Inspired by "Don't Give Up On Me." by Andy Grammer - Highly suggest listening to the song before reading to get the feels - When Gumball suddenly falls ill, the Watterson's learn a new and unexpected gift of life.

IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE: This FanFiction is a part of my secondary collection (Basically the same story just from another character's point of view) if any of you would like to see Gumball's side of this story (how he felt leading up to the illness, his fight between life and death, and his recovery) lookout for "Holding On…" I will probably be posting the chapters either during or when I finish this story to ensure that all you readers get the best content I can provide! :)

As always, at the end of the FanFiction will be the description of a montage to this song that goes along with the events of this story! If you have any ideas of pictures that you'd think would go in the montage of Gumball's recovery please put them in your review so i can see them! Enjoy!

Chapter 1 - "I will fight for you."

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"I will fight

I will fight for you

I always do, until my heart

Is black and blue"

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Nicole sat next to the bed, staring at the weak heartbeat on the monitor. It had been two days since everything had happened and Gumball's health hadn't progressed any. Looking down from the monitor she saw all three of her kids sleeping. Gumball, still unconscious from the surgery, lied in the bed wrapped in the white sheets the hospital provided. Anais had pulled her chair closer and had his head and arms resting on the bed, holding Gumball's hand, and Darwin was propped up against his father's side, snoring softly. Nicole couldn't tell if Richard was asleep or just resting his eyes. It has been a difficult week for everyone, alternating between who stays and who goes. For everyone's sake, Nicole opted to take the kids out of school for a while. Just the stress of finishing homework and getting good grades, Nicole decided not to have her kids suffer any more than they already were. Plus, she really didn't think she could get up every morning to take them to school.

Some of the family's friends had dropped in a few times over the past week, only to bring food or gifts. To everyone's surprise, even Nicole's parents stopped by to check on the kid. Everyone absolutely hated seeing Gumball in the condition he was in. But Nicole had noticed that Anais would barely look at her brother. He was hooked up to so many different machines but the vent stuck out to them the most. The fact that Gumball was only hanging on by a thread made her feel sick. But the part that made Nicole even more upset was how quiet it was. There was no yelling, no jokes… no laughter. Her favorite thing to hear was her children laughing.

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"Bye, kids! Don't get in too much trouble at school!" Nicole yelled out the door as her three children hustled to the bus. She got three different responses: A "Yes, Momma!" from Anais, a "We won't!" from Darwin, and a "No promises!" from Gumball. She couldn't help but smile as she watched the bus drive away. She left for work that day with no suspicion whatsoever. That is until she got home. Something just didn't feel right. She left work early to get home in time to welcome her kids. However, when the three would usually come bursting in the door in some heated argument or some funny story from their day, the three walked in, Anais and Darwin in the front, Gumball quietly walking behind.

Nicole studied her eldest son. This is the quietest he'd been in years. But still, he seemed to have a happy expression on his face so she just thought maybe he was tired or had a long day. She relaxed a bit when she could hear Gumball's voice joining in on the conversation as the three raced up the stairs. Not long after the kids had put away their backpacks in their rooms, Nicole was joined by Anais in the kitchen. She sat at the kitchen table, coloring in her coloring book, as she told her mother all about her day. But in all her story, not once was Gumball mentioned. This was usually the time when Nicole heard about her eldest's bad behavior or something idiotic he had done in front of the whole school, but this time, Anais basically described the perfect day.

"Did your brothers get into any trouble today, sweetheart?" Nicole said, glancing over at her two sons resting on the couch with their dad.

"Surprisingly, no?" she also looked back at her brother, "is it just me, or is something wrong with him?" Anais genuinely spoke in a concerned tone for her brother. "He hasn't been acting himself today?"

"It's not just you sweetheart." Nicole said quietly sitting next to her daughter, "I noticed that too. He probably stayed up too late last night or just had a rough day at school." With that, Anais went back to her coloring while Nicole sat next to her, observing the family on the normal Tuesday night.

That night, Nicole awoke to the sounds of Gumball getting sick in the bathroom right beside their room. She shot out of bed, waking Richard in the process, and darted towards the bathroom.

