Kneeling down beside the couch, dave gently reached beneath spencer, fumbling for the end of the nj tube. He was silently cursing dr edmonds as he did; for some reason, this tube had ended up much longer than the previous ones spencer had had.

Finding the port, he untangled it from spencer's arms, popping the cap open and placing the syringe into it.

"pappa," spencer murmured, his eyes remaining closed as he blindly reached out for his dad's hand.

"shh," dave replied. "i'm just pushing your meds, baby boy"

Spencer nodded slightly, settling into his pillow even further as dave pushed the syringe all the way through and flushed it with saline.

As he sealed the cap on the tube, he let out a heavy sigh. Spencer's condition had deteriorated drastically in the past two days, and no-one could really figure out why. He'd been complaining of a headache, vomiting more frequently than usual, and sleeping almost all day and all night, as well as sporting a sick shade of grey instead of his usual pale complexion. Because edmonds had found nothing abnormal on his scan, all they could put it to was chemo playing catch up.

Hearing the front door open, dave rose from the floor and took the syringe back into the kitchen. He was rinsing it under the tap when derek and emily walked into the room.

"hey dad"

Smiling, dave shut off the tap and set the syringe to one side before turning to face his son.

"hey you two. How was school?" he asked, leaning on the counter.

Derek shrugged. "it was ok. The usual"

Emily giggled. "until you stacked it in gym class"

"can you stop talking about that, it was an accident," derek groaned. Dave laughed.

"what did he do?" he asked, turning to emily.

"well i heard he was running to catch the ball and he wasn't looking in front of him. He smacked straight into chris henley, who is built like a brick wall, and went sprawling across the floor. It took him like two minutes to pull himself back together, and it was hilarious to watch," emily laughed.

Chuckling, dave turned to derek. "you're a klutz"

Miming laughing, derek dropped his bag at his feet. "how's spencer?"

Dave shook his head. "no change. Still grey, still vomiting, and still sleeping all the time"

Derek glanced into the lounge, looking grimly at his brother. "chemo's not going to help that, is it?"

Dave shrugged. "probably not. But he needs the chemo...i'd rather he was sicker than this, but stable, than dying"

"how much of his treatment does he have left?" emily asked.

"four rounds of chemo. It should only be about four more months of treatment...but it feels like the end is years away," dave sighed. "we'll get there eventually"

After a moment of silence, derek spoke.

"i'm going upstairs," he said. Seeing dave's raised eyebrow, he grinned. "to do homework," he said with a laugh as he picked up his bag and went out of the room.

"i'm holding you to that!" dave called after him, grinning as he turned back to look at where spencer lay on the couch.

He looked so lifeless. It terrified dave to see his taking a downward turn when his condition was already so serious to begin with.

Running a hand through his hair, dave took a deep breath, closing his eyes and standing still for just a moment.

One day at a time.

Spencer's deteriorating condition had led dave and aaron to leave a two way monitor in his room, so that they could hear his at night if he needed anything.

It was just after midnight when aaron was awoken by the sounds of spencer retching. He could tell straightaway that he hadn't grabbed a bowl in time and would need his sheets changed.

Grabbing the monitor from the bedside table, he switched it off before sliding out from underneath the covers. As he reached the door, he cast a fleeting glance over his shoulder to see if dave was still asleep. Seeing that he was, he sighed in relief. Out of everyone, he needed his sleep more than ever at the moment.

Padding softly down the hall, aaron rounded the corner and gently opened the bedroom door. Light from the hallway flooded in, illuminating spencer lying in his bed, barely awake. Vomit soiled the sheets and the floor just below his bed, as well as his pyjamas. Aaron's heart sank. Usually he was alert enough to contain it to the bowls.

"hey spence," he whispered, moving around to the other side of the bed and pulling the soiled linens away from spencer's tiny frame. Spencer mumbled, his eyes remaining closed.

Slipping his arms underneath spencer, he easily lifted his from the bed, carrying his out of the room and into the neighbouring bathroom.

"come on buddy, i need you to be awake at least a little bit," he said softly as he flicked the light on. Setting spencer down so he was leaning against the cabinet, he reached over and turned on the shower.

Spencer managed to open his eyes at the sound of the water running the brilliant blue now a dark grey. Fighting the urge to fall asleep right there on the bathroom floor, he looked up as his dad knelt down in front of him.

"arms up kiddo," aaron coaxed gently. Spencer tried to oblige, his tired arms rising no higher than his shoulders. Aaron made do, eventually getting his shirt up and over his head, casting straight into the laundry basket.

Once he had his out of his soiled pyjamas, he scooped him up once more and set his down on the floor of the shower.

"'s warm," spencer mumbled, a tired half-smile crossing his face. Aaron chuckled.

"you sit here under the water and get cleaned up while i change your sheets, ok?"

Spencer nodded, holding one hand up under the water, looking more awake than he had in days.

Leaving his in the shower, aaron grabbed a fresh pair of sheets from the linen cupboard before heading back into spencer's room. Due to the amount of vomit, they had been contending with lately, the cleaning supplies were already sitting on the desk.

It took him the better part of half an hour, but eventually he had the floor cleaned and the sheets changed, a scented candle burning in the corner to help chase away the smell.

Heading back into the bathroom, he chuckled upon finding spencer almost asleep on the shower floor.

"bit tired, spence?" he teased.

"i tried...stay awake," spencer mumbled as his father turned off the water and lifted his out.

"i know," aaron said softly, kissing the top of his head.

He got him dry and back into a clean set of pyjamas. It was as he was tucking his back into bed that spencer surprised him by grabbing his shirt.

"stay?"

It was a simple question, but aaron obliged. Sliding into the bed beside him, he pulled spencer into his arms, kissing the top of his head as he snuggled up against his chest.

"love you daddy," he whispered.

Aaron smiled, rubbing gentle circles on his upper back.

"love you too spence. Get some rest"