Waking and Sleeping

            “Uncle Kyu!” Daehyun whined.  “Dongmin hit me!”

            Usually the boys hit each other all the time and didn’t complain much about it, but when I looked over, I noticed that Dongmin was holding a baseball bat.  He’d hit his brother with a bat!  I got up from where I was sitting on the porch, reading a pregnancy book Victoria had found for me, and walked over to where they were playing and held out my hand for the toy.

            Dongmin frowned and handed the bat to me.

            “You can’t hit your brother with metal objects,” I told him.

            “Too specific,” Kangin warned me, from where he was sitting at the picnic table, playing chess with Amber.

            “You can’t hit your brother with anything,” I amended.

            Dongmin stomped his foot and stormed away.  I had clearly just ruined all his planned fun for the afternoon.  All this aggressive playing was probably them acting out because their parents were gone, but I wouldn’t be able to get them real help for that until I could move us all back to my pack.  There were no therapists in the group of doctors that had come with.  Sadly, there were almost no victims for the doctors to treat as well.

            It had been two days since we’d arrived and Ryeowook hadn’t woken up yet.  Changmin insisted we stay where we were until he woke up and stabilized.  He and Victoria both thought it probable that he would.  The third pup’s heartrate had returned to a normal level, so it meant his body was recovering.  They were administering him fluids through an IV and his coloring looked better.  But I still felt the emptiness inside me, which was what bothered me the most.  I wouldn’t feel better until I could feel something from him.

            We’d all moved into a two-level residence in the town.  Since no owners came back to claim it and kicked us out, I assumed they were dead.  I meant to just stay there with Ryeowook, Amber, and her brothers.  Amber refused to leave my side since I found her.  I had a hell of a time talking her into letting me use the bathroom alone.  So, Siwon agreed to me taking her and her siblings while he took his younger nephews and niece, the two-year-old triplets.  Hopefully Ryeowook wouldn’t get upset about this arrangement later, because I’m pretty sure I’d just agreed to adopt them. 

            Of course, Victoria wanted to know if I’d like her to stay with us to care for Ryeowook as well.  How could I refuse?  I was going to have my hands full with the children.  But she wasn’t just useful with taking care of Ryeowook, she also helped keep house and cooked for us.  Thank God, because the kids would have starved without her!  And of course, since she moved into the house, Changmin insisted on coming as well, since he was my best friend and Victoria would need to rest sometimes.  She couldn’t take care of Ryeowook all day long!  It was clearly a ploy to be around Victoria more, but I could still use the help.  But then Kangin insisted on staying as well and I think this was also because Victoria was there, but instead of being because he fell in love with her like Changmin had, it was because she cooked so well.  Of course, Amber was warming up to him, so he was handy to have around when I wanted to visit with Ryeowook alone or shower.

            Siwon and my cousin had grounded me from doing anything useful, since Ryeowook and the pup’s survival seemed to hinge on me sticking close to the house.  Besides, the children seemed to be coping a little better with the stability of having the same people around them. 

            “Are you okay?” I asked Daehyun, reaching down to look at his red arm.

            I was unceremoniously pushed out of the way by the doctor, who’d been bored with just one patient to look after.  He had to fight over caring for Ryeowook with Victoria and he was losing, since she was clearly the expert on pregnant omegas.  “We should get some ice on this,” Changmin insisted, crouching down to look over the injury.  “That way it won’t bruise as much.”

            Daehyun willingly followed Changmin, especially when he reminded the boy that we kept the ice compresses next to the popsicles.  Dongmin looked over at them as they headed into the house, lip quivering.  “You can have one as well, if you apologize to your brother and promise not to be mean anymore,” I said.

            Dongmin quickly followed after them, loudly screaming that he was sorry to his brother.  Of course, his promise not to be mean would easily be forgotten in an hour or two.  They were just as rowdy as Ryeowook had warned me they were.  Of course, now that I think back to it, I might have hit Yesung with a bat or some other kind of blunt object in my youth.  A few times.  He probably deserved it though.  He likes to tease me.  And this isn’t exactly behavior we’d grown out of.

            I walked over to where Amber and Kangin were playing chess.  “Who’s winning?”

            Kangin glared up at me and moved a piece while Amber beamed, “I am!”  She had six of his pieces next to her, including a bishop, while he had a couple pawns of hers.  I was a little surprised by that, since Kangin was a good soldier and I thought he would be better at strategizing in a game, but apparently Amber was a very bright girl.  But more importantly, it was the first time I’d seen her smile in the two days I’d had her with me.  Even if the game was just a momentary distraction from the pain she was going through, it gave me hope that she would eventually move on and be that happy girl I remembered.

            As I was watching them, I suddenly started to feel disoriented and confused.  The feelings were overwhelming.  I couldn’t figure out what was happening at first.  I was just perplexed by the emotions.  But then I suddenly started to feel panicked.  It didn’t make any sense.  I had nothing to feel panicked about.  We were safe in the town, there were friendly soldiers all over the place protecting us, and my cousin’s men were still guarding the borders.  I shouldn’t possibly feel scared about anything aside from something happening to Ryeowook or the pups.  That’s when the truth dawned on me.  I understood what was going on.  The emptiness I’d been feeling for the last two days was gone.

            “Oh my God!” I shouted.  “Ryeowook’s awake!”

            I heard my name being called from the upstairs window by Victoria.  She sounded frantic and I flew into the house.  I ran up the stairs and tripped halfway up, cursing myself for not being more careful, and then continued upstairs and down the hall to the room Ryeowook was in. 

            Ryeowook was sitting up in bed, in tears, clearly upset, nearly hyperventilating.  But the moment he saw me burst into the room, I felt him calm down considerably.  The confusion returned, but he was not as anxious.

            “What’s wrong?” I asked Victoria, heading for the bed.

            She shook her head.  “He woke up and when he felt the bite mark, he flipped out.”