Surgery to replace the skull flap had left SPENCER feeling more than a little sore, and that had constituted spending the next week in bed. But finally, he was on the mend, the intracranial drain had been removed, and both Edmonds and the physio were happy for his to spend an afternoon in the playroom with the other kids, knowing that spending the last month in bed had been near torture for him.

"I think everyone will just be excited to see that you are actually alive after all of this," Dave chuckled as he wheeled SPENCER down the hall towards the playroom. "You've been holed up in a room for a month, I don't think they believed me when I said you were doing ok"

"I'm excited to see everyone," SPENCER said softly, playing with the cuffs of his sweater. "I miss my friends"

"I know you do kiddo, I'm glad you get to see them today," Dave replied, reaching out and pushing the door to the room open.

"SPENCER!" came the excited cheers of SPENCER's friends. Talia was the first one to make it over to his, wrapping his in a tight hug as he beamed from ear to ear. "You're back!"

"I never left," SPENCER said with a giggle as Talia took the handles of the chair, relieving Dave of the duty and allowing his to join the other moms over by the kitchenette.

"You doing ok?" Talia asked gently. "After Jess?"

SPENCER shrugged. "I don't know. I mean... she was a friend, and we had the same cancer... it's scary to know she's just... gone"

"It sucks so bad," Talia sighed as he stopped SPENCER's wheelchair by the couch where he was sitting with Charlie and Olly. "But it means we all gotta kick its butt for his"

"I miss her," SPENCER said sadly.

"We all do," Charlie agreed quietly.

"Hi SPENCER," came a small voice to SPENCER's right. When he looked around, he found Kaito walking slowly towards his. He looked much sicker than when he had last seen him; he was bald, thin, burnt from radiation, and walking on his toes, a clear indicator that his chemo was causing his muscles to atrophy.

"Hi Kaito," he said with a smile, holding out his hand for him to join them. "You feeling ok?"

"My tummy feels sick, but Dr Heddle gave me some medicine to make it better," Kaito said sweetly as he climbed up and settled himself between Charlie and Talia.

"That's good, the medicine always helps, hey buddy," Charlie said with a grin.

"Yeah," Kaito replied. "It makes me not throw up"

The other kids laughed.

"That's definitely good," Olly chuckled, reaching out to fist bump Kaito. Kaito giggled, bumping his tiny fist against Olly's larger one, his face lighting up the whole room.

Over by the kitchenette, Dave cradled his coffee tightly in his hands as he seated himself between Sakura and Nikita. Mandy, who had left Zac alone while he was resting, looked over at his friend with concern in his eyes.

"You look like someone who needs to go home," he said gently.

"I've been here for a month, I'm losing my mind. And I feel sick to my stomach all the time, it's horrible," Dave said softly, sipping his coffee. Immediately, the nausea twisted inside his, making his set the cup down and push it away.

"No good?" Sakura asked. Dave shook his head.

"Here, I'll make you some tea," Sakura said, rising from his chair and placing a comforting hand on Dave's shoulder before going over to the counter.

"I feel like crap," Dave sighed, dropping his head into his hands. "I haven't slept properly in a week, when I do sleep, I wake up feeling sick... I'm so tired. Thank god we get to go home in a few days"

"Get Lizzie to do a blood test, you might have a deficiency somewhere that's making you so unwell. Happened to me during Zac's first year of treatment. I thought it was just stress and exhaustion, but turned out I was iron deficient," Mandy suggested. "Even if it turns out to show nothing, then you'll know you just need a few good nights' sleep"

Dave nodded. "I might just do that"

"We've got another kid joining the ranks too," Nikita said, dropping his voice so as to be sure the kids wouldn't hear his. "Little boy named Hannah. Apparently he was diagnosed in the ER last night, he arrived on the ward this morning"

"How old is he?" Dave asked, gratefully taking the mug of tea Sakura passed his on his way back to the table.

"No older than seven. I only caught a glimpse of them this morning while I was getting some breakfast," Nikita replied. "The mother looked a wreck, as expected, but I found out just before lunch that the poor little thing actually has DIPG"

Dave looked up at Nikita, equal parts confused and horrified.

"That's... terminal on diagnosis, isn't it?" he asked.

Nikita nodded slowly. "I can't imagine hearing those words right after being told your kid has cancer. I know people say all the time that they can't imagine going through what we're going through... but on the same level, we can never understand what the parents of kids with DIPG go through... I mean, at least our kids are given a chance, a light at the end of the tunnel at first"

"That's horrible," Sakura said sadly. "Makes me hate cancer even more than I thought it was possible to hate something"

"I know it's a long shot, but I hope there's something they can do for that poor little boy... at least give his more time to be a kid, to be with his family," Dave said quietly.

"Knowing Dr Nick, he'll do everything he can to give that kid a chance," Nikita sighed.

"I thought Edmonds was the brain cancer specialist?" Dave asked.

"He is, but Nick has a research program on DIPG, so any DIPG cases on the ward go straight to him because he's more likely to find the breakthrough in treatment than any of the other oncologists. Each of them has a specialty and a specific cancer that they're studying. I hear Edmonds has started a new study into medulloblastoma," Nikita said with a nod. "I think SPENCER and Jess might have lit a fire under him"

"God, I hope so, there is nothing I want more than to take medulloblastoma and crush it into a thousand pieces before setting it on fire," Dave said immediately. "It's taken away everything about SPENCER. He's still SPENCER... but he's not the same, and I know he never will be, which makes me a little sad. He wouldn't be this person without the cancer, and I can't decide if that's a good or a bad thing"

Isabelle, who had been quiet up to now, suddenly nodded. "I feel the same about Charlie. It changes them and it changes almost every aspect of what you think you know about your kid... but they do come out on the other side stronger. Charlie did after his first fight with it"

Dave frowned. "Charlie's had neuroblastoma before?"

Isabella nodded. "He doesn't ever mention that he's in with a relapse... I think he feels like it makes his weak that he couldn't stay cancer free. But yeah, he was diagnosed a few years back with an abdominal tumor, and it relapsed in his brain"

The other women shook their heads sadly.

"Cancer can kiss my hairy ass," Nikita grumbled.

The others looked up at his for a moment, before bursting out laughing. Nikita was quick to join them, their eyes lighting up the whole room.

It felt good to laugh.