Tony stood for a moment on the threshold of Lucas' room. He felt awkward and embarrassed.

"Hey Dagwood, how's he doin'? He sleepin'?"

He moved forward into the room and saw two blue eyes looking at him.

"Guess not." He sat down on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Lucas tried to smile. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, fine, let's pretend that's what that word means."

Lucas did smile a little a that. "Really, Tony, I'm okay. I just got a little cold, that's all."

"You're not meant to get cold, that's the problem. What happened?"

He saw Lucas flush, and said awkwardly, "No, not that. Gina told us about that, she overheard."

Lucas looked away, embarrassed, and Tony hurried on.

"I meant afterwards. Why d'ya go outside, it was freezing out there?"

"I don't know. It was like the day I got here. All of a sudden I couldn't breathe, I just had to get out of there. I didn't even notice the cold. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Oh God, Lucas, don't apologize to me! My stupid father..." Tony turned to Dagwood, who was trying to make sense of the conversation. "My stupid father told him a whole bunch of stupid stuff, including that he keeps us awake at night and he should pay us to help him."

He watched Lucas from the corner of his eye as he said this, and saw from his face how deep the wound had gone. No-one had told Lucas that he often cried and moaned in pain while he slept, and he only knew about the nightmares that jolted him awake.

"But that's wrong,'said the Dagger, innocently, "we want to help him because he's our friend. Why would we want money for it?"

"I don't know either Dagwood, but people can have stupid ideas sometimes."

"Expecting to sleep all night without your roommate waking you up is not a stupid idea. I didn't know."

"Because it doesn't bother us, does it Dagwood?"

He shook his head.

"I only told my mother because I was worried about you. I wasn't complaining, I was worried about how much pain you were in. Do Dag and I look like we're sleep deprived and suffering? No, we don't, because we're not. Are we, Dagwood?"

"No Tony. I get lots of sleep. And Daggers don't need much anyway. I get bored sometimes at night when everyone else is sleeping."

Tony grinned. "Ya see? You're giving him something to do!"

"And what about you? You're not a Dagger, you still need sleep."

"And I get plenty, don't worry. If I ever need more, I'll go back to our old room and the crappy shower."

Lucas genuinely smiled at that, and it turned into a yawn.

"Speaking of sleep! Hey Dagwood, would you go and ask Aunt Angie for some food before he falls asleep? Thanks!"

"I'm not hungry."

"Doesn't matter, you need to eat something." When it looked like Lucas was going to protest further, he added, "you know how bad it is when you take those meds on an empty stomach."

Lucas admitted defeat.

Tony helped him to sit up, and noticed that he was trembling.

"Any reason why you're shaking?"

"Don't know. Maybe the cold, maybe just reaction. It's been a ...difficult day."

"King of the Understatement! Let us know if it gets worse, okay?"

"Okay."

Angie came in with a mug of soup, and a bread roll. He tried, but couldn't manage more than a few sips, and wouldn't touch the bread at all.

"I'm sorry, I just...can't."

"Do you feel sick?"

He just nodded.

"Okay."

Tony looked worried. "I don't like giving you the meds without something in your stomach."

"Sorry Tony, I really did try. I just can't."

"Okay, we'll have to risk it, I guess, and hope for the best. Here ya go."

He swallowed the pills and quickly fell asleep.


When he next awoke, the clock beside the bed read 10.45pm. The house was quiet, the only sound he could hear was Dagwood's steady breathing. The nausea had returned full force. He lay for a few minutes wondering if he could just lie there and wait for it to subside. He was shaking again and freezing cold.

He didn't want to disturb Dagwood - he would have been hesitant anyway, but after today's revelations, he really didn't want to wake him. Moving as quietly as possible, he moved to the bathroom. He made it just in time, losing what little there was in his stomach, including the pills he had taken earlier. He sat in the cold bathroom until he was sure that nothing more was going to come up and then returned to bed. Dagwood moved slightly, but didn't wake. Surprisingly, he fell straight back to sleep.


When Lucas woke up next, and the clock beside the bed read 3.00am. He was aware that his back and legs felt as though they were on fire, and he realized that he had thrown up his pain meds, and that he hurt everywhere. He was shivering still, and tried to take a deep breath to control it. It didn't work. Just the act of breathing in seemed to hurt and make everything worse. He thought that if breathing hurt then moving would be near to impossible, but he had to try and get to his pain pills. Bracing himself, he positioned his arms and tried to push himself up.

