The nurses said he'd find Noah in the overcrowded waiting area of the emergency walk-in clinic. He made his way through the rows of plastic bucket seats catching the eyes of worried, injured or sick men, women and children as he searched the faces of everybody he passed.

Were all African hospitals this chaotic?

He searched three times before he convinced himself that Noah wasn't there.

As he made his way back to the exit, thinking perhaps the boy had gone outside for some fresh air, his attention was drawn to a solitary man he'd previously walked by twice.

This particular man was leaning forward in the chair, arms resting on his knees as he massaged one hand with the other. His head was bowed, eyes to the floor; the bobbing of his right knee indication of some deep anxiety.

But it was the crook of the man's wide shoulders stooped over in sadness that sparked a flicker of recognition.

"It can't me?" he thought even as he found himself weaving his way across the room; his shoes squeaking on the linoleum floor as he came to a holt.

It took a while for the seated man, seemingly in a world of his own, to notice the worn sneakers that came to a standstill before him.

The older man felt the stare as the dark head rose slowly up his body, taking in his jeans and plaid shirt, until finally he caught a glimpse of the undeniable blue peeking out from under a stranger's bearded face.

He saw those worried eyes widen in surprise and disbelief; he heard the breathing shudder as the tears came; and he was quick to fall to his knees and gather the broken boy into his arms.

...

"How?" Noah asked as Holden reappeared with two take away coffee cups and took the seat beside him.

Holden smiled, handing Noah his drink, "I was booking Lucinda's jet the moment you hung up the phone."

"But how did you find us," Noah looked around the waiting area with incomprehension, "here?"

"It was a lucky guess. I figured you'd come to Nairobi to get a flight home. And you said Luke was injured, so I just kept checking all the hospitals in the hopes you'd seek treatment in one of them."

Noah took a sip of his coffee as he stared into the room, not really looking at anything. Holden waited patiently. Noah always took his time to open up.

"He stopped breathing." Noah whispered and then his voice rose in panic, "Soon after we landed on the hospital roof. He wasn't breathing..."

"He's going to fine."

"What?" Noah sat up straight at that.

Holden squeezed Noah's neck with his fingers, trying to impart some reassurance and help ease the stress built up there. He knew the boy must have been sitting through the night. "I spoke to the doctor before I came to find you. It was a kidney infection but they've stabilised him."

Noah rubbed his mouth in one hand as he absorbed this new information.

"He knew." Noah said mostly to himself.

"He would have done." Holden replied, "He'd recognise the symptoms. He didn't say anything to you?"

Noah shook his head, both hands curling around the Styrofoam coffee cup, "There was so much going on I forgot completely about his meds. I think he was trying to spare me any more worry."

"Well, and don't take this the wrong way, but you do look terrible kid… so who can blame him? When was the last time you got some decent sleep?"

"Feels like a year ago."

"I realise there is a lengthy story here but it's not the time for you to go into detail. Just know that I'm here if you need to talk."

"I know."

"I'm so relieved to have found you both."

Noah pursed his lips in an effort to fend off more tears.

"And thank you." Holden continued.

Noah frowned and looked up from his coffee.

"For finding him; like you promised." Holden explained.

Noah nodded again and tried to smile but couldn't. Instead he reached over and gave Holden a quick hug of understanding.

"Thank you so much for coming." Noah said as he pulled back, "They wouldn't tell me anything. They said if Luke woke up and said it was okay then they could. But," his voice grew bitter "I'm not family."

"I'm sorry, son. You must have been going crazy."

"I couldn't leave the hospital, so I waited here. Did the doctor say when we can see him?"

"We can go right now if you like."

Noah released a deep breath.

...

Noah stood back as Holden approached Luke's bedside. The man cocked his head to one side as he surveyed his son. He gently brushed a lock of hair from Luke's face and bent over to kiss his forehead.

"Up to your old tricks again I see…" He said gently, "You're going to give that man of yours a heart attack if you're not careful."

He looked back to smile encouragingly at his son-in-law before returning his attention back to Luke.

"I'm here son. I'm going to take care of you guys. So you can come out of hiding, okay? You can open your eyes."

Holden smoothed up Luke's arm, squeezing slightly, but Luke remained motionless.

"Hey? I know how naturally stubborn you are, but don't you want to make Noah smile. I think he could really use that right about now…"

Noah did smile at that, nibbling on his bottom lip. When it came to how he was feeling Holden was always adept and not saying what he really meant; in this case that Noah wasn't the only one needing that smile.

Secure in the knowledge that not only was Luke going to be okay medically, but that Holden was there to shoulder some of the burden, Noah felt the fatigue hit him with full force. Suddenly his lids were unmentionably heavy and he swayed blinking on his feet.

"Lo!" exclaimed a petite Nurse who came through the door just in time to catch the unsteady Noah before he collapsed.

He felt Holden's strong arms join hers, "Come on. Let's get you over to this chair."

"Dad?"

"Yes Noah?"

"Will you watch Luke?"

Holden patted his cheek, "Of course I will. You get some rest, okay?"

