Adam's birth had left Dick extremely weak. He was asleep most of the day, only waking when woken. Leslie had Dick on an IV drip, and was constantly monitoring him. If she stopped, there was a chance his condition would deteriorate.
John and Adam were being taken care of by Wally and the rest of the Batfamily. They weren't allowed in Dick's room, for fear of them catching some sickness, or infecting Dick. Wally was doing everything he could to keep his mind on his sons, and not his extremely weak husband.
Bruce, Alfred, and Wally were the only ones allowed to monitor Dick when Leslie wasn't there. The others were tasked with keeping their nephews healthy until Dick could take over again. Tim and his sisters usually took care of the boys, not trusting Jason or Damian.
John, being old enough to recognize when something was wrong, kept trying to get into Dick's room. He had a hard time figuring out why he couldn't go it. The circle he turned had worked a few days ago. Why didn't it work now?
They had to keep Dick cool, or he would overheat. His body was strained, and was convinced it was cold. He usually had a few bags of ice surrounding his body, and a cool rag on his forehead. Sometimes he could be lugged out by the ice, but it was never for long. A minute, at the most.
Wally usually fell asleep sitting next to Dick's bed, holding his hand. He didn't sleep well, not while Dick was ill. He never usually did. Dick was rarely ill, and it was always bad.
The fourth day, Dick woke up. It was slow, and it was painful. Leslie did quick tests before sending him back to sleep. He needed the rest more than he realized. His body was still overheating itself, and Leslie had to replace the bags of ice.
Dick woke again the next day, when Wally was monitoring. Wally had practically smothered Dick in kisses, worry melting away. Dick was improving. Dick chuckled and weakly attempted to push the happy speedster away. The kisses were ticking his strangely sensitive skin. Maybe giving birth to Adam had done more than he realized.
When Wally was done, he had half a mind to get Dick some water. They'd kept him on a diet of water and soup, keeping him from becoming starved or dehydrated. Dick gladly took the water, leaning into the ice. He could feel the heat bubbling up underneath his skin. It felt like a fire burning at his core.
Leslie spent more time watching Dick after that. He was awake more, and wanted to see Adam and John. The parental instinct in him needed to make sure his sons were alright. Leslie had to keep explaining to him that they might expose him to a sickness that would only make him worse, or that they would get sick. Dick hated being this weak.
It took six days before Leslie let Dick see his kids. He was sitting up, and was practically begging to see them again. He had been threatening to get out of bed and find them himself. Leslie decided it was safer just to bring them to him. He had mostly recovered anyway.
Wally was carrying Adam, John walking beside him. Dick gladly took Adam into his arms, John snuggling up beside him. Wally sat on the other side of John, smiling at Dick. Even with everything he'd been through, he always pushed through with that smile of his.
