50. THE NEW OHS

For a moment my mind went blank, but a pained whimper from Minx quickly brought me back to my senses. Wrapping both my arms around my baby, I let her rest all her weight on me. Puppy rushed to get our car. Sehun held her from the other side and we walked her down the steps of the wedding hall. Hyemi noona and Sunwoo hyung immediately followed us.

I wasn’t sure who was aware of the situation or not. But near the car, I found Leeteuk getting into the back seat with Sehun, seating Minx between them. Both of them got Minx to regulate her breathing. I got in with Puppy who drove our car, with a police clearing the way for us. Siwon must have sent the police to speed up our journey to the hospital.

Sehun kissed Minx’s hair and rubbed her tummy, “Baby why didn’t you tell me you were in pain?”

“I didn’t want to take the attention away from the Kai and Amber. It was their big day,” Minx gasped.

“Jjong step on it. Her contractions are only two minutes apart,” Leeteuk’s voice told us he was near panicking. “She is progressing much faster than usual for first time.”

As Puppy increased the car speed, both Sehun and Leeteuk whipped out their phones and began calling different people. Sehun called Minx’s obstetrician, while Leeteuk called his hospital to be ready for emergency delivery. I wished I could do something to ease my babygirl’s pain. I asked Sehun to rub her lower back between the contractions.

Sehun who was entering his last year of MD-PhD program in KNU medical school and was going to pass out next year as Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, began sweating as he looked at his wife in labor pains. I tried speaking calmly to him to stop him from having a full-blown panic attack.

“Sunshine, is her hospital bag packed?”

“Yes ummappa, we packed it last week only.”

“Is it in your car or at home?”

“It’s in my car. But the car is at the wedding venue.”  Sehun began hyperventilating again.

“Don’t worry Sunshine, you won’t need it immediately,” I smiled at Sehun and reeled off instructions to Doc. “Teukkie confirm with Sunwoo hyung if they are coming to the hospital in Sehun’s car. If not, get someone from the wedding party to drive it there.” When Doc nodded, I turned my attention once more to the would-be-parents. “Okay, do you remember the breathing exercises you learned in pre-natal classes?”

“Yes ummappa,” Minx gasped.

“I forgot ummappa,” Sehun panicked. “Oh Minnie, I have forgotten everything we learned in the pre-natal classes. I am a terrible husband and will make a horrible father. I am so sorry baby.” He buried his face in her hair.

“No you have not Sunshine. Take a deep breath in,” I checked Minx’s breathing and coached Sehun to match it. “Now let it out.”

“Ummappa!” Minx groaned in pain.

Puppy took a moment to look at her and then raised five fingers at me to indicate the time it will take us to reach the hospital. I completely twisted in my seat and reached out my hand to Minx, “Babygirl hold my hand. Squeeze as hard as you want to whenever contractions hit you.” When Minx immediately did as I asked, I began to sweet talk to her, “You are our strong girl. You held it off for so many hours, just a few more minutes. We’ll be there in two minutes. It will be over soon and you will only feel the joy of having your babies in your arms. Just think how you are going to hold all three together.”

“Yes, you will have three little monsters like Byong,” Leeteuk added for effect.

“Gomobu, don’t tease us. Our three will be better behaved than their uncle,” Sehun tried not to look horrified at the thought of bringing up three Byongs.

“Oh no, not like Byong. I want babies like sweet Lay or Suie,” Minx groaned. I couldn’t make out whether it was the thought of little monsters or that Teukkie was teasing her which made her groan. But when she began breaking my hand with the force of her hold on it, I knew it was because another contraction had hit her.

“We are there!” Puppy announced as if he had won F1. Come to think of it, he had been racing against time.

Sehun didn’t even wait for the car to come to a full stop before he opened the door and tried to jump off. Only Teukkie’s hold on his jacket kept him inside the car.

“Sunshine, try not to land yourself in the emergency room. I doubt our babygirl will let you live if you are not by her side when she brings little Ohs in this world,” Puppy chided the impatient youngster.

“Don’t you dare leave my side,” Minx bared her teeth at him, trying to smile but failing to reduce the menace in her voice. She must have reached the limit of her pain-bearing capacity.

Sehun paled and froze. He got a lost puppy look in his eyes and whimpered at his wife, “Baby!”

Minx pushed him out when the car stopped, “Get out and get me to the delivery table. Can’t you see your baby is near to delivering the babies in the car? What kind of doctor are you becoming?” Minx let go of my hand to take hold of Sehun’s. I could see him wince at the force of her grip. Minx found comfort in ranting at her husband, “I am done. I am not carrying any more. How come no one ever told me delivery is so painful? You are carrying the remaining seven. Do you hear me Dr Oh?” At her glare, Sehun looked repentant and quickly nodded his head.

