Heechul yawned tiredly, leaning back in the hard plastic chair that he was sitting in. He rubbed his eyes, blinking hard to keep away the sleep that desperately wanted to take over his consciousness. He wished that he could just close his eyes and take a little cat nap, but there was no time for sleep right now. The antibiotics the doctor had put Key on had begun to work and his fever had lowered enough for them to start surgery. They had just taken him away about ten minutes ago, promising that it wasn’t a long surgery and Key would be out in an hour or so. Heechul was determined to stay awake until he knew that his son was healthy and safe from all harm.

Another yawn slipped past his lips and he looked around the waiting room, spotting a pot of fresh boiling coffee over by the refreshment counter. He was about to stand up to get himself some, because he really needed the caffeine after the long night he’d had but before he moved an inch one of the nurses walked in. There was no one else in the room for her to deliver news to so he stood up as she came to a halt in front of him.

“Heechul, I just got a call from downstairs. I’m afraid that there’s been an accident; your son Kibum is in the emergency room. They need you down there right away,” She informed him calmly.

Heechul’s eyes widened and his heart began pounding in his chest as a million horrible scenarios began to fill in his mind. He grabbed his jacket from the chair and quickly followed her out of the waiting room.

“Did they tell you what happened?” He asked as they walked through the halls to the elevator. He reached out and punched the down button impatiently.

“No, I’m sorry but they didn’t,” She told him apologetically, beckoning for him to step into the elevator first before following after him and pushing the button for the first floor.

Heechul sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair, feeling extraordinarily stressed out at the moment. These kids were going to make him have grey hair too soon with all their accidents. Donghae getting beat half to death years ago, Key’s spontaneous surgery, and now whatever the hell Kibum had gotten himself into. It was hardly six in the morning, what the heck could he have done to warrant a trip to the emergency room?

His questions were answered as soon as he stepped off the elevator and all he could do was sigh in exasperation as loud screams echoed through the area. He followed the nurse down a hall, the screams growing louder with every step they took until finally he found some familiar faces. Donghae and Mir turned around at the sound of his arrival, looking at him worriedly and both of them covered in blood. He didn’t have time to ask them what the hell was going on; he was ushered into the room with the door closing behind him.

“LET GO OF ME!!”

Heechul stared in shock at the scene before him, horrified at what he found. Three nurses and one of the security guards were struggling to hold Kibum down while a doctor desperately tried to tend to his bloodied arms.

“Heechul, they need permission to give Kibum a sedative,” said Hongki, standing off to the side also covered in blood.

“STOOOOP!!”

“Yes, of course,” Heechul replied quickly, nodding to a nurse. “Hongki, what the hell happened?”

“DON’T TOUCH MEEEEE!!”

“This will only sting for a moment and then you’ll start to feel sleepy,” The doctor, whose name tag said Dr. Lee, told Kibum calmly, injecting a needle into his arm. Kibum screamed loudly, thrashing and squirming as the nurses and security guard strapped him down to the bed, leaving only his arms unhinged to be worked on.

Seconds later he began to calm down, his eyes drooping as he breathed heavily until finally he was out cold. One of the nurses strapped a blood presser band to his arm, waiting a moment before telling the other nurse to strap an oxygen mask over Kibum’s face.

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Dr. Lee said without looking up from Kibum’s arms. “The wounds are deep but he didn’t manage to knick any veins or arteries, thankfully. There is glass deeply embedded into his hands which is going to take awhile to remove, but I feel confident enough to say that these wounds are not serious. One of the nurses will take you to the waiting room and I’ll be out shortly with an update. Rest assured your son is safe in my hands.”

Heechul and Hongki were ushered out by the third nurse. Heechul beckoned for the kids to follow with them and a moment later they arrived in the waiting room where the nurse informed them there were beverages at the counter and vending machines on the back wall. Once she was gone, Heechul turned around, his hands on his hips and a very displeased look in his eyes.

“What happened?” He demanded in a hard voice.

“I’d like to know that too,” Hongki said, turning to Donghae and Mir for answered.

“I don’t know, he just went berserk,” Donghae said with a shrug, wiping his hands on his shirt with a disgusted look on his face.

“Fine, go to the restroom across the hall and wash up,” Heechul answered, waving him away as he turned his attention to his youngest son. Mir watched after Donghae, waiting until he’d gone into the restroom before collapsing into one of the chairs sullenly.

Hongki and Heechul sat down on either side of him, patiently waiting while he gathered his thoughts before giving them the answer they were looking for.

“I don’t know what happened. Donghae and I were up because of what happened to Key, watching TV. We went into the kitchen to get something to eat when we heard glass shattering. Donghae went up to see what happened, but I don’t know what went on. All I heard was Kibum yelling that he hated Donghae,” Mir informed them slowly, making sure he got all the facts straight. He didn’t want anyone to get in trouble or cause confusion.

