Harry sighed as he glanced at his watch, it was almost eleven o'clock in the evening, ten hours since Nikki had been rushed to hospital and there wasn't any change in her. The doctors said this was fine, the body had to re-hydrate itself and it was sometimes a slow process depending on how much the body was dehydrated. Movement from the bed caught his attention and he turned his head slowly to look at it. His heart jumped when he saw Nikki slowly opening her eyes and he rushed towards the bed and grasped her hands in his.

"Harry" she mumbled quietly and cleared her throat as she turned to look at him.

"Hey beautiful" he whispered and gave her a smile.

"What happened?" Nikki asked quietly

"You were dehydrated and collapsed Nikki" Harry explained as he crouched down next to the bed.

"How's our baby?"

"The baby is fine" Harry assured her and ran his hand over her forehead, she leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. Sighing she squeezed his hand gently.

"Do Sam and Leo have the boys?" she asked, her eyes still shut.

"Yes" Harry nodded and was about to say something else when Nikki interrupted him.

"You should get back to them"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am Harry" Nikki chuckled and opened her eyes, despite being out cold for nearly ten hours she looked exhausted "Go home and get some rest, how long have you been here"

"Ten hours" Harry mumbled quietly and Nikki glared at him.

"Ten hours Harry?" she said loudly and her heart rate increased "You should have been at home with our children doing something productive not sitting here waiting for me to wake up. Now go home"

"Okay" Harry nodded meekly and leant over to give her a kiss "I love you"

"and I love you" Nikki replied and closed her eyes again "Give my babies a kiss from me"

"Of course beautiful" Harry nodded "I'll bring them in to see you tomorrow, you get some rest"

He hated leaving Nikki but knew she wanted him looking after their boys.

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When Harry had said goodbye and thanked Sam and Leo for what they had done, he wandered slowly upstairs and into Edward and Graham's nursery where they were both asleep. He leant down and kissed them both on the forehead then walked out of the room again shutting the door behind him. Harry then wandered into Darius' room and over to the cot where the seven month old was asleep. He reached down and drew the blanket further up his body then pressed a kiss onto his cheek. Smiling at his son Harry then walked out of the nursery, this time keeping the door ajar and into his bedroom. His smile faded as he switched on the overhead light and he found the room empty. Normally Nikki was in bed waiting for him or asleep, this would be the first time they had slept apart for almost their whole marriage. Sighing slightly Harry started to unbutton his shirt and threw the clothing article in the wash bin before pulling off his trousers and doing the same with them. He pulled on his pyjamas and walked into the bathroom where he preceded to clean his teeth and finish getting ready for bed. When Harry climbed into bed he was conscious of how cold it was without Nikki, he moved over slightly so he was laying in the middle of the bed and he buried his face in Nikki's pillow breathing in her comforting smell. He couldn't help but think that it was his own stupidity that got Nikki in hospital in the first place.

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"Daddy need hug?" Graham asked the next morning when Harry was getting them ready to go and see Nikki. The young boy held his arms out to Harry who pulled him to him and wrapped his own arms around his son and held him tight before pressing a kiss onto his cheek and letting him go. "Daddy not sad?"

"Not anymore" Harry told him and walked over to pick up Darius who was trying to escape by crawling through to the kitchen. "No you don't young man we are going to see mummy"

The seven month old laughed loudly and lay his head on Harry's chest as his father opened the doorway, the twins ran out and stood by the car as Harry locked up and they climbed into the car as best they could, with a little help from Harry. He buckled them into their seats before closing the doors and walking around to the drivers seat and getting in.

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"Mummy" both twins called out as they walked into the hospital room Nikki was in. They ran over to the bed but stopped when they realised they couldn't climb on it like they could do with the ones at home. Harry placed Darius on the bed and Nikki scooped him into her arms, being careful of the drip that she was still on. Harry then helped the twins onto the bed and warned them once again to be careful.

