**this fic own mine and my brother's. we worked this story together.

-Hospital; Day 25-

Taeyeon solemnly walks into Jamie’s hospital room. She expects Sunny’s hopeful eyes to be the first thing she’ll encounter, just like yesterday, and the day before that one, and days and days before that. Three weeks worth of Sunny’s hopeful eyes, that Taeyeon has only disappointed, day after day.

“Evening, everyone” Taeyeon greets. She tries to avoid eye contact with Sunny for as long as she can, keeping her gaze on a sleeping Jamie. But she knows avoidance is futile, so her black eyes find the hopeful brown ones across the room, and Taeyeon shakes her head - words are no longer necessary - to let Sunny know that they’re no closer to saving her son’s life than they were three weeks ago.

Taeyeon silently berates herself; can’t stand letting Sunny down, and she stands awkwardly at Jamie’s bedside, crossing her arms defensively, wishing she could fix everything and make Sunny’s eyes shine and sparkle like they used to.

Taeyeon looks down at Jamie, her mask moving in and out as she breathes frustrated breaths. She catches sight of Sunny approaching from the corner of her eye, and she tenses. But all Sunny does is wrap her arms around Taeyeon’s waist and turn her so they’re facing.

And Taeyeon wants to weep when she sees nothing but warmth and kindness coming from Sunny’s soft, tired eyes. Can’t do more than bury her face into Sunny’s neck as they hold each other.

“How was your day?” Sunny asks her, quietly.

Taeyeon sighs and squeezes Sunny, “Better now”

“Well, this is our cue, Sungmin” Hyoyeon says from near the window, “let’s give these two some privacy”

Taeyeon pulls back and glances at the sister and friend gathering their things. “You two alright on everything?” she asks, not wanting to blatantly offer them money, especially not in front of Sunny.

“No worries, Taeyeon” Sungmin nods, “we’re all good”

Sunny walks over and hugs the both of them.

“See you in the morning, Sunny” Hyoyeon tells her. She walks over to her nephew’s hospital bed and touches his shoulder lightly. “Call us if you need anything” she says to her sister, and waits by the door for Sungmin.

“We’ll be back first thing, kid” Sungmin kisses Sunny’s head, “when he wakes up, tell the boy we’ll be having a rematch of that Candy Land, yeah”

Sunny holds the door open for them, and Taeyeon knows she’s smiling underneath her mask. “I’ll tell him. Safe drive back” she says, and lets the door swing closed on its own, once they’ve walked out.

Sunny takes the two steps that separate her from Taeyeon and walks into her arms again, “I missed you”

“Mm, I missed you too” Taeyeon whispers, brushing her eyelashes over Sunny’s neck.

It’s frustrating for both of them, this full cover romance they have to deal with for Jamie’s benefit. Taeyeon’s gotten creative though, finding the bits of exposed flesh on Sunny to make whatever contact she can.

“Perhaps we should have asked them to stay while we went for a walk” Taeyeon mutters, while Sunny’s gloved hands wander over her gowned body.

“Don’t tease” Sunny says as she squeezes Taeyeon’s bottom, “I’ve tried to get you in the storage closet several times and you won’t have it”

“You never know if someone might be looking” Taeyeon defends, embarrassed by her inability to put out in public places.

Sunny steps back and laughs, pulls Taeyeon over to the chairs and sits her down, straddling her. “We’ve become part of the wallpaper around here, sweetheart” Sunny says, placing a masked kiss somewhere near Taeyeon’s masked lips.

Taeyeon’s heart swells at the affectionate name Sunny’s been using for her for the past week. I’ll never tire of hearing that.

“…They wouldn’t know the difference between us and the jungle animals painted on the walls” Sunny continues, “we could probably shag in the waiting room and no one would even notice”

Taeyeon raises her eyebrows, “Someone’s frustrated”

Sunny quietly groans, “You have no idea”

She cuddles into Taeyeon’s chest, and Taeyeon presses her cheek to the top of her covered head and wraps her arms around the small of her back.

They sit quietly; still and pensive, as the sound of Jamie’s monitors signal all is well, for now.

…

…

“This is a great one” Taeyeon holds one of the photographs she printed out for him so Jamie can see it. “Do you remember how many times you went sledding down the hill?”

Jamie slowly shakes his head. Taeyeon touches his bare head and smiles as strongly as she can, hoping the tears that are threatening to spill out, don’t.

