Part 5: Fever

***AN: Oh my gosh, I got twenty three reads [the last time i checked]!!! *screams in joy and does a little dance* Thanks so much, friends!! But pleasecommentandtell me your thoughts!!! Please please PLEASE!!! Or kik me. My kik is imago_butterfly .seriously guys, I have to know what you're thinking!!! And this is dedicated to Hannah_Lucy_ because she was the first one to follow me without me knowing her beforehand. Hope you enjoy :D and of course, I hope Pay and Kyra and everyone else I know/everyone else who's reading this enjoys it too!

Anyway...onto the story... Hope it isn't cliche...**

Dan's PoV!

My shoulder throbs dully when I wake up. Damn, I bet that's not a good sign... With a light groan, I roll over to Phil.

"Hey," I whisper, and I can't help but grin at him. "Hey, you awake?"

But he doesn't answer. Frowning, I sit up a bit. I shrug--he's just sleeping--and lean in to kiss his forehead. And that's when I first feel the heat coming off of him--and not the normal body heat.

Phil's the one who's good in situations like this, not me. He saved my life, patched me up when I hurt my shoulder. He's...he's the good one. Kind, happy, smart...and so goddamn beautiful. I'm...just me...just Dan. I--he can't die. I won't let him.

I press a hand to his forehead, then to his cheeks--he's burning up! Panicking, I prop him up against my chest, stroking his hair. Dammit, he was fine yesterday! Tired, yes, but so was I. And...well, he didn't eat a lot then too...but that's just him. He's considerate of me. And I love him so much for it; he's the first person who's ever actually cared about me...

His eyes flutter--those big soulful blue eyes. "D-Dan...?"

"Hey chipmunk," I smile weakly, relieved."You have a bit of a fever. How do you feel?"

"Tired." he mumbles, and his head droops in exhaustion. No, no, no...this is bad.

"Hey." I give him a little shake, and he opens one eye. "Are you cold? Hot? Hungry?"

"Tired." he insists. Then, "Hot too."

But-but he's shaking... Chills make him convulse slightly and, his face squinched up in uncomfort, he clings to my shirt. I stroke his hair as gentle as I can, my hand shaking. He'd be absolutely fine in the Capitol--but we're not there. We're in the arena.

I slide out from under him and bundle him up in sleeping bag. Then I go to our bag. God, we barely have supplies...I curse myself for this--all of this--and scrounge around for anything that might be of use to him right now. There's not much. I find our water bottle--relatively cold, thank god--the gauze, and miraculously some medicine.

Is it fever medicine? No, of course not: that'd be too easy. Am I afraid to give it to him? Yeah, I am. But I save it in case we get desperate. Or, if he gets worse.

I'm afraid I'm already desperate.

I wet the gauze and press it onto his face. He sneezes and jerks away, his jet-black hair duller looking...or is that just my imagination?

I talk to him all the while I'm trying to help him. Little trivial things to comfort both of us. I doubt he even knows, or if he does, cares.

"Okay now..." I'm saying to him and he's shivering still, but there's so much heat coming off of him that I know I have to do something. I vaguely remember my biology class when I was younger: if a person got too hot, something with their enzymes, blah blah blah...now I wish to God I had payed closer attention. Anyway, I ease him out of his shirt, blushing slightly (though he's in no shape to...well, to do anything).

It might help a little. I honestly can't tell.

After his shirt is off, he falls into a fitful sleep. I sit down close to him (though not close enough to give off any extra heat) and I make a decision. I remember Phil saying something last night--my heart clenches horribly.

I sigh. I don't particularly want to, but for chipmunk I'll do anything. I stand up and press a quick kiss to his forehead--still warm and sweaty--before I start walking.

I have to find Eva.

x-X-x

Miraculously, I do. It's later, though, and I'm deathly worried for Phil. I wonder if he got any better while I was gone, but I doubt it. It's late afternoon. Be nice, Dan, I command to myself, chewing on my chapped lips.

"Eva!" I call up, squinting at the skinny figure up in the tree. "Hey, I gotta talk to you!"

There's a pause. What if I'm wrong?! What if she couldn't care less about what happened to Phil, if he gets sick and dies, or not? I'm almost overcome by dread, by anxiety. But I pull on my best pokerface and tell myself she will. She's weak--I scoff slightly--like that.

But then again, Phil cares about everyone too: me, a messed-up abused gay guy from a broke outlying district; Eva, a girl who ultimately will die no matter what. And I care about Phil. Neither of us are weak.

She pokes her head out of the tree, looking down at me with a despising expression of purest hate. "Hey, Five," she sneers at me. "Your nice boyfriend finally leave you?"

I feel a ringing in my ears, but I swallow and bite my tongue. For Phil, I tell myself. "I need your help--"

"After you threatened to kill me? Oh sure. I'd be happy to, you douche. Just kill me now."

"It's Phil." I blurt. She pauses, her face clearing. I continue. "He said you wanted to be a doctor, that you know medicine. He's-he's really sick." Unwanted tears well in my dark eyes--dammit, why am I crying in front of her?! I hate myself: I don't want her pity, I-I want her to save Phil!

"Oh my god, are you crying?" she asks softly. She peers down at me with her good eye, her face actually softening. I wince.

