Chapter Twenty: The Visit to the E.R. and the Tree of Life's Ideas

Sorry to AF member: bluelady28 - this isn't what you had in mind,

but i had already written it when i looked through the comments. Mianheyo~!

           More than a couple days passed after the funeral, but if felt less than what it was to Julie. Life seemed to slowly get back on track. No more kids to get at the door, no more surprise guests, and – especially – no more sadness. It fit them all to a ‘T’. Especially Julie’s “new” friends.

            Bambam was not forgotten (far from it), but the life to Julie’s new guests started to come back. They learned how to live without Bambam, but they would always feel the emptiness in their hearts from the loss of him. No one could fill it – they didn’t want anyone to, either. Yet, even though they were starting to become happy, they still had their off days – well, day. Every Friday they stayed in their rooms, staring out the window. They didn’t come out, their doors were always locked, and didn’t let anyone but Julie in; however, just because they let her in, doesn’t mean they talked or looked at her. It was like they were trapped in a black hole: every word was into their head, but it didn’t comprehend and no answers came out. Julie understood why, though. Friday was the day they found out Bambam was dead, after all.

            The boys (Julie’s kids), on the other hand, were just happy to be around. They followed her orders like good little boys and none, thankfully, went outside to take a crap on the lawn again. It was hilarious to everyone, but Julie made sure the boys wouldn’t do it again – especially Beakhyun. He was still upset over his punishment. Julie zoned out while making dinner, thinking about his punishment. Well, at least he knows not to disobey his mom.

            “AHHHHHH!” Julie jumped, hearing the scream come from the other room. She put the stove on the low and rushed out of the kitchen into the living room where the boys were surrounding something – the other five in their bedrooms. “AHHHHH!”

            “Wae? Wae? Bwo?” She frantically said, rushing over to the little circle of boys. They separated and let her see Do laying on his brother Lay’s lap, screaming and crying as held his stomach. She sat next to them, her hands grazing over his clothes to lift up his shirt a bit, feeling gently around his stomach. “Ottoke? Ottoke? Aish.” He cried even louder when she pressed down on the area his bladder would be. Realization dawned on her, making her panic feeling go away.

            She picked him up gently and took him into the kitchen, listening to his crying slowly stop; however, he cried louder and clung to her when she tried setting him down in his high chair. “Ne, ne, ne, Kyungy.” She opened up the fridge door, grabbed the prune juice she had in the door, a cup from the cupboard, and a measuring cup. She held him tightly, mixing the two ounces of prune juice and water together before putting some prune juice in a small baby bottle with some water. “Here, drink this, Kyungy.” He took the bottle, immediately, and started to drink. Julie rushed out of the room to her bathroom with the changing table in it, grabbing a small syringe. She closed the door, locking the others out of the bathroom, but only for a small amount of time.

            Julie put a smaller clip-on toilet seat on the toilet and sat Do down on it, letting him finish his small bottle, not crying that much anymore. She grabbed the cup of prune juice/water mix and put it in the syringe, putting her finger over the small opening on the top and shaking it. She sat in front of Do, smiling softly at him. He gave her his bottle, but she could tell he was still in pain and the juice did not help like she had hoped. She set it down on the counter and helped Do take his pants and diaper off.

            “Omoni,” he said, suddenly. She looked up at him to see his wider-than-usual eyes on the syringe. “What…is…that?” He asked, sniffling with tears running down his face.

            “It is a syringe. It will help you go potty, okay?” He frowned, thinking it over before shaking his head with fear in his eyes.

            “Ani…ani,” he said over and over, shaking his head.

            “It won’t hurt, my love,” Julie said softly to him, wiping the tears off of his face as he sniffled. He looked into her eyes.

            “Are you…s-sure, O-Omoni?” He asked. She nodded.

            “It will go by really fast. When I finish putting this where it needs to go, you will go potty, automatically, okay?” He nodded, slightly. “However, we are going to have to do it for a couple days so you can go potty normally, okay?” He hesitated before nodding, again. She smiled. “Good boy. Now, let’s do this.” She held out her fist. “Fighting!” He held out his, giggling slightly.

            “Fighting, Omoni!” She smiled widely, motioning for him to turn around. He did, breathing deeply.

            She took the syringe and put it inside his rectum, slightly, before pushing the top of the syringe so the mixture went in. He groaned, slightly, from the pain. She shushed him, softly.

