"dave. Aaron"

Hearing their names, dave and aaron leapt up from the hard plastic chairs of the surgical waiting room. The sun was starting to come up outside the hospital, and they knew then that spencer had been in surgery for a very long time. They had been drifting in and out of sleep, but had largely been too worried about spencer to actually drop off.

Taking off his jacket, aaron draped it over derek , who had fallen asleep leaning on his father, before following his husband over to where dr edmonds was standing, another man at his side whom he recognised as the neurosurgeon, dr valastro.

"is he ok?" dave choked out, his hands shaking as he drew his jacket around herself.

"spencer made it through the surgery. We had a few scary moments, but he held on," valastro replied with a gentle smile.

"did you manage to get all of the tumor?" aaron asked.

Valastro nodded. "we were able to get all of it without invading spencer's cerebellum too much, which is the best outcome we could've hoped for. However, we have put his into an induced coma, and we want to keep his under for the next couple of days. His brain has already begun to swell as a result of the surgery, so the coma is to help slow that and protect his brain from further harm"

Nodding in understanding, aaron put his arm around dave's shoulders. "will there be long term effects from this?"

"we have no way of knowing for sure. I will tell you that it's likely that spencer will have lost some if not all walking ability. He may have trouble speaking, using his hands, and even performing simple cognitive functions. It is possible that the combination of the seizure and the tumor may have caused some damage, but again, we won't be able to know until he wakes up," valastro explained. "don't worry too much about it in the first few days. We need to wait for his brain to heal properly, as many functions can be temporarily hindered by swelling"

"he's in the picu if you want to see his. He's stable, but we need to keep his on the ventilator until we can stop the drugs keeping his in a coma," edmonds added.

Dave nodded. "i want to see him"

Nodding, edmonds turned, leading the way towards the elevators. Aaron shook valastro's hand in gratitude, before following edmonds and dave to the elevator bank.

It was just over five minutes later that they reached the picu, and both dave and aaron didn't know what to expect upon walking in.

As edmonds hit the button to open the door to the picu, dave started feeling sick to his stomach.

"he's on a lot of machines at the moment to monitor various aspects of his condition. We're monitoring his heart, his lungs, his brain activity, and of course, he's on the ventilator. Dr valastro inserted another ventriculoperitoneal shunt to ensure that his spinal fluid doesn't build up inside his skull. I do believe he also left the bone flap out for the time being, to give his brain room to swell. It's a completely normal procedure when someone undergoes most types of brain surgery. There's a protective padding on the back of his head, but the bone will be replaced once he's almost ready to go home"

Taking a deep breath, aaron stepped past edmonds towards where he had been gesturing. He could see now what edmonds meant; his baby boy was covered in all manners of tubing and wires, all designed to help keep his alive.

Swallowing thickly, he stepped right up to the edge of the bed, dave right at his side just a few moments later.

Edmonds continued explaining all the tubes, albeit his voice much softer.

"this one on his finger is monitoring the oxygenation of his blood. Through his port, we're delivering steroids to reduce inflammation, antibiotics to fight off infection, fluids to keep his hydrated, and platelets to ensure that his blood is able to clot and the bleed won't occur again. His naso-jejunal tube is staying in to deliver his nutrition"

He stopped for a moment, watching as the two parents hovered near their son, almost afraid to touch him. Tears were clear in their eyes, both of them trying to stay stoic and strong for the time being.

"you can hold his hand," edmonds said gently.

Reaching down, aaron slowly took spencer's hand into his, his thumb running gentle circles on the back of his hand as he sank into the chair beside the bed.

"i'll give you some privacy," edmonds stated quietly before moving to exit the picu. He knew it was hard enough seeing their critically ill child hooked to every machine imaginable without having the doctor hovering nearby as well.

Hearing the electronic doors open and close, dave sat on the arm of aaron's chair, putting his arm around his shoulders and giving him a gentle squeeze. He was holding his tears back so far, managing to keep his strong composure for a little longer.

"he looks so small," aaron whispered.

"i know," dave replied. "but he's been so brave. So strong. Knowing his, he'll walk out of here in a week, pulling each wire off as he goes"

Aaron chuckled weakly. "that would be spencer to a t. He's always been stubborn, hasn't he?"

Dave smiled. "stubborn? Like an ox. It's his way or the highway"

"he'll make cancer take the highway for sure, won't you spence?" aaron laughed, squeezing spencer's hand gently. "you just keep fighting, baby boy. You've done so well this far. We're here for you every step of the way, and we love you so much"

Leaning down, dave pressed a kiss to the top of aaron's head before resting his head against him.

"he'll be ok, aaron. He'll be ok"

He wanted to squeeze his dad's hand back. He wanted to open his eyes. He wanted to lift his hands and hold them out for a hug from his dads.

But nothing was happening.

He knew his parents were there, but he was far too groggy, far too sedated to even attempt opening his eyes. He was scared, and all he wanted was a hug from his dads.

He would be ok. He had to kick the cancer's ass for his parents' sake.

They wouldn't survive if they lost him to this disease.