He was shaking as he put down the telephone receiver. The words that the consultant had said echoed round and round his brain. ' Mr. Jones is very ill. We've managed to resuscitate him, but he is very weak.' He felt as though it was his fault that Daniel had crashed the car, after all, if he hadn't have caused him so much anger, he wouldn't have gone out at all. He tried not to cry again as he got dressed and picked up his own car keys from the living room table.

"Could I have your name please?" The receptionist asked in an offhand manner as Darren stepped nervously towards the hospital reception desk.

"Yeah, My name is Darren Hayes. I'm here to see Daniel Jones." He said as the man typed into the computer without looking up.

"What relation are you to Mr. Jones, please?" The man asked, again without even looking at Darren.

"Im his partner," Darren replied, wondering how the receptionist would take it.

This time the man did look up. He grinned and looked Darren up and down, ridiculing him.

Darren fidgeted slightly; he could see that the receptionist was staring at the hickey on his neck. He pulled up the collar of his leather jacket and wrapped it further around him.

"I'm sorry, I didnt quite catch that." The man said in a taunting way, trying hard not to laugh.

Darren stared him straight in the eyes.

"Just let me see my boyfriend." He said, plainly and clearly.

The man muffled his chuckles and told him to take a seat.

Pretty soon, Darren saw the consultant coming towards him.

"Mr. Hayes I presume?" He greeted.

 Darren nodded.

"Im Mr. Michaels, I spoke to you on the phone. Would you like to come through to see Daniel?" The consultant asked.

Darren nodded.

"How is he?" He asked as they walked through the hospital.

Mr. Michaels guided him into a small office and shut the door. He wasn't ready to answer that question publicly.

"Mr. Hayes, Im not sure how to put this. Daniel is very sick, it may not seem so at first, but nobody can be sure how much time he has."

Tears pricked like pins into the back of Darren's eyes, but he made sure that he didnt release them. He merely nodded and then gestured for them to leave the office.

Darren was the sort of man that was comfortable with crying in front of loved ones, but felt that crying in front of strangers was a sign of weakness. He blinked the tears away and gulped.

He felt so numb that he feared that he would be unable to speak when he saw Daniel. He was lying on a hospital bed in a large resuscitation room. The consultant signalled for the nurse to leave the room and it was soon just the two of them.

Darren's footsteps echoed around the room as he strode carefully towards Daniel.

He gasped sadly as he looked down on his partner. He was so weak and pale, except for a huge scar running almost all the way across his forehead. He could hold the tears back no longer. They welled up in his eyes before bursting out and trickling sadly down his cheeks. He bent down and hugged him, Daniel hugged back, but his arms were very weak and they seemed to hardly touch Darren. Darren sobbed, this felt nothing like the strong man that had held him so tightly on the sofa some hours before.

The hug parted and Darren sat down on a chair, which he moved close to Daniel's bedside.

"Danny, can I explain about..." Darren trailed off.

"No, Ive got some things that I needed to say to you." Daniel interrupted. "I don't know how much time I have to say this."

"Yeah, the nurse could be back in a minute." Darren agreed.

Deep down, Darren knew that Daniel meant what he said in another context, but it was a context that he couldn't bear thinking about.

"Im sorry." Daniel said suddenly.

"But Danny, why are you sorry? I mean..." Once again Darren was interrupted.

"Shhhhhhh let me say this." Daniel butted in.

Darren once again nodded and tried hard not to speak.

"I'm sorry that I got mad and stormed out on you like that. You were hurting and the least I could have done would've been to hold you. I'm sorry if you felt that I forced you into something that you weren't ready for, but it was never my intention. I thought that you would tell me to stop if I overstepped the mark. I would never dump you for saying no to me; it would be stupid to end a beautiful relationship over something like that. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I love you Dazza." Daniel said, sincerity in his eyes all the way through.

Darren stared open mouthed, he'd never heard his partner say as much as that or pour his heart out in such a way. The last thing he said astounded him the most, it was scary and exciting all at the same time.

"I love you too." He replied quickly, he didn't even plan to say it; the words just flowed from his mouth. It was true love.

He took a deep breath.

"Danny, while you were gone I had a think and I think I know why I was so upset earlier. Thinking about what we did, looking back on it, I don't regret it. It's just that it was much like what happened between Felicity and I. Her and I moved far too fast and thats what ruined the marriage, among other things. Like I said to you a long time ago, I know now that I'm Bi, but at the time I wasn't sure. I suppose I was just scared that our relationship would fizzle out too, but then I realised, we are soul mates." Darren said with the same sincerity that Daniel had shown minutes before.

With that, Darren stood up and leaned down towards Daniel before kissing him passionately on the lips. He kissed with confidence and varied the pressure he put on his lover's lips. He gently slipped his tongue into Daniel's mouth and explored it gently, Daniel followed suit and they could almost feel fireworks as their tongues danced and collided.

"Whoa! That was one hell of a kiss, Dazza." Daniel exclaimed as their lips finally parted.

Darren smiled coyly as he sat down.

"You are one hell of a bloke and you deserve a kiss like that." Darren finally replied with a warm, loving smile.

Daniel smiled weakly; he had suddenly come over quite tired.

"Just as you deserve that." Daniel added, eyeing the love bite that he had given Darren hours before.

Darren grinned and placed his hand over it, savouring the memory of how good it had felt.

"The receptionist was quite cruel when I told him that you are my partner. It hurt a little." Darren confided, with a sigh.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Sorry to say it Dazza, but some people are just small-minded. You might as well get used to that now." Daniel replied, while at the same time looking at him sympathetically.

There was a silence.

Daniel remembered when he was like Darren. He remembered how awkward and embarrassing it would be to be introduced as someone's boyfriend, or have to explain friends of friends why he never had a girlfriend. He didn't feel awkward or embarrassed anymore, however. He'd got used to dating men and pecks on the cheek in public, he didn't ever give the small-minded bullies a second glance. Darren would soon be like that.

"You should've flirted with him, maybe thrown in a wink or two and blown a few kisses, that'd have scared him." Daniel joked, breaking the silence.