            “Almost done, Kyungy.”

            Once it was all gone, she took out the syringe and set him back on the toilet. They waited for a minute, but it felt longer for the both of them. Suddenly, Do’s eyes got wide when, quite literally, it all came out. They both smiled, laughing and giggling as they high-fived, not minding they had to wait three minutes for him to be done. She helped him wipe, put his clothes back on, and wash his hands before leading him into the other room where his brothers were waiting patiently and worried. He ran to them, smiling wide. Julie smiled at them before going back into the kitchen to fix dinner. At least it was constipation and not a bladder infection.

            The odd thing about dinner was that none of the five boys talked and, surprisingly, the maknaes Sehun, Kai, and Tao did nothing at all – they did not touch their food; did not even look at their brothers; did nothing the entire time. Julie watched as the five boys got up and left when they decided they were finished eating, leaving their plates at the table for the first time since they arrived, and let the ones who were finished eating down from their high chairs. They ran into the other room, laughing and smiling. Julie moved her chair so she was closer to them, but did not let them down. They looked at her expectantly – wanting to get out of their restraining high chairs. She leaned back, crossing her arms.

            “What’s wrong, you three?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. They averted their eyes. “Did you not like your dinner?”

            “Aniya,” Kai muttered, cutely with a pout. She cocked her head, thinking over everything when something popped into her head.

            “Come to think of it,” she began, making them look up to her, immediately, “I have had you three for a couple of days and you haven’t gone number two at all-,” they froze, “Is that what the problem is?” Their faces went red with embarrassment and Sehun nodded slightly. “Wae?”

            “Boulgkja,” Tao started explaining, waving his hands in the air with gestures. The other two leaned over to hit him, but were too far. Julie nodded, pretending to understand when she only understood that they couldn’t go. “Lobalohgdig. Dooa?”

            “Is your problem like Kyungy’s?” She asked, frowning slightly. They squirmed, slightly, before nodding. “Okay, let’s give you Kyungy’s treatment and see if that helps.” They nodded and let themselves be carried to their mother’s bathroom with the prune juice.

            She mixed everything in the bathroom and helped Sehun go first. Sehun went, just like Do, but Kai and Tao couldn’t go, even with the special mixture. When Tao tried to go, all he could do was cry – the proper solids not coming out. Kai grunted and practically turned purple, but could not go, either – nothing came out. The only difference between the two was that one was crying from the pain and the other was crying because he was disappointed in himself. Julie felt slight panic and helped them pull up their pants, carrying them to the other room with Sehun following after with worry on his face.

            The other nine boys were running around in the play room, but stopped once Julie came in with two of their brothers crying terribly and one worried. They surrounded Sehun, yelling at him in baby talk. Julie tried to set Kai and Tao down, but, as they held on hard and cried even harder when they felt her trying to let them go, decided to hold them instead. She walked to the home phone, silently shushing both of the sobbing babies.

            “Shh, Jonginny; ZiZi: Omoni will fix this,” she whispered to them as she dialed the number she knew so well. It rang for a long time and she began to grow impatient when their cries got slightly louder. “Aish. Shh, gwenchana, gwenchana.” Finally, it stopped ringing, making Julie’s heart pound harder, but feel relieved at the same time.

            “Sorry, but the person you are calling cannot pick up the phone right now,” the voice recording sounded, making Julie groan in annoyance, bouncing her babies, slightly as she hung up. She rubbed their backs, waiting for a minute so she could call back.

            “Omoni,” Kai whined, sniffling. She looked the sniffling, teary-eyed boy in the eyes.

            “Ne?” He put his hand around his mouth and whispered in her ear.

            “It hurts,” he whispered. She nodded.

            “I know, Jonginny,” she answered, smiling softly down at him. “But Omoni is going to fix it, arraso? You’ll feel better soon.” He nodded, laying his head on her shoulder. She dialed the number again, listening to it ring and ring, and praying the person she was calling would answer.

            “Yoboseyo?” The voice said. Julie sighed in relief.

            “Jill! I need your help: Kai and Tao can’t go to the bathroom.” Jill hummed.

            “Eh? Did you try the prune and water mix?” Julie nodded, answering when she realized Jill couldn’t see her.