"awe, honey," Nicole said as she sat down behind her eldest child. She then put her hand on her son's forehead. "Gosh, Gumball! you're burning up!" Gumball groaned as the headache intensified and again, he threw himself over the toilet. Nicole simply rubbed circles on his back as he sat up and rested his head in his arms on the toilet in front of him.

Richard stood in the doorway of the bathroom, unpackaging a new toothbrush for the kid. When Nicole was pregnant with Anais, she would wake up every morning puking her guts out. After about the first week or so, Richard finally came home with tons of toothbrushes so that he wouldn't have to get a new one from the store every day. However, after Anais was born and Nicole was no longer waking up every morning sick, there were still quite a few toothbrushes left over. Finally one had a use. He then placed the brush onto the counter and glanced over at the clock. It was 2:46 a.m.

Again, Gumball groaned as he leaned back onto his mother. He was awfully pale and seemed to be growing weaker by the minute. Soon, after many rounds of puking, the clock then read 3:21 a.m. Gumball had finally fallen asleep, undisturbed in his mother's arms. Nicole knew it was a terrible time to admit this, but she absolutely loved just the feeling of her child's weight on her lap. Gumball was twelve now… although Gumball was definitely one to love hugs, he had grown out of his cuddle phase.

The next morning, Nicole decided to keep Gumball home from school. Obviously. She also took it upon herself to take herself out of work today, not really trusting her husband to take care of a sick child. Gumball basically slept the whole day. Every few minutes, Nicole would peek her head into his room to check on him. She couldn't help but smile every time as she heard the soft breathing of her usually enthusiastic kiddo. He looked so peaceful. At least he was getting some time off from bouncing off the walls 24/7. However, every once in a while, she would hear Gumball burst into the upstairs bathroom to once again throw up the crackers she had brought to him.

The night was just like the one before. Except it didn't exactly start so late. Once again, Nicole sat on the floor of the bathroom while Richard distracted Darwin and Anais downstairs. But soon, Nicole glanced over to see him standing in the doorway holding the phone close to his chest.

"Maybe it's time to call urgent care?" Nicole said, gently scratching the fur on Gumball's cheek, "they could at least get some meds to stop the headache." Richard nodded and turned around to dial the number, "oh and honey? Can you get the two in bed?" Richard nodded again, forcing a soft smile onto his face, then made his way down the stairs. Gumball finally was able to fall asleep by the time urgent care got to the house about thirty minutes later. Even after being tucked in, both Darwin and Anais stood on the stair steps, peeking into the living room as the nurses began working on the sleeping cat.

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"I'll reach my hands out in the dark

And wait for yours to interlock

I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you."

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"Mrs. Watterson?" a voice said, grabbing Nicole's attention away from the memory. It was Gumball's doctor, Fleming. He spoke quietly enough to keep Darwin and Anais asleep, but from the corner of Nicole's eyes, she could see Richard's eyes flutter open and look at the doctor.

"anything?" Nicole said, leaning back in her chair. Richard cringed hearing her hoarse voice but kept his eyes on the doctor. Nicole certainly was no crier, but this week was different. She would leave to cry somewhere private so she wouldn't scare Darwin and Anais any further. Sometimes Richard or her mother would find her and try their best to comfort her but most of the time, she was all alone. Not that it was anybody's fault, she liked the alone time.

"I'm sorry." Dr. Fleming said, shaking his head. "We're doing the best we can." Richard glanced over at his eldest son. Even asleep he looked in pain, yet incredibly peaceful. At this time, Gumball and Darwin would usually be on Elmore plus or playing in the backyard right about now. His daydream was interrupted by his wife's sudden outbreak.

"You're best clearly isn't good enough!" Nicole said sharply, "my son may be-"

"Thank you, doctor." Richard cut in. Nicole looked over at him, then down at Anais who was stirring awake. She didn't seem to be bothered by her mother's outburst. But instead, she kept her focus on her brother. Nicole studied with her daughter. She looked at Gumball with sad, swollen eyes as she held his hand. Her eyes still looked tired, but she could see the tears beginning to once again brim her eyes.

