The first thing he noticed was the pain in his stomach. At first it was like a dull throb that being suppressed, but as he lay there half conscious –something was keeping him from waking up fully – Kibum could feel the pain get worse. It was like a white hot coil in his stomach that just kept getting hotter and hotter with each second that ticked by. Secondly, he could tell that there was someone beside him and they were holding his hand. Although his mind wasn’t thinking straight, obviously, his body knew the touch so well. It made him feel a little better, but not much, to know that Heechul was there. He would make everything better; Heechul would do something to make the pain go away. Kibum just had to figure out how to get the words out that he was in pain.

While Kibum’s conscience worked on waking himself up, Heechul sat on a chair next to the bed holding his hand. He felt angry with himself for not being able to help Kibum, this was almost entirely his fault. What had he been thinking, experimenting with the blood on a child? He should have figured out everything first before giving the blood medicine to Kibum, maybe then they wouldn’t be in this mess. If he had just waited, Kibum wouldn’t be in so much pain right now.

While the doctor seemed to think that Kibum was allergic to the anesthetic, Heechul and Leeteuk figured out the real problem quickly. Kibum wasn’t allergic, no, it was the blood Heechul given him. Whatever of it that was left did not mix with the anesthetic and was causing a rejection. But they were keeping quiet on that, they let the doctor think Kibum was allergic and allowed him to be taken off the anesthetic. Because the doctor was correct, either way it was bad for Kibum and was harming him. So now the boy had nothing to block out the agonizing pain from the surgery, and even in his sleep he’d been crying out from pain. Each whimper and tear broke Heechul’s heart; he didn’t want to see his baby in pain, especially since it was his fault.

He didn’t understand why this was happening either. Both times he’d been pregnant and had to get a c-section they used anesthetics but nothing like this had ever happened. Perhaps it was because Kibum had two bloods in him, his own and the nu ABO blood type. Whatever it was, the anesthetic didn’t react well with it. Because of this, the entire hospital stay was completely pointless. Kibum was supposed to stay there a week to get an anesthetic until the pain from the surgery went away, but now that wasn’t going to happen. The doctor said they could try others, but Heechul wasn’t going to take that risk. No, he was going to wait until the sedative wore off and then he was going to take Kibum home. What was the point in staying in the hospital in pain when he could at least be in his own home and feel more comfortable?

Heechul had sent Leeteuk home a few hours ago to tell the boys what was going on and that Kibum would be coming home. He knew this week was about to get a lot harder on everyone. All the kids were going to have to be really quiet and not making any noise so Kibum could rest. It was going be boring and he knew that everyone was going to be moody, but there was nothing else that could be done. Of course, he knew that they’d understand; Kibum was their brother and of course they were going to respect that he was going to be in a lot of pain. But they were still rowdy, hyper teenage boys.

There was a knock on the door and the doctor stepped into the room and walked over to Heechul. He had in his hands the discharge papers for Kibum. Being a doctor, he wanted the boy to stay in the hospital under observation, just like anyone else would if they had gotten surgery. But it was ultimately a guardian’s call and Heechul wanted Kibum to come home.

“Here are the discharge papers, you’ll just need to sign here,” The doctor said, handing the clipboard to Heechul.

“When will he wake up?” Heechul asked, quickly jotting down his signature. He wanted to take Kibum home now and make him comfortable at home.

“The sedative should be wearing off any minute now. You do realize how hard this is going to be on the boy, don’t you? The pain he’s going to feel is unimaginable,” The doctor warned him, probably for the third time since they found something was wrong. He couldn’t make the boy stay in the hospital, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying to convince Heechul to let him stay.

“I fully understand, I heard you the first time. Kibum is scared of hospitals and if there’s no point in him staying here since he can’t get the anesthetic then I’m taking him home. Either way he’s going to be in pain, why not let him be more comfortable in his own bed?” Heechul replied in a bitter tone. Of course he wanted Kibum to stay in the hospital, but that was only when Kibum was going to the get anesthetic to take away the pain.

“The best thing I can do to help him is prescribe heavy sleeping pills. It won’t take away the pain, but it will knock him out so he doesn’t have to be awake for it,” The doctor offered.

“Kibum hates sleeping pills, they give him nightmares,” Heechul replied softly, gently Kibum’s cheek as the boy whimpered again in his sleep. He was close to waking up, Heechul could tell. It was only a matter of minutes before he opened his eyes and felt the pain.

“Nightmares are a side effect, but there are certain kinds that don’t. I’ll go write up the prescription, plus give you the ones for the othe