"That's better," Tim smiled over at Lilly. "His temperature is down another degree," he stated, placing the temperature probe back in its holster. "The antibiotic's look like they're beginning to work."

"Thank goodness," Lilly sighed, wringing out her cloth and folding it half. She then placed it on what seemed to her was her boys still too warm forehead and stumbled back into her chair.

Finn's sleep was much more restful and she smiled as she watched Tim place a fresh blanket over him and tuck him in.

"He'll sleep now," the nurse confirmed confidently before moving to the end of the bed and grabbing Finn's chart to note his findings in. "Mr Freeman will be doing his rounds soon," he told Lilly. "I'm sure he will be much happier with things," he grinned.

"It has been a very long night," Lilly sighed again, tucking her loose curls up under her surgical cap once more. Although the olive green gown, mask and cap were all very comfortable, she did find the outfit to be a nuisance when it came to her unruly hair.

She saw Tim's eyes crinkle in mirth in the gap between his own mask and cap when he watched her struggle. "It's not funny," she grouched light heartedly. "Do they not come in bigger sizes?"

"Are you saying that your head is too big, Mrs Ashton," Tim snorted.

"No, Indeed I am not, nurse Matthews," Lilly retorted with a huff. "You would complain to if you had to deal with hair like mine."

"I'm sure I would," Tim placated sarcastically. "I'm sure Mr Ashton will not have the same amount of trouble as you," he added, gathering his things together.

"Well, that is because he has hardly any hair at all," Lilly shrugged with a grin.

"I'll tell him you said that." Tim placed all his rubbish on a tray and started to make his way out of the room.

"You do that," Lilly called as he left. "He will be here soon!" She added, straining to see past the retreating nurse, hoping to see her husband strolling down the corridor but, when there was no sign of him she sat back again.

When Finn moaned slightly and turned to face her, she smoothed his covers and leant over to kiss his forehead, happy to find that Tim had been right. Finn was much cooler.

She just wanted her husband to come and relive her now so she could get some rest herself and willed Ben to hurry up.

xxx

By the time they reached the hospital, father and daughter were both soaked through.

Ben was shivering violently with Connie skipping at his side as they made their way down the corridor to the crèche. The cool rain had felt wonderful against his overheated skin for a while but as his temperature started to climb again he found he just couldn't stop the shivers that wracked his aching body.

"It's a Susie day today," Connie started to pull away when she spotted Susie Campbell, the duty nursery nurse.

"Hold on Connie," Ben pulled her back. "Let's get you out of these wet things first." He knelt down and started to undo her coat buttons, blinking back the sweat that was falling into his eyes and taking deep breaths to ward off the dimness that tugged at the edge of his visions.

"I'm going now." Connie quickly shrugged the coat off and skipped into the play area. Ben remained on his haunches, trying to figure if he was going to pass out or not but, when his world slowly came back into focus, he stood on shaking legs, hung Connie's dripping coat up and managed to return the smile and wave Susie gave him.

After bouncing off the corridor a couple of times, he made it to the elevator and pressed the number seven, resting his burning forehead on the cool metal rim as he waited for it to come.

When the door opened, he smiled at the people leaving before walking to the back of the elevator, thankful that he was the only one in elevator when the door closed.

He slowly sank down so he was on his haunches again and rested his head in his hands. He just wanted to sleep and feel better but when the elevator shuddered as it started to ascend the movement wracked his nausea up tenfold and he closed his eyes tightly and tried to concentrate on keeping the little that was left of his stomach contents.

When the bell pinged and the door opened, he was feeling so sick that he thought he'd barely make it to a bathroom on time.

He pushed himself upright, took some deep breaths and staggered out, his hand resting against the wall as he made his way down the corridor leading to Finn's room.

Jarred, after seeing Ben exit the elevator, placed his file down and hurried to meet him. "Ah, Mr Ashton, I'm glad I caught you," he smiled.

Ben managed to straighten slightly although nausea still churned his stomach. "Is there a problem, Mr Freeman?" He asked, blinking back his dimming world again.

"Well, Finn has had a bad night," Jarred started to explain and, although Ben could see his mouth working, he couldn't actually hear him over the roaring in his ears.

"W-what?" He stuttered, listing to his side slightly.

"Mr Ashton, Ben – what's wrong?"

Ben could hear Jarred call his name in the distance but couldn't respond because of the pain and nausea assailing his stomach.

"Gonna be..." he clamped his hand over his mouth and rushed into the nearest bathroom with Jarred close on his tail.

As he lurched himself at the toilet he could hear someone calling for help.

Wave after wave of nausea and pain continued to wash over him and, as he started to vomit, he felt strong hands holding him up and was very grateful.

