Ant woke with a start the next morning.

He still had his arms wrapped around Dec and cautiously peered at him to check he was still breathing.

Thankfully he was...just.

"Morning Decs" Ant whispered.

He sat up and removed his T shirt that was covering Dec,it was getting warm again now so Dec didn't need it.

Ant felt exhausted,no doubt from the emotion of the previous evening,his mind had been working overtime thinking about Dec as he drifted off to sleep and also when he woke up.

Thoughts of Dec now occupied his mind every moment of every day,wracking his brain as to what he could do to help him.

Ant glanced down at Dec and announced with a heavy heart "I don't know what to do Dec"

He decided to get himself something to eat and made his way to the pile of mangoes and avocados.

The avocados still weren't properly ripe,so he had yet another breakfast of mango and water.

It did give him an idea though,as he sat sucking the sweet,juicy flesh of the mango.

He quickly opened another one,scooping out the insides with his fingers,breaking it up as much as he could before placing the insides back into the half oval shell.

Then he began to pummel it into the peel with his knuckles until it was practically nothing but juice.

He carefully carried it back to the shelter and placed it down next to Decs bed.

"Got something for you Dec" Ant smiled.

He sat down at Decs head,pulling Dec up towards him,so that he was resting against his chest and out of the position he'd been laying in for days.

Ant was worried that moving Dec like this would actually finish him off,but he had to try something,if it didn't work then so be it,but at least he'd know he had given it his best shot.

After moving Decs head slightly over onto his left arm,Ant carefully picked up the mango shell and it's contents,determined not to spill a drop.

He slowly brought it up to Decs mouth and squeezed the shell slightly to make a slight spout.

"Come on Decs" Ant whispered "open up that mouth of yours that you never usually keep shut"

Of course there was no response from Dec as he lay lifeless in Ants arms,so Ant managed to gently prise his lips slightly apart with the shell,although he couldn't help but spill a bit of the juice in the process.

"Come on Dec" Ant encouraged "let's do this shall we?"

He slowly tipped a tiny bit of juice into Decs mouth,which immediately dribbled straight back out again,dripping down Decs chin.

Ant repositioned the two of them,so Dec was laying down more.

"Try again" he muttered to himself.

This time he managed to keep the liquid in Decs mouth,although he didn't know whether he'd actually be able to swallow it or not,or even if what he was attempting to do was even a good idea.

Dec began to make spluttering noises as the liquid slid down his throat.

"Decs" Ant said worriedly "try and swallow it pet"

Ant doubted any of that mouthful went down either,but he was determined to keep on trying,that was all he could do.

He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he'd let Dec die without at least trying something.

The third attempt seemed to be a little bit more successful,Dec didn't cough or splutter this time at least and there seemed to be a lot less dribbling.

"That's it Dec" Ant encouraged "tiny little sips"

Dec eyelids suddenly fluttered open and he stared up at Ant.

"Dec" Ant beamed "you're awake"

Dec had actually been awake since Ant had first tried to cajole him into drinking the mango juice,but was too ill and weak to respond.

He soon closed his eyes again,without saying a word or acknowledging Ants presence.

Ant was convinced that this was a positive sign at least,a very small sign,but it was there.

Dec had managed a few tiny sips of juice and opened his eyes very briefly,that was more than he'd done in the last few days anyway.

So Ant decided the best course of action was to try and get Dec to drink little and often,he was sure he'd heard somewhere that that was how you should treat someone for starvation.

It's not like he could do it any differently anyway,he didn't have a slap up meal to feed Dec after all.

So,Ant decided he would feed Dec a few sips of juice every half hour, hopefully being able to increase the amount gradually before introducing the avocados as he regained his strength.

'IF?' he regains his strength Ant thought to himself.

For the next couple of days,Ant stuck strictly to his routine,guessing roughly when the half hour intervals were up as his watch had stopped working long ago,he had enough mangoes and avocados piled up to last a good few days,so didn't need to worry about food shortage and he decided not to go fishing for a while as even going down to the sea meant he was too far away from Dec than he was comfortable with and for too long.

He tried to stay awake for as long as possible at night,so he could carry on feeding Dec,but tiredness soon got the better of him and he would crash out on the floor,snuggled up to Dec.

Thankfully his dedication to Dec started to pay off and Dec was now managing to stay awake for longer periods.

He said very little,just obligingly took the sips of juice that Ant offered,before resting again.

That was ok though,Ant thought.

Dec was conscious and not refusing food or water anymore and that was all that mattered right now...he wasn't going to die,he was going to be ok and get better,Ant was sure of that.

"Thank you" came a small voice,as Ant loyally held Dec in his arms,feeding him the juice one day.

"Decs?" Ant grinned,delighted "speak to me pet,how are you feeling?"

Ant was over the moon at those two little words that had come from Decs mouth,it meant so much just to hear his voice after so long.