She can’t stand seeing him like this; his eyes always half-lidded, as if at any moment he could fall to sleep forever. His breaths labored, aided by oxygen on a scheduled basis. His skin a dull gray, as if a shadow constantly hangs over him.

“I’d say you rode that sled a good fifty times, James. More than all the rest of us put together” Taeyeon says, with forced liveliness.

Jamie closes and opens his mouth, swallowing labouredly a few times before speaking, “When I… get better… can we go back… to the snow?”

Taeyeon’s eyes water, and she smiles and nods at him, pressing her gloved hand to his cheek as he closes his eyes and recovers from the strain of talking.

“We can do whatever you want, James” Taeyeon tells him, “but you have to fight. You have to fight the leukemia; don’t let it win”

Jamie nods slowly, gears up to answer, “Ok, Taeyeon…”

He makes a face, then. His eyes squint, and Taeyeon knows if he had eyebrows, they’d be furrowed. Sunny walks out from the bathroom and Taeyeon waves her over.

“What is it, my love” Sunny leans in and asks her son.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he glances over her shoulder at Taeyeon, a look of embarrassment flashing across his face.

Sunny nods at him, and Taeyeon has no idea what’s going on.

“Taeyeon…” Sunny turns around, “could you please go down and get me a turkey sandwich? I’m starved”

Taeyeon looks at her, confused, and her eyes land on the trays of food they just finished. Sunny blinks slowly and gestures toward Jamie with her head. And it finally dawns on Taeyeon. Idiot.

“Sure thing” Taeyeon walks to the door, “I may be a bit longer; I’m going to call the girls and tell them goodnight” she winks.

“Alright, we’ll see you in a bit, then”

Taeyeon leaves the room and immediately pulls off her mask, taking a deep breath. Sheila is there, putting on a gown and gloves…

“She’s changing his nappy” Taeyeon informs her, “may want to wait a minute. He gets self-conscious if anyone but Sunny is in there”

Sheila stares at her blankly for a moment. “Ohh, you mean his diaper…” she finally catches on.

“Right, sorry, his diaper”

Taeyeon finishes peeling off her coverings and tells Sheila she’ll be back. As she walks to the elevator, she remembers back to the day they had to put the child-sized diaper on him. Jamie was mortified. Recalls him straining to cry that he was a "big boy" and didn’t need it; promising that he wouldn’t soil the bed again. Everyone’s heart broke for him, and they were all aware in that instant, that his situation had just gone from bad to worse.

…

…

“Yes, darling, you can sleep in my bed… alright… yes, I’ll tell them you send big hugs and lots of love… ok… let me say goodnight to your sister… I love you too… bye….”

…

…

Taeyeon knocks on the door lightly. Sunny opens it, and Taeyeon hands her a plastic-wrapped turkey sandwich, to which she receives an eye roll for.

Taeyeon shrugs, “I thought somewhere in there you may have actually wanted a turkey sandwich”

“Thanks” Sunny laughs quietly.

“Asleep again, eh?” Taeyeon sits in a chair by his bed.

“Yeah…” Sunny sits on Taeyeon’s lap, leans her head on Taeyeon’s shoulder, “reminds me of when he was a baby” she sighs, “he was a good sleeper; hardly ever cried”

“I had one like that too” Taeyeon says, “only one, though” she laughs out her nose.

“Let me guess…”

“They send their love, by the way” Taeyeon wraps her arms around Sunny and squeezes, “and this” she says, hugging her tightly.

“Mm… I needed that. Tell them thanks, and the same from me”

Taeyeon’s eyes scan the room as they sit together peacefully. She notices something on the table next to them that she’s been wanting to see again for a while. She reaches over and grabs the large envelope.

“Will you share this with me now?” Taeyeon asks.

Sunny sits up. “It’s not ready… I’m not ready to show anyone. I may never be” she lets Taeyeon know.

Taeyeon won’t push. “My loss” she shrugs, placing the envelope back on the table.

“You’re not angry…”

Taeyeon touches her cheek, “I’m not. But I would like you to tell me about it, even if you don’t want me to read it”

Sunny looks away. Taeyeon’s become very good at reading her eyes, since it’s practically the only part of her face she can see, and she knows Sunny is feeling awkward.

“You don’t have to” Taeyeon says.

Sunny looks at her and sighs. “I wrote it last time he was in hospital; the first time” she starts. “He was missing his toy giraffe. You know, that huge thing in the corner of my room?”

