Happy New Year! (well, New Year's Eve anyway.) Here's a fun little chapter for you guys to read and review while you're waiting for midnight. ;)

Will stayed all the way until the end of visiting hours. He spent all the time talking to Jem, even though Jem could not say anything back to him without breaking into a fit of coughing. Jem seemed very reluctant to let Will leave, but Will assured him that he would come and visit as often as he could.

Elias walked Will out to queue for a taxi. "Thank you for coming, Will," the older man said. "It's really cheered Jem up. I hadn't seen him so alert all day."

"He's going to be okay, right?" Will asked.

"After your visit, I think he'll be fine," Elias answered. He noticed Will's fearful concern and assured him: "Don't worry. Jem's never been very good with the cold. He's in and out of hospital every winter. The infection was worse this time round because he kept refusing to see the doctor. He'll probably won't be able to go straight back to school after the New Year, but apart from that, I think he'll recover."

Will nodded. "Sorry for calling in the middle of the night the other day, Mr Carstairs," he apologised. "I had a nightmare and overreacted."

"You had a nightmare about Jem being dead?" Elias guessed. Will nodded again. "I suppose I should be glad you called to check immediately. You're a good friend to Jem. It's good that he met you."

It was almost Will's turn in the taxi queue. "I'm supposed to be grounded. I don't know how often Dad will let me come and see Jem," Will admitted.

"I'll call your father and have a talk with him," Elias assured him. "You're good for Jem; I'm going to make sure you stick around."

Will was given permission to visit Jem any time he wanted. He went every day until the new school term started and stayed until the nurses chased him off at the end of visiting hours. Eventually, he took to hiding when the nurses came to tell him it was time to go. Jem aided and abetted by helping him hide under the bed, in the toilet, in the cupboard and many other ingenious places, then telling the nurse he had already left. This enabled him to stay all afternoon. Jem seemed to be recovering into his old self and had graduated from the oxygen mask to nasal cannulas.

Then school began again. Will was stuck in the classroom all day and alternated between being utterly miserable and extremely grumpy. Everyone in his class knew that he failed everything in his last examination and kept teasing him. He knew it was a matter of time before he punched someone, but he restrained himself. Gabriel had also spread the story about the Christmas party fight, and Will did not put it past him to tattle to his father if he fought again.

Will began yearning for the time when the final bell would ring and he could run out of the school and away from everyone. Finally, it was the first Friday after school began. School ended early and Thomas drove Will to go see Jem in the hospital.

As Thomas pulled up outside the hospital, Will asked: "Thomas, could I have some money to buy Jem a gift?" Thomas hesitated, so Will quickly added: "It's weird if I go see him without anything, isnt' it? I promise, I'm just going to buy him something from one of those little shops in the hospital."

"I suppose that would be all right then," Thomas conceded. He took out his wallet and handed Will 30 pounds.

"Thanks, Thomas! I'll return it to you when I get my allowance back," Will said. He dashed out of the car, almost getting knocked over by a motorcycle in his haste. But nothing happened and he gave a panicked Thomas a cheerful grin and two thumbs up.

It was right in the middle of visiting hours, so the hospital was bustling with people. Will wandered down the row of hospital gift shops. Everything seemed so boring – balloons, cards, flowers. He wanted something special. Jem didn't like books, so that was out of the question. He already had a stuffed toy that he liked; he had formed a strange attachment to the deformed sock monkey that Cecily gave him, and even named it Mr Bingo Banana Beans. Will was sure nothing he bought could ever hope of competing with that.

Then, he passed by Tesco and saw that there was a discount on the Peppa Pig Moldable Foam Soap. A wicked grin spread on his face and he went in and bought 30 pounds worth, which made up 30 cans. He stuffed all the cans into his backpack as best he could, while the rest had to go in several Tesco shopping bags. People stared as he passed by but he did not care.

Jem was awake when Will entered the room. His whole face brightened up when he saw his friend. "Will! You came!" he exclaimed. "It's been so boring without you this week."

"How're you feeling?" Will asked, trying to manoeuvre the shopping bags discreetly.

"Much better. I wish I could get out of here," Jem said. "You'll probably have to hide soon, visiting hours are almost over."

"Screw it; they know I'm here," Will dismissed. He took off his shoes and hopped onto the bed across from his friend. He pulled the privacy curtain around the bed. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands. I've got a surprise for you."

