of a hospital. For Dan however, these hospital walls probably seemed super familiar since he spent five months of his life trapped in this life after the ghoul attack he encountered.

"You know, my old ward is only two doors down from here," Dan spoke sullenly, "That bright, joyful, disgusting, depressing room is where I spent five months of my miserable life after some stupid ghoul decided to attack me. But now the nurse won't look after me because I hurt her fucking son—"

"Hurt her son—"

"Daniel Howell!" A male doctor walked in with a female doctor trailing in behind, "Nurse Deyes has been appointed to look after you whilst you spend your recovery in our care. Please, make yourself comfortable and if you have any issues, feel free to ring the bell to gain attention."

The male doctor left, leaving three people feeling awkward, "Hello Phil," the nurse first spoke up as she moved towards Dan's bed.

"Hello Mrs. Deyes," Phil replied with gritted teeth as he smiled at her, an unusual expression he hardly ever gave anyone, specially since he was always considered a 'sunshine' to most people.

"I see you got ... 'crushed by a kids playground slide'?" Nurse Deyes read out slowly.

"Yeah..." Dan sighed, "It-it collapsed..."

"Of course it did," Nurse Deyes sarcastically replied.

Dan blushed deeply and looked away from everyone, including Phil. He has his head pressed into his shoulder and looking down, as if he was isolating himself from everybody else around him whilst Alfie's mom seemed to do her best to bring him down to feel like this.

Was all of this because Dan landed Alfie to go into isolation for an entire week? Because if it was, Phil knew this was harsh and stupid as hell. She was a nurse and Dan was a student; why was she giving in so much effort to make Dan feel so low about himself and his self esteem? Did she want the sense of power over Dan, or was it really because she was a cold hearted bitch?

Phil had no idea what was going around in Alfie's mom's mind, but what he did know was that, whatever it was, it would definitely lead Dan to feeling negative about himself.

Nurse Deyes left the room after checking Dan's blood pressure and temperature, slamming the door behind her as she exited. Childish, Phil thought as he squeezed Dan's hand, which was now very cold, utter childish.

"Have you got to call your dad Phil?" Dan's voice spoke out. Phil sighed before nodding, "Yeah... you'd better text your mom too..."

Dan groaned aloud, "Why? Sending a text abroad to her will cost so much money though..."

"You're in hospital Dan, it's kinda important you tell her you're here," Phil persuaded as he stood up. He retrieved his expensive iPhone 7 out of his pocket and found his dads contact, "I'll just be outside if you need me Dan, ok?"

"Ok."

•••

Phil's dad was not at all happy once he heard the news that Dan was in hospital. He had made tea all ready when he had had the phone call from Phil. Apparently Adrian was scared; he hated the idea his brother was back in hospital.

He never told the rest of his friends Dan was in hospital again; the nurses has said he'd only need an overnight stay before he could go back home again. Dan had texted his mom backwards and forward, and soon came to the deal that as soon as Dan's mom was back in two days, Dan and Adrian had to go back to her.

Upon hearing the news, Phil was disappointed. He enjoyed all the company he had had in the house and, as selfish as it sounded, Phil didn't want it to ever leave him again. His mom had been a big impact on Phil's communication skills and how happy he always was and with his mom gone and his dad always at work, he had no one to share his skills with, since the house always seemed empty.

"Phil? You've zoned out," Dan waved his hand in front of Phil's face to get him out of his daze.

Dan still felt a bit sick and giddy from being unconscious earlier, but was feeling a lot better and had hardly anymore blood wanting to escape his body, something he was glad about. He could have sworn he was getting hungry just by the smell of iron in his own blood as it flowed on his skin in multiple different places.

"Oh... err... what?" Phil spoke quickly, shaking his head to probably rid of what he was thinking about.

Sighing, Dan made full eye contact with Phil, "What's going on in that complicated brain of yours Phil Lester?"

"Complicated? My brain is not complicated..."

"And my name's Barry Scott."

Phil chuckled, "It's just... this sounds so selfish..."

"It's not selfish, it's your opinion," Dan spoke, resting one of his hands on Phil's own, "It's ok."

Sighing again, Phil ran a hand through his rather messy hair, "Ok... i'll start again," he watched Dan nod before continuing, "It's just... in two days you will be leaving the comfort of my house. The thing is, when you were there, I knew you were safe, and even if Richard was dead, I knew you weren't in any danger. It'll... it'll be hard to watch you leave home Dan go back to your normal life because, quite frankly, I'll miss waking up to you everyday. At home, with my mom dead and Dad aways at work, it could be really lonely. But you and Adrian? You brought life back into the house, something I have honestly missed a great deal in the past and know I will miss when you leave in two days..."

Dan pulled Phil into a tight hug, not caring that it hurt his arm to do so. He loved his boyfriend; and he too knew it would be hard to let go of the best couple of days he has ever experienced. Despite every negative thing that had gone on in his life — the entire Alfie scenario, Richard beating up his younger brother, finding out Richard was a secret member of Sam Kassidy's group, Richard being shot — Phil had managed to allow Dan to forget all of that and focus on being happy, even though he was now in hospital with a nurse who hated him looking after him.

"I'll miss you too Phil, I really will."

"Really?"

"Yeah... I will... a lot."