All I Need 1/1
Title: All I Need
Beta: samjsjlove
Pairing: J2
Wordcount: ~7000
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/Medical squick, language, past MPREG
A/N: Belated Birthday present for the lovely dont-hate-me01 and a timestamp for Gone Away Awhile. It's set about 4 years after that story. I believe this can be read as a standalone, but it would help to have read Gone Away Awhile.
Summary: Jared thought it was fine…it would go away on its own. It was just a pulled muscle from toting the kids around. He was sure it was nothing serious…
The curtains were drawn to block out the afternoon sun while the television cast a dim light into the room. The commentator droned on, analyzing everything and anything. But he didn’t pay it much mind. He was already half asleep on the couch, trying to get some much needed rest and hoping to feel more human when he woke up. Granted…that would be a whole lot easier if he didn’t have a hyperactive four year old diving into his already hurting side…
“HMPH!” Jared cried out, suddenly finding himself in a lot of pain. He tried to breathe through it. He didn’t want said hyperactive four year old to see him hurt. “Hello to you too, Paige.” He gently picked her up and pulled her off of him.
“Did you see me, Daddy?” she asked, oblivious to his pain.
“I’m sorry sweetheart…I didn’t see. I just felt you jumping on to me. Which you know you aren’t supposed to do…and I believe you are supposed to be taking a nap.”
She pouted, suddenly looking very much so like her older brothers had at her age. “I can’t nap! I tried. Sorry, Daddy…but I wasn’t jumping! I was diving! Like on the TV!” She pointed excitedly at the television where a recap of Matthew Mitcham’s and Tom Daley’s dives played on the screen. “See!”
Jared had to bite back a smile. He really didn’t want to encourage her to jump on people like she had done, but he couldn’t help but be a little amused. His little girl had been fascinated with the swimmers and divers during the Olympics. Jensen and he knew the boys would enjoy watching it, always loving soccer and various sports now that they were getting older. But Paige had taken them by surprise. Neither had expected the four year old to sit still long enough to watch with them…let alone enjoy it. Then again, they should have known…everything about Paige had always been full of surprises after all.
He pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch so that he could lean over to pick up Paige. He ignored the slight twinge in his side once more and silently wished that whatever muscle he had pulled would heal quicker. He’d been having pains along his right side for a couple of days now and it was bothering him more each day.
“Baby,” Jared sighed once Paige was seated in his lap. “I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to practice diving by jumping off the couch and onto me.”
“Oh,” she sighed, leaning into his chest a little more.
“I think you are supposed to be practicing in water or on a trampoline.”
“What’s a tramp…tramp’line?”
“Trampoline, sweetie,” Jared corrected.
“What’s a tra-trampoline?” she asked again, saying it correctly this time.
“It’s something that has springs in it that helps you jump up higher and do things like that.” He pointed towards the screen where a diver was doing some type of twist in the air.
“Wow,” Paige gasped, completely mesmerized. Jared couldn’t help but smile at her this time. “Wait!” She turned back towards Jared quickly, her curls bouncing around her head in the process. “Couches have springs! Remy told me so! So why can’t I practice diving on the couch?”
Jared inwardly groaned. Of course Remy would tell his baby sister things like this…why he had no clue…but of course he had…
“Daddy?” Paige shifted around impatiently, jarring his side once again and causing him to wince at the pain. “Daddy are you ok?”
“I’m fine, baby girl,” Jared quickly answered, not wanting her to think anything was wrong. Because there wasn’t anything wrong. He just had a stupid strained muscle that refused to heal. Right…that was all…
Paige nodded before turning back to the subject of the couch and springs. “So why can’t I practice on the couch?”
Jared bit his lip and thought for a moment. “Well…first of all…I am laying on the couch and it isn’t very nice to jump onto someone like you did, Paige.”
“Oh…I’m sorry, Daddy.” She gave Jared a sad look as she apologized.
“I know you are sweetheart.” He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Secondly,” he continued once he was sure she was paying attention again, “the springs in the couch aren’t quite as…well…springy…as they are on a trampoline. So they don’t work as well. And you can get hurt very badly.”
“But I didn’t get hurt! I’m very careful.”
Jared sighed. Paige had definitely taken after her brothers and knew how to argue with the best of them when she took a notion to. “This time…this time you didn’t get hurt. That doesn’t mean you won’t get hurt the next time. Ok?”
“Fine,” Paige replied, looking slightly dejected but not angry.
“Besides,” Jared nudged her gently, “you’ve gotta know how to swim before you can start diving.”
“Oh…”
“And I believe we can do something about that my dear.” He put one arm under her knees while the other remained on her back. He lifted her up and tossed her up a tiny bit in front of him, making her giggle and smile once more.
“We can?” she questioned breathlessly between the fits of laughter.
“Might as well. You don’t seem to be able to take naps much lately anyway.” Paige had never been one to sleep during the day. Once she had hit three, napping had become way too boring. Jensen was convinced she thought she was going to miss out on something. Considering how worried Jared had been that she never would get to see anything at all, he didn’t mind so much.
Paige bounced on her feet and took off towards her bedroom.
“Walk sweetheart!” Jared shook his head fondly at her as he heard her rifling through her closet for her bathing suit. He started to stand up from his place on the couch to go help but he fell back against the cushions with a groan when a sharp pain shot through his side once more. “Damn,” he gasped. He was starting to think that he would have to go see Al or Danni about the muscle…
“Daddy!” Paige called as she rushed back into the room. She was already clad in her swimming gear. She loved her one-piece suit that had little cartoon fish covering the fabric. Over top of it, she had a swim vest wrapped around her upper body. “I’m ready! Can you teach me? Please?”
Jared smiled at her and stood, containing his groan this time. “I can. Just got to let Daddy change clothes too. Give me a minute.” He picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before placing her on the couch. “Wait here…don’t go outside yet.”
“Ok, Daddy!”
Jared hurried and changed into his swim trunks, knowing Paige would wait on him but not wanting to keep her too long when she was this excited. When he returned to the living room he picked her up and carried her out to the pool. Paige knew the rules and knew not to jump in without any supervision or anything. She’d been out with the boys and her parents hundreds of times, but had never learned how to swim herself. She always wore a vest and stayed close to her fathers.
Once outside, the heat felt like a slap to the face; it had been such a hot summer. He set Paige down on the concrete near the pool’s edge. Jared slid into the water first and was easily able to stand in it. The pool wasn’t extremely deep, and given his height it wasn’t a hard task.
“Ok, Paige, come here sweetie.” Jared held out his arms and motioned for her to come towards him. She immediately obeyed and allowed him to hug her close to his chest and pull her into the pool. “First things first…you aren’t going to be able to use your vest today.”
“But Pop said to never go into the water without it,” Paige said softly, her face scrunching up in confusion.
“That he did,” Jared laughed, proud that she had remembered Jensen’s lecture on water safety. “But I’m going to be right beside you the whole time. And you can’t really learn how to swim with it on. You can’t rely on it like that. Ok?”
“O-ok…”
Jared kissed her head gently. “Shh…don’t be afraid sweetheart. I’ll be right here the whole time. Nothing is going to happen to you…ok?” He waited until he felt her little head nod against his chest. “Alright, Paige, I’m going to unfasten your vest and set it on the edge of the pool. Ok?” Once again, he waited for her to agree to it before he did what he had said. As soon as the vest was undone, Paige’s arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. “You’re ok…I’ve gotcha.”
After a few moments of wading around in the water with Paige, Jared started to bounce around a little to get her wet. She slowly but surely relaxed against his chest and started to giggle as he splashed around a little. She soon joined in and allowed him to dunk her a few times. She was fortunately never one of those kids who feared having their faces in the water. She had happily learned how to blow bubbles and kick her legs earlier in the summer. She had just never done so without the aid of her vest keeping her afloat.
“Ok Paige…ready for something new?” He bounced up and down a little with her again, causing her to giggle.
“Yeah,” she laughed.
“Alright then. Let’s see if you can float baby girl.”
Jared helped her lie in the water and kept his arms under her until she had it figured out on her own. Before he knew it, she was floating by herself. He stayed by her side in case she needed help. After a few minutes of her floating around and kicking her legs a bit, Jared scooped her up. “Good job sweetheart!” He hugged her tight.
“Really? I did it?”
“You did! Now…how would you like to feel what it’s like to swim?”
“How?” she asked with great interest.
Jared winked at her before swinging her around and onto his back. “I need you to hold on to me tight…got it?”
“I will, Daddy.”
