“What’s going on?” Junmyeon asks him. He turns on the light on his night stand and turns to look at him.

“It’s the hospital,” Yifan answers. “I have to go in.”

“It’s 3 in the morning.”

Yifan sighs as he sits up, letting his legs fall on the side of the bed. “I know. Go back to sleep,” he tells Junmyeon as he leans in a kisses his forehead. “I’ll be back before dinner.”

He showers quickly and drives to the hospital where Minseok is waiting for him, probably tired after being on his feet for hours at a time. “Good morning,” he greets.”

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“Pile up on the freeway. Nasty stuff. Lots of patients,” he informs as they walk through the E.R.

“Ok,” he sighs. “Let’s do this.”

After more than five hours of running from room to room, checking more x-rays than he can count and stitching dozens of people up, he finally let’s his body drop into a bed in the on-call room.

“This ,” he hears Jongdae claim from the top bunk. “I’ve been on-call for almost 40 hours.”

“Oh, to be a resident,” Minseok says from the bed on the other side of the room. “Remember when we used spend our nights in the hospital only to see more action?”

“How were we so stupid?” Yifan laughs, more out of tiredness than anything. He had just come home from a 24hr shift only three hours before being paged again. He should be asleep in his bed.

“Now all I want is to go home, cuddle my kids and kiss my husband.”

“You are so cheesy, I’m gonna throw up,” Jongdae says as he pretends to vomit.

Yifan chuckles as he looks at Minseok trying to keep his eyes open. “He gets sentimental when he’s tired,” Yifan tells the younger. “These are the only times you’ll ever hear how much he loves you.”

Minseok snorts. “I’m not that tired.”

After the chaos in the ER, the day seems to dwindle down to a couple of flus and a few broken bones.

Yifan has to convince Jongdae to go home at one point, seeing as the resident literally fell asleep on his feet while Yifan was checking a teenager with a bruised wrist.

“Sleep. Eat. Call Baekhyun,” he orders Jongdae as he drags him to the entrance of the building and hails a taxi. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jongdae waves goodbye halfheartedly, mouthing a goodbye before the car starts moving.

He goes back to Minseok; hopefully he’ll entertain him so as to not fall asleep. He seriously needs to make it until at least after lunch because Junmyeon is supposed to bring the boys over to get ice cream across the street.

“Sent the kid home?” Minseok asks from his locker in the doctor’s lounge.

“Yeah, he was dead on his feet.” Yifan laughs, sitting on the couch and grabbing the cup of coffee Minseok offers. He can always count on Minseok to keep him awake.

Yifan is about to speak when the sound of a pager interrupts them and Minseok gives him an apologetic look as he leaves the room. “Hold that thought, I’ll be back a.s.a.p.”

Yifan sighs, taking the mug to his lips and tasting the bitter liquid on his tongue. He downs the coffee fast when his pager goes off in his pocket. It’s Minseok that wants him, probably a big income of patients since he knows his friend wouldn’t bother him if it weren’t absolutely necessary. “Crap.”

Going down to the ER, he runs into a nurse who gives him a strange look. He ignores her, choosing to look for Minseok instead. There’s a relative calm in the Emergency room, not at all like they are preparing for anything out of the ordinary, like a big pile up or a building fire or something that would absolutely require his presence in the floor.

“Minseok!” He calls when he sees the doctor waiting outside the trauma room, pacing up and down the hall.

“Yifan, hey,” he says when he spot the taller man. He stops Yifan from entering the room by grabbing his arms and placing him in a spot where the view to the trauma room is blocked. “Hey, remember when Sehunnie got that really bad pneumonia and ended up here in the ER?”

Yifan remembers that day like it was yesterday. It was one of the scariest days of his life, seeing Sehunnie, only 5 years old, lying on a bed and strapped to machines that were helping him get better, Minseok freaking out when he barged into the room and Yifan nearly shoving him back out to get him to calm down. “You’ll scare him,” Yifan had said. “If you’re scared, he’ll get scared and it’ll only make things worse. His asthma is already making everything else complicated; don’t add to the panic, Minseok. He’ll be ok. I’ll make sure he’s ok.” Minseok had gone back inside, then, Yifan right behind him, and he’d whispered only calming words into Sehun’s ear.

Everything went ok afterwards. Sehun had spent a few days in the hospital and was released after Yifan gave his seal of approval.

“…Yeah? What’s going on?” He asks his friend, his pulse quickening by the second.

“Remember how you took me aside and told me he was going to be ok and that I only needed to be calm? Well… now it’s your turn.”

“Minseok, what–“

“Jonginnie had a bad allergic reaction at school today.”

“What?” He moves to watch through the window but he’s blocked by a couple of nurses inside.

“He’s fine, but he’s scared and he needs you.”

He feels like his heart will beat straight out of his chest and his hands start shaking. However, Minseok holds his shoulders tight, silently reassuring what he had said.

“Breathe in, breathe out, and go inside. Be his dad, not his doctor.”

He starts walking fast, tripping over his own feet and nearly falling if it wasn’t for Minseok’s hand on his waist. “In one piece, please.”

Yifan enters the room and instant flashbacks of Sehun come to his mind. Jongin looks awfully small on the gurney, wires tangling around his little limbs. He has his eyes closed and the entire picture makes Yifan tear up.

He wills himself not to cry as he sits on the stool Minseok offers him, running his fingers through his baby boy’s head and calling his name softly. “Jonginnie? Baby?”

Beautiful brown eyes look up at him, stray tears falling as he blinks. “Daddy?” The boy whispers.

“I’m here, baby. I’m here,” He breathes out, tension leaving his body in short waves. He’s fine. His baby is ok.

“He’s stable, the worst is over.” Minseok fixes the blanket on top of Jongin’s body, making sure to cover his feet.