Taeyeon nods, recalling the large stuffed animal that takes up more space than Sunny has in the room she and Jamie share. “How could I miss it”

“Right. Well, I told him it was too big for the hospital room, and I began to tell him that the giraffe missed him too. After that, he asked me to tell him about the giraffe every night, so I started writing down things I could tell him about what the giraffe was doing at home while he was in hospital”

Sunny looks over at Jamie. “He was quite convinced that the giraffe was able to come to life, and when we went home, once he was in remission, he would just stare at it and talk to it, only to be bitterly disappointed when it just stood there, unresponsive”

Taeyeon laughs quietly, as she pictures Jamie doing this.

“Eventually, I turned it into a full story, and I’ve been trying to pluck up the courage to show it to Ben, my boss, to see what he thinks but…”

“But…?”

“It’s probably no good”

“Don’t say that. James loves it, and he would be the harshest critic of all, I think”

Sunny just shrugs.

“I didn’t know you were even interested in writing”

“Well now you know” Sunny says, pinching Taeyeon’s side.

Taeyeon covers to keep her squeal from waking Jamie. “You’re not playing fair”

Sunny’s eyes turn mischievous, “You love it”

Taeyeon smirks beneath her mask. “Yes, I most certainly do”

…

…

…

…

Taeyeon bites the tip of her pen as she tilts back in the leather chair, staring challengingly across the large table at the opposing counsel. I’ve got you by the balls, you moron.

Seeming to have read her mind, the man leans over and huddles together with his partner and their client. Mumbles ensue, and Taeyeon checks her watch as the sun begins to set outside. Hurry the up and surrender, some of us have places to be.

When her opposition straightens, Taeyeon brings her chair back to its upright position and smirks arrogantly at the three men across from her. The man in the middle tears a piece of paper from his legal pad and scribbles down a number, then folds it and slides it across the table to Taeyeon.

Taeyeon unfolds it and keeps her best poker face on, as she reads the seven figure number. She stands suddenly and holds her arm straight across the table, extending her hand. “Gentlemen, you have a deal”

The three men stand, and she shakes their hands in turn. “My aide will be in shortly to finalize the paperwork. It’s been a pleasure” she smiles condescendingly, picks up her briefcase, and walks out of the room.

She hurries down the hallway, back to her office. On her way, the heads of her colleague’s pop out from office doorways to congratulate her on the win. News travels fast. Taeyeon smiles and thanks each one of them, but all she can think of is getting to the hospital, and telling Sunny of her triumph.

“I’m done for the day, Tricia” she tells her assistant, as she walks passed the desk and opens the door to her office. Tricia follows close behind.

“You have a few messages, Ms. Taeyeon” Tricia puts the message slips on her desk, keeping one in her hand and reading out loud “Sunny called and asked if you could pick up a birthday cake on your way because her sister dropped the one she made in the elevator”

“Jesus” Taeyeon laughs and picks up the rest of the messages, quickly flipping through them. She stops on the last one and her eyes grow wide. “Why didn’t you come and get me!” Taeyeon scolds her assistant and holds up the message paper, shaking it in Tricia’s face.

“I… I tried, but Mr. Lawson said you weren’t to be disturbed”

“!” Taeyeon fishes her phone out of her purse and sees two missed calls. Presses send with a shaky finger. “Hello… yeah, sorry I missed your call, I was in a meeting” she says through gritted teeth, eyeing Tricia with cold eyes.

She waves Tricia off; the young woman happy to leave.

“You must have news” Taeyeon bites her lip, “yes… yeah… how close?... nine of ten!... I’m here, yes… where?... and he’s willing to… tomorrow afternoon!... Jessica… ok… yes… I will… see you tomorrow… bye”

Taeyeon drops the phone and collapses into her office chair. The tears pour out, but she doesn’t care. She buries her head in her hands, as months of tension, uncertainty, loss, reunions, and waiting come bubbling to the surface, erupting in tears of relief and absolute joy.

…

…

Taeyeon scans the shelves inside the glass of the bakery. She’s waiting for her number to be called. She’s got the urge to pay off those with lower numbers just so she can get the out of there and get to the hospital.

The end of the day hasn’t left her with many choices, but she’s got her eye on one cake that she thinks the birthday boy would like.

Finally her number is called, and she rushes to the counter. “That one there, is it organic?”

