Six of a Kind

십이: Taehyung's Surgery

Namjoon had felt awfully guilty when he had taken Seokjin for a surgery he didn't even know he was going to have, which was optional, and really should have been Seokjin's choice when he was old enough to make the decision himself. He hadn't wanted to do the same thing to Taehyung, but he had no choice.

When the letter had arrived, he had told his son that he was going to have the surgery, and Taehyung had completely refused. Namjoon would have kept pushing, but then Hoseok got run down, and the coming weeks were filled with lots of worrying and cuddling. Taehyung had forgotten about the whole thing, and Namjoon hadn't pushed it.

He knew that, if he told the boy again, then Taehyung would keep refusing. When Taehyung would see that Namjoon wasn't taking his no's as an answer, he would start throwing tantrums, making himself sick, holding his breath. All the things Jungkook does often without a reason.

So, he kept going past Christmas, past the PlayZone, and kept quiet as he strapped the boys into the car, and started towards the hospital. He kept himself calm, but inside, he felt sick. As soon as Taehyung figures out what's going on, Namjoon will fall apart. He can't bear making his sons upset. He wished life could be easier for them, but it was the reality of sextuplets.

Seokjin was deaf, and Namjoon knew he had eye problems. He had done since he was a baby, when he couldn't grab the puppet. He had that opticians appointment, but it kept getting pushed back with all the hospital appointments. It was one of the things that were completely out of his control.

Jimin was disabled in too many ways for Namjoon to keep up with. His Lennox Gastaut was the biggest problem for him. He averaged around 20-30 seizures a day, all mainly atonic and absence, but they still made him tired, and he was often unfocused. None of his medications touched the sides of his seizures, but they were on the best medications, so there was no route down that way. Every time he learnt to walk, or started talking, he would have a convulsive seizure, and lose all his progress. He even had a wheelchair, since the doctors thought he was never going to walk.

The constant seizures only added to his intellectual disabilities. He could maybe get over his global development delay, but on the other side, his brain was just too struck down. As he got older, the less chance he would have to recover. Namjoon knew he wouldn't be able to attend normal school classes, or live an independent life. He might walk, he might talk, but neither of them would really improve his quality of life.

He didn't like thinking about it. He wished he could say he would always be there for Jimin. However, he was getting older himself. He might not be there forever. Namjoon knew his life expectancy was low, and he wasn't expected to reach his 30s, but Namjoon refused to think about that. That expectancy would just get lower ... He would fill each day with cuddles and games to keep his Jimin happy.

Taehyung had his leg problem. Although he was about to have surgery on it, there was always a chance the problem could come back as he grows, and he could have hip and knee problems as he gets older. Namjoon had no idea how he was going to even get Taehyung into the surgery at that moment.

Then there was Jungkook. As much as Namjoon wanted to brush off the tantrums as just toddler behaviour, he was becoming increasingly worried about his progress. Jungkook rarely spoke, and if he was acting up, he refused to walk, too. He refused to take his hoodie off, and Namjoon knew he was never going to get it back. He honestly just wanted to wash it, but Jungkook wouldn't even allow that.

There was the way he refused to interact with other kids, the way he lashed out, how long he screamed for, and the miniscule things he was getting upset about. He ate his food oddly, could only sleep in the pitch dark, which Jimin and Taehyung hated, and kept doing odd things with his hands. He rocked a lot, and hit himself when he started getting upset. He was sensitive to light, and to sound.