There was a knock at the door. No one answered, so the man standing outside tried the door knob, luckily it was unlocked. The man tentatively walked inside and looked around. He stopped when he spotted a shoe propped on top of the arm of a couch.

“Hyukjae? That you?” The man asked and moved just the top half of his body forward to find the body that went with the foot. “Donghae?!” The man yelled out before he could contain his voice at the sight of the brunet lying unconscious on the couch.

“Good, you’re here. Get him out of here already.” Hyukjae suddenly appeared in the doorway on the left side of the living room. His hands were shoved into his pockets but they were still tightly closed.

“What the heck happened? Why is Hae here? This is the last place I thought I’d see him after…” His words trailed off when he saw the look on Hyukjae’s face turn sharp and angry.

“I don’t know, that bastard Cho Kyuhyun dropped him off here out of the blue. Just hurry up and take him away, Siwon.” Hyukjae stared at the man in front of him and then frowned and turned around. He walked down the short hallway and entered a room, slamming the door shut.

Siwon took a deep breath and sighed slowly. He shook his head and went to stand in front of the couch. Siwon carefully picked up the brunet into his strong arms and he could immediately feel the warmth that radiated from his body. He propped the boy up on his knee and with one hand went to feel his forehead. Siwon’s eyes opened wide and he exited the apartment, not saying goodbye because he didn’t think Hyukjae would hear it.

Siwon carried the brunet down the stairs without breaking a sweat, and quicker than most people would have descended them. Once he was outside the apartment building, he opened the passenger door to his car and carefully placed Donghae’s fevered body inside. He put on the brunet’s seatbelt for him and then closed the door, making extra certain that he didn’t trap the boy’s hand or leg in the door on accident. After he was buckled into the driver’s seat, he drove off down the street and towards the hospital.

It seemed that Donghae had a very high fever, and Siwon wasn’t exactly well versed in the medical ways. He figured that taking the boy to the hospital was the quickest and safest thing he could do to help. He could have taken Donghae to his and Sungmin’s house, but then he feared that the scary bunny boy would have hit him for not bringing him to the hospital with a fever like that. So to dodge the possible pain, he opted for the hospital.

It was getting later into the evening, and night was soon approaching. Thanks to that however, the five o’clock rush was over and not as many cars were on the roads. Siwon and Donghae got to the hospital in record time. Siwon started to frantically look around in the foyer. He ran up to the front desk where a middle-aged woman was sitting in front of a counter.

“Please, miss, you have to help me! This boy, he’s really, really sick and he needs a doctor immediately!” Siwon was raising his voice which startled the receptionist a little, but she was used to this kind of behaviour from previous experiences. She calmly assessed the situation by first getting up to quickly examine the patient in front of her, she was actually a retired nurse.

“Oh my god, he’s burning up… Here, follow me to the ER, it’s just down the hall.” She lead Siwon through the double doors on the left and they briskly walked down a long white hallway, turning the corner at the end.

The ER was a bundle of confusion and raised voices calling out various medical terms while at the same time a handful of worried relatives or friends crying or screaming out to get some information. There had just been a series of car collisions on one of the more popular highways, so a lot of people were injured. Thankfully, there was one bed free for the moment, and the receptionist brought Siwon over to carefully lay Donghae down on it.

She picked up a phone that was screwed to the wall. She spoke for a few minutes and then hung up with a sigh. She turned around to look at the worried Siwon.

“It seems, that because of the car accident, there aren’t many doctors available at the moment.” Her eyes were downcast for a moment and she opened to speak again but Siwon cut her off.

“What does that mean?! Is Donghae not going to get medical attention? He’s really sick!”

“Please sir, calm down a little bit. I’ve called for a resident who is usually on call at this hour. He should be here within the hour, for now I’ll just set him up on an IV and we’ll watch his condition.” The receptionist calmly replied, and her voice was so soft and compelling that the frantic man visibly calmed down.

“Are – are you qualified to do all that?” He asked, sitting himself in a chair that was on the other side of the bed. He glanced at the sleeping boy’s face covered in sweat and eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes, I was a nurse for thirty of my years you know. I only retired two years ago.” She replied.

“Woah, really? You don’t even look too much over thirty. How come you work at the desk now then?”

“Thanks for that. I’m actually over fifty you know. I retired because the hustle and bustle got a bit too much for me.” The woman smiled at Siwon then focused on sticking a needle into Donghae’s arm. “I’ll get you to fill out a few forms about the patient here. I need to go back to the front desk, but if his condition changes before the doctor gets here you can ask for Kim Mikyung, that’s me. And don’t worry too much.” The retired nurse smiled and hurried off to her position at the front desk.