The clerk tells her it’s vegan and organic and she asks them to write "Happy Birthday, James" across the top, and inquires about pirate decorations while she’s at it.

Cake in hand, Taeyeon makes her way to her car and sets off for her next destination.

…

…

“You two look lovely” Taeyeon says to her daughters, as they climb into the car.

“Thanks, Mum” Sophia smiles, “bye, Emma” she shouts out the window and waves.

“Ooh, is that the cake?” Bella leans over the front seat, spying the white bakery box.

“Yes. Safety belts, please, we’re in a hurry”

The girls sit back and situate themselves.

“Mum, will they let us in to celebrate Jamie’s birthday, do you think?” Bella asks, eyeing her mother through the mirror.

“I’m hoping Sheila’s on duty and will be kind enough to allow it, yes”

“Emma took us to the party store and we’ve bought hats and decorations and party games” Sophia informs.

“Well done, girls. James will be very surprised, I’m sure”

“You’re in a good mood, Mum” Bella observes.

“Am I…?”

“Yup”

“I suppose I love a good party”

“So you’re not going to tell us” Bella squints.

Taeyeon smiles at her daughter’s perceptiveness, “All in good time, my darling. All in good time”

…

…

…

…

“Sheila, I would consider it a personal favor if you allowed them in” Taeyeon folds her hands, is ready to get down on her knees, if she has to. “They’ve showered, and they’ll be double masked. You know I wouldn’t allow them in there if I thought they posed any risk to James” she pleads.

The nurse’s face stays stoic.

“It’s his birthday” s sake, woman!

“Ten minutes”

“One hour” Taeyeon counters.

“Taeyeon…”

“Listen, if there are germs to be spread, even one minute is too long. If they’re going in, they may as well stay a while” Taeyeon smiles cheekily at the nurse, who purses her lips and shakes her head.

Sheila looks down the hall. “It’s against my better judgment…”

Taeyeon doesn’t need to hear the rest. “Come along, girls”

Bella smiles just as cheekily at the nurse as they walk away. Sophia smiles sweetly and thanks Sheila, following in line behind her mother and sister.

…

…

Once they’re in their gear, Taeyeon peeks in the door. Sunny and Sungmin are holding hands, their heads bowed, talking quietly. Taeyeon hates that she feels any kind of jealousy over them, but she can’t help it. She looks over at Jamie, he’s enthralled in a movie on the laptop. Sunny lifts her head, as if she’s sensed Taeyeon’s presence. Taeyeon smiles tightly at her.

Sunny stands and goes to her. “Are you planning to come in completely, or are we just going to see your head this evening”

“Ha ha” Taeyeon rolls her eyes, “come out for a tick?”

Taeyeon pulls her outside.

“Sunny!” two small bodies crash into her and hug her.

Sunny removes her mask. “Hello, girls” she bends down and kisses the tops of their protective shower caps.

“We’ve come to surprise James” Sophia smiles up at her, arms still wrapped around her waist.

“He’s going to be so happy” Sunny smiles back.

“We convinced Sheila to let them in”

“She agreed to it?” Sunny laughs.

“I nearly had to beg, but my charms won her over in the end” she says, proudly.

“I’m sure”

Taeyeon leans over and kisses Sunny on the lips, her daughters still attached to the smaller woman.

“Ugh, not in front of us, please!” Bella wiggles out from between them.

Taeyeon laughs at her eldest child and then looks down at her youngest, nodding once, silently asking for her approval. Sophia lowers her eyes and then looks back up, her brown eyes switching between her mother and Sunny.

“I’m glad you’re back together” Sophia smiles.

Taeyeon breathes a sigh of relief and leans in to kiss Sunny once more. “Hi” she grins.

“Hi” Sunny grins right back, “you’re in a good mood”

“Seems everyone’s noticing today”

“Any particular reason?”

“It’s James’s birthday, what’s not to be happy about”

Sunny eyes her suspiciously. “Hmm”

…

…

“He’s overwhelmed” Sunny slides her hand around Taeyeon’s waist, as they watch their children interact.

“Do you think it’s too much?”

“No, no… it’s a good kind of overwhelmed”

They watch for a bit as the girls teach Jamie a party game, even though he’s too weak to actually play it, but he seems to be enjoying watching them beat Sungmin at it.

“I need to speak with you” Taeyeon whispers.

“Oh… everything alright?”

“Yeah. Can we step out?”

