Update 1/4 for today!

This one came to me while thinking back over my own childhood.

So I originally had two ideas for this prompt.  The discarded one was going to be something playing on the idea that being gay isn’t contagious.  But I wasn’t really in the mood to write a big fight or confrontation, so instead you get this, which I liked just as much.

Enjoy!

#39 – Contagious

“Papa…” Jinae whined, “I’m itchy…”

Taemin smiled ruefully and he continued dabbing the calamine lotion on his daughter’s skin, turning the reddened flesh white with a quick swipe.  “I know sweetheart, but remember, you can’t scratch.”

The little girl pouted and thumped her hands back against her bed. 

Taemin finished and capped the bottle, throwing away the cotton ball he had used to apply the treatment.  He gently ruffled his daughter’s hair, “How about I go and get you a bowl of ice cream.” 

“Okay…” Jinae’s voice was low and soft, filled with the exhaustion of being ill.  Not at all like her usual bubbly self.

On the way to the kitchen, Taemin peered into Munhee’s room to check on the little boy as well.  White patched stuck out on his sleeping face, which wasn’t as peaceful as it usually looked, but he seemed to be doing alright at the moment. 

Taemin fished the carton of chocolate marshmallow ice cream out from the back of the freezer and quickly made up a small bowl and bringing it to his little girl.

“Thanks Papa…” Jinae sighed as she slowly started in on the bowl.

“Love you baby.” He said softly before heading to his own room.

There on their bed was Kibum, lying on his stomach with his head facing the other direction.  Kibum always slept with a shirt on, but right now that wasn’t really an option.

A couple of days ago Munhee had returned from day care, on one of the days that Taemin just had to go into the office, not feeling particularly well.  By nightfall little red dots had appeared on his face and his shoulders.  The little boy had chicken pox, something that was making the rounds at the daycare center it appeared. 

Within two days, Jinae too had little splotches covering her midsection, front and back. 

But Kibum had had chicken pox as a child and while Taemin had never had the disease, he had received the vaccine as a part of a requirement before he could travel overseas as a part of SHINee, so they had thought that they would be fine to take care of their children during this time.

Until, just one day after Jinae fell ill, Kibum had started feeling run down and sore.  Thinking it was just from a lack of sleep from caring for his children he had ignored it, until the soreness had turned to oversensitivity where every shift of his shirt against his back sent shocks down his limbs, curling his toes and fingers.  Taking off his shirt to prepare for bed, Taemin had almost shouted in concern.  Kibum was usually pale, but his entire back was bright pink and the first blisters seemed to be forming. 

Knowing something was drastically wrong, Taemin had placed a late-night call to Minho, who lived the closest of their friends and begged him to come over and watch the kids while he took Kibum to the hospital.

Taemin’s mind had somehow run to something horrific, not connecting it with the illness that his two children were currently enduring – after all, Kibum was supposed to be immune. 

But that’s what it was.

Unfortunately, instead of just being immune to the illness, Kibum’s body had mutated it.  The antibodies had overdone their job and instead of fighting off the illness, they turned it into something else, something that was actually much worse. 

Kibum had shingles. 

Traveling along the nerves, an angry red rash spotted with multiple raised blisters covered the majority of the man’s back and down to the elbow of his left arm.  Unlike the children whose spots itched and were feeling a general sense of sickness and exhaustion, Kibum’s illness caused him a lot of pain.  He was taking a cocktail of medications from his doctor trying to help his body fight off the virus while he also was taking some intense pain medications meant to help him just make it through the days.

Taemin came around the other side of the bed so that his husband would be able to see him.  Kibum’s lips, locked in a permanent pout, somehow stuck out even more.  The man was miserable.

“How you feeling?” Taemin asked gently, laying down on his side and reaching out his hand to grab Kibum’s on top of the mattress. 

Kibum quirked an eyebrow and glared incredulously at Taemin.  “Like I’ve been run over by a truck…several times…” he winced as he shifted slightly. 

Taemin sighed and rubbed his thumb over Kibum’s knuckles.