“What happened?”

“According to the kid that came in with him, one of his new classmates had homemade chocolate chip cookies and they had nuts in them. The teacher didn’t realize the boy had brought them to class.”

“What kid came with him?”

“He’s right outside.” Minseok points at the doors of the trauma room, a lanky kid sitting on the floor, his head in his hands. “He’s the guitar kid, isn’t he? Baekhyun’s friend?”

“He is. Can you tell him to come inside?”

His friend nods as he steps outside and calls for the youngster. Chanyeol, he remembers his name being. He’s Yixing’s guitar teacher.

“Hey, Mr. Wu, how is he?” Chanyeol asks as he takes off his snapback and fixes his hair.

“He’s ok, he’ll be fine. Minseok told me you came in with Jongin?”

“Yeah. I spotted him on the playground. I have a sister with a bad strawberry allergy so I just kinda knew.”

“He injected Jongin with the EpiPen. Twice,” Minseok informs him. “The paramedic told me he was right on time.”

“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Chanyeol says with a small smile. He approaches Yifan slowly, as if Yifan was a wild beast, ready to attack at any second, but considering the way they met, Yifan thinks the boy’s only being cautious. “Hey, bud.”

Jongin whispers a greeting, barely audible for anyone but his Dad and Chanyeol. He opens his eyes for just a short time before closing them back up.

“The school called Junmyeon so I’m gonna go wait for him at the entrance,” Minseok tells him as he steps out of the trauma room.

Yifan nods before looking at Chanyeol and seeing his worried face. “He’s really allergic to all kinds of nuts and peanuts,” Yifan explains. “Even being near them sets him off.”

“Are you sure he’s going to be ok? I thought my heart would pop right out of my chest while in the ambulance. He stopped breathing for a minute there.”

“He’ll be monitored for today, but the epinephrine did its job.”

Chanyeol nods as he lets out a breath. “I’m glad.”

The conversation dies when Yifan sees Junmyeon entering the room, Baekhyun in tow. The latter stays with Minseok, his friend probably explaining what had happened.

“Baby,” Junmyeon whispers as he walks up to Yifan, leans down to Jongin’s height and smothers the boy with kisses. “Are you ok? Is he ok?” He directs his look at the doctor, watery eyes threating with tears.

“He’s ok.” Yifan’s voice shakes as he speaks, the comfort of having his husband next to him bringing every emotion to surface. “He’s ok,” he repeats.

Junmyeon hugs him as a sob rattles his body. “I was so scared. The school called me telling me Jongin was on an ambulance heading to the hospital. I had to ask Baekhyun to drive my hands were shaking so much.”

Yifan caresses Junmyeon’s back as they both watch their baby boy sleep. Times like these making him realize how lucky they are to have had someone smart enough to help Jongin quickly. Yifan had made sure the school and the parents of Jongin’s class knew about his allergy, about the severity of it and about how to react if anything likes this were to happen. He’ll have a few words with the principal whenever he has some free time. He doesn’t want this happening again, ever.

“Does Yixing know?” Yifan asks his husband.

“I’m sure someone at school must have told him, I don’t know if he’s been updated, though. We should do something–“

“I-I can pick him up, bring him here,” Chanyeol offers, hesitation in his voice apparent. “I mean only if it’s ok with you guys.”

“I’ll go with him,” Baekhyun adds. “I’ll take your car.”

“Thanks so much,” Junmyeon says. “Chanyeol, we don’t even know how to begin to thank you.”

“I was only doing what I was supposed to,” the boy says. “I’m just glad everything turned out ok.” His wide smile looks a lot better on his face than that frown he had been carrying earlier, Yifan thinks.

They are only left alone for a little while before Minseok comes in and tells them they have a Peds bed ready for Jongin. “The room with the bunnies,” he tells them.

“Isn’t that room always taken?”

“I got my ways.”

Minseok is not even a pediatrician but he pulls strings here and there to make sure Jongin is comfortable and well looked after.

Yixing arrives some time later, carrying Jongin’s bunny and a pretty ‘get well soon’ balloon. “Hey, Jonginnie, look who came to visit,” he says as he sits by his brother’s side and the small boy curls next to him.

The hospital stay ends by the next day and Yifan uses the time to ask for a few days off to take care of his son and spend time with his family.

They arrive home to a welcoming party, decorations by Luhan, Sehun and Zitao. The two boys run around the house like they own it while the grown-ups have coffee in the living room. Jongin, however, sleeps soundly in his Daddy’s arms, but that’s not an unusual occurrence since that’s his favorite spot to nap.

That night, they all snuggle together in the big bed and watch Jongin’s favorite movie while having healthy snacks.

Yifan knows that he can’t stop some things from happening, he can’t stop Yixing from eating what makes him sick, he can’t stop Jongin from having allergies, and he can’t stop life from throwing curved balls at him, but if there’s one thing he can do, is spending time with his family and enjoying these moments of happiness.

--

a/n: This will probably be the last chapter. I don't feel comfortable writing Kris into my fics now that he's gone :( I had started this chapter before the news and finishing this was difficult for me. I'm very sad about what happened, about the abruptness of it all and how it affected exo as a whole. I'm still carrying conflicting feelings about Kris, about what he did and how he did it. However, I wish him the utmost happiness in whatever he might endevour. I am a firm believer that ot11 will accomplish great things and that events like these do make a team stronger.

It was great while it lasted and I hope you guys enjoyed all 18 chapters (how did this get so long, jesus.) I appreciate every sub, every comment and every view. You guys are amazing! This does not mean I'm done with writing, though! I have a few wips I plan on posting soon, hopefully my inspirations doesn't leave me, lmao.

Having said everything I needed to say, thank you guys for reading!! <3