Shane woke up late the following morning; after all, he'd spent half the night in the hospital. After Nicky had fallen asleep he'd been speaking to a doctor about the upcoming test, and what would happen if Nicky were diagnosed as positive. He was aware that it seemed like the doctors' thought Nicky was going to be proved positive, although they denied it. He got out of bed; he'd have to get back to the hospital that after noon. He had a quick shower, got dressed and went down stairs.
He found his parents with Shauna in the living room, watching Barney. 'Shane. Do you want some thing to eat?' He nodded and his mum stood up. 'Thanx mum,' he said as he sat down in the sofa beside Shauna. She looked away from the television for a while. 'Is Nicky ve'y 'ick?' she asked in her baby voice. 'Yes, he is sick, but he'll be alright.' 'I hate bein' 'ick,' she continued. 'He must be ve'y lonely in ho'pital.' Shane nodded and got a distant look in his eyes, accompanying the worried look on his face. Shauna crawled into his lap and patted his cheek. 'Don't worry S'ane. The doctor goin' to make Nicky bette'. Shane smiled and hugged her, kissing her hair.
A few days later Shane was sitting talking to Nicky in the hospital room. Nicky was much better, but they had wanted to keep him until the results came back. The doctor came into the room. Shane and Nicky both looked up. 'I've got the results for you,' he said, gave the brown envelope to Shane and went away to give them some privacy. Shane gave it to Nicky, but he shook his head. 'You open it.' Shane opened it. The moment was tense; none of them spoke, or hardly even breathed. Shane's hands were shaking. 'You don't wanna read it yourself?' Nicky shook his head and Shane unfolded the paper, Nicky's gaze not leaving his hands for a second.