“Sure, yeah, but can we wait for Hyoyeon to get back? I trust Sungmin but…”

“I understand completely” Taeyeon says. “Where is your lovely sister?”

“Oh god, she met some male nurse and she’s down having dinner with him in the café”

Taeyeon laughs, “She’s something else, that Hyoyeon”

…

…

“Sit down for a moment”

Taeyeon’s brought Sunny to quiet corner of the hospital that she knows doesn’t get much foot traffic. She takes Sunny’s hands in hers and takes a deep breath.

“Jessica called today”

Sunny’s eyes grow wide and begin to tear immediately.

“She’s found someone”

Sunny shakes her head.

Taeyeon nods. “Yes”

Sunny’s lips flatten and press together as she begins to cry.

“He’s from Seoul. He’s a nine of ten match, Sunny. Nine of ten”

Sunny sobs, unable to speak or react in any other way.

“She’s already had a lab run all the tests, and she’s on a chartered jet, with the marrow packed safely away in a medical carrier, as we speak. She’ll be here tomorrow”

Sunny’s chin quivers. “The doctor…”

“She’s already called him and sent the results ahead; he’s expecting her”

“Taeyeon…” she breathes.

Taeyeon nods. “I know” she hugs Sunny to her, “I know”

…

…

“Alright, James, smile!” Taeyeon aims the camera at the boy and his cake.

He was disappointed that he couldn’t blow out any candles, even though Sunny tried to explain that fire isn’t allowed in hospital rooms.

Taeyeon’s promised him the biggest party when he’s well. Promised him a bouncy castle, and real pirates, and anything he wants. She was surprised when Sunny hadn’t looked at her disapprovingly.

Sheila walks in and the mood in the room changes. “I have to break this up, folks. I just received doctor’s orders; Jamie needs to be prepped for treatment in the morning”

“What treatment, Sheila?” Sunny asks, concerned.

“Radiation. TBI” she says.

Taeyeon recognizes the term. “He’s too weak, Sheila” she insists.

“Doctor’s order, Taeyeon” she presses a few buttons on his machine, “but he needs his rest now, so everyone out”

Sunny looks at Taeyeon, worry in her eyes.

“If Dr. Grant thinks he can do it, we have to trust him” Taeyeon tells her, squeezing her arm.

Sunny nods, but Taeyeon can see she’s still unsure.

“Girls, go on and wait for me in the hall”

They nod at her and tell Jamie goodbye, stopping to hug Sunny before leaving the room.

“Do you want me to stay the night, Sunny?” Hyoyeon asks her sister.

“No… no, you go on”

“Ok. We’ll be back early”

“Thanks, Hyo. Bye Sungmin”

“He’s a fighter, Sunny, don’t you worry” he reassures her.

Once everyone’s gone, Sunny crosses her arms and walks to the window, as Sheila hangs new bags of liquids on Jamie’s IV stand.

Taeyeon walks up behind her and wraps her arms around her waist. “He’s going to be fine” she whispers.

Sunny nods. “Will you… can you come back in the morning?”

“I can stay the night, if you’d like”

Sunny thinks. “No, you should go home with the girls. But I would like you here in the morning”

“Then I’ll be here”

Sunny turns in her arms and hugs Taeyeon tightly. “Thank you for everything. I’d be lost without you”

“Ok, you two” they hear Sheila say, and when they look over at her, she’s gesturing toward the door with her head.

Taeyeon glares at her, Sheila glares right back.

“Alright, I’m going”

Sunny walks Taeyeon to the door.

“You call me, if you want me to come back, or if you need anything”

“I will”

Taeyeon gazes into Sunny’s eyes, “Consider this me kissing you goodnight” she says.

“Consider this me kissing you back”

…

…

The room is dark, only the reds, greens and oranges from the machines glow and blink in the room. Sunny sits staring at her son, caressing his hand with plastic gloves. It’s been so long since she’s touched his bare skin with her own, and she longs for the day that she can hold him and cuddle him and kiss him.

It’s around midnight, and Sunny knows she should get some sleep; tomorrow will be a long day. She stands and stretches, looks at the small cot she’s been sleeping on for nearly two months, then looks back at her son.

Slowly, Sunny climbs into his bed and lies down on her side, draping her arm over his stomach. She watches his chest rise and fall quickly, as he breathes labored breaths. And Sunny buries her plastic covered hair, and her paper covered mouth near his head on the pillow and closes her eyes.

**this fic own mine and my brother's. we worked this story together.