Rough Hands, Gentle Love

(Age: Two) Poor Tomo

You hold Tomo close to your chest, leaning your cheek on his head, listening intently to the doctor while trying to soothe Tomo, who is making it incredibly apparent that he wasn't happy being poked and prodded by the medical professional.
"Well, the good news is that it's an inguinal hernia." The doctor says, his eyes on the little toddler clinging to you like his life depends on it. "The bad news is we will have to perform a surgery to correct it. It's not too invasive, and he should be able to get back to usual after a few days rest."

"Surgery?" You practically whimper, your face crumpling.
"When?" Tomura asks, more bluntly than he usually speaks these days.
"Ideally as soon as possible." The man replies, turning his attention to Tomura and offering an uncertain, but what he probably hopes is a reassuring smile. "But we're understaffed at the moment so there's a bit of a wait..."
"How much to get him in sooner?"
The doctor blinks. "I'm sorry sir, that's not how this works."
Tomura turns to you. "We're taking him to Garaki."
"We are not." You reply sharply, pressing kisses and apologies into Tomo's hair.

"I can refer you to our team of paediatric surgeons-"
"Give us five minutes." Tomura dismisses like he would someone he works with.
The doctor looks at you, seemingly a little taken aback and you just shake your head apologetically, pressing your face against Tomo's head, hoping that the more you press your head against his, the more likely he is to feel how sorry you are for the fact you can't heal it yourself.
The young doctor does take his leave though, quietly clicking the door shut behind him.
"You would rather wait than him getting treated sooner?" Tomura asks, audibly pissed off.

"That doctor gave me ketamine when I was giving birth, Tomura. He tried to kill me. I don't trust him and I don't want him around Tomo." You say firmly.
"Mama, home..." Tomo whines against your chest.
"Not just yet, baby." You reply quietly, dropping another kiss to the top of his head.
"He wouldn't do anything to Tomo." Tomura insists.
"Can you hand on heart say that you trust him not to do anything?" You argue. "Thought you were going to get rid of him when he stopped being useful, anyway. You know, after he tried to kill me?"

Tomura's expression becomes even darker, and you're unsure on whether it's because you arguing with him on the matter is annoying him, or because the memory of what Garaki did is a particularly sour one.
You don't care if it was. It was you that had to live through it, and you that had to watch him live years after Tomura had promised he would go.
"He has his uses for situations like these." Tomura tries to say evenly.
"It's not fucking happening." You repeat, cold and final.
"Mama." Tomo whines again, probably distressed by the argument.

"Don't worry, Tomo. The doctors are going to make the ouch go away." You say pointedly, looking at Tomura sharply.
Tomura glares straight back at you for a moment or two before standing swiftly and calling the doctor back into the room, signalling his own defeat in the matter.

-

The doctor must have done something, because two weeks later, Tomo is in the hospital again, ready for the procedure.
"No!" He cries as Tomura tries to take him from you.
The doctors had specified that the parent that joins the child while being put to sleep for the surgery needed to be calm and reassuring, which was not something you could do for him. You'd been a state since discovering the hernia, had been crying nearly every day and refused to leave Tomo's side, which the little boy was particularly happy with, because he only really wanted to be around you, too.

You'd even been sleeping in his room with him every night instead of sharing a bed with Tomura, which has been annoying him greatly. But you felt like a failure for not spotting it sooner. You were worried about missing other things wrong with your little boy, and didn't want to risk anything happening overnight that could be dire.
"Quit being a brat." Tomura says, clearly straining to not snap at the child in front of the doctors.
"Mama! Want mama!" Tomo continues.
"I'm sorry baby, but dada has to take you this time." You explain to Tomo, trying to catch his eyes. "Mama will see you after."

Tomo shakes his head furiously, and Tomura's hand begins inching up to his neck like it used to years ago.
"Mom, why don't you go with little Tomo instead?" One of the nurses suggests gently.
"She'll stress him out." Tomura replies bluntly.
"No." Tomo says, looking up at you with pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry, baby." You apologise, before struggling to haul him up in your arms to pass to his dad.

He screams and cries for you, and Tomura just says 'go' to you as he carries him off into the room with one of his many toys in his hand.
The sound of Tomo calling for you breaks your heart, so you take Tomura's advice and go.
Only outside though, finding a park bench and burying your face in your hands, trying to forget the sound of betrayal in the way he called for you.

-

When he's back into a recovery ward, Tomura makes sure he gets to be the one who always has a hand on him, wearing his gloves even though he doesn't even need them anymore.
You'd spotted the angry, new scratches on Tomura's neck when you'd gone back into the hospital, but hadn't said or done anything about it, waiting until he'd fallen asleep laying his upper body across the hospital bed, his hand tightly gripping Tomo's tiny hand.

Only then did you move his long hair out of the way to lay a hand on his neck gently as to not wake him, healing those cuts for him like you used to all that time ago.
Tomo is out for a couple of hours, allowing his dad a little rest before he wakes up, groggy and confused.
He whines miserably a couple of moments into being awake, alerting Tomura, whose crimson eyes snap open and focus on Tomo like he'd never been asleep beside him.
There's a gargling sound and then poor Tomo throws up all over himself, which has Tomura sitting up quickly, alarm in his eyes.

"Uh oh!" An older nurse says, seemingly having her attention drawn by Tomo's whine too, and walking over calmly. "That's okay, it's quite common."
"Mama." Is Tomo's first clear word as the nurse gently cleans him up.
"I'm here, baby." You tell him, gently taking his other hand, and thanking the nurse.
"Hug." He says groggily.
"How about kisses, Tomo?" You suggest instead, not wanting to do anything that could damage him further.
Tomo babbles something unclear, but you lean forward to kiss all over his head anyway, squeezing his little hand in yours.

Tomura watches carefully, waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Tomo to demand he gets off him like he's been doing so often recently.
But it doesn't happen.
Instead, Tomo lolls his head to the side a little bit more.
"Dada?"
"Yes, Tomo." Tomura replies. "I'm here."
Tomo sluggishly moves his hand out of yours to point at his head.
Tomura blinks, but cracks a smile for the first time in days, his red eyes regaining the slight gleam in them that had been missing since you found out about Tomo's hernia.
"You want kisses?" He asks.
"Dada." Is the only response he gets, Tomo reaching for his dad with his newly freed hand.

He doesn't need to say more though, because Tomura's leaning forward and pressing his cracked lips to Tomo's slightly damp temple, the corners of his mouth turned upward slightly as he does so.