"Francis," Doctor Wheaton says in surprise when he spots the blonde and Bash. "What's happened?"

Bash nudges Francis. "Tell him about your symptoms."

Francis scowls but starts with, "I've got joint pain."

Wheaton nods. "Anything else?"

"Shortness of breath and skin dryness," he mumbles.

"How long have you been having these symptoms?" Wheaton asks, gesturing for the guys to follow him into a consultation room.

"A couple of days, probably," Francis admits. "We went to France for two and a half days. I thought I was allergic to my sister's perfume so I didn't think anything of it - the rash. And I thought my shortness of breath was down to me not having ridden a horse in a long while."

Wheaton gestures for Francis to take off his shirt. "You do realise that anything you feel, it's worth flagging up? There are a lot of things happening in your body now, meant to save your life and if your symptoms continue, it will do more damage and further delay your recovery."

Francis bites his lip, smiling apologetically as Wheaton checks his rash over. Then he checks his eyes and his skin.

"Okay, it seems like this could be GvHD," Wheaton finally announces, eyeing Bash briefly. "It looks like we caught it early and this is only a mild chronic case. So what's happened here, the transplanted cells recognise the recipient's cells as "foreign" and attack them. This situation can occur if the donor's cells are partially matched - you're half-brothers - or unrelated."

"So, is this bad?" Bash asks. "Does this mean that the leukaemia could come back because his body is basically not working or-"

"This isn't necessarily a bad thing," Wheaton says, taking his gloves off as Francis redoes his buttons. "Patients with GVHD generally have a lower risk of having a relapse of their cancer. We could treat this with medication to suppress the immune system and stop the transplanted stem cells attacking the rest of the body."

Francis's face falls. "Does that mean I have to be hospitalised again?"

"No," Wheaton assures him. "But you'd have to be careful. A lot more careful because your immune system is in override and well, you're immunocompromised."

Bash turns to Francis, arms crossed. "You're staying home."

"Bash!"

"I'll speak to your teachers, have your work sent home, you're going to have to quit Football-"

"So I'm back to square one?" Francis asks tearfully. "It's unfair."

Bash sighs, bowing his head. "I'm not downplaying anything you're feeling right now, Francis but this is your life we're talking about."

"I thought it was over..."

Bash brings him to his chest. "I thought it was too..."

...

When they get home, Bash heads upstairs immediately, heading straight to Francis's bedroom. He strips the bed, grabbing fresh sheets from Francis's wardrobe. When Kenna appears in the doorway, he briefly glances at her as he puts the new sheets onto the bed.

"Can you get the hoover, please?"

"Bash, take a moment-"

"I need to clean his bedroom, it's dusty," Bash mutters, running a finger over the window sill. "How can two nights make this many dust particles...?"

Kenna places her hands on his shoulders, looking over one to see his dirt-stained finger. "I'll do it. You stay with Francis."

"I used to watch him sleep, you know?" Bash says softly. "When we were kids. I couldn't go to sleep without knowing he was okay, it was like I knew something bad was going to happen without me there. I get sent to boarding school and he gets sick. Now, fast forward three and a half years later, I'm there, watching him sleep as if his heart will stop in the middle of the night and he'll be alone and scared..."

Kenna closes her eyes, squeezing his shoulders. "He's going to be fine," she says, kissing the side of his neck. "Go to him, I'll do this."

"It has to be done prop-"

"I'll make sure it's sparkling clean," Kenna assures him.

He turns his her arms and kisses her softly, his hands cupping her cheeks. As much as he wants to take things further, they need to deal with Francis's situation and this room needs a good clean. He'll never keep his eye off the ball again.

"Thanks," he whispers.

Kenna smiles wryly. "You're welcome," she says.

With one last kiss on her forehead, he leaves the room and heads down to find Francis digging into his dinner sadly. He takes a seat on the sofa beside him and sighs, hearing the TV on in the background on low volume. Amelia's in her baby rocker, the thing going in soothing circles as she looks around and his eyes stray over to her.

"It's not forever-"

"At this rate, I'll never step outside until next Winter," Francis says darkly.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault," Bash says softly.

Francis frowns. "How is it your fault? You were a match, you saved my life."

"Only partly."

"It's not your fault that we're half-brothers," Francis tells him. "Although Mum's acting like you're her new golden child so you might as well be my full brother at this point."

Bash smiles wryly, getting up to lift Amelia into his arms and return to the sofa. "I'll do anything for you, Francis. If I could make you better, I would. Trust me, there were days I'd pray that I had it and not you."

Francis looks over at Amelia and smiles when she lets out a smile when Bash tickles her toes. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone," he says quietly, placing his dinner on the coffee table and reaching his hands out. "May I?"

Bash hands his daughter over and smiles when the baby is bewildered at the idea of being given to someone else. But Francis soon has her smiling and his eyes tear up as his fingers find the nape of Francis's neck.

"You're going to be fine. I swear it," he promises.

Francis smiles weakly. "Yeah."

...

"Mum says I can sleep over if that's alright with you?" Mary asks Bash as he changes Amelia's nappy.

"Sure but-"

"Not in Francis's bed, I know," Mary says. "Thanks for letting me know. He has the tendency to push me away."

Bash gives her a wry smile. "He just wants to be strong for you both," he tells her. "I've got some rash cream on the kitchen counter, can you help him with that?"

It's something to do and Mary stands from the ground, washes her hands, retrieves the cream and heads upstairs to Francis's bedroom where Kenna is still wiping things down as Francis curls up in his bed.

