Does Zayvier King finally have a significant other? Look at these pictures from King's last four matches and judge for yourself!
Temperatures to reach an all-time high at 3pm before plummeting to an all-time low around 1am.
Ezekiel rolled over in bed, groaning quietly. His back hurt so badly, even though he had been laying down for a couple hours at this point.
A moment after he turned over, Jimin was curled against his back. Even in sleep, Jimin was like a clingy puppy that panicked when Ezekiel moved, afraid that he would run away or something.
But Ezekiel was not just sore tonight. He felt…off. Like his stomach was not quite settled, which was weird because he had never really experienced nausea during any of his pregnancies. A small blessing.
But not tonight. Maybe he had eaten something strange? But no, Jimin had cooked for their family as usual.
Ezekiel rubbed a hand over his rounded abdomen, whispering soothing nonsense to the baby like he did whenever he was alone and starting to panic. "It's fine," he murmured, finally addressing himself. "You're getting anxious for no reason. It's nothing. You're just really stressed about getting another kid tomorrow. It's fine. Everything's fine." He blew out a long breath and let his eyes drift closed.
And that was when it started.
His eyes flew open as an all too familiar pain cut through his muscles. He stared into the darkness, waiting and hoping it was just his imagination playing a horrible trick on him.
But it came back, pulling on him until he curled up against it.
When the wave of pain passed, he kicked behind him, his foot making contact with Jimin's shin. "Wake up," he whispered hoarsely. "Please wake up."
Jimin sat up, yawning. "Hey, are you still awake?" he asked sleepily, the words jumbled together.
"Jimin, I think you should take me to the hospital." Ezekiel kept both his hands on his stomach, scared to move them even though he knew holding himself would not do anything to stop what was happening.
Jimin flicked on one of the bedside lamps. "Kiel, what's going on?"
Ezekiel squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm pretty sure I'm in labor."
Jimin's breath caught audibly. "But it–"
"I know it's too early!" Ezekiel clenched his teeth to hold back his tears and anxiety. "They can probably stop the labor at the hospital or at least put the baby in the NICU immediately so it survives."
Jimin was out of bed before Ezekiel finished speaking, hauling clothes on and helping Ezekiel quickly do the same. He guided Ezekiel out to the kitchen and sat him down at the table. "I'm going to go wake Alex up." He jogged back down the hall and knocked insistently on Alex's door.
Alex poked his head out into the hall, hair sleep-ruffled. His expression immediately pinched as soon as he made eye contact with Ezekiel. "What's going on?" he asked, not sounding sleepy at all.
"I'm taking Kiel to the hospital," Jimin replied. "I need you to take care of Liam and Adelynn when they wake up. I'll try to make some calls and get someone over here to help you out, but only after I can get Kiel into a doctor's hands."
Alex nodded, scraping his hair off his face. "I got it. Go."
Jimin hurried back to Ezekiel's side, helped him up, and got him out the door and into the elevator before the next contraction bent him in half. He held Ezekiel up by his shoulder and elbow until the pain faded out to a dull ache. He did not say anything, but Ezekiel could sense how scared he was. Jimin barely obeyed the speed limit as he drove to the closest hospital, and he used his no-nonsense senator voice when he informed the intake nurse of the situation. He gave Ezekiel's hand a last squeeze before Ezekiel was taken to a place Jimin could not follow.
They must have given him some pain meds because he kind of just drifted, unaware of what was happening around him. He felt it when the medical staff touched him, but it was just bumps and little pinches. Whoever was in charge of making sure he was not in pain did their job so well that he could barely focus when he heard Jimin's voice in the room.
"What do you mean?" Jimin was saying, fear tainting every word in a way that made Ezekiel want to get up and comfort Jimin.
"I mean," said a stranger, presumably the doctor, "that we've lost the baby's heartbeat. The baby is dead."
Jimin made a choked sort of sound.
Ezekiel faintly felt miserable, but he could not hold onto the feeling for more than a moment.
"At this point. I'd normally recommend surgery, but Ezekiel has lost a lot of blood. On the other hand, he's completely exhausted. There's risk in either option. If we do surgery, he could die from blood loss. If we try to let his body get rid of the baby naturally, he could quite literally die from exhaustion."
"There has to be an option where he doesn't die." Jimin sounded desperate.
"We could…try doing a blood transfusion before operating," the doctor offered, sounding very unsure. "We'd give him a couple hours to circulate the new blood and then take him back. Is that something you're willing to try?"
There was a tight silence and then Jimin simply replied, "Yes."
Ezekiel was faintly aware that Jimin held his hand for a while, and then everything faded out again.
When he finally got his eyes to open, he felt…small. He felt like half his body had been stolen and he had been reconstructed from the parts that remained. He turned his head, the movement tiring for some reason.