The pain was blinding. He made a small cry and fell back, his breaths now interrupted by whimpers of pain.

"Lucas? Lucas, are you alright?" Dagwood was suddenly there beside him.

"Hurts," he said through gritted teeth.

Dagwood could see him shaking. "I'm going to get Tony."

Lucas shook his head. "Don't..."

Dagwood was already heading out of the room and bounding upstairs to the room Tony shared with his cousins. He pushed open the door, and called in.

"Tony?"

Dagwood's rush upstairs had not been quiet, and neither was his call. Everyone seemed to be moving about now.

"Dagwood?" Tony voice was thick for a minute while he got his bearings. Then he realized why Dagwood might need him. "Lucas?"

Dagwood nodded.

"Okay, I'm coming, I'll be right there."

Dagwood turned and ran back downstairs. The whole house seemed to shake with his heavy footsteps.

Tony turned to his cousins. Typical teenagers he thought, they had barely woken up. He headed to the hallway, and saw Angie and Gina outside their rooms.

"Sorry, it's okay, go back to bed."

Gina looked worried but Angie pushed her firmly back into her room. Angie followed Tony as he headed downstairs.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't know yet."

They rushed into Lucas' room. Dagwood was standing by his bedside looking worried, while Lucas lay shaking on the bed.

Tony knelt down beside him.

"What's wrong, what's the matter?"

Through stuttering breaths, Lucas explained.

"S..s..sorry, didn't w..want to w..wake you..." he gasped.

"Okay, buddy, don't worry. Tell me what's wrong."

"C..cold..can't stop s..shaking...hurt's. W..was sick before, p..pills..."

"You threw up your pills? When?"

"Eleven."

Tony looked questioningly at Dagwood, who looked blank, and shook his head.

Lucas saw the exchange, and explained, "D..didn't want to wake you."

Tony guessed why, and buried his face in his hands. "Dammit, Lucas, I wish you weren't sick right now so I could slap you! You need to wake us when you need help!"

"D..didn't need help being sick. P..pretty good at it now..."

Tony didn't smile at the attempt at humor. He looked at Angie.

"Not sure what to do. If he has any drugs in his system, giving him more might be a bad thing. I don't think he's going to eat right now, but if I give them to him on an empty stomach he'll just bring them up again. And if I don't give him anything, he'll be in pain all night."

He bit his lip.

"Buddy, could you eat anything right now? Maybe just some dry bread?"

Lucas emphatically shook his head.

Angie made a decision. "I'm going to call Doc Jacobson."

Tony nodded gratefully. Doc Jacobson had been an old family friend for years.

"Hear that, Buddy, we're gonna get some help, you just hang in there, okay?"

"Gonna be sick."

"Okay, c'mon Dagwood." The Dagger sat on the bed, and at Tony's nod, lifted his friend's shoulders until he was raised to a sitting position. For a moment, Lucas' world went black.

"Lucas? Come on, buddy, you back with us?"

Through a haze of pain he heard his friend and nodded. Then he once again emptied what little he had in his stomach. Lucas leaned back against the dagger's chest, exhausted. Tears of pain ran down his cheeks.

Tony had never felt so helpless. He sat offering him sips of water, while Lucas strained his body in with dry heaves.

Angie came back in to tell them the doctor was on his way.

"Thanks Aunt Angie. Hey, do we have any more blankets? He's freezing!"

"I'll get some. Oh, and Irene used to have a hot water bottle, I'll see if I can find it."

"Thanks."

It seemed like a million years while they waited for the doctor, although in reality it was less than half an hour later that they heard a quiet knock on the door. Tony could hear them talking outside.

"Thank you for coming, we didn't know what to do."

"No problem, glad to help. He's in Irene's room?"

"Yes, go on in."

He walked in to see Tony and a Dagger holding a gaunt, pale young boy as he retched over a bowl. When he finished, he was shivering and the doctor noticed sweat on his brow.

"Hello, Anthony, how are you?"

"Hey, Doc, thanks for coming."

"No trouble at all. This must be Lucas?"

