wake up, phil - [phan]

{ 37 } - Aware

PJ'S POV

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"I'm so worried about him."

"We need to find him."

"Where should we look first?"

All three of us have each other a similar blank look. None of us had a single idea as to how we looked for Dan. None of us had a plan of any kind. But we all knew for certain that we had to be quick, and that the pressure was on because we all knew Dan was fast to do stupid things. We had to intervene before he did a single thing.

"What will he do anyway?" said Chris.

I glanced at my shoes, realising that none of us wanted to answer or think about the possible outcomes to that question. It was too devastating; we had come so close to everything going back to normal, and now that had all be snatched away from us, from Dan, and now from Phil.

Suddenly, our attention was diverted from the situation when the sound of a high-pitched sneeze erupted from the beginning of the corridor that lead to the hospital rooms. Sarah approached the entrance to the corridor to see who was there, and shock fell onto her face.

"Phil!"

"Oh!"

Chris and I followed Sarah to see Phil shivering in his thin blue cotton hospital gown. He looked surprised, staring at Sarah worriedly as if he was scared she was going to shout at him.

"Phil! You really shouldn't be-"

"Yes, Sarah I know, I'm sorry, please don't be cross. I was just curious as to what was going on, and you looked upset when you came into my room earlier... I just wanted to check everything was okay-"

"Phil, there is no need to worry yourself so much. Everything is fine. In fact, I was just on my way to bring Chris and PJ to visit you."

"Sarah." said Phil, his tone of voice a bit harsher than before.

"Yes?"

"Sarah, I'm not stupid. I know what's going on and I don't understand why you didn't tell me before. I can help you find Dan! I'm his bestest friend and I know him better than anyone else. You're right, he does do stupid things. But I think I might know places where we can look to find him. You could have just asked me, being worried about Dan won't affect my health, or put me back in a coma. I can help."

"Of course," said Chris. "Phil knows Dan better than all of us - why didn't we ask him before?"

Sarah nodded and faced Phil.

"Phil, you need to tell us where you think Dan may have gone."

We all watched Phil, and he responded pretty quickly.

"Well, the first reasonable place to look for him would be the flat."

"Let's go now then." I say. Looking expectedly at Sarah and Chris as they now and turn in the directon of the door.

"Should I get dressed?"

Sarah and Chris both look back at Phil.

"Why?" asks Chris.

"We're going to look for Dan, aren't we?"

"We?"

"Yes! I'm here to help you, remember?"

"No, Phil, we really can't afford for you to be out and about, not in your current state."

Phil looked crossly at Sarah. "But you said I could help!"

"You already have, by telling us where to look first; the flat."

"Please let me come with you... How will you find the flat?"

"Phil," I sigh, doing my classic PJ eye-rolling at Phil. "I've been best friends with you and Dan for years now, you'd think I would know where you both live by now, right?"

"But-"

"Phil, please. It's for your own good."

Phil's shoulders slumped and he looked the the floor, and a few moments of silence passed.

Suddenly, he lifted up his chin defiantly and rushed towards the revolving doors, which Chris stood directly in front of.

"Phil!"

Chris reacted quickly and rushed at Phil, pushing him back by his shoulders, and a struggle between the two boys commenced.

"Phil..." Chris grunted as he put all of his weight up against Phil.

Both boys were fighting, Phil using his sharp and boney shoulder to muscle his way past Chris, but Chris using his arms to block him from going anywhere.

"Chris! Please!"

"No Phil!"

I suddenly charged towards Chris and Phil, diverting the fight entirely. I yanked Phil by the shoulders away from Chris, and then lifted his struggling body into the air and thrust him over his shoulder. He was surprisingly light, but then I remembered how little he must have eaten over the last month. As I started making my way to Phil's hospital room, Phil could do nothing but struggle relentlessly and shout as he clawed at my back, whimpering and pleading.

As I entered his hospital room, using my elbow to open the door, I set him down on the floor. He glared back at me and Chris and Sarah when they came into the room behind me.

"Phil. Don't be like that, it's for your own good. We'll find Dan, don't you worry."

Phil sighed and turned on his heel, as all three of us watched him climb into the narrow hospital bed. He settled back against the pillows and closed his eyes, pullin the covers up to his chin.

"Phil." said Sarah as she approached the bed, leaning across it. "Phil, if we don't find Dan, my name isn't Sarah Rachel Hadley."

"Is that your real name?"

"Yes."

"So you'll find him?"

"Yes."

"And bring him back here so I can see him again?"

"Of course."

"Alright."

As Phil closed his eyes, Sarah, Chris and myself all tiptoed out of the quietly, Sarah shutting the door behind us.

"Let's go." said Chris.

We go into the parking lot and I stop the three of us.

"How do we get there?"

Sarah grinned.

"I'm sure they won't mind us borrowing an ambulance."

"But-"

I was cut off when Chris dragged me towards the nearest ambulance, gleaming red and white in the weak sun. We clambered in, Chris catching his shirt in the door slightly as he's got in.

Sarah climbed into the seat at the wheel, and started the engine with a key that seemed as though she had conjoured out of thin air. She slipped it into the ignition and the engine stuttered to life.

Sarah carefully manouvered the ambulance so we were facing the barrier to leave, and I heard Chris let out a shaky sigh. The ambulance started moving forward, and I turned around in my seat to poke my head out to the window, looking back at the hospital.

That was when I saw the tall, slender shape of a six foot tall man with black hair, fully dressed and running for his life towards the hospital barriers and towards us as we move further and further away.

But I don't say a thing to Sarah or Chris.

As we drive through the streets of London, Sarah occasionally blaring the sirens if other vehicles got in the way, I watch the people passing by, all taking things for granted, all living everything normally. None of them are aware that anything could happen to them, just like this whole situation with Dan and Phil.

Dan, Phil, Chris, myself, and most likely Sarah too, had no idea that this time in our lives would occur. But here we are, two boys in an ambulance with a nurse as a driver, on the way to hopefully save a guy named Dan Howell's life. And maybe his best friend, Phil Lester, too.

We were never aware.

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