Thank you for the reviews again. Really nice :)


Russell had told Greg that he could have as long as he wanted off. He still didn't know why Greg needed the time off from work, but he respected his colleague's privacy and didn't pry. The rest of the team had pestered him about Greg's absence and Russell's answer to them was that he was having some time off.

He had been admitted into the hospital yesterday and they were preparing him for surgery today. He'd not told anyone about the cancer and as days went by, he was glad he was off work. He was becoming out of breath easy, not that it was a massive difference from a week ago, but he had noticed.

He was in a hospital bed, not really doing anything when his door opened. He looked up, expecting to see his nurse or doctor, and was shocked when Russell stepped inside. He pushed himself up in the bed and spoke first, "What are you doing here?" He asked, a bit more accusation in his voice than he intended there to be.

Russell shut the door and walked over to him. "I came to talk to you. About why you are here, in the hospital."

Greg looked down. "How did you know I was here?" He asked Russell quietly.

He pulled a chair up next to Greg. "I... did a little investigating."

"One thing I didn't find out was why you are here. So please, tell me."

Greg looked up to his boss. "Lung cancer. I'm having surgery tomorrow." He told him monotone.

Russell shook his head. "I'm sorry bud. You should have told me as soon as you found out. You shouldn't go through this alone."

"They're going to cut it out tomorrow, after that I should be as good as new, there is no need to worry." Greg told him, trying to be reassuring.

"You know this is a bigger deal than that. This is going to change a lot of things for a while. Don't worry about work, I'll make sure you can come back anytime you're ready and I will let Ecklie know what is going on." Russell told him.

"No, please don't tell anyone else about this." Greg interrupted him.

Russell frowned at him. "Why not Greg? They will want to know."

"Just... don't. They don't need to know."

"Ecklie will want an explanation for this, you know that." Russell argued.

"Then tell him, but nobody else. Ok?" Greg asked him.

Reluctantly, Russell nodded. "Did they find it early?" He asked him.

Greg shrugged. "Quite early. It's stage two. I think they said there were four all together, so it's not that bad. I'll be alright you know, I don't want you to worry about me."

Russell smiled slightly. "I know you will, but that's never going to stop me worrying about you, about this."

Greg looked away from him. "Why did you not tell me Greg?"

"I don't know. I don't want everyone to be looking at me different because of this. I don't want to end up back in the lab. There are plenty of reasons." Greg told him.

"I would not have looked at you different. I would still see you as the same Greg I have always know. Nothing will change how I see you." Russell told him.

"You are already looking at me different, treating me different too, and you only found out five minutes ago."

"I'm just trying to let you know that I am here for you. I'll always be here, no matter what the problem is." Russell told him.

Greg turned to him and smiled slightly. "Well thanks, but I don't want this to be a massive sob story or anything like that."

"Don't worry; I'll make sure not to give you any special treatment when you are back at work." Russell said to him.

Greg smiled. "You know, you could just get me out of fishing in any dumpsters for a while."

Russell had been to see him early the next day, before he went into surgery. He was a little nervous but the doctor had done his best to convince his patient he would be fine.

He went in, thinking that when he came out all of his worries would be gone, but he was wrong.

He groggily woke up not long after the surgery, when the anaesthesia wore off. He was in a little bit of pain but other than that, he was ok. He was alone for about ten minutes before his doctor came in to check on him.

"I did not know you were awake Mr Sanders. How are you feeling?"

Greg swallowed and nodded. "I'm alright. Is it gone?" He asked as quickly as possible.

His doctor sighed and pulled a chair up next to Greg's bed. "Because of the position of the cancer, we were unable to get as much as we would have hoped, we've done a lobectomy, which has removed a substantial part of your lung. You're going to need to have a lot of radiotherapy now to try and get the rest of it, and if that's successful then chemotherapy is our next step to make sure it doesn't come back."

Greg opened his mouth in shock. "You took some of my lung out? What? Can I live without it?" He asked a little bit panicked.

"Yes, you should have no problems. Many people live with just one lung; it won't affect you as much as you might think."

Greg nodded at him and sighed. "So do I have to stay here now or what happens?"

"You can go home soon, probably in a week or so, as long as you have someone who can look after you for a few days." His doctor told him.

"Can't I leave on my own?" Greg asked him.

But his doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid you'll need someone with you."

Greg sighed and thought. He would ring Russell, but he would feel weird calling his boss to come and pick him up, that was a friend's job. So he guessed there was only one person he could really call.

The next day

"Hey, buddy. How are you doing?" Russell asked with a smile as he entered Greg's hospital room. He was hooked up to a drip and there was a drain tube coming from under the sheet covering him.

Greg looked up to him and smiled. "I'm alright. They took out a piece of my lung; they couldn't get all the cancer though so I need some more treatment." He explained.

Russell nodded. "Alright, so what is your next step? Another surgery?"

Greg shook his head, "No, it's radiotherapy. I'm sorry; I'm going to need some more time off work."

"Don't worry about that." Russell told him, "That's the last thing you need to worry about, okay?"

Greg nodded slowly and offered Russell a small smile when he saw him looking at the tube coming from under the sheet. "It goes into the hole in my side, drains the wound."

Russell looked up and shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare at it. It's just... I'm sorry that you're in here."

Greg smiled. "It's not your fault."

"And thanks for coming to see me by the way, you did not have to." He added to break the silence.

"Yes I did. Is there any chance you'll let me tell the others about this so that they can come and see you too?" Russell asked with a raised eyebrow.

But Greg shook his head. "No, don't tell anyone."

"Greg-" Russell started but got interrupted.

"Wait, I need you to tell Nick."


Hope you enjoyed it :)