"How are you?" he asked as he bent down and kissed her.

"Better now I have my boys with me" Nikki replied

"Have you eaten breakfast?" Harry enquired and Nikki sheepishly shook her head and her husband sighed.

"Nikki…"

"Don't start Harry" Nikki said loudly "The doctor said I should be fine with just my drip for this morning but I have to eat lunch and dinner"

Harry only nodded and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"Mummy all better?" Graham asked Nikki as he at down patiently next to her on the bed, they were all being good and Harry wondered if they knew how ill Nikki was and wanted to be good for her.

"Not yet baby" Nikki replied and Graham's face fell "But I will be soon"

"Mummy coming home?" Edward asked and looked pleadingly at his mother who reached out and hugged him.

"Tomorrow okay?" Nikki asked and Edward thought about it for some time then nodded and smiled, knowing the concept of what 'tomorrow' meant. Nikki then looked down at Darius who she was holding in her arms and leant down to kiss him. "I've missed you all"

"and we've missed you" Harry replied and gave her a smile "It felt weird…horrible even sleeping without you"

"I didn't like it much either but I was too exhausted to complain" Nikki told him causing him to chuckle and nod.

"Sam and Leo said they will come and visit today, they are on late shift so I don't know when that will be"

Nikki nodded and looked back at her children who were all looking at her with wide innocent eyes.

"So what are you doing today?"

"Daddy go to park" Edward told her while Graham nodded.

"What about work?"

"I've been given time off from the 'higher powers' to look after the boys until you are better" Harry explained "so I've decided to take them to the park, go and feed some ducks, play football that sort of thing" he shrugged and Nikki couldn't help but grin at the image of Harry feeding ducks in the park "What?"

"Nothing" Nikki shook her head and had to bite the inside of her lip to stop her laughing. She was saved when the door opened and Dr Martin walked in. He spotted the boys on the bed and smiled.

"Well aren't you the most handsome children I've seen in quite a while" he reached out and ruffled Edwards hair, he shied away from the unknown man and inched closer to his mother.

"Sorry" Nikki apologised

"It's alright" Dr Martin shrugged "I'm used to children being wary of me, I'm the person who sticks nasty sharp things in them and makes them drink horrible medicine"

Nikki and Harry chuckled slightly and Dr Martin reached down to check the drip that was in Nikki's arm. She winced when the needle pulled and Graham and Edward glared at the weird man touching their mother that wasn't their father or even their uncle.

"No" Graham shouted and reached out to slap the doctor's hand away "Don't hurt mama" he cried and tears filled his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Nikki's waist and held on to her.

"It's alright baby" she soothed and ran her hand through his brown hair "He's not hurting me"

Harry reached out and took Graham from Nikki's lap and placed him on his own.

"And you don't slap people okay" he said sternly to his son "Now say sorry to the doctor"

"Sowwy" Graham said as he stared at the floor, tears running down his face. Harry gently rubbed his back as Dr Martin smiled in Graham's direction.

"It's alright but I've never seen a child that young act in defence of someone before"

"They are a bit protective sometimes" Nikki explained as Dr Martin walked to the end of the bed to check her charts. "They get it from their father"

"Everything seems to be in order" Dr Martin said "But I still want to keep you in over night, you also have to eat lunch and dinner today"

Nikki sighed and nodded slightly. The doctor's pager suddenly went off and he apologised and walked out of the room. When he had gone Nikki turned to Graham who was still sniffling slightly.

"Come here" she whispered and Graham reached out to her and she pulled him into her arms and rubbed his back.

"Sowwy mummy" he whispered tearfully and Nikki nodded.

"Okay but you don't hit people okay?" she told her son and moved Graham's head so he was looking at her "Don't cry baby" she said and kissed him. Graham then lay his head on Nikki's chest and closed his eyes, after a few minutes he was asleep.

School seems to be sucking my life away! I don't know where it's going, only got about nine weeks of school time until A levels..ahh!

xxx