            “Y-Yeah. It doesn’t work. Tao sort of went, but it was too painful to continue; Kai can’t even go at all, and I don’t know what to do.”

            “Well, you need to go see the doctor, then. If what I am thinking is right, they may have something wrong in their insides and could need surgery. You should go see Doctor Kim Hwang at the Memorial Hospital. It should be, like, ten minutes from your house, right?”

            “Ne. Should I go into the emergency room?”

            “Yeah. Go there; I’ll call Doctor Kim Hwang and tell her you’re coming. You’re bringing the twelve, right?” Julie glanced back at the boys standing behind her with wide, scared looks on their faces.

            “No, I won’t be bringing them. I have some family members staying over,” she answered. Jill hummed.

            “Alright. Well, you rush out and get them there. I will call the Doc. See you later.” They both hung up. Julie kneeled down.

            “Okay, sweethearts, I need you all to do something for me, arraso?” They nodded vigorously. “I need to take your brothers to the doctor, okay? But, you ten need to stay here with your uncles-,” they frowned, yelling their protests, “I’m sorry, but we will be back in a while, okay? Do this for Omoni and your younger brothers.” They thought it over before finally nodding. “Kamsamnida.”

            At that moment, the five boys walked in, talking loudly, but stopped when they saw Julie holding two crying babies and the rest surrounding her.

            “What the-,” Jackson began, but Julie cut him off as she practically ran to them.

            “I need you guys to stay here and watch them.”

            “Wae?” Youngjae asked with wide eyes.

            “I need to take Kai and Tao to the emergency room-,” their eyes went wide.

            “Bwo? Wae?” Mark asked, looking down at the young boys he considered his own nephews. Julie didn’t answer fast enough. “No. I am not staying here; I will drive you – let’s go.” She nodded and they left the other four in their dust.

            The boys wouldn’t let Julie put them down, so Mark drove them to the hospital, letting Julie give him directions there while she explained what was going on. When they arrived, a female doctor was waiting outside with various people surrounding her. Mark let Julie get out while he went to go park. Immediately, the group of people came up to her, asking a lot of questions.

            “Which one is Kai/Tao?”

            “Which one has pain?

            “Which one can’t at all?”

            “Did you try prune juice and water mixture?”

            Julie answered every answer, shocked at everything. The female doctor pushed her way through, smiling gently at Julie.

            “Hello Julianne,” she said in a soft voice. “I am Doctor Kim Hwang. Jill has told me a lot about you, but I doubt she told you she is my daughter.” Julie bowed as well as she could, holding the two of the boys. “She has told me what you have told her, but it is different than what you know. Please tell my team and me what exactly has happened as we walk to an open room.” They began to walk, Mark catching up, and filled everyone in with what happened. “So, your sons, Kyungsoo and Sehun, had the same problem, but the prune juice and water mix worked?” Julie nodded. “And it didn’t work for these two?” She shook her head as she walked into a room with laid back chair with white paper on it. “Okay, please set them on the table so we may look at them.” She followed their instructions, shushing the two crying boys, gently.

            The doctors gave them a checkup, using a stethoscope on their stomachs and lower backs. Julie started to bite her nails from nervousness.

            “Well, I don’t think they have what my daughter and I were worried about,” the doctor said, finally.

            “What was it you were worried about?” Mark asked, suddenly, looking nervous. She glanced at him and back at Julie, smirking slightly.

            “We thought they had Hirschsprung’s disease, something babies are usually born with. The disease results in nerve-ends being missing in parts of the baby’s colon – hence the baby has difficulties pooping. In severe cases the baby can’t poop at all, which is, of course, discovered when they are newborns. For older babies, symptoms may be a swollen abdomen, difficulties pooping, constipation, and poor weight gain,” she said, frowning. “Kai and Tao show the symptoms of Hirschsprung’s disease, but they don’t have the swollen abdomen.”

            “What do you think they have then?” Mark asked before Julie could. The doctor’s team spoke up.

            “We know they don’t have that disease, so it may be a problem with their rectums,” a female said. Julie felt even more worried.

            “What about them?” She asked before Mark could. A male answered them.

            “Well, they could either be too small for stool to pass through, or they could be too large so the stools pack up and hurt coming out.”

            “Are they treatable?” Julie and Mark asked in unison, worried beyond their own comprehension.