Xxx

"I need you to get an ER attendant up here stat!" Jarred called over his shoulder before turning his attention to Ben who was now writhing in obvious serious pain after vomiting violently.

"Mr Ashton? Ben—can you hear me?" He urged, gently patting Ben's cheek. "What's wrong, Mr Ashton."

"Ate, some dodgy chicken, I t-think," Ben managed tell him as he curled into a ball.

"Okay," Jarred nodded in understanding and patted Ben's shoulder. "Hang in there," he said before hurrying into the corridor and snagging the first nurse that came running to his hail. "I need a gurney and a spare room," he told her. "And, where the hell is the ER attending?" He snapped before rushing back to Ben's side.

Within minutes, they had loaded Ben onto a gurney and were pushing him towards one of the private rooms.

"Nice of you to join us," Jarred greeted Doctor Williams sarcastically as the ER intern jogged alongside them.

Noah Williams ignored the jibe and placed his hand on Ben's forehead. "What's going on?" He turned to ask Jarred.

"Well, judging by the high fever and vomiting, plus the fact he managed to tell me he'd eaten some dodgy chicken, I would hazard a guess that young Mr Ashton here is suffering from a nasty case of food poisoning," Jarred shrugged nonchalantly. "Mind you, I'm not an expert in this field so I suggest you do your own examination," he added as he helped lift Ben onto a bed.

Noah rolled his eyes with a sigh and then shooed Jarred to one side. "I have this, Mr Freeman," he told him, reaching to place his stethoscope round his neck. "Right," he turned to the nursing staff. "Let's get his clothes off and see what's going on," he sighed. "I'll need a stool sample and blood cultures as soon as is possible," he added and then, after Ben's shirt was removed he placed his hands on his abdomen and Ben groaned loudly, curled up in a ball and started to rock again.

Noah quickly with drew his hands. "I want an IV in place stat. Fluids running and he can have a small amount of Morphine for the pain," he ordered and then turned to Jarred again.

"Is he visiting someone?" He asked, taking a step back to allow the nurses to continue their work.

"Yes, his son is in isolation with Neutropenic fever after a dose of Chemo," Jarred informed.

"Well, he needs to be admitted," Noah sighed. "I'll make arrangements for him to be transferred to County."

"Can't you just treat him here?" Jarred shrugged, leaning against the wall, allowing a nurse to push past him.

"This is a children's hospital, Mr Freeman," Noah reminded but Jarred just shrugged again.

"I think that it is in my patient's best welfare to have his father close by. We are not busy on the unit at the moment and I am more than confident that we can handle a case of food poisoning Doctor Williams."

"Well, "Noah thought for a moment. "If you are sure, Mr Freeman," he finally stated. "Does he have a partner we have to contact?"

"Ah, that's another tiny problem," Jarred admitted with a sad smile. "His wife is with their son, under barrier conditions. The last thing we need her to do, is come into contact with her husband for a while in case this bug turns out to be catching."

"Well – I'll leave that little problem with you," Noah grinned, enjoying bamboozling the senior consultant. "I need to tend to my patient." He drew the curtains round Ben's bed, shutting Jarred out and turned to the nurse who was stood with the morphine syringe in her hand waiting for him to check the dose.

"Okay, Alice. Let's get him medicated..."

Xxx

Jarred doodled as he waited for someone to answer his call. He seemed to have been left hanging for ages and after placing his pen down, he picked up the card he'd been given double check the number, figuring that he'd missed dialled. He was just about to put the phone down to try again when someone finally answered.

"Cheyenne Mountain."

"Ah, right yes. I need to speak to," Jarred turned the card over. "General Hank Landry," he read out the name at the bottom of the card and then leant back in his chair. "Can you tell him that Jarred Freeman, senior oncologist overseeing the care of Finn Ashton needs to speak to him urgently?"

"Yes sir. Stand by."

Jarred sighed when he was put back on hold but thankfully, he was answered straight away this time.

"General Landry.

"Ah, General my name is Jarred Freeman and I'm the senior Oncologist at the children's hospital. We have your name as an emergency contact for the Ashton family."

"Is there a problem."

"Well, I think the family needs some support at the moment."

"Go on."

"Young Finn's condition has deteriorated slightly and, although I am confident that this is a mere blip in his treatment he does need isolation care for a while."

"I see."

"Well, normally it wouldn't be a problem but, unfortunately Mr Ashton was admitted to the hospital last night with a particularly nasty stomach bug."

"Goodness me, is he alright?"

