Spencers next chemotherapy treatment had gone as planned. Aaron had stayed with him throughout his stay in the hospital this time and now they were finally heading home. Dr Edmonds had agreed that since spencer was now in the clear for any serious allergic reactions to his chemotherapy he could ride the rest of this round out at home.
The ride home was silent, seeing as Spencer had fallen asleep in the car the moment they left the parking lot. Aaron would momentarily glance over at Spencer, smiling when he was obviously peacefully sleeping. He was already anticipating how he might be when they got home. If he was going to breakdown from the stress, nerves, and fears he had been feeling over starting his first round of treatment, or if the immediate after-chemo side effects have already begun. After filling the prescription, they finally made it home. As Aaron turned to Spencer, he was surprised to already see him awake. "Hey buddy, you awake?" he asked quietly as he noticed Spencer was rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah," Spencer mumbled out. "Tired, feel yucky"
"Let's get inside then," Aaron said quickly and climbed out of the car. He went around to Spencer and unclipped him from his carseat, picking the boy up and holding him in his arms. The young boys head leaning on his shoulder. After quickly unlocking the front door, Spencer squirmed in Aarons arms, he set him down and watched the boy quickly bolt into the house and down the hallway to the bathroom.
Aaron winced as he heard the bathroom door slam. "Damn," he mumbled as he ran a hand over his face. Sighing, he quickly dropped Spencer's bag on the couch and pulled the prescription from his pocket before making his way to the kitchen. Grabbing a glass of water, he made his way to the bathroom and then knocked on the door. "Spence?" he called.
When a weak 'yeah' reached the door, Aaron sighed and opened it, frowning at what he saw. Spencer was sitting on the ground in front of the toilet. In one hand he held a wad of tissues while the other was still firmly grasped around the bowl.
"Think you're done?" Aaron asked quietly as he knelt down next to Spencer. Spencer shook his head in response before dry heaving again. Aaron put the glass of water on the counter and ran a hand up and down Spencer's back.
After a while the dry heaving subsided and spencers eyelids began to droop, the exhaustion clearly showing itself.
"Come on buddy, lets go to bed" Aaron said, as he gently picked up the boy in his arms.
"This sucks," Spencer muttered as he rested his head on Aaron's shoulder.
"I know," Aaron responded, slowly rubbing a hand up and down Spencer's arm.
Aaron then moved to grab the glass of water he had left on the counter and handed it to Spencer, before taking the Zofran out of his pocket. "Just need to take this first."
Spencer didn't say anything as Aaron handed him the pills and he took them before finishing off the glass. Holding the young boy aaron walked over to his bedroom and gently placed him down onto his bed. He manouvered himself so they could both lie together on the twin bed.
Aaron smiled as Spencer wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled his head into his neck.
They both fell into a peaceful slumber before spencer was awoken again with another bout of nausea. He quickly stood up and made a bolt for the bathroom, waking Aaron in the process.
"Spence?" he said carefully walking towards the half open bathroom door, "you, okay?"
A weak "no" came in response to his question.
Aaron opened the door to find a very frail looking Spencer hunched over the toilet once again. Body drenched in a sweat.
Rubbing careful circles on his back Aaron kneeled next to Spencer, whispering gently into his ear in an attempt to make the smaller man feel somewhat calmer. His attempt, as lovely as it was, did not do much to help the strong bouts of nausea and vomiting spencer was experiencing.
After a while spencer had expelled pretty much everything he had eaten in the last week, and the bouts of dry heaving had subsided.
"You all done?" said an anxious Aaron. He hated seeing spencer in this much pain.
"Yeah," came the weak reply from spencer
"Okay let's get you to bed," Aaron said, placing one hand on his back and the other arm underneath his knees scooping him up. Pulling him in close, walking slowly over to the bedroom where he carefully lowered him onto the bed. Placing a bucket next to spencer's side of the bed and a glass of water with his medication, Aaron placed the covers over him. He watched for a few minutes as the boy fell into a deep slumber, before returning downstairs to start dinner for the rest of the family.
He hoped it would get better, he prayed it would, it had to.