"Just-just get down here and help me. Or else you'll regret it." I threaten weakly. She simply raises an eyebrow, but climbs down nimbly (I'm vaguely reminded of a black bear, with the way she grips the trunk). She jumps lightly on the ground.

"Okay. I'll help." she says quietly. "But not for you. You're still a dick."

I sniff and shrug. "Fair enough."

"...for Phil. He should win."

Then she looks at me suspiciously, as if I don't want the love of my life to get out of here alive. I raise my eyebrows. "Uh--that's the plan."

"Good." she pauses and gives a sigh. "Okay," she repeats, slinging a small bag over one shoulder. "Take me to where he is."

x-X-x

Finally, we walk through the thicket where I left Phil. For a minute I'm worried that he's...that he's dead...but no. He's still in the awful state that I left him.

Eva approaches him and lays a hand on his forehead; he doesn't respond. I chew my lips--god, why aren't they bleeding by now...?

Then she does something insane. She smiles.

"W-why are you smiling...?!" I say tightly. She looks up at me, still grinning.

"Don't worry, tough guy. I got a fever two days ago. I got some sponsor medicine too, and I still have it. I can give you some...if you ask nicely."

"Give it to him." I say immediately.

She raises her eyebrows. "It'll take awhile to have an effect."

"But it'll help him, right?" she nods. I cross my arms over my chest. "Then do it."

"Okay. Prop up his head." Gently, I do. She opens his mouth with two fingers and pours in some odd-colored goo. Phil starts to gag and my eyes widen but she waves a hand. "Your usual reaction to bad-tasting stuff. Relax and close his mouth."

I comply, taking his jaw and holding it shut. After a moment, I see his throat swallow the stuff down. Ignoring Eva, I pull him onto my lap and let him curl up there.

"What do we do now?" I ask finally, looking at her.

"Now we wait." she says with a sigh, and sits down next to me.

x-X-x

"Uh. Eva?"

"Mm?" she mumbles sleepily for a moment, before her eyes shoot open. "Is he okay? Did his fever break?!"

"No." I look down at my restless friend, still on my lap. "But...is it okay if he starts...hallucinating?"

Eva sighs. "Okay isn't the exact word I'd use. But if he's sweating it out then his body is trying to recover. And that's a good sign."

I looked down and stroked his hair again. Poor love...

She lays down and faces the other way. "I'm gonna go to sleep, okay?"

"But--"

"Wake me if he changes." she says softly, and then pauses. "Dan...you should get some sleep."

I purse my lips. "Not when he's like this, no."

She shrugs and lays back down.

x-X-x

Phil hallucinates a lot.

He talks out loud, feverish and incoherent. I wrap my arms around him in the dark, and the only way I can comfort both of us is by knowing he'll be better--hopefully much better--tomorrow...

He talks to me like I'm his...mum, someone named "Kate" (dull jealousy rises in the pit of my stomach, though I know it's stupid...just in case I'll ask him about it later, when he's better...), and he talks to me.

"Dan...?" he whispers weakly, flopped out on my lap. I stroke his hair with a surprisingly steady hand.

"Shh. I'm here. You're okay--I'm okay. Close your eyes, okay?"

"Bu' I'm not tired." he mumbles, his hazy blue eyes fixed on my dark ones. I smile a little, not sure if he sees me or not.

"You've been very sick. You need to sleep now, to feel better. Can you do that for me?"

He shifts and mumbles something I don't catch. Maybe he's already talking to someone else in his fever...I sigh and kiss his hair, before attempting to lying down without disturbing him.

In the dark and on the ground, I sigh again. All that matters is that Phil's all right. I can finally rest... He's all right...

"Dan?" a soft voice jerks me out of my sleepy thoughts. I jump slightly.

"Hmm...what?"

Eva rolls over to look at me, her good eye bright in the dim light. "You...you care for him. Don't you?"

I think about denying it, but the whole of the Capitol knows--sometimes I (stupidly) forget we're on live tv--so I guess it's too late. "So what if I do?" I snap, and she frowns.

"Why are you so defensive? I know it'll end badly, but I think it's sweet. As long as you treat him well." she adds firmly.

I smirk. "Just cuz I'm a dick to you does not mean I am to anyone else. Especially Phil." my face turns solemn. "I'd die a million times for him. No matter what."

She smiles sadly. "He'd do the same for you."

"I know. But I won't let him. He's winning the Forty-fourth Hunger Games." I look down and stroke his hair; he's fallen asleep, his eyelids twitching gently, and I smile bittersweetly. Eva watches me.

"Dan..."

"Huh?"

"How about a truce? For Phil?"

I look at her and give the hint of a twisted smile, before sliding my hand out from underneath Phil and offering it to her. "Deal."

Grinning, she shakes it heartily before curling up next to me. "Oh...can I call you Danny?"

"...no."

"Okay. Good night, Danny." she says sweetly with a soft sleepy sigh. I snort to myself, watching her fall asleep and hold Phil's hand. Gradually, throughout the night, his skin starts to cool down...

TBC, of course. I'll probably go back to Phil soon, but it was fun to write with the slight snark of Dan. sorry i haven't updated in awhile... don't forget to vote and comment, please! Hope you enjoyed!!