"Can I stay in your bed, Ken?" Mary asks, gaining both of their attentions. "Bash said I could stay over."

Kenna nods. "Sure," she says breathlessly as she gets up from her knees and looks around. It smells like a damn hospital but it's clean and that is the point of it all. "I've refilled your wipes in the top drawer of your left bedside table and I've put new batteries in your pager."

"I changed them recently-"

"We're being cautious," Mary tells him, still standing. "I'll spray myself down so I can sit on your bed and help you put this cream on."

Francis sighs and nods, digging his face into his pillow. "Does Mum and Dad know?"

Kenna shakes her head. "Bash is holding off for now," she informs him. "I'll leave you be." She closes the door a crack and heads downstairs as Mary's fingers twitch to run through his hair.

"It's like I've got the bloody plague," Francis mutters darkly. "I swear this whole thing is going overboard. Like decontaminating my room, my girlfriend spraying herself down with antibacterial to touch me... What the fuck?"

Mary tuts. "I know, sweetie. I know. And I'm your wife, not your girlfriend."

He turns onto his back, giving her a bright smile. "Oh, yeah. That's a nice reminder in all the doom and gloom..." Then his face scrunches up. "I was planning Christmas. I probably won't be able to go to France now and see Charlemagne."

"I'm sure your horse can survive a Christmas without you," Mary says lightly.

"I never knew how much I missed being around everyone until we went. Dinner was so loud and we almost had a food fight until Bash became a killjoy. I swear him becoming a dad has made him really unfun."

Mary giggles. "Same with Kenna. She's all motherly now, cleaning us as if she's a lioness licking her cub... Can't everyone come here?"

"We'll see. There's no space here for eleven kids and two adults. As well as a baby and Kenna."

Mary tuts. "You'll make it work."

Francis reaches out for her and then remembers when she backs away slightly. "Can we break the rules? Just this time?"

Mary bites her lip nervously, eyeing the door. She then takes a tentative seat at the edge of his bed, bringing a bent leg up and turning to him. "My hands are clean at least."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

Francis smiles wryly. "Not running away. Most girls wouldn't want someone with cancer."

"You're in remission, Francis," Mary reminds him with a warm smile. "And even if you still had it, I'd never leave you willingly."

Francis's blue eyes fall as they sting with tears. "I have nothing to offer you," he says brokenly. I can't even think about five years from now anymore...

Mary stares at him in fond exasperation, reaching a hand to cup his cheek. "There's nothing else I could ever want except the gift of your love from you," she tells him, her voice breaking.

He pulls her towards him and she lays down, feeling him spoon her as his arms wrap around her. They're breaking so many rules but he needs, no craves her touch and warmth. Sometimes life is meant to take some risks but some risks could be the thin line between life and death for him but he'd rather die in her arms than die without the sparks she brings to his skin.

"Your hands are cold," she says lightly, sniffling. She brings his hands to her lips, her smaller hands warming them in the process. She closes her eyes and feels the tears that fall when his lips meet her shoulder before he inhales the scent of her strawberry shampooed hair.

"I love you so much."

Mary smiles happily, her eyes opening. "I love you so much too... Let me know when you're ready for me to put the cream on."

"I just want to be held for now," he mumbles, resting his cheek against her head. Forever by you, he thinks.

...

"We should get her christened," Kenna tells Bash, gaining his attention away from cleaning the kitchen. It's late, almost twelve at night but if he can't sleep, she won't sleep so she lets him tire himself out by cleaning and looking after Amelia since Francis is pretty much down for the day.

Bash drops the sponge into the sink. "Catherine said something about that. She wants this grand affair in France around Christmas. It's looking very unlikely if Francis can't travel."

Kenna leans against the counter beside him. "We could have a small service here instead. My dad's good friends with the leaders of our Church. We could get a booking whenever we want."

"Perhaps when everyone's off school," Bash mutters, running the tap and rinsing the sponge out. "Apparently, Catherine's mother wants to attend so she might come for Christmas if we do decide to have the christening and everyone come over."

"Then it's decided," Kenna says with a smile.

Bash nods a little. "Yeah," he whispers and then he busies himself once again as Kenna shifts towards the living area to check on Amelia. "You should head to bed. You've got school."

Kenna looks over at him. "Are you sure?"

"Francis and I will be fine-"

"You can't look after him and Amelia-"

"All I have to do for Francis is give him his meds at the time specified and help him study," Bash cuts her off. "We'll be fine."

Kenna sighs and lifts Amelia into her arms. "Okay," she says. "I'll put her to bed in her crib and head to bed..."

"Night."

"Don't stay up too long," she warns him before heading upstairs.

Once she's done putting Amelia in her crib, she heads in the direction of Francis's bedroom, finding him and Mary fast asleep on his bed. She smiles, almost deciding to leave them be but she knows Bash will check on Francis before he can even get a wink of sleep.

"Mary?" She whispers, brushing her best friend's raven hair back. "It's late."

Mary's eyes slowly open and at first, she's confused before it dawns on her when she feels Francis's arms around her. Slowly and carefully, she manoeuvres herself out of his grip and sighs in relief when he doesn't wake up, taking to cuddle himself as Kenna pulls his duvet over him.

"I'll join you in a sec," Mary tells her, Kenna nodding and leaving. She looks back at Francis and presses a kiss on top of Francis's head before whispering a "goodnight" and leaving.

She spends the rest of the night in Kenna's arms after she's cried herself to sleep.