Ant spent most of the next couple of hours Googling Dec's symptoms and asking various medical sites why someone would get sick twice in such a short period of time. Like most medical things searched up online, the results were either that it was probably nothing, just coincidence or being rundown, or that it was so serious and unpronounceable that Dec was probably going to expire any second. There was no middle ground, and as nagging as the worry in Ant's belly was, he certainly didn't look like he was about to die. In fact, he was sleeping soundly, breathing deep and even. He didn't flinch when Ant laid a hand on his forehead to gauge his temperature - definitely warming up, but not to egg-frying standards.

Realising that he hadn't finished his soup, thanks to Dec's impromptu vomiting session, and that it was now getting on into the night, Ant decided that it was safe to go to the kitchen to rustle something up to alleviate his growing peckishness. He left Dec curled up under the duvet and headed for the fridge, opting for a some simple pasta and sauce to fill the hole.

He was gone from the guest room - Dec's room, really, they called it - for no more than half an hour, just enough time to cook his dinner, eat it, message Lisa briefly to let her know Dec was staying over again, and then load the dishwasher.

When he went back to Dec's room, all was not as peaceful as he'd left it. The covers were flung back from the bed, and the water on the bedside table had been knocked over in Dec's haste to get to the en-suite, leaving a damp patch on the carpet. There were no sounds from the shower room, but it was fairly obvious that was where Dec had fled to, and Ant wasted no time in entering the dark room after him, concerned for his friend. He found Dec huddled next to the toilet, shivering violently enough that even without any light he could see the tremors from the doorway, the smaller man looking pale and sweaty. The sour smell of sick wafted through the air and Ant was glad that he'd always had a strong, unsympathetic stomach himself, as he knelt down next to his friend and reached out to cup his cheek. "Oh, Declan," he murmured quietly, smiling sadly at the stricken man.

Dec looked at him with dull, glassy eyes. "Ant?" He sounded very shaky and weak, sparking even more concern in Ant's stomach.

"Yeah, mate, I'm here. Not feeling too clever, are we?"

Dec frowned. "Threw up," he said unhappily, pointing at the toilet with trembling fingers.

"Yeah, I see that," Ant replied, shifting his hand up Dec's cheek to rest the backs of his fingers on his brow. "Woah," he commented. "You are burning up."

Dec's temperature had clearly soared in the thirty minutes he'd been away, the dry heat of his skin almost unbelievable. No wonder he was shivering so violently, even in perfectly warm layers. "Cold," Dec complained.

"Yeah, son, I bet you are. Come on, let's get you a bit more comfortable." Ant reached down to help Dec stand, wrapping an arm around his back to support him and rising slowly to try and prevent any dizziness. Dec seemed in no danger of passing out, but he did lean against him heavily, his body a furnace against Ant's torso.

He guided him back towards the bed and sat him down on the edge of it, nabbing the wastepaper bin just in case Dec needed a receptacle at short notice. He grabbed the duvet and wrapped it around Dec's shoulders to try and alleviate the shivering, knowing that Dec was already hot but unable to watch him suffer the chills with his teeth chattering so badly.

The room was only lit by the bedside lamps, and Ant moved to turn the room light on so that he could evaluate Dec more easily. As soon as he flicked the switch, however, Dec let out a pained yelp, his hands clutching the sides of his head as he clenched his eyes shut.

"Woah, woah, easy!" Ant cried out, immediately turning the light back off and heading over to kneel in front of Dec, reaching out to pull his hands down. "Dec, it's okay, it's off, you can open your eyes."

Dec did so, cautiously, and even when he did the tight lines of pain around his eyes and mouth didn't ease. "Hurts," he mumbled, sounding so young and vulnerable Ant felt his heart twang slightly in his chest.

"Your head does?" he asked, receiving a tiny nod in confirmation. "Dec, is there anything else hurting at all?"

Dec looked at him, looking confused at the question. He scanned around the room, his baffled expression only increasing, in line with Ant's growing worry, which was becoming very close to being fear, if not panic. "Ant, why am I at yours?"

"You weren't feeling well after golf, remember?" he asked, rubbing his hands up and down Dec's arms. "You came over here so I could keep an eye on you." Thank goodness, he added in his head.

