Lisa was waiting patiently in Dec's small room, answering a few emails and browsing a few sites, when the gurney with Dec on it returned, Ant following. It had been a good couple of hours since Ant had last texted, to say Dec was being taken for his scan, and she had been beginning to get a little concerned, while at the same time knowing that procedures often took a while. So she was relieved, at first, to see them both - but that relief vanished as soon as she got a good look at the pair of them. Various leads and lines were being reattached as Dec was put back into position, but he remained utterly still - a very strange state for him. Lisa was used to seeing him in constant motion, always a bundle of energy, and even when he was standing delivering links on TV he was usually tapping his feet or doing something with his hands. Now, completely motionless and with a nasal cannula hooked over his ears, he looked distinctly odd, like a kind of pod-person version of Dec rather than the man she knew.

Ant was little better - he looked flustered, to say the least, a little bit red and shiny and running his hands through his hair in the way he always did when he was nervous or stressed. He sat down next to Lisa and twisted his hands, and she rubbed his back soothingly, alarmed to feel tremors rattling through his tense frame. "God, love, what's happened?" she asked, terrified of the answer.

"He had a seizure," Ant said, sounding hoarse and shrill. He took a shaky breath. "After the scan, he started convulsing, and they had to get a doctor to come and make it stop. It was horrible, Lise - he was jerking and flopping around, and he made these horrible sounds like he was - dying or something!"

"Shhhh, easy, he's not dying," Lisa said immediately. She ignored the thoughts buzzing around her own brain, the ones that had heard the word 'meningitis' earlier and immediately flashed back to those scary sessions they had at school, at least once a year, where they'd learned about the signs of meningitis and how dangerous it was. There had been a poster on the wall of the guidance classroom with cartoons of a child looking hideously unwell, and warning that the disease could often be fatal. Lying in the bed, dwarfed by the machines surrounding him, Dec did look a little childlike. "That must have been so scary," she said. "But they wouldn't have sent him back here if they were that worried; he'd be in the ICU or something!"

Ant took another deep, shivery breath. "Yeah," he said, clearly trying to rally. "Yeah, you're right. And Dr Oyenusi said she'd be back here really soon, to speak to us and check on him. She said he'd be sleepy and woozy for a while, after the seizure." He sat back and blew out air slowly, then ran a finger under the collar of his t-shirt, which Lisa noticed was slightly damp.

She frowned, and moved her hand up from his back to feel his neck, wanting to check his warmth with skin contact rather than through fabric. Just as she did, though, Dr Oyenusi arrived, and Ant sprang to his feet urgently. Lisa followed suit.

"What's the verdict?" Ant asked, clutching at Lisa's hand.

Dr Oyenusi didn't keep them waiting: this was real life, Lisa thought, not some ITV talent show, and she felt nauseous with tension even though she only had to wait a second rather than the endless minutes Ant and Dec dragged announcements out to.

"Declan does have meningitis - I can confirm that," she told them, causing Ant to drop his head and squeeze Lisa's hand even tighter. "That's what caused the seizure, actually, not his temperature, which is high but at a stable level. The lumbar puncture confirmed the diagnosis. Now, there is some good news, too, however."

Ant lifted his head, looking hopeful. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Well, let me just explain the situation. Declan is suffering from viral meningitis, not bacterial - and that's a really good thing, because complications are far less common with viral meningitis and the illness usually clears up on its own, with supportive care only. However, Declan's is an unusual case-"

"Of course it is," Ant interrupted, nudging Lisa and trying for a smile. "Our Declan never does anything the easy way."

Dr Oyenusi smiled, but it didn't last long. "Our scans revealed that Declan is also suffering from encephalitis, which, put plainly, is swelling of the brain. That's why he's been so confused and disoriented, and it is a complicating factor. We're treating the symptoms at the moment, and we do have him in a relatively stable state. However, the meningoencephalitis - Dec's full condition - is actually a symptom itself, of a viral illness which has infected him. We have run blood work to try and identify the virus so we can target his treatment more effectively, but the tests have come back as inconclusive. This means we're effectively waiting for Declan to recover himself, which isn't ideal."