“Good…cause here we go!” Jared slipped down into the water more and started swimming around slowly so as not to knock Paige off his back. He could hear her laughing in excitement with each stroke. He kicked hard a couple of time, splashing the water up on to her and making her laugh harder.
He stopped after awhile and moved her so that she was no longer on his back.
“Why’d we stop? That was fun! More!”
Jared shook his head fondly. “I think it’s time to give Daddy’s back a break and move on to something else my little fishy.” He placed a wet kiss against her cheek before instructing her on how to move her arms and legs like he had done only moments before while she was on his back.
Paige proved to be a quick learner. Jared had to catch her a couple of times so that she wouldn’t go down to the bottom of the pool. But she never stopped, even when Jared wasn’t able to grab her as quickly and she slipped farther under the water than she had before. It had scared her of course, but she kept at it.
Through it all, Jared never noticed the persistent ache in his side…
***********
Jensen sighed as he walked through the front door and threw his bag onto a nearby table. He was exhausted to say the least. The twins had gone with him in to work that morning so that he could take them to their soccer camp in the afternoon. He loved having them around, but they were a handful while he was trying to get paperwork and calls in before leaving. Then of course he had to help with soccer. So yeah…he was quite relieved when his parents had requested a night with the grandkids.
So thanks to Donna and Alan, Jensen had Jared all to himself for the night. Paige had already been picked up and Jensen had bid her goodnight when he dropped the boys off earlier. Now he just had to find Jared…
Before he could go off in search of his husband, he heard the awful sounds of retching coming from the upstairs bathroom.
“Jay!” he yelled up before rushing over to the stairs. He took the steps two at a time in his worry. “Jared!” He nearly tripped over the hall rug as he rounded the corner and came to a stop in the bathroom’s doorway. “Jare,” he said softly as he took in the sight of his husband curled around the toilet.
“Hey,” Jared sighed, breathing in deeply through his nose in an attempt to quell the nausea. He was unsuccessful and quickly found himself leaning back into the toilet as his body tried to rid itself of whatever was disagreeing with it.
Jensen stepped into the bathroom and knelt down next to Jared. He gently rubbed his husband’s back as the sickness passed. “What’s wrong babe?”
Jared leaned into Jensen with a groan. “D-don’t know. Probably just heat exhaustion.” Jared shivered a little, causing Jensen to wrap his arms around him. “I spent most of the afternoon in the pool with Paige.”
“She told me…when I dropped the boys off,” Jensen said with a smile as he kissed the side of Jared’s head. “She was ridiculously excited about it.”
“She’s convinced she wants to be a diver.”
Jensen barked out a laugh. “Wow…”
“Hey…she might just be one day. Never know with our kids.”
“That is so true.” Jensen grinned fondly. He had loved every minute of the last four years with Jared and their kids. Paige had surprisingly grown to be healthy and happy after her rather traumatic beginning. Remy and Dimitri seemed to grow more and more each day. At eight, they were into anything and everything…from soccer to cars to science fiction. Jensen felt like he was learning something new each day with the way they went on about it all. He wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world now that he had that though.
The sound of Jared getting sick again brought him out of his musings. “Woah! Easy Jay!” Jensen grabbed Jared around his shoulders so that he wouldn’t fall face forward into the toilet. He rubbed Jared’s back through it all, hoping it brought some form of comfort to his sick husband. “You sure this is just heat exhaustion, babe?”
“Ugh…yeah.” Jared fell against Jensen, completely spent. “Don’t think I’m going to be up to date night like we had planned. I’m so-“
“Shh…not your fault. Don’t apologize. We can always try again next week or something. No rush.” Jensen shifted Jared so that he could reach up to get a glass of water. “Here…wash your mouth out with this. Think you can stay upright while I grab you some mouthwash?” Jared nodded, looking absolutely miserable as he spit out the water.
Jensen quickly grabbed some mouthwash for his husband. Once Jared had cleaned up a little, Jensen helped him up from the floor. He swayed terribly on his feet, but Jensen managed to keep him upright.
“Are you sure that it’s just heat exhaustion? We could have Al come check-“
“No…it’s late.”
“But-“
“Jen…she’s eight months pregnant…I’m not calling her over heat exhaustion. I’ll be fine! Let Al and Chris get some sleep. Let me get some sleep.”
“We could call Danni and-“
“Jensen…”
“Fine,” Jensen huffed. “Let’s at least get you to bed then.” Jensen nudged Jared out of the bedroom, instantly noticing the way Jared winced for some reason. “You hurting?”
“Hmm? Oh…my side? I pulled a muscle in it the other day. Has been annoying me ever since.”
“Ok,” Jensen sighed. “You are definitely going to the doctor tomorrow…”
“I’m f-“
“You always say that…”
“Jensen,” Jared sighed, managing to look even more miserable than before.
“Alright…we’ll just…go to bed tonight. But I am taking you to see Danni in the morning. Mom and Dad will still have the kids so there is no excuse.”
“But you have that meeting-“
“Which I will text Gen to move it to later this week once we get you to bed.”
Jared couldn’t help but smile. In the beginning of their marriage, it had been a lot harder to get Jensen away from his work. He had never ignored Jared or his family, but he paid less attention to how many hours he put in at his office back then. Now, it was hard to get him to leave to go to the office a lot of days. It was just one of the pleasant changes that had occurred in the last five years of them being back together.
Jensen slowly led Jared into their bedroom and helped him change into something more comfortable and less sweaty.
“You know you have a fever?” Jensen asked, the worry obvious in his voice.
“Mmm…that’s normal with heat exhaustion.” Jared slid under the covers with a content sigh. He fluffed his pillow up some before looking up at Jensen. “You worry too much.”
“With you, sometimes think I don’t worry enough.”
Jared glared and him and tossed a pillow at his head. “You coming to bed?”
Jensen placed the pillow back on his side of the bed. “I’m going to go make a few phone calls and do a little work while you get some rest.” He leaned down and kissed Jared on the forehead. “Your cell is on the nightstand…so if you need me grab it and call or text me. That way you don’t have to yell or anything that might make you feel worse.” Jensen started to walk away but Jared grabbed his wrist. “Yeah?”
“Thanks, Jen.”
Jensen smiled at him. “Get some sleep. I’ll bring you something to drink later so you won’t get dehydrated.” With that, Jensen headed downstairs to his office to finish everything up for the evening, knowing he wouldn’t be going into work tomorrow.
************
Jensen yawned and blinked tiredly at the computer screen in front of him. He’d been working for a few hours and the peaceful quiet of the house was about to lull him to sleep at his desk. Suddenly, a noise from upstairs had him jerking awake and hurrying towards the stairs. It had been loud, almost as if something had fallen…or someone…
“Jared!”
Jensen once again found himself taking the stairs two at a time in his rush to get to his husband. This time, however, Jared wasn’t in the bathroom, but still in their room. Jensen nearly stopped breathing when he stepped inside…
Jared was no longer peacefully lying in bed…now he was on the floor curled into himself with his arm wrapped around his stomach. He was half moaning, half gagging. The sound broke Jensen out of his shock and pushed him forward.
“Jared!” Jensen grabbed their trashcan and thrust it toward Jared just in time. “Shh…I’ve gotcha!” He wrapped his arms around Jared to hold him up so he wouldn’t fall into the trash.
After a few minutes, Jared attempted to push himself up off the floor, but he ended up falling back into Jensen’s arms with a pained groan. “Shit…”
“What’s wrong, Jare?”
“I…I don’t know. But-AAHH! Damn!” he gasped as pain ripped through his side again.
“Ok…that’s it.” Jensen gently pulled Jared from the floor and sat him on the edge of the bed. He then went to the closet and pulled out a pair of battered tennis shoes; he slipped thenm onto Jared’s feet without the man even noticing. “Come on…we’re taking you to the hospital.”
For once, Jared didn’t protest. He simply nodded, making Jensen worry even more. He hurried to gather everything he needed from their home and get Jared down to the Impala as carefully as possibly. Once in the car, it was hard for Jensen not to speed. Speeding would have meant jarring Jared too much…and his husband was already in too much pain for his liking. Jensen still never got used to seeing Jared in pain…
Jared tried to stay silent on the way to the emergency room, but there were a couple of times where he gasped out in pain and gagged from the nausea. Both of them were beyond relieved when they arrived in front of the ER in good time…and without Jared getting sick in Jensen’s beloved Impala.