Siwon sighed and leaned back in his seat. All he could do was wait, but he felt so helpless doing that when Donghae was in so much pain in front of him. He couldn’t just relax and hope the doctor gets there as soon as possible. Siwon remembered reading somewhere that a really bad fever can even lead to death if not taken proper care of. Remembering this only made the nervous man worry more. He thought of calling Sungmin. He would definitely know what to do, but telling him that he was at the hospital would make the elder far too worried. He didn’t want to do anything that would upset his love, but he didn’t want to keep this from him either. He deserved to know that his dear Donghae was sick.

After ten minutes of squirming in his seat over what to do, he decided that he’d wait until the doctor got there to call Sungmin. Siwon then took a hold of the clip board that Mikyung had left him and started to fill it out.

“Okay… patient’s name: Lee Donghae… patient’s birth date… October…15^th…. I’ll come back to that one. Patient’s blood type…. O’s the most common one right? Hmm… has the patient had any recent surgeries or medical attention... Does the patient have any serious or minor allergies…” Siwon put the clip board down and reached a hand into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and pressed speed-dial. After two rings the phone was answered.

“Siwon? What’s the matter?”

“Yeah, um, about that. Could you come meet me for a while?” Siwon bit his lip and looked around the emergency room. He saw a lot of blood and had to focus on Donghae’s face instead.

“…Okay. Where are you?”

“I’m at the hospital near the apartment complexes…”

“What the actual Choi Siwon?!” There was a loud bang and the phone call abruptly ended.

“Ahh, he must have hung up… probably think’s I’m the sick one, jeez.” Siwon shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket.

Siwon sunk into the uncomfortable hospital chair and rubbed his temples. Squeezing his eyes closed tight for a moment and then opening, he sat up and watched the brunet. He knew that he had done all that he could for the boy, but he still couldn’t help but feel restless. It also donned on him that this boy was previously with Hyukjae for who knows how long and for what reason Siwon didn’t know. It was just another thought to add to the handsome man’s worries. He hoped that all of this wasn’t caused by Hyukjae, although he wasn’t quite sure how someone could cause a fever to this degree.

Siwon sighed and sat at the edge of his chair. He grabbed one of Donghae’s burning hands and held it tightly in his and began to pray for the boy’s well-being.

“Dear God, sir, I trust in your heavenly grace to look down upon this boy and grant him a small portion of your providence that he should become better. Amen.” Siwon kissed Donghae’s hand and then lifted his head. He was surprised to see that a man in a white coat was standing on the other side of the bed, observing the two of them.

“Siwon?” The man said, and Siwon was even more surprised to find that the man in the white coat was his ex-boyfriend.

“Jungsu?” Siwon stood up, knocking the chair back a few feet. “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re a doctor, Teukie??”

“Kind of, I’m in my residency right now. Didn’t think I’d see you here,” Leeteuk smiled gently at Siwon and went to pick up the clipboard with the blank forms. “Lee Donghae, is he…?”

“Oh, sorry, I don’t really know all that personal stuff,” Siwon rubbed the back of his neck and looked around, trying not to make eye contact. “But you have to help him! He’s got a really bad fever and I didn’t know what to do, so I brought him here.”

Leeteuk nodded his head and started to examine the brunet. He took his temperature and listened to his heartbeat and pulse. After a few minutes of routine inspection, Leeteuk put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath in. He looked nervously at Siwon and closed his eyes for a split second.

“I’ve never seen a fever this high before, but usually a fever is the body’s way of dealing with an infection… how long has he had this temperature?”

“Um, I’m not sure, I picked him up from someone else who was… taking care of his before me. It’s been over half an hour since I’ve had him, sorry.”

“No, that’s alright, if you could please contact that person for more information though.”

Siwon nodded and took out his phone to dial Hyukjae’s number. The doctor started to check on Donghae more thoroughly while Siwon was on the phone. He shone a light in the patient’s eyes checking for pupil dilation, then he felt other parts of Donghae’s body to see if his overall body temperature was elevated.

“Hyukjae? I just need to talk to you for a little… no, no, don’t get mad… just, how long did Donghae have a fever? … You don’t know? Then how’d he get there… Cho Kyuhyun? … Well ask him then…. Oh come on, we’re at the hospital, I really need to know… hey, don’t say that! …. No, Hyukjae, wait a minute!” Siwon shook his head and put the phone back in his pocket. “He doesn’t know either, apparently someone else had him before he did and so on.” Siwon sighed.