"So you're saying that we're just going to be playing a waiting game?" Ant asked, and Lisa recognised the dangerous tone in his voice, one she'd heard before, and it always appeared just before Ant lost his rag and took his frustrations out on someone or something. She wished Dec was awake: he was always excellent at defusing Ant with a quiet word or distraction, or even, on occasion, inserting himself between Ant and the target, knowing his friend would never attack him, verbally or physically.

In his absence, Lisa tugged at Ant's hand and spoke to Dr Oyenusi herself, before Ant could say anything else. "Is there any way we can help you work out what the virus is? He and my husband work together, they go to all the same places - they'll know what each other ate, everything! They even had the same bug last week, too!"

At that, Dr Oyenusi tilted her head, her entire posture stiffening. "I'm sorry, you were both unwell last week?" She picked up Dec's file again and flicked to the patient history taken when they'd first arrived.

"Yeah, we told the nurse when we came in," Lisa said. "The two of them had this stomach bug, but Dec was the only one who was admitted."

"I just have here that there had been an admission for dehydration - I didn't realise both of you had been unwell," Dr Oyenusi said, and Lisa could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

"Are the two illnesses connected?" she demanded, lifting her other hand to clutch at Ant's jumper. "Is Ant going to get meningitis too?"

"I can't say right now," Dr Oyenusi said in her reassuring yet firm manner. "What I can say is that this might actually help us: if both of you have been exposed to the same virus, Anthony, then you could help us identify what's going on. I'd like to run some blood work from you, if I may, an I'd also like to take your vitals and check how you are, too."

"Yeah, of course, anything that could help Dec," Ant said quickly, proffering his arm. "Go for it - I don't have to leave him, do I?"

"No, you don't, not at this stage," the doctor said, smiling along with Lisa at the display of concern and brotherly love for his best friend. "Just take a seat, and I'll get started."

The bloods were taken swiftly, and it was quickly determined that while Ant was, in fact, running a very mild fever, there were no signs of any developing meningitis or other worrying symptoms. He was given an IV in order to treat with fever-reducing medication and to ensure that he remained hydrated, but he said that he felt fine, if a bit exhausted - which was to be expected, Lisa thought, blinking away her own tiredness, they'd not yet been to sleep and daylight was starting to break. Dr Oyenusi urged them both to try and get some rest, as the blood tests would take a couple of hours at least.

Lisa initially thought that sleep would be impossible, given how stressed they both were and how generally non-conducive to rest the hospital was, but she was clearly wrong because the next time she awoke the low winter sun was glaring through the windows and there were quiet voices by Dec's bedside.

She blinked awake to see Ali and Ant perched on either side of Dec's bed, Ant holding Dec's hand while Ali stroked damp hair away from his forehead. Dec moaned quietly and turned into her touch, dislodging his nasal cannula. Ant adjusted it gently, fingers lingering on Dec's cheek.

"How is he?" Lisa croaked, her voice rusty from not enough rest.

"Morning, love," Ant greeted her with a tired smile.

"Hi, Lise," Ali said. "He's better than he looks, actually. I got a fright when I saw him, to be honest with you."

"The doctor's been in, but you were sleeping so soundly we didn't think it was fair to wake you," Ant said. "I couldn't really sleep anyway." Of course he couldn't, Lisa thought. Ant sometimes struggled to sleep even in his own bed, so a cramped chair in a hospital, with his best friend shivering and sweating next to him, was never going to be restful for him.

"You should have woken me anyway," Lisa scolded them both, though she couldn't say she wouldn't have done the same if Ant had been the sleeping one. "He looks feverish," she commented, watching with concern as Dec shifted in the bed unhappily, a frown on his features even while he was sleeping.