Ant had actually been yearning so much to hear it,not only because it hopefully meant that Dec was recovering,but because Ant had missed it,missed him.

The last few days had been devastatingly lonely for Ant with only himself and his thoughts for company,he hadn't even seen Piccolo for a day or two.

Ant often drifted into dark thoughts when he was alone,but was determined not to go down that road this time,that wouldn't do him or Dec any good,so focussed all his attention on Dec.

"Hurts" Dec whispered.

"What hurts pal?" Ant asked concerned.

"Throat" Dec winced.

"Have some more juice" Ant encouraged,tipping the pointed end of the mango shell up slightly at Decs lips "it'll soothe it"

Dec took a small sip and coughed weakly.

"Water" he groaned.

Ant quickly grabbed the bottle of water from behind him.

"Not too much" Ant advised as Dec slowly sipped the fluid "don't want you throwing it up again"

Ant couldn't help but smile down at Dec,the relief he felt was indescribable.

"Want to sit up for a bit?" Ant asked.

Dec nodded in response,so Ant gently manoeuvred him into position,leaning his back against his own chest and wrapping his loving arms around him.

As Ant held Decs skeletal torso,he buried his face into his hair,it didn't smell great,but he didn't care,this was all he'd wanted and prayed for over the last couple of days.

They stayed like that for what seemed like the longest time,sat in silence,with Ant rocking back and forth ever so slightly,until he realised that he had lulled Dec back to sleep.

He gently laid him back down on the blanket,kissed him softly on the forehead,before deciding it was now safe to leave Dec long enough to go fishing.

Over the next few days,Dec gradually regained his strength,obligingly eating and drinking anything that Ant put in front of him.

Dec was delighted about the discovery of the avocados,he loved them and it gave him a little taste of home where he would have avocado on toast for breakfast on a rare lazy Sunday.

Once Dec was up and about again,he made sure to help Ant with the chores in any way he could,which Ant gratefully appreciated.

The fact of the matter was that Dec was actually feeling incredibly guilty about what he'd done and what he'd put Ant through and as they sat staring out to sea,watching the sun go down,he only had one thing on his mind that he needed to say.

"I'm sorry Ant" he whispered.

"What for?" Ant smiled.

"For being a selfish idiot" Dec hung his head.

"You're not a selfish idiot Decs" Ant assured him "you were just desperate,I get that...I've been there,but let's not do it again eh?"

Ant nudged him playfully in the sides.

"I won't" Dec assured him "I never wanted to die,I don't know what I was thinking,that's twice you've brought me back from the brink of death"

"Three times if you count when the shark tried to have you for lunch" Ant grinned.

"Yeah" Dec giggled "three times then,but that's it now,no more stupid stunts,I promise"

"Good" Ant smiled and placed a comforting arm around Decs shoulder.

"I never want to lose you Decs" Ant sighed "I couldn't bear it"

"I know" Dec nodded "I guess we've both done some pretty stupid things since we've been here"

Ant just nodded in agreement,he knew Dec was referring to the day when he had almost drowned himself and they both now knew that they couldn't keep on doing that stuff.

"We're done with all that now Dec" Ant smiled "and for however long we're here,we'll manage...we'll cope,neither of us wants to be without the other,so now it's just about surviving until we're rescued,no more stupid stunts...agreed?"

"Agreed" Dec nodded,while staring down at his hands and fiddling with his fingers.

"Shit" he suddenly stated.

"What?" Ant asked surprised "what's wrong?"

"My wedding ring" Dec exclaimed "it's gone"

"Oh" Ant replied "it must have fallen off,it'll be too big since you've lost so much weight"

"It's a bad omen" Dec cried,jumping to his feet "I have to find it"

"It's not a bad omen" Ant laughed "don't be daft,it's probably in the shelter somewhere,come on,I'll help you look"

They scoured the sand as they retraced their steps back to the shelter,but there was no sign of the small piece of jewellery on the sand.

"Hello Piccolo" Ant smiled at the small animal who was loitering around the shelter entrance "where have you been hiding?haven't seen you for a while"

"Never mind that" Dec frowned "I've got to find this bloody ring"

"We will" Ant assured him,as the two of them knelt down on the blanket and started carefully patting the ground.

"It's not here" Dec frowned after a good half hour of searching the tiny hut "where the hell is it?"

They both instinctively stared over to Piccolo who was still casually hanging around.

"He wouldn't have...?" Dec asked in horror "would he?"

"No" Ant replied "why would he eat your wedding ring?"

"Well,animals eat weird things all the time" Dec pointed out "they don't need a reason,remember when Rocky tried to eat a straw?I only just managed to prise it from his little jaws in time"

"Oh yeah,I remember that" Ant mused "and Hurley ate a fifty pence piece once,had to take him to the vet,that was fun waiting for that to pass through him,thankfully it didn't do any damage,that was all we were worried about"

"I remember" Dec nodded "that's it then..."

"That bloody animal has only gone and eaten my wedding ring!"