SUMMARY:

Taehyung's sick
Jin's a mess
Namjoon's the rock
Hoseok's in crisis
Yoongi's a capeless superhero
Jimin and Jungkook are adorable

12 AM

“Appa, Appa, Appa!” Taehyung’s cries startle Jin from his slumber.”

Rolling over, Jin struggles with the sheets briefly before arising as the victor of their man versus covers battle.

“Appa,” Taehyung calls out once again. The child’s voice is hoarse, and Jin quickens his steps at hearing the distress in his son’s voice.

“Appa’s here, Tae,” Jin says, switching the light on in the child’s room.

Taehyung’s sitting up in the bed, hugging his Tata plushie to his chest, tears streaming down his doll-like face. Jin’s heart clenches at the sight. As a pediatric doctor, he deals with sick children on a daily basis. Jin understands that he has to keep a cool head, that he can’t be affected by sick children. He’s good at his job. However, all his training flies out the window when the sick child is his own.

Taehyung crawls into his arms, burying his head in Jin’s chest the instant he sits on the child’s bed.

“Where’s it hurt buddy?” he asks as he lays the back of his hand against Taehyung’s forehead. “, you’re burning up?”

“My inside mouth hurts,” Taehyung chokes out in between tears.                                                                             

The fact that Taehyung did not correct his cursing is a sign that the child is in considerable pain.

“Your inside mouth?” Jin questions.

Taehyung points to his throat, and Jin holds the boy’s head up to look inside his son’s mouth. The dim light makes it hard to see, and Taehyung’s agitated squirming in Jin’s lap doesn’t help in his assessment of his son’s condition. Placing a firm arm around Taehyung’s waist, Jin stands to his feet, lifting the child with ease as he gets up. Carrying Taehyung to the bathroom, Jin opens the medicine cabinet, looking for medicine. Finding the children’s Motrin, he takes the medication and Taehyung into the kitchen.

Taehyung refuses to sit in the chair and clings to Jin’s shirt, crying louder with each attempt to place him in the seat. Struggling to calm his crying child and open the Mortin bottle at the same time, Jin relents and sets the bottle on the counter next the sink to give his full attention to a very distraught and now even warmer Taehyung.

“Ouch, Appa,” Taehyung’s hoarse voice is muffled against Jin’s pajama top.

“I know, baby, but Appa needs to open the medicine bottle so he can give it to Taetae so he can feel better. You want to feel better, right?” Taehyung nods against his chest. “Okay, so Appa’s gonna sit you right here on the counter. You can still hold on, but Appa needs to open the medicine, okay?” Taehyung nods again in between sniffles.

It’s a small victory, but Jin will take it. Taehyung’s head is resting against his chest, Jin’s top is slightly wet with the child’s tears, and the little boy has a death grip on the cotton shirt as though he’s afraid if he lets go Jin will disappear.

Finally, after what feels like years, Jin gets the medication open and measures out the proper dose before putting the lid back on the bottle.

“Okay, bud,” he says to a still sniffling Taehyung. “This should help you feel better, okay?”

Taehyung doesn’t answer. Instead, he looks up at Jin with large, sad eyes, his quivering lips set in a pout. It hurts Jin to see his usually bright and imaginative little boy subdued by pain. He feels helpless, knowing that anything he does will take time to work and wishing he had the power to make all of Taehyung’s discomfort and misery disappear instantly. Taehyung, who normally begs for medication believing it’s candy, fights to swallow the liquid, coughing and choking as he takes in the medicine.

After what feels like years, Taehyung is finally calm enough to fall back to sleep. However, he refuses to sleep in his bed or let go of Jin’s shirt. Jin sighs quietly, part in frustration and part in relief, as he sits on the couch with a now sleeping Taehyung in his lap. He’s pretty sure he knows what’s wrong with Taehyung, but he needs the light of day and a proper check-up to verify his concerns. Jin falls into a fitful sleep, resting his head against the back of the couch and wrapping his arms securely around Taehyung’s back.

4 AM

“Hey, hyung, what’s up?” Hoseok’s groggy voice questions on the other line.

“Seok, I’m so sorry for the disruption so early, but Taehyung won’t let me go and I can’t drive with a crying five-year-old in my arm. You think you could come take us to the children's ER?”

“Yeah, yeah, . I can hear him. What’s wrong?” Hoseok sounds wide awake now.

“He’s been crying for a good twenty minutes now. He woke up earlier complaining of throat pain and had a fever. I gave him children’s Motrin, and he fell back to sleep.  Then about thirty minutes ago he woke up screaming, and I haven’t been able to calm him down. The fever is worse, and he can’t swallow. He won’t let me put him down, and, and I--please come,” Jin begs. He’s at his wits’ end.

“I’m on my way. Let me just see if Mrs. Lee can keep on eye on Jimin.”

“Okay, okay. Thanks, Seok.”

“No problem, hyung.”

Jin disconnects the call and turns his attention to Taehyung. The child’s cries have simmered to a stream of sniffles and body shakes. He wipes a strand of sweat-drenched hair from Taehyung’s forehead then pats the child’s back to calm the five-year-old down more.

“Appa’s here, Taetae. I’m sorry it hurts buddy. We’re gonna go to the hospital soon, okay? Uncle Seok’s coming, okay?”

“Want Appa Joon,” Taehyung’s voice is hoarse, “and Kookie.” Taehyung starts to cry again, and Jin thinks his heart may break.

“Honey, Appa already called Uncle Seok. We can call Appa Joon when we’re at the hospital, okay?”

