Harry drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, turning away from the doctor and placing one hand over his mouth, looking over at the cot that held his son.

"Harry we need to get him onto medication as quickly as possible" the doctor told him and Harry nodded, glancing at Nikki as he did so "Maybe you should wake Nikki and.."

"No" Harry interrupted in a whisper as the doctor followed him over to the cot "No it will just make it harder on her to see our baby taken away. I'll tell her when she wakes up"

"Once he is on his medication he will be able to come back in here. We will also put him on a drip to replace the fluid he lost while he wasn't feeding" the doctor assured Harry who nodded and leant down to stroke his son's head gently, pressing two soft kisses to his forehead before moving away and letting the doctor push the cot slightly towards the door. "I will talk to you both tomorrow about what else is going on. You should sleep"

"Will he be okay?" Harry asked tearfully and the doctor sighed "The truth. Please"

"All cases are different, but in terms of meningitis Donovan's was caught when there were multiple symptoms"

"Are you saying that he won't be okay?" Harry choked out and the doctor sighed again.

"I will talk to you both tomorrow, get some rest" he said softly.

Harry watched forlornly as his son was wheeled out of the room and he let out a loud sob, placing his hand over his mouth to stifle the noise as tears slipped down his face.


"Harry"

Harry was woken some hours later by Nikki's scared voice as she nudged him. He opened his eyes and saw her sitting up slightly in the bed that they were on, looking over his shoulder.

"Harry where's Donny?"

"Nikki they.." Harry sat up, his sleepiness gone as he turned Nikki's head so she was looking at him "They had to take him and put him on medication"

"Why?" Nikki asked hysterically "Why? What's wrong with my baby?"

"He's..he's got meningitis Nikki"

"No" Nikki shook her head and wiped her face "No he hasn't" she told Harry desperately, tears falling down her face as she turned to climb out of the bed "It's just a rash and.."

"Nikki" Harry reached over and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her back down into the bed and holding her down as she cried "The test results came back a few hours ago and they confirmed it. They've taken him to put him on medication and we should be getting him back very soon, I promise my love"

"Will he be alright?" Nikki whispered tearfully as she snuggled up to Harry and gained comfort from his close presence, tears still pouring down her face at the thought of losing her baby "Harry?"

"They don't know" Harry admitted and Nikki let out a small moan of distress "Dr John told me that we'd caught it when there were a few symptoms.."

"So?" Nikki interrupted and looked up at him "What does that mean? He's going to.."

"No" Harry shook his head, knowing what Nikki was thinking "No he's not"

"But you hear...of..babies and...children...dying...of meningitis...because it was...caught too...late" she sobbed, tears falling down her face as Harry leant down and kissed her forehead gently, rubbing her side soothingly "I can't lose..him"


"Donovan has bacterial meningitis" Dr John told them an hour later as Nikki stood by Donovan's cot, his small hand in hers as she refused to move from his side. "And we've started him on a course of antibiotics as you can see"

Nikki tried to ignore the drip in her baby's hand, however small and 'baby sized' it was it still made her feel sick when she saw it sticking out of her son. She quickly wiped away the fresh tears that were on her cheeks, her eyes and chest aching from all the crying she had been doing.

"Will he be okay?"

"The antibiotics should help him and.."

"Will he be okay in the long run?" Nikki asked and gave Dr John an irritated look.

"He's just telling us Nikki" Harry told his lover, placing his hands on her arms and kissing her cheek. He understood her distress perfectly well but he needed her to be calm while the doctor was explaining. "Let him speak"

"There is a chance that we caught it too late and there has been damage to his hearing" Dr John told the parents, understanding their distress especially Nikki's and not taking the young mother's tone to heart, Nikki nibbled her lip and nodded "But we caught it soon enough to stop any chances of brain damage or developmental problems"

"Thank you" Nikki whispered, nodding slightly and licking her dry lips "For being honest. What..when will we know if there are problems with his hearing?"

"You have another child" Dr John stated and they both nodded.