Jared was trembling in the passenger seat from the increasing pain shooting through his side. His knuckles were white from where he had reached over to grasp Jensen’s hand during the drive. He needed help…that much was obvious. Jensen reluctantly let go of Jared so he could run into the ER to get that help for his husband. He was only gone a few seconds, but he returned with orderlies and a doctor in tow.
They helped Jared out of the car and onto a gurney. It all happened so fast. One moment Jensen was surrounded by everyone and trying to help Jared. The next, he was left behind as everyone rushed Jared inside and behind the swinging doors.
“Sir,” a nurse said, putting a hand to his chest to stop him. “I’m afraid you aren’t allowed back there. Why don’t you come with me and we can get some insurance information and all…ok?”
The argument was on the tip of his tongue, but Jensen nodded nonetheless. He knew it wouldn’t do him any good to pick a fight in the middle of the ER waiting room. Instead, he followed the nurse over to a chair and started filling out forms.
He had only been sitting there for a few minutes, but it felt like hours before a doctor came out calling Jared’s name.
“I’m his husband,” Jensen answered, jumping to his feet and dashing over to the doctor.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Keith,” the lady said, offering Jensen her hand.
“Nice to meet you.” He shook her hand quickly. “How’s Jared?”
“He’s holding in there,” she said sympathetically. “We are finishing up some tests and then should be able to make him much more comfortable.”
“You mean you haven’t given him anything for the pain yet?” Jensen asked in shock.
“I’m afraid not. Why don’t you come with me?” She motioned towards the doors. “I’ll fill you in on everything and take you to see Jared for a minute.”
Jensen followed behind her. “I can’t stay with him?”
“Mr. -“
“Ackles…but Jensen is fine.”
“Jensen, we believe your husband has appendicitis.”
“Wh-what?” He came to a dead stop in the busy hall.
The doctor smiled sympathetically at him and ran a hand up his arm, nudging him to keep walking with her. “The pain in his side and the vomiting tipped us off. We ran a few tests and it seems as if that is what is wrong.”
“H-He said it was just a p-pulled muscle and heat exhaustion. How?”
“It can be hard to tell something is wrong at first. The pain normally starts off pretty mild. And if you have a high pain tolerance…”
“Which he does,” Jensen sighed. Of course Jared would…he’d gone through so much during his pregnancies and miscarriages...
“I assumed he might. But we’ve caught it now and are confident we can get him prepped and into surgery before it becomes more serious.”
“I thought appendicitis was a pretty easy thing to fix?”
“If it is caught in time, it can be. However, from what Jared has said, he’s had the symptoms for quite awhile now. It is very possible that we will get in there and find the appendix has ruptured.”
“Ruptured?”
“I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. If the appendix has ruptured completely, your husband could be in a lot of trouble. But I can promise you that we are moving as quickly as possible to get him into a room and the appendix out.” She stopped outside of a holding room in the surgery ward. “You can see him for a moment while I go prepare for his surgery. A nurse will take you up to the inpatient waiting room afterwards. They’ll keep you posted up there…I promise.”
Jensen nodded numbly as she walked off towards another set of double doors. Jen took a deep breath and opened the door to Jared’s room. His heart plummeted at the sight that lay on the other side of the door.
Jared was pale and shaking in the hospital bed. He had an oxygen cannula running under his nose, but he was still breathing harshly from the pain. His hand had an IV already inserted into it, and he had it resting around the area that was hurting him so badly. Jensen walked over and gently lifted it so that he could hold it within his own.
“Hey,” Jared rasped.
“Hey yourself.” Jensen leaned over the bed railing to place a kiss on Jared’s sweaty forehead. It felt as if his fever had risen in the half hour they’d been at the hospital. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
Jared scoffed but then winced as it pulled on his side. “I’m sorry. I should-“
“Shhh…it’s not your fault, baby.” Jensen ran his fingers through Jared’s hair. “It will be ok.”
“But the kids-“
“Are fast asleep at my parents’ house for the night. I’ll call mom’s cell once they take you back so she knows what’s going on and can keep them in the morning.”
“But you have work and-“
“And I pushed all that back already.”
“I’m supposed to go in and speak with the professor on campus about my thesis this week and-“
“Stop,” Jensen chastised softly. “Stop worrying. I’ll take care of everything. Just worry about getting better.”
A nurse walked over and smiled sadly at the couple. “Mr. Ackles, it’s time to take Jared back. Will you please come with me?”
Jensen nodded towards her before turning back to Jared. “I love you and will be here when you wake up…so you better be ok…and-“
“I love you too,” Jared interrupted. He knew Jensen was struggling…his voice had given it away.
With that, a set of orderlies approached Jared to wheel him out and the nurse guided Jensen up to the waiting room. She pushed him towards a padded chair and sat down next to him for a moment. “The receptionist over there will receive calls about your husband’s surgery and will call for you to give you updates. Someone in the surgical room will call down periodically. It’s hard to say how long the procedure will end up taking…it largely depends on how bad the appendix is. If it’s ruptured, it could take a little longer to clean him up. But I can promise you he’s in good hands, Mr. Ackles.”
“Th-thank you,” Jensen replied shakily. Everything had happened so fast. One moment Jared had heat exhaustion…the next he was going into surgery. Jensen honestly didn’t know what to think. So he settled into the chair with a worried sigh and waited for updates.
He sent a quick call to his mom’s cell phone at some point during the first hour of his wait. By the second, he was getting frustrated. He hadn’t heard much from the receptionist…in fact…the ladies behind the counter seemed to be more concerned with the latest gossip rather than informing him of Jared’s condition. He tried to remain calm, but when the women started cackling with laughter over some story…he lost it.
He jumped up from his chair and headed over to the main counter. “Excuse me,” he started with venom in his voice. “Do you think you could maybe actually do your jobs instead of…oh I don’t know…shooting the shit with each other?”
“Sir,” one of the women replied. “I believe you need to sit down and not talk to me in that manner. I-“
“No…I believe you need to do your damn job and call to get information on my husband’s surgery before I figure out a way to -“
“Jensen!”
He turned around and saw his dad coming towards him. “Dad?”
“What’s going on here?” Alan stated once he was next to his son.
“Your son was causing a disturbance that we didn’t appreciate and I-“
“Jensen was causing a disturbance?” Alan interrupted. “Gee…I could have sworn that it was you ladies causing one. I could hear you all laughing from the elevator! Now…If I were you…I would go check on my son-in-law’s condition before I find your supervisor and report each and every one of you. There is no one else in the waiting room. That should mean that you are able to do your jobs for him and not goof off.” The woman sat there blinking in surprise. “I don’t believe I stuttered ma’am.” With that, Alan squeezed Jensen’s shoulder and guided him back towards the chairs.
“Dad? What? How?”
“Your mom woke up in the middle of the night and saw her cell blinking. She listened to your message and woke me up. She’s back at the house with the kids but I couldn’t leave you by yourself. Have you called anyone else?”
“Shit…no! I should have called Jeff and Misha!”
“Shh…I’ll call them for you. Don’t worry about it. Just worry about Jared, ok?’
Jensen huffed. “Pretty sure I’ve done nothing but that for the last two damn hours. How long does it take to remove a freaking appendix?”
“I’m so sorry!” a tired voice said suddenly.
Jensen looked up to see Dr. Keith coming into the waiting room. “How his Jared?” he blurted out, not bothering to start with pleasantries.
“He’s in recovery now. We got to his appendix in time before it ruptured completely. There was a small amount of infection surrounding the area and we had to flush it out.”
“Is that what took so long?” Jensen continued.
“Yes and no…it did take some time but the main reason it took longer is that we had to change our original plan of action. We had hoped to do laparoscopic surgery on him, but there was too much scar tissue from previous surgeries on his abdomen for us to see what we needed to do. So we had to remove it and make a larger incision for the more traditional surgery.”
“But he’s ok?”
“Yes,” she quickly reassured. “He had a slight reaction to one of the medicines we initially gave him in post op, which is why we hadn’t called out to you yet. We were busy switching it to a different kind and making sure that he was fine. Which he is! The meds made his breathing a little erratic but it is all under control now. Once he comes off the anesthesia we’ll bring you back and let you sit with him while someone prepares a room for him.”
“How long will he have to stay in the hospital?”
“A few days. We want to make sure no secondary infections pop up. So we have him on a round of antibiotics and will monitor him closely.” She took his hand in hers. “But I am confident that he is going to be fine within a few weeks.”
