One Alpha's Trash is Another Alpha'sTreasure

Chapter 6: Hyperemesis and Denial

Notes:

TW: talks of miscarriage. nothing graphic. I've been through a miscarriage, so this content hits a lil hard for me. so I figured I'd include a TW and add a tag for it. this topic may come up in future chapters.

Chapter 6: Hyperemesis and Denials

Five weeks of living his life and following his routine of being back at work. Five weeks without running into Jungkook in the hallways. Five weeks of double-checking before going out on his balcony. Five weeks without his friends ever bringing up the night at the restaurant when he returned to the table smelling strongly of sex.

Jimin had enjoyed these five weeks of peace and quiet. His enjoyment came to an end when he began getting sick multiple times per day at work, spending what felt like hours of his workday and his time at home hunched over his toilet bowl or the nearest trash bin, spewing out the very little he was able to eat. His diet seemed to consist of ice chips, water, and if he was LUCKY, crackers or popsicles. Three times that week he nauseously scrubbed the carpet on his hands and knees because he was not quick enough to grab the trash bin or run to the bathroom. One week into this mess he had already lost 5 pounds and still was not able to properly eat anything.

Hobi and Tae watched him bolt out of one too many meetings and overheard him vomiting a few times in his office. They were getting worried about their friend, he shouldn't be THIS sick for almost anything. There were no stomach bugs going around and Hobi helped go through Jimin's refrigerator and pantry to make sure he wasn't eating anything that was out of date.

By Sunday of that week, Tae had seen enough. He had visited Jimin to check up on him and found him curled up on the bathroom floor, sobbing his eyes out, but the moment he sat up to look at Tae with his dark circled eyes, he began dry heaving again, with nothing coming up.

"Oh Chim..." Tae reached out his hand to gently push the hair back from the sobbing boy's face.

"This isn't normal. We need to go get you seen, at least let me take you to the ER to get you some IV fluids and see if we can get you some Zofran or something for the nausea. Maybe they can do some basic tests there to see if we can figure out what is wrong." Tae suggested as he rubbed featherlight circles on Jimin's back.

"when was the last time you were able to eat anything other than a popsicle?"

"W-Wednesday..." Jimin weakly whispered through his pale, dry lips. "I had some crackers on w-wedn..." Jimin was interrupted as he began dry heaving once again. His back and stomach muscles ached from all of the straining he did from an entire week of what felt like vomiting nonstop. He looked up into Tae's eyes pleadingly.

"l-lets go... I will go..." he whispered.

Tae grabbed the clean trash bin, a can liner bag, and some tissues before calling Hobi, who said he would be there in 10 minutes.

"what if I'm dying Tae? What if it's something horrible?" Jimin croaked out, trying to imagine what would have him unable to eat, barely able to drink, and generally feeling like he was dying. He was scared of what he would be told by the emergency room doctors, if they'd be able to diagnose or help him at all.

Upon Hobi's arrival, he gasped at the sight of his dear friend. Tae handed him the trashcan with the bag in it and scooped Jimin into his arms. He gulped when he felt how much of an impact those 5 or so pounds he had lost had made on his already slim frame.

He exchanged worried glances with Hobi, both of their eyes beginning to get slightly misty with tears. They had never seen Jimin this sick before and neither of them would admit out loud how much they feared the outcome of his examinations at the ER.