Sorry this is late. The people next door hired a company to come replace the fence and they cut our cable/internet line. Anyways, here it is ...
on another quick note, I finally designed Tino's boys ^_^ i have a large piece of paper with all of the kids drawn on them including Triss, Roma, Jay, and Tino's boys plus many many more O.O
Kismet
Chapter Forty-Three: Schedule
Lovino awoke with a start. It was the same time Tristán always started crying for the company. But there was only silence. He waited for a moment, wondering if the four month old child was just late, or perhaps Lovino early, but there was nothing. His heart began to race and he jumped out of the bed and leaned over the cradle. Both babies were there, but something was off.
He let his hand come down to touch Tristán and gasped. The child was hot to touch. Romana was perfectly fine, but he separated them into their own cradles, before picking up his son and setting him on the bed. He turned to the lamp and quickly lit it for light.
Tristán's breathing was labored and his face was red. Lovino forced away the tears as he pulled off the swaddling and picked up Tristán, "Bastard! Wake up! Something's wrong with Tristán!" his voice was filled with worry and pain as he clutched the burning hot child close to him. Ray had warned Lovino that Tristán could be a sickly child.
Antonio woke up and looked at Lovino dazed, "What?"
"Just get up and watch Romana!" he turned on his heel and rushed to the door with Ariana hot on his trail. A guard followed, but Lovino, being the fast runner he was, managed to get there long before the guard. He frantically beat on the door and let the hot tears leak down his face.
Tristán may have been breathing but he wasn't waking up.
Ray answered the door, "Lovino?"
"Just help him, please!" Lovino pushed into the room and laid his son down on the patient's cot, "Please … he won't wake up and he's burning to the touch."
The medic just nodded and touched Tristán's forehead, "He's really hot." he turned and grabbed the pitcher of water and a cloth, "Take off his clothes and dab him with the cool water. I'll find a child safe fever formula …" Lovino nodded and stripped his son of the clothes before rubbing him down with the water. His hands were shaking violently and he almost dropped the pitcher several times.
Ray stepped back up with a vial of pale pink liquid, "This should help with the fever until I can find out what is wrong with him. I think you'd feel better doing it yourself, so just dip your finger into the vial and rub it on his tongue, twice."
Lovino nodded and shakily took the medicine and did as Ray had instructed. He watched, grabbing a hold of Tristán's little hand.
The medic checked the baby for other symptoms and frowned, "His fever is going down, but I don't recognize this combination of symptoms …" he ran his hand over Tristán's head, "Let me run some tests …"
The queen felt his world spiraling out of control. It was as if his worst nightmares were becoming real. He couldn't lose his son. Not now, not ever.
"Hang in there Tristán … please …" the baby hiccuped softly, but still didn't wake. A few moments later, the door opened and Antonio walked in, holding a crying Romana.
"What's going on Lo … Lovi?" the man frowned deeply at the tears streaking Lovino's face.
"He's sick … I don't know what's wrong with him either … he won't wake up!" Lovino shouted frantically.
Antonio bounced Romana until she stopped crying and laid her head down on her papa's shoulder, "He's going to be fine, Lovi … calm down …" but even his own heart raced with worry for their son.
After a few blood tests, Ray determined it was a virus or sorts.
"That can't be all you're telling me …" Lovino glared, "A simple virus isn't going to do this to my baby!"
Ray frowned, "There's no cure for it, your majesty! I'm sorry. I'm trying to do the best I can, but … he might …" the medic stopped talking, afraid for his queen's reaction if he told him that Tristán would probably die.
"No …" Lovino glared, "What about the healing potion?" he felt hopeful again.
Ray sighed, "The potion is too powerful for anyone less than ten years of age … he would die faster if I gave him that … however … I might be able to contact Tino and see if he has it child safe. If not, I can try and create it myself using the one I've got …" he turned his sad eyes to Lovino, "I'm sorry, but please … please, don't get your hopes up …"
Lovino picked up his son and held him close, sobbing. He smacked away Antonio's hand and held his son close, wishing that this was just another nightmare.
He was finally back in his room, completely unable to cry anymore over his son. The baby was still sleeping, but his breathing had evened and his fever was down to a reasonable level. Ray had given him the pink solution, telling him to give it to him whenever he thought the baby needed it, but at least two hours apart.
He'd also told him to keep cooling him down with a wet cloth to his forehead.
Lovino laid down next to Tristán and positioned the cloth right, slowly caressing the baby's cheek with his finger.
It could be two or more days until he'd know if there was a cure for his son and just that thought alone was killing him inside. Antonio was speaking to him, but he had tuned out long ago and focused on Tristán's breathing and if he laid his head close enough, he would focus on the baby's heartbeat.
