Tony woke up from his sleep to a pounding headache. He grabbed his head tightly trying to minimize the pain. He tried to get up and walked to the bathroom as nausea was taking over. Walking slowly with the help of the wall, he managed to get into the bathroom before violently retching in the toilet. He kept vomiting until there's nothing left but bile.

This in not how he wanted to spend his last six months. Helplessly puking his guts out in the toilet. With much effort, he stood up and lean against the sink. Good lord, I looked like shit! Tony thought as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He rinsed his mouth trying to get of the awful aftertaste before bracing himself to walk back to the bed.

He almost made it to the bed before his body can't take it anymore and decided to blackout from the pain. The next thing he knew his body was heading towards the floor before everything went black.

Ian was on his way to the kitchen when he heard a loud thump coming from Tony's room as he passed by the room. He quickly stopped and knocked on the door.

"Tony! Tony! Is everything okay in there? Tony!" worry at the lack of response, Ian tried to push the door open. Thankful that the door was unlock, he was greeted by the view of unconscious Tony lying on the floor.

"Oh God! Tony! Tony! Wake up, son! Beth!" Ian was shouting for Beth when he failed to wake Tony up. Beth was rushing from the back yard when she heard her husband shouting for her. She almost fainted as soon as she saw Tony lying on the floor with his head resting on Ian's lap.

"Oh lord! What happened, Ian? Why is he unconscious?" Beth was kneeling next to Tony trying to wake him up.

"I have no idea. I found him like this when I went in. I need you to help me get him up on the bed." They both struggled to get Tony onto the bed.

"I think he had a fever. His temperature is rising." Ian said as he put his hand on Tony's forehead. Beth quickly went to the kitchen to retrieve some basin and towel. She came back with a basin full of water and started to wipe the wet towel on Tony's head. At that moment, Ian's eyes caught an orange vial bottle at the night stand. He took the bottle and read the prescription.

"Honey, I think we got a bigger problem." He told Beth showing her the name of the painkiller.

"Oxycodone? But that's what I took for my pain during my… Oh my God!" Beth didn't get to finish her sentence when she realized what Tony meant by his bad news last night. Oh God. Poor boy. No wonder he looked tired and unwell.

"My dear boy. We have so much to talk about once you're awake." Beth continued to wipe Tony's head trying to bring down his temperature.

He woke up and realized that he's no longer lying on the floor. Instead he was nicely tucked in the bed with a cold towel on his head. Oh God. Beth and Ian must've found him. He realized. Now he has to tell them what's really wrong with him.

Tony took the towel of his head and put it on the side. He slowly moved his upper body up so that he was in a seating position. The door opened up and Ian walked in.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake, boy." Ian told him as he took a seat next to the bed.

"Hey, Ian. How long was I out?"

"Most of the day. It's almost dinner time." Tony ruffled his hair lightly. He was feeling guilty that both Beth and Ian ended up taking care of him for the whole day.

"I'm sorry for troubling you guys." He said ruefully.

"Who said anything about troubling us?" Beth came in with a tray of food. She put the tray on the side table before seating on the other side of the bed facing Ian.

"Hey Beth." Tony smiled shyly. He was touched at the hospitality by both Ian and Beth. Caring for him when he was just a stranger they met yesterday.

"You think you can handle eating by yourself? Or you want me to feed you?" Beth was teasing Tony to lighten up the atmosphere.

"I think I'm good to eat by myself, Beth." Tony quickly picked up the bowl containing a steaming chicken soup. He wasn't having that much appetite but he knew he has to eat someting and he wanted to reassure Beth.

"This is good. Thank you so much, Beth, Ian. I owe so guys so much." Tony said as he pushed aside the bowl after the fifth spoon.

"Don't mention it, Tony. But I do want to ask you something and I want you to tell us the truth." Beth's expression changed. Tony swallowed nervously and nodded. He knew what Beth is going to ask him and there's no way he's able to hide it from them. Especially not after the stunt he pulled this morning.

"What kind of cancer was it, dear?"

"How did you know it was cancer?" Tony was shocked. He thought Beth was going to ask what's wrong with him.

"My boy, I used to pop up oxycodone like candies, you know." said Beth as she handed Tony a glass of orange juice.

Tony took a sip of the juice before answering Beth's question. "It's... Umm... It's a brain cancer." Both Beth and Ian gasped at Tony's answer. Beth quickly pulled Tony into something resembling an Abby-hug.

"See, this is the reason I don't want to tell people about my disease. They tend to pity me." Tony sighed heavily. As much as he feels comforted by Beth's hug, he just don't fancy the pity look they gave him.

"Dear boy, this isn't pity. This is us, feeling your pain. This is us, caring for you. You did remember what I said last night, don't you?" Tony nodded slowly.

"Tony, as a family member, I feel betrayed when Beth first hide the illness from me. I felt like she didn't love me or trust me enough to share her pain with me. Now I have a feeling that your little family you told us last night might be feeling the same if you keep hiding this from them." Ian told Tony.

Tony was feeling remorseful. He knew what Ian said was absolutely true and he knew he can't hide this pain sooner or later. He was about to say something when he suddenly grimaced from the pain in his head.

Beth noticed Tony's change of expression and quickly handed him the oxycodone and a glass of plain water. She felt guilty for confronting him when he's still not feeling really well.

"I'm sorry dear Tony. I think we might've pressure to a bit too much. Get some rest." Ian was helping Tony into the sleeping position before Beth tucked him in. Tony nodded weakly before closing his eyes waiting for the pain to ease.

A/N : Again, I want to thank all of you awesome people for inspiring me to write this story to the end! :)

Next chapter, how do McGee breaks the bad news to the boss? Wait for it.