Twinkle || BTS

Hot to the Touch

Lia felt hot all over; an uncomfortable heat that rose from under her skin, making her clammy and chasing her breath. Thankfully the room in which she awoke was darkened, a thick brown curtain blocking any sunlight from entering. She sat up, a wave of nausea quickly coming over her. A whine escaped her lips as she flopped back down onto the bed. The girl failed to notice being in an unknown location- all she knew was that she was in pain, and she wanted it gone as soon as possible.

Seokjin's heart broke as he watched Lia in pain. He spent the whole night laying next to her, not catching a wink of sleep himself out of worry for his baby. He would check her temperature with the forehead thermometer throughout the night- her temperature peaked at 102.3 degrees Fahrenheit around three in the morning and has stayed there since. Lia's whimpers and constant squirming forced Namjoon to sleep with Jungkook for the night. The younger didn't want to leave Lia's side but had early morning meetings that required a full night's sleep.

Jin checked his phone for the time- six in the morning. It was way too early for Lia to be awake, but from her breathing and coughing fits- those are new, Seokjin noted- Jin knew she wouldn't fall back into a fitful slumber any time soon. "Good morning," Seokjin whispered, voice raspy from lack of use. He brushed her sweat-soaked bangs away from her forehead, feeling the heat radiating from the soft, sticky skin. Lia would definitely need a bath, and Seokjin sent a silent prayer to whoever would end up drawing the short stick on that one. Lia leaned her head into Jin's hand, appreciating the coolness of his skin against the fire of her own. Jin cooed at her actions; she's never reciprocated their affections often.

"Still not feeling good, angel?" Seokjin asked and got a muffled whine in response. Lia buried her face back into the soft pillows, rolling closer to Seokjin. There was a small, untouched area there that was cool from lack of body heat, and Ophelia was not going to pass up that opportunity. With a chuckle, Jin concluded that Lia would be fine on her own while he went to grab things from the ensuite bathroom and nursery- there was no way she could get up on her own in her current state. He placed a kiss onto the crown of her head and made the short trek to the bathroom first.

The medicine cabinet held a variety of pills, capsules, and liquid medicine (sometimes Taehyung threw absolute fits whenever he fell ill, refusing to take solid medicine because it scared him). Even though Jin was proficient in medicine and health, he had no idea exactly what Ophelia was suffering from. Fever, coughing, nausea, stuffy nose, migraine, anal bleeding- none of the symptoms followed one exact illness. Jin grabbed liquid Nyquil in hopes that Ophelia would just sleep it off, and Jin personally felt Dayquil didn't actually work in the slightest. He stuffed other medical things in a small makeup bag- migraine relief tablets to crush up and put in Ophelia's bottle, Dayquil (just in case), and the ear thermometer. Jin forgot where he placed the forehead thermometer in his sleepless daze, and he wasn't certain on how well Lia would take to the pacifier thermometer. After a moment of hesitation, he threw the pacifier in the bag as well- Jimin and Taehyung would be alone with Lia today, maybe they could get her to take it. Before leaving, Jin wet a face cloth and wrung it out, hoping the cold rag would bring comfort to the sick little.

Lia still lay on her stomach, but her head was placed so she could watch Seokjin in the bathroom. He didn't realize she watched him, and the thought of her actually interested by what he was doing made Seokjin happy on the inside. "Can you roll over for me?" He asked sweetly but was met with a disgruntled whine from Lia. "Someone's feeling very whiney today," Jin teased the baby and gently rolled her over himself. She winced ever so slightly, and the thought that maybe her bottom was sensitive from the irritation finally arose in Jin's mind. That would make things more complicated. He placed the cool rag on Lia's forehead, who gave a small smile and happy sigh in return.

"Do you want to get changed on Eomma's bed or on your changing table?" As expected, Ophelia gave a noncommittal whine, not having the energy to even comprehend her current situation. Seokjin decided on just changing her on his bed, and left for the nursery. Thankfully, there was a door connected his bedroom and the nursery, so Seokjin could still hear and see Ophelia if anything did happen.

He quickly grabbed a diaper, wipes, and vaseline from the changing table, and a legless pink and gold onesie from the closet. Even though the early morning coolness still hadn't worn off, Ophelia would really appreciate being dressed in something light and breathable. Seokjin also grabbed the light pink blanket from the crib- it was more of a piece of fabric than a blanket considering how light it was, but Ophelia adored it. Whenever Seokjin would glance at the baby monitor, Lia always cuddled up to it mid-sleep. As he pulled the blanket out from the crib, Lia's pacifier fell silently back into the crib. The girl had yet to use it, and Seokjin thought that maybe he could coax Lia into using it in her fever-ridden state of mind. He grabbed the pacifier and a clip, just in case.

When he re-entered his bedroom, Lia had pulled the face cloth over her eyes. "Here you go, baby," Seokjin cooed, handing the soft blanket to Lia. The girl showed no interest in the fabric at first, intent on continuing her act of sleep, but soon put the blanket over her face as she felt Jin slowly undressing her. No matter how many times a day it happened, Lia always felt shy and embarrassed. Seokjin looked up and giggled at the sight. "So silly," he said, softly tickling Lia's stomach who squirmed in protest.

Once Seokjin finished changing Lia (possibly the quickest and easiest the process has ever been), Jin gently picked Lia up, mindful of her nausea. All of a sudden, Ophelia felt her internal ickiness increase exponentially, grasping onto Seokjin's shirt to balance herself with eyes tightly shut. Seokjin picked up on her discomfort and began rubbing her back and shushing her. "What's wrong, honey? Eomma won't know until you tell me." Lia violently shook her head despite the pain as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt slightly fine laying down, but now that she was upright everything around her spun and her head pounded. Eomma continued talking to her in a soothing tone, but Lia couldn't comprehend a word- her head felt too fuzzy to translate. Almost too soon, they began moving, and Lia felt her stomach do cartwheels in protest.

Seokjin continued to hum and rub Lia's back as they slowly walked the hall. The sight in his arms almost broke Jin's heart; Lia still had his shirt in her hand, and held onto a corner of the blanket with her free hand (judging by how most of the blanket dragged on the ground as they walked, Seokjin could only assume Lia and her clouded mind forgot she was holding it). Her head was nestled under his chin, her tears soaking his collar. Occasionally, her crying would turn into choked sobs, and Jin feared she would puke. Thankfully she never did, and the two successfully made it into the living room.

Jin sat Lia down on the couch, adjusting her so she was laying with her blanket covering her and cold rag back on her forehead. He got a good look at her face- she was flushed red with puffy eyes from crying, and overall just a heartbreaking sight.

Jin grabbed the remote to the television off the coffee table and turned the power button on. The sudden noise and brightness made Lia let out an unhappy whimper, and she brought the pink blanket over her face to block out the intrusive light. Whenever they put Lia down for a nap on the couch, they typically put the news channel on at a low volume- boring enough to allow Lia to sleep but still giving the calmness of gentle noise. Once Jin located the channel, he felt his heartbeat quicken when Ophelia's face was plastered on the screen. He quickly changed the channel, not caring exactly what he changed it to. Once he felt his own panic lessen, he looked over to Lia who still had her face buried in her blanket. That was good, at least.

Jin tried his best to make everything seem fine as he approached Lia. He crouched down to kiss Lia's blanket-covered nose and chuckled when she squirmed away. "Eomma's going to go into the kitchen for a minute, can you be good?" All he got in response was a whine before Lia rolled onto her side. "Sorry, Eomma forgot today is a whiney day."