She then looked at Leeteuk and sent him a deathly glare as well, “Gomobu what kind of a researcher are you? How come delivering babies is so painful for women? No wonder Soo unnie stopped at two. You men have it so easy. Just enjoy and then leave it to women to suffer for nine months and go through hell in the name of labor.”

Minx’s tirade continued as she was seated in a wheelchair and moved inside. The hospital staff tried not to laugh at the scolding she was giving the owner of the facility. Soo and Ji had been angelic in comparison to her.

“Oh no gomobu, you are not leaving me to suffer alone,” Minx caught hold of Leeteuk’s jacket as he tried to move ahead of us. “You have to witness how painful it is so you begin working on a solution. Amber will shoot you if she has to bear this pain. Start working tonight only if you don’t want Soo unnie to lose you in her prime.”

When Puppy opened his mouth to remind Minx to respect her elders, Leeteuk grinned at us and shook his head to silence us. He ruffled her hair and smiled at her indulgently, “Well Minx neither of your aunts quite told me the way you have. I will make sure that your next babies are born without troubling you this much. Just bear it this once.”

By that time there was loud chatter behind us letting us know that we’d been joined by our family. Hyemi noona reached for Minx’s hand and gave it a squeeze, asking about her pain in low soothing tones. Sehun wanted to let his mother take his place by Minx’s side but a glare from Minx put an end to his efforts. Puppy patted his back to console him with a whispered, “It will be okay. I know what you are feeling. But, you have to be strong for her sake.”

Taemin snorted when he heard Puppy, “Look who is talking.” At Puppy’s protesting whine, Tae more, “We all remember how you were a blubbering mess.”

“Tae don’t call my Puppy a blubbering mess. He was very strong and a good papa dragon.” I kissed Puppy’s cheek and he gave me his special smile.

My admonishment had almost everyone snickering. Alright, so I covered up the truth a tiny bit. It was only for the sake of our babies who were going to become parents and were already nervous and panicking.

We had reached the labor unit and had to wait outside as only Leeteuk, Minx and Sehun were allowed to go inside. DongHae and Siwon went to find out Minx’s room and to keep her hospital bag there. Soo and Ji went with them to keep the kids out of trouble. Joongie had already tried to sneak into labor unit by walking between Teukkie and Sehun. Kibum dispatched Byong and Duckie also to the room to help, with a warning to curb Jaejoong and Baekhyun or he would blacken Byong’s other eye as well.

Minx’s doctor arrived and was wide-eyed at the lot of us sitting or pacing around the waiting area. She didn’t know that was the main reason why we all delivered in Teukkie’s hospital. No other place would permit all of us in.

I held Puppy’s hand. He made Hyukkie vacate his chair so as to sit himself and pull me into his lap. He put his face in my neck and whispered, “Yeobo, will it be okay? Teukkie hyung said her labor was much faster than normal for first time. Do you think Byong’s prank had caused a problem for our babygirl?”

“There is no set time for labor, jagi. Let’s think only good things. Our baby is strong. Remember how she kept silent through the wedding inspite of the pain she must have experienced.” I breathed deeply to calm myself. I knew that if I showed any outward sign of my inner panic, Puppy would lose all semblance of control.

“But she was in so much pain. She wouldn’t have spoken in that manner with Teukkie hyung otherwise. I don’t want her to be in pain. I saw youtube videos of deliveries. It was horrible yeobo. I don’t want my baby to suffer.” Puppy’s voice hitched as he whispered his concerns to me.

Before I could comfort him further, Teukkie and the doctor came out with concerned faces. Sunwoo hyung and Hyemi noona gathered around them along with us. Her doctor explained that Minx’s body was not prepared to go into labor because of which the first baby was in a feet-down instead of head-down position. Because Minx was carrying triplets, there was no space to correct baby’s position. Since Minx’s water had broken, the babies were also deprived of the much needed amniotic fluid. Giving medication to hold off the labor and wait for a few days was not possible. They were going to deliver by C-section.

Puppy gripped my hand hard at the information. We had read that babies usually assumed head-down position for delivery a few days prior to the mother going into labor. In Minx’s case, I guessed that the shock she received from Byong’s prank started her labor unexpectedly. Puppy tried to hold back his whimper as his brain processed the information. Hyemi noona rubbed his back to comfort him.

I asked the first thing that came to my mind, “Are the babies okay? Are they in any distress?” My words made Puppy lose control and actually whimper, “Yeobo?”

Seeing the distraught look on Puppy’s face, Teukkie put an arm around his shoulders and spoke softly as if to a child, “The babies are just fine Puppy. Don’t worry. They are even kicking each other in a hurry to come out. It’s just that the first one is in the wrong position. Minx is happy that she won’t have to through more contractions. We discussed with Sehun and gave her medication to halt her labor. She is undergoing spinal block already and will get relief from pain within a few minutes.”

Sunwoo hyung and I spoke in unison, “How’s Sehun?”

