Steady improvement since coming off the ventilator had lowered SPENCER's condition from the critical stage, meaning Dave was finally able to breathe when SPENCER was transferred from the PICU back down to the oncology ward.

However, it was with a heavy heart. The first few hours after being removed from the ventilator, SPENCER had seemed to be coping well. But as the hours had wore on, the amount of damage the bleed had done had started to become clear. His reflexes were severely diminished, he was sluggish at best, and his speech, had gone back to square one. Most of his sentences were slurred, and sometimes, he was finding it difficult to find the word he needed to string the sentence together.

"His brain is still healing," Edmonds had assured Dave. "I won't lie, some of what we are seeing now is going to take extensive therapy to see improvement, but the severity should reduce once his swelling has gone down"

"Will this affect his for the rest of his life?" Dave had asked.

"Possibly. But in kids as young as SPENCER...the parts of the brain that are unaffected can learn to compensate for the malfunctioning regions. It is possible that SPENCER could make a full recovery within ten years time, so long as his brain is given the chance to grow and heal correctly"

The first few hours back in oncology had been lonely for Dave; SPENCER had slept for most of the time, and they were in the room by themselves. Too nervous to leave SPENCER's side, Dave had settled for reading in the recliner, looking forward to the hourly visits from the nurses.

It was starting to get dark outside when the door opened and a wheelchair was pushed into the room. Sitting in it was a little girl named Katherine, who SPENCER had met during one of his many stays on the ward. Katherine was a year younger than SPENCER and was fighting hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer that had a grim prognosis.

"Hi Dave," Jodie, Katherine's Mom, said weakly as they walked into the room.

"Hey Jodie... you not feeling too good Katherine?" Dave asked gently. Katherine shook her head miserably as they stopped his chair at the end of the bed and helped her to her feet.

"Fever, not eating, not sleeping, pain... the usual," Jodie sighed as the nurses helped Katherine into the bed. The curtains were pulled across to allow Katherine to change into something more comfortable, and when they were pulled back a little while later, the nurses were leaving, and Katherine was already asleep.

"Here's some magazines. I'm finished with them," Dave said warmly, handing them across to Jodie.

"Thank you," Jodie said with a grin. "I heard on the way in that SPENCER hasn't been doing well"

Dave shook his head. "He's been up in the PICU for the last two weeks on a ventilator. Brain tumor. But he's improving every day, and we're going to try and get the physical therapist down here tomorrow"

Jodie smiled. "You don't realise how strong kids are until you put them through absolute hell"

Dave nodded in agreement, looking over at his son with nothing but pride and love on his face.

"They're so much stronger than I think I could ever be"

The next day dawned full of promise and hope. Hope for enough improvement to begin physical therapy, and to start paving their journey home.

"My head feels funny," SPENCER grumbled, his hand coming sluggishly up to touch the bandages that still covered his head.

"I know, buddy, don't touch it," Dave said gently, prising SPENCER's hand back down. "The doctor had to remove part of your skull to help your brain heal"

"Really?" SPENCER asked, his eyes growing wide. Dave chuckled at SPENCER's surprise.

"Yeah, so don't touch it or move around too much, little one," he said gently. "I'm going to get a coffee, ok? I'll be right back"

SPENCER nodded, his hands closing around the remote as Dave rose from the recliner and exited the room.

He was walking down the hall quickly, intending to get his coffee fast and be back at SPENCER's bedside before Edmonds came in to assess his condition, when he saw Mandy coming out of the parents room, his face white and panicked. As he pulled the door closed behind his, he looked up, spotting Dave headed towards his.

"Don't go in there," he said thickly. Dave could see that his eyes were wet with tears as he got up close to his friend.

"Why, what's happened?" Dave asked worriedly, reaching out and placing a steadying hand on Mandy's shoulder.

"Jess...he...oh Dave, it's awful...she died just over an hour ago," Mandy choked out, the tears beginning to fall once more. "I just had to take Rachel in there to be with Frank...they're inconsolable"

Dave felt weak. His chest tightened as his head spun.

Another child. Gone. But not only that. Another friend of SPENCER's. A friend who happened to be fighting the same fight.

He was helpless to stop the tears falling as he and Mandy sank into the chairs in the empty hallway. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Rachel and Frank were going through.

If there was anything he hated more than the cancer journey his family was on, it was seeing SPENCER make special bonds with all the kids, only for cancer to steal them away.

Sobs wracked his body as his mind raced at a million miles.

Every time one of the kids on the ward passed away, he was given a fresh reminder of his son's mortality. And given everything they had just been through with SPENCER, he now felt sick to his stomach.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair, and Dave wanted out.