“It’s okay, I actually think I know what’s wrong.” Leeteuk stood up straight and smiled.

“Really?!”

“Yeah, after looking at his throat and tonsils I saw some pretty bad swelling and redness that is common for a streptococcal infection.” The doctor saw Siwon struggle with what he was saying. “Donghae has a more severe case of strep throat, is what I’m saying.”

“Oh thank God, I thought he was dying!” Siwon clasped his hands together and then went towards the doctor. He embraced Leeteuk in a suffocating embrace that was uncomfortable for everyone but Siwon. “Thank you so much, Teukie.” Siwon placed a kiss on the doctor’s cheek and let him go finally.

“Ah, yes, um, right, doctor. I’ll uh, get him some – some antibiotics, since he can’t swallow, um, injection… ah, yes, coming.” Leeteuk stuttered and walked off to get the things he needed for Donghae.

Siwon went over to Donghae and smiled at the unconscious boy, thankful that he was going to get better soon. At that moment however, a hand abruptly struck Siwon’s cheek, and all of the chaos of the emergency room quieted for a split second to look at the couple standing beside the bed of a sick boy.

“Wha – oh..” Siwon looked at the red faced Sungmin and his face showed complete confusion.

“Bastard, we’ll talk later.” The angry bunny fumed and then his expression softened while he inspected the sick Donghae. “Is he alright? What’s wrong with him? What’d you do this time?”

“Uh, well… Minnie?” Siwon whimpered, holding the red spot on his cheek, but Sungmin only glared at him in return. “Hyukjae called me so I went to pick him up but he was with someone else at first and then Hyuk was going to kill him but I got there and took him but Hae had a really bad fever so I didn’t know what to do so I took him here and nurse Mikyoung brought him here but I didn’t know how to do the forms so I called you here but I didn’t want you to worry so I didn’t know what to do but I called you and there were no doctors so a resident had to come but he didn’t know what to do but then he found that it was streptoloco disease and he’s gone to get some medicine to make Donghae better again.” Siwon finished in one breath and had to take a minute to breathe normally again.

“Streptoloco?”

“Ah, strep throat.”

“Idiot.”

“Sorry…”

Sungmin sighed and grabbed the neglected clipboard and pen. He began to fill out the forms and took over the chair that Siwon had been sitting in previously. A few minutes later and Leeteuk returned with a nurse and some medicine. He didn’t acknowledge that Sungmin was there at first. Instead, he and the nurse got a syringe on liquid ready and injected it into the IV that was going into Donghae. They waited for another minute or two to observe any immediate changes. Although the fever didn’t go down that much, Donghae’s shallow breaths became more even and his face that was contorted from the pain had begun to slowly become more peaceful. The doctor smiled and looked at the two men on the other side of the bed.

“I’ve given him an injection of penicillin and another antibiotic to reduce the fever, but it may not kick in for another ten to fifteen minutes. He can stay here until he wakes up and then I’ll make sure he’s safe to go home.” Leeteuk had regained his professionalism after that awkward moment with Siwon. He nodded and then turned around to go somewhere else.

There was an eerie silence between the couple and the sleeping boy. Siwon was fiddling with his fingers and glancing at Sungmin with anxious eyes every minute. A full ten minutes passed before Sungmin did anything of note. He stood up and felt Donghae’s head, confirming that the fever had gone down a little bit. He then spun his head to glare at Siwon. He grabbed onto the man’s arm and pulled him down to eye level.

“What the was that?” Sungmin snarled.

“W-what do you mean?” Siwon asked innocently.

“You know what the I mean. You and that doctor, you were all over him before I got here!”

“Oh, that…” Siwon looked away.

“Yes, oh that, what was that?”

“Uh, well, I was just really happy that he could help Donghae get better. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he’s my ex…”

“He’s your ex?!” Sungmin shrieked, although trying to keep his voice contained in case he disturbed Donghae.

“Um, no? Well maybe, a long time ago…” Siwon stuttered, he had forgotten that Sungmin didn’t know about Leeteuk.

“How about we take this somewhere else, huh?” Sungmin dragged Siwon by the collar of his shirt and they exited the ER, going into the less crowded hallway. “Now explain yourself, and don’t go crazy like when you were explaining Hae.”

