In case no one noticed, I am a definite Nerrison shipper :)

It had been one of the best things to ever happen to any kid in a hospital. Not only did Nerris get an unbelievably enjoyable birthday with her friends and fellow patients, but the other kids enjoyed it too; scrambling up and down the fort and having mock battles. It turned out, the previously thought 'immobile' patients could move around a bit more than they let on. Nurf could sit up and use his body, except for his legs for some reason. Preston couldn't walk, but had fun pretending a wheelchair was a horse when the kids split themselves into teams and 'battled'. Dolph could walk, sort of, but seemed pretty lively when he got into the spirit of things.

"Well, best birthday ever or what?" Harrison asked with a grin. Nerris nodded eagerly.

"The day I was born was pretty cool, but this is amazing!" She smiled at him. "Harrison, I know I don't have long until I'm allowed out, but... I'd like to see you again. Do you mind if I come visit some weeks?"

Harrison looked delighted. "I would be offended if you didn't." He told her.

"Hey birthday girl, you gonna get up here?" The new kid, Max, right atop of the highest turret, having the time of his life, along with Nikki, Space Kid and Dolph.

"Just a sec!" Nerris called, giving Harrison's hand a squeeze, then the pair stood up and climbed the castle.

"Neil and Ered are gonna knock it down while we're on the top!" Nikki squealed. "This is gonna be so cool!"

"Yeah, we'll go flying!" Space Kid cheered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Was making this thing in the first place a good idea?" Nikki challenged Harrison. Harrison rolled his eyes, but Nikki was crazy and there was no reasoning with her.

"Whatever, is this thing needs to be demolished, I'm watching from a safe distance." He slid down the cardboard slide and landed on the mattress below. "Nerris?"

"Yeah, I'll watch too." Nerris leapt off and landed in a crouch below on the mattresses the kids had used for safe landings.

"Suit yourselves." Neil said with a grin. "Let's go Ered!"

"Oh yeah!" Ered laughed and Neil aimed their beds, and charged.

"Hold on!" Max cried, and the four of them gripped the cardboard.

The two beds slammed into the fort and it rocked, but remained sturdy.

"Yeah! Again, again!" Space Kid shouted.

"OK, but that's the last time!" Neil called up.

"Watch it you idiots!" Preston told them. "I don't want to be cleaning your brains from the ground.

"That's what my sister said before I got my head hurt." Space Kid noted.

"Watch out!" Dolph cried as the beds slammed into the fort again. The structure shook and the part beneath Nikki crumbled. She fell the the floor and bounced off one of the mattresses.

"Woohoo, that was AWESOME!" She cheered.

"Guys, it's almost dinner time!" Nerris called up. "Let's get it down and get David in here to serve our food.

"Yeah!" Space Kid cried. "To infinity and JUMP!" He threw himself from the tower and bounced off the mattresses. Max rolled his eyes, and took the safer route of sliding down. The structure rocked dangerously, and most of it fell away with Max, leaving Dolph at the top, as the castle became increasingly unstable.

"Jump Dolph!" Harrison yelled. The castle rocked under the boy's feet and he looked uncertain. The mattresses were further away from him than they had been for the others and behind him there was just the plain hard floor, which would hurt to land on. He took a deep breath and prepared to take his leap of faith, but before the nine other kids watched with paranoid eyes as the boxes and matresses and bedframes collapsed under him and Dolph crashed to the ground, out of sight.

"SHIT!" Max exclaimed as he, Nikki and Harrison hurried to clear away the boxes. "Where the hell is he?"

"Here!" Nikki exclaimed as she revealed Dolph under a sheet of cardboard. Max expected him to sit up and laugh, but Dolph was curled, clutching his stomach with a pained expression.

"You OK?" She asked nervously. Dolph whimpered and shook his head.

"Es tut wirklich weh." He gasped in German, and moved his hand aside a little.

A patch of dark, red blood was spreading over his pyjama shirt.

"SHIT!" Harrison gasped. "Where's David when you need him, oh my..." He made to clutch at his hair, remembered that he no longer had it, so clutched at his elbows instead.

"Nikki, with me!" Max commanded. "We'll get David!"

The pair ran outside into the deserted, as usual, corridor.

"Where's the nurse's lounge?!" Max asked. Nikki shrugged.

"The office in the other ward?" She offered. "If not, we can find another nurse there who can help us."

The pair hurried back to children's ward two.

"What is it this time?" Tabii demanded.

"No time to explain!" Nikki shouted, and they hammered on the office door.

"David, are you in there?! David!"

"The door was thrown open to reveal a scowling David.

"What is it?" He said in an unusually harsh voice. "Had your fun yet?"