"Donovan's twin" Harry confirmed "He's fine, there's been no symptoms from him and my mother would have brought him in by now if there was"

"Okay, we'll have to give him some of the medication that we gave to you two as well, just in case. Now to answer your question Nikki" he turned back to the young woman who tore her eyes away from her son "If there is hearing problems then it will become obvious in a few weeks if he doesn't react to noises like his brother is. He'll start responding to your voices in a few weeks but if he doesn't then.."

"He's deaf" Nikki whispered and Dr John nodded solemnly as Harry pressed a kiss to Nikki's cheek.

"I know it's a lot to take in so I'll leave you alone. If there is anything else that you need to ask then I'll be in my office"

"Thank you" Harry smiled and nodded, turning his full attention to his lover and son as Nikki began to cry silently. He gathered her into his arms and she clung to him, tears falling down her cheeks and soaking into his shirt.

"Are you going to be okay while I go and phone mum?" Harry asked his lover some time later as he stood up from the chair in the corner of the room and Nikki looked away from their son, nodding and smiling.

"We should..I want to see Gabriel" Nikki told her lover as she stood up, looking back at Donovan "But I don't want to leave Donny"

"I'll ask mum to bring him in and then Dr John can give Gabriel the medication" Harry suggested "He doesn't have to go near Donovan but we can have a cuddle with him"

"He'll need feeding" Nikki murmured and Harry sighed and nodded, knowing that she was all over the place at the moment. "I don't think there are many bottles left for him"

"You can feed him as well then" Harry smiled and kissed her gently as she nodded slightly, giving her lover a small smile "I won't be long"

"I love you"

"I love you" Harry replied as he kissed her again and then walked from the room to break the news to his mother.


"Nikki sweetheart" Anne quickly walked over to the young woman who had walked out of the room. Nikki took one look at Anne and broke down again, Harry taking the baby carrier from his mother as Nikki buried herself into Anne and began to cry. He put the carrier on one of the chairs in the hallway and gently unclipped Gabriel from it, picking him up and placing him on his shoulder. He kissed his son on the head and stroked his back gently as he started to check him over just in case.

"He'll be fine" Anne told Nikki and the blonde moved away and nodded slightly, wiping her eyes with the cuffs of her sleeves and forcing a smile on her face.

"I know" she nodded and looked past Anne, smiling when she saw Harry with their other son.

"I think mummy needs a cuddle from her baby boy" Harry told Gabriel as he walked over and gently transferred him to Nikki's arms. She took him eagerly and kissed his head gently, she too checking him over, fearful that he was ill as well.

"Can I see Donovan?" Anne asked and Nikki nodded, glancing up at the older woman.

"Of course you can. The doctor will need to give you some medication though, afterwards"

"Okay" Anne nodded and Harry stopped her before she entered the room.

"Can you stay with him while Nikki and I spend some time with Gabriel? We don't want to take him in there until he's had the medication as well"

"Of course I will" Anne smiled and nodded, patting her son on the arm before she turned and walked into their room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

"Mummy's very happy to see you" Nikki cooed at Gabriel as she sat down on one of the chairs, the baby staring up at her with his light green eyes and making small cooing noises as he sucked on his fist. "I've missed you so much but mummy and daddy have to spend a lot of time with Donny now that he's ill. But we still love you very much and we will try and see you as much as possible, I promise"

Harry smiled as he sat himself next to his lover and saw Dr John walking down the corridor towards them.

"Is this Donovan's brother?" he smiled down at the baby.

"Yep" Harry nodded happily and stroked Gabriel's head gently "Gabriel"

"Identical"

"Hmm" Harry replied again with a nod, stroking the baby's blonde hair "Mum told me that he didn't sleep well once we took Donovan away from him and he's been a bit whiny"

"Well people say that twins have some sort of connection" Dr John smiled as Nikki looked at her lover, worry on her face.

"He's not ill is he? Donny was.."

"Nikki he's fine" Harry assured her with a small smile.

"I can check him over if you like; just a quick physical exam and I can give him the antibiotics at the same time. It's an injection, is that okay? Will you both be attending?"

"Yes, Harry's mum is with Donny" Nikki nodded as she stood up "I just want Gabriel to be safe"

Dr John smiled knowingly and nodded, directing both parents down the hallway to the exam room.