Those noises alone let him know that his son was still alive.
Romana was sleeping soundly in her bed and Antonio was pacing the room, the news weighing heavily on his mind. He stopped.
Silence. No one made a sound, no one moved, afraid that even the slightest noise or movement could tip the scale and cause time to speed up.
Lovino got no sleep the rest of the night. When morning came, no one but the king, queen and Ray were allowed to enter the room. The prince's condition was slowly worsening and Lovino was becoming an inconsolable wreck. Every moment they didn't have the cure, he grew angrier and angrier at everyone around him. Both Antonio and Ray were receiving the sharp end of his biting words, and both knew it was better to ignore it and continue what they were doing.
The only time Lovino left Tristán's side was to feed Romana or change her diaper or to console her. She sensed her family's pain.
Noon came and Ray was checking Tristán's condition. The man was growing heavily irritated with his queen's words and Antonio grabbed Lovino and pulled him to the side and wrapped his arms around him, "Lovi … please … he's doing all he can … calm down. We're going to save him."
Lovino weakly beat Antonio's chest, trying to escape his grasp, but melted into more tears he didn't know he had. Antonio shushed him softly and rubbed the back of his head, feeling tears of his own spill over, "We'll save him …"
Antonio took over when he finally managed to lull his love to sleep and he made sure Tristán's fever was staying down and the Romana was taken care of. He looked up from the rocking chair by the mirror and looked at Lovi's tired face. Even while he was sleeping, he was fraught with worry.
He closed his eyes and patted Romana's back, hoping and praying that his son came out of this alright.
He wouldn't let it show, because he had to stay strong for Lovi, but he was just as worried and scared as his queen. From the moment Lovi's frightened voice woke him up, he'd been scared.
Tristán had been scaring them since the moment he was born. Antonio loved his son with all of his heart, and wouldn't change a thing about the child, but he wondered just how long they were going to be able to extend his life. They got lucky when Tino refused to let him die and now this … were they destined to lose him?
Tears spilled onto Antonio's cheeks and he rubbed Romana's back. No matter how much he told himself that Tristán could be saved, he still had doubts.
Romana began crying and Antonio sighed, wiping away his tears. He still had a child to take care of.
He fed her, changed her diaper and bathed her, before putting her to bed. By the time he was finished with that, it was time to change Tristán's diaper and attempt to get him to wake up and eat. At the rate thing were going, his little boy was going to starve before the virus killed him.
By a major stroke up luck, Antonio managed to rouse the child for a few minutes to get him to drink his formula. It was only a little bit, but still better than nothing. A new cold cloth was placed on his forehead and he leaned against the headboard with Tristán in his lap.
Tears began falling again and he held his son's hand, crying harder than he'd cried all day. He hadn't noticed Lovino watching him from where he was laying until he felt Lovino's hand on his.
Antonio jumped lightly and looked at his husband, quickly trying to hide the fact he's been crying. Lovino sat up and leaned his head on Antonio's shoulder, "H-he's going to b-be alright …"
The king kissed him softly and nodded, "Yeah …"
That night was filled with worry. Tristán's condition evened out again. His fever only rose once, but his breathing stayed ragged as the child was having trouble taking in air.
Lovino and Antonio took turns watching over him, while the other slept. Yet, even when it was time for them to sleep, neither could manage very well.
A full day had passed and Lovino's nerves were so frazzled, he didn't think he could stand one more day of the worrying and fretting over their son.
Around noon, Lovino felt completely numb. They'd only managed to wake Tristán before he passed right out again, not even getting food into his system. It worried them of course, until Ray gave them a simple solution. While waiting for Tino's reply, he'd decided to start working on a way to fix the problem of Tristán not being able to eat anything. He condensed the formula into a paste that could be rubbed on the tongue and slowly swallowed without worry of choking the baby. It was a temporary fix, and would keep him from starving.
Lovino applied the paste and set Tristán back in his separate cradle, followed by the cloth on his forehead.
Antonio walked up behind him and rested his head on Lovino's shoulder, "Any minute now, Tino will be able to tell us if that healing solution can be made or safe for babies … then we'll save him …"
The queen nodded, running his fingers down the child's face.
Hours passed and it came nightfall. Lovino refused to eat anything with Tristán's condition taking a turn for the worse. His fever spiked and wouldn't go down and his breathing was erratic. He'd begun whimpering in his sleep and it was tearing Lovino apart to watch him suffer as he was.
"He's in pain … I just know he is …" Lovino whispered, grabbing the tiny hand and rubbing his thumb over Tristán's palm. The baby whimpered, causing Lovino to flinch.