"No, well yes, but it's Dolph, he fell, he's-"

David's expression of hurt and anger instantly snapped into fear and worry. He dashed ahead of the pair of them and the three ran back to the ward. The structure was still tilting dangerously and the ward was a mess of chaos, but David didn't even seem to notice. He made a beeline for where Harrison and Nerris were crouched, looking nervous.

"Move aside!" David commanded and he knelt beside Dolph.

"David!" Dolph exclaimed. Then he muttered something else in German.

David gave a nod and softly replied in the same language.

"Hilf mir." Dolph groaned. "Wo ist Papa?"

David scooped him up in his arms. "Mach dir keine Sorgen, du wirst in Ordnung sein." David he said, then went over to the door, kicked it open and charged out.

"Shit." Neil muttered. "Will he be OK?"

"I hope so." Harrison muttered. "Argh, this was all MY idea! My fault!" He put his head in his hands.

The door crashed open.

"Alright you little shits, whoa, what the hell?!"

"Hi Gwen." Preston said gloomily.

"We made a bit of a mess of the place." Nurf admitted.

"Got that right!" Gwen exclaimed. "I just passed David in the hallway, you lot should be ashamed of yourselves!"

The kids looked shamefacedly at the ground.

"Come on guys." Gwen sighed. "Let's get this place cleaned up."

...

Cleaning up the ward took the whole rest of the afternoon and went well into the evening as well. Max, Harrison and Preston were just stacking the boxes in a corner when David returned at seven o'clock.

He was instantly met by a barrage of questions.

"What happened to him?"

"Is he OK?"

"Are you mad at us?"

"Who taught you to speak German?"

David sighed and waved them away.

"Kids, get into your beds." The kids gently slid into their beds. David sighed again, retrieved a chair and sat down.

"Guys, what you did today was really stupid. I can only imagine the scale as to what you pulled off today. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt. Someone could have gotten killed."

David's unusually harsh tone and grave expression was a shock. Even Ered and Nurf just looked at the floor in shame.

"And also, this incident is most likely going to be looked into. Gwen and I could lose our jobs because of what you did."

The kids were all in shock.

"We're sorry David." Space Kid muttered, and this was quickly repeated by the others. David sighed again.

"I guess I should be grateful you didn't do worse. Or that it didn't turn out worse. Dolph will be fine, the fall just pulled his stitches. After he comes out of surgery, he'll recover in the private room for a day or so. I can't imagine that he'll blame you, but," David looked at them sternly.

"If I were you, I'd spend the time it takes me to get your dinner, thinking about your actions."

David stood up, shot them one last stern look, then approached the door. "Happy Birthday Nerris." He said coldly. The way he said it was the worst emotional stab for Nerris, and she gently traced her fingers over the drawing Dolph had given her, trying not to cry.

David left the ward.

...

"How come you speak German?" Gwen asked as the two nurses retired to their bunks that night.

"My brother taught he. He's bilingual." David told her.

Gwen gave a little nod, and after a while of peaceful silence, she said: "I'm sorry David. I should have put up more of a fight when the kids kicked me out of the ward. If we lose our jobs, it's my fault."

David shook his head, only Gwen could see it.

"It's not your fault Gwen. It's mine. I should have seen it coming that Harrison would pull something off on that scale. I could have prevented it all!"

"He had good intentions, I suppose. Trying to give Nerris a good birthday and all that."

"Yeah, but..." David sighed. "I guess I'm just worried."

"Dolph will be fine, you said it yourself."

"No, it's not that..." David peered down at Gwen from his higher bunk. "I overheard the conversation when the hospital contacted his father, I think it was legally required or something. Anyway, I heard him shouting. He's threatening to sue the hospital over what happened, and if that comes into play, it's going to fall on our shoulders."

Gwen bit her lip in worry. "I remember when Dolph first arrived here. Shy little kid with the accent no one but you could understand. He told you about his father, didn't he?"

A horrible man to my ears." David nodded.

There was silence for a few more minutes.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine." David said cheerily.

"Well, I'm glad you're positive." Gwen sighed. "Well, night."

"Goodnight."

But as David lay in his bunk, he didn't feel very positive. In fact, he felt sure Dolph's father would come down on the hospital like a ton of bricks. And most of those bricks would end up on his head. Anyone would shove them down towards Harrison and the other kids, but David wasn't anyone. Sure, he'd be sad to lose this job he'd had for the last three years, but to protect the children, it seemed mandatory.

If you're interested in what Dolph and David's conversation was about, use google translate :)

Oh and, by the way, this is my most popular story in terms of follows and favourites, so well done readers! :)

Bye for now :)