Jensen nodded. But he didn’t believe that until he saw Jared sleeping peacefully in bed himself…
**********
The next couple of days passed in a blur. Jared started on the road to recovery at the hospital. He was extremely groggy and sore the morning after surgery, but he had adamantly protested Jensen telling the kids. He always hated having his children see him in the hospital. For that reason, Jensen had asked his mom to keep them at her house for a little longer and to keep them in the dark as best she could.
It didn’t work…
The twins asked too many questions and Paige was in tears thinking something was gravely wrong since Daddy and Pop hadn’t called to wish her a good morning…something they always did when the children spent the night at relatives’ houses. In the end, Donna had given in and let them know about Jared’s condition, thinking it would make things easier.
It didn’t work…
The twins had already had too much experience with seeing their dad sick and in the hospital. They demanded to be taken to him. At nine years old, they threw a fit that rivaled that of a toddler going through the terrible twos. Paige wasn’t much better. For some reason unknown to Donna, the little girl was convinced it was somehow her fault.
Needless to say, the three days Jared spent in the hospital following his surgery weren’t all that great for anyone in the family. However, Jared did come a long way in those few days, despite it all. His fever went away completely, color returned to his cheeks, and he could move around without crying out in pain. It was a big improvement from when Jensen first brought him into the ER.
Now if only Jared could get Jensen to realize that…
“Jen, I’m fine,” Jared sighed for what felt like the thousandth time as he climbed back into bed. “I just walked to the bathroom. I’m allowed out of bed.”
“But-“
“Jensen,” Jared sighed again. He reached up and placed his hands along his husband’s cheeks. “I am fine. Sore…but fine.” He leaned down to give Jensen a soft kiss. “I’m not going to break if I get up to go to the bathroom. I might have issues if I don’t get up to go to the bathroom but…”
“Oh stop it,” Jensen laughed. “Alright…I’ll try to back off…some.”
“Jensen…”
“I said I’d try.”
“Why don’t you start by going down and getting the kids something to eat for lunch? I’m sure they are starving. I’m perfectly fine up here.” Jared slowly walked back to their bed and crawled under the covers. “See? Have everything I need! You’ve got me some water over here. I have my books to read. I’ll be fine. Go!”
“Alright…but if you need-“
“Go!” Jared huffed.
“Ok…ok!” Jensen placated. “I can’t help it! I worry.”
“I know…and I love you for it. Or in spite of it…not sure which at the moment.” He sent a wink towards his husband. “But seriously, Jen, I’m fine. I just want to lay here and read for a little while. Go spend lunch with the kids. Make sure they haven’t destroyed the kitchen on their own.”
“Oh shit…I didn’t even think of that.”
“Oh I did,” Jared laughed. “Hard to forget the great kitchen disaster of 2010.”
“Shit,” Jensen cursed, shuddering as he remembered how the twins had destroyed the kitchen attempting to make a cake on their own, without permission. “Alright, I’m going! Yell if you need me!” With that, Jensen took off downstairs to check in on their children and Jared settled back into the pillows with his book.
He hadn’t even been alone for half an hour before the door creaked open.
“Jen, honey, I told you I-“
“Daddy?” a small voice meekly asked.
Jared carefully pushed himself up so that he could see Paige standing shyly by the door. “Hey sweetheart. I thought you were downstairs getting lunch with your Pop?”
“Not hungry.”
Jared furrowed his brow in confusion. Paige, just like her brothers, was rarely ‘not hungry’. “Paige, what’s wrong? It’s not like you to not want to eat.”
“Nothin’.” She anxiously shuffled from foot to foot.
“Paige, come here.” Jared patted the left side of the bed.
“No,” Paige sniffled. “Hurt you…”
“You won’t hurt me. My left side is fine. My right’s just a little sore. You can-“
“NO! I already hurt you!” she cried, tears falling from her eyes.
Jared’s eyes widened at his daughter’s outburst. “Paige…come sit next to Daddy.”
“But-“
“Sweetheart, come here, please. Now…”
Paige sniffled once more and shuffled towards the bed. She used the thick duvet to climb up next to Jared. Once she was situation on the bed, Jared immediately pulled her against his left side and pressed a kiss to her hair. He could tell she was crying more now. “Baby, what’s wrong? Why do you think you hurt me?”
“Because I did…” She tried to move away from him, but Jared wouldn’t let her.
“What gave you that idea?”
“Because I jumped on you.”
“What?”
“When I was practicin’ my diving. I fell onto you. Then you went to the place with all the doctors that night. Was my fault! I hurt you! I’m so sorry, Daddy! I -“
“Shhh,” Jared soothed. He pulled her tighter against his side. She momentarily forgot about not wanting to touch him and buried her face into his shoulder as she cried even harder. He ran his hand through her messy hair and let her cry for a moment. “Sweetheart,” he pulled her away so she would look up at him. “You did not cause this. I was sick before and didn’t realize it.”
“But I jumped on your tummy and then you had surgery on it!”
“I did…but it wasn’t because you jumped on me the other day. I had what is called appendicitis. You know what organs are?”
“The things inside you that keeps you running?”
Jared chuckled at her explanation. “Very good, Paige. Well, one of my organs started having issues and made me sick. I would have had to go to the hospital whether you had jumped on me or not.” He kissed her forehead and smoothed away her tears. “Do you understand me, baby girl? Nothing you did could have prevented that. I was sick. But I’m ok now. Doctors fixed me up. I just have to relax a little. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I’m pretty comfy with you right here. In fact, why don’t you stay here and let me read you a book?”
“Really?” she exclaimed, a tentative smile starting to form.
“Definitely!” Jared reached across to the nightstand where a few children’s books were stacked.
Before he had even finished with the first crazy adventure of Pooh Bear and his Piglet, another little head poked through the crack in the open door.
“Hey Dimi,” Jared greeted softly. “What are you doing, buddy?”
Just like his sister, he shifted nervously before stepping in. “We have a surprise for you…to make you feel better.”
“Oh Dimi, that is very sweet. But I am fine. I-“
“Remy!” Dimitri yelled, not letting Jared finish. Jared shook his head affectionately at his son. Of all his children, Dimi was the best nurse. It didn’t matter if Jensen was there and had been there for the last five years to help out when Jared got sick; Dimitri still felt the need to be the little caretaker.
“I’m coming!” Remy called from down the hall. Once he reached the room, he sent Dimi a slight glare for running ahead of him when he was the one carrying the tray of food, their surprise for Jared. He turned towards the bed and sent Jared a smile though. “We made you lunch!”
“You did?” Jared tried to sound excited and not skeptical.
“I helped,” Jensen suddenly called, breathlessly from the doorway. “And I thought I told you boys to wait for me to carry the tray?”
“I wanted to take it,” Remy said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
“We can handle it Pop Jen,” Dimi added.
“Of course you can,” Jensen sighed. “Well…why don’t you let me take it to your dad?”
“But-“ both twins started to protest together.
“How about your let your Pop take it so you two can climb up here with me and your sister?” Jared suggested, hoping to stop an argument.
“Ok,” the boys readily agreed. They clambered up onto the bed, being careful of Jared’s side. Unlike their sister, they knew much more about appendicitis and what all it meant for their dad.
Jensen followed behind and placed the tray down across Jared’s legs once everyone was settled. “We called Misha and he told us how to make that vegetable soup you love. The twins made ham and cheese sandwiches to go along with it for you.”
“Wow…thank you guys!” He gave each of the twins a kiss on the head. They thankfully hadn’t gotten into that stage where they thought they were too old for all of that. He knew it was coming soon though. His babies were growing up more and more each day.
Once the food was gone, he convinced everyone to stay up in the bedroom with him. Jensen joined them on the bed, letting Paige lay on top of him and the twins nestled around their dads. It was the most peaceful either Jared or Jensen had been in a long time.
“Can we watch a movie or something?” Remy asked, finding the TV remote control in the covers.
“You want to find us something, kiddo?” Jensen asked, rubbing soothing circles against Paige’s back. The little girl had calmed down a lot since her earlier outburst and was about to fall asleep against Jensen.
Remy nodded and started flipping through channels until he found a rerun of an old Doctor Who episode on BBC America.
They all stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon. Paige was the first to nod off, but the twins soon followed. Jared wasn’t far behind them, still feeling the effects of all the medicines he had been given. Jensen was the only one to stay awake. He laid there for a long time, just watching his family sleep in peace.
He may not have ever pictured his life ending up like this…with quiet afternoons in bed surrounded by children. But now that he had it, he wouldn’t give it up for the world.
A/N: I really couldn't get the image of Paige being a diver out of my head...probably didn't help I was watching the Olympic divers when planning this b/c they are my favorites lol. Hope you all enjoyed, especially you Leonie!!