Antonio pulled Lovino away from the baby for a moment and pressed soft kisses to his eyes, "He's going to be fine any minute now and when he grows up he'll thank his mama for being so faithful at his side and helping him get better."
Lovino nodded and leaned against his chest, "I hope you're right …"
"I know I am." Antonio held him close.
Tristán whimpered again and Lovino sighed, "I feel so useless … there's nothing I can do to help him and everything I can do isn't working anymore … I feel like this is it and I'm going to lose my first fucking child!"
Antonio held him close, "You are helping him! By staying calm and making sure he stays safe and happy. Everything you've done these passed two days has helped him more than you know~ you're the best mama in the world~!"
The queen glared, "Yeah, right. If I was doing anything useful, Tristán would be awake right now, making noises that don't rip my heart out, only make it swell with pride. He'd be suckling down his milk like the greedy little angel he is. I'd be able to give him his bath and he'd wake me up in the middle of the night wanting nothing more than to know he's loved! But he's not! He's dying and I'm powerless to stop it and the only person who can help is across the mainland!"
Antonio stared at him in silence and leaned down to press their foreheads together, "Lovi … everything you are doing is helping him. Everything. He would have died already if it wasn't for your intense love for him and your want for him to get better."
Lovino closed his eyes and leaned against Antonio again, wondering how he never failed to make Lovino feel even the least bit better. He just had to stay strong and not give up on his baby. He just had to keep him holding on for a little bit longer and hopefully Tino would have sent the potion.
He smiled to himself, because as soon as this was done, he was going to finally have that family portrait painted. Tristán and Romana would be sitting on the floor in front of Lovino and Antonio. They would be smiling happily with their favorite blankets held up against them or in their mouths like usual.
Antonio would be leaned against Lovino and vice versa. They would be smiling warmly down at their sweet prince and darling princess. Lovino would perhaps have Ariana on his shoulder, or maybe on the floor between the babies, however the phoenix didn't like her feathers being pulled by Tristán.
He felt tears of happiness and sadness roll down his cheeks. It was going to happen and he would make sure of it.
Coughing brought them from their moment and Lovino turned to see Tristán coughing, trying to suck in air.
"He's choking! He can't breathe!" he shouted picking up Tristán. The change in position seemed to help, but he was still coughing.
"Hurry up and get him to the medic …" Antonio hissed, trying to bring Lovino from his worry.
Lovino nodded and held Tristán close, before hurrying down the halls to Ray's office/room.
The man opened the door and Lovino looked at him, "He's having trouble breathing … he was choking …"
Ray nodded, "Just keep him breathing. I think I'm on the verge of creating a lesser 'children's' version of the potion …"
Lovino sat down and patted Tristán's back, hoping he would just keep breathing. He felt the baby's heartbeat against his chest and frowned at how fast it was beating.
Tristán coughed again. And Lovino's leg began to bounce nervously. Where was Ariana with the answer?
His heart leaped into his throat when the phoenix flew into the room no sooner than when he'd thought that. She dropped a vial on the cot and a note was wrapped around it.
Ray picked it up and read the note aloud, "'Lovino, I'm terribly sorry for what's happened, but I have just the thing. The recipe for the potion is on the note, but the dosage I've given should be more than enough to help prince Tristán. I just pray I'm not too late. Tino.'"
He popped open the vial and wasted no time pouring it down Tristán's throat. Lovino slowly helped Tristán work in down his throat without choking and all he could do was wait.
He made a mental note to owe Tino his life. Anything Tino needed or wanted, he would gladly give as payment to the man who gave the answer Lovino desperately needed.
Tristán's skin slowly lowered in temperature and Lovino sighed in relief, with fresh tears rising to his eyes.
The baby boy wriggled in his arms and his hazel eyes flew open and he let out a loud scream. Tears flowed down the baby's face and Lovino hugged him close, crying out as well. He'd never thought he'd be so happy to hear Tristán's screams again.
Ray smiled and quickly tucked the children's potion recipe away, making sure he would make some for his collection as soon as possible.
Lovino thanked him a million times and bounced the (more than likely) hungry baby and sung the lullaby all the way back to the room. When he walked into the room, Antonio looked up at him, "Is he okay?" he ran over and rubbed his hand over the dark red-brown hair on his head.
"He's crying! He's going to be okay! Listen! His cry is so strong and healthy now!" Lovino cried happily, going to make his son a nice warm bottle. Antonio smiled happily, deciding to feed Romana as well.
"I told you we'd save him~" Antonio whispered, pressing his shoulder against Lovino's. Lovino looked at him and down to his greedy little angel and nodded, "Yeah …"
TBC
~Lady Pyrien