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they had been waiting for far too long. far too long with their daughter getting crankier each passing minute. she had never been one to act out as long as she was kept busy, but sehun himself was getting more and more irritated as every second passed; it would be unreasonable to ask for more from their baby.
they had brought her into emergency because she was coughing and running a high fever for almost a day that hadn’t seemed to come down no matter what they did. sehun sat tense, their stroller next to them with their baby in his arms so he could soothe her easier. the doctor had said for them to take her over to imaging for a chest x-ray.
‘just to rule some things out. nothing to worry about.’ she had said when she picked up on the nervous looks sehun and jongin exchanged with one another.
sehun glanced over at his husband, who was picking at his nails after sehun had reprimanded him for biting them out of nervousness. sehun was worried, but his worry couldn’t compare to what jongin was feeling. he could feel the anxiety practically radiating off the man, could see the slight tremor in his hands.
“nini.” he called out softly, mindful of the others in the waiting room. jongin’s head shot up to look at sehun, eyes bloodshot with dark circles underneath them. sehun was sure he didn’t look any better, not when neither of them hadn’t slept for longer than four hours in the past two days. “my arms are getting a bit tired, could you hold her for me?”
it was a little white lie, all because sehun knew that jongin would feel far more at ease with hyejin in his arms. she seemed to settle down the moment jongin got a hold of her and sehun couldn’t help but smile to himself. she was just like him.
they both blatantly favoured jongin over anyone else.
he rested his cheek on jongin’s shoulder, reaching out to lightly feel at hyejin’s forehead. he was relieved to feel that her temperature seemed to be coming down. she didn’t feel like she was burning up as much as when they had brought her in.
“hyejin?” sehun turned to look at the technologist who had called out for them, standing up just as jongin did. “i’ll have one of you stay outside while one of you comes in with her.” he explained. sehun’s eyes shifted to jongin, a wordless agreement between both of them, knowing sehun would be a better choice in this situation.
“sit tight, jong. we’re just through that door there.” sehun murmured playfully as he took their daughter into his arms, who was already upset at being taken away from her daddy. he motioned for jongin to sit back down before he turned and followed the technologist into the room.
it was just two pictures but sehun could not calm hyejin down for the life of him. his heart ached for his little girl, knowing how much discomfort she must’ve been in. it didn’t take too long despite her screaming and squirming, only quieting down to softer cries when sehun picked her up again.
he returned to jongin outside, still focused on their baby but handing her over to jongin the moment he got close. jongin cradled her close to his chest, pressing soft kisses to her head as sehun gathered their things and guided them back to their bed in the observation area. it was only then that sehun noticed the tears in jongin’s eyes, his own widening as he rushed close, cupping his cheeks.
“jongin? what’s wrong?” he asked, quiet and worried, his thumbs brushing away the tears that managed to spill over as his husband leaned into his hold.
“i’m just—” jongin started, holding hyejin a little tighter now that she had calmed down. “i’m scared huna…” sehun’s heart broke right in half, hearing the fear in jongin’s voice. he pulled the man into his arms, letting him hide his tears in his shoulder as he ran a hand through his hair.
“oh nini… she’ll be okay. please don’t worry so much.” he whispered, gently petting the back of jongin’s head. “she’s already feeling less warm, so i think her fever is coming down. the doctor’s confirmed that it doesn’t seem like anything serious either. all these tests are precautionary and just about all of them have come back negative. everything will be okay.” he reassured, his thumb brushing behind his lover’s ear, dropping a kiss to his temple. sehun pulled back slightly, his hands cupping jongin’s jaw again to meet his eyes. “okay?”
jongin nodded, sniffling, as sehun wiped the rest of his tears away, leaning close to press their lips together briefly. he pulled away when he felt jongin laugh softly against his lips, tilting his head questioningly. “just— all of this, these past three days, i would’ve gone crazy if i was alone. what would i do without you?” sehun grinned teasingly, eyes curving as he kissed him again.
“crash and burn.”