"I ... I can't remember," Dec said, and grimaced. "Ant ... I feel really weird."

"Weird how?" Ant asked. "Weird like you did a few days ago, the first time you got sick?"

"No ... tired. 'M tired, Ant - let me go to sleep." He closed his eyes and leaned forward, and Ant caught him and stood, easing him back against the pillows.

"Yeah, no chance - it's hospital for you, sunshine," Ant muttered, reaching for his phone as Dec snuggled into the pillows, looking ready to drift off again.

The front door clicked just as he was debating whether to drive Dec himself or call for an ambulance, not sure which would be quicker at this time of night.

"Hello!" Lisa sang out, her voice a soothing balm to Ant's jagged nerves.

"We're in here," he called back, reaching down to lift Dec back up into a sitting position. "Come on, you, we've got places to be."

Dec groaned and lifted pained, soulful eyes up at Ant as he was forced upright, and then he turned, almost unbelievably given his current pallor, even whiter. Ant, reacting fast, brought the bin up just in time as Dec started to gag into it.

"Oh, no," Lisa said from the doorway, looking shocked at the scene greeting her. "Not again. Is it the same as last time?" she asked, her fingers going to the light switch.

"No, don't!" Ant cried, warning her off. "He's sensitive to the light. Can you give us a hand?" he asked, struggling to both support an increasingly wobbly Dec and the bin.

"Yeah, of course," Lisa said, quickly moving to take hold of the bin so Ant could get a better grasp of Dec. He wasn't bringing much up, now, and was soon finished, and Lisa put the bin aside and looked up at her husband and their best friend. "Oh, Deccy, you're in some state."

"We need to take him to hospital," Ant said, and at her shocked expression, said, "He's sick again, and he's got a really high fever. He seems kind of out of it, too - I don't think we should mess around with this. He shouldn't be this ill again, so soon after last time."

Lisa nodded in agreement, and got to her feet. "It'll be quicker driving him. The engine's still warm - I'll drive, you keep a hold of him in the back. Doolittle, you with us, love?"

"Lisa? What are you doing here? Is this ... this isn't my house?" Dec asked, and Ant saw the fear rise in Lisa's eyes as she realised just how out of it he was.

"No, petal, it's not," she said to him gently, rubbing his knee affectionately. "We're going to go on a drive, sweetheart, okay? Let Ant help you, okay?"

Dec smiled sweetly at her, to Ant's relief. Dec had always been happy to do anything if Lisa asked, even if Ant had asked the same thing ten minutes earlier and received a definite no in response. At least some things were still as expected.

Dec was fairly compliant as they wrangled him into a cosy jacket and put his trainers on for him, his own co-ordination shot so that he was incapable of doing it himself. The walk to the front door was difficult, though, Dec's balance - normally so good - completely off so that he staggered heavily into Ant more than once. By the time they reached the steps, Dec was a horrid grey colour, and though the cool night air seemed to wake him up a little, he looked smaller and more unwell than ever, looking pathetically up at Ant. "I feel so strange," he said, wan and quiet as Lisa went before them to open the back door and put put in the extra blanket and basin she'd grabbed, before she ran to open the gate and start the car.

"You're going to be fine," Ant said, with a confidence he didn't feel, and then he decided that manhandling Dec down the steps was going to be too much effort so he scooped him up, bridal-style, instead.

Dec seemed completely fine with the gesture and movement, curling up and wrapping his arms around Ant's neck instinctively, pressing his scorching forehead into Ant's collarbone. Ant kept a good hold of him once they were in the car, keeping his shivering friend close as he fastened his seat belt and catching Lisa's scared eyes in the rear view mirror.

The journey was, thankfully, quick, Lisa's excellent driving and route choice reducing the stress. None of them spoke during the trip, Dec dozing lethargically against Ant's side while he kept an arm around his shoulders, his hand stroking up and down his upper arm in a rhythmic motion, half to soothe Dec but half for his own comfort, too.