Beta: samjsjlove
Pairing: J2
Wordcount: ~7000
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/Medical squick, language, past MPREG
A/N: Belated Birthday present for the lovely dont-hate-me01 and a timestamp for Gone Away Awhile. It's set about 4 years after that story. I believe this can be read as a standalone, but it would help to have read Gone Away Awhile.
Summary: Jared thought it was fine…it would go away on its own. It was just a pulled muscle from toting the kids around. He was sure it was nothing serious…
The curtains were drawn to block out the afternoon sun while the television cast a dim light into the room. The commentator droned on, analyzing everything and anything. But he didn’t pay it much mind. He was already half asleep on the couch, trying to get some much needed rest and hoping to feel more human when he woke up. Granted…that would be a whole lot easier if he didn’t have a hyperactive four year old diving into his already hurting side…
“HMPH!” Jared cried out, suddenly finding himself in a lot of pain. He tried to breathe through it. He didn’t want said hyperactive four year old to see him hurt. “Hello to you too, Paige.” He gently picked her up and pulled her off of him.
“Did you see me, Daddy?” she asked, oblivious to his pain.
“I’m sorry sweetheart…I didn’t see. I just felt you jumping on to me. Which you know you aren’t supposed to do…and I believe you are supposed to be taking a nap.”
She pouted, suddenly looking very much so like her older brothers had at her age. “I can’t nap! I tried. Sorry, Daddy…but I wasn’t jumping! I was diving! Like on the TV!” She pointed excitedly at the television where a recap of Matthew Mitcham’s and Tom Daley’s dives played on the screen. “See!”
Jared had to bite back a smile. He really didn’t want to encourage her to jump on people like she had done, but he couldn’t help but be a little amused. His little girl had been fascinated with the swimmers and divers during the Olympics. Jensen and he knew the boys would enjoy watching it, always loving soccer and various sports now that they were getting older. But Paige had taken them by surprise. Neither had expected the four year old to sit still long enough to watch with them…let alone enjoy it. Then again, they should have known…everything about Paige had always been full of surprises after all.
He pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch so that he could lean over to pick up Paige. He ignored the slight twinge in his side once more and silently wished that whatever muscle he had pulled would heal quicker. He’d been having pains along his right side for a couple of days now and it was bothering him more each day.
“Baby,” Jared sighed once Paige was seated in his lap. “I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to practice diving by jumping off the couch and onto me.”
“Oh,” she sighed, leaning into his chest a little more.
“I think you are supposed to be practicing in water or on a trampoline.”
“What’s a tramp…tramp’line?”
“Trampoline, sweetie,” Jared corrected.
“What’s a tra-trampoline?” she asked again, saying it correctly this time.
“It’s something that has springs in it that helps you jump up higher and do things like that.” He pointed towards the screen where a diver was doing some type of twist in the air.
“Wow,” Paige gasped, completely mesmerized. Jared couldn’t help but smile at her this time. “Wait!” She turned back towards Jared quickly, her curls bouncing around her head in the process. “Couches have springs! Remy told me so! So why can’t I practice diving on the couch?”
Jared inwardly groaned. Of course Remy would tell his baby sister things like this…why he had no clue…but of course he had…
“Daddy?” Paige shifted around impatiently, jarring his side once again and causing him to wince at the pain. “Daddy are you ok?”
“I’m fine, baby girl,” Jared quickly answered, not wanting her to think anything was wrong. Because there wasn’t anything wrong. He just had a stupid strained muscle that refused to heal. Right…that was all…
Paige nodded before turning back to the subject of the couch and springs. “So why can’t I practice on the couch?”
Jared bit his lip and thought for a moment. “Well…first of all…I am laying on the couch and it isn’t very nice to jump onto someone like you did, Paige.”
“Oh…I’m sorry, Daddy.” She gave Jared a sad look as she apologized.
“I know you are sweetheart.” He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Secondly,” he continued once he was sure she was paying attention again, “the springs in the couch aren’t quite as…well…springy…as they are on a trampoline. So they don’t work as well. And you can get hurt very badly.”
“But I didn’t get hurt! I’m very careful.”
Jared sighed. Paige had definitely taken after her brothers and knew how to argue with the best of them when she took a notion to. “This time…this time you didn’t get hurt. That doesn’t mean you won’t get hurt the next time. Ok?”
“Fine,” Paige replied, looking slightly dejected but not angry.
“Besides,” Jared nudged her gently, “you’ve gotta know how to swim before you can start diving.”
“Oh…”
“And I believe we can do something about that my dear.” He put one arm under her knees while the other remained on her back. He lifted her up and tossed her up a tiny bit in front of him, making her giggle and smile once more.
“We can?” she questioned breathlessly between the fits of laughter.
“Might as well. You don’t seem to be able to take naps much lately anyway.” Paige had never been one to sleep during the day. Once she had hit three, napping had become way too boring. Jensen was convinced she thought she was going to miss out on something. Considering how worried Jared had been that she never would get to see anything at all, he didn’t mind so much.
Paige bounced on her feet and took off towards her bedroom.
“Walk sweetheart!” Jared shook his head fondly at her as he heard her rifling through her closet for her bathing suit. He started to stand up from his place on the couch to go help but he fell back against the cushions with a groan when a sharp pain shot through his side once more. “Damn,” he gasped. He was starting to think that he would have to go see Al or Danni about the muscle…
“Daddy!” Paige called as she rushed back into the room. She was already clad in her swimming gear. She loved her one-piece suit that had little cartoon fish covering the fabric. Over top of it, she had a swim vest wrapped around her upper body. “I’m ready! Can you teach me? Please?”
Jared smiled at her and stood, containing his groan this time. “I can. Just got to let Daddy change clothes too. Give me a minute.” He picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before placing her on the couch. “Wait here…don’t go outside yet.”
“Ok, Daddy!”
Jared hurried and changed into his swim trunks, knowing Paige would wait on him but not wanting to keep her too long when she was this excited. When he returned to the living room he picked her up and carried her out to the pool. Paige knew the rules and knew not to jump in without any supervision or anything. She’d been out with the boys and her parents hundreds of times, but had never learned how to swim herself. She always wore a vest and stayed close to her fathers.
Once outside, the heat felt like a slap to the face; it had been such a hot summer. He set Paige down on the concrete near the pool’s edge. Jared slid into the water first and was easily able to stand in it. The pool wasn’t extremely deep, and given his height it wasn’t a hard task.
“Ok, Paige, come here sweetie.” Jared held out his arms and motioned for her to come towards him. She immediately obeyed and allowed him to hug her close to his chest and pull her into the pool. “First things first…you aren’t going to be able to use your vest today.”
“But Pop said to never go into the water without it,” Paige said softly, her face scrunching up in confusion.
“That he did,” Jared laughed, proud that she had remembered Jensen’s lecture on water safety. “But I’m going to be right beside you the whole time. And you can’t really learn how to swim with it on. You can’t rely on it like that. Ok?”
“O-ok…”
Jared kissed her head gently. “Shh…don’t be afraid sweetheart. I’ll be right here the whole time. Nothing is going to happen to you…ok?” He waited until he felt her little head nod against his chest. “Alright, Paige, I’m going to unfasten your vest and set it on the edge of the pool. Ok?” Once again, he waited for her to agree to it before he did what he had said. As soon as the vest was undone, Paige’s arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. “You’re ok…I’ve gotcha.”
After a few moments of wading around in the water with Paige, Jared started to bounce around a little to get her wet. She slowly but surely relaxed against his chest and started to giggle as he splashed around a little. She soon joined in and allowed him to dunk her a few times. She was fortunately never one of those kids who feared having their faces in the water. She had happily learned how to blow bubbles and kick her legs earlier in the summer. She had just never done so without the aid of her vest keeping her afloat.
“Ok Paige…ready for something new?” He bounced up and down a little with her again, causing her to giggle.
“Yeah,” she laughed.
“Alright then. Let’s see if you can float baby girl.”
Jared helped her lie in the water and kept his arms under her until she had it figured out on her own. Before he knew it, she was floating by herself. He stayed by her side in case she needed help. After a few minutes of her floating around and kicking her legs a bit, Jared scooped her up. “Good job sweetheart!” He hugged her tight.
“Really? I did it?”
“You did! Now…how would you like to feel what it’s like to swim?”
“How?” she asked with great interest.
Jared winked at her before swinging her around and onto his back. “I need you to hold on to me tight…got it?”
“I will, Daddy.”