“Is that when you called me?” Hongki asked, reaching for his son’s hand.

Mir shook his head, frowning deeply. “Donghae came back downstairs super mad because Kibum pushed him. He wouldn’t do anything to help so I went up to see if I could do anything but he was already destroying his room. He was all bloody and really angry; I left when he shoved me back. That’s when I called,” Mir finished up, hoping that he hadn’t missed any details.

“So you don’t know what caused him to do this?” Heechul asked, and Mir shook his head. He sighed, running a hand through his hair once again. “Alright, thank you. Go wash up, baby.”

Once their son had left the room, Heechul turned his attention to his best friend for his part of the story. He wanted to get to the bottom of this before the doctor came back to talk with them. He knew that there had been no accident, Kibum had self-harmed once again. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to know why he’d done it, he definitely did, but once the doctor realized that it was self-inflicted he would call psych and Kibum would be sent back to the loony bin as soon as they checked his hospital history.

“Well?” Heechul said irritably, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn’t angry at Hongki and he certainly didn’t blame him for any of this; it was just a very long night.

“He was still in his room when I got there, sitting on the floor covered in blood,” Hongki informed him in a hushed whisper. “He was using a piece of glass to slice his arms up. I took it away, wrapped his arms up, and took him to the car. He calmed down for a bit, exhaustion I think, but as soon as he realized where we were he lost it.”

Heechul groaned, burying his face in his hands and shaking his head. He couldn’t believe this was happening now of all times. He didn’t have time to deal with Kibum’s self-destructive behavior right now, not when Key was having surgery.

“There is no way that he’s coming home,” He said softly, his eyes hardening. Kibum had spent the first three months of this year in the psychiatric ward after his overdose last Christmas; it wasn’t likely that they would let him out any time soon, not after what he’d done to himself.

“Do you really want him to come home after this?” Hongki asked, checking the time on his phone; he would have to leave soon. He had to get to work still and he couldn’t go covered in blood. His students would think he murdered someone. “Maybe its best if he stays for awhile and gets help.”

“I want to know what caused him to do this,” Heechul sighed, slumping in his seat. “I thought things were going well. I managed to get him to school, even if he kept having panic attacks about it. Donghae isn’t allowed near him and I took his phone, so I really don’t know.”

The conversation ended when the boys returned, much cleaner than they’d been before. Hongki didn’t stay for much longer and when it came time to leave he offered to take the boys home, whom agreed with no qualms. Heechul knew they were probably both completely exhausted so he gave them both a hug and a kiss and sent them off.

The minutes went by slowly.

Heechul sat alone in the waiting room, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He wanted to ask how Key’s surgery was going and if it would be over soon, but he wasn’t sure if he could go back upstairs or if he would have to stay here until the doctor came back with news on Kibum. It made him angry that he was torn between the two of them, but neither was at fault. Key was sick and Kibum was…disturbed.

He sighed miserably, biting the inside of his lip to keep from crying. He didn’t know what to do with Kibum anymore. No matter what the case was, if he had to stay in the hospital or was allowed to return home, he was going back to therapy. He couldn’t risk another event like this happening again, next time Kibum might not be so lucky. He had meant to call Kibum’s therapist this week but he’d been so wrapped up in life that he hadn’t gotten to it.

You know what I’m not putting it off any longer, Heechul thought to himself, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed the number of the office and left a message for the secretary to set up an appointment with Kibum sometime this week. As he finished up, the doctor entered the room.

Dr. Lee sat next to Heechul, putting a hand on his arm as he spoke in a gentle voice. “I’ve managed to get all the glass out of Kibum’s hands and stitch up the lacerations on each arm. I’m going to prescribe an antibiotic for him to take for a week to prevent any infections.”

“Have you taken him to a room yet? His brother is just getting out of surgery so if they could be together…” Heechul said, his voice trailing off at the end.

“Well, I suppose that would be alright for now,” Dr.  Lee agreed, nodding slowly. He shifted in the chair, adjusting his glasses. “The lacerations on his arms…they were self-inflicted. I’ve made the call to psych and they will send up one of doctors as soon as Kibum wakes up. I am leaving Kibum in his hands, my work here is finished. It’s up to him whether he deems Kibum fit to go home.”

“Thank you so much, Dr. Lee,” Heechul said, grateful for all that the man had done. It couldn’t have been easy to pick out tiny shards of glass. He hadn’t gotten a look at the actual wounds, but judging by the amount of blood there must have been a lot of glass.

“I’ll have Kibum sent upstairs with his brother,” Dr. Lee said as he stood up