SMILE FOR ME ; zonah

TWENTY-THREE

june 16, 3:28 pm

cradling zach within his security, jonah leans down to mumble into the boy's ear. 'baby, you sure you want to hear this?'

zach gulps. he's unsure, though can't muster up the strength to move. 'i'm fine,' he breathes out.

jonah's aware that he's really not.

'you can continue,' the older announces to the doctor sat across from them, discourage present in his words.

the doctor grins affirmatively. 'as i was saying,' he begins, 'blood's clotting throughout the layers of myta's brain, a result of the car accident. the compression is swelling to both sides of the brain, and this compression causes the brain to shift, causing damage to the brain stem and the RAS (reticular activating system). the fluid is pushing up against her skull, and we've recorded that throughout the past few weeks it's gotten worse. if it continues accelerating at this rate, her systems will deactivate within the next few hours.'

zach's blurred, blodshot eyes go wide.

'h-hours?' he mutters, blatantly attempting to restrain his sobs, feeling jonah squeeze his frail and feeble form even tighter.

jonah caresses his boy's pudgy cheeks, planting infinite kisses atop their undeniable rosy glow. 'breathe, lovebug,' he whispers hypnotically. 'deep breaths, my love. you're okay.'

paralyzed in his place, zach blinks harshly, trying to follow jonah's recommendations. he lets out shaky breaths, trembling wildly, keeping himself enveloped within jonah's hold. 

'is he okay?' the doctor asks apprehensively, understanding he probably shouldn't interfere.

jonah nods. 'he's quite.. fragile. although, generally it's the fragile packages that have the most value.'

a smile etches onto the doctor's cheeks.

the statement seemingly allows an absurd satisfaction to oscillate through zach's bones, rippling upon his delicate skin. 't-that gave me butterflies, jonah,' he stutters, biting his lower lip.

'you give me butterflies, zach,' jonah reciprocates, leaving a small kiss to the boy's nose. 

zach buries his head into his boyfriend's chest, digging his nose overtop the shirt adorning jonah's body. 'can you bring me to my momma, babe?' he muffles out, meeting eyes with his lover.

'of course, love,' jonah responds with a lingering kiss to zach's lips, effortlessly standing up with his baby latched onto his torso. his head shifts to the doctor. 'is it okay if we visit?'

'always is,' he confirms, sighing as the boys exit the room together, unquestionably in love.