"His temperature's been trying to go up, but they've kept it under control," Ant told her. "And now they know what's caused this, they'll be able to treat him much better. The blood tests came back, and they've worked out what we've got from my results. Typical Dec; his were giving nothing away. Just to be difficult, eh, son?" He directed this to Dec, fondly looking at his best friend even though Dec was in no shape to answer. "He's been pretty out of it."

"What is it? What's the diagnosis?" Lisa asked, feeling suddenly much more awake.

"Um, it's called limbo-district-choreography-virus?" Ant tried.

Ali grinned before correcting him. "Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, or LCMV. It's a virus passed on through rodent urine - Ant remembered that they shot a link in Edinburgh down in some vaults where there were rats, and that's almost definitely where they picked it up."

"It sounds terrifying," Lisa said.

"Well, apparently it's almost never fatal, and now they know what it is, they can treat them better. And it affects people in different ways, which is why Ant's not been anywhere near as unwell. Gary, the cameraman, has barely been unwell at all, and some people are just immune so they don't get any symptoms whatsoever. Those who do tend to get mildly ill at first, then recover briefly before getting sick again. It's called ... biphasic, I think. Dec just happened to be the worst case scenario ... poor him," Ali said, turning to smile sadly at Dec and continue running her fingers through his hair. Lisa shared a look with Ant - they had been talking quietly for a while about how close Ali and Dec were, and even though the pair hadn't acted on any feelings yet, they privately thought it was only a matter of time.

"Typical show-off," Ant grumbled affectionately. "It means we can't pass it on to anyone else, either. You're safe," he said, looking relieved - Lisa hadn't even realised he had been worrying about that. Typical of him, she thought, to bottle it up and try to protect her, too.

"Good morning, everyone." Dr Oyenusi, looking and sounding exhausted - it must be coming up to the end of her shift, Lisa thought, and she'd have treated far more patients than just Dec last night - arrived once more. "I see you've shared the good news?"

"Yes - thank you so much, Doctor - I'm so pleased he's on the mend."

Dr Oyenusi smiled briefly. "Yes, it's fantastic that we've identified the virus. We're not quite there yet, however. I want you to understand that although there is a very low mortality rater with LCVM - under 1%, actually - Declan is still quite unwell. The meningoencephalitis is still present, though the swelling is reducing. He's going to have a fairly unpleasant 24 hours ahead of him, and it might be difficult for you, too, to see him suffering through the disorientation and fever. I've arranged for both Anthony and Declan - we'd like to keep an eye on you, too, Anthony, in case any other symptoms arise - to move to a private room upstairs. I'd anticipate Declan having to remain in hospital for a few more days at the very least."

"Thank you so much for everything you've done," Ali thanked her, and Ant and Lisa echoed her sentiments before Dr Oyenusi left.

"Right," Ali said, slipping into organiser mode. "So, here's the plan. You boys will be admitted upstairs. I've spoken to Dec's family this morning, and Dermott is coming down, along with his mum, tomorrow. Work commitments have been cancelled or postponed for the next week, and we'll see how you both are by then and make any more decisions later on. And right now, I'm going to drive you home, Lisa - no protests - and we'll come back here later during evening visiting hours when we've caught up on our sleep."

There's no point arguing with Ali when she's in work mode: she's a force of nature and probably the most pragmatic and practical person Lisa knows. She'll have an answer for every question and a dozen reasons to back up every decision she'd made, and Lisa knows that what she's said makes perfect sense. So, despite her instincts being to stay with her husband and friend, she agreed to go home, at least part of her longing for the comforts of home and a proper sleep. Ant gave her the tightest, warmest hug, and she pressed a fond kiss to Dec's too-warm brow.

"I'll see you both later," she promised. "Love you. And him. Take care of him, okay?"

"When do I not?" Ant asked, and with that, she couldn't argue.