“Good…cause here we go!” Jared slipped down into the water more and started swimming around slowly so as not to knock Paige off his back. He could hear her laughing in excitement with each stroke. He kicked hard a couple of time, splashing the water up on to her and making her laugh harder.
He stopped after awhile and moved her so that she was no longer on his back.
“Why’d we stop? That was fun! More!”
Jared shook his head fondly. “I think it’s time to give Daddy’s back a break and move on to something else my little fishy.” He placed a wet kiss against her cheek before instructing her on how to move her arms and legs like he had done only moments before while she was on his back.
Paige proved to be a quick learner. Jared had to catch her a couple of times so that she wouldn’t go down to the bottom of the pool. But she never stopped, even when Jared wasn’t able to grab her as quickly and she slipped farther under the water than she had before. It had scared her of course, but she kept at it.
Through it all, Jared never noticed the persistent ache in his side…
***********
Jensen sighed as he walked through the front door and threw his bag onto a nearby table. He was exhausted to say the least. The twins had gone with him in to work that morning so that he could take them to their soccer camp in the afternoon. He loved having them around, but they were a handful while he was trying to get paperwork and calls in before leaving. Then of course he had to help with soccer. So yeah…he was quite relieved when his parents had requested a night with the grandkids.
So thanks to Donna and Alan, Jensen had Jared all to himself for the night. Paige had already been picked up and Jensen had bid her goodnight when he dropped the boys off earlier. Now he just had to find Jared…
Before he could go off in search of his husband, he heard the awful sounds of retching coming from the upstairs bathroom.
“Jay!” he yelled up before rushing over to the stairs. He took the steps two at a time in his worry. “Jared!” He nearly tripped over the hall rug as he rounded the corner and came to a stop in the bathroom’s doorway. “Jare,” he said softly as he took in the sight of his husband curled around the toilet.
“Hey,” Jared sighed, breathing in deeply through his nose in an attempt to quell the nausea. He was unsuccessful and quickly found himself leaning back into the toilet as his body tried to rid itself of whatever was disagreeing with it.
Jensen stepped into the bathroom and knelt down next to Jared. He gently rubbed his husband’s back as the sickness passed. “What’s wrong babe?”
Jared leaned into Jensen with a groan. “D-don’t know. Probably just heat exhaustion.” Jared shivered a little, causing Jensen to wrap his arms around him. “I spent most of the afternoon in the pool with Paige.”
“She told me…when I dropped the boys off,” Jensen said with a smile as he kissed the side of Jared’s head. “She was ridiculously excited about it.”
“She’s convinced she wants to be a diver.”
Jensen barked out a laugh. “Wow…”
“Hey…she might just be one day. Never know with our kids.”
“That is so true.” Jensen grinned fondly. He had loved every minute of the last four years with Jared and their kids. Paige had surprisingly grown to be healthy and happy after her rather traumatic beginning. Remy and Dimitri seemed to grow more and more each day. At eight, they were into anything and everything…from soccer to cars to science fiction. Jensen felt like he was learning something new each day with the way they went on about it all. He wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world now that he had that though.
The sound of Jared getting sick again brought him out of his musings. “Woah! Easy Jay!” Jensen grabbed Jared around his shoulders so that he wouldn’t fall face forward into the toilet. He rubbed Jared’s back through it all, hoping it brought some form of comfort to his sick husband. “You sure this is just heat exhaustion, babe?”
“Ugh…yeah.” Jared fell against Jensen, completely spent. “Don’t think I’m going to be up to date night like we had planned. I’m so-“
“Shh…not your fault. Don’t apologize. We can always try again next week or something. No rush.” Jensen shifted Jared so that he could reach up to get a glass of water. “Here…wash your mouth out with this. Think you can stay upright while I grab you some mouthwash?” Jared nodded, looking absolutely miserable as he spit out the water.
Jensen quickly grabbed some mouthwash for his husband. Once Jared had cleaned up a little, Jensen helped him up from the floor. He swayed terribly on his feet, but Jensen managed to keep him upright.
“Are you sure that it’s just heat exhaustion? We could have Al come check-“
“No…it’s late.”
“But-“
“Jen…she’s eight months pregnant…I’m not calling her over heat exhaustion. I’ll be fine! Let Al and Chris get some sleep. Let me get some sleep.”
“We could call Danni and-“
“Jensen…”
“Fine,” Jensen huffed. “Let’s at least get you to bed then.” Jensen nudged Jared out of the bedroom, instantly noticing the way Jared winced for some reason. “You hurting?”
“Hmm? Oh…my side? I pulled a muscle in it the other day. Has been annoying me ever since.”
“Ok,” Jensen sighed. “You are definitely going to the doctor tomorrow…”
“I’m f-“
“You always say that…”
“Jensen,” Jared sighed, managing to look even more miserable than before.
“Alright…we’ll just…go to bed tonight. But I am taking you to see Danni in the morning. Mom and Dad will still have the kids so there is no excuse.”
“But you have that meeting-“
“Which I will text Gen to move it to later this week once we get you to bed.”
Jared couldn’t help but smile. In the beginning of their marriage, it had been a lot harder to get Jensen away from his work. He had never ignored Jared or his family, but he paid less attention to how many hours he put in at his office back then. Now, it was hard to get him to leave to go to the office a lot of days. It was just one of the pleasant changes that had occurred in the last five years of them being back together.
Jensen slowly led Jared into their bedroom and helped him change into something more comfortable and less sweaty.
“You know you have a fever?” Jensen asked, the worry obvious in his voice.
“Mmm…that’s normal with heat exhaustion.” Jared slid under the covers with a content sigh. He fluffed his pillow up some before looking up at Jensen. “You worry too much.”
“With you, sometimes think I don’t worry enough.”
Jared glared and him and tossed a pillow at his head. “You coming to bed?”
Jensen placed the pillow back on his side of the bed. “I’m going to go make a few phone calls and do a little work while you get some rest.” He leaned down and kissed Jared on the forehead. “Your cell is on the nightstand…so if you need me grab it and call or text me. That way you don’t have to yell or anything that might make you feel worse.” Jensen started to walk away but Jared grabbed his wrist. “Yeah?”
“Thanks, Jen.”
Jensen smiled at him. “Get some sleep. I’ll bring you something to drink later so you won’t get dehydrated.” With that, Jensen headed downstairs to his office to finish everything up for the evening, knowing he wouldn’t be going into work tomorrow.
************
Jensen yawned and blinked tiredly at the computer screen in front of him. He’d been working for a few hours and the peaceful quiet of the house was about to lull him to sleep at his desk. Suddenly, a noise from upstairs had him jerking awake and hurrying towards the stairs. It had been loud, almost as if something had fallen…or someone…
“Jared!”
Jensen once again found himself taking the stairs two at a time in his rush to get to his husband. This time, however, Jared wasn’t in the bathroom, but still in their room. Jensen nearly stopped breathing when he stepped inside…
Jared was no longer peacefully lying in bed…now he was on the floor curled into himself with his arm wrapped around his stomach. He was half moaning, half gagging. The sound broke Jensen out of his shock and pushed him forward.
“Jared!” Jensen grabbed their trashcan and thrust it toward Jared just in time. “Shh…I’ve gotcha!” He wrapped his arms around Jared to hold him up so he wouldn’t fall into the trash.
After a few minutes, Jared attempted to push himself up off the floor, but he ended up falling back into Jensen’s arms with a pained groan. “Shit…”
“What’s wrong, Jare?”
“I…I don’t know. But-AAHH! Damn!” he gasped as pain ripped through his side again.
“Ok…that’s it.” Jensen gently pulled Jared from the floor and sat him on the edge of the bed. He then went to the closet and pulled out a pair of battered tennis shoes; he slipped thenm onto Jared’s feet without the man even noticing. “Come on…we’re taking you to the hospital.”
For once, Jared didn’t protest. He simply nodded, making Jensen worry even more. He hurried to gather everything he needed from their home and get Jared down to the Impala as carefully as possibly. Once in the car, it was hard for Jensen not to speed. Speeding would have meant jarring Jared too much…and his husband was already in too much pain for his liking. Jensen still never got used to seeing Jared in pain…
Jared tried to stay silent on the way to the emergency room, but there were a couple of times where he gasped out in pain and gagged from the nausea. Both of them were beyond relieved when they arrived in front of the ER in good time…and without Jared getting sick in Jensen’s beloved Impala.
