Prompt: Can you do a prompt where Kai gets hurt at home (slips and falls and injures his bad leg or whatever) when it's only him and the kids at home?
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"Dammit," I said as juice splashed over the floor. I quickly pulled the jug of it upright and shook my head in annoyance.
Jin was at work, so I was watching the kids. Trying to be a good father, I'd made them lunch and gotten them their favorite juice. But of course nothing could ever just work out for me, so of course I'd elbowed the jug of juice over and spilled it everywhere.
"Dad?" Hiro said, peeking his head into the room.
"Stay out there with your sister. I spilled juice and I don't need you stepping in it and ruining your socks. I'll clean it up and be out with your lunches," I said.
"Dad made a mess," Hiro said, head disappearing back behind the wall.
"Kids," I grumbled, grabbing the paper towels off the counter and trying to wipe up the mess.
The floor was going to be sticky if I left it like this, and my leg was too bad for me to stay crouched down wiping it up. I got up and limped my way to the closet, taking out the Swiffer and spraying the floor, wiping up the rest of the mess. I set the Swiffer back in the closet and grabbed the kids' juice. I'd bring that out first and then grab their food.
I balanced their drinks in one arm and grabbed my cane, starting to walk. I'd get them settled in with their lunches and a movie, and it'd give me time to clean up the house a bit before they wanted to play.
My cane suddenly slipped out from under me and I let out a yell as I fell, hitting the ground hard on my bad leg. I cried out in pain, the juice spilling from my arms and my leg throbbing.
I rolled onto my side, trying to curl up and ease the pressure on my leg. I squeezed my eyes shut, my breath hissing in and out.
"Dad!"
The two worried voices were close. I opened my eyes, stinging with pained tears. My kids stood over me, both looking afraid.
"His leg!" Nora said, grabbing her brother's arm.
"What do we do?" Hiro said in fear.
"Shit," I hissed.
I tried to get up and yelped, quickly curling back up. The floor was hard tile and I'd landed right on my bad leg. Even after all these years, it still pained me if I so much as knocked it against a table in the dark. Falling on it uselessly left me lying on the couch for a day or two.
"Let's call dad," Nora said. "His work number is upstairs."
"No!" I said. I grit my teeth and tried to breathe evenly through the pain. "Don't call him. I'll be fine. Go back in the living room."
I didn't want them to see me like this. Of course my kids knew the troubles I could have with my leg. I'd fallen a few times in the winter when it got icy, but Jin has always been there to pick me up and get me somewhere comfortable. The kids had never been alone with me when I was hurt before.
Instead of going to the living room, Nora knelt down. She gestured at Hiro to get the paper towels and he did so. The two cleaned up the juice around me, Nora carefully patting it off my clothes.
Once they'd cleaned the mess, Nora laid down next to me. Hiro copied her, putting a hand over my shoulder. Nora took one of my hands in hers.
"What do we do, dad?" she asked quietly.
I closed my eyes, turning my head away from her. Over the years, I'd come to terms with the fact that I was permanently crippled. That I'd never be that father that chased his kids around and taught them sports and pushed their strollers. Even now, they were small enough for Jin to still carry around, bit too heavy for me to lift anymore. I knew my leg would have an impact on the way I raised my kids, but I'd never thought about how scary it'd be for them to see me in a vulnerable state like this. I never thought about what I'd do if I was home alone with them and too injured to move.
"Dad?" Hiro said, hugging me a little tighter. "Daddy, what do we do?"
"Nothing," I choked out. "There's nothing you can do."
I didn't want them to see me like this. I wanted to be their strong, invincible dad. Not the pathetic man who curled up on the floor and couldn't even move to feed them lunch and watch them.
"Wait here," Nora said, getting up.
She left the room and came back a minute later. She laid back down with me and set her tablet up in front of us, pulling up Netflix.
She started up a movie and held my hand again. I fought back tears, hating how embarrassing this was. Hating how much my kids loved me when I couldn't even properly look after them.
We all fell silent as the movie started up. I tried to stretch out my leg a little, biting back pained noises as I did so. The pain eased the slightest bit as the movie went on, and I just hoped it'd be enough to get myself back up.
When the movie finally ended, I tried to sit up. The kids hurried to help me, tugging on my arms until I was in a sitting position. I scooted closer to the counter and used it to hoist myself up, the kids helping me stay steady.
Once I was back on my feet, I threw all my weight to my good leg and stood carefully still as the pain rocked my bad leg. Hiro handed me my cane and looked at me with sad eyes.
"Are you okay, dad?" he asked.
I placed my hand on his head and forced a shaky smile. "I'm fine. Don't tell dad."
I knew I'd have to tell Jin I fell- he could always tell when I'd injured my leg. But hopefully I could avoid telling him just how bad it'd been.
"Go sit on the couch. We'll get lunch!" Nora said.
I wanted to argue, but I just limped my way to the living room and dropped on the couch, propping my bad leg up and getting comfortable. The kids came out with their sandwiches, sitting next to me.
I put my arms around them, holding them close. I wanted to apologize that they had to see that, and apologize that it probably wouldn't be the last time.
But I couldn't find the words, so I just kissed both of them and held them to myself. I'd long accepted my disability, but it still crept up on me just how hard it could be to live like this sometimes. I'd just have to be more careful and plan better in case this happened in the future. I never wanted myself or my children to feel that helpless again.