Jimin had pulled a chair up to the bed and was slumped against the side, his hand grasping Ezekiel's tightly even though he looked like he had passed out from exhaustion and worry.
There was someone else in the room too. It took Ezekiel a moment, but then he recognized Luca. What was he doing here? Had Jimin called him? If so, how had Jimin gotten his number? Luca glanced up from his phone like he sensed Ezekiel's gaze and quickly stood up. "Hey," he said as he came around to the other side of the bed. "How're you feeling?"
"Like someone stole half of me," Ezekiel muttered, which made Luca laugh quietly.
"No one stole any of your body parts," Luca reassured him. "You're just a little loopy coming out of surgery."
Surgery. Right, that's what the doctor had recommended. Because he was exhausted and his baby–
Ezekiel did not have the energy to turn his head away from Luca as he started to cry. He should not cry. This was the third baby that had not lived. The other two had died early though, so early that he had barely been in pain. Maybe that was why they had been easier. Maybe that was why this one burned its way into his soul.
Luca lowered the railing and carefully sat down on the bed beside Ezekiel, his hand gently stroking through Ezekiel's hair. "I know," he whispered. "I know."
Ezekiel lay there like a statue, unable to move but his tears did not stop. How had this happened? He had been so careful to do everything right. He had gone to the doctor, gotten regular checkups, taken the vitamins, everything. So why was his baby gone?
"It's not your fault," Luca murmured, his fingers still ghosting through Ezekiel's hair. "None of this is your fault. Sometimes things just happen, and there's no amount of preventative measures that would have stopped it. It's not your fault. It's not."
Ezekiel felt a squeeze and looked over to see Jimin's eyes open and his fingers tightening around Ezekiel's hand. "When can we go home?" he asked, his voice as dead as his soul.
Jimin rubbed his thumb over the back of Ezekiel's hand. "Soon. I'll talk to the doctor, okay?" With another gentle squeeze, he got up and left the room.
"He cares a lot," Luca said softly. "He hates that you're in pain."
"Is that why he called you?"
Luca nodded. "He wanted someone here who could truly empathize with you, someone who understood better what you're feeling."
Ezekiel wanted to tell Luca how much he appreciated him coming to the hospital, but all that came out was a choked sob. He lifted his hands to cover his face, ignoring the sharp pinch at his inner elbow where an IV was inserted beneath his skin.
To his credit, Luca did not move. He stayed there beside Ezekiel, his silent presence providing more comfort than any words could, until Jimin came back with the news that they could leave the hospital as soon as Ezekiel's blood return was within normal range, which should be in three or four hours.
Jimin said some other things about the doctor not recommending going home so soon, but Ezekiel tuned it all out. Four hours. He had to get through four more hours here and then he could go home to his living children. Speaking of which… "Who's watching the kids?"
Jimin still looked sad, and that expression on his face made Ezekiel feel guilty. "Zay had a match, but Pandi went to watch the kids. Luca's husband Sario is there as well. The kids are fine."
With that anxiety off his mind, Ezekiel turned his attention to the clock on the wall and zoned out staring at it. He tuned back into the world when the doctor came in so he could answer the questions that would let him go home. He did his best not to wince when a couple nurses helped him off the bed and into a wheelchair, and he was glad when he was placed in the laid-back seat of Jimin's car and shut away from the world for a few dozen minutes. He hated the elevator ride up, even though he was back in the wheelchair that the nurses had let Jimin fold up and put in his trunk.
When they entered the penthouse, Alex and Pandi were sitting at the dining room, seemingly having a good conversation before Alex noticed Ezekiel and shot to his feet. There was purple smeared under Alex's eyes. How long had he been awake?
"You should go to bed," Ezekiel said as Alex came to kneel beside him.
Alex glanced up at Jimin and then placed his hand on top of Ezekiel's with a gentle smile. "I wanted to make sure Liam and Adelynn were safe. And I wanted to see you when you came home. But I'll go to bed now." He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Ezekiel's cheek before pushing up and heading to his room. The door closed behind him with a faint click that echoed through the dim, still apartment.
By Pandi's expression, he had already been told about what happened, but thankfully he stayed silent and let Jimin take Ezekiel to their bedroom.
Jimin and Luca helped Ezekiel into the bed, Luca exiting after bidding Ezekiel goodbye.
Jimin sat on his side of the bed, his back against the headboard. He laid his hand out on the covers palm up, and a tear tracked down his face when Ezekiel placed his own hand into it. "Let me know if you need anything," he whispered. "I'll be right here."
Ezekiel nodded and closed his eyes. He did not want to see Jimin crying for him. It made him sadder than the absence of the weight he had complained about for months. He closed his eyes as hot tears slid down his nose and dripped down onto his pillow.