Jared was trembling in the passenger seat from the increasing pain shooting through his side. His knuckles were white from where he had reached over to grasp Jensen’s hand during the drive. He needed help…that much was obvious. Jensen reluctantly let go of Jared so he could run into the ER to get that help for his husband. He was only gone a few seconds, but he returned with orderlies and a doctor in tow.
They helped Jared out of the car and onto a gurney. It all happened so fast. One moment Jensen was surrounded by everyone and trying to help Jared. The next, he was left behind as everyone rushed Jared inside and behind the swinging doors.
“Sir,” a nurse said, putting a hand to his chest to stop him. “I’m afraid you aren’t allowed back there. Why don’t you come with me and we can get some insurance information and all…ok?”
The argument was on the tip of his tongue, but Jensen nodded nonetheless. He knew it wouldn’t do him any good to pick a fight in the middle of the ER waiting room. Instead, he followed the nurse over to a chair and started filling out forms.
He had only been sitting there for a few minutes, but it felt like hours before a doctor came out calling Jared’s name.
“I’m his husband,” Jensen answered, jumping to his feet and dashing over to the doctor.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Keith,” the lady said, offering Jensen her hand.
“Nice to meet you.” He shook her hand quickly. “How’s Jared?”
“He’s holding in there,” she said sympathetically. “We are finishing up some tests and then should be able to make him much more comfortable.”
“You mean you haven’t given him anything for the pain yet?” Jensen asked in shock.
“I’m afraid not. Why don’t you come with me?” She motioned towards the doors. “I’ll fill you in on everything and take you to see Jared for a minute.”
Jensen followed behind her. “I can’t stay with him?”
“Mr. -“
“Ackles…but Jensen is fine.”
“Jensen, we believe your husband has appendicitis.”
“Wh-what?” He came to a dead stop in the busy hall.
The doctor smiled sympathetically at him and ran a hand up his arm, nudging him to keep walking with her. “The pain in his side and the vomiting tipped us off. We ran a few tests and it seems as if that is what is wrong.”
“H-He said it was just a p-pulled muscle and heat exhaustion. How?”
“It can be hard to tell something is wrong at first. The pain normally starts off pretty mild. And if you have a high pain tolerance…”
“Which he does,” Jensen sighed. Of course Jared would…he’d gone through so much during his pregnancies and miscarriages...
“I assumed he might. But we’ve caught it now and are confident we can get him prepped and into surgery before it becomes more serious.”
“I thought appendicitis was a pretty easy thing to fix?”
“If it is caught in time, it can be. However, from what Jared has said, he’s had the symptoms for quite awhile now. It is very possible that we will get in there and find the appendix has ruptured.”
“Ruptured?”
“I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. If the appendix has ruptured completely, your husband could be in a lot of trouble. But I can promise you that we are moving as quickly as possible to get him into a room and the appendix out.” She stopped outside of a holding room in the surgery ward. “You can see him for a moment while I go prepare for his surgery. A nurse will take you up to the inpatient waiting room afterwards. They’ll keep you posted up there…I promise.”
Jensen nodded numbly as she walked off towards another set of double doors. Jen took a deep breath and opened the door to Jared’s room. His heart plummeted at the sight that lay on the other side of the door.
Jared was pale and shaking in the hospital bed. He had an oxygen cannula running under his nose, but he was still breathing harshly from the pain. His hand had an IV already inserted into it, and he had it resting around the area that was hurting him so badly. Jensen walked over and gently lifted it so that he could hold it within his own.
“Hey,” Jared rasped.
“Hey yourself.” Jensen leaned over the bed railing to place a kiss on Jared’s sweaty forehead. It felt as if his fever had risen in the half hour they’d been at the hospital. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
Jared scoffed but then winced as it pulled on his side. “I’m sorry. I should-“
“Shhh…it’s not your fault, baby.” Jensen ran his fingers through Jared’s hair. “It will be ok.”
“But the kids-“
“Are fast asleep at my parents’ house for the night. I’ll call mom’s cell once they take you back so she knows what’s going on and can keep them in the morning.”
“But you have work and-“
“And I pushed all that back already.”
“I’m supposed to go in and speak with the professor on campus about my thesis this week and-“
“Stop,” Jensen chastised softly. “Stop worrying. I’ll take care of everything. Just worry about getting better.”
A nurse walked over and smiled sadly at the couple. “Mr. Ackles, it’s time to take Jared back. Will you please come with me?”
Jensen nodded towards her before turning back to Jared. “I love you and will be here when you wake up…so you better be ok…and-“
“I love you too,” Jared interrupted. He knew Jensen was struggling…his voice had given it away.
With that, a set of orderlies approached Jared to wheel him out and the nurse guided Jensen up to the waiting room. She pushed him towards a padded chair and sat down next to him for a moment. “The receptionist over there will receive calls about your husband’s surgery and will call for you to give you updates. Someone in the surgical room will call down periodically. It’s hard to say how long the procedure will end up taking…it largely depends on how bad the appendix is. If it’s ruptured, it could take a little longer to clean him up. But I can promise you he’s in good hands, Mr. Ackles.”
“Th-thank you,” Jensen replied shakily. Everything had happened so fast. One moment Jared had heat exhaustion…the next he was going into surgery. Jensen honestly didn’t know what to think. So he settled into the chair with a worried sigh and waited for updates.
He sent a quick call to his mom’s cell phone at some point during the first hour of his wait. By the second, he was getting frustrated. He hadn’t heard much from the receptionist…in fact…the ladies behind the counter seemed to be more concerned with the latest gossip rather than informing him of Jared’s condition. He tried to remain calm, but when the women started cackling with laughter over some story…he lost it.
He jumped up from his chair and headed over to the main counter. “Excuse me,” he started with venom in his voice. “Do you think you could maybe actually do your jobs instead of…oh I don’t know…shooting the shit with each other?”
“Sir,” one of the women replied. “I believe you need to sit down and not talk to me in that manner. I-“
“No…I believe you need to do your damn job and call to get information on my husband’s surgery before I figure out a way to -“
“Jensen!”
He turned around and saw his dad coming towards him. “Dad?”
“What’s going on here?” Alan stated once he was next to his son.
“Your son was causing a disturbance that we didn’t appreciate and I-“
“Jensen was causing a disturbance?” Alan interrupted. “Gee…I could have sworn that it was you ladies causing one. I could hear you all laughing from the elevator! Now…If I were you…I would go check on my son-in-law’s condition before I find your supervisor and report each and every one of you. There is no one else in the waiting room. That should mean that you are able to do your jobs for him and not goof off.” The woman sat there blinking in surprise. “I don’t believe I stuttered ma’am.” With that, Alan squeezed Jensen’s shoulder and guided him back towards the chairs.
“Dad? What? How?”
“Your mom woke up in the middle of the night and saw her cell blinking. She listened to your message and woke me up. She’s back at the house with the kids but I couldn’t leave you by yourself. Have you called anyone else?”
“Shit…no! I should have called Jeff and Misha!”
“Shh…I’ll call them for you. Don’t worry about it. Just worry about Jared, ok?’
Jensen huffed. “Pretty sure I’ve done nothing but that for the last two damn hours. How long does it take to remove a freaking appendix?”
“I’m so sorry!” a tired voice said suddenly.
Jensen looked up to see Dr. Keith coming into the waiting room. “How his Jared?” he blurted out, not bothering to start with pleasantries.
“He’s in recovery now. We got to his appendix in time before it ruptured completely. There was a small amount of infection surrounding the area and we had to flush it out.”
“Is that what took so long?” Jensen continued.
“Yes and no…it did take some time but the main reason it took longer is that we had to change our original plan of action. We had hoped to do laparoscopic surgery on him, but there was too much scar tissue from previous surgeries on his abdomen for us to see what we needed to do. So we had to remove it and make a larger incision for the more traditional surgery.”
“But he’s ok?”
“Yes,” she quickly reassured. “He had a slight reaction to one of the medicines we initially gave him in post op, which is why we hadn’t called out to you yet. We were busy switching it to a different kind and making sure that he was fine. Which he is! The meds made his breathing a little erratic but it is all under control now. Once he comes off the anesthesia we’ll bring you back and let you sit with him while someone prepares a room for him.”
“How long will he have to stay in the hospital?”
“A few days. We want to make sure no secondary infections pop up. So we have him on a round of antibiotics and will monitor him closely.” She took his hand in hers. “But I am confident that he is going to be fine within a few weeks.”
Jensen nodded. But he didn’t believe that until he saw Jared sleeping peacefully in bed himself…
**********
The next couple of days passed in a blur. Jared started on the road to recovery at the hospital. He was extremely groggy and sore the morning after surgery, but he had adamantly protested Jensen telling the kids. He always hated having his children see him in the hospital. For that reason, Jensen had asked his mom to keep them at her house for a little longer and to keep them in the dark as best she could.