“He nearly passed out when he heard about the breech position. But a hard whack from Minx made him recover quickly. He is now supervising her prepping,” Teukkie related with a grin.

Hyemi noona nudged her husband, “He is your son alright. You fainted when I was in labor.” Sunwoo hyung flushed deep red.

“How long?” I asked, to cover Sunwoo hyung.

“Give or take, no longer than an hour,” Minx’s doctor replied.

Everyone took their seats wherever they could. Kibum and Tae gathered most of our family to wait in Minx’s room. They knew I had packed coffee and mugs in Minx’s bag which resembled a large suitcase actually. We knew how much coffee and snacks would be consumed within a few days. This left only Sehun’s parents, Puppy and me, Heechul and Siwon in the waiting area. As they left, I reminded Kibum to see that Joongie and Baek did not run around wild in the hospital. Those two, combined with Byong, would be the death of us.

Puppy and I paced, unable to sit still for long. When Heechul couldn’t contain himself, he blurted, “I will tell Duckie to blacken his other eye also. Simba, do we really want to give our daughter to such an irresponsible person?”

Sunwoo hyung defended our prankster son, “He is only 17, Heechul. Give him time. If children his age don’t do mischief then who will? Life would be so boring without the fun that these kids bring into it.”

“What if something goes wro-,” Heechul was interrupted by Hyemi noona.

“Don’t complete it Heechul. Don’t.” Her eyes pleaded with him to let some things remain unsaid.

“Cinder, nothing would go wrong. Babygirl is strong. She is healthy. She was anyway near her term and triplets are usually born early.” I assured everyone, especially Puppy who had gone pale at Heechul’s words.

“But the breech?” Heechul began googling about it on his phone.

“It’s common for most babies. It does not mean something is wrong. Just that normal delivery would be difficult unless the baby can be moved into the right position.” I gave a small smile for everyone’s benefit. “I think we should worry more about how to care for them once Minx gets home.”  

My parents, Hyukkie’s parents, imo and uncle had stayed at the wedding venue to bid farewell to the wedding guests. They joined us half hour later, just as we began throwing around ideas on infant care. Siwon got up to take them to the room which was already overfilled and explain the situation as well.

Hyemi noona was telling us what she’d already said many times before as this was not the first time we were discussing the topic. “We are there to help out Jinki.”

“But, what about Sehun’s studies? He is entering his last year of medical school. Babies cry a lot and need lot of attention.” I stuck to my own opinion.

“Three babies will trigger crying for each other. You will have your hands full noona.” Puppy had researched the most on care for triplets. “Let us take care of one for you.”

“But it will affect Byong’s studies. These are crucial schooling years for him also.” Sunwoo hyung was worried unnecessarily.

Puppy and I snorted together. Sunwoo hyung’s both sons were brilliant academically, while our two were just scraping by. They refused to apply their intelligence for something as trivial as studies, in their words. “Try telling that to Byong, hyung.” Puppy gave a small laugh. I was glad that he was finally diverted from his dark thoughts about Minx’s surgery.

“I don’t know how the two of us managed to produce kids who are diametrically opposed to our achievements,” I shook my head in bewilderment. “May be I didn’t take enough vitamins. But that was when I was carrying Minx. For Byong, I think I overdosed on vitamins.”

Siwon laughed and wiggled his brows suggestively, “It depends on what type of vitamins you are talking about Jinki.”

Puppy and I blushed red. While the other three laughed loudly. Hyemi noona had grown used to the suggestive banter of our group.

Heechul looked at Siwon and winked, “Maybe they want to take care of one because they are bored. After all, Jinx completed half a century last year. They must have nothing else to do at night.”

I made a face at him, “Think what you want Cinder. I am not telling you anything. Use your own brains.”

“Oh lord, Jinki hyung is giving more lessons? And I missed them?” Kibum’s loud moan from behind me had me turning around and scowl at him.

“Is everything alright in the room, Key hyung?” Puppy rubbed my back and smiled at Kibum.

“Yeah, I came to get an update. But I find you people discussing more lessons. I also want to know.” Kibum settled next to Heechul and both grinned like idiots at each other.

“Don’t degress. There are no lessons. Teukkie will throw us out of the hospital and no other hospital will permit all of us inside at the same time. Oh my god, please you two behave yourself. You are grandfathers now.” I wanted to bang my head on the nearest wall.

“Key hyung, there is no update. We are talking about caring for one baby at our home.” Puppy explained and put an end to their suggestive thinking.

“If they are like Minx, then they will stay awake the night. Congratulations noona! Welcome to sleepless nights and premature wrinkles.” Kibum giggled at his own wit.

Before Hyemi noona could retort back, the door to surgical unit opened and Sehun stepped out in a surgical suit, with a jubilant smile on his face.

He loudly screamed to the room, “I am father of a daughter and two sons.”

And fainted.