Lucas looked up with tired eyes.

"Hello Sir."

The doctor liked that. He had always addressed his elders that way. These days it was an archaic nicety, but he missed it.

"Looks like you've been having a busy night."

The boy smiled wryly. "You could s..say that."

"Anthony, care to fill me in?"

"Sure. Yesterday, he was out in the snow a little too long. Last night he didn't eat much before he took his meds. He woke up at 3am barely able to move, and told us that he'd been sick at eleven, and thrown up his pills."

"May I see what he took?"

Tony handed him the bottles, and he frowned.

"I have his medical records as well, Doc Perry made sure we brought them in case of an emergency. You want 'em?"

"Yes, thank you." He started to examine the boy. "Are you in pain now?"

"My back and l..legs." He answered through clenched teeth.

"What else?"

"S..stomach hurts, and headache."

"Well, that's understandable. Open wide."

He placed an old fashioned digital thermometer in Lucas' mouth, and placed a hand on his forehead. When he took it out, he frowned.

"Hmm. Let me see those records." He spent a few minutes reading them, and then went to his bag.

"Well, Tony, you're right that taking the pills on an empty stomach brought on the sickness, and bringing up the pills means that he is not currently enjoying any form of pain management. When he's sick his body is straining, and that's putting stress on the original injury to his back. Unfortunately, I imagine he couldn't eat last night because he seems to have picked up a bit of a bug, which was probably exacerbated by getting chilled yesterday. He's running a temperature."

Tony cursed.

Dagwood asked, "Can you make him better?"

The doctor reached into his bag and pulled out a hypodermic syringe.

"I will certainly try!"

Talking directly to Lucas, he explained, "I'm going to give you a painkiller that should help. It's a little stronger, so it should knock you out for a while, and you won't be in any pain. When you wake up, I want you to drink plenty of fluids, and make a concerted effort to eat, okay?"

Lucas nodded, and the doctor pressed the syringe to his neck. He eyes fluttered closed almost immediately, and Tony and Dagwood settled him back in the bed.

Angie, watching them, asked, "Will he be okay?"

The doctor sadly shook his head.

"I'm afraid I doubt it. From what I see of his current state of health, he'll be very lucky if this doesn't turn into something worse, and from his file it doesn't look like lucky is a word that's often used to describe Lucas Wolenczak."

Tony snorted. "Ya got that right. Kid has the worst luck of anyone I've ever met."

"He's lucky to have the two of you. Looks like you're good at taking care of him."

"He's our friend, we'll do what we have to, won't we Dagwood?"

"Dagwood likes to help Lucas!"

"We both do, Big Guy. So what do we do now? What happens if he gets worse?"

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there. For now, plenty of rest, plenty of fluids, keep him warm and try to get him to eat. If his fever builds, don't let him get too hot and call me immediately. In the meantime, I'll call Doctor Perry and see if there's anything else I should know. And if you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me!" He smiled at Angie. "Don't worry, I'll see myself out."

Angie sat on Dagwood's bed, and put her arm around them.

"He was right, you know. He is lucky to have the two of you looking after him. I imagine that makes him feel better."

Tony grimaced.

"He would have felt a damn sight better if my father hadn't made his little speech. Not hard to guess why he didn't call anyone when he was sick earlier, and the first thing he said when we got in here was that he didn't want to wake us. He's always hated accepting help from anyone, but for a little while he had to and got used to it. Now it looks like we're gonna be back to square one again, and he's gonna be fighting us every step of the way."

He met his aunt's eyes.

"We weren't made to do this, we were given a choice. We could have said no, and let him be sent off to some nursing home or something. It just wouldn't be the same without him. He's like...family."

"And you don't have enough of them?" She asked, teasingly.

"I never had a little brother. And he never had anyone, really. Same with Dagwood. We look out for each other, don't we Dag?"

Dagwood nodded gravely.

"It must be hard for you though."

"It's harder for him. He's still just a kid. He can't even drink yet."

Angie leaned forward and kissed Tony on the cheek.

"I'm proud of you, Tony." She smiled, and turned to the Gelf, and to his surprise, did the same. "And you too, Dagwood. It looks like he's out now, anyway. You two should get some sleep as well. If the doctor's right, tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

The doctor was right.