Noah checked on Luke once more before he allowed his eyes to seal shut.

...

It was the magical sound of Luke's laugh that pulled Noah out of the deep sleep he'd found himself in. He yawned widely as he opened his eyes to the calming picture of Luke and his father talking and laughing quietly together.

They hadn't noticed him wake but he said nothing; enjoying a few moments just watching them interact. He loved to see that, as much as it often saddened him to have never experienced the same relationship with his own father.

That pain was lessoning more and more as he grew to accept the love Holden seemed so willing to give him. It warmed him through and he was grateful for it.

Eventually, Luke's eyes found his and he smiled gently, "Evening sleepyhead."

"Evening?" Noah asked confused and wincing as he moved to get up; feeling the pain in his stiff muscles from sleeping in the chair.

"You've been asleep for at least seven hours." Holden informed him, "I'll run to get you something to eat in a minute."

Noah rubbed at his eyes and stretched before heading over to sit on the bed beside Luke, checking him over.

"I'm all good." Luke told him.

Noah leaned forward to capture his lips in a brief kiss, smoothing his thumb down Luke's cheek. It was true; there were now only small remnants of pain left in Luke's eyes.

"I'm okay, really bubby." Luke reassured him, hand finding Noah's own and squeezing.

Neither of them noticed as Holden slipped out of the room.

Noah pressed his forehead to Luke's, "You stopped breathing."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't do that again, okay?"

Luke nodded, "Okay."

"And Luke…" Noah gritted his teeth.

"Yeah?"

"I'm still furious with you!"

Luke's deep browns lifted in a look Noah had come to know well over the years, "I know… I'm…"

Noah shook his head against Luke's, "Don't you dare say you're sorry…"

Noah pulled back for a moment and he saw the look of fear cross Luke's face. In the past this was the moment when Noah would leave.

Instead he kissed Luke, hard and desperate, before hugging him as tightly as he dared without hurting him, "Right now I just want to take you home."

"I want to go home too, but Noah, not before we help Tony and Kizza, right?"

Noah sniffed and wiped the back of his hand across his nose, "It's already done."

"What do you mean?"

"While I was waiting for news I called the American Embassy. I told them what happened and I asked them to expedite a passport for you. I also told them where they could find Tony."

He watched as Luke's mind turned over and he gripped both of Luke's upper arms, "It's up to them to sort it out Luke. We've done all we can."

"But how do we know…"

"The Ugandan government lied." Noah interrupted, "I'm willing to bet they'll just hand both doctors over to the embassy on request rather than escalate this. Okay? We have to at least let them try…"

Finally Luke nodded, "It's just you didn't see him…"

"Maybe not… but I saw you…" his voice cracked and he had to take a breath, "…and that's enough… That's all I need to know. You should have told me about the infection."

"Noah, there was nothing you could have done. Even Dr. Byrne said I needed to be hospitalised. He did the best he could to slow the infection."

"I don't like it when you keep things from me, but I guess I can understand why you did."

"Knock knock!" Holden called, standing at the door with a cardboard try of drinks and sandwiches, "Okay to come in?"

Luke's face beamed, "Sure, Dad."

Luke was under strict orders not to eat anything unless it was handed to him by the nurses, so instead he lay back and partook in conversation as Noah and Holden ate; Holden filling them in on news from home.

Noah noticed how Holden skirted the issue of Nicholas's unease and when Holden saw the expression on his face he smiled softly at him.

"It's only because he loves you guys so damn much! You're the first people to really parent and love him and he's come so far because of you guys. He'll be just fine. You'll see."

Luke sighed at that, "It's all my fault… But I never expected any of this to happen. You guys have to believe me! I never thought it was this dangerous!"

"We can sort all that when you're better. Your dad's right, Nicky will be okay."

The conversation inevitably turned to the events of the past few days as they relayed them to Holden. His shock to hear that his son was whipped in such a way was palpable and he had to leave the room.

"You should have seen him take on Laarman!" Noah told Holden when he eventually returned. "He was so weak but he stood there with such pride and strength! You have no idea just how strong your son is!"

"Oh, I think I do." Holden smiled, "I've seen him stand up and fight before. He's certainly a force to be reckoned with!"

Luke and Noah shared a silent conversation regarding that and Noah broke it to ask, "How can we be sure Laarman will leave Lutalo and the guys alone?"

"As soon as we're home I'm going to be passing on that information Maddie has."

"But you told Laarman..."

"I told Laarman I wouldn't give the information to the press… I never said anything about not giving it to his diocese. Gay bashers they might be, but I'm pretty sure even they would frown at the stuff in that file."

Noah nodded as he saw Luke's point.

"Hopefully they will bring Laarman back to the States before he can go back on the order. And then it should be safe for the newspaper to publish my story."

"And we'll get the foundation to set up a new support project, right?"

Luke smiled, immediately picking up on the double meaning in Noah's words. The foundation would have to be the ones to take this forward. There was no way Noah would allow Luke to become too involved after what they'd been through.

"Exactly." He replied.