Jem frowned but obeyed. Will unpacked the cans from his bag and opened one and sprayed the contents into Jem's hands. His friend gave a cry of surprise and opened his eyes. "Will! What's this?" he asked.

Will showed him the can and sprayed more at him. Jem began to laugh and flung the white foam back at him. He picked up a can of his own and sprayed the contents onto Will's head. Will retaliated, spraying the rest of his can down Jem's neck.

Jem picked up a pillow to shield himself. His can ran out and he picked up another one. Will jumped off the bed and attacked Jem's unshielded legs from his lower vantage point. Jem continued to aim for Will's head, causing foam to drip down his hair and all over his face. Will began to dodge around the bed, tracking foam everywhere.

There was soon a huge pile of foam building up on the bed. The boys kept going and eventually covered the floor around the bed with sticky foam.

When the cans finally ran out, it looked and smelled like a soap factory had exploded and had taken the neighbouring candy factory with it. Jem had hopped off the sodden bed and used it as a no-man's land, over which he lobbed foam balls at Will. The boys shrieked exuberantly whenever the sticky foam balls managed to hit their target, and taunted each other when they did not.

This descended into hand-to-hand combat on the bed, when Will leaped up to try to rub a handful of foam into Jem's hair. It ended up with the pair wrestling and rolling over each other.

Then, the privacy curtain was abruptly yanked back and a nurse demanded: "What on earth is going on here?"

The boys were covered in foam – their faces were smeared with it, there were piles of it in their hair and on their clothes, and Will's shoes were swimming in the stuff. The bed was certainly soaked in the foam, it was lying thickly on the floor and also coated on the curtain.

"This is a hospital!" the nurse scolded. "There are sick people here trying to get some peace and quiet to recover. This is not a playground. And what is all this mess?"

The boys stopped their play when the nurse came in. However, they struggled to contain their mirth when the nurse tried to advance on them and began to slip on the foam. She slid around, trying to grab hold of the furniture to balance herself. The problem was that most of the furniture was also covered in the stuff so she found no help there.

Jem lost it first and burst out into peals of laughter. He began to cough as he laughed, but that only made him laugh more. Will joined in at the sight of the red-faced nurse who was shouting at them and calling for reinforcements to deal with these delinquent hooligans who should get thrown out of the hospital immediately.

It took ages for Jem to calm down enough for the other hospital nurses to bundle him up in a warm dressing gown and a surgical mask and take him and Will out into the corridor so the cleaners could deal with the mess. The nurses' station was nearby and the nurses were all giving them stern, disapproving glares.

"This was the best day ever," Jem affirmed quietly to Will. His eyes were still twinkling with excitement.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself," Will whispered back. "I'm probably banned from this hospital for life." He cautiously eyed the horde of cleaners moving in and out of Jem's room. They not only had to clean out the foam but they also had to disinfect the floors, curtains, bed, equipment and furniture. Apparently the boys had even managed to get foam on the ceiling.

"Me too, though they can't throw me out just yet," Jem said.

"Go, and never darken out doorstep again. Or rather, never cover our rooms in foam again," Will pronounced solemnly. Jem began to giggle again and Will elbowed him sharply. "Quit it. They're watching."

Most of Jem's face was covered in the mask but Will heard his friend's breathing pattern change as he chuckled silently.

Then they saw Elias rushing down the corridor towards them. The older man stopped when he saw them and grabbed Jem. "Jem, are you all right?" he asked anxiously. "They told me to come down as soon as possible."

"I'm fine, Uncle," Jem assured him.

Elias inspected his nephew and his expression turned into one of relief. "Then why did they call me?" he asked. His eyes fell on Will and narrowed. "What have you two been up to now?"

"We were…" Jem began.

"Nothing," Will interrupted. "It was nothing really. Some boyish high jinks. You know how it is, Mr Carstairs."

Elias' expression grew grim. "I dread to think," he said drily. "I suppose I should go and sort out this mess." Jem began to giggle again, causing his uncle to glare at him.

Elias turned to Will. "I suppose this is all your doing," he accused. He looked at his watch. "Unfortunately, it's late; you'd better go home. I'll deal with you later."

Will cast a relieved look over at Jem and then scarpered as fast as he could.