Fight for your life

Part 28

James held Jake's hand tightly, leaning down to press a slow kiss to his lips, leaning his forehead against his for a second. "I will. I'll try," he promised, turning his head to kiss Jake's cheek while he whispered softly. "I love you. I'll be back soon," before backing away while he held Jake's hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it before he left the room. Heading down the hall to Ben's room, he looked at Cameron as Bex hurried away, unaware that she'd been there at all. Stepping into the room slowly, he looked from Ben to Danny and then to Andy. "Ben? I'm James..." he offered, feeling a little silly for introducing himself.

Cameron nodded slightly, walking Bex to the door. Heading back to the room, he swallowed hard before clearing his throat. "So um, the doctor suggests things like um, like photos of major events and stuff, like wedding pictures..." he offered, chewing at his lip while he looked to Danny.

Ben nodded slightly while he looked over Andy again. "Lanky fellow," he stated, mostly just making observations as though it would help any situation at all, and he was probably pretty lucky that they weren't the types to get offended easily or he'd have already had a price on his head. Looking up again when James entered, he cocked his head a little before looking to Danny for an explanation. Even in his current state, Danny was somehow still Ben's source of comfort. Reaching over, he grabbed for Danny's hand as more and more people made their appearances, lacing their fingers together tightly to try and keep his nerves to a minimum.

Jake smiled softly "I love you too, baby" yawning as he let his eyes close, pulling the covers up and over his arms. Sam bit nervously at his lower lip, eyeing the others in the room. He got up from his seat, heading toward the door. "I'll be back guys, I'm actually going to go check on Ben myself." He said as he headed down the hall to Ben's room. He slid inside, raising his hand "hey, Ben" he said softly as he took a spot next to Cameron.

Danny turned his head slightly, glancing at the guys in the room before nodding. "Well, first off...James is the drummer of our band. You and I are in a band with these three" he said, pointing at James, Cameron and Sam. He took a deep breath as he pulled out his phone, searching through his pictures he pulled up one from their wedding day. He had to take a moment as he looked at the picture, noting the smiles plastered across their faces. "I, uh, I actually have a picture of us on our wedding day" he said as he handed the phone to Ben, giving his hand a light squeeze.

Cameron glanced over when Sam came in, smiling softly as he felt instantly more relaxed than he had seconds before. Moving his arm slowly around Sam's waist, he slipped his hand into his back pocket, pulling him closer to press a kiss to the side of his head. Cheesy as it may have been, he nudged Sam's cheek with his nose gently, whispering quietly for only him to hear. "Missed you."

Jake looked on timidly, as James often did in uncomfortable situations, waiting for some sort of reaction, something like recognition that he logically knew wasn't going to happen. Andy leaned against the wall beside Danny, dropping his hand to his shoulder to squeeze gently, a simple sign of support and affection.

Ben looked around at the men in the room, then to Danny again. "A band? What kind of band? Are we good or do we just think we're the shit?" He questioned, taking the phone from Danny to look over the picture. While it all felt familiar, he still couldn't seem to place it. Tracing his fingers slowly over the screen, he looked back at Danny again, once more trying to lighten the mood. "Handsome fucker," he muttered, though he grinned crookedly. "I guess you're alright as well."

Sam grinned, leaning against Cameron's side "missed you too, baby" he said quietly, thankful to be near Cameron again, especially given the circumstances. His eyes traveled to Ben and Danny as he sighed softly, gripping tighter to Cameron. He couldn't imagine what Danny was going through then. Couldn't imagine how he was keeping it together so well. He wasn't sure if he was in that situation if he could be so calm.

Danny offered a small smile toward Andy before focusing his attention on his husband. "Well, we like to think we're a good band. We do have a lot of fans. So..." His voice trailed off for a second as he laughed slightly "sometimes I think we think we're better than we actually are though." He shrugged. He stepped a bit closer to the bed, looking at the picture with Ben. "Yeah, everyone was joking about how I actually looked decent that day. You on the other hand, you always look good" he said, winking at Ben.

Cameron honestly wasn't sure how any of them were handling this. It was a blow to all of them, but he couldn't imagine Danny's thought process through it all. He was, however, happy to hear that Ben mostly sounded like Ben with only a few exceptions. Looking from Danny to Sam, he leaned down, pressing a kiss to Sam's forehead.

Ben raised his eyebrows, circling his finger over his head. "Vagina gash and unrolled tampon beg to differ," he teased, looking over his arm as he pulled it out from under the blanket. Tracing his fingers over the skin slowly, he sighed quietly. "This is weird," he muttered, leaning his head back slowly while his eyes closed again. "So weird." He added, peeking around the room at the eyes on him. "You're all looking at me like you expect something, so... sorry, I guess." He muttered, biting at his lip nervously.

Sam shook his head as he looked up at Cameron, then back to Ben. "Hey, don't worry about us or what we want, Ben. All we really care about is you getting better. Okay?" He assured him.

Danny bit at his lower lip as he slowly ran his fingers through Ben's hair. "Sam's right," he started, glancing around the room at the others "this isn't about us, or being sorry because you don't remember shit just yet" he took a breath as he sat down in the chair next to the bed. "This is about you..."

Cameron nodded slightly, glancing at the floor. He was sure Ben was a little overwhelmed by all of this, and he looked up, tapping James' shoulder. "Maybe we should give them some time..." he suggested, nodding Andy toward the door before stepping out himself. James and Andy followed with waves and promises to be back when they were ready.

Ben watched as everyone left, and as Danny stood up to do the same, he grabbed his hand quickly. "Stay..." He requested, pulling his hand to get him back to his spot. "Please." He swallowed hard, looking around the suddenly empty room. "Please don't leave."