This, apparently, is the wrong answer. Taehyung wails louder, causing a break in his breathing pattern and a spike in Jin’s blood pressure. The five-year-old begins to choke, and Jin holds the child’s head down to open the airways in hopes that the spell will pass quickly. Despite the lack of air, Taehyung persists in his need for Namjoon’s presence.

“Okay, bud, I’ll call Appa Joon, okay? But you have to calm down so Appa can hear on the phone, okay?”

It works. Taehyung quiets down or is as quiet as he can be in pain.

“Hello, Namjoon.”

“Hyung, is everything okay?” Namjoon’s voice is deep and thick with the dregs of sleep, and Jin tries not to think about how lovely it sounds.

“I’m so sorry to call this early, but Taehyung’s sick and I need-“

“What?” Namjoon cuts him off.  “What’s wrong with him? Do you need me to come? I can be there in a few minutes. I just need to grab Jungkook.”

Jin’s not sure how to respond. This was not the way he expected the conversation to go, not with Namjoon’s illness and anxiety. Of course, he wants the man to come; he can’t think of anyone he’d rather have by his side more, but he’s worried that this rash answer will affect Namjoon later on.

“Are you sure? I mean, you’d have to drive. Wait, maybe you don’t. Seok’s coming to take us to the ER we can come to you. But either way, are you sure? It’s a public place. I wouldn’t ask, but Taehyung insists on you being there, and I’m not sure he’ll go to the hospital if you don’t come. However, if you can’t-”

“Hyung, I offered before you asked. I want to be there. Taehyung’s sick. If I stay here, I’ll be more worried and more anxious. Being there will be better for both Taehyung and me,” Namjoon assures him.

“Okay, okay.” Relief floods Jin. Knowing Namjoon will be there by his side makes the situation less harrowing. “I’ll text when Hoseok and I are on our way. Thank you, Namjoon. This means a lot to both me and Taehyung.”

“You don’t have to thank me, hyung. You and Taehyung mean a lot to me. I want to be there. Give Tae a kiss and tell him I’ll be there, okay?”

“Mmm,” Jin hums his reply, too choked up by Namjoon’s words to speak.

Fifteen minutes later, Hoseok arrives with a half-asleep Jimin. His neighbor was away.  

This is how three single fathers and three children, two sleeping and one whimpering end up in the children’s emergency room at five in the morning, delighting the female nurses and causing Jin’s partner, Kim Jongin, to lose precious hours of sleep.

“You guys look like the Korean version of Full House,” Jongin tells Jin with a grin.

They’re sitting in the doctor’s lounge, Jin on a beige couch and Jongin across from him in the matching loveseat. The fluorescent lights above are bouncing off Jongin’s labcoat, illuminating its whiteness to near sun-like brightness. Jin’s not sure why he finds the sight mesmerizing.

“Haha, very funny,” he retorts. “What’s wrong with Tae?” He already knows the answer.

“Hyung, this is premed 101. I know you know what’s wrong with Tae,” Jongin volleys back.

“Tonsillitis.”

“Bingo,” Jongin confirms, tapping his index finger on his nose.

“. Does he need surgery?”

“I’m afraid so, hyung. It’s pretty bad. We could wait it out, but he’d need it eventually. Why put him through this again?” Jongin questions.

Jin knows the doctor is right. As a doctor, it would be the decision he would make, but as a father, the thought of his precious baby going through the horror of surgery is more than his mind is willing to process, and he blanks as he searches for an answer to Jongin’s question.

“Hey, you okay?” Jongin voice softens.

He nods, still unable to find his voice.

“We don’t need to decide right now, hyung. There are three pretty tired kids out there. Let’s get Tae situated, get some IV’s in him and something for the pain, and find a space for you and your friends. We can come to a decision later. Okay?”

He’s thankful for Jongin, grateful that his position as a doctor, has allowed him certain privileges, such as time to make a decision, even though he knows what the decision needs to be. As Jin walks the halls back to Taehyung’s room, he’s overwhelmed and worried about the trauma he needs to put his little boy through. Jongin is right. The best route is surgery; putting it off would just mean more pain later on.

A sigh escapes his lips as he rounds the corner. A familiar looking figure is standing outside of Taehyung’s room, and Jin blinks a couple times trying to figure out exactly who it is.

“Yoongi-sshi?” Jin calls out as he gets closer and recognizes the petite man.

“Ahh, Seokjin-sshi, uhm, Namjoon called me, but, uhm, I didn’t want to just barge in. So I, uhm,” Yoongi starts, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other.

“Yoongi, you’re Namjoon’s closest most beloved friend. You are never barging in. Plus you’ve yelled at me already, so you know, I may be a bit scared of you,” Jin jokes. Yoongi chuckles at the statement, lightening the mood.

“Yes, I’m very, very intimidating. You and your broad shoulders and model good looks have nothing on me.”

“I am incredibly handsome, aren’t I? I keep pointing this out to Hoseok, but he seems not to notice,” Jin deadpans, but loses it when Yoongi stares at him in utter shock. “Sorry, I swear I’m not an egomaniac, just super sarcastic. Sometimes my sense of humor can be a bit much.”

“No, no, I was just thinking maybe Hoseok is right.”

Jin laughs harder than he should at Yoongi’s quick comeback. It feels good, the laughter. He feels lighter, perhaps the lightest he’s felt since waking up to his child screaming in the middle of the night.

“Thanks, I needed that,” he tells Yoongi.

“How is he?”

“He needs surgery, and as a doctor I know it’s the right choice. But as his father, it’s a hard decision to make. I want to protect him from all the hard things, you know?”

“Yeah, I watch Namjoon struggle with that balance all the time. As someone looking at you guys from