"Y-yes. You're right." Nicole dropped her shoulders, "I'm sorry. I-I just-"

"It's completely understandable ma'am." The doctor said with a warm smile on his face. "Believe me, we are doing everything we can to help your son. We would like to run a few more tests on him today if that's alright with you." Nicole only nodded before she, along with Richard, who was holding a sleeping Darwin, and Anais left the room so that the doctors could work. As they left, Anais grabbed Nicole's hand and glanced back at her brother.

To her, it was almost like everything was moving in slow motion. Doctors and nurses began flooding the room, toying at the tubes and wires all over Gumball's body. As they got farther away, she got her last look at the blue cat before a nurse closed the curtain. She then turned her head back to see Richard and Darwin already seated in a comfortable chair. She frowned as Nicole led her to a chair right next to her father.

Nicole truly felt guilty. No one, no doctor had any idea what was wrong with him. But she felt as if somehow she had caused this sudden illness. No matter how hard she tried to support her family's needs, she never felt like she gave enough. It was well known that for years, even before Gumball was born, the Watterson's struggled with financial instability. Richard could never get a job anywhere, not that he really tried, so Nicole worked for the family. Nicole also felt that she never had full control over the household… especially Gumball. She loved her eldest very much, but he certainly gave his parents a hard time. Her other two children, even if they were somewhat more mature than the oldest, weren't necessarily any better. Gumball's constant high energy more often than not would trigger the other two to fall into the same chaotic frenzy.

But no matter how hard the family struggled, they never fell out of love for each other. Some of Nicole's favorite moments were when the five of them would have a movie night. She and Richard would be snuggled up on the couch and the kids would sit on the floor just inches from the screen all bunched together in one blanket. Or the weekends where they would stay up way too late playing some sort of board game. But overall of this, her favorite moments were hearing her children's laughter.

There wasn't much of that anymore now that Gumball was sick… Even though it had only been two days, she felt as if it had been months since she heard her children's laughter. The family couldn't spend the night at the hospital (although there was a night where they all fell asleep and the doctors let them rest) and even when they were home, there was hardly ever any noise. Nicole hated it. Even if Gumball constantly drove her mad with his craziness, she missed it and would give anything just to see her baby running around again.

Suddenly, she snapped back into reality when the sounds of panicked doctors and nurses flooded the halls. Her eyes shot towards Gumball's room, her stomach flipping at the fear she'd see the commotion coming from his room. Fortunately for her, the alarms and "code blue" were coming from another room. She, along with the rest of the family as Darwin was awoken by the alarms, watched silently. Out came the mother and father. A nurse gently guided the distressed couple to the waiting room seating, but the mother certainly put up a fight. Behind her, another doctor pushed an AED into the room.

After a few minutes, the two parents had calmed down and were now sitting anxiously in their chairs. But not long after they had sat down, a doctor exited the room, his head down. Nicole couldn't hear what he said, but the mother's stream instantly told her that their child did not make it. She watched as the lady fell into her husband's arms, he too was crying. The doctors and nurses that had gone into the room to revive the kid slowly left silently and returned to their places they were before the code blue. Nicole felt a pit in her stomach just imagining the feeling of losing her child. Just seeing how the couple reacted caused her to worry about how she would react, let alone her children.

"Ma'am?" a voice said, pulling Nicole's attention away from the scene. It was a young lady, most likely a MA, standing before her with her clipboard. "Good news! We had a look at Gumball's brain activity and found that he shouldn't stay unconscious for too much longer. However, we did find some unusual readings. It wasn't enough to really concern us, but when he wakes up, there's a number of things that could happen. What we're suspecting is he might have slight amnesia and possible loss of movement in certain regions of his body. But, based on the scans, we think that all of these shouldn't be long term and he will be back at it in a few months."

"A few months?" Nicole said. She knew things were bad, clearly. But she didn't think it would take so long for Gumball to recover.

"It's likely. From what we can tell, either the illness or the seizure reached the part of his brain that signals movements. We're looking at probably a few weeks of physical strengthening before we can release him. However, ma'am, although we are still not sure what exactly triggered the sickness and the seizure, we do know that your son is incredibly lucky to be alive." The nurse smiled softly as Nicole glanced over at her family. Richard just nodded his head, not completely sure of what to say, Darwin just stared at the nurse processing the information, and Anais looked shocked.

A few months?! No crazy adventures, no random pranks, no Gumball for a few months?!