The beeping was annoying. How was he supposed to get a decent night's sleep with all that racket. Maybe he really needed to get up and yell at Gordon to stop the racket, but he was tired and his body ached. He hoped he wasn't coming down with anything, there was always too much to do that there was no way they would cope if Scott was sick.

Ugh. He wasn't going to get any more sleep so he might as well get up. Alan would be up soon and then Gordon, and he had so much to do. Better get up.

Scott tried to open his eyes but nothing happened. Tried. Tried again. Huh. Something was wrong. Something…this was frustrating! What was going on?

It took an inordinate effort to get them open, but Scott eventually managed to unglue his eyes, only to blink in the strange light. This was not his bedroom. And…why was his dad here holding his hand, asleep next to him?

But it wasn't until he went to move properly that he realised he couldn't. Not without an inordinate pain in his head. It caused an explosion of pain all over his body and he couldn't help the sound that woke Jeff with a start.

The sound of a loud groan and a slight pull on his hand woke Jeff suddenly. The sight of Scott, eyes screwed up and groaning, was balm to his soul, and he lent forward, hand cupping his son's cheek and caressing lightly.

'Scotty. Scotty, it's alright, son. I'm here.' Jeff was gratified when Scott leaned into the touch, eyes still shut. There was a smile on his face as his son's nose wrinkled. 'Open your eyes, son. Come on, open your eyes.'

He let out another groan but did as his father bid, blinking as he looked up into the grey-blue eyes. His Dad smiled, and Scott's heart leap. He hadn't seen his dad smile for a very long time.

Shame he had ended up in hospital before it had happened.

Jeff continued to gently caress Scott's cheek as he watched those impossibly-blue eyes struggle to focus. He saw the moment some clarity hit home as not only did they clear but widened.

'Dad,' Scott gasped. The events of the night came flooding back. He tried to sit up only for his ribs to make themselves known alongside the pounding in his head, causing him to gasp for an entirely different reason.

'Easy, Scott, easy,' Jeff soothed, gently pressing him back into the bed. Once Scott had settled back into the pillows Jeff pressed the alarm while returning to caress his son's cheek, wiping away the tears as Scott closed his eyes.

'M sorry, Dad.' Jeff frowned. Why was his son apologising? For goodness sake, if anyone should be apologise he felt it should be him. He hadn't realised how thin Scott had got until sitting with him last night. How tired he looked.

'Why are you sorry, Scott?' But his son had drifted off. The nurse appeared as Jeff sighed and sat back. The man smiled in sympathy and set about completing observations. Jeff rubbed his hand down his face and sighed. Folding his arms across his chest, he contemplated Scott's apology.

Just as the nurse was finishing up Scott stirred again, prompting the nurse to complete more tests. As she left Jeff sat forward again, holding Scott's hand. He gave it a squeeze when Scott didn't react.

'Why are you sorry, son?' Scott frowned. Why was he sorry? He was sorry that he didn't make it home last night. He was sorry he had been unable to avoid the gang. He was sorry he had stormed out.

He was sorry that he'd been so upset about the lip…

Scott gasped and shot up for the second time, again forgetting that his ribs were painful. 'Woah, woah, woah, Scotty!' Jeff cried, leaning forward as his son fell forward this time. Scott looked frantic, and his worry ramped up. What on earth was going on?

'Where is it? Where is it?' Scott patted his bad, looked around the room, trying to find something. He leant away from his father, ignoring the pain as he tried to reach the cabinet beside him. Jeff caught his arm, holding as gently as he could while trying to get his son to lie back again. Scott fought against the movement, but his strength didn't last long.

Once again there were tears in his boy's eyes and Jeff had no idea what had put them there, or how he could make things right. Scott looked miserable, and he watched as he flung an arm over his face, trying to hide the fact that he was crying. Jeff felt awkward. He wasn't the most demonstrative of parents, he knew that, and Scott was very much like him.

A different nurse bustled in, alerted by the change in heart rate that something was wrong. Seeing the state the bed was in, she tactfully pulled everything straight. And when Scott tried to apologise, she shushed him, telling him that the head injury would mess with his emotions, patting his hand and leaving them to it.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Jeff tried his best to think of something to talk about, but when he looked back at Scott it was with some relief to see he'd drifted off to sleep again. Sleep would be the best thing for him now.

Glancing at his watch to see it was almost 8:30am, Jeff decided there was time to go grab a coffee before the rest of the family arrived. He was going to need it.

Neither John nor Virgil slept much that night. They camped out together in John's room, huddled on the bed and wrapped in their own blankets. It wasn't long before they were joined by Gordon, wide-eyed and tearful from a nightmare. And Alan wasn't too far behind him, trailing his blanket along the floor in his wake.

When Sally went upstairs to get the boys up ready for visiting Scott she was not surprised to find them all sparked out on John's bed. It was the one thing she had insisted on when Jeff had begun to return to them, and she herself began to take a more active role. The eldest three now had king-sized beds and they were well used. Even now the youngest two had nightmares, even if Gordon, at ten, was not going to admit to them.

Pulling the door to, but not closing it fully, she set about making a packed lunch for everyone then put on the stove for pancakes. The smell would soon bring the boys down. Sure enough, once she'd cooked a giant stack of pancakes, all four boys appeared, all in their pyjamas and yawning widely. Sally smiled at them as they sat around and tucked in.

Sally assumed that John had told his brothers when either of them asked where Scott was, and once finished she chased them upstairs to get themselves ready so that they could get to the hospital by 9am. They were happy they were getting to see Scott and were ready in double time.

Scott woke up to an empty room. Huh. He was sure his father had been here earlier, but things were still a little muzzy. Maybe he could just get up now he was alone and check his clothing out, assuming that it was in the little cupboard beside the bed.

Knowing now to be careful of his right side, he slid himself out of bed, holding his breath with the pain shooting through him. It died down and Scott gingerly lowered himself to sit on the floor next to the cabinet. Yes, his clothes were there, but the lipstick was not, and once again he began to panic.

Standing back up was far more difficult than he imagined it would be, and by the time he managed to be up on his feet the room was swimming and he didn't think he was going to be able to climb back into bed.

Jeff, having had a relatively decent coffee and a bacon roll in the café, arrived back at the room as his Mother and children arrived from the opposite direction. Before they could say or do anything, though, there was a crash from inside the room.

Flinging the door open, Jeff was surprised to see the bed empty, but with alarms ringing and the sound of people rushing, he rushed through the door and around the bed, where his son lay in a heap on the floor.

'Scotty! Scotty! You ok?' he asked, as he pulled Scott gently into his arms. He was surprised when, with a shaky arm, Scott pointed under the bed and looked up at him with wet eyes. He tried to say something, but nothing came out and Scott was once again unconscious.

Trying to get the boys to stand out of the way, several nurses came around the bed, moving equipment and switching alarms off. It didn't take long for them to get Scott back into bed and hooked up again, running through more observations to ensure more damage hadn't been done.

Once they had left Jeff sat back in the chair. The sight of Scott on the floor had shaken him badly, and he wondered what was going on. He suddenly found his arms full of Gordon and Alan and he hugged them tightly, kissing their heads.

As Gordon leant into his father, Jeff set Alan on his feet. 'Allie, can I ask you to do something for me?' His youngest looked up and nodded. 'Scott was pointing under the bed. Do you think you could take a look and see what's there?' Alan nodded and dived under the bed.

He resurfaced with the lipstick tube in his hands.