“Okay,” Siwon swallowed nervously and looked anywhere but Sungmin’s eyes. “Me and the doctor, we used to go out for a while, but that was like three years ago! And we completely broke it off. I didn’t even know that he had become a doctor until tonight. I swear this was the first time I’ve seen him and I only kissed him because he helped Donghae out and I was happy.”

“Three years ago… you would have been 15 for god’s sakes! How old is that er? Is he some sort of pedo???” Sungmin’s eyes flared up and he had to be held back by Siwon’s strong muscles.

“No, no, no you have it all wrong babe. I mean, yeah I was 15 and he was like 21, but it was totally consensual. I was confused about my uality and he helped me with it, but it didn’t work out and then I met you and I love you now. So don’t freak out, he’s totally not a e.” Siwon was frantically trying to explain himself, and it seemed that it was beginning to work because Sungmin wasn’t as worked up now.

“Whatever, fine, but I still don’t like it.” Sungmin huffed and crossed his arms. Siwon smiled and leaned down to kiss his forehead and hugged him close.

“Um, sorry to break up the moment, but the patient has regained consciousness.” A female nurse was standing behind them with a sly grin on her face.

“Oh, right. Ahem.” Sungmin pushed Siwon off of him and straightened his shirt out.

The two men made their way back to the ER where Donghae was now sitting upright in the bed with a dazed expression. Donghae noticed the two were coming towards him and he begun to wipe the tears from his eyes. Sungmin noticed this failed attempt to conceal the tears however.

“Were you crying? Does it still hurt somewhere?” Sungmin asked.

“I just had a bad dream.” Donghae looked distant, but he tried to pull off a smile for his friend. “I feel a lot better now, though I’m not sure what happened.”

“We’ll fill you in on the details later, sicko.” Sungmin smiled and pet the boy’s hair.

The doctor came back after hearing that the boy was conscious and after a quick check up, decided that he was okay to go home. His instructions were to stay at home and rest until all symptoms are gone, Donghae was also to take his medicine three times a day until it was gone and after that he should be completely healed.

Donghae and his two friends were glad to hear this and happily left the hospital. Leeteuk accompanied them to the doors of the hospital to say goodbye to Siwon and try to smooth over any misunderstandings between the two.

“So this is your boyfriend now?” He shook hands with Sungmin, whose strength completely crushed Leeteuk’s hand. The doctor tried to laugh it off but was actually in a lot of pain.

“Uncle Kangin?” Donghae said, standing up from the wheelchair he was forced to sit in by Sungmin. There was a bulky man walking towards the four men and upon seeing Donghae his face lit up.

“Oh? Donghae boy, is that you? Are you sick or something?” The man was Donghae’s uncle who he hadn’t seen in a few years since he moved in with Sungmin.

“Yeah, I got strep throat I guess. It’s good to see you.” Donghae gave Kangin a hug and was about to say something else when there was a sudden shout from behind the two.

“Kangin?! What are you doing here?!” Leeteuk had begun shouting and ran over to Kangin’s side.

“Oh, babe, doesn’t your shift end now? I’m here to pick you up.” Kangin looked around and noticed that there were two other people there as well.

“Hey, Sungmin right? How’s it been? What a coincidence this is, meeting you two here. I’ll introduce you,” Kangin smiled, although a bit shyly, and put both his hands on Leeteuk’s shoulders. “This is my boyfriend, Park Jungsu. Yah, say hi to my nephew and his friend.”

“B-b-b-b-boyfriend?!” Donghae, Sungmin, and Siwon all yelled out at the same time, causing the surrounding people to stop and stare for a split second.

“What’s wrong? You got a problem with that?” The tough looking man rolled up his sleeves and started to walk forward only to be stopped by his boyfriend.

“Ah, ah, don’t start a fight Uncle,” Donghae shook his head and sat back down in the wheelchair. He was too tired for this, but he couldn’t help his curiosity from listening in on the conversation. His roommate was dating Siwon who had dated Leeteuk three years ago and the new person that Leeteuk is dating happens to be his uncle. Frankly, it was far too much for Donghae’s tired brain to handle. He just wanted to go back to sleep. And not just because of the bickering couples around him or the fact that he was sick and his throat really hurt. He was more tired and wanted to go home, wanted to go to his room because of that dream he had while he was in the emergency room. It was a bad dream that had filled him with hope and torment. He honestly wanted to forget all about it. He wanted to forget all about this night.

This feels like the longest chapter I've written for this fic. Poor Hae didn't get as much screentime this chapter, oh well, he'll be back at it soon ;^)