            “Yes, they are,” Doctor Kim Hwang told them, smiling slightly. “We just need to check to see which ones they may have. Don’t fret mom and dad.” Julie’s eyes went wide, just like Mark’s.

            “Uh, w-we a-aren’t-,” Julie stuttered out, trying to tell them they weren’t together, but Mark beat her to it, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

            “Sorry, we aren’t together like that. I am just one of her older brothers worried for his favorite nephews,” he answered, smiling sheepishly. They awed, nodding, before turning back to the boys. They checked the boys’ rectums and whispered to each other, writing something down in their notes.

            “Well,” Doctor Kim Hwang said. “They both have problems with their rectums. Kai has stenosis, a small rectum. This can be treated, though.” She took out a blank piece of paper, writing things down as she spoke. “Sometimes, excessive amounts of prune juice and water can help – like a mixture every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – or you can add more fiber to his diet to make his stool soften, naturally, and be able to be pushed out, or you can use stool softeners. Either one should work; however, he will have this for the rest of his life, sadly, unless he has surgery to make the rectum is cut open slightly. It would hurt, but only take a couple of hours. Doing it at a young age could be beneficial, but it could also be bad for him. I would suggest waiting on that until he decides he wants to or not.

            “Now, Tao has a more treatable one. All you need to do is let him sit in warm baths for twenty to thirty minutes three times a day for a couple days until the rectum is no longer swollen. Antibiotics and baby pain killers can help, too, but warm baths are the only thing I would recommend for a baby as young as he. He cannot go unless the rectum is no longer swollen.”

            Julie began to worry about his baths during the day, but she answered it before she could worry for too long.

            “Either your brothers could take care of Tao in the day and make sure he gets everything he needs, or Jill or you can do it during your lunch in the daycare – they have a big sink in the bathroom.” Doctor Kim Hwang smiled at them. “Any questions?” They both shook their heads. “Well, then you can go, if you want. I will give you a prescription for antibiotics so you can get them for free. You don’t need to use them on Tao, but you can use them for later problems as they should be good for three years.” She wrote a prescription and gave it to Julie.

            “Thank you so much, Doctor Kim,” Julie said, bowing lowly. She laughed.

            “Your welcome. Now, I am sure all four of you need sleep, so I will show you out.”

            Julie grabbed Tao and Kai, feeling them yawn and sniffle against her. They fell asleep as she walked, so it was easier than before to put them in their car seats with blankets over them to keep them warm. Mark drove them home, looking at the rearview mirror at them whenever he stopped at a red light or stop sign to make sure they were still sleeping. Julie fell asleep as soon as she laid her head on the window, Mark smiling slightly at her sleeping face.

            What he didn’t notice was the man following them, staring at the car with a glare.

_____

            The man stood at the top of the tree, watching the car drive out of the garage at a fast speed. He wondered what had happened and followed them, not knowing about the boy in the driver’s seat.

            When the car go into the driveway of a hospital, he felt his heart drop in fear for his children when his anger started to cloud over all of his senses. I trusted the girl. What did she do to my children? He felt his body grow hot and threw his fire at a garbage can next to him, making it erupt into flames. He went closer, using his invisibility power to hide himself from everyone. He watched the girl get out of the car with two of his youngest children crying, feeling his son’s (Zitao’s) pain and his other son’s (Jongin’s) disappointment and fear. He felt anger, again, but instead of acting on it, he decided to listen to what was happening, first, following them when they began to walk into the hospital.

            “My son, Kyungsoo and Sehun, couldn’t go so I used the prune juice and water mix to help them,” the girl told the old lady in white. He frowned. What happened to my sons? What is this mix thing she used on them? “It helped them go, but it didn’t work for my two sons, Kai and Tao. Kai can’t at all and Tao feels pain when he tries to.” He heard running behind him and turned around, seeing a tall, lanky, red-haired boy catch up, listening into what was happening. Who is this boy? Why is he standing so close to my children – the mother of my children? He felt anger clogging his brain, again, and growled, but no one heard it. He followed them into the room, watching the doctors touch his children with weird plastic and metallic things.

            “Well, I don’t think they have the disease my daughter and I were worried about,” the older lady said. He felt his heart drop. What disease? My children cannot be sick; I did not make them from my own DNA for them to be sick.

            “What was it you were worried about?” The boy asked, suddenly, looking nervous. She glanced at him and back at the girl, smirking slightly.

