A party from the nurses was currently overtaking the ward. To try and lift everyone's spirits after the rough week following Jessica's death, they had arranged for a fun afternoon in the day room, which had eventually spilled out into the hallway.

SPENCER and Zac were not strong enough to even entertain the idea of getting out of bed, but after much persuasion, they had convinced their parents to go and mingle with the other parents, knowing that they desperately needed to escape the shrinking cocoon of the room.

They'd been gone nearly an hour when the curtain between the teenagers' beds was pulled back and Zac slowly shuffled over to sit in Dave's vacated recliner.

"I'm bored," he said as he sat down. SPENCER laughed.

"Me too," he said shakily, pushing his covers back as he sat up a little more. "Wish I could go down the hall... but I'm too tired... but I can't sleep"

Zac chuckled, playing with the adjustor wheel of the chair to make it recline further and then sit up again.

"Zac?"

"Yeah?"

A short silence followed before SPENCER spoke again.

"Are you afraid of dying?"

Leaning forward, Zac rested his arms on the edge of SPENCER's bed. For the first time, SPENCER saw how truly sick Zac was looking. His skin was grey and had a texture that resembled paper. He was thinner than he ever remembered. He'd known he was getting sicker, but just how sick, he hadn't realised.

"Sometimes," Zac said softly. "But I don't see the point in being afraid anymore... we're all going to die. Some just a little sooner than others. If the cancer is going to take us, there's nothing we can do to stop that"

SPENCER mulled over his words, picking at the loose thread on his blanket.

"What about you?" Zac asked gently.

"I'm scared... of dying and not... not getting to do some things," SPENCER replied, choosing his words carefully.

"Like what?"

SPENCER shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to die and not have graduated high school... or never have been kissed"

"You'll get to do those things," Zac assured his. "You're doing well. Your hopefully gonna go into remission soon. You're recovering from the brain tumor"

"Anything can happen. Look at the tumor," SPENCER whispered. "I have four more rounds of chemo to get through"

"Three," Zac interjected.

SPENCER shook his head. "Four. They're giving me one more to make up for the fact I'm not getting one this month"

"You're going to be fine, SPENCER. You had one setback. Dr Edmonds is looking after you with Nazi vigilance now to make sure you get to the end of treatment," Zac said gently.

"But still," SPENCER sighed.

Silence fell between them for a few moments. It was comfortable. Night was beginning to fall outside, making the room dark yet cosy.

The next day brought a huge curve of improvement.

Just after lunchtime, Edmonds had come in to say it was time to replace the piece of SPENCER's skull that had been removed to repair the bleed. This had delighted both SPENCER and Dave; Dave had been told just after the initial surgery that the bone flap would be replaced when SPENCER was almost ready to go home.

And so during SPENCER's surgery, which was only expected to take a couple of hours, Dave had sat in the day room with the other parents, trying to chase away the niggle of anxiety that he had come to expect with all of SPENCER's medical procedures. Some of the kids who were on the healthier end of the spectrum had decided to re-enact something they had seen Dr Nick doing in the hallway involving dropping a sandwich and doing a crazy dance. It had made Dave laugh, especially when Dr Nick came along to see the show.

He wanted to be home more than anything. He wanted to tuck SPENCER into his own bed, cuddle his kids, and enjoy a hot shower from the peace and tranquillity of his own house.

So when SPENCER came back from surgery with a very happy report from the neurosurgeon, a newly replaced bone flap, and a number of plates and screws holding his skull together, Dave was pleased to hear that as long as SPENCER recovered well from the surgery, they would be going home within ten days. It was a long time, but to Dave at least there was an end in sight.

One battle at a time was how they were going to win this war.