Lisa let them out at the hospital before going off to park. Dec was still so sleepy and confused that it was far easier for Ant to simply pick him up and carry him in, rather than try and go through the motions of explaining where they were and coaxing him through the door when all Dec seemed to want to do was lie down and go back to sleep. He looked poorly enough that they were taken back into the A&E cubicles immediately, and a nurse quickly set Dec up with an IV and covered him with a blanket. She took some basic information from Ant, who mentioned that this was the second time he'd been sick in a short space of time, and promised the doctor would be with them as soon as possible.

Lisa arrived before the doctor did, having parked the car and rushed back to find the boys. Ant was relieved to have her with him, as she dragged in a second visitor's chair and sat next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. They both gazed at Dec, who was halfway asleep already. "He looks so tiny," she said, voice small and worried. It was true: the hospital bed seemed huge with Dec's small form curled up in it, and Ant pressed a kiss to her temple.

"He'll be fine," he said, but even to his own ears it sounded hollow. "God, Lise. Has there ever been a human on the planet who worries me as much as this fella?"

Lisa half laughed. "He's definitely an over-achiever when it comes to the panic-everyone-he-loves stakes."

"Did they take blood tests when he was here last time, do you remember?" Ant asked, frowning. "Or was it just fluids?"

"Just fluids, I think."

"This can't just be a bug," Ant said, frustrated. "It's not right for someone normally healthy to get this sick twice in a row."

"You were sick too," Lisa commented, transferring some of her worry to her husband and reaching up to feel his forehead and glands. "How are you feeling?"

"Physically? I'm fine. Just bloody tense from waiting for this doctor!"

As if summoned by Ant's impatient snarl, the doctor appeared a couple of minutes later, and introduced herself as Dr. Oyenusi. She had kind eyes and a gentle, yet professional manner, which instantly eased some of Ant's tension. She asked some questions about Dec's symptoms, which, as Dec was so lethargic, Ant answered for him. She then made Dec sit up, which he did so reluctantly and with a mournful, beseeching look at Ant, as if begging him to make her stop. He had to squeeze her hands and follow her penlight with his eyes, which he did with some protest. She frowned at that, and persevered despite his flinching and complaints.

"Declan, do you have a stiff neck?" she asked him after that.

"Headache," Dec told her, which wasn't really an answer.

"Can you touch your chin to your chest?" Dr. Oyenusi asked, more firmly this time, and Dec obediently tried, only to wince and cry out in pain. "Okay, that's fine, well done. You can lie back down," she allowed him, and Ant supported his friend back against the flimsy pillow as she wrote something down.

"What is it?" he asked, noting the way she had pressed her lips together and developed a grave expression.

"I'm ordering some blood tests, a lumbar puncture, and a CAT scan," she replied, meeting his eyes. "The symptoms Declan is suffering - the drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, his headache, the stiff neck, the fever, and the confusion and disorientation you mentioned - are all warning signs for meningitis. I'm not definitely sure, yet," she said, raising a calming hand when both Ant and Lisa took sharp breaths in and clutched hands, "but obviously if he is, we need to start treatment immediately. Because Declan has been so unwell, I'm going to start antibiotics straight away in case this is bacterial meningitis, but we'll need the results of the lumbar puncture to confirm. I know you're worried, but really, you've done exactly the right thing in bringing him in. I'm going to be back as soon as possible to do the lumbar puncture procedure."

Ant thanked her as she left, feeling somewhat in a daze. "Meningitis?" he asked incredulously, looking at Dec who was sleeping restlessly, his face pale save for the slashes of fever-flush on his cheekbones. "Oh, Decs ..."

"You heard what she said," Lisa attempted to reassure him, though she sounded fairly scared herself. "He's in the right place, and they'll do everything they can. He will be fine, love. He will."

They continued to clutch one another's hand as they waited, Ant reaching up to twitch the blanket back over Dec when he moved too restlessly and dislodged it. He ran a soothing hand over Dec's burning brow, which seemed to settle him somewhat, and he sank into a deeper, more peaceful rest.

Dr. Oyenusi returned with a nurse, and between them they took the bloods needed - Dec barely seemed to notice, which was concerning, as he hated needles and always tended to make a fuss over them usually - then started him on the antibiotics and prepared to deliver the lumbar puncture. Explaining what was going to happen, with the terrifyingly large needle being inserted into his back to measure the spinal pressure and to withdraw fluid to be tested, made both Ant and Lisa wince and turn slightly pale.