            “We thought they had Hirschsprung’s disease, something babies are usually born with. The disease results in nerve-ends being missing in parts of the baby’s colon – hence the baby has difficulties pooping. In severe cases the baby can’t poop at all, which is, of course, discovered when they are newborns. For older babies, symptoms may be a swollen abdomen, difficulties pooping, constipation, and poor weight gain,” she said, frowning. “Kai and Tao show the symptoms of Hirschsprung’s disease, but they don’t have the swollen abdomen.” My children cannot go to the bathroom? He almost started to laugh at the absurdity of it when realized his children had human bodies, meaning they could quite possibly die from not going to the bathroom. Fear grabbed him once more.

            “What do you think they have then?” He asked, again. The old lady’s group spoke up.

            “We know they don’t have that disease, so it may be a problem with their rectums,” a female said.

            “What about them?” His children’s mother asked before the boy could. A male answered them.

            “Well, they could either be too small for stool to pass through, or they could be too large so the stools pack up and hurt coming out.”

            “Are they treatable?” They asked in unison. He felt worried about it, too.

            “Yes, they are,” Doctor Kim Hwang told them, smiling slightly. He felt so relieved when he heard that. Next time I create children, they will not have human bodies. “We just need to check to see which ones they may have. Don’t fret mom and dad.” He felt anger cloud him. That boy be their father? They’re mine; my children – my children’s mother. How dare they think he is their father!

            “Uh, w-we a-aren’t-,” she stuttered out, but the boy cut her off, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, making him even more angry.

            “Sorry, we aren’t together like that. I am just one of her older brothers worried for his favorite nephews,” he answered, smiling sheepishly. The group awed – sounding disappointed – nodded, and turned back to the boys. They checked the boys’ rectums and whispered to each other, writing something down in their notes.

            “Well,” the old lady said. “They both have problems with their rectums. Kai has stenosis, a small rectum. This can be treated, though.” She took out a blank piece of paper, writing things down as she spoke. “Sometimes, excessive amounts of prune juice and water can help – like a mixture every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – or you can add more fiber to his diet to make his stool soften, naturally, and be able to be pushed out, or you can use stool softeners. Either one should work; however, he will have this for the rest of his life, sadly, unless he has surgery to make the rectum is cut open slightly. It would hurt, but only take a couple of hours. Doing it at a young age could be beneficial, but it could also be bad for him. I would suggest waiting on that until he decides he wants to or not.

            “Now, Tao has a more treatable one. All you need to do is let him sit in warm baths for twenty to thirty minutes three times a day for a couple days until the rectum is no longer swollen. Antibiotics and baby pain killers can help, too, but warm baths are the only thing I would recommend for a baby as young as he. He cannot go unless the rectum is no longer swollen.”

            He smiled slightly, feeling relieved his children were alright.

            “Either your brothers could take care of Tao in the day and make sure he gets everything he needs, or Jill or you can do it during your lunch in the daycare – they have a big sink in the bathroom.” She smiled at them. “Any questions?” They both shook their heads. “Well, then you can go, if you want. I will give you a prescription for antibiotics so you can get them for free. You don’t need to use them on Tao, but you can use them for later problems as they should be good for three years.” She wrote a prescription and gave it to the mother of his children.

            He left, following them home – thinking. Where did I go wrong? How did they get this disease? Did the female I take have bad DNA? How did I not notice? Should I switch their DNA? No, that may hurt them. Should I obliterate my children and use their mother the mother of new children to replace them? No. They are still my children; I cannot kill my own, even if I wanted to – I am the Tree of Life. He looked at the girl’s face when the car stopped at a red light, scanning her face. I can do with more kids…she has beauty, kindness, and brains. Maybe I should make more kids like I did with the other female. This one won’t die on the last birth, hopefully. With the war coming up, however, I might need more than twelve children on my side. Maybe I can put the war off for a while when the enemy’s army is still forming and ignorant of the world. The car drove into the garage.

            He jumped onto a branch in a tree where he was able to see them, holding onto a branch to keep his balanced. He watched them get out of the car, smiling slightly when the girl slowly grabbed their children even though she was tired. He frowned in anger – or was it jealously – when the boy hugged the girl, lightly. His hand automatically crushed the branch, splinters flying everywhere.

            She’s mine, boy. Keep your hands off of her.