Family (KSJ)

Chapter 13

The night was very rough. Ben was up at all hours with terrible nausea. The nurses stopped by regularly to check on him but even with medication he was clearly suffering.

You eventually crawled into bed next to Ben so you could both help hold the bin closeby when he needed to purge and soothe him more easily when his tears took over in between. He truly was miserable and you spent hours gently rubbing his back, pushing his bangs back from his sweaty forehead, and encouraging him by telling him that he would be ok, that it would be over soon.

For his part Ben curled up as close to you as he could, eventually shifting to your lap so he could lay against your chest and rest his ear on your heart to help calm himself.

Through it all Jin sat in the chair by the side of the best, anxiously watching and offering his own words of encouragement to your brother. He brought cool wash clothes so you could wipe Ben's face after each round of sickness and ensured you took small sips of your own drink when Ben had calmed for a few minutes, knowing your own strength was vital to supporting the boy in your arms. Jin's silent, calm presence felt like a real blessing allowing you to focus all of your energy on Ben and his needs.

At about 3 AM the little boy finally drifted off to better sleep and Jin encouraged you to nap with him, promising he'd stay awake and keep an eye on Ben in case anything happened. Desperate for some rest and knowing you'd need to be at your best for your brother tomorrow, you eventually allowed sleep to overtake you as you cuddled close to the sick boy, careful to avoid all of the tubes and wires.

You woke to low voices in the room, expecting to see the nurse but realizing it was Jin chatting with Ben while he encouraged the boy to take a few sips of water. It seems like your brother was doing much better after such a rough night.

"Oh, Y/N, I'm sorry if we disturbed you but Ben told me he's feeling better but a little thirsty."

You nuzzled your face into your brother's soft hair and hummed in agreement, happy to see the worst of the after effects seemed to have passed. While he still had a long road ahead of him it was good to see him upright and starting to try to take a small drink.

"Ben," you spoke quietly, "the doctor said you did really really good. He thinks the new cells are going to start doing their work really soon and start fighting all of the bad icky's that have been making you feel so tired. I know last night was a hard night. I think the new cells and the old cells were just getting to know each other and maybe they were giving you a hard time."

"I don't like being sick." the boy whined while shuffling a bit closer to you.

"I know, but hopefully it will be all better from here."

Jin only left the room a few times those first few days. His parents stopped by and were able to meet Ben, along with a few of the other members of BTS. If you were honest you felt a little bad that they were seeing you in such a bedraggled state. You hardly had time to keep up with showering. Anything more than a quick ponytail was out of the question.

Your embarrassment was brief as Ben stayed your primary focus, although you did enjoy seeing the pleasure it brought the little boy to speak with the exciting new guests that visited. Each of them met his dinosaur collection and he told them all about his favorite cartoons.

Ben's strength returning was a mixed blessing. Each day brought him closer to discharge and to you needing to tell him the truth about his future. He'd be staying in Korea while you went back to the US. But each day when he was increasingly healthy was exactly what you'd been hoping for. The doctor had begun to discuss a possible discharge date and it seemed you'd have less than a week remaining with your brother.