“Munhee’s looks like it’s going away.”

The designer smiled a little, “That’s good, it’s been so hard for him not to scratch…”

“Yeah, and Jinae’s should start clearing up soon then too.”

Kibum laughed a little, “Never mind the chicken pox, she’s just bored and sick of being stuck in the house all day and missing out on being with her friends.”

Taemin retrieved the calamine bottle (one of several that was floating around their house right now) and said, “I’m going to do your back again.”

Kibum grunted and Taemin saw the man’s muscle’s tense.

“It’ll be alright baby…” Taemin mumbled as he started at Kibum’s waistline and started to make his way up.

Kibum huffed.  “I’m no better than Jinae…the worst part is how boring this is.”

“You can sit up you know, even move around the apartment a bit…” Taemin said simply, discarding one saturated cotton ball and grabbing a new one to continue his ministrations.

“But it hurts…” Kibum whined before shutting himself up.  He laughed wryly, “I sound like our kids.  How are you putting up with me right now?” he muttered half to himself.

Taemin just smiled and leaned forward and laid a quick kiss to the back of Kibum’s head.  “In sickness and in health right?” A light smile played on his lips.

“We didn’t say those particular vows.” Kibum pointed out.

“Irrelevant.” Taemin said without pause, “Besides, you put up with me for a year of recovery, if I can’t handle a couple of weeks that’s pathetic.” 

“But you’re taking care of three people…”

Taemin just shook his head and recapped the lotion.  “So when you are all better I’ll sleep for a week, but until then I can handle you all.” 

“You’re an angel you know that?”  Kibum mumbled, turning his head and slowly raising his arms to lift himself up off of the bed and into a sitting position.  “I’m going to make something to eat, for you too, and take my medicine.”

“Good,” Taemin said, laying a quick kiss to Kibum’s lips. 

He watched Kibum slowly shuffle out of the room, wearing his pajama pants and nothing else, being careful to try not to aggravate the sores on his back. 

Taemin sighed, deciding that he wanted to change the sheets before Kibum returned, and set about doing just that.  Peeling the covers from the bed he made quick work of stripping the sheets and thinking idly over what they had been speaking about. 

There was a small part in the corner of his mind that thought that this was payback for putting Kibum through everything all those years ago.  He knew it wasn’t true, but it’s not like he could stop thoughts from springing to mind.    

But he did see this is a repayment of the care he had received, Kibum needed Taemin to be strong for him now, and that was something that the writer would gladly do, whenever he could, he thought as he tucked in a new set of sheets around the edges of their mattress.

Things went on that way for a while.  Three days later Munhee was back to his normal self, and Jinae was on the mend and would be better within the week.  Poor Kibum had another two weeks of torment, but the pain did lesson and eventually the marks began to recede, and his pale skin tone began to return.

However, unlike the children, Kibum would bare the marks of this illness.  Small clusters of shiny scar tissue covered his back wherever the blisters had been present. 

He was proud of how Taemin had handled everything.  Kibum would have been lost with worry if Taemin had been the one to have shingles befall him, Jinki would have been frantic if his wife and daughters were all sick, Jonghyun would have been calling Kibum every few minutes if it had been his wife (though how they would have been exposed to chicken pox was beyond Kibum), and Minho would have quietly stewed, while researching everything on the internet during every spare second.  Taemin had kept a cool head and kept them all comfortable, kept the medications on schedule and kept their spirits up as much as he could. 

And, Kibum thought, reflecting a mirror above his shoulder that showed the image of his back that was reflected in the mounted mirror behind him, he didn’t even mind the scars.  A marker of a memory of Taemin’s care for him. 

And one more thing that they would share with each other.    

I have had shingles before.  I actually had them as a child, when I was five actually, and I was out of school for almost a month and it was excruciatingly painful.  I still have scars from it, and I will have them for the rest of my life.  You don’t remember a lot of things from when you’re five, but those weeks are crystal clear in my memory, because you cannot forget that kind of pain.