Bang and Burn ~ Dreamnotfound + Skephalo

Chapter 23

GUYS IM BACK OMG!!!

Thank you all so much for giving me the time I need! I appreciate every one of you guys so much for giving me the time I need to heal up. I didn't respond to very many of them, but I read each and every one. I was nearly brought to tears over how lovely these messages were. I couldn't be more thankful for all of the love and support I got. Now buckle up! These next few chapters are going to be quite the ride!!! 💕💕💕

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Zak was sleeping peacefully, wrapped up in his hospital blanket. Darryl was sitting in a chair right beside the bed. He had Zak's hand in his and had their laced fingers against his forehead. His eyes were tightly shut and he was gnawing at his bottom lip. Despite the surgery being a success, Darryl was still worried beyond belief. He didn't even look up when the door to the room opened.

George and Clay walked in together in silence, not having much to say. Clay scanned the room and noticed that Darryl and Zak were the only ones in there. "What happened to Vin and Dylan?"

Darryl lowered Zak's hand back down to the bed, gently pulling his hand away. He looks up at Clay with swollen eyes, breaking his heart in the process. Darryl looked so broken, yet so happy at the same time. "They went to get Zak some food he can eat for later. The doctors said that he has to be on a full fluid diet. It's just things like yogurt, soups, stuff like that." He laughed a quiet, dry laugh. "Zak was awake for a little bit. It wasn't for long, but he was up just enough to beg Vincent to grab him some pudding. He's such a child sometimes."

George grabs a chair from the wall and places it beside Darryl. He watched as he once again held Zak's hand, rubbing circles into the back of his hand. While George wasn't used to this level of affection between the two, it didn't feel awkward. It was as if things were always meant to be this way. "So, uh, he's going to be alright?"

"Yeah," Darryl whispers. "He's going to be just fine."

The door to the room opens once again as Vincent and Dylan step inside, carrying plastic bags full of stuff for Zak. The two were laughing together as they walked in, but promptly stopped when Darryl hushed them. Dylan walked over to Darryl and opened up his bag to show off what he had found. "Dude, we had way too much fun buying pudding. Did you know how many flavors of this shit there is?" He wasn't lying. In the bag was at least one of every flavor he could possibly get his hands on. He pulls out a package and tosses it to Clay. "That one is mine. If you touch it, I'll bite you," he threatens.

Clay catches the package and turns it around to read the name. "Chocolate Cinnamon Spice?"

"Yes, and I'm not sharing." Dylan reaches into the bag and tosses a package of pink and blue pudding cups to him. "I grabbed those for you anyway."

Clay reads the side of the package, then looks back at Dylan. "What the fuck is 'mermaid' flavor?"

Dylan snickers. "I don't know. Eat it and find out."

"Why wouldn't they put the actual flavor anywhere on the packaging?!" Clay asks as he turns it around. "This is so stupid!"

"Don't worry, it comes with mermaid tattoos too!" Dylan covers his mouth to muffle his laughter as Clay chucks the pudding back at him. He catches it and puts it back into the bag, doing what he could to compose himself.

Vincent opens up his bag. "We also got every flavor of jell-o we could find."

"Perfect." Zak's voice startled everyone, but in the best way possible. He slowly turns to Darryl, his eyes only half open. "Hey."

"Hey," Darryl giggles. "How are you feeling?"

Zak painfully pushes himself up his bed to get into a more upright position. "I'm ok at the moment. Everything hurts, but it could be worse." Zak looks at the bag of pudding in Dylan's hands, then back to Darryl. "Can I pretty, pretty please have some pudding?"