The manor is quiet, with the exception of Bruce's snoring.
Clark lifts an arm heavy with sleep to shut Bruce's mouth to at least muffle the sound, as he knows it will not fully silence.
Clark sits up, shocked to find that his lover's snoring wasn't the only thing disturbing his sleep. Somewhere in the house there's another noise, but this person is not asleep.
It's Dick, Clark soon realizes; and it's not much later that he notices that the sound is Dick crying.
"Bruce," Clark's whispers, shaking Bruce's arm. "Bruce," he says more clearly, finally stirring the man.
"What?" Bruce snaps sleepily, "go back'asleep," he slurs, words thick with drowsiness. His hand flicks back, merely grazing Clark's face when what he meant was a hearty slap.
"Something's wrong with Dick," Clark says. He's finally able to get Bruce up, his paternal instincts kicking in at full force.
In an instant he's up and out of bed, wrapping his robe around himself as he walks down the hall to Dick's room.
"Dick?" He knocks gently, "Are you okay?"
A strained "No" is his reply. That's enough to get Bruce's blood rushing. He slowly opens the door to find his ward lying across the scattered sheets of his bed, clutching his stomach in pain.
"Dick!" Bruce almost screams. He rushes to the bedside and cradles the boy in his arms. "What's wrong?" He asks, fear bubbling inside of him.
"Stomach hurts," Dick groans, leaning into his mentor's hold.
"Clark, get the car," Bruce says to the man in the doorway. Clark nods and walks off. Bruce picks up his boy, cradling him with a hold that's almost motherly, before rushing outside to place him into the waiting vehicle.
On the way to Gotham General, Dick sits in the back of the car, groaning and clutching at the burning pain in his abdomen.
"Which side hurts, Dick?" Bruce asks, tightening his grip on the small child.
"Right..." He manages to squeak. Bruce nods. "Speed up, Clark."
***
Reaching the hospital, Bruce drags his ward out of the vehicle, carrying him bridal-style into the waiting room. "I think it's his appendix," Bruce says frantically to the nurse at her desk.
"Alright, alright," she says standing. The blonde grabs her microphone, and calls a doctor and two other nurses to come by with a gurney.
"We'll go check him out," she says, "you two can wait here. If it is his appendix, the surgery shouldn't take longer than an hour or so and then you can go see him in recovery."
Clark and Bruce nod, and the latter takes a seat behind him.
"I hope he's okay," Clark says, sitting next to Bruce in the waiting chairs. He leans his head onto Bruce's shoulder with a yawn. "Wake me up when he's ready."
***
"Bruce Wayne?" A perky nurse calls into he waiting room.
Bruce jerks out of sleep, waking Clark along with him.
"Yes," he yawns, stretching the sleepiness from his body. "How's Dick?"
"Oh," says the nurse, "he's fine. He's in recovery. But, the doctor did want to see you. He had some concerns about Richard's health."
This is what makes Bruce hop from his seat. "What kind of concerns?"
The nurse only shakes her head, and tells Bruce that he has to go speak to the doctor himself.
