Two days later and everything changed for them.

"Hey hey, ssh" Harry cooed to Donovan as he picked up the crying baby and held him to his shoulder, rubbing the baby's back gently. "Ssh little man, we don't want to wake mummy do we?" he asked as he felt the baby's nappy was full "Shall we change your nappy?" he whispered as he walked over to the bathroom door, hearing Nikki stir in the bed slightly.

He turned the bathroom light on and then closed the door slightly, placing Donovan on the changing mat on the counter in the bathroom. Harry frowned when he looked at his son properly and knew instantly that there was something wrong with him. Donovan's chest was rising and falling rapidly and he was whimpering through his cries, Harry could also see him shivering slightly.

"What's wrong eh?" Harry asked softly as he gently undid the front of his son's babygrow, his hands stopping when he pulled it open and saw his son's tiny heaving chest. There was a rash on his skin that made Harry worried and he reached over blindly to grab a glass from the side, placing it on Donovan's rash and making the baby cry a bit more at the coldness. Harry quickly put the glass down and gently took Donovan's hands in his, feeling how cold they are. "God no" Harry shook his head as Nikki walked into the room, a tired look on her face as she ran one hand through her hair.

"What's wrong?" she asked when he saw Harry's face and she instantly was wide away as she heard Donovan's wails "Harry"

"Look after him" Harry told her as he rushed from the room and out into the hallway. Nikki did as she was asked and quickly walked over to her son, seeing the glass next to him and then seeing the rash. She put two and two together quickly and shook her head, quickly gathering the crying baby into her arms and holding him to her chest, feeling him trembling against her as he cried.

"Ssh my darling" she whispered as she kissed his head repeatedly, trying not to cry as she realised what might be wrong with her son. She made her way through the bedroom and into the hallway where Harry was on the phone. She shook her head as he put it down and walked over to them, placing his hand gently on Donovan's head, their son whimpering slightly before he vomited up the last milk that Nikki had given him all over her pyjama top. "Harry what is.."

"An ambulance is on the way" Harry told her and wrapped his arms around her as his lover began to cry quietly "Ssh my love, he'll be fine. Go and change and I'll hold him"

"Harry I want him back" Nikki whispered tearfully some time later as the two sat curled up in the family waiting room in the hospital. Harry with his arms around his lover and Nikki with her head on his chest. "I want my baby back" she sobbed and Harry clutched her tighter to him, stroking her back and nodding.

"I know, so do I" he soothed her "But they need to work out what's wrong with him"

"I don't want..there..to..be anything..wrong...with...him" Nikki cried loudly and sat up away from him, shaking her head and wiping her face as she saw his distress as well.

Harry opened his mouth to reply but the door opened and they turned to see who it was, both of them rising to their feet when they saw one of the paediatricians from earlier walk into the room.

"How is he?" Nikki asked instantly and Harry placed his hands on her arms from behind, holding her away from the doctor who sighed grimly.

"We're going to have to do a lumbar puncture"

"No" Nikki shook her head and ran one hand shakily through her hair "You're not doing that to my baby" she told the doctor loudly and Harry pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head as she began to cry again.

"They have to if they want to find out what's wrong with Donny" Harry told her calmly, using Donovan's nickname to calm her down "Then they can make him better for us"

"I don't want.." Nikki took a deep breath and then nodded, reaching up to wipe her face as she did so "Okay"

"Donovan" Nikki smiled as she walked into the room and saw her son laying in one of the hospital cots. She went to pick him up but the doctor stopped her and shook his head.

"I'm sorry; you may hold him after the procedure"

"But I.."

"Nikki let the doctor do his job" Harry told his lover as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kept her from picking up their son "It won't be long then we can have him back"

Nikki drew in a deep breath and nodded, letting out a small sob as she heard Donovan begin to cry loudly, the sound more like a painful wail than anything else and it broke her heart to hear it.

"Will you be staying?" the doctor asked and Harry nodded, replying for both of them. He then turned and said something to the nurse and she went and picked up Donovan from the cot.

Harry felt Nikki start slightly as she glared at the woman, knowing that she hated that the other woman who had nothing to do with their son was holding him and not her. It was Nikki's job as his mother to comfort and hold him, not someone that they didn't know and who didn't know the baby.

"It'll be over soon" Harry whispered to her and Nikki let out a small whine as the doctor picked up the needle that was going to be used, having already numbed the spot on his back where the needle was going to go.

"I can't" Nikki sobbed and turned away from the examination in front of her, burying her face in Harry's chest and trying to block out the image of the needle in her mind. She heard Donovan's loud cry of pain and she gripped at Harry, her lover tightening his grip on her and kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

"It won't hurt him for long" Harry told her quietly "See" he added when Donovan stopped crying so loudly and began to whimper "It won't last for long"

Nikki just nodded against him and continued to grip at him as though her life depended on it, tears pouring down her face.

Half an hour later and Nikki had Donovan back in her arms, rocking the month old baby gently as she continued to kiss his head, telling him how much she and Harry loved him. They had been taken to a private room after the examination had been performed, a bed in the middle of the room and a cot next to the bed. Harry sat on the bed next to Nikki, his arm around her back as she leant on him, their son slowly falling into a fitful asleep in her arms.

"He's burning up" Nikki told Harry as she glanced at her lover who reached down and placed his hand gently on their son's forehead. He refused to feed and hadn't had anything in his stomach since before he vomited up his last feed hours ago. "He's going to be okay isn't he?"

"He's going to be fine" Harry nodded, kissing Nikki on the forehead as he did so and he felt her relax into him slightly. "The doctors will find out what's wrong with him and then they will make him all better"

Nikki nodded and gave Harry a small smile before leaning her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

"Do you want a cuddle with him?" she then asked and Harry nodded, happily accepting Donovan from his lover as she transferred him into his arms. Nikki then turned so she was pressed up against Harry's side and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest as she let out a loud sigh and closed her eyes again. Wishing that she would wake up soon and it had just been a horrible nightmare. The logical part of her mind was telling her that it was futile and a tear slipped down her face.

Two hours later and Nikki was asleep on the bed, Donovan laying in the cot but whimpering and moaning quietly in his fitful sleep and Harry sitting on the chair in the corner of the room staring out of the window. He had had a short sleep but once he had woken up he hadn't been able to drop off again. It was almost four in the morning and he wanted to know how his other child was doing with his mother who had been called to look after him. He then realised that she didn't know what was happening and felt slightly guilty. The door then opened quietly and he turned to see who it was, standing up when he saw the doctor walk into the room and give him a small smile. Nikki stirred slightly in the bed but settled down again as Harry walked over to the doctor.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked quietly as he saw the test results in the doctor's hand "Is it.." he trailed off as the doctor nodded.

"It's meningitis"

Just because I love your reviews and how much you love this fic here is another chapter, thank you for all of your reviews so far and I'm glad you like this new fic :)

xxx