"Hello." Tom smiled as he brushed a few strands of hair out of his wife's face after she had just opened her eyes to find her husband sat on the edge of the bed. "You've got your first chemo session of the cycle today." Tom informed her as he knew that her sleeping tablets meant that she didn't have a great sense of time. She had, on occasion, slept for over 24 hours using her medication when she felt truly horrible but her oncologist was right – they were making things better, or more tolerable, for her.

"Is it Tuesday already?" Sam croaked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Now I've been called in for an extra shift. I'll try to pop up and see how you're doing but–"

"I'm a big girl, I can sit by myself for a few hours. Plus I'll probably just sleep through it anyway." Sam stated as she slowly sat up and then ran her hand through her hair. "Ugh, I don't want to start the chemo again." Sam complained.

"You can sleep. And I'll bring you home after, you can sleep all afternoon and night until tomorrow if you want."


After finally being able to take a break from his shift, Tom quickly jumped in the lift and headed up to oncology to one of the chemotherapy suites where he hoped he would find his wife relaxing or nibbling on some plain biscuits. Instead, he found her fast asleep, curled up in one of the comfortable chairs with a blanket wrapped around her body. He knew not to disturb her whilst she was peaceful so he just leant in the doorway of the room filled with seven other patients.

"She chose to have some of the sleeping medication added to her drip." A familiar nurse informed the man who she knew to be Sam's husband. "She was asleep within ten minutes of the drip starting though; she probably didn't even need the drug." She smiled sadly. "Would you like a cup of tea Mr Kent?"

"No thanks, I was just checking she's okay and I've got to get back to work in a minute." Tom stated. "Could you do me a favour though?"

"What is it?"

"If she wakes up before I come to pick her up, can you tell her I just came up to tell her that I love her?"

"Yeah sure, I'd be happy to." The nurse smiled.


Tom was driving his wife home after her chemo session and he knew she wouldn't be feeling well but he frowned when he noticed that she seemed to be applying pressure to her abdomen.

"Are you okay? Do you think you're going to be sick? 'cause I can pull over-"

"No, I've just got a bit of a stomach ache." Sam murmured.

"Are you on your period?" Tom asked.

"No, it's not that kind of ache."

"Well what kind of ache is it?" Tom asked.

"I hope it's not, but I might have an upset stomach." She admitted.

"Oh right. Well your immune system is very low, it's not unlikely. Are you going to be okay if I pop into the supermarket quickly, get your prescriptions and then get you a few bits? i.e. Toilet roll just in case we run out." He joked half-heartedly to which Sam couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, just don't be too long."

"Okay."


"So much for 'you can sleep all afternoon and night'." Sam grumbled as she exited the bathroom with an arm wrapped around her stomach. It turned out she did have an upset stomach and so she couldn't take her sleeping tablets which wasn't something she wanted to hear on the day that she had had a gruelling chemotherapy session.

"Neither of us knew that this was going to happen." Tom stated. "Do you want me to make up your hot water bottle?"

"No thanks, I feel a bit warm as it is."

"Okay. Come to the kitchen, I'll make you up another rehydration salts drink."

"They taste disgusting."

"They replenish your body after each bout of diarrhoea so you need to keep having them." Tom said sternly as he poured the sachet of powder into a glass of water and then gave it a stir with a teaspoon. "Bottoms up."


"Right, I need to go for a shower, are you alright if I go now?" Tom asked as he didn't want to block the use of the only bathroom in the flat if his wife felt she would soon need it. "I won't lock the door, just in case."

"It's been a while since the last… well the last time so could you wait a little while?"

"Yeah, sure." Tom smiled.

"You're lucky y'know? With your immune system, you probably won't catch this bug off of me and I can get ill as easy as that." She said as she clicked her fingers together.

"That's a new one: I don't think anyone has ever been jealous of my immune system before." Tom smirked.

"Oooowww, my stomach." Sam groaned as she leant forward on the sofa and hung her head over her knees.

"Is there anything that I can do?" Tom asked as he gently rubbed his hand in circles on her back. "Do you want anything to eat, drink...?"

"I need to go." Sam muttered as she jumped off of the sofa and quickly escaped into the bathroom.

"It's a good job I didn't go for a shower then." Tom concluded to himself. He sat there waiting for a few minutes until Sam came out and leant in the doorway of the living room.

"You can go for a shower now, just don't be too long please. Oh and don't worry, I flushed the toilet twice and bleached it." She stated. The cocktail of drugs that she was on had to leave her body somehow and the only way was through her waste products. But because the drugs were toxic, she had to ensure that the bathroom that she used was thoroughly cleaned to prevent Tom from coming into contact from even a drop of the harmful chemicals whether she had an upset stomach or not.

"You didn't have to, I can do that." Tom smiled sympathetically as he stood up and then kissed her on the forehead.

"I have to, you shouldn't have any contact with the chemo drugs and I already have so I should clean the bathroom."

"Okay. Right, I'll be as quick as I can in the shower and like I said, I won't lock the door just in case you do need to come in."

"Thank you."

"Go on, sit down and watch some TV and once I'm out we can lie down together."