"He is in the right place." Jarred kept his response non-committal as he hadn't had an update about Ben's condition from Doctor Williams just yet. "Bottom line is General," he decided to cut to the chase. "Mrs Ashton is with Finn in isolation and with Mr Ashton incapacitated at the moment there is no one to care for their young daughter."

"Is Constance alright?"

"She is fine and playing happily in the hospital crèche," Jarred reassured. "But it does look as if Benjamin will be staying with us for a few days at least and Lilly has to stay with Finn so could you organ..."

"I'll sort things out this end."

There was a pause in the conversation which Jarred knew was for the General to make arrangements. After a couple of minutes, he was back on the phone.

"Doctor Jackson and Major Carter will be given leave of absence for a few days to care for Constance."

"Do they have clearance?"

"Yes, of course. They should be at the hospital in a couple of hours. Is that alright?"

"That is fine. I would be grateful if they reported to my office, I know Doctor Jackson has visited Finn so he should know where it is."

"I will tell them."

"Thank you."

"Please tell the Ashtons that we are all thinking of them."

"Of course."

"If there are any other problems, please do not hesitate to call again."

"I won't, Thank you."

"No – thank you."

Jarred sighed as he discounted the call. It wasn't a perfect solution but it would do and, after taking a swig of his coffee, he picked the phone up again and called the nurses' station.

"Ah, Polly. Can you come to my office please?"

Xxx

"How's he doing?" Polly asked Tim when she entered Finn's room.

"Temp is down some and Freeman says his white count is improving. I'm just going to give him a Pegfilgrastim boost to help it along the way," Tim smiled before injecting the new drug into Finn's port. "Freeman has added it to his cocktail for all rounds of Chemo from now on."

"I thought he might," Polly nodded and watched as Finn turned is head with a groan before settling down again. "He's going to be uncomfortable for a while," she sighed, knowing full well that the drug came with some pretty nasty side effects.

"Yes he is," Tim agreed "but, come tomorrow he'll be bouncing off the walls, you know that," he grinned.

"Ah, the joys of high white count," Polly grinned back, patted Tim on the shoulder and then glanced over to the sofa under the window where Lilly was curled up, fast asleep. "How long has Lilly been sleeping?" She asked softly.

"She's had a good couple of hours now," Tim informed, disposing his used syringe in a sharps box. "Do we know what's happened to Mr Ashton? I promised I'd find out and let her know."

"That's what I'm here for," Polly sighed sadly, patted Tim on the shoulder again and crossed to sit at Lilly's side. "Lilly?" She gently shook her arm and was then surprised when Lilly immediately woke up and sat bolt upright.

"What's wrong? Finn?" Lilly quickly scanned the room.

"It's okay. He is doing as well as expected," Polly soothed, rubbing Lilly's knee to calm her. "We are just giving him some of our secret super duper drugs and he'll be feeling much better soon."

"Good, good," Lilly sighed, slumping back in the corner, adjusting her mask as it had been dislodged in her panic.

"Actually," Polly cleared her throat. "It's your husband we are concerned about at the moment," she admitted and Lilly immediately leaned forward again.

"Where is he? Is he all right? What's happened?"

"It's okay, try and calm down," Polly urged softly. "He's picked up a nasty stomach bug and was admitted a few hours ago after dropping Constance off at the crèche."

"Is Constance alright?"

"We have given her a good going over and she is just fine."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as we can be," Polly smiled knowing that they still needed confirmation of what exactly was wrong with Ben and needed to ascertain that, if it was food poisoning, whether Connie eat the same thing as her father. At the moment, she was not showing any sighs so no one was concerned.

"Can I see Ben?" Lilly swung her legs off the sofa but Polly placed her hand on her knee to halt her movement.

"I'm sorry Lilly, but we cannot risk you being contaminated. You need to stay with Finn."

"But..."

"You know I'm right, if you fall sick with the same bug there will be no one to support Finn through the next few, what are going to be, difficult hours for him."

Lilly sat back with a sign again, knowing that Polly was, of course, right. Hopefully Ben just had a twenty-four hour bug and that the Doctors would quickly sort him out. Of course, though – those twenty-four hours would be time where Connie would not have anyone.

"What about Constance if I can't leave Finn?"

"Constance is in hand. Doctor Jackson and Major Carter are going to look after her."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Mr Freeman has just arranged everything with General Landry. Daniel and Sam are on their way over as we speak."

"And, they don't mind?"

"Of course they don't. Your daughter is in good hands," Polly reassured and then glanced over at Finn who was beginning to whimper and toss and turn. "I think your boy needs his mom," she smiled sadly.

"Yes, of course," Lilly followed Polly's gaze and her heart broke when Finn started to sob her name.