"I'm not sure I can be here for this," Lisa admitted to Ant as Dr. Oyenusi continued with the preparations, which included trying to explain to a very drowsy Dec what was going to happen. "I'm so sorry, love, but I just don't think I can see him go through it."

"It's fine," Ant said in understanding. "I'll stay with him. Listen, we need to tell people what's happening; could you do that? His mam, obviously, and then Ali so she can tell everyone else. I wouldn't be surprised if she came down, actually, you know how close she and Dec are. And I could do with some coffee, too - you could and all, it's late and you've been running around all day too."

"Yeah, of course," Lisa replied gratefully. "You stay with him; he'll be happy with you here."

"Happier, maybe, but I don't think he's going to be happy for a while," Ant observed sadly, before kissing his wife and letting her go.

Dr. Oyenusi asked Ant if he would mind helping during the procedure by sitting by Dec's head, supporting him in the curled up position she needed him in and helping make sure he didn't move too much. Ant agreed, and set himself up so that he was leaning over Dec, his mouth close to Dec's ear so he could talk to him and hopefully keep him calm.

He was expecting Dec to react badly to the injection, despite the local anaesthetic they used to numb the area. Dec hated any kind of medical treatment, and he had a healthy dislike of hospitals and needles in particular. He was surprised, and not just a little disconcerted, then, when Dec barely moved a muscle when the lumbar puncture took place, the smaller, sickly man remaining drowsy and lethargic throughout the lengthy procedure. His lack of protest or complaint drove home to Ant just how very sick Dec was, and made him feel sick to his stomach. He was so tense with nerves and worry that his own head was starting to ache slightly in sympathy with Dec's, and when Dr. Oyenusi left - warmly squeezing Ant's shoulder and assuring him she'd be back with the results as soon as possible, and that the CAT scan would happen soon too - he slumped down in his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face, consumed by worry.

Lisa hadn't reappeared by the time the hospital porters came to collect Dec to take him down for his CAT scan. Ant was given the choice of waiting for her or accompanying Dec, and he opted for the latter, feeling utterly uncomfortable with the idea of letting his friend go anywhere without him when he was like this, feverish and exhausted. He sent a quick text to Lisa to keep her posted and then followed the gurney down through the corridors.

Dec seemed to rouse somewhat as they travelled, glassy eyes opening widely and looking around in wild confusion.

"Easy, son, I'm right here," Ant said quickly, reaching out to grasp Dec's hand as he walked beside him.

"Where are we?" Dec asked, bewildered and clearly still disoriented, not remembering much about what had happened so far.

"We're in the hospital," Ant told him.

"Are we visiting Dad?" Dec asked next, which sent an ice pick through Ant's chest. He knew Dec's temperature was high; had seen it on the monitor they'd attached Dec to earlier, but it was one thing to see the number and quite another to see how woozy and confused the fever was making his friend, to ask about his deceased father.

"No, mate, we're not," he replied softly, and was grateful when Dec seemed to accept that and relaxed a little.

Dec stayed relaxed when they arrived at the CAT scan, too, in direct contrast with Ant. The machine was his worst nightmare: a narrow, noisy tube in which Dec would be inserted. For Ant, that was hell on earth, a claustrophobic's bag of horrors - but Dec, dozing again and never having suffered from Ant's fear of enclosed spaces, was blissfully unaware of his friend's panic or the machine itself, and he got through the latest test easily.

It was only when they were heading back down the corridors that things went downhill. Ant was still holding Dec's hand, the younger man having reached for it automatically when he saw him after emerging. He fingers were loosely clasping Ant's, and then, suddenly, his grip tightened and relaxed. Ant frowned, looking down, just as Dec's back arched and his grip tightened once more. The nurses with Dec immediately snapped into action, hollering for a doctor as Dec began to convulse in earnest. Ant was moved firmly but swiftly out of the way, his fingers losing contact with Dec's, and he could only watch on in horror as Dec went into a full-blown seizure.