*The next day when they get to the hospital and Lucas is fast asleep as he was yet again continuously woken u during the night for tests and check ups. All seems to be going amazingly well and no one can believe how fast he's improving. About 10 minutes after they arrive Lucas wakes up almost as if he could sense them there even though they were on their best and quietest behaviour*

"Deccy" he says with a big smile and Declan gives him a big hug

"Heya little man"

"car. Deccy" Lucas says trying to say more words. The lack of speech is being caused by the swelling on the brain and should return to normal in time but Declan throws himself in to teaching Lucas more words with the flash cards he spent hours working on.

"What's this Lucas?" Declan says holding up a picture of a dragon

"D…D…DDDD" Lucas says with effort.

"Dragon" Declan says pronouncing it gently and slowly.

"Ja-gun"

"Nearly!" Brendan says smiling encouragingly

"Dr-ah-gun" Ste says helping with his phonics. They know he knows this word as he loves his stories to have dragons in but it's still a struggle.

"Drag-on. Dragon. Dragon."

"Well done!" everyone says applauding and Lucas' little cheeks flush with pride.

Declan spends another 10 minutes teaching him a few more words but after a while Lucas is clearly exhausted so Declan gives him a kiss on the forehead and tells him they'll do more the next day.

Just before they leave Brendan goes to the nurse and asks if Lucas is capable of eating solids. She said that so long as he was carefully monitored then yes he could try a little bit of the cake made for him. Brendan opens it up and shows the cake to Lucas and Ste and then Brendan reads the message out.

"It says get well soon Lucas"

"mmm" Lucas says with bright eyes

Ste very carefully breaks the cupcake into small pieces and feeds them to Lucas. He has difficulty at first and dribbles a little looking embarrassed but everyone pretends not to have noticed.

"You enjoying that cake?" Paddy asks

"mmm"

"Paddy did the writing and I decorated it with sweeties didn't I daddy? And I chose all your favourites!"

"Yes you did sweetheart, we can't wait for you to come home Lucas my boy."

A little while later when Brendan takes Ste and the kids back home Lucas begins to cry thinking he's going to be left alone but Brendan kisses his cheek and pinky promises him that he'll be back extra fast. The sooner Lucas can go home and recover the better but first he has a lot to do including physiotherapy for his leg.

Brendan returns in double quick time with a little bag. He opens it and shows the contents to Lucas. He's brought Lucas' shark teddy that he got on holiday, some comfy pyjamas and a few books and a colouring pad and pencils for when he's ready to give it a go.

Brendan reads books all into the night and when he's run out he's makes stories up until Lucas falls asleep with his hand on Brendan's. Later when Brendan goes to sleep he lays on the camp bed next to Lucas' bed and continues holding his hand so that Lucas knows he's still there.

*At home and Ste and the kids have a take away tea and watch a DVD before having an early night as they're all so understandably exhausted.*

*Over the next few days Declan teaches Lucas more and more words and soon he's saying sentences. It takes a little time but now Lucas can communicate more than just 3-4 words. They receive some good news too. Lucas is making great progress in physiotherapy and the swelling in his brain has gone down a significant amount.*

"Home soon" Lucas says one day playing with a puzzle with Leah.

"Soon Lucas but the nurses have to get you better first don't they daddy?"

"Indeed they do but it shouldn't be too much longer" Ste says smiling.

"Miss school and swimming"

"Well my boy I'm sure swimming is good for your arms and legs and once they give us the all clear then we'll all go swimming ok?" Brendan says making Lucas smile

"Swim soon?"

"Very soon"

"If you can't swim daddy Brendan will teach you again won't you Daddy?" Leah says

"Of course we will, it'll be like on holiday all over again"

"Daddy and Daddy Brendan?" Lucas says slowly

"Yes?" they both reply

"Love…you"

"Love you too little man."

"and me"

Everyone has brought Lucas so many presents his area is packed. Parents from the school visit with their children and give him balloons and teddy bears and sweets and grapes and magazines. Leah sits on the end of his bed mindlessly eating Lucas' sweets but he's got so many and misses Leah so much he doesn't mind. After all if they were both back home she'd often take one or two of his ssweets and it makes him feel more normal.

"Lucas?" Leah says dribbling a bit of sweet slurp

"Yeah?"

"Can I have a hug? I've missed you so much and I've got school tomorrow and everyone will ask about you and I'll miss you so much"

"Here" Lucas says patting next to him and Leah carefully wriggles up the bed and sits next to him and puts her arm around him. "School…ok"

"You think?"

"Yes"

"I can come and see you after school can't I? this weekend just dragged on so it felt like I'd never go back and daddy said we didn't have to go back today but we have to tomorrow"

"after. Yes!" Lucas says clearly telling Leah that she MUST visit him after school.

*The next day and Brendan and the kids are all up early and Brendan is in mega super dad mode. He makes the kids breakfast, showers and gets dressed whilst they eat, helps Leah tie her shoes and do up her hair (and checks her clothes are the right way around), Declan and Paddy get changed and Brendan whisks them all to school before going to the bakery to collect the delivery. There's still a few days until the opening but Brendan doesn't think he can do it alone, he resolve that he'll ask Ste for advice later but once he's put everything away he goes home, picks up a bag of clothes for Ste which he nearly left behind in the rush of sending the kids to school, rushes to the shops to buy Lucas some more things and some food for him and Ste before getting to the hospital and all before 11am*

*When Brendan gets in to where Lucas is he makes Ste have something to eat and sees that Lucas has left his breakfast to congeal on the tray that he's pushed away from himself.*

"What's the matter champ?"

"Yuck!"

"They don't want him eating anymore sweets or fruit as he's not eating the hospital" Ste explains

"Can't say I blame the poor kid look at this rubbish" Brendan says spooning what was supposed to be porridge but it just ran right off the spoon and tasted bland as hell, even Brendan pulled a face when he tried a bit. Ok it being cold certainly didn't help but he was hoping to persuade Lucas into eating something but luckily Lunch is only a half hour away so Brendan resolves that he'll get Lucas to eat something no matter what.

*When lunch is served Brendan takes a little look and it looks a little bit better than the rubbish they tried giving him for breakfast but it's only a tiny bit better by the fact it had a tiny amount of flavour and it actually had some texture too.*

"Come on Lucas you like…stew?" Brendan says actually unsure if that's what it's meant to be but when he tries to feed Lucas he clamps his mouth shut and refuses to eat so Brendan goes and has a very long word with the nurses about home food and the quality of their food and "it's not in the times of Oliver so stop feeding my boy gruel" The nurses don't often allow home food for children but as Lucas is in a private ward (this won't cause any problems with other children wanting home food too) and he also needs the strength for physiotherapy as he's too tired and hungry to do much the nurse agrees that so long as either Mr Brady or Mr Brady sit with him and keep an eye on him for every single mouthful of food then he can have food brought in from home. Luckily Brendan has a spare sandwich in his bag and it's Lucas' favourite (egg and cress) so he and Ste sit there monitoring Lucas as he yums a whole sandwich and the cupcake from the day before and 3 whole grapes. He's so full after all this that he almost immediately has a little sleep.