"M-mami."

"I right here Finny, I'm right here," she crossed to his side and took his hand in hers. "I'm not going anywhere my love."

xxx

"How are you doing Mr Ashton?"

Ben was shuffling back from yet another trip to the bathroom with a nurse pushing his drip and lending support with a well placed hand on his arm. The relentless diarrhoea was leaving him feeling weak and exhausted and by the time he reached his bed, he was dripping in sweat and very grateful for the help that the nurse gave him.

"I feel awful," Ben finally answered Doctor Williams as he flopped onto his back and rested his arm over his eyes.

"Well," Doctor Williams sighed as he flicked through Ben's test results. "I'm not surprised. You have a nasty case of salmonella poisoning, Mr Ashton."

"Thought so," Ben mumbled, rubbing his burning stomach as it began to churn yet again. "Damn chicken."

"Did anyone else eat the chicken do you know?"

"I don't know, don't think so. Not yesterday. It was left over's from a day or so," Ben inched up slightly and continued to rub his stomach. "Thank goodness Connie didn't like it," he stated wearily as he rested his head back against his pillows and licked his dry lips. He was so thirsty and was just about to ask for a drink when he suddenly realised that his daughter was all alone.

"God. Connie is on her own, I need to go and see her!" He started to swing his legs over the bed.

"Constance is fine," Noah quickly reassured, easing his patient back on the bed.

"But, there's no one to look after her," Ben complained, struggling weakly against the Doctor's hands that gently pinned his shoulders. "Lilly is with Finn. God. Finn, Mr Freeman said he had a bad night. I've got to see him too."

Noah increased the pressure on Ben's shoulders. "You are in no condition to go anywhere," he sighed. "Mr Freeman told me to tell you that Finn was beginning to improve and your wife is with him. Doctor Jackson and Major Carter are on their way to the hospital to care for Constance who is more than happy at the crèche at the moment. You need to rest, Mr Ashton."

"But..."

"Your family is in good hands, I assure you, please just rest."

Ben frowned at the Doctor for a while, panting in response to the stress of the situation. But as the information penetrated into his fever-fogged mind, he sank back in his pillows again, feeling exhausted yet relived. Doctor Williams was right, his family were in good hands but it didn't stop him feeling guilty.

"What a mess," he groaned, his arm covering his eyes again. "I've been so stupid."

"No you haven't," Doctor Williams patted his shoulder. "It's just one of those things that happen sometimes," he shrugged and picked up Ben's chart. "Right, I'm going to give you something else for your diarrhoea and then hopefully you can get some rest."

"Thanks," Ben mumbled. He was so tired and just wanted to sleep but the never ending trips to the bathroom prevented any rest at all. Mind you, so did the continual nausea and when another wave suddenly washed over him, he reached for the bowl at his side which hadn't long been washed out and prepared himself.

"I'll get you something for your nausea too," Doctor Williams sighed as Ben quickly began to vomit again.

The Doctor stood to one side to allow one of the nurses to support the patient and gathered Ben's notes, feeling extremely sorry for the Ashton family.

They needed a break.

Xxx

Well, that break was not going to come from Finn at the moment!

The Pegfilgrastim injection had given him the very unpleasant side effect of bone pain on top of everything else and he lay, curled up in his mother's arms, sobbing.

"I know it hurts, my love," Lilly soothed as she gently rocked him, being mindful of all the lines and equipment that came out of her son's weakened body. She glanced up at Tim who was hanging another bag of fluid. "Is there anything stronger you can give him for the pain?" She asked.

"I'm afraid not," Tim replied sadly. "He's maxed out for pain relief but we do have a good trick for when this happens," he smiled. "How'd ya fancy a nice bed bath Finster?"

When Finn just groaned in response, Lilly answered for him. "That sounds lovely," she nodded.

"Right, I'll get everything together. A relaxing massage will do his joints the world of good," Tim smiled giving Lilly's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Do you want me to put the television on for you before I go?"

"Yes please," Lilly nodded. "I think we're ready for the next Harry Potter story, don't you Finn?"

"Uh huh," Finn managed to nod and turn his head.

Lilly rearranged his lines and tightened her hold when he continued to softly cry in pain. She knew that he was trying so hard to deal with everything bravely and her heart broke for him, she just felt so powerless.

As the title music to the movie came on, she kissed the top of her son's bald head. "Here we go Finny. Another adventure will come to life."

Finn gripped her arm, shifted slightly and then settled in her arms, grunting every now and then to try to cope with the pain. Lilly pulled the sheet up to cover his still too warm body and started to relax, hoping that Finn would do the same.

He was so tired.