It didn’t work…
The twins asked too many questions and Paige was in tears thinking something was gravely wrong since Daddy and Pop hadn’t called to wish her a good morning…something they always did when the children spent the night at relatives’ houses. In the end, Donna had given in and let them know about Jared’s condition, thinking it would make things easier.
It didn’t work…
The twins had already had too much experience with seeing their dad sick and in the hospital. They demanded to be taken to him. At nine years old, they threw a fit that rivaled that of a toddler going through the terrible twos. Paige wasn’t much better. For some reason unknown to Donna, the little girl was convinced it was somehow her fault.
Needless to say, the three days Jared spent in the hospital following his surgery weren’t all that great for anyone in the family. However, Jared did come a long way in those few days, despite it all. His fever went away completely, color returned to his cheeks, and he could move around without crying out in pain. It was a big improvement from when Jensen first brought him into the ER.
Now if only Jared could get Jensen to realize that…
“Jen, I’m fine,” Jared sighed for what felt like the thousandth time as he climbed back into bed. “I just walked to the bathroom. I’m allowed out of bed.”
“But-“
“Jensen,” Jared sighed again. He reached up and placed his hands along his husband’s cheeks. “I am fine. Sore…but fine.” He leaned down to give Jensen a soft kiss. “I’m not going to break if I get up to go to the bathroom. I might have issues if I don’t get up to go to the bathroom but…”
“Oh stop it,” Jensen laughed. “Alright…I’ll try to back off…some.”
“Jensen…”
“I said I’d try.”
“Why don’t you start by going down and getting the kids something to eat for lunch? I’m sure they are starving. I’m perfectly fine up here.” Jared slowly walked back to their bed and crawled under the covers. “See? Have everything I need! You’ve got me some water over here. I have my books to read. I’ll be fine. Go!”
“Alright…but if you need-“
“Go!” Jared huffed.
“Ok…ok!” Jensen placated. “I can’t help it! I worry.”
“I know…and I love you for it. Or in spite of it…not sure which at the moment.” He sent a wink towards his husband. “But seriously, Jen, I’m fine. I just want to lay here and read for a little while. Go spend lunch with the kids. Make sure they haven’t destroyed the kitchen on their own.”
“Oh shit…I didn’t even think of that.”
“Oh I did,” Jared laughed. “Hard to forget the great kitchen disaster of 2010.”
“Shit,” Jensen cursed, shuddering as he remembered how the twins had destroyed the kitchen attempting to make a cake on their own, without permission. “Alright, I’m going! Yell if you need me!” With that, Jensen took off downstairs to check in on their children and Jared settled back into the pillows with his book.
He hadn’t even been alone for half an hour before the door creaked open.
“Jen, honey, I told you I-“
“Daddy?” a small voice meekly asked.
Jared carefully pushed himself up so that he could see Paige standing shyly by the door. “Hey sweetheart. I thought you were downstairs getting lunch with your Pop?”
“Not hungry.”
Jared furrowed his brow in confusion. Paige, just like her brothers, was rarely ‘not hungry’. “Paige, what’s wrong? It’s not like you to not want to eat.”
“Nothin’.” She anxiously shuffled from foot to foot.
“Paige, come here.” Jared patted the left side of the bed.
“No,” Paige sniffled. “Hurt you…”
“You won’t hurt me. My left side is fine. My right’s just a little sore. You can-“
“NO! I already hurt you!” she cried, tears falling from her eyes.
Jared’s eyes widened at his daughter’s outburst. “Paige…come sit next to Daddy.”
“But-“
“Sweetheart, come here, please. Now…”
Paige sniffled once more and shuffled towards the bed. She used the thick duvet to climb up next to Jared. Once she was situation on the bed, Jared immediately pulled her against his left side and pressed a kiss to her hair. He could tell she was crying more now. “Baby, what’s wrong? Why do you think you hurt me?”
“Because I did…” She tried to move away from him, but Jared wouldn’t let her.
“What gave you that idea?”
“Because I jumped on you.”
“What?”
“When I was practicin’ my diving. I fell onto you. Then you went to the place with all the doctors that night. Was my fault! I hurt you! I’m so sorry, Daddy! I -“
“Shhh,” Jared soothed. He pulled her tighter against his side. She momentarily forgot about not wanting to touch him and buried her face into his shoulder as she cried even harder. He ran his hand through her messy hair and let her cry for a moment. “Sweetheart,” he pulled her away so she would look up at him. “You did not cause this. I was sick before and didn’t realize it.”
“But I jumped on your tummy and then you had surgery on it!”
“I did…but it wasn’t because you jumped on me the other day. I had what is called appendicitis. You know what organs are?”
“The things inside you that keeps you running?”
Jared chuckled at her explanation. “Very good, Paige. Well, one of my organs started having issues and made me sick. I would have had to go to the hospital whether you had jumped on me or not.” He kissed her forehead and smoothed away her tears. “Do you understand me, baby girl? Nothing you did could have prevented that. I was sick. But I’m ok now. Doctors fixed me up. I just have to relax a little. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I’m pretty comfy with you right here. In fact, why don’t you stay here and let me read you a book?”
“Really?” she exclaimed, a tentative smile starting to form.
“Definitely!” Jared reached across to the nightstand where a few children’s books were stacked.
Before he had even finished with the first crazy adventure of Pooh Bear and his Piglet, another little head poked through the crack in the open door.
“Hey Dimi,” Jared greeted softly. “What are you doing, buddy?”
Just like his sister, he shifted nervously before stepping in. “We have a surprise for you…to make you feel better.”
“Oh Dimi, that is very sweet. But I am fine. I-“
“Remy!” Dimitri yelled, not letting Jared finish. Jared shook his head affectionately at his son. Of all his children, Dimi was the best nurse. It didn’t matter if Jensen was there and had been there for the last five years to help out when Jared got sick; Dimitri still felt the need to be the little caretaker.
“I’m coming!” Remy called from down the hall. Once he reached the room, he sent Dimi a slight glare for running ahead of him when he was the one carrying the tray of food, their surprise for Jared. He turned towards the bed and sent Jared a smile though. “We made you lunch!”
“You did?” Jared tried to sound excited and not skeptical.
“I helped,” Jensen suddenly called, breathlessly from the doorway. “And I thought I told you boys to wait for me to carry the tray?”
“I wanted to take it,” Remy said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
“We can handle it Pop Jen,” Dimi added.
“Of course you can,” Jensen sighed. “Well…why don’t you let me take it to your dad?”
“But-“ both twins started to protest together.
“How about your let your Pop take it so you two can climb up here with me and your sister?” Jared suggested, hoping to stop an argument.
“Ok,” the boys readily agreed. They clambered up onto the bed, being careful of Jared’s side. Unlike their sister, they knew much more about appendicitis and what all it meant for their dad.
Jensen followed behind and placed the tray down across Jared’s legs once everyone was settled. “We called Misha and he told us how to make that vegetable soup you love. The twins made ham and cheese sandwiches to go along with it for you.”
“Wow…thank you guys!” He gave each of the twins a kiss on the head. They thankfully hadn’t gotten into that stage where they thought they were too old for all of that. He knew it was coming soon though. His babies were growing up more and more each day.
Once the food was gone, he convinced everyone to stay up in the bedroom with him. Jensen joined them on the bed, letting Paige lay on top of him and the twins nestled around their dads. It was the most peaceful either Jared or Jensen had been in a long time.
“Can we watch a movie or something?” Remy asked, finding the TV remote control in the covers.
“You want to find us something, kiddo?” Jensen asked, rubbing soothing circles against Paige’s back. The little girl had calmed down a lot since her earlier outburst and was about to fall asleep against Jensen.
Remy nodded and started flipping through channels until he found a rerun of an old Doctor Who episode on BBC America.
They all stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon. Paige was the first to nod off, but the twins soon followed. Jared wasn’t far behind them, still feeling the effects of all the medicines he had been given. Jensen was the only one to stay awake. He laid there for a long time, just watching his family sleep in peace.
He may not have ever pictured his life ending up like this…with quiet afternoons in bed surrounded by children. But now that he had it, he wouldn’t give it up for the world.
A/N: I really couldn't get the image of Paige being a diver out of my head...probably didn't help I was watching the Olympic divers when planning this b/c they are my favorites lol. Hope you all enjoyed, especially you Leonie!!