You're Never Alone

Chapter 20

Word Count: 2266

The next couple days are uneventful besides planning on how to fight back against the king. Only PJ and Adrian know of Dan's condition and thankfully Phil is still unaware. One morning in the middle of the week, Dan gets ready and notices that the poison is now half way up his upper arm, the black veins intricately weaving and crossing under his pale skin. He sighs as he pulls some clothes on and heads downstairs to let Phil sleep in. Halfway down, a sharp pain in his chest causes him to wince and hold a hand to his chest for a moment. He goes into the kitchen and grabs some food, setting is down as he notices Adrian and PJ working at the table. He goes to the sink for some water and the orange sky streams in the room from the window.

As he grabs a glass another sharp pain in his chest makes his wince. He sets the glass down next to the sink and leans against the counter, looking outside the window above the counter as he waits for the pain to settle. That's when Adrian takes notice of Dan.

"Are you alright, Dan?" he asks from behind and Dan nods as he turns around to look at his brother. Adrian gives him a look of disbelief and Dan adds a smile to convince him. "If you say so."

Dan finally fills up his water and takes a drink before yet another sharp pain, worse than the previous ones, squeezes his chest. This one makes him dizzy and Dan has to set his glass down to avoid dropping it before placing his hands on each side of the sink to lean against them to stable himself. Adrian and PJ keep on eye on him from behind just in case. It's only moments before the next pain and this one makes Dan have a coughing fit.

He holds a hand to his mouth and when he stops coughing, he pulls his hand away to see his hand has blood on it. It's a sign that the poison has internally started to affect his lungs.

"Fuck this poison," Dan mutters. PJ and Adrian look up and Dan holds up his hand to show them making them both gasp slightly.

"Oh my god, Dan," PJ says as Dan washes his hands and Dan sighs. He sits at the table and sets his head down on the table with a small thud. Adrian comfortingly rubs Dan's shoulder and Dan smiles slightly.

He sits up as Adrian pulls his hand away and shakes his head. "What the hell are we going to do?" Dan asks quietly but none of them have an answer. "I'm going to be dead before we can kill the king."

"You're not going to die. I won't let you," Adrian tells him and Dan smiles again. "You're going to have to tell the rebels if we're going to get that cure before you run out of time. We have to move the plan to kill the king up or put it on the back burner if we're going to save you."

Dan nods. "Okay we will just not right now. The plan is almost finished and I don't want this to get in the way of it."

PJ looks at Dan with a frown. "Dan, you're basically a rebel ever since you saved us all in the palace. You are part of us and we have to save our people," PJ explains. "Telling everyone is the only way we'll be able to cure you. That includes telling Phil."

"No I can't," Dan immediately objects but PJ doesn't budge.

"Dan, listen to me," PJ says and Dan stops talking. "You can't protect him from the truth forever. No matter what way you tell him, he will be upset but that's to be expected. Don't make him find out if you die."

The three of them work on the plan for a while as everyone wakes up including Phil who sits with them to help. Dan helps majorly today to finish up the plan which somewhat surprises Phil because Dan has previously avoided helping them. Dan thankfully doesn't have a coughing fit again but that's just purely by luck.

Later that afternoon, they receive a message from the king via the news. He tells them that he will find them and that he won't stop coming for them until they're all dead. The room is filled with talking as the tv is shut off. PJ also receives news from the inside that the king is planning on coming for them in five days which sets the amount of time they have left to get the cure. Dan, PJ, and Adrian all make eye contact and they